Osun Decides: From Dance Steps to War Footing, by Azu Ishiekwene
Osun State has a reputation for controversies bigger than its size. It ranks 26th nationally in terms of voter population and is six out of six in the Southwest. From 2010, when the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Rauf Aregbesola, toppled Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) through a court ruling, to the drama […]
A leader like Jacinda Ardern
By Azu Ishiekwene A LEADER like Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand doesn’t come in tens. Not even in twos. And so, it was such a bright day on October 26, 2017, when she took office as New Zealand’s Prime Minister. She was 37 years old and also the youngest head of government at the time. […]
Why they shoot friends and spare the enemy
By Azu Ishiekwene HER funeral rites would have begun on Wednesday, January 11, but were postponed because her family, along with the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, is awaiting an autopsy report. As of the time of this writing, the matter had faded from the headlines, and a new date was yet to be announced. Obviously, […]
The trouble with Obasanjo’s wish
By Azu Ishiekwene I’m sure he expected the firestorm. As is his custom, he primed it and released it to explode at his own time and season. If the letter by former President Olusegun Obasanjo endorsing Labour Party’s Peter Obi had gone unnoticed, uncriticised, and unreplied, then it would not have been Obasanjo’s letter. The […]
What you might expect in 2023
By Azu Ishiekwene The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, will be shaken to its foundations, but it will survive. The most problematic question for the party, of course, is who carries its presidential flag in the 2023 election, when President Muhammadu Buhari will step down… If Tinubu survives the ambush of the wolves in his […]
Western hypocrisy loses in epic Qatar match
By Azu Ishiekwene THE shenanigans were always there, but until FIFA president, Infantino Giovanni, called them out in his down-to-earth press conference in Qatar, they remained the elephant in the room. The hint of displeasure goes back 12 years ago when Qatar won the bid, defeating Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States. That […]
