This tribute was written by Funmi Farotimi, a family friend  Bolaji Badejo is the first Nigerian Superstar,” I said to a friend “Badewho?” was the confused response I got. Long before the term “Nollywood” was coined to refer to the Nigerian Film Industry Bolaji Badejo acted the role of Xernomorph, the acid dripping villainous Alien in […]

So many affronts have been inflicted on my home state, Rivers, this year, the three worst outrages being the suspension of Governor Sim Fubara, the imposition of a completely unnecessary state of emergency on March 18 and the indefensible appointment this week of a non-indigene (Dr Ekpai Odey) to the chairmanship of RSIEC, our allegedly independent electoral […]

Mark Nwagwu  is  a multi-talented  88-year-old  professor of cell and molecular biology. He has 12 books to his credit, including four poetry collections  that were    dedicated to his dear  late  wife, Professor Helen Onyemazuwa Nwagwu.  Prof,  a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science  and    Association of Nigerian Authors, is currently (and amazingly, given […]

Yesterday, I got wind of the fact that my adorable Uncle Sam Amuka, the universally respected veteran journalist and owner of this newspaper (who turns 90 today), was going to get a national honour. And sure enough, when President Tinubu’s Democracy Day address was read out during a joint session of the National Assembly, Uncle Sam’s […]

I was kidnapped in Port Harcourt in 2015 and released two weeks later. When I fled to London to recover from this harrowing nightmare, Nick Kotch and his wife, Veronique Tadjo – a truly wonderful couple – reached out to me and embraced me with a tenderness that moved me to tears. I will never […]