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When a political leader becomes decidedly obstinate in nature, journalists and observers often run out of the right superlatives to describe his daily action. The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), reflects this sentiment adequately well. The Nigerian population and the Presidency currently live in a parallel universe, which spells trouble of a magnitude no […]
Continue ReadingSome of the major challenges bedevilling the electoral process in Nigeria, and thus abbreviating the integrity of democracy in the country include over the years: lack of access to polling units, the location of polling units in problematic parts, overcrowding, conflict, violence, the designation of places like shrines, mosques, churches and private residences as polling […]
Continue Reading“Whatever the party holds to be the truth is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the party.” – George Orwell, in Nineteen Eighty-Four. We are entering the era of enforced silence. When you firmly fold your lips, you are not likely to hop into trouble. That is […]
Continue Reading“Yinka could not have died now. That was not the plan. Yinka had only achieved 1% of what he planned to do. This was not our understanding…” That was the outpouring of a completely unbelieving and shattered Joe, on receiving the news that her husband of over two decades was no more. That Joe and Yinka were […]
Continue ReadingPresident Buhari has just rendered invaluable service to an uneasy nation. He used this year’s political anniversary season to grant two revealing interviews and deliver a beneficial Democracy Day address. With these pronouncements, he has lifted the veil from his troubling trademark silence. The television interviews, one with Arise Television and the other with Nigerian […]
Continue ReadingFor the record, I am ambivalent about the restructuring question. My dream is of an indivisible Nigeria liberated to pursue its power and purpose. I know that it is fashionable to wield the sword, “restructure.” When you go on television or appear before a microphone, it seems to be the default thing to say to […]
Continue ReadingFellow Nigerians, please permit me to bring you some good news in this season of anomie. The reason I want to do this is simple. Just last week, President Muhammadu Buhari threw a challenge at Nigerian Governors, suggesting that they should take care of their States, instead of jumping on the planes to Abuja at […]
Continue ReadingIf wisdom were ever desperately needed, that time is now. But reason is embattled and truth often comes with a high price in this kind of season even if it may bring post hummus tribute to those who speak them today. Why are we caught in this gale of emotional neighbor-bashing and bitterness of spirit […]
Continue ReadingThe history of religion is full of upstarts who started out making dubious claims of divine revelation but ended up shaping history in profound ways. The late Prophet TB Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) was one. I have severely criticised him in the past for some of his practices, and I […]
Continue ReadingI am sure there is no breathing being around the world who does not know that Nigeria is at the brink of collapse and disintegration. Every nook and cranny of our nation is bedevilled by deafening demurrer from Nigerians who are tired of Nigeria. There are groups in the Northern axis that want out. There […]
Continue ReadingIn March this year, the University of Aberdeen, Scotland announced it would return one of the thousands of metal and ivory sculptures and carvings looted by British soldiers from the palace of the Oba of Benin in 1897. According to the Head of Museums and Special Collections, Neil Curtis, the University had previously agreed to […]
Continue ReadingThe constitution review process, enabled by Section 9(3) of Nigeria’s Constitution which says “An Act… for the purpose of altering the provisions of… Section (9), Section 8 (on boundary adjustment and creating new States and Local Governments) or Chapter IV (on Fundamental Human Rights) shall not be passed” except by four-fifth of the National Assembly […]
Continue ReadingMy first meeting with M.K.O. Abiola came early in my career as a reporter with the Newswatch magazine. I had come early to the office, and assistant editor Dare Babarinsa asked me to accompany him to the chief’s house for an interview. I was a society reporter covering the popular celebrity column Newsliners, and my […]
Continue ReadingThe Twitter Saga When I saw the front page headline of This Day Newspaper last Wednesday, I realised that this administration neither cares about the welfare or happiness of Nigerians, nor has it got the wherewithal to fulfil either the primary purpose of Government, nor the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, that […]
Continue ReadingWas it better that President Muhammadu Buhari remained unapologetically deaf to all entreaties to address Nigerians or open a window into his mind and reveal a cesspit of foul-smelling hate? Peradventure there were still nationalistic remnants among his coterie of admirers, after last Thursday’s interview the president granted Arise TV, they would be at the […]
Continue ReadingI have been privileged to interview quite a number of world leaders in the course of my journalism career. These include President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Ketumile Masire of Botswana, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Commonwealth Secretary General Shridath Ramphal, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan etc..not to talk of holding the microphone across the world in the […]
Continue ReadingAs I pointed out in my Facebook and Twitter status updates in the aftermath of Muhammadu Buhari’s June 10 interview with Arise TV, Buhari’s thought-processes, whenever they’re publicly expressed, are often so devoid of basic rhyme and reason that to even try to make sense of them is a painfully senseless waste of one’s senses. […]
Continue ReadingOur president “seems to act speedily only when there is a political enemy to be punished.” That is the conclusion of about 40 diaspora Nigerian intellectuals in a statement they issued on the state of our nation on Friday. Our president is known for their easy life – and he enjoys ‘eating’ it. But, something […]
Continue ReadingDear Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Jideofor Onyeama, We chose to write you instead of President Muhammadu Buhari because it is apparent from the president’s two most recent media outings that his cognitive impairment has greatly deteriorated, even though that is no justification for his murderous and genocidal rhetoric. From his utterances, the […]
Continue ReadingDays have characters of their own. Some are lively, cheery and sunny; others are dull and desultory. Saturday, June 12, was Democracy Day in Nigeria. It had this rather mournful and dreary feel about it. Rumours were rife that sleeping cells of well-armed Janjaweed mercenaries would be unleashed on an unarmed and defenceless populace. Mercifully, […]
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