James Ibori @ 68: What passion! What fighting spirit! What singularity! By Tony Eluemunor
August 4, 2026, His Excellency, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, Delta State Governor 1999 -2007, turned 68. Far from the maddening times, and after all the battles of yore, Ibori the quintessential rider on the storm, is living the life of an Elder Statesman and Family Patriarch. The clash of battle has quietened. From near and far, people […]
Shuaibu on Emir and Air Peace: Teacher don’t teach me nonsense
By Tony Eluemunor Mr. Shuaibu’s write up, “Air Peace, Kano Emir and unwarranted attacks” (Vanguard online, of March 4, this year) began with this unfortunate intro: “Beyond theory, strategic communication doesn’t seek publicity in whatever ways through the media. It considers the dynamics of the environment, the target audiences, their behaviours, and trending issues for […]
President Buhari, listen to Nigerians and their cries
Whatever happened to all the claims that President Mohammadu Buhari is a listening President?
Toxic petrol: I accuse NNPC (not MRS holdings)
By Tony Eluemunor Why is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)is being treated as umpire in this toxic petrol mess? It is at the heart of the scandal. That press statement from the NNPC explaining what happened should have formed the take off point for our journalists to begin to ask questions; and such questions […]
Nnamdi Kanu: What lessons for us?
By Tony Eluemunor It is a pity that the call for Nigeria’s restructuring (in all ramifications) has given rise to a Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his arrest. I fear we may not learn the right lessons from this sordid episode. In the preface to his first collection of essays, Morning yet on Creation Day, Chinua […]
Open grazing ban: Questions for the presidency
By Tony Eluemunor Until details emerge, I fear the 1963 gazetted Cattle Routes may have passed through the State House, Abuja. Numerous bats nestle in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa area. When they fly out in the evenings, they darken the sky. Also, the entire three–arm zone (Presidency, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court) […]
Where’s the road back…to a united Nigeria?
By Tony Eluemunor Writing has become a curse. You write and write and those who should listen to you appear to hold wisdom in utter disdain; yes, in contempt, derision, scorn, condescension and with total disregard. Really, a writer could live with that. It is left for the individual writer to speak his truth to […]
Nigeria: The signs of state failure
How seriously should Nigeria be taking herself as a country? What really is the state of her health as a successful, failed, succeeding or failing state? Are there signs to show how far a country has plummeted or risen on the success ramp? It is easy to embrace Max Weber’s controversial political theory which states […]
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu’s remarkable judgement
Something serious happened on May 20 2021. It was on that day that the Justice Minister and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami earned the title “controversial” (as in contentious and divisive, even provocative). The Southern Governors Forum had agreed to enforce the ban on open-grazing law in their states. Malami equated that ban with […]
Buhari and Nigeria: Who belongs to whom?
By Tony Eluemunor How many Nigerians really know their president; Gen. Mohammadu Buhari? Who knows his office hours? What does he do during the long flights of his frequent trips to other lands? What kind of books does he read? Does he, like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, be fully at work, poring through files even […]
Open grazing: Abubakar Malami’s fallacies
By Tony Eluemunor Wonders will never end, so the saying goes. I never thought I would see the day when a sitting Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, would exhibit the kind of crude illogicality one would expect from a primary school dropout. Yet, Alhaji Abubaka Malami (SAN) did just that last Wednesday […]
