Broken politics: Deeply flawed primaries point to a messy 2027, by Olu Fasan
The morning foretells the day. Early signs can indicate how a day will unfold. In that sense, the recent presidential, gubernatorial and legislative primaries foretell a very messy general election next year. Over the past two weeks, the media have been awash with endless stories about deeply flawed party primaries. The primaries betray a political […]
A tale of two nations and their victorious women’s sports teams, by Olu Fasan
The past two weeks have been remarkable for sports women internationally. Women’s national sports teams were victorious in major international tournaments and attracted differing responses from their governments. In Britain, England’s women’s national football team, the Lionesses, beat their Spanish counterpart to win the 2025 UEFA Women’s Championships. In Nigeria, the Super Falcons, this country’s […]
Serial defections: How would Atiku be remembered in Nigerian politics? By Olu Fasan
Recently, on July 14, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president, announced his latest defection from a political party. It was his fifth since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civil rule. ..
At 65, my patriotic gift to Nigeria, by Olu Fasan
How time flies! Five years ago, about this time, I wrote a column titled “At 60, my life and undying passion for Nigeria” (Vanguard, July 23, 2020). It was on the glorious occasion of my diamond jubilee, which this great newspaper, Vanguard, covered with special features, including a two-page birthday interview. Five years later, I’m celebrating […]
Adieu Buhari: The patriotic leader who left a tragic legacy, by Olu Fasan
Speak no ill of the dead, says an ancient aphorism. That maxim broadly held sway in Nigeria this week as friends and foes alike paid glowing tribute to former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died in London on Sunday, July 13, aged 82. Buhari was one of the most divisive and pilloried leaders in Nigerian history. In […]
Obi, Amaechi: Beware the desperate pledges of a one-term presidency, by Olu Fasan
Last week, I made a “theoretical” case for the return of former President Goodluck Jonathan to power in 2027. It was an unusual intervention. Unusual because I was very critical of the Jonathan presidency and strongly condemned his barely disguised attempt at a comeback in 2023 after his re-election defeat in 2015. However, the intervention was […]
2027: The theoretical case for Jonathan’s return to power, by Olu Fasan
The title of this intervention is hedged with the word “theoretical”. That’s because the proposition that former President Goodluck Jonathan could return to power in 2027 is patently far-fetched and improbable: therefore, although there’s logic to the proposition, it’s purely theoretical. Indeed, Jonathan’s wife, Patience, put it unequivocally when she said recently that her husband would […]
El-Rufai is the Elon Musk of Nigerian politics, by Olu Fasan
The world is full of parallels. But some parallels are stranger than others. Where, for instance, are the similarities between Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man? On the surface, there’s clear blue water between them: one is a modestly successful technocrat, administrator and politician in Nigeria; the other is […]
GDP per capita: It’s a critical measure of progress; why is Tinubu dismissing it? By Olu Fasan
Recently, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, the outgoing president of the African Development Bank, AfDB, stirred the hornet’s nest when he said Nigeria’s GDP per capita was $1,847 in 1960 but $824 in 2025, implying that Nigeria is poorer today than at independence. In an ill-tempered response, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy, accused […]
June 12: If Abiola won, is he now a posthumous president? By Olu Fasan
Exactly 32 years ago today, the presidential election of June 12, 1993 was annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida that conducted the poll. Over three decades after that seismic decision, the truth, the whole truth, about why the election was annulled and who actually annulled it remains unknown. General Babangida’s long-awaited memoir, A […]
Hero syndrome: Two years on, Tinubu is ‘fixing’ the problems he created, by Olu Fasan
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 […]
