Concerns about the Ogoni dialogue process and the proposed resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, by Donu Kogbara
Chief Lesi Maol is the President of KAGOTE, the Ogoni equivalent of Afenifere, Ohanaeze and the Arewa Consultative Forum. Maol, a highly successful businessman and generous philanthropist who has donated billions to worthy causes in Rivers State, also happens to be a member of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC), which was inaugurated by the Federal […]
Naija torture!
By Donu Kogbara MY late father, Ignatius Kogbara, was a cosmopolitan gentleman, an enormously exposed citizen of the world who went to university abroad at a young age, travelled widely for seven decades, and was almost as familiar with many foreign countries as he was with Nigeria. One of the observations my Dad often made […]
Daddy Tinubu
By Donu Kogbara CHATHAM House, an independent policy institute in the heart of London, describes itself as “a trusted forum for debate and dialogue (that has) provided thought leadership on key issues that defined the 20th century.” Its numerous achievements include crafting the multilateral institutions and mechanisms of global financial stability after the Second World […]
The upside of poverty
By Donu Kogbara I have an impecunious young friend. He’s married with two children and doesn’t earn much because he works in a supermarket. His wife also has a low-income job and I help them from time to time because they really struggle to pay rent, school fees and other bills. A couple of days […]
Refreshingly intelligent discourse
By Donu Kogbara MAJOR General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (retd), the recently appointed Interim Administrator (IA) of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, visited Senator Douye Diri, the Bayelsa State Governor, in Yenagoa on Tuesday. Ndiomu, a native of Bayelsa, was visibly touched by the warm welcome he received from Diri. But the thing that struck me […]
My heart is heavy
By Donu Kogbara I HAVEN’T been myself since I discovered, last weekend, that Dillibe Onyeama, author, publisher and brother of Geoffrey Onyeama, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, had passed away, aged 71. Dillibe was the son of Charles Dadi Onyeama, the iconic first-ever Nigerian judge at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. […]
Flooding fiasco
By Donu Kogbara AS millions of Nigerians suffer through the worst by-product of climate change they have endured since 2012 – savage floods that have submerged hundreds of villages, towns and farms nationwide – the Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Sadiya Farouk, has sparked controversy by claiming that Jigawa is the worst-hit state and that at least […]
Resolving NDDC’s performance dilemma
By Donu Kogbara ONCE in a while, I publish other peoples’ articles on this page, if I feel that they are especially informative or interesting. And I’m proud to present to you today a piece on NDDC that was written by Boniface Dumpe, a fellow Ogoni from my village (Bodo City, Rivers State) and a […]
Election fatigue!
By Donu Kogbara I WISH Nigerians were voting this weekend because I am suffering from acute election fatigue and want the whole drama to end NOW. The authorities who created such a long gap (circa 8 months) between the 2022 party primaries and 2023 polling days had good reasons for dragging things out for the […]
Undesirable bedfellows!
By Donu Kogbara POLITICIANS can’t afford to be snobbish or uncompromising because they need every single supporter they can get; so I’m sure Peter Obi will not thank me for saying what I’m about to say. Since I’m not looking for anyone’s vote, I can afford to be snootily frank and point out that some of […]
The Pied Piper
By Donu Kogbara The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the title character of a German legend. When I was a schoolchild in the UK, my classmates and I had to learn a wonderful dramatic rhyming poem about the Pied Piper off by heart; and I still remember most of the words 50 years later! “The […]
