When the clouds gathered above Mokwa at the start of the 2025 rainy season, no one reached for a weather almanac; the townspeople needed only memory. They had seen the river climb its banks before, had watched water swirl down gullies that doubled as rubbish dumps, and had heard radio callers warn—almost cheerfully—that nature’s annual rehearsal […]

  “If you forget where you are coming from, do not forget where you are going”— African proverb It is 32 years since June 12, 1993.  Millions of young Nigerians know the date as Democracy Day, a day politicians make speeches and  Nigerians ask for more from their democracy. Until 2018, Democracy Day was May […]

Retired General Jeremaih Timbut Useni ((February 16, 1943 –  January 23, 2025) alias Jerry Boy, who answered the final call in Paris, France, was partly a fulfilled man.  The then Head of State, Major General(rtd.) Muhammadu Buhari (82) appointed him as the Governor of Bendel State (now Edo and Delta states) in January 1984. He was […]

Twenty years ago, I got a message that Uncle Sam Amuka-Pemu, the publisher of the Vanguard Newspapers could not be found. It was his 70th birthday and plans to mark it were in place, but the celebrant was not responding to calls. He seems to have simply vanished. I placed a call and he picked. I congratulated […]

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu When he opened the All Nigerian Judges Conference in February 2003, then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Lawal Uwais, who died on 6 June 2025, six days short of his 89th birthday, lamented the fact that State Chief Judges in Nigeria “go begging for funds from their governors”; a practice pioneered […]