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The best way to enjoy electioneering seasons is to be emotionally detached. The moment you are a player — or you are emotionally invested — you cannot have fun to the fullest. There will be too much tension and excitement racing through your blood. Too much prejudice will block your sight. You will cry when […]
Continue ReadingNearly 10 years ago, my childhood friends and I bought land in the village. My thinking was that I would, once in a while, spend the weekend at the countryside to experience a different ambience away from the hustle and bustle of Lagos — my home for the past 33 years. I had to abandon […]
Continue ReadingIn October 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel over its occupation of the Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula, two Arab territories. With the now-defunct Soviet Union (read Russia) backing Egypt and Syria, the US automatically queued behind Israel. Arab countries, in solidary with Egypt and Syria, retaliated by placing an oil […]
Continue ReadingIt has now become a tradition for me to analyse the psychology of the Nigerian voter ahead of every general election. Why? I am sitting in my balcony watching people pass by as they argue and pontificate on who will win — or who should win. I hear people argue about merit, power rotation, generational […]
Continue ReadingIn 1996, my cousin, born and raised in Kaduna, came visiting us in Lagos. In fact, she came to start her tertiary education. We were driving one Sunday evening when she saw a dead body on the expressway near Charly Boy bus stop. The body had apparently been mutilated by a number of speeding vehicles. […]
Continue ReadingFirst, a caveat: I am not in the business of endorsing or demarketing any presidential candidate. But what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP flagbearer, said in Kaduna last weekend generated so much heat that I felt compelled to throw in my perspective. Speaking to a group of northerners at the interactive session of the Arewa […]
Continue ReadingIn 1999, as President Olusegun Obasanjo was getting set to assume office, Channels TV sampled the opinions of everyday Nigerians on their expectations from the new government. One woman memorably said: “I want Obasanjo to bring the economy down!” You can laugh all you want, but her message was very clear: the economy was fundamentally […]
Continue ReadingThe best time to enjoy Nigeria is when elections are at hand. Boy, this is what we live for. We were created to play politics, to engage in intense politicking, to create, perform and watch political drama. We forget all our sorrows and dive into the fray headlong, jumping up and down, chit-chatting morning, noon […]
Continue ReadingMay I herein solemnly bear witness that Nigerian politicians are geniuses at playing politics. They can scheme and strategise, manipulate and manoeuvre, plot and politick for 40 days and 40 nights non-stop just to score a political goal. They, however, do not know — or care about — the core purpose of politics and power. […]
Continue ReadingBefore the 1999 presidential primaries, crisis engulfed the All Peoples Party (now part of the All Progressives Congress, APC) over the ambition of the late Dr Olusola Saraki. He was bent on running even though the slot had been zoned to the south. The late Chief Arthur Nzeribe, who played a major role in the […]
Continue ReadingSometime last month, a young Bolt driver asked me: “Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi… who should we vote for?” I’ve been asked similar questions many times by those who respect my views. I usually give them an analytical answer — devoid of emotions — by highlighting the strengths, weaknesses and chances of each […]
Continue ReadingOn Wednesday, May 21, 2003, Dr Olu Agunloye, then minister of power and steel, presented a memo to the federal executive council (FEC). He sought its approval to award a build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract for the Mambilla Hydropower Project to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd, a company promoted by Chief Leno Adesanya. The […]
Continue ReadingLet’s call it a tale of two WhatsApp broadcasts. On June 5, 2022, I received this chat from an older friend whom I call “uncle” because of the age difference: “Today in Owo at St Francis Catholic Church Owaluwa street Owo, Fulani herdsmen on rampage.” It was accompanied with videos of the terror act in […]
Continue ReadingNext month, campaigns for the 2023 elections will kick off officially. I used the word “officially” advisedly: campaign has practically taken off on TV and Twitter. Many presidential candidates are already marketing themselves. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his All Progressives Congress (APC) opponent, even […]
Continue ReadingReceiving some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the recent Eid-al-Adha festival, President Muhammadu Buhari made a statement that sent out curious signals: “I wish the person who is coming after me the very best. I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough.” I initially read this in […]
Continue ReadingA friend, who is a pastor, chatted me up on WhatsApp recently. We often discuss Nigerian politics. When he buzzed, I knew it was time for another session in view of the prevailing circumstances. “Who are we voting for o… been looking forward to your analysis,” he asked. Of course, I do not endorse candidates. […]
Continue ReadingThe rumpus over the Muslim-Muslim presidential pairing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was, I have to say, inevitable. I would be lying to say I was surprised. Since Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the choice of Alhaji Kashim Shettima, former governor of Borno state, as his running mate, the outrage has been deafening. First, […]
Continue ReadingThe social media, where most political debates take place these days and where brickbats are exchanged between protagonists and antagonists per nanosecond, has caught fire again with reports that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he did not attend a […]
Continue ReadingHow time flies! I met Mr Peter Obi for the first time almost 19 years ago — in August 2003 to be specific. He had come to the THISDAY head office in Apapa, Lagos state, on a visit to Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, then Sunday Editor. I was the Saturday Editor. As I saw him in […]
Continue ReadingDisappointment was powdered on the faces of many of the young people around me when Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo did not win the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC). To them, Osinbajo was one candidate they could connect with: articulate, urbane, agile and modern. One who is connected to the ordinary Nigerian — he […]
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