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A few days to the end of their administration in May 2007, then Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mr. Olufemi Pedro, resigned his appointment. But Governor Bola Tinubu refused to accept the letter. Tinubu’s goal was to ensure that the impeachment proceedings commenced against Pedro by the State House of Assembly ran its full course. Pedro’s […]
Continue ReadingRichard Lederer, an Octogenarian linguist dubbed as ‘the wizard of wisdom’, once wrote about how George Orwell (19th century English writer renowned for such novels as ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’) “warned us that dishonest language is a drug that can put conscience to sleep.” We see a lot of that today in Nigeria, especially within the […]
Continue ReadingAs we mark another ‘Democracy Day’, it is important for those in authority at all levels to address the existential challenges faced by most Nigerians, the clear and present dangers to the communal faith in our country and the security threats posed by sundry cartels of criminals. But on a day such as this, it is also important to […]
Continue ReadingOn 30th May 2018, then Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha added a new word to the vocabulary of politics in Nigeria. Explaining the nature of the democracy being practiced in our country on a Channels Television programme, Okorocha told his interviewer, Ladi Akeredolu-Ale, “If you come to my state and I have collected N500 billion, yet I […]
Continue ReadingIn a landmark judgement that could deal with those who lend themselves to electoral malpractices in Nigeria, the Court of Appeal in Calabar last week upheld the conviction of Peter Ogban. The professor of soil science at the University of Calabar was the returning officer in the 2019 Akwa Ibom North West senatorial election, which he attempted […]
Continue ReadingLong before the late Sergei Mavrodi arrived on the Nigerian financial scene in November 2015 with his MMM pyramid scheme, his reputation as an international fraudster preceded him. As far back as 2007, Mavrodi had been convicted in Russia for defrauding 10,000 investors. But somehow, he survived brushes with the law over sharp practices to go global with […]
Continue ReadingThe superstitious belief that instant wealth can be conjured by herbalists or ‘native doctors’ has sent an inordinate number of innocent people to their untimely death in Nigeria. But how desperate or gullible must someone be not to understand that if these ‘native doctors’ could create money by performing rituals, they themselves would not be so poor? That precisely […]
Continue ReadingI have in the last quarter of a century (since 2001) written dozens of columns on how ancient animosities have fed a spiral of violence in Plateau State. ‘Fire from the Mountains’, followed the July 2012 brutal killing of then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Gyang Dantong and then Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Gyang […]
Continue ReadingIn 1979, the outgoing military administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo established the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) to identify our country men and women (whether at home or in the Diaspora) who have made outstanding contributions to knowledge and creativity and grant them special recognition. The award is categorised under four fields of human endeavour: […]
Continue ReadingEver since the fight for power and control commenced in Rivers State between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his immediate predecessor and current Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, it was obvious the two groups were going for broke. While Fubara may have lulled himself to proclaim, as he did last May, that the ‘Jungle […]
Continue ReadingLast Thursday, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months by the Senate for violating its rules. But with the disciplinary action coming after she had formally submitted a petition alleging sexual harassment against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, it is the chambers that is now on the defensive. The highest legislative body in the […]
Continue ReadingIn a December 2016 piece titled ‘Tales of the Unexpected’, I used a ‘case study’ involving five scenarios to explain the Nigerian condition. And since every Nollywood movie must have a sequel, I crave the indulgence of readers to release ‘Part 2’ of that column today. SCENE ONE: In the course of a break-in at a local branch […]
Continue ReadingOne of the grandchildren of the late General Sani Abacha attacked General Ibrahim Babangida last weekend in an angry post on X. Titled, ‘My grandfather saved the life of a coward’, it features a photo of Babangida and Abacha holding hands. But the first line carries the punch: “If the lifespans of these two consequential figures were reversed, this treachery […]
Continue ReadingToday in Abuja, ‘A Journey of Service: An Autobiography’, by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, will be publicly presented. With the book coming 32 years after Babangida ‘stepped aside’ in August 1993, it means that more than 70 percent of Nigerians were not witnesses to the events in the narratives, given our young demographics. Like everything Babangida, as […]
Continue ReadingIn a viral video said to have been recorded on the eighth-day Fidau prayers for the repose of his mother who died recently, Fuji musician, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall (KWAM 1) could be heard lamenting to an unidentified man in the street slang common in Lagos, “Ilé bàbá mí ni Fìdípọ̀tẹ̀, àwọn àlfà, wọn lọ […]
Continue ReadingLast weekend, The Nation newspapers published a gripping story of 47-year-old twin brothers who lured a young girl to their hideout in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, where they murdered and dismembered her body for ritual purposes. Now in the custody of the Ogun State Police Command, one of the twins is already singing. “We usually […]
Continue ReadingNo fewer than 21 Heads of State, including Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame, as well as former African leaders like Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Jacob Zuma, among others, were at the Independent Square in Accra on Tuesday for the swearing-in ceremony of Mr John Dramani Mahama as President of Ghana. And it could not have escaped the attention of these […]
Continue ReadingI commiserate with the families who lost loved ones to the stampedes of recent days in Ibadan, Oyo State, Okija, Anambra State and Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). There can be no greater tragedy than for anybody to die while looking for something to eat, especially during a festive season like this. So, for those […]
Continue ReadingIn a chilling report released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), N2.2 trillion was paid to kidnappers as ransom between May 2023 and April 2024. Titled, ‘The Crime Experienced and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024’, the report revealed that as many as 91 per cent of kidnapping incidents in the country were to extract ransom, while 2.4 per […]
Continue ReadingThe moment I stepped out of church last Sunday and checked my phone, I saw a missed call from my friend, Mustapha Sanah (HRH Dalun-Lana Tapha Mahamadu II). He had left a terse message: “Prepare for inauguration.” I surmised that former President John Dramani Mahama and candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Coalition (NDC) had won […]
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