BY JONES ONYERERI The assertions that President Tinubu’s intervention in Rivers State constitutes an unconstitutional power grab or a “military coup in civilian disguise” fundamentally misrepresent the legal, political, and security realities that necessitated federal action. Far from being a partisan maneuver, the declaration of a state of emergency...
OPINION
By SAM EFERARO – Almost a year after the loss of her two children, the young woman is still too traumatised to tell her story. But neighbours remember her ordeal. Her baby had suddenly taken ill that fateful morning, under a pouring rain. With no help around and the child’s health deteriorating by the...
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy on May 29th, 2023, will always be remembered for its audacity. And the President himself will be in history books for his uncommon courage. Now, less than two years later, the alternative is steadily paying-off, not only for motorists and transporters,...
Growing up on the dusty streets of Sabon-Gari in Kano saw me take a liking to several newspaper columnists. One of these columnists is Sonola Olumhese. Perhaps, owing to his ability to deliver his message in simple yet flowery language not minding whose ox is gored, his penchant for...
In recent years, Nigeria has made considerable strides in embracing the digital revolution. As 2025 unfolds, the nation’s digital landscape reveals a mix of tremendous growth, evolving technologies, and lingering challenges. Drawing insights from the latest “Digital 2025” global report by DataReportal, we examine how Nigeria is positioned to...
PART ONE: EDUCATION With less than 8 weeks to May 29, 2025 today, I have undertaken an altruistic and apolitical assessment of the midterm performance of the administration of Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia of Benue State. It is about halftime! Every week from Sunday, April 6 until Sunday, May...
On June 11, 2018, former President Muhammadu Buhari designated June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day in honour of Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election. Reveling in the declaration, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, the erstwhile Chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), commended Buhari for the...
Leadership, at its core, is the ability to inspire trust, take responsibility, and deliver results in the face of competing demands. For Governor Mai Mala Buni, CON, the last six years have not only tested his leadership mettle but have also defined him as one of Nigeria’s most dependable...
Ordinarily, President Bola Tinubu’s reconstitution of the governing board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited should inspire hope for positive changes in the country’s beleaguered petroleum sector, but for critics and many Nigerians, it is a wait-and-see response. An official government statement on 2nd April 2025, said the move...
major test for the Nigerian judiciary was the March 20, 2025 judgment of Justice Akpan Okon Ebong of the FCT High Court who struck out a case filed by Mr. Femi Falana SAN, purporting to act on a fiat donated to him by the Attorney General and Minister of...
In school, we are taught that the media—often described as the Fourth Estate—exists to educate, inform, and serve as a watchdog for society. Yet behind this noble ideal lies a troubling reality: media narratives are frequently shaped by the interests of their proprietors, patrons, and editors. Even on deeply...
In recent weeks, we seem to have been wrestling with the very idea of democracy. After all, our political system has passed through the Westminster parliamentary system and over three decades of the Washington type presidential system. There is a prolonged assumption that we are indeed a thriving democracy...
The hoopla generated by General Babangida’s memoir; “A Journey In Service” was typically synonymous with his larger than life image; an image that is immersed in “controversy”. Anything Babangida, for good or bad, right or wrong is always a piece of news. Babangida comes with several octopoidal parts, representing...
Affirmative Action refers to proactive measures taken by organisations or governments to ensure equal opportunity for historically marginalised groups. It aims to address past and present discrimination by implementing policies that promote diversity and inclusion… – The Oxford Review The saying: “What a man can do, a woman can...
In Nigeria, history tends to repeat itself with unerring accuracy and in tiresome syntax. When he wrote his Report on the Amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria and Administration in 1919, Frederick Lugard described Nigeria as an “anomaly…. of a country with aggregate revenue practically equal to its needs, but divided...
The former Governor of Imo State, and one time Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Nkem Ihedioha, turns 60 on March 24, 2025. A colloquium and dinner have been planned in Abuja to honour the Mbutu Mbaise-born politician as he attains this remarkable milestone in his life....
President Bola Tinubu has dealt a fatal punch on Nigeria’s democratic prospects. As the head of the executive branch, he has injured the judiciary and subverted the legislature in what promises to be a dangerous drift towards authoritarianism. On the Rivers crisis, the Supreme Court ruled on the side...
President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and all state lawmakers for an initial period of six months. This action was taken in response to escalating political tensions between the governor and the State House of Assembly, which...
In the week in which former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai abandoned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to chart a different political trajectory with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), his son, Bashir, characteristically made it known that “Southern Kaduna residents will keep seeing sheghe if they continue to attack indigenous Fulani herdsmen.” Three things...
*Adapted and excerpted from a Keynote Address at the 2025 Abia Think Tank Annual Lecture at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, on 1st March. Born in a dictatorship and nurtured under a fledgling but untidy democracy, Abia state has had a tortuous encounter with statehood. Its citizens have hardly found...