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If there is any lesson we have learnt from the past five weeks, it is how difficult it is to enforce a meaningful lockdown or social distancing in Nigeria. All over the country, wherever restrictions are imposed, the pushing and shoving that occurs during market hours have themselves become serious risk factors. Last Friday, two […]
Continue ReadingHardly a day passed without the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari and I exchanging calls or WhatsApp messages. I never failed to forward negative comments I received about him and he took them as graciously as he took my criticisms of the government he served. But three weeks ago, his […]
Continue ReadingFollowing a meeting in Beijing last Thursday, the ‘Group of African Ambassadors’ wrote a joint letter to Chinese authorities to express their displeasure with the growing “discrimination and stigmatization” of people from the continent. Without a single report that African nationals have violated Chinese government anti-pandemic regulations, the ambassadors said, “we have received disquieting reports […]
Continue ReadingAs we practice social distancing, it is important to practice mental distancing as well. This means staying away from certain categories of people: Quack doctors who claim they have a cure for coronavirus; fake prophets who tell tales of how they saw this virus coming and can end it; conspiracy theorists who argue that this […]
Continue Reading“Social distancing is a privilege. It means you live in a house large enough to practise it. Hand washing is a privilege too. It means you have access to running water. Hand sanitisers are a privilege. It means you have money to buy them. Lockdowns are a privilege. It means you can afford to be […]
Continue ReadingNorthern politicians had just concluded their meeting in Lagos with the Chief Minister of pre-independent Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. A few were now gathered in the office of the Federal Minister of Land, Mines and Power, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, with a number of northern bureaucrats, also part of the colonial administration. When it was […]
Continue ReadingDespite the fact that Nigeria recorded its first index case of COVID-19 on 27th February and five new cases yesterday, (eight in all), President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to personally take ownership of a crisis that has already sent the 2020 budget spinning like a yoyo. A barrel of crude is now selling at $29 […]
Continue ReadingOn Monday, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State finally mustered the courage to do what he had been planning for almost three years: He dethroned the 14th Emir of Kano, HH Muhammadu Sanusi ll. Interestingly, the statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, made no reference to the rash of probes […]
Continue Reading“From 1 January through 9 February 2020, 472 laboratory confirmed cases including 70 deaths have been reported in 26 out of 36 Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory. Of the 472 confirmed cases, 75% have been reported from three states: Edo (167 cases), Ondo (156 cases) and Ebonyi (30 cases) …Fifteen confirmed cases have […]
Continue ReadingWhile blaming the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for “the problems associated with candidates’ selection process” in the party, the Director General of the Progressives Congress Forum, Mr. Salihu Lukeman added that democracy in Nigeria is now anchored not on the choice of the electorate, but on “what can be […]
Continue ReadingFrom the killings of innocent villagers by Katsina State bandits to the abandonment of more than 600 corpses in a Delta State hospital, life has become very cheap in Nigeria. Demoralised by what I see around me, I thought it was going to be another of those weeks of doom and gloom. But it was […]
Continue ReadingAccording to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) statistics, there was a 94 per cent increase in the hacking and destruction of pipeline infrastructure across the country in November 2019. This report is coming at a time when Boko Haram insurgents are continuing to wreak havocs in the North-east, bandits are gradually seizing control in the […]
Continue ReadingLast week, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation listing Nigeria among six countries whose nationals would be subjected “to certain restrictions, limitations, and exceptions” regarding emigration to the United States. Justification for the decision, according to the White House, is that Nigeria does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria, does not adequately […]
Continue ReadingIf there is anything that points to the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari may not be getting a full brief on the security situation in the country, it was his expression of shock on Tuesday regarding the level of criminality across Nigeria. Incidentally, the president spoke 24 hours after Senate President Ahmed Lawan made his […]
Continue ReadingTherefore, a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out…Jeremiah 5: 6 The introduction of the ‘Amotekun’ security outfit by South-West Governors has added a new dimension to how Nigerians make […]
Continue ReadingThere is a famous scene in Tunde Kelani’s movie, ‘Ti oluwa Ni ile’, which speaks to a time like this in our country. At his meeting with the two young men who were trying to co-opt him into the deal to sell a piece of sacred land which belongs to the entire community, Oloye Otun […]
Continue ReadingIt is painful enough that the parents of Favour Seun Daley-Oladele lost their 22-year old daughter, a 400 level theatre art student, in tragic circumstances. But the gory details of how she was dismembered with her organs cooked and eaten by a wealth-seeking mother and son is heartrending. The disgusting belief that money can grow […]
Continue ReadingThat so many of our professionals are leaving Nigeria for societies where things work and where they believe their families can be assured of a secure means of livelihood is a normal human aspiration. I understand the frustrations arising from government failings and dwindling opportunities pushing this drift, especially for our young men and women. […]
Continue ReadingIn my phone conversation with SaharaReporters publisher, Mr Omoyele Sowore, shortly after he was released on bail by the Directorate of State Security (DSS) last Thursday evening, he informed me of the court appearance scheduled for the next day. What he could not have envisaged was the unfortunate courtroom drama that has become an international […]
Continue ReadingOn 7th November, I was in Afiesere, Ughelli for the Service of Songs for late Pa James Okpako Edevbie, father of Olorogun David Edevbie, Chief of Staff to the Delta State Governor. At the end of the ceremony, each guest was handed a take-away food pack. Congregated outside the venue was a large crowd, a […]
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