X- raying Nigerian Arise TV News Talk Show By Wumi Akintide

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….. Moderated by Orji Nika Okpe, is a runner up to “Morning Joe” Talk Show of MSNBC in the United States.

I cannot remember the number of articles I have written eulogizing the performance and the reputation of “Morning Joe” as the best Political Talk Show in America. That Talk Show and their amazing Panel of Experts have boosted the popularity and the ratings of MSNBC TV Channel which clearly overshadowed that of CNN ever since star performers like Larry King, Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon left the world- famous CNN

I can say that with some authority because I have watched their Program everyday 6 times a week from 6 to 10AM for 15 years good years without a break.

I recall being among the first Social Media Columnists in America to predict that I won’t be surprised, if Joe Scarborough their lead Star after whom the Talk Show is named, and Micah his Number 2 star performer would most likely end up becoming husband and wife because the chemistry between them was palpable and very strong

So it did not come as a surprise to me at all when both of them decided to tie the knots. I was among the first observer to clearly see it coming and I said it.

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I think their marriage has further enhanced the caliber and the quality of their Talk Show Program nation-wide.

I am making this observation today about the Arise TV Talk Show In Nigeria after watching the discussion of President Obasanjo’s suggestion that Democracy as practiced in all of the Developed Nations of the World is not maximally working for many third world countries and that we must seriously explore the possibility of seeking an alternative system that is going to be more in tune with our Culture and Way of life.

President Obasanjo had, in fact suggested a system he has labeled as “Afro Democracy” which was brilliantly analyzed and dissected by Reuben Abati and Oseni Rufai and Orji Nika Orpe.

I listened attentively to the excellent analogy of Dr. Reuben Abati who had taken a quotation from a book written by Fareed Zakaria, the India-born Moderator of the Global Public Square Talk Show on CNN.

I have had cause to describe Fareed in one of my articles as arguably the best in the World with the stature of a Walter Cronkite or the great Bob Woodward or Pierre Morgan in the UK or Lester Holt the Jamaica- born reporter of NBC in the United States.

I say that with a high sense of responsibility as a Political Science Scholar and as a proud licensed Clinical Social Work Master Degree holder trained by the Wurzweiler School of Social Work of the famous Yeshiva Jewish University of New York.

I say what I am saying as a member of the second set of the great Obafemi Awolowo University of Nigeria who graduated in 1966 and as a Diploma holder from the prestigious Royal Institute of Public Administration in London.

I say so as a product of the Center for Management Studies of Cambridge University in the UK.

I am proud to say so as a product of the State University of Connecticut where I completed my post graduate studies way back in 1983 under the direct supervision of late Professor Harold Seidmann and Professor Milton Tenzer.

Dr. Reuben Abati a top notch journalist with a Ph. D in Law from Lagos University.

The powerful Journalistic icon had made a beautiful contribution I cannot second guess and his fellow Panelist Rufai had simply added the Coup de grace by questioning the authority or the justification of Obasanjo to now raise the point he has just raised for debate in Nigeria.

Mr. Rufai has brilliantly argued that Obasanjo who has had the privilege of becoming the longest-serving President of Nigeria both as a Military Head of State and as a Civilian President for eleven years could easily have floated the idea he is recommending today but had miserably failed to do so while he was in charge.

That the idea he is canvassing today has not stopped him from wanting to seek a third term and for conducting the most corrupt and the most flawed Election in Nigeria as acknowledged by President Umaru Yar Adua himself the man he had singlehandedly picked to succeed him in 2007.

Rufai was probably limited by time to add that Obasanjo was mainly responsible for stopping Pa Obafemi Awolowo “ the best President Nigeria never had as acknowledged by Ikemba Ofumegwu Ojukwu.

Obasanjo has stopped Obafemi Awolowo from realizing his life ambitions to rule Nigeria and to potentially make Nigeria the Singapore of Africa based on his track record in the old Western Region of Nigeria which became the pacesetter for the rest of the country.

The eloquent young man Rufai was not allowed enough time to add that the same Obasanjo had stopped MKO Abiola from becoming President by encouraging Ibrahim Babangida to annul the freest and the fairest Election ever conducted in Nigeria.

The beautiful Orji Nika Okpe who moderated the program is a rising star with so much talent and could go on to become one of the best in Africa the way she is going, I might add.

The Arise TV Talk Show Panel is doing a wonderful job but they could do more to expand their Panel to accommodate more experts and call- in contributors from all over the world and by increasing their time to 2 hours instead of one.

I had wanted to call in from my base in New York but I couldn’t, because there was no room for that and the time was too short.

There is nothing wrong at all with Democracy which still remains the best system of Government the whole world has known because it promotes competition and full participation of the People and it promotes the Rule of Law better than Communism or Fascism.

What is wrong with Democracy as practiced in Nigeria and as brilliantly acknowledged by Rufai and Abati, is bad leadership and bad followership and a wrong mindset and a wrong value system or both.

A good example is Donald Trump the 45th President of the United States who has almost brought America to her knees and who has become the worst President America has ever elected and who will predictably be the first to end up in Jail.

I agree with Abati and Rufai that the American Presidential System is totally wrong and too expensive for any developing nation like Nigeria.

The British Parliamentary Democracy we have abandoned to embrace the Unitary System we are running today is a horrendous mistake that must be jettisoned as soon as possible for the good of the country.

I am disappointed that President Tinubu who says he had sought the Presidency to mend and to heal Nigeria is yet to address the nation on his ultimate mission and goal for Nigeria and the logistics to get us to that Destination.

He ought to realize that Nigeria under his leadership is totally insane because Nigeria continues to do the same thing, time and again, but expecting a different result.

That, to me, is the classic and the simplest definition of Insanity as defined by Sigmund Freud the Austrian Psychiatrist and the best Clinical Psychologist the World has produced.

I rest my case.