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After what seems to be a long lull, the hydra-headed campaign for “true federalism” via a brand-new constitution is back in full swing. It’s been a while, really. The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians, says it is working on a draft constitution for the country. The group criticised the 1999 Constitution, saying it was […]
Continue ReadingOn December 31, 1983, I was but a tiny secondary school kid when Brig Sani Abacha announced the overthrow of President Shehu Shagari. The economy was in a complete mess, measured by the skyrocketing cost of living. Oil prices had dropped below $10 per barrel and foreign reserves had fallen to $1 billion — compared to a fairly healthy $10 billion in 1980. Prices of basic commodities doubled in […]
Continue ReadingSome months ago, I called Mr Kolapo Olapoju, editor of TheCable — the online newspaper I founded 11 years ago — and alerted him to the dangers ahead. I told him the next presidential election will be the dirtiest in our history. I advised him to hold regular seminars with his team so as to […]
Continue ReadingBreaking news: a number of prominent Nigerian politicians have finally teamed up and adopted a new political platform to challenge the ruling party and “rescue Nigeria from bad governance, poverty, disease, corruption, spiralling inflation and worsening insecurity”. According to them, Nigerians cannot afford another four years of misrule by the ruling party as the ship […]
Continue ReadingA few months ago, I saw Mrs Maryam Abacha at the Abuja Continental Hotel (formerly Sheraton Hotel). She was about to alight from a car when I caught a glimpse of her. For a 78-year-old woman, she still looked elegant and gorgeous — nearly 27 years after she was shorn of the power and the […]
Continue ReadingAfter years upon years of legal back and forth, a special offences court in Lagos state recently jailed two subsidy fraudsters. Mamman, son of Ahmadu Ali — former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who was once minister of education — was awarded 14 years imprisonment. Also to spend 14 years in prison is […]
Continue ReadingMay I confess upfront that I am a fan of Prof Ish’aq Oloyede, the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). I have been genuinely impressed with the energy, commitment and innovation that he has brought to the organisation since he was appointed as the CEO in 2016. It very much reminds me […]
Continue ReadingThere was an outbreak of controversy recently over statements made by Mr Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, about Nigeria at an international forum. Speaking at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, the US, Obi compared poverty statistics in Nigeria to those of Vietnam and China. He said more people […]
Continue ReadingDr. Tunji Alausa, minister of education, made a frightening disclosure on Monday that, predictably, attracted little attention: Nigeria has a shortage of 600,000 medical doctors. Kindly read that again, this time slowly. Our attention is devoted to the 2027 presidential election, so we can be excused for missing the unhealthy piece of news. Nigerians were […]
Continue ReadingGovernor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta state has ended weeks of speculation by defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC). It is significant: this is the first time Delta state would not be governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the dawn of the fourth republic in 1999. He has relocated to the APC with […]
Continue ReadingIn July 2005, I was aboard an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Lagos on my way from Saudi Arabia. As we approached the Nigerian air space, the pilot announced that we would be landing in Kano because the Lagos airport had been closed. An airplane had crash-landed and blocked the only runway at the […]
Continue ReadingAnytime people complain to my hearing about the lopsided high-level appointments made so far by President Bola Tinubu, I am tempted to gloat and proclaim: “Told you so!” I have never hidden my bias for the reflection of federal character, or equity, in appointments, employments and projects. My simple argument for decades has been that […]
Continue ReadingIf anyone had told me in 2004 that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu would one day, as president of Nigeria, declare emergency rule in a state and suspend a governor because of a squabble between a godfather and his godson, I would have said: “Stop it! Tinubu would never do that!” But you should forgive me: […]
Continue ReadingWith Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi central) suspended by the senate for “misconduct” and “refusal to comply with the seating arrangement” in the red chamber, may we now carefully proceed to the substance of her allegation against Senate President Godswill Akpabio? We need not be distracted from the serious allegation against the nation’s No 3 […]
Continue ReadingAs soon as I laid my hands on Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s autobiography, ‘A Journey in Service’, there were only two things I was eager to read: the June 12 annulment story and the murder of Dele Giwa, one of the finest journalists out of Nigeria. There were many landmarks that defined the IBB era […]
Continue ReadingThe House of Reps has received proposals to create 31 new states across the country. Amazing. If every proposal sails through (which I doubt), that means we will end up with 67 states since we currently have 36 of them. That would mean 67 state governors, 67 state cabinets (with thousands of commissioners, special advisers […]
Continue ReadingYou can say whatever you like about Rt Hon Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, but you can never accuse the former governor of Rivers state of denying the media premium content anytime he speaks. He talks so plainly and pungently you cannot but hunger and thirst for more. He is a journalist’s delight. Those in the business […]
Continue ReadingHow can I forget? On April 22, 1990, Major Gideon Orkar announced the overthrow of Gen Ibrahim Babangida’s military regime which he described in choice words as “dictatorial, corrupt, drug-baronish, deceitful”. In those days, every coup speech was welcomed with enthusiasm. Every new administration was seen as the dawn of a golden era. Orkar made […]
Continue ReadingA year ago, Mr Olanipekun Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), openly lamented the “craze and quest for gratification, bribes and other compromises” by some of the commission’s investigators. “They are becoming too embarrassing and this must not continue,” he said. Monday last week, the EFCC dismissed 27 officials over alleged […]
Continue ReadingDo you know that Jigawa can become the richest state in Nigeria? Don’t laugh at me and say “this guy has started again”. I will explain myself, but my central point remains that we have a mental block when it comes to understanding the wealth of a state. We have limited it to mineral resources […]
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