The Federal Government is right to reopen the minimum-wage question, because no wage can be called fair if it is continually outrun by inflation and the rising cost of survival. The N70,000 minimum wage was agreed in 2024 at the outset of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms. Nigerians were asked to absorb painful shocks in […]

Nigeria’s slow rebound in crude oil production to around 1.66 million barrels per day is good  news, but it should not be treated as a major victory. After years of painful decline caused by oil theft, pipeline attacks, the departure of foreign oil companies and policy confusion, the recovery simply means the Federal Government has […]

The Director-General of the Department of State Security Service, (DSS), Adeola Ajayi, has articulated what few security chiefs would dare acknowledge: communities must become the first line of defence against insecurity and terrorism. This postulation represents obvious breakthrough thinking, yet uncomfortable questions remain about why such a brilliant strategy remains unimplemented despite years of worsening […]

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu’s recent interventions in South Africa, Ethiopia and Ghana offer a timely illustration of a foreign policy that places citizens at its centre. In an age when diplomacy is often measured by summit photographs and policy statements, her approach reminds us that its primary purpose should be the […]

The lynching and burning of Malama Ummulkhairi in Maraban Jos, Kaduna State, is a stain on our national conscience. Taken into police protective custody recently after an unverified allegation that she intended to steal children, the mother of four was nevertheless seized by a mob and killed. That a citizen could be removed from state […]

The controversy surrounding the spending practices of the South East Development Commission (SEDC) has once again highlighted the urgent need for strict oversight of Nigeria’s zonal Development Commissions. These agencies were created to serve as vehicles for accelerated regional development, not platforms for bureaucratic excess, questionable expenditures or administrative extravagance. The concerns raised over the […]

Nigeria’s battle against illicit drugs has reached a decisive moment. As the world marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the warning from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODOC) that Nigeria stands at a critical juncture must be accepted as more than rhetoric. The expanding availability of cannabis, opioids and […]

The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, and its uninterrupted flow is essential to global stability. Every day, approximately 21 million barrels of crude oil—roughly 21 per cent of global petroleum consumption—pass through this narrow waterway between Iran and Oman. To nickname it a “special international waterway” and treat it as […]

For many households, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) promised a cleaner, safer alternative to firewood, charcoal and kerosene. That promise is fraying. A steep rise in the cost of refilling cylinders—reaching about N2,000 per kilogramme in some markets—has put LPG beyond the reach of millions already squeezed by inflation and falling real wages. Cooking fuel is […]

The renewed push by the Federal Government to end open grazing and activate the so-called 470 gazetted grazing reserves is a deeply troubling return to a policy that has already generated fierce controversy, failed to win public confidence, and proved impossible to implement smoothly in the past. Nigerians were told for years that open grazing […]