The conduct of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, in the public space is quite unbecoming. It is not enough to dismiss him as unhinged as many are wont to do because to do so is to ignore the fact that for whatever it is worth, he is a Nigerian political elite, a member of […]

I have always known Yakubu Mohammed by reputation. But we met physically in 2018 when the League of Nigerian Columnists berthed. Initiated by syndicated columnists, Akogun Tola Adeniyi and Professor Anthony Kila, the league paraded industry giants such as Dan Agbese, Ray Ekpu, Reuben Abati, the late Henry Boyo, Ben Lawrence, the late Jimanze Ego-Alowes, Dare […]

One of the absurdities of Nigeria’s pseudo-democracy is the fact that those clamouring for President Bola Tinubu’s second term are not flaunting his achievements. Instead, the battle cry is the need for him to complete his “constitutionally guaranteed” two terms of eight years, not minding that there is no such guarantee in the 1999 Constitution, amended […]

In his seminal offering last Sunday titled, “Whose president is Tinubu, anyway?” TheNiche columnist, Dr. Chidi Amuta, concluded in a rather cautionary note: “Tinubu’s current quandary as to his real national constituency may end in greater confusion unless he is ready to rediscover the source of his original sin and redress it. That original sin is […]

Last week’s protest by retired policeofficers clamouring for exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, once again, brought to the fore the knotty issue of police welfare. To be sure, this agitation is not new. It is as old as the scheme itself. So, to the extent that it was about improved welfare for policemen, serving and retired, it was […]

At best, Nigeria’s democracy in this Fourth Republic has been wobbly, standing, as it were, on feet of clay. And a quarter of a century thence, rather than getting better, things have got worse as the politicians are busy dismantling all the guardrails of democracy – civic participation, which undergirds every genuine democratic project; the rule […]

Nigerians are hypocritically sanctimonious, a trait that has become evident since the death of President Muhammadu Buhari in a London hospital on Sunday, July 13. Many, particularly politicians, have lied against the man, literally, by clothing him in borrowed robes in a bid not to speak ill of the dead. All manner of adjectives have been […]

My recent visit to China, which I wrote about in this column two weeks ago (See China and live), opened my eyes as to what it takes to build strong nations. I have been privileged to travel to many countries globally, and in terms of development, China takes the cake. While here in Nigeria we continue […]

Many Nigerians worried by the systemic looting of the national treasury heaved a sigh of relief when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established in 2003. The EFCC Act which was first enacted in December 2002 and later replaced by the EFCC (Establishment) Act 2004, was a response to pressure from the Financial […]

Time was when the refrain, “See Paris and die,” reflected the global view that Paris, the capital city of France, was so magnificent that once you have seen it, you can happily die, having experienced the apogee of life’s splendour. It was a refrain that also echoed the Italian saying “Vedi Napoli e poi muori” – “see […]

As the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2023 elections, Bola Tinubu must have laughed his head off when in August 2022, his running-mate, Kashim Shettima, hubristically dished out presidential responsibilities at the Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in Lagos. “I have been in the theatre of conflicts […]

Over the years, I have had strong personal relationships with five great Igbo personages, who were and still are global personalities in their own right – Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Professor Ben Nwabueze, Dr Pascal Dozie, Professor Anya O. Anya and Dr Uma Eleazu. Though three of these great men are now of blessed memory, these […]

In his usual bluster, U.S. President Donald Trump at numerous hustings in 2024 promised to get a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine in just one day if elected president. In fact, he boasted that President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since […]

Today, May 29, 2025, is exactly two years since Bola Tinubu took the oath of office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria. And it is more than enough time to assess his stewardship. Even those who said, as Professor Wole Soyinka did in 2023, that the traditional 100 days […]

Nigerian politicians are a funny lot who have perfected the inelegant art of majoring in minor things, which explains why, at a time like this when the country is at a socio-economic and political crossroads, the House of Representatives is going around chasing rats while the house – Nigeria – is on fire. Their puerile […]