Talking Point

How not to read Governor Adeleke’s victory, by Rotimi Fasan

How not to read Governor Adeleke’s victory, by Rotimi Fasan

At dawn on Sunday, the 17th of August, Governor Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke of the Accord Party had been announced as the winner of the governorship election that started less than twenty-four hours earlier. With just over half a million votes cast in his favour, the ebullient governor was returned to office for another four-year […]
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Can Buhari be more selective of his international trips?

Can Buhari be more selective of his international trips?

Terrorists have killed no less than 10, 000 Nigerians, while two million others have been displaced since the beginning of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009. The preceding statistics were provided by President Muhammadu Buhari in the course of his speech during the Queen’s Banquet at the Commonwealth Head of Governments Meeting in Malta last week.

Which way Nigeria?

Which way Nigeria?

Today I go down memory lane to borrow the title of the musical album released over 30 years ago by Sonny Okosun.

Diezani Alison-Madueke’s plea for mercy

Diezani Alison-Madueke’s plea for mercy

Finally, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s Petroleum Resources minister until six months ago, seeks to be understood by Nigerians. The former highflying minister, one of the most influential in the Goodluck Jonathan administration, seems to be begging Nigerians for forgiveness, or at least for some slack in their criticism (or is it hatred of her guts?). Of course, Madueke did not actually ask Nigerians to forgive her. Those are not her exact words, but the intention is quite clear in the series of conversations she has had in the last couple of weeks with celebrity journalist, Dele Momodu. She seems to have come to a belated realisation of that Achebean warning to all misguided leaders that nobody wins a war against their own people.

Buhari’s ministers without portfolios

Buhari’s ministers without portfolios

This week, perhaps on this very Wednesday that you are reading this, President Muhammadu Buhari would assign portfolios to the ones that must be considered lucky of the 36 ministers-designate. There have been media reports of anxiety among the ministers-to-be as to which of them would be lucky to be assigned portfolios.

Of unfit soldiers and obese legislators

Of unfit soldiers and obese legislators

The fortunes of the Nigerian Army have of late been going down precipitously. A military force that was for a long time the pride of the country, and was deservedly celebrated for its peace keeping skills across the continent and beyond, has suddenly descended into disgrace. To be sure, the responsibility for the illfortune of the Nigerian military as a whole and the Army in particularly lies with the military.