Some 25 years ago, during the tenure of a certain General made President by the godfathers of Nigeria, a contact called from Aso Rock to give me a piece of good news. The caller knew of my relationship with someone who was being considered for a top political job and felt I should know before it became […]

If there is a god of soccer, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, it deserted the Super Eagles of Nigeria.  On the dot of 90 minutes, with only added time of some 5 minutes left to play, Eric Chelle had his plan for winning the match. He replaced a forward with another forward.  He replaced Victor […]

NIGERIA! Never a dull moment, and I’m not talking entertainment. There is an endless procession of events that impact our lives, individually and as a collective, almost on a daily basis. Just look at the issues that dominate the headlines this week, last week, the previous week, and the one before that. We are all trying to […]

I came across this seriously sad poem online. It was written by Chinedu Nnadi Nwangwu; and I love it and have decided to share it. “Weep, Nigeria— For the soil is heavy with blood, And the sky hangs low with despair. A land where godfathers pull strings in dark rooms, Turning the law into a puppet […]

The question is not where US President Donald Trump has not touched in less than 100 days in office. It is how the world is coping with the shock and devastation of his touch and the trail of chaos it is leaving behind.  Because of its vulnerabilities, Africa was never far from Trump’s reach. When the […]

I walked into the Casa de Africa or Africa House in Havana. I wanted to find out what made it uniquely African. But I was in for a surprise. I had not realised that it also housed a unique class for children learning basic subjects like history, geography and African languages, including Yoruba. I tried to […]

Monday, March 24, 2025, was Emeka Ihedioha’s day in the sun. Granted, some will say he had already achieved a lot in six decades. Having been a three-term member of the House of Representatives, where he served as Chief Whip, Deputy Speaker and even Speaker, albeit temporarily, and Governor of Imo State, nothing can be truer. […]

Since the rift between Nyesom Wike, the former Rivers State governor, and Siminalayi Fubara, his successor, burst into the open in October 2023, I have written four articles on the saga. The last before this piece was titled “Blame Tinubu for the impending political inferno in Rivers” (Vanguard, May 23, 2024). That intervention was prescient, as, […]

The state of emergency President Bola Tinubu imposed on Rivers State is like bringing down fruit and force-ripening it for consumption. Since the All Progressives Congress, APC, was born through the merger of legacy political parties of Muhammadu Buhari (Congress for Progressive Change, CPC), Bola Tinubu (Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN) and others on February 6, […]

“The economic factor in the politics of a country is always a difficult matter to discuss, for it is made up of infinite details, some of them purely speculative, all of them hard to disentangle”- John Buchan Presuming that there is a political class in Nigeria that is both visionary and patriotic, this series of articles […]

By Afe Babalola The Nigerian social media space has been awash with reactions over the recent declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State.  On Tuesday March 18, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State. This declaration was made pursuant to section 305(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic […]

Once upon a time, there was an Access Gap Map prepared by the Universal Service Provision Fund, USPF. The map showed details of remote sites in the country or locations in not-too-distant environments where telecommunications services were not available. The Nigerian Communications Act, NCA, 2003 recognises these areas or groups in Section 113 as unserved, underserved […]

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, is back at his old pastime of canvassing an African approach to global practices. For those who need a reminder, it was he who said that an African approach should be followed in dismantling apartheid in the heydays of the struggle for majority rule in South Africa. Obasanjo called for the use […]

Democracy is often cast as the antithesis of authoritarian rule — a beacon of liberty standing firm against the shadows of oppression. Yet, history tells a more intricate tale. Authoritarian regimes rarely storm the gates; instead, they slip quietly through the corridors of power, emerging not as abrupt usurpers but as offspring of the very systems […]

From last week, continues the narrative on the life of the Nigerian journalist, his contributions to national development over the years, right from the emergence of the earliest media houses in the country In January 1970, the The DAILY TIMES published an editorial pleading that Nigeria must adopt left hand drive policy.  On January 30 of […]