I first came into contact with South Africa remotely, through a book, Cry, the Beloved Country, written by Alan Patton ( 11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988). It was a novel given to me to read by my father, in 1974. It was the first introduction to my growing mind on what life was like in […]

THE week ending today began with a harvest of horrific incidents: Three persons have been killed and two others abducted after armed men attacked mourners returning from a burial in Sati-Ikov council ward of the Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State; while in neighbouring Plateau State, two persons were injured in  a fresh terror attack; while […]

I am getting quite despondent about the state of affairs in our dear dear country. In fact, I am in so much despair that a terrible feeling is welling up in me. It is a feeling of sadness and anxiety about the ever burgeoning blanket of insecurity thrown over our dear country. These feelings make me feel […]

I AM almost sure that there are very few Nigerians who do not know that a lot of things are not well with our country at this point in time. It is trite to restate that insecurity is worsening, while the economy remains in the doldrums. Cost of living continues to soar as prices of just […]

NEARLY six (6) weeks into the US/Israel-Iran war, the effects are being felt worldwide. This is because fuel energy became an unwilling victim caught in the crossfires of the warring parties. You are abreast of issues, but let me remind us that about 20 per cent of the world’s energy is transported through the Straits of Hormuz, […]

THE headline of today’s  column summarises my current thoughts about the status of the electricity sector of our economy, which began last week under the headline: Our electricity conundrum and the Power Minister’s apologies. Yes, it can happen. In the near future, electricity distribution companies, called DISCOs may operate themselves into sterling irrelevance as ever-inventive Nigerians continue […]

IT was actually very pathetic reading reports of apologies made by Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu, earlier in the week. Reading his apology nearly made me puke; they were the words of a politician used to, and schooled in, dressing up inefficiencies in mandate actualisation with rhetoric. For years, since I was a boy (that’s as far back […]

THE war in the Middle East, being fought by the United States and Israel against Iran, is still raging, and its outcomes are being felt all over the world. In the early days of the war which began February 28, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the aftermath of air strikes on selected targets […]

IT is no longer news that the United States, in coalition with Israel has been bombarding Iran. It is also no longer news that the aerial bombardments targeting Iran’s military and defence infrastructure claimed the life of the country’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Again, it is also not news that the conflict has triggered spikes in the […]

LAST Wednesday, the new Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, was formally sworn-in as the 23rd indigenous head of the Nigeria Police Force by President Bola Tinubu. Before going further, some optics. His predecessor, Kayode Egbetokun was said to have been summoned by the President penultimate Tuesday, and in the aftermath of the meeting, Egbetokun resigned. Disu, an […]

THAT our nation is challenged on many fronts may be a trite observation; from economic challenges in the form of a cost of living crisis and the growing inability of many Nigerians to afford things they once took for granted to existential threats posed by kidnapping, banditry, insurgency and terrorism, it is obvious that these are not […]

After weeks of back-and-forth, the National Assembly just passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill into law. We all witnessed the legislative histrionics that attended the legislation, right up to its conclusion with its signing into law by the President. I call it legislative histrionics because it appears that as a collective, the National Assembly, comprising the […]

SOME readers of this column would be absolutely right if they conclude that writing on corruption in Nigeria is a waste of time. It might be, but what prompted a fresh interest in a national problem that has defied solutions forever are two developments earlier in the week. First one was a report by Transparency International, […]

What initially began as isolated incidents after the death of Mohammed Yusuf, the late founder of Boko Haram after his death in July 2009 later balooned into full-scale insurgency with which we have struggled to no end for 16 years. Then, the insurgents were trying to establish control over ungoverned spaces in parts of Borno State […]

IN the January 9 edition of this column, I discussed taxation, the new tax laws and the well-being of our country and our people in so far as taxation is concerned. Writing under the headline Government, Nigerians and Taxation, I surmised that a huge chunk of our people will remain outside the tax net and that tax […]