Biodun Jeyifo (1946-2026), by Obi Nwakanma
There are these times when uttering words feel too overwhelming, because words sometimes weigh like stones. Such moments are like now, when we must make offerings to the memory of a man like Biodun Jeyifo – BJ for short. At his death, I was too tongue-tied to make appropriate tribute. In these times, when vulgar […]
Government wants peace, but of the graveyard
By Obi Nwakanma Sagir Musa, a Lieutenant-Colonel, and spokesman for the Nigerian Army, came on air last Monday to threaten young Nigerians protesting on the streets on behalf of the Army Chief, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai. In a public press statement read after the Chief of Army’s Conference with Principal Staff Officers, GOCs and […]
As Nigeria boils…
By Obi Nwakanma Nigeria has a President who is, by the designation of the Constitution, the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. His real name is Muhammadu Buhari. Some Nigerians might however be justified in calling him, ‘President Photo,’ on account that he has turned out to be a wall-flower President. The only time they […]
End SARS
#EndSARS: The police history and character as a colonial constabulary force unsuited for a sovereign nation of free citizens in a democracy.
Femi Adesina: Buhari and Arthur Who?
By Obi Nwakanma Femi Adesina, the President’s Chichidodo – you all remember the bird in Ayi Kwei Armah’s grim novel, The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born? – well, he came again last week with a whopper: a big fat shit; an essay he titled, ‘Buhari and the South-East: Arthur Eze nails it.’ I really […]
Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike: 1930 – 2020
By Obi Nwakanma Professor Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, novelist and University administrator, who became Eze Ndikelionwu, an old Aro town founded in the middle of the 17th century, died on January 9, 2020, and was buried on June 11, 2020. Chukwuemeka Ike also held the “Ofo Aro” and was one of the trinity that made up […]
A reckless National Assembly
By Obi Nwakanma The question this column wishes to ask today is: are Nigerians asleep? Are they under some kind of spell that makes them unwilling or incapable of rising to confront the dangerous excesses of this administration and its rubber-stamp National Assembly? Where are the youth of this nation – the age-old catalysts for […]
ALMAJARAI: A season of migration to the South
By Obi Nwakanma Much hot air has been expended on the various reports about the migration of the so-called “Almajarai” to the South – mostly to the South/South and South/East states. Much concern is about the nature of these movement and their intentions, legality, and implications, particularly in this era of the national lowdown and […]
Beyond the shoddy response to coronavirus
By Obi Nwakanma The health of the President of any country is a national security priority. Elaborate structures are put in place to secure the capacity of the President to function. No country leaves the primary care of its national political leadership to the expertise of another country, however friendly. Doing that leaves the possibility […]
After coronavirus, the hunger virus
As keen observers have long predicted, Nigeria has finally arrived at that inevitable juncture where oil sales will no longer guarantee the flush in the purse of the governments in Nigeria. Nigeria is now running a deficit economy. Deep poverty is staring this nation in the face. The violence which this will unleash will be […]
The Orbit: The poverty dole
By Obi Nwakanma Many things that frequently happen in Nigeria, particularly under this administration, if they were to happen in other lands, often lead to the fall of governments. People rise up fearlessly and confront their elected leadership. But Nigerians have become too fatal and docile. Years of serial incompetence has alienated and traumatized the […]
