What shall we do about South Africa? By Azu Ishiekwene
If South Africa needed any serious signal that the mobs roaming the streets of its cities and townships in search of immigrants were a disgrace, the FIFA World Cup in June 2026 provided a large screen. But the country is not looking. Or it is looking but cannot see. In the last three years, according […]
Tinubu-Ruto banter as food for thought, by Azu Ishiekwene
Listening to Kenyan President William Ruto diss Nigerians with a smile from faraway Italy, one would think he had taken a page from Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard. It was obvious that Ruto assumed Nigerians spoke that variety of unconventional English rendered by Tutuola in his story of magical realism from Yoruba mythology. Yes, Tutuola’s English […]
Is there a backstory to Wale Edun’s exit? By Azu Ishiekwene
The short answer is yes – but there’s a long answer. There is, in fact, more than one inside story about why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun. The online newspaper Premium Times published multiple likely versions in a single story. The biggest issue, according […]
Amupitan’s yanga wakes trouble, by Azu Ishiekwene
Six months after his appointment as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Joash Amupitan appears determined to beat the record of Professor Maurice Iwu as the most mistrusted electoral administrator yet. Iwu, a professor of Pharmacognosy (the study of medicinal plants), also had the distinction of managing Nigeria’s worst elections in 2007. […]
Adelabu’s power lines as laundry lines, by Azu Ishiekwene
In many parts of the country, the rains poured down earlier in the week, bringing much physical and psychological relief from the searing heat. The absence of electricity from public supply channels made it worse. Average daytime temperatures throughout March ranged from 33 degrees to 38 degrees centigrade in Lagos and Abuja, respectively. Nigeria’s public electricity […]
Obi’s transition from serious contender to Mascot, by Azu Ishiekwene
Friends, admirers, and the “Obidient” fanbase of the former Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi, love to call him by the sobriquet “Okwute,” which in Igbo, Nigeria’s third-largest socio-linguistic group, means rock, boulder, or stone. Quite a nice alias – especially if you associate some doctrinal nuances of Obi’s faith with his first name, […]
