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Election without political parties: outlook towards 2027, by Usman Sarki

Election without political parties: outlook towards 2027, by Usman Sarki

“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 […]
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Kaduna: Of killings, curfew, rumour and hysteria

Kaduna: Of killings, curfew, rumour and hysteria

I HAVE been holed up in Kaduna since Saturday afternoon; my family is based here, so I travel between Abuja and Kaduna almost every week, when I am not visiting Ilorin or other destinations within and outside Nigeria. I was servicing my vehicle on Sunday morning, when news broke of the bombings in the churches in Zaria and Kaduna.

Church bombings in Northern Nigeria

Church bombings in Northern Nigeria

WHEN the Islamic terrorist outfit commonly referred to as Boko Haram started their insurrection in Northern Nigeria pretty much everyone was a target. Christians, Muslims, members of the security forces and their institutional facilities, revellers in drinking joints, people in marketplaces and so on, were targeted with suicide bombings and assassinations.

To probe and unrobe …the man from Shanono

To probe and unrobe …the man from Shanono

IN case you’re wondering about the title of this piece, worry no further. A part of it comes from a political character in Wole Soyinka’s long playing record, Unlimited Liability Company that was released to caricature the graft, sleaze and corrupt ways of politicians of Nigeria’s so-called Second Republic, especially the ruling National Party of Nigeria, in 1983.