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The foregoing is far from being a rhetorical question. To be sure, it would be important to know if teams of election observers from Nigeria and other African countries have left for the United States to monitor the do-or die American elections. After all, if American civil society organisations could sponsor the observer teams to […]
Continue ReadingThe Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Peoples Republic of China share the same National Day, October 1. Perhaps, one other thing that Nigeria shares with China is a relatively large population. Nigeria has the largest population in Africa while until it was recently overtaken by India, China was the most populated country in the […]
Continue ReadingThe much awaited verdict of the Supreme Court on the appeal filed by the sacked chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, will bear resonance in the polity beyond the party. Seondus is contesting the legality of his removal from office as well as the convention of the party, which has produced […]
Continue ReadingWhat is really happening to the southeast of Nigeria? The honest answer to that crucial question of our time should be that there isn’t a coherent official explanation yet of the incipient anarchy enveloping the zone. It is necessary to have a comprehensive account of the forces at play in the troubled zone as part […]
Continue ReadingAmong the many victims of violent crimes in the last few days is a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Luka Benson Yakusak. He was abducted on Monday evening by gunmen who invaded his house in the Ikulu Chiefdom of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The kidnap happened two days after the killing of […]
Continue ReadingSince independence the unity of Nigeria has hardly ever been taken for granted. This topic is being revisited here because it is even dangerous to have false assumptions today about a united Nigeria under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari. The basis of unity in the country is being called to question in virtually every […]
Continue ReadingThe simple answer to the above question is that there is no tribe anywhere in Nigeria. In reality, there are instead communities, ethnic groups and nationalities making up the country. Yet in official documents and public discussions ethnic groups comprising tens of millions of people are incorrectly referred to as “tribes.” Hence, from the professor […]
Continue ReadingFormer Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar made a point on ARISE NEWS the other day that should not be ignored by the advocates of a fresh constitution for Nigeria. The 1999 Constitution has been fiercely criticised as an imposition by the military government of General Abubakar. The opinion of many respected critics is that […]
Continue ReadingIn his younger days, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who was re-elected a fortnight ago for a sixth term in office, was widely acclaimed as an agent of change. Today, the 76-year old former guerrilla fighter is widely seen as an obstacle to change in his 35th year in power. The obvious irony in Museveni’s […]
Continue ReadingIt is 2,429 days today that hundreds of schoolgirls were abducted from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State. Some of the students have been released. But it is estimated that over a hundred are still being held by the terrorists. Hence the campaign to “bring back our girls” is still very much alive, although […]
Continue ReadingThe response to the last weekend bestial killing of dozens of rice farmers in Zabarmari should go beyond lamentation and making the usual calls on the President to wake up to his duty as the Commander-in-Chief. The government and the people alike should never mistake the clear message embodied in what happened in Jere Local […]
Continue ReadingProfessor Bolaji Akinyemi once said that in certain circumstances “a tree can make a forest.” The former foreign minister upended the usual saying that “a tree does not make a forest” in a remarkable tribute to the exceptional courage and consistency of radical lawyer Gani Fawehinmi as a historical figure. In many respects, Akinyemi’s phrase […]
Continue ReadingThe current protests of the youths spreading across the country, under the bold banners of #ENDSARS, were provoked by serial assaults on freedom and human dignity. So, the issue at stake is that of justice, which Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka says “is the first condition of humanity.” Backed unambiguously by the constitution and immensely supported […]
Continue ReadingThere is hardly any country in which nation-building is a finished business. To build a nation its people under a leadership with a sense of historic mission must continuously strive for renewal. That’s one organising principle behind the stories of those countries to which Nigerians like to compare their nation. So, tomorrow’s 60th anniversary of […]
Continue ReadingVice President Yemi Osinbajo urged the global community at the weekend to avoid a scenario in which only the “highest bidder” would have access to the coronavirus vaccine. As a matter of fact, the vice president was far from making a nationalistic statement; he actually spoke for all those described as the “wretched of the […]
Continue ReadingIt is an irony of Nigeria’s history that while today’s political parties are bereft of ideologies and articulated programmes, an ideologically sophisticated party was formed in Kano 70 years ago. On August 8, 1950, the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) was born. It was the culmination of the efforts by some leftist elements, among whom […]
Continue ReadingFor five years now, the kitchen cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari has been in the news for various reasons. This kitchen cabinet is markedly different from the cabinet that the President would preside over its meeting in Aso Rock this morning. A recent report that the President’s nephew, Mallam Mamman Daura, expressed (personal) preference for […]
Continue Reading“Nkan ti a ba ni gba l’olowo, talika ni a ti nko”. (You had better reject as a poor man what you would find unacceptable as a rich man.) – A Yoruba saying. Former Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Gadio threw a challenge two days ago at a webinar that should interest Nigerians as they ponder […]
Continue ReadingPresident Donald Trump of the United States was as active as ever on Twitter yesterday as he continued the rhetorical assaults on his angry fellow citizens protesting racism. The American president elected to do that on the day of the funeral of George Floyd rather than douse the fire on the streets with a unifying […]
Continue ReadingAt last, Attorney General Abubakar Malami took a wise step last Tuesday in “ordering” the State Security Service (SSS) to comply with court orders by releasing from custody Colonel Sambo Dasuki and Mr. Omoyele Sowore. Well, it is better late than never, as they say. But it could have been a wiser thing to do […]
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