THIS week, the newswires were awash with reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede has relocated to Benue State, ostensibly in a show of force following endless killings by herdsmen militias in that state. Without fear of equivocation, one can say that Benue is the most embattled of all the states […]

I was kidnapped in Port Harcourt in 2015 and released two weeks later. When I fled to London to recover from this harrowing nightmare, Nick Kotch and his wife, Veronique Tadjo – a truly wonderful couple – reached out to me and embraced me with a tenderness that moved me to tears. I will never […]

In his usual bluster, U.S. President Donald Trump at numerous hustings in 2024 promised to get a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine in just one day if elected president. In fact, he boasted that President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since […]

Any foreigner who visited Nigeria last week and saw the front pages of the national newspapers on May 29 would think President Tinubu had turned Nigeria into a Nirvana or a modern-day El Dorado. The presidency took front and inside-front pages to blandish Tinubu “achievements” in his two years in office. But while the advertorial was […]

Whether you’re applying for college, graduate school, or a dream job, your written application materials often serve as your first impression. A compelling personal statement or cover letter can be the difference between standing out or being overlooked – there is a lot of competition nowadays. These documents provide a crucial opportunity to showcase not just […]

Nigeria: When laws are flouted, not enforced The contrast with Nigeria is stark. Though Nigeria has a democratic constitution with a bicameral National Assembly and state houses, its executives often sidestep the laws. In March 2025 President Bola Tinubu shocked observers by declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspending the elected governor, deputy […]

Except for the tenure of Chief James Onanefe Ibori (1999 to 2007), I have had several opportunities to traverse Delta State. I have formed my own mental picture of it which I share with you today. There are far more about this state than its perennial dominance of our youth sports as the defunct Bendel State […]

The news last week that the Federal Government is seemingly finalising plans to put the Digital Switchover, DSO, on an accelerator that can immediately take it to about 10 million people, was very elevating and, for me, it marks a good turn for the Tinubu administration.  The story which has been in gestation but only broke […]

The earnestness with which many opposition politicians and the disaffected conclave of commentariat (not the actual mass of hungry Nigerians that are more with the real but mundane issues of bread and butter) looked forward to the mid-term performance evaluation of the Bola Tinubu administration gave the impression that he has completed his first if not […]

“To a mind capable of reflection, such leading facts convey more instruction, than a tedious detail of subordinate circumstances”–   Edward Gibbon The challenges, threats, risks and dangers that every Nigerian faces or experiences today are not categorised according to their emphatic relationships with the tribe, ethnic group, religious belief, region of origin, state or local government […]