“The emancipation of the poor must be the act of the poor themselves”—   Classical Socialist Thought  In the ever shifting terrain of Nigerian politics, where power has increasingly become the preserve of entrenched elites, the re-emergence of populist currents is both inevitable and necessary. Indeed, it is both a historical and contemporary need that must come […]

“The true measure of a man is how he bears up under misfortune”—   Plutarch If the early phase of Alhaji Ado Bayero’s reign was defined by adaptation and consolidation, the later decades were marked by endurance, influence, adversity and the quiet exercise of statesmanship. By the 1970s and 1980s, Nigeria had entered a prolonged period of […]

“A great man is one who leaves others at a loss after he is gone”—   Paul Valéry To do justice to the life and times of so illustrious a personality as the late Alhaji Ado Bayero, CFR, Emir of Kano, would require the pen and erudition of historians of the calibre of Ibn Khaldun, Edward Gibbon […]

“Between the strong and the weak, it is liberty that oppresses and the law that sets free“—   Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire My sustained engagement with questions of sovereignty, strategic autonomy and global order is shaped not only by my background as a career diplomat, but also by a lifelong study of world history. In “The Martyrdom of […]

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other“—  John Adams Few observations capture the enduring dilemma of democratic governance as succinctly as this warning by John Adams. Long before the modern age of mass democracy, Adams understood that constitutions and institutions, however carefully […]

“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children“—  Dietrich Bonhoeffer A complex and peculiar crisis is facing the international community today. This is the erosion of ethical norms in countries that should provide leadership to the world through example. For norms to retain their authority, they […]

“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters”—  Antonio Gramsci I recall vividly that I was in New York City when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were locked in their historic contest for the American presidency in 2016. Within diplomatic circles, media houses, academic institutions, […]

“No longer anything but a decoration which is useful for nothing”—  Paul Cambon  The withering description of a once-revered political figure in France by the diplomat Paul Cambon, applies with equal or perhaps greater force, to the state of politics in Nigeria today. Even objects of decoration, no matter how worthless, may still retain some redeeming […]

“All things are possible in politics”— Douglas Reed After two weeks of examining the language and practice of loyalty in Nigerian politics, one conclusion stands out with unsettling clarity: the phrase “I remain loyal” has become both a confession and an indictment. It confesses the fragility of conviction in our political culture and indictes a system […]

“When self interest comes into play, things get stagnant“—  Japanese proverb There are few commodities as endlessly traded in Nigeria’s political bazaar as “loyalty.” It is advertised with solemn speeches, sold in exchange for appointments, and withdrawn without notice when the market price falls. Loyalty in our politics has become so portable, so negotiable, and so […]

“Warnings are vain, the printed word is futile, experience teaches no lessons”“-  Douglas Reed There are certain phrases that never die in Nigerian politics. They reappear like clockwork at critical moments, uttered with solemnity and flourish, yet met with skepticism by the public. Chief among them is the oft-repeated line: “I remain loyal.” It is spoken […]

“The over-riding concern of the Supreme Military Council has been the need to ensure good government, orderly progress and harmony of the nation“—  General Olusegun Obasanjo, 21 September 1978 How the overriding concern of Nigeria’s current political dispensation aligns with the imperatives of good government, orderly progress and national harmony will be tested—proved or belied—by the […]

“Development is not a gift from the outside; it is the outcome of a people’s own efforts“— Julius K. Nyerere Africa’s quest for industrialisation did not begin recently with China, nor does it depend on China for its intellectual legitimacy. Even before Beijing emerged as a major development partner on the continent, African leaders had already […]

“Foreign policy is not sentiment; it is interest disciplined by circumstance“—Hans J. Morgenthau Chinese Foreign Minister Wang  Yi kicked off his Africa tour in January 2026 with visits to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, followed by Somalia, Tanzania and Lesotho. This itinerary is more than symbolic. It reflects a carefully structured and holistic engagement with the African […]

“Where there is no vision, the people perish; but where there is no truth, the people turn against each other.” The question of whether social media poses an existential threat to Nigeria may at first seem improbable. Yet in today’s Nigeria, where the political order is strained, where cohesion is brittle, where cynicism is rampant and […]