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Driving through Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) streets during the recent Federal Capital Territory (FCT) elections, I witnessed what members of the political class seem uninterested in hearing. Polling units that should have buzzed with civic energy were attended by more party agents and security personnel than actual voters. With 65,676 votes recorded for all the […]
Continue ReadingFollowing the revelation of the withdrawal of $2.1 billion ‘security money’ from Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) accounts more than a decade ago, I wrote a column titled, ‘NNPC: The ATM for Dirty Money’. The scandal occurred amid the drama in the National Assembly over the Petroleum Industry (PIB) at the time. And my piece dwelt more on the gaps in the PIB, especially regarding how NNPC operations might be impacted once the legislation was […]
Continue ReadingOn 26 November 2012, I was the lead speaker at the annual Chief of Army Staff Conference in Asaba, Delta State. I spoke on ‘Terrorism and Inter-Agency Coordination in Nigeria’. While congratulating me later that night, one of the Generals ‘confessed’ that when some of them learnt about my invitation, they kicked against ‘a small […]
Continue ReadingLast Friday, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State resigned from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on which he came to power in 2023. His estranged political godfather, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, took it personally, christening January 23 as a ‘Day of Betrayal’. Beyond the fact that such declaration is quintessentially Nigerian in its victim […]
Continue ReadingI visited Kano in May 2012 at the instance of my friend, Mohammed Jamu, a long-standing disciple of then Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. On arrival, I went straight for an audience with Kwankwaso whom I had known since the aborted Third Republic in the early nineties when he served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. […]
Continue ReadingIn a pre-recorded New Year’s Day interview aired on Venezuela State Television last Thursday, (then) President Nicholas Maduro pledged his preparedness for negotiations with the United States—though he expressed doubt as to the motives for the siege on his country. “What are they seeking? It is clear that they seek to impose themselves through threats, […]
Continue ReadingThe Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) General Manager for Strategic Communications, Ms. Onyi Sunday, insisted I speak at a capacity-building session for members of the media/PR team. So, I was at their headquarters in Abuja last Thursday where a few managers from other departments joined in. During the interactions that followed my presentation, […]
Continue ReadingThe National Security Strategy of the United States 2025, representing President Donald Trump’s view of the world and his administration’s foreign policy direction was released last week. Erik Solheim, a Norwegian diplomat who served as Minister for International Development and also Environment in his country as well as Under Secretary General of the United Nations and […]
Continue ReadingIt is becoming increasingly clear that what unfolded in Guinea-Bissau last week Wednesday was a brazen drama staged by a desperate presidential incumbent who could read the writing on the wall but was not ready for the people’s verdict. With the election concluded three days earlier and the result being awaited, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo […]
Continue ReadingOn 8th April 2012, Boko Haram suicide bombers drove explosive-laden vehicles into two popular churches in Kaduna, killing at least 38 people. They also left dozens of others injured in a terror attack that shook the nation. Exactly 18 days later, another suicide bomber drove into THISDAY premises in Abuja in a deadly attack that I was only lucky to […]
Continue ReadingI have been out of the country since last week Monday. And for the past ten days, almost every Nigerian I have encountered has sought my view about the alleged coup attempt that led to the arrest and detention of a number of military officers. Of course, we know that in recent days, President Donald […]
Continue ReadingFollowing the adoption of ‘a motion of urgent public importance’ moved by Hon Amobi Ogah, the House of Representatives resolved last week to investigate the ‘$460 million’ Chinese loan secured by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to procure and install Closed-Circuit Televisions (ICCTV) cameras in strategic locations within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. This […]
Continue ReadingWhen in February 2013 the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur was rather dismissive of the opposition coalition. “If you go for a (football) contest, you have the striker – you know Lionel Messi? PDP is […]
Continue ReadingPresenting fake credentials to get elected for executive/legislative offices or secure appointments for which they are not qualified is not new in Nigeria. And the last 26 years of civil rule has only exacerbated it. Aided by the absence of a reliable database in a society where people make claims that are hardly checked, it has long been established that […]
Continue ReadingWhen Nigeria marked its 60th independence anniversary five years ago, I recalled how 1960 was deemed ‘The Year of Africa’. Because 16 of the 17 countries that gained independence that year were from the continent. I then x-rayed the state of those other 15 African countries that secured their independence same year with Nigeria: Niger […]
Continue ReadingI recount this story because of the impact it had on me and its significance to our society. Besides, it happened to be the only opportunity I ever had to engage veteran actor, Mr Olu Jacobs, whom I have always admired from a distance. In 2003, I had been invited by Cadbury Nigeria Plc to the ‘Bournvita Award for Teachers’ ceremony in Lagos to read […]
Continue ReadingThe past two weeks have been tough for me health wise, but I appreciate all those who have either called or sent messages. I also thank God for His mercies. I am getting better. I couldn’t write this column last week and I had neither the motivation nor the presence of mind to do so […]
Continue ReadingThe copyright to the above title belongs to Khaleed Yazeed, a young journalist. He has written several reports about the way bandit kingpins are being enabled with a policy of appeasement that has only escalated their violence on innocent people, especially in Zamfara and Katsina States. This is what provoked Yazeed’s latest headline: “The chairman of Safana […]
Continue ReadingMr. 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 ReadingIn the age in which we live, parents are able to choose their child’s country of birth. Assuming they have the financial means to do so. In most cases, it could also be a path to the acquisition of citizenship of those countries. But no matter how rich parents are, the ancestry of these children […]
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