Editorial

Boat mishaps: When will they end?

Boat mishaps: When will they end?

Nigeria must begin to confront boat mishaps as a national public-safety crisis. The latest tragedy at Gorau village in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, where 65 people reportedly died, is too grim a reminder of the price Nigerians pay for regulatory failure and government neglect. The tragedy is particularly disturbing because it was […]
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Keeping neighbouring countries off Nigeria’s domestic affairs

Keeping neighbouring countries off Nigeria’s domestic affairs

THE recent arrest of fake staff of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, at a refugee camp in Niger Republic where they were registering foreign nationals for the Nigerian National Identity Numbers, NIN, is yet another of the numerous acts of violations of Nigeria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by one of our neighbours. According to […]

Need to curtail mass migration

Need to curtail mass migration

ABOUT a fortnight ago, the Federal Government grabbed the headlines with its reported “plan” to end the mass migration of Nigerians to foreign countries. Those who thought that the supposed initiative was coming from President Muhammadu Buhari’s office, discovered that it was the Minister of State, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Henry Ikoh, who merely called […]

Flood disasters: Facing the real issues

Flood disasters: Facing the real issues

THOUGH the Federal Government’s early warning and disaster intervention authorities were prepared for the floods, the sheer scale of the destruction of lives and property it left in its wake still took everyone by surprise. The National Meteorological Agency, NiMET, and the National Hydrological Service Agency, NHSA, had predicted unusual flood volumes this year. A […]

FG and ASUU again!

FG and ASUU again!

JUST when we thought that the eight month-long strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, had ended, the Federal Government is still engaged in its immature, pointless and insensitive antics that could lead to the resumption of the strike. The university teachers found that their October salaries had been slashed. A statement from […]

Obasanjo and the Ethiopia ceasefire

Obasanjo and the Ethiopia ceasefire

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has reconfirmed his position as a pre-eminent African statesman after successfully leading the African Union peace initiative to broker a ceasefire in the Ethiopian civil war. Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, fell into war two years ago when the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the leadership of the […]

Arming state security outfits

Arming state security outfits

SEVERAL state governments have indicated their intentions to arm their vigilante outfits with sophisticated weapons to protect their innocent, unarmed, law-abiding residents. The states include Zamfara, Katsina, Benue and Ondo states. These are among the most terrorised states in the country. Some other state governments, interest groups and true federalism advocates have only verbally agitated […]

Incessant air travel disruptions

Incessant air travel disruptions

THERE are some things that are disconcerting; one of them is rushing to the airport to catch a flight only to be met with a strike, picketing or shutdown of airports by the workers’ unions in the aviation sector. In the past couple of months, travellers were subjected to nightmares due to service disruptions from […]

ASUU strikes: Never again!

ASUU strikes: Never again!

IT is difficult to congratulate the Federal Government for taking the steps that ended the latest Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, strike. It stands totally culpable for the eight-month strike, which was avoidable. It took the intervention of the House of Representatives led by its Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, to end the seemingly intractable problem. […]

A Rishi Sunak lesson for Nigeria

A Rishi Sunak lesson for Nigeria

THE emergence of Mr. Rishi Sunak as the Prime Minister of Britain is no ordinary event. It is rich in history and points to where the Western world is right now compared to the rest of the world. Here is British-born Sunak with almost unadulterated Indian/Hindu heritage emerging as the Premier of the United Kingdom […]

This year’s flooding, a national disaster

This year’s flooding, a national disaster

THOUGH the flooding that has engulfed the country is a disaster foretold, even the National Meteorological Agency, NiMet, underestimated its scale in its in-season warning issued on August 17, 2022. The Agency had warned of high-risk flooding in states like Borno, Kaduna, Delta and Bayelsa, but what hit the nation covered 33 of the 36 […]

Need to reintegrate para athletes

Need to reintegrate para athletes

ON Wednesday, October 19, 2022, physically-challenged athletes erupted in rage in Lagos and Benin City. Their grouse was their alleged exclusion from the National Sports Festival, NSF, coming up in Delta State next month. In Lagos, they locked the National Stadium, Surulere, blocked the flow of traffic on Funsho Williams Avenue and protested with placards […]

Monitoring campaign misconduct

Monitoring campaign misconduct

ON September 28, 2022, the campaigns for the elections formally went into full swing, according to the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Already, some of the serious 18 registered political parties have flagged off their campaigns. We are, however, disturbed at the use of unprintable words by some political parties and candidates […]

Worries over proposed national carrier

Worries over proposed national carrier

AT the recently concluded third Ministerial Performance Review Retreat in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari assured that the proposed Nigeria Air national carrier would commence operations before the end of this year. He said it was already 91 per cent accomplished, and counted it as one of the achievements of his government. The national carrier idea […]

Lekki-Epe Airport: Matters arising

Lekki-Epe Airport: Matters arising

WE share the joy, relief and optimism of the government, people and residents of Lagos State over the imminence of a second airport for the city. A metropolis of more than 20 million people and a bustling centre of commerce like Lagos definitely needs more than one airport. The approval for this project was issued […]

Military’s ship-burning scandal

Military’s ship-burning scandal

NO credible excuse or explanation can be spruced up to justify the international embarrassment that the military authorities exposed Nigeria to in the burning of a pirate ship caught in the act of illegally lifting oil in the Niger Delta. The 87-metre long ship, which was arrested by the private security outfit of ex-militant leader, […]