Slinger Francisco, better known as Mighty Sparrow, the “Calypso King of the World”, flew away on September 27, 2026. He was ninety. Calypso music was invented in the seventeenth century by African slaves in Trinidad who had mainly been taken from the Ibibio, Efik and Igbo peoples in present-day Nigeria and Congo. It is generally […]

On this day, October 1, 66 years ago, Nigeria gained flag independence from Britain. Within these years, the country reached another milestone – 27 years of unbroken civilian rule, which many confuse as democracy. Ours is not yet a democracy. It may well be with time, but democracy and civilian rule are poles apart. In […]

The ferocity, persistence and intentionality of Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s attacks on Peter Obi must strike many as inexplicable, even abnormal. Soludo is the current governor of Anambra State; Obi is a former governor of the state. While both belong to different parties and have divergent political interests, it’s hard to fathom why Soludo is traducing […]

Most people think of leadership as the ability to speak clearly, deliver compelling presentations, and give instructions that others follow. From corporate boardrooms and media studios to university classrooms, energy facilities, and technology teams, we tend to celebrate the person who speaks first, speaks longest, and speaks with the greatest certainty. Yet if you examine […]

“Political parties created democracy, and modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of the parties.” — E. E. Schattschneider I sometimes wonder if Schattschneider would review his opinion on the centrality of political parties in a democratic dispensation if he had anticipated the situation in Nigeria today. In 2022, I was invited to serve as […]