Fuel Scarcity, Abidoshaker And Other Stories, By Reuben Abati

“How are you coping with this fuel scarcity? Fuel queues everywhere. Even the bus stops are crowded. People waiting for buses that also do not have fuel.” “What I don’t understand is why every administration since 1999, marking the return to civilian rule, has had to deal with exactly the same problems: fuel scarcity, a […]

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Onakoya: Playing Chess from The Slum to World Record, By Reuben Abati

Tunde Onakoya, the 29-year-old Nigerian Chess Master who has just broken the World Record for the longest chess marathon is most appropriately an embodiment of the Nigerian can-do spirit, the capacity of the average Nigerian to snatch victory from the depths of despair, indeed just when you think it is over, the Nigerian is so […]

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The Yoruba Nation ‘Secessionists’ of Ibadan, By Reuben Abati

On Saturday, April 13, a group of 18 masked persons dressed in army camouflage, armed with rifles, charms and Oodua Nation flags attempted to take over the Oyo State House of Assembly and Government Secretariat to proclaim the emergence of a Yoruba Nation. They caused some commotion as they insisted on hoisting a flag, but […]

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Nigeria’s Delegation at COP 28 in Dubai, By Reuben Abati

The biggest story in Nigeria at the moment is the size of Nigeria’s delegation to the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Summit on Climate Change, otherwise known as COP 28. In simple terms, the objective of the Conference of Parties is to secure multilateral, bilateral agreements on the consensus by a panel […]

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Ribadu And Buhari’s Bankrupt Country, By Reuben Abati

Nuhu Ribadu, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) now Nigeria’s National Security Adviser has been very vocal lately and there may well be many out there who may be wondering why the NSA, effectively the country’s official “father of secrets” should be so loud in the public arena. The NSA in […]

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Off-Cycle Elections: Imo, Kogi, Bayelsa, By Reuben Abati

Off-cycle elections in Nigeria are elections that are held outside the usual timetable for general elections. When Nigeria returned to democratic, civilian rule in 1999, the expectation was that elections would be held regularly across the federation in a four-year-cycle, but after the 1999 elections, many candidates went to court to protest the outcome of […]

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Tinubu And The Supplementary Budget: Matters Arising, By Reuben Abati

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently proposed to the National Assembly a N2. 18 trillion supplementary budget – the details of which have generated much interest in the public domain, especially those aspects of the supplementary budget relating to expenditures not considered of urgent importance but now reintroduced into the existing framework.  During the campaigns for […]

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Lessons From The Supreme Court, By Reuben Abati

On Thursday, October 26, the Supreme Court of Nigeria gave its judgment in the appeals by Waziri Atiku Abubakar and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and Mr. Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) challenging the September 6 judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) which affirmed Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 Presidential […]

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We Are All MohBad: A Cultural Essay, By Reuben Abati

Beyond politics – Tinubu’s maiden trip to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Atiku Abubakar’s voyage of discovery for Tinubu’s academic records in the United States, revelations regarding how the Presidency lied about the President’s stop-over after the G20 Summit on his way back home at the United Arab Emirates, the increasing failure of the […]

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Tinubu’s Ministers And Nigeria’s Dilemma, By Reuben Abati

Yesterday, 45 Ministers took the oath of office as Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pursuant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu exercising executive powers as granted under Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution, and in line with Section 147(3).  These Ministers of the “Restored Hope Agenda”, we are told have a mandate to deliver […]

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