For NBC, a time to rise above the puddle, by Okoh Aihe
The bell for political campaigns for the 2027 Elections went off last week. Already cauldrons of political abracadabra are boiling over. Surrogates and infradigs down the political ladder have started throwing stones, giving clear but ominous signals that things could get a lot messier and the air more fouled up in the days and months […]
Nothing to be gained from declaration of state of emergency(6), by Eric Teniola
From last week, this is the concluding part of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s counter-submission in response to that of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa on the declaration of a state of emergency in the Western Region following the Action Group crisis there. “Thirdly I say- I said it outside this House and I want to repeat it on […]
N47 trillion later: A midterm reality check for state power, by Dakuku Peterside
The halfway mark of any journey invites a reckoning, and politics is no exception. In mature liberal democracies, the reckoning is built into the calendar: midterm elections test the strength of the governing party by subjecting its record to the electorate’s cold appraisal. One of the defining features of American-style liberal democracy is the midterm performance […]
Baba-Ahmed Returns: My Angry Class
Quote: “If anyone should be held responsible for Tinubu’s victory, it should be those who elevated region and religion as the prime determinants of their choices during the last election” . I was recently engaged by a group of young Nigerians who had just registered for my graduate class on Governance and Public Policy at a northern […]
Time insecurity and poverty in Nigeria
By Dele Sobowale ”Capital is a coward: it flees from wherever there is turbulence.” Time managementFor almost ten years, the idea has been disturbing my mind that perhaps the time has come in Nigeria when governments at all levels must consider security as an economic variable. Right now, Nigerians, in and out of government remain […]
Tunde Fanimokun and Jakande: The path of our fathers, by Owei Lakemfa
I anticipated lots of reactions to my April 12, 2025 column titled “How the military taught Nigerians the art of looting.” However, I did not expect an avalanche. It was as if I had made a monumental discovery on corruption. I have not! Some of the reactions suggested that multi-party democracy in a diverse religious and […]
Democracy in Africa and the dangers of a judicial selectorate, by Chidi Odinkalu
By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu In March 2006, Uganda’s Supreme Court convened to begin adjudication of the disputes over the presidential election that occurred the previous month in the country. Voting took place on 23 February. Two days later, on 25 February, the Electoral Commission announced the results giving the incumbent, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, 59.28% of […]
Where the government fails…, by Obi Nwakanma
The mood of siege in Nigeria is palpable. It became very clear as I traveled across parts of Nigeria, testing the mood, and gathering insight over the last month. The Nigerian nation seems to be in the very last throes of death. I mean this literally. It also feels like nothing seems likely to save it […]
To my brother Bayo Onanuga, by Dele Sobowale
“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business” – US President Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865. I address you as “my brother” not because you are Yoruba and Ijebu; but because you are a Nigerian. As a stubbornly […]
Let’s move JAMB’s Oloyede to INEC, by Tonnie Iredia
On May 9, 2025, Nigeria’s Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released the results of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The outcome shocked the nation as over 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates, that is 75%, who sat for the exam, reportedly scored below 200, the popularly acclaimed cut off mark for […]
JAMB: A gatekeeper that locks the gates
JAMB released results that sent shockwaves through Nigeria.76% of candidates scored below 200 out of 400.
Chukwueke’s July 29 pain, by Emeka Obasi
The easiest way to ease the pain of 1966 is to continue to let everyone know what happened from January to August of that year. There was no reason to go to war if those soldiers and their collaborators remained in their barracks and looked away from politics. Chukwuemeka Chukwueke was eight weeks old when […]
Let Jamb and Prof Oloyede be, by Francis Ewherido
Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is a man I have enormous respect for. I have not met him personally, but I admire him from afar. That is one of the hallmarks of impactful people. You don’t have to know or have physical encounter with them to feel […]
Fubara’s Spirit: Fearful, fumbling and forgetful, by Ugoji Egbujo
This time last year, Governor Fubara said Rivers State had been liberated. People trooped to churches to thank God for setting them free. According to Fubara, the state, its people and resources, had been in the clutches of a rapacious and gluttonous politician. That fellow decided who was what. Every month that fellow dipped his […]
God save Blacks from France as it invests in violence, by Owei Lakemfa
The French establishment is, again, sowing the seeds of violence in Africa. As it is traditional with France, it will water such seeds, nurture them until they are ripe for harvest. In its latest genetically-modified violence-seed planting, France in May, 2025 set aside 150 million Euro through its French Development Agency to plant violence in Western […]
The canonisation of Traore, by Donu Kogbara
When Captain Ibrahim Traore seized control of Burkina Faso in September 2022 after ousting interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, I cheered because I liked the cut of his jib. Millions of black folks the world over felt the same way about this bold, fearless, charismatic young Pan Africanist who wasn’t ready to put up with neo-imperialism or […]
