Fayose’s insufferable political rascality, by Ikechukwu Amaechi
Nigeria is at a crossroads – politically, economically and socially. There is no easy way out of the bind. You believe President Bola Tinubu’s preachment of ‘Renewed Hope’ at your own peril because blind trust is always a risky proposition. And that is what the administration wants Nigerians to do – trust blindly. They want […]
Buhari, Aso Rock’s non-essential staff, evacuated to London
By Ikechukwu Amaechi IN his kairotic moment at the dispatch box in the British House of Commons on January 31, 2022, Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party since 2020, gave the then British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, a full dressing down. It was a remarkable speech. Johnson “is a man without shame… damaging […]
Frank Nweke’s covenant with Ndi-Enugu
By Ikechukwu Amaechi ON Saturday, October 15, Mr. Frank Nweke Jr., former Minister of Information and the Enugu State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, unveiled his social contract with the people, titled, “A Manifesto for rebuilding the Enugu of our dreams.” The 56-page document came with an unalloyed pledge: “My team […]
Why Buhari must let Nnamdi Kanu go
By Ikechukwu Amaechi I AM not a lawyer. But in writing this article, I spoke to learned friends who, in unanimity, held that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has no legal beam to hang its jaundiced interpretation of the Appeal Court judgement that discharged the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, of […]
Ekwueme, five years after
By Ikechukwu Amaechi ON February 2, 2018, the remains of Nigeria’s first democratically elected vice president, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, were committed to mother earth in his ancestral home – Oko, Orumba North LGA, Anambra State. When he died on November 19, 2017, he was 85 years, an age many would consider old. Nonetheless, he died […]
Enough of political brigandage in Lagos
By Ikechukwu Amaechi A HIGHLY disturbing video surfaced online on Sunday, October 2, which should give every well-meaning Nigerian cause for concern. Two supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, claimed in the video that they escaped being lynched at the Oshodi motor park, by a whisker. It was sheer providence […]
#Obidatti23 rally: Who is afraid of Lekki Toll Gate?
By Ikechukwu Amaechi On Wednesday, September 28, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, officially blew the whistle for the commencement of the 2023 election campaigns. With the Presidential and National Assembly elections holding on February 25, 2023, that will be a grueling 150 days of politicians crisscrossing this vast country, soliciting for votes. It promises […]
Interrogating Fashola’s take on 2023 elections
By Ikechukwu Amaechi When we tapped Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing to be the Guest Speaker at the 2022 TheNiche Lecture, there was disquiet in some quarters. The theme of the lecture, “2023 elections and the future of Nigeria’s democracy,” didn’t help matters. Some expected guests, particularly members of the opposition political […]
As Obi’s candidacy redefines Nigeria’s presidential democracy
By Ikechukwu Amaechi AS you read this, and barring any last minute rescheduling, it will be exactly 177 days to the 2023 presidential election scheduled to hold on February 25. Many Nigerians are enthusiastic, thrilled and motivated. Some are even exultant. This election cycle will be the seventh since 1999. Yet, none of the previous […]
2023 elections and future of Nigeria’s democracy
By Ikechukwu Amaechi THE 2023 elections will be consequential. Though six months away and campaigns yet to be officially flagged off, politicians are already crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country, shadowboxing their way through all manner of policy disputes. They are making a show of tackling the myriad problems the post-Buhari era will […]
2023 places extraordinary responsibility on ordinary Nigerians
By Ikechukwu Amaechi THE 2023 elections are still six months away but the polity is already heated up. Expectedly, governance at all levels has stopped and the resources of the Nigerian state have been cornered by those in the corridors of power, as of right, to prosecute the electoral battle. That is what is called […]
Niger Republic as Nigeria’s 37th state
Constitutionally, Nigeria has 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja. But under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch, the country seems to have added one more state – Niger Republic – making it 37. The 37th state, ironically enjoys more federal attention than some of the country’s bona-fide states. Nigeriens enjoy more rights than most Nigerians.
Still on Sam Omatseye’s ‘obituary’
WHEN a friend of mine called on Monday afternoon to ask if I had read Sam Omatseye’s ‘obituary’ in The Nation newspaper, my heart skipped a beat.
There is fire on the mountain
Fire on the Mountain, the fifth track on her inimitable album Asa. Bukola, the 39-year-old musician, professionally known as Asa, sang this song at the launch of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, on Tuesday, July 19, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Several high-ranking government officials, including President Muhammadu Buhari, were in attendance.
Murder of Catholic Priests: Nigerian State is complicit
THREE weeks ago, the remains of a Catholic priest, Reverend Father Vitus Borogo, who was gruesomely murdered on Saturday, June 25, by terrorists who raided his farm in Kaduna were laid to rest at the Independent Way Cemetery in the state capital. A procession was held with hundreds of priests carrying placards of various inscriptions to express their grief. Tears flowed freely. His poor mother, an old woman, collapsed.
Nigerians can’t wait to see Buhari go
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has finally admitted that he is overwhelmed by the job he craved and wept for. But Nigerians came to that conclusion long before him.
