APC and lessons from Oyo by-election, By Lasisi Olagunju

The Cambridge English dictionary defines ‘carcass’ as “the body of a dead animal, especially a large one.” The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was recently described as “a carcass” by one of its former governors, Mr Ayodele Fayose. Yet, that carcass defeated the reigning lion, the APC, in a decisive election in Oyo State at the […]

Continue Reading

Wasiu Ayinde: Shame of a nation (1), By Tunde Odesola

Unenviable bee life. Despite buzzing from pillar to post in the field, transporting tonnes of nectar sugar to its hive for honey, the bee, like the Value Jet aircraft passenger, is ultimately deboarded from its hive in an extractive process to yield nature’s sweetest and goldiest liquid, honey; a perfect example of the product outvaluing […]

Continue Reading

The end of Nigerian political parties, By Dele Sobowale

“A political party deserves the approbation of the American people only as it represents the ideals, the aspirations and hopes of Americans. If it is anything else, it is merely a conspiracy to seize power” – US President Dwight Eisenhower, 1890-1969. I strongly believe that a Nigerian political party deserves to be called one only if […]

Continue Reading

Bigotry will end Nigeria if conscious integration steps are not taken, By Azuka Onwuka

The recent rise in ethnic nationalism and intolerance in Nigeria is a cause of concern. Many people often assume that there is nothing wrong with nationalist ideologies, believing that those who promote them are bold individuals who deserve to be celebrated. Reasons and justifications are given for their actions and utterances. But that was how […]

Continue Reading

Peter Obi, Jonathan and ‘One-Term’, By Olusegun Adeniyi

Mr. Peter Obi, former Anambra State Governor and LP (Labour Party) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, recently pledged he would serve only one term if elected president in 2027. Essentially to reassure political leaders from a section of the country of his commitment to the zoning arrangement. “Longevity in office is not a mark of success; rather, […]

Continue Reading

Flight attendants and King Wasiu Ayinde’s curse, By Lasisi Olagunju

My literature teacher told me that situational irony is a fire station burning down, or a Babaláwo dying of Mágùn. Some 40 years ago, Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, cursed his enemies in a song that they would challenge a moving vehicle, stand arrogantly in its front and then lose their limbs to the fury of […]

Continue Reading

The Selectorate: When the people vote but the judges choose, By Abdul Mahmud

One month ago, in Abuja, a small circle of friends, literary enthusiasts, human rights activists, politicians, public intellectuals and thinkers gathered to listen to Chidi Odinkalu read from his latest offering, The Selectorate: When Judges Topple the People. It was a private reading, but the ideas Chidi graciously espoused belong in the public domain. They […]

Continue Reading

$100,000 prizes: When too much is inadequate, By Abimbola Adelakun

When the Super Falcons, the Nigerian women’s national football team, won their tenth WAFCON title in Morocco recently, the President splashed them with a $100,000 prize, conferred the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger on all 24 players, and then gifted each of them a three-bedroom apartment. Staff of the team’s […]

Continue Reading

Igbophobia revisited, By Donu Kogbara

In a newspaper interview last Sunday, Shehu Sani, a former senator from Kaduna State, said that if Peter Obi is given the ADC’s presidential ticket, most Northerners will (for “regional and cultural reasons”) set aside their differences and re-elect Tinubu in 2027. What Sani REALLY means is that most Northerners would rather tolerate another four years of […]

Continue Reading

David Mark, Dele Giwa, Abiola and other stories, By Lasisi Olagunju

Who killed Dele Giwa? Who was Gloria Okon and where is she today? How did David Mark accurately predict in 1994 that Sani Abacha would spend five years in power and would attempt to contest a multi-party presidential election with only himself as candidate? Why did M. K.O. Abiola contest the 1993 election even after […]

Continue Reading

Whose President is Tinubu, Anyway?, By Chidi Amuta

Midway into a rather routine and very tepid presidency, President Bola Tinubu is caught in strange identity crisis. Politicians from across the nation are asking the president to define whose leader he really is. The general public is equally embarrassed by what many see as an “anyhow “ government: no focus, no commitment, no clarity […]

Continue Reading

Looking Like Tinubu vs Atiku vs Obi Again, By Simon Kolawole

The pace and energy with which President Bola Tinubu’s foot soldiers sped to Kaduna last week to defend his stewardship at an engagement organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) should confirm an obvious thing: that the president knows the importance of getting northern support again in his bid for a second term […]

Continue Reading

Polygamy not new but its meaning no longer same, By Stephanie Shaakaa

What once stood as a system of communal survival, built on cooperation and collective responsibility, now trembles under the weight of secrecy, betrayal, and broken trust. Our forefathers practised polygamy with a kind of order that baffled logic, multiple wives, one compound, children everywhere, and yet, somehow, harmony found a way. But today, that same institution is […]

Continue Reading

Charly Boy: Of bus stops and last stops, By Abimbola Adelakun

Future historians of this period will one day note that the 2027 presidential election was one of the most remarkable in our national history, as it was the first campaign to begin even before the 2023 election was properly concluded. We know that in Africa, time ordinarily orbits around elections and electioneering. Since elections are […]

Continue Reading