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In the early hours of Saturday, December 31, 1983, we woke up to martial music on Radio Nigeria. A military officer, who identified himself as Brigadier Sani Abacha, announced the overthrow of the democratically elected government, led by President Shehu Shagari. “You are all living witnesses to the great economic predicament and uncertainty which an […]
Continue ReadingNo, I am not talking politics. I am aware that sixteen months to the next general election, the political atmosphere is already fully charged as if we are going to the polls tomorrow. I am tempted to say I have never seen anything like this in my life, but that would be an unacceptable exaggeration. […]
Continue ReadingHow can election results become more credible and acceptable in Nigeria? If you ask five Nigerians, three will tell you an upright chief executive must be appointed for the Independent National Electoral Commission, better known as INEC. The pervasive opinion is that the most important factor in credible elections is the character of the person […]
Continue ReadingWe made so much noise and raised plenty of eyebrows, but Sir Siminalayi Fubara was successfully sent packing from office for six months in a controversial display of federal might and presidential powers by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. On Wednesday, Fubara was officially restored to office. In summary, he lost the battle for supremacy with […]
Continue ReadingSince he was defeated in the 2015 presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan has remained very visible in the public eye. Moreover, his unspent second term keeps hovering over the political waters. Because Jonathan conducted himself with dignity in the aftermath of his loss — even conceding the election to Candidate Muhammadu Buhari before the results […]
Continue ReadingHow would I ever forget 1983 in my life? My cousin (now of blessed memory) told us Chief Obafemi Awolowo said if he did not win the presidential election, he would relocate to the moon. After the disputed election, won by President Shehu Shagari, we gathered every night in our compound in the village to […]
Continue ReadingMy friend and I were passing by a car parked next to my street. We usually discuss Nigeria during our daily exercise and it is our wont to analyse trending events and developments, trying to highlight the problems and propose possible solutions. I always tell David: “It is very easy to point out Nigeria’s problems. […]
Continue ReadingThe pace and energy with which President Bola Tinubu’s foot soldiers sped to Kaduna last week to defend his stewardship at an engagement organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) should confirm an obvious thing: that the president knows the importance of getting northern support again in his bid for a second term […]
Continue ReadingAfter 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 […]
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