Nigeria’s political landscape never ceases to astonish and amaze. In addition to our habitually surprising electoral outcomes, our politicians are dramatists of immense creativity. They have an uncanny ability to literally convert things into their opposities and still retain public attention and ignite curiosity and sustain interest. They have...
OPINION
The poverty of enlightened, rational, and intelligent followership in Nigeria is a greater tragedy than her poverty of leadership across the spectrum, because the pool of leadership recruitment is unenlightened, emotional, irrational, and unintelligent. When discussing Nigeria’s enduring national crises, fingers instinctively point to the failure of leadership. Yet,...
By ABUJAH RACHEAL, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Mrs Grace Ameh is a resident of Eyyan community in Kwali Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory. Each time her five-year-old daughter runs fever, her first suspicion will be malaria. This is because of limited access to diagnostic facilities. Ameh...
By LEONARD KARSHIMA SHILGBA The Nigerian Constitution (1999, as amended) does not expressly designate State Governors as “Chief Security Officers” in legal terms, but the title has become conventional and operational. The relevant provisions include: a. Section 215(4): “Subject to the provisions of this section, the Governor of a...
When the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Adeola Ajayi advocated for self-help and communal approach to insecurity and crimes such as raids on vulnerable communities leading to unprovoked deaths, insurgency, banditry and kidnapping, he ignited a heated debate about whether his suggestion invited anarchy and mutually...
The incumbent National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, is a busy man. It’s the demand of his office, especially at these times. Ribadu has a pedigree. A brilliant, fearless police officer. He was the first Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He came highly recommended and President...
On the evening of 5 April 2012, the prime-time bulletin on the television news of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), announced to the country that the president, Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, “had been taken ill and had been flown to South Africa for specialist treatment.” At another end of the capital city,...
The Nigerian political opposition is scoring desired attention from the Tinubu’s disappearing antics. In apparent response to the growing outcry of opposition voices and the enlightened citizenry about the President’s prolonged absence in a bad time, the Presidency has just issued a second statement explaining and justifying Tinubu’s mysterious...
Governor Okpebholo comes across as an uncommon personality doing uncommon things with less talk, but more reach. Those who wrote very unpalatable news about him, derided him with benign remarks, have since swallowed their vomits, and have now become Chief promoters of this easy going Governor that has his...
The Federal Capital Territory Administration continues to rely on the restoration of Abuja master plan as a justification to carry out demolition and forced eviction. This government behaviour has resulted in the forced eviction of a greater number of persons from their homes. For instance, between 2003 and 2008,...
By Dr. IKE ODOGWU The recent declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State has triggered diverse commentaries from a wide range of Nigerians. Almost everyone hailed the presidential proclamation because of the visible threat to law and order in the state at the time the action was...
Again, another tributary of blood gushes from Zike, in Bassa Local Government Area to Bokkos in Plateau State. Together, they will link up with older tributaries and continue their flow slowly but surely into an invisible ocean of blood that now threatens to swallow the plateau. The streams have...
Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Tinubu, is up and about; touring Nigeria from north to south, east and west. The First Son of Nigeria has been full of doings. He has done welfare and other humanitarian services. If he wasn’t paying school fees, he’s offsetting hospital bills...
As Yobe State continues its journey of recovery, reconstruction, and development, the question of leadership becomes paramount, especially looking towards the 2027 electoral cycle. While political participation is the bedrock of democracy, the complexities facing the state demand more than just political maneuvering. They require deep technical competence, strategic...
By JOHN ONAH, Abuja – Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has faced criticism for his handling of elections in Nigeria. However, his influence within ECONEC and international community has been significant, particularly in promoting cooperation and best practices among West African electoral...
By 2027, when Atiku Abubakar is expectedly going to make what hopefully would be his last ditch effort at striking gold in the presidential election, he would have qualified for pensions in his career of the search, having spent 35 years looking for that slippery trophy. By now, Atiku...
On Friday last week, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former House of Representatives Speaker and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufa’i, former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, former Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, and former Governor of Kaduna State Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, alongside...
Nigeria’s current challenges are products of a complex interplay of historical, economic and social factors, including a flawed foundation, poor governance and successive elites’ inability to improve the country’s infrastructure and institutions. This foundational weakness has hindered national progress, resulting in unimpressive development indices. Those in power seem content...
By PAUL EJIME – Since forming the Alliance of Sahel States, AES, in 2023, followed by their controversial decision to quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in January 2024, the military juntas in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have thrown caution to the wind, ignoring the dire consequences of their ill-advised actions on the estimated...
For the better part of the last decade and half, Nigeria’s national security status has come to be measured by human casualties. Hardly any day passes without the news headlines featuring stories of gory mass murders and senseless killings. When such news breaks, the question is usually about the...