Sweet and Sour

Mummy and Uncle George, by Donu Kogbara

Mummy and Uncle George, by Donu Kogbara

Last Wednesday, July 22nd, was a very sad day for me. It was the third anniversary of my sweet mother Anne Chizomam Ukachukwu Kogbara’s death. I’d spent the morning nostalgically rereading her burial brochure, which was full of tributes. Then my cousin called to tell me that our beloved uncle, Ambassador George Saako Kobani, had passed. […]
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Tax Reform Issues, by Donu Kogbara

Tax Reform Issues, by Donu Kogbara

Much has been said and is being said about the Federal Government’s controversial tax reforms. They got off to a very bad start when some legislators claimed that the version of the law passed by the National Assembly was not the same as the document President Tinubu signed. Ali Ndume, the former Senate Leader, is one […]

Why Nigeria is almost a one-party state, by Donu  Kogbara

Why Nigeria is almost a one-party state, by Donu Kogbara

Thanks to a gale of defections from opposition parties (the PDP mostly), 29 out of 36 governors are now fully-fledged members of the APC; and there are rumours that the Kano governor will soon join them. I find this situation immensely depressing. But I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. Nigerians are always complaining about the near-total absence […]

Internal colonisation, by Donu Kogbara

Internal colonisation, by Donu Kogbara

As Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, continues his long-standing attempts to wrestle his embattled former protégé (Sim Fubara, the Rivers State Governor) to the ground, I find myself mystified. Why? Most of the Rivers people I know are loudly hailing Fubara for rebelling against Wike, his erstwhile mentor, and “rejecting godfatherism”. When I tell them […]

It’s mostly about geography! By Donu Kogbara

It’s mostly about geography! By Donu Kogbara

On a Youtube podcast I posted a few days ago, I briefly discussed conflicts  that destroy or undermine relationships. One such conflict recently occurred in my life and it revolved around religion. In a nutshell, a former friend and I are no longer on speaking terms because she took offence when I politely refused to share […]

CHRISTMAS CONTEMPLATIONS, by Donu Kogbara

CHRISTMAS CONTEMPLATIONS, by Donu Kogbara

So here we are again. Yet another Christmas is around the corner; and as we Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and look forward to enjoying special Yuletide meals, exchanging gifts and having fun with our friends and families, we should not forget about the vast number of people in Nigeria and […]

A Privileged Insight, by Donu Kogbara

A Privileged Insight, by Donu Kogbara

Earlier on this year, I flew to Freetown to interview President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, his First Lady, and several members of his cabinet. I was touched by the warm welcome I received and highly impressed by the quality of the conversations I had with all of the above; and I remember thinking that it […]

HEAR HEAR!!! By Donu Kogbara

HEAR HEAR!!! By Donu Kogbara

On this page, last Friday, I challenged those who are sure that Tinubu will win the next election and said that politics is so volatile that nobody can predict the outcome of the 2027 polls this far in advance. A wise reader called Afolabi Oni ([email protected]) had this to say: Dear Donu Kogbara, Your write up “A […]

A Year is A Long Time in Politics! By Donu Kogbara

A Year is A Long Time in Politics! By Donu Kogbara

I am SO tired of people insisting that Tinubu is a master tactician and super-smart bully who has crippled opposition parties so skillfully that there is absolutely no chance of him being defeated in 2027. This view is held by many individuals who are pro-Tinubu, anti-Tinubu or sitting on the fence; and the tone of voice in […]

Lamentable performances, by Donu Kogbara

Lamentable performances, by Donu Kogbara

On Tuesday, on a TV show hosted by Piers Morgan’s, a British journalist, our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and a former Canadian lawmaker called Ms Goldie Ghamari, strongly disagreed over allegations that Christians in Nigeria are being persecuted. A couple of people I know feel that Tuggar did well. But most of the people with […]

Trump gains fans in Nigeria! By Donu Kogbara

Trump gains fans in Nigeria! By Donu Kogbara

When Trump threatened to take lethal action against Muslim criminals who have turned parts of Northern Nigeria into killing fields, he gained a whole bunch – maybe millions! – of new fans overnight. Many Christians who had totally despised him till then started to speak well of him and regard him as some kind of avenging saviour. […]

Is the ADC Tinubu’s puppet? By Donu Kogbara

Is the ADC Tinubu’s puppet? By Donu Kogbara

Omoyele Sowore, the controversial activist and owner of Sahara Reporters, recently stated in a Channels TV interview with Seun Akinbaloye that Tinubu is “in complete control” of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, coalition…and that “all” of the main ADC politicians are secretly working for Tinubu behind the scenes. This is an explosive claim; and the possibility that […]

Auntie Beatrice Tribute, by Donu Kogbara

Auntie Beatrice Tribute, by Donu Kogbara

Last week, Mrs Beatrice Awura Oboshie Allua Fisher was laid to rest in Lagos alongside her beloved late husband, Lanre Fisher, an engineer, having passed away at her London residence at the grand old age of 92. Her children, Peter and Annette, are my pals and she was like a second mother to me, an adored auntie […]

Do We Deserve Bad Leadership? By Donu Kogbara

Do We Deserve Bad Leadership? By Donu Kogbara

On Tuesday night, I appeared on Charles Aniagolu’s Arise TV show, alongside Dele Farotimi and Professor Jibrin Ibrahim. We had been invited to discuss my view that most of today’s Nigerians deserve bad leadership because they don’t protest significantly when they are subjected to endless injustices and governance deficits. Nigeria can and should be a great […]

Will We Listen to Mr President? By Donu Kogbara

Will We Listen to Mr President? By Donu Kogbara

President Bola Tinubu, at a meeting in the Villa on Wednesday, conferred  posthumous national honours on the late Ogoni Four – Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, Samuel Orage – and urged the people of Ogoniland to come together after decades of division. He said: “May their memories continue to inspire unity, courage and purpose among […]

A reader’s take on PO, by Donu Kogbara

A reader’s take on PO, by Donu Kogbara

He is responding to the column that was published on this page on August 28. It used a story about students’ breakfast preferences (many objected to akara and pap) to illustrate how a divided opposition can lose out to an unpopular minority. You can access this column via the Vanguard website. Dear Donu,  I am […]