ON Wednesday, April 6, 2022, the Federal Government continued its gradual relaxation of restrictions on public gatherings which it imposed as a means of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic since April 2020. According to a statement by the Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee, PSC, on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, the Federal Government still insists that […]

As expected, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, moved against the ringleaders of the move to call out personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, to a nationwide strike. In mid-March 2022, some of the organisers of the supposed industrial action announced a two-week “warning strike” as a prelude to the main event. […]

AFTER the collapse of the Nigerian railway network established by our British colonial masters due to mismanagement, former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an elected leader initiated the ongoing effort to restore and modernise that aspect of our transportation system. Successive administrations, notably those of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the current regime of President Muhammadu […]

DESPITE security being a top priority of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, law-abiding Nigerians now live in fear more than at any other time in our history. Our people depend a lot on travelling to earn their living, but events of the past week show that travelling has suddenly become a very risky venture. Bandit terrorism […]

Muslims across the globe will be immersed in 29 or 30-day fasting, devotion and reflection. The sanctity of the month, as it is believed, was evidenced by the link of the Holy Qur’an with Ramadan. According to a scholar, the entire Qur’an came down in Ramadan; the first revelation also occurred in Ramadan as well […]

ON Wednesday, March 22, 2022, a viral video of an inferno under the Apongbon section of the Eko Bridge, Lagos emerged. The fire consumed the goods, containers and junk under the bridge, thus severely compromising that section of the flyover bridge into Victoria Island. As a result, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had […]

MILLIONS of Nigerian football fans had looked up to the Super Eagles to lift the spirits of the nation by qualifying for the World Cup coming up in Qatar later this year. Unfortunately, our soccer ambassadors compounded our woes arising from our socio-economic and security misgovernance. Their 1-1 draw at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja […]

RECENTLY, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, debunked a report that 40 per cent of the registered brands of pesticide products in Nigeria were banned or restricted for use by the European Union. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the Agency, remarked that Nigeria will not be a dumping ground for […]

RECENTLY, when the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, officially banned single-use plastic among its staff members, it was probably following the footsteps of the 400-staff members of the United Nations Climate Secretariat in Bonn, Germany, who chose to endure the heat instead of enjoying the ozone-depleting, energy-guzzling comfort of air-conditioners. At Bonn, it was […]

WITH the dawn of our renascent democracy in 1999, General Abdulsalami Abubakar who took over when General Sani Abacha died, was in the forefront of implementing the resolution of the Provisional Ruling Council, PRC, to put rotation, zoning and federal character into effect. He ensured that the Federal Character principle which had been enshrined in […]

EVERY diverse political entity which desires to last long and prosper must find ways of carrying constituent members of their union along. Every group must be made to have a sense of belonging in, and ownership of the union. Since independence, Nigeria has had more than its fair share of crises of confidence which resulted […]

THE battles for the amendment of the Electoral Act 2010 to ensure the electronic transmission of results from the polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, headquarters were protracted. The ruling political forces fought it because direct electronic transmission would cut off the collation centres where figures were falsified under heavy security cover. […]

BARRING any last-minute hitch, the much-anticipated elective national convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, will take place in Abuja on Saturday, March 26, 2022. The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had already elected its party leaders at the convention of October 30, 2021. For the APC, this convention which is for the election […]

The President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, broke a cheering news last week that the bank had secured a $15.6 bn facility to build a world-class road corridor between Lagos and Abidjan. At the African Investment Forum which ended on Thursday last week, the AfDB President declared: “The biggest deal for […]

AN old adage says “ignorance is a disease”. In Nigeria and many parts of Africa, ignorance is an epidemic. It is a weapon in the hands of the poor which is used to prey on the fellow poor and downtrodden elements of the society. Last week a shameful video trended on the social media. A […]