Nigerians are in pains. Two nights ago, the Falcons lost and failed to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in 35 years. It marked the climax of 12 years of being taken through avoidable pain and agony in losses, and frustration of failure to achieve what is easily within their […]

We no longer have a sick democracy. We have a counterfeit one. Osun lays it bare. Every pathology is on open display.  The capture of institutions. Tthe hunting of opposition. The casual slaughter of ordinary people. And the near-total resignation of the public to the farce. We have lost the capacity for shame. In Osun, […]

With campaign activities concluded and the electorate voting today for a governor, the contest has moved beyond the noise of rallies, endorsements and political promises. What remains is the hard arithmetic of voter mobilisation and the capacity of the leading parties to translate their structures into ballots. Fifteen candidates are on the ballot, but the […]

We have known each other for more than four decades. Way back to the days when I and his expatriate wife worked for the same newspaper. He was always friendly, always polished. Then it turned out we had some mutual friends and that helped improve our social interactions. We must have exchanged phone numbers along […]

When you see Peter Obi moving from one part of the country to another and globe trotting without inhibitions, check very well, he represents something different which attracts hope in an economy that keeps depressing citizens without any cure in sight. Right now, it is not about Obi possessing the magic wand that will turn […]

Across the world, countries, movements and groups on Thursday    August 13, 2026 marked the centenary of Fidel Castro Ruz, the iconic    Cuban revolutionary. That was yesterday. But Fidel is not yesterday’s man.    Although he marched into the full embrace of history    on November 25, 2016, he is a man of today as […]

Last week on this page, I hailed Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Emeritus Archbishop of Abuja, for speaking up when President Tinubu responded callously to Catholic bishops’ concerns about widespread poverty and insecurity. Daniel Bwala, an accident-prone presidential spokesman, accused Onaiyekan of speaking only for Catholics. “NOT SO!” was the robust rejoinder from Christian leaders from […]

JUST as I was preparing to write this column, news filtered in that President Bola Tinubu has assented to the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) Bill, 2026, paving the way for the establishment of a dedicated economic regulator for Nigeria’s port sector. The news was sourced from a post on the Facebook page of […]

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 […]

Some Nigerians commit the delusional sin of believing that once a state institution has the word “independent” prefixed to its name, it is, indeed, independent. They believe that critical state agencies created by statute or the Constitution to ensure security and law and order, to guarantee justice and rule of law, to safeguard electoral integrity and […]