The PDP governors are queuing up to jump into the APC. They say their ship is sinking. They are singing and dancing and justifying their capitulation as nation-building. The PDP once thought it was the greatest party in Africa. These are trying times on all fronts. The conspiracy of the ruling class could be the […]

The last time I wrote about this tragedy which I now call Tinubu’s Terrible Tribalism, I had asked: Is Tinubu settling scores? Because the president’s naked embrace of Yorubacentricism after a lifetime of railing with his kinsmen against Hausa-Fulani hegemony could only have been inspired by vengeance.  But such undisguised and unbridled vengeance in his first term […]

That Wednesday morning, the chickens came home to roost. Our governments don’t think methodically. Often they explain away consequences as inevitable. That was how our naira crashed and plunged everyone into deeper poverty. Good policies that are poorly thought through and implemented erratically. This time, there was no wiggle room.  They would like to tell us what […]

A passenger boards a bus. The city is a little rough but he has taken his customary precaution; there are two women on the bus. He turns into the gaze of a wiry man with a Bible and the man smiles and nods at him. He imagines he is a peripatetic evangelist biding his time before unleashing […]

A man cancels a free and fair election. When crisis ensues, he panics and steps aside, foisting a one-legged contraption on the country. Soon, his co-conspirators are fed up with the pretence. They sweep away the props and seize power. And a plague feasts on the nation  A man cancels the freest and fairest election his […]

The Media Awards are not altogether useless. A cinematic caricature of a country that has integrated clowning into the core of its political culture. They are trash, but they tell a bit of our story.  I have been to a few of them. The expensive venues are part of the hype. An intricate ritual in overflowing self-deceit. […]

A leader with an eye on posterity won’t have the appetite for the vanity of naming projects after himself. Because true immortality will be bestowed by history, not monuments that can be renamed. Tinubu needs to submit himself to some clear-eyed, sober reflection. This preoccupation with self-glorification and immortalisation is a telltale sign.  There is now a […]

Yahoo Yahoo practitioners and drug dealers are steadily acquiring quick societal validation through dubious Christmas philanthropy across the country

In November, worshipers thronged Christ the King Catholic cathedral, Aba, for the annual Christ the King profession. The venue was packed. Every year, it has been filled, chaotic and hot. But no fatalities have ever been recorded. This time, in the middle of proceedings, the devil struck. The most reliable accounts said gunshots were heard. […]

A few years ago, our fathers said gambling was sinful. They warned us to stay away from it as they warned us to stay away from narcotics. They said those who embraced gambling ran the risk of becoming slaves to it and ruining their lives. When we passed by pool betting houses, they didn’t let […]

Tinubu said he came to initiate reforms. And the people waited to emulate him. Because talk is cheap. After taking away subsidies without cushions, he went for a bloated cabinet.

Tinubu said he came to initiate reforms. And the people waited to emulate him. Because talk is cheap. After taking away subsidies without cushions, he went for a bloated cabinet. A flabby cabinet of the  sons of profligacy to prosecute austerity measures. With his deliberate choice of some indicted persons as ministers, he signaled to […]

Almighty God, I bring the   PDP before thee. That party has disgraced God and man. Its cup is full. However, my merciful Lord, I plead that the PDP is spared the fates of Jonah and Judas. Though   Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan, whom it gave everything, have forsaken it, I believe the party is […]

Soon after independence, election rigging set the western region on fire and brought down the first republic. ‘Operation Wetie’ wasn’t just frustration and impatience; it was a rejection of the courts. In the second republic, malpractices returned to ruin elections’ credibility, and Baba Ajasin saw it better than others. Omoboriowo, who snatched victory from Baba, […]

Born in 1960, Nuhu Ribadu, perhaps, had independence in his genes. Son of a first republic parliamentarian from Yola, Nuhu came with a good  spoon in his mouth. After he studied law, he  joined the police,  climbing  the career ladder of a corrupt and disoriented institution. Young  Ribadu, it appeared, resisted the mind bending culture […]