Building permit in Lagos: Approval must end in inspection
FOR much of this week, and as we inch closer to the next general elections, issues about and appertaining to the economy and well-being of Nigerians dominate discourse everywhere — in the traditional media, the social media, at beer parlours, and inside buses as commuters move from one point to another. Government and its spokesmen […]
Let’s debate the LGA question
One of the great disservices that the General Abdulsalami Abubakar transitional regime did to Nigeria was its failure to empanel a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution before handing over in 1999. It simply amended the 1979/1989 Constitutions with some amendment clauses derived from the General Sani Abacha Constitution of 1996. In effect, they […]
North-East: Ending terrorism financing
When terrorists attacked several parts of the United States of America with commercial aircraft laden with passengers on September 11, 2001, little did those of us in Nigeria realise that our country would soon become one of the hottest terror spots in the world. Following the murder in government custody of Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf, leader […]
Pay TV providers and Nigerian consumers
Once again, MultiChoice Nigeria, providers of popular DSTV subscription television services, has come under withering attacks due to its latest upward adjustment of tariffs. Responding to ballooning operational costs which pushed inflation to 33.20 per cent as of April 2024, the company like other providers of goods and services, hiked the prices of its services […]
Making VIPs pay
AS if to remind the public that he was once an activist lawyer, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, recently moved to ensure that Very Important Personalities, VIPs, who have hitherto enjoyed some free services at our airports will now pay for them. Such services include toll gate, parking and executive lounge fees. […]
Harry and Meghan in Nigeria
British royal couple, Prince Harry and Megan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrived Nigeria last Friday aboard Air Peace, to promote the Invictus Games and mental health among military personnel and Nigerians as a whole. The couple visited at the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Chris Musa. Harry, a combatant […]
Reps’ intervention on Coastal project
LAST week, the House of Representatives finally stepped into President Bola Tinubu’s Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway controversy with a resolve to ensure that due process is fully restored. Nigerians woke up some weeks ago to the commencement of work on easily the most expensive infrastructural project in Nigeria’s history: a 700 kilometre 10-lane bimodal […]
Let rule of law prevail in Rivers State
The political crisis in Rivers State is fast approaching a blowout point. The two warring sides have dropped all pretences of following a peace accord. The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has mandated the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, consisting mainly of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, carpet-crossers […]
Overburdening the masses
The Muhammadu Buhari leg of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Federal Government failed to wave the magic wand they had promised during the campaigns towards the 2015 presidential election. Instead, the economy was left in utter ruins as Buhari handed over to Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, 2023. From Day One, Tinubu deftly transferred […]
Apartments under Lagos bridges
WITHIN the space of a few days, officials of the Lagos State Government “discovered” two residential setups tucked under the flyover bridges in the Ikoyi foreshore axis. One was found under Dolphin Estate Bridge while the other was located at Osborne Bridge. According to a well-circulated social media post by the state’s Commissioner for Environment […]
Albatross of “repentant” Boko Haram hoodlums
Reports of a recent upsurge in violent crimes allegedly being carried out by the so-called repentant Boko Haram terrorists did not come as a surprise to concerned Nigerians. It was bound to happen because of the shoddy manner that their “de-radicalisation” programme was conceived by the military under former Army Chief, Lt-General Tukur Buratai, during […]
Arrest of train terror “masterminds”
On Thursday last week (May 2, 2024), the Nigeria Police paraded three young men whom it disclosed were behind the Abuja-Kaduna train attack, which shook the nation to its foundation. On March 28, 2022, terrorists planted explosives on the train tracks and immobilised a train belonging to the Nigerian Railways Corporation. The train had 970 […]
Agreeing a minimum wage
The stage is set for a battle royale between the Federal Government and Organised Labour consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Unions Congress, TUC, and their affiliates, over the new national Minimum Wage, NMW. While government promised that whatever is agreed will take effect from May 1, 2024, perhaps in honour […]
Finidi George as Eagles’ coach
Former Super Eagles’ ace winger and victorious coach of Enyimba Football Club of Aba, Finidi George, was announced as the new Manager of Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, last week, by the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF. This puts to rest, for now, the search for a new Eagles’ helmsman. George was chosen ahead […]
Tinubu’s subsidy and bankruptcy faux pas
President Bola Tinubu’s assertion at the recent Special World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that the removal of petrol subsidy and foreign exchange reforms by his administration saved Nigeria from bankruptcy, was received with mixed feelings by the citizens who have been forced to endure horrendous hardship over the past year. On the surface […]
Northern Governors’ American jamboree
Over the past week, no fewer than nine Governors from the North were in Washington, D.C. to attend a conference organised by the United States Institute of Peace, USIP, with the theme: “Drivers of Instability and Opportunities for Stabilisation”. These were: Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Abba Yusuf of Kano, Uba Sani of Kaduna, Umar Bago […]
