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Born on 29 May 1926, former Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade turned 100 last Friday, making him the first West African leader in history to become a centenarian. But the remarkable story of Wade is not just about age. A long-time opposition leader, Wade ran for president four times in a period spanning 22 years, beginning in 1978, before […]
Continue ReadingThe eight men in the conference room of the Government House glanced at one another as they waited for the Governor to join the meeting. Seeking the same ticket to the House of Representatives for Wahala federal constituency, they had been invited for a final meeting before the party primaries scheduled for the next day. Seated on […]
Continue ReadingFollowing his capitulation, (Major Chukwuma) Nzeogwu was brought to Lagos and admitted at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where I went to see him. I asked why they killed all senior officers in Lagos and Kaduna, and further asked, ‘do you realise the damage this has done to the esprit de corps of the […]
Continue ReadingDespite Standing Rules practically exempting him from serving as a principal officer in the 8th Senate, the name of a certain Godswill Akpabio was announced in plenary as Minority Leader on 28th July 2015. Having left office as Akwa Ibom State Governor just a few weeks before, Akpabio had been nominated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the […]
Continue ReadingI am not much into movies but there are some I can watch numerous times without being bored. Two stand out: ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Titanic’. In the latter, the scene I consider most memorable is where the captain informs the ship owner that they had hit an iceberg. “From this moment, no matter what we do, the Titanic will founder,” […]
Continue ReadingWith Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State invoking ‘Operation Wet ẹ’ at the Ibadan gathering of the ‘Participating Opposition Parties in Nigeria’ (we can also help them by adding the acronym, POPN), Nigerians do not need anyone to tell them that another desperate season is already upon us. Makinde warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) not to play pranks with […]
Continue ReadingThe Owode Onirin saga is one that should trouble every Nigerian who still believes in the possibility of justice, especially for the ordinary citizens. On 27th August 2025, a day the traders of that sprawling motor spare parts market now call ‘Black Wednesday’, six men were shot dead in broad daylight during the enforcement of […]
Continue ReadingFor weeks now, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has been embroiled in a leadership crisis that, on the surface, appears to be a routine internal dispute. With a (former) Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe as agent provocateur, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has unwittingly entered the fray in a manner that has put […]
Continue ReadingAt the 2016 edition of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) annual ‘Telecom World’ held in Bangkok, Thailand, then Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai shared the story of the difficulty encountered in selling Nigeria’s liberalised telecommunications industry to international investors. According to El-Rufai, who was the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) Director-General between 1999 and 2003, Nigeria was so […]
Continue ReadingDriving 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 […]
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