Regulate scavenging, don’t criminalise it
The viral images of scavengers allegedly dismantling pillars of bridges in Lagos should alarm every responsible citizen. Any person who vandalises public infrastructure must face the law. But the disturbing conduct of some scavengers should not become an excuse for criminalising scavenging itself, an activity that provides livelihoods for thousands while performing an often-overlooked environmental […]
Lessons from Supreme Court’s electoral verdicts
PERHAPS unlike at any other time in our history of election petitions, the 2019 general elections presented politicians, political parties and especially the Supreme Court with the greatest challenges and lessons to learn from. In Nigeria an electoral cycle is not complete until all petitions arising from it are exhausted at all levels of the […]
Calls for a new constitution
NIGERIA will celebrate her 60th Independence anniversary this year, but it will be typically low-keyed and heavily laced with lamentations over our failure to meet our national aspirations. Instead of achieving a prosperous and united Federal Republic, a showpiece of democracy in Africa and the pride of the Black World, Nigeria at 60 will still […]
Confronting the Social Media Bill
IT should be clear to anyone who cares to know that the media, human rights and social advocacy groups will never lie low over any legislative or executive threat to the democratic and constitutional rights of Nigerians to lawful free speech. We as a newspaper are firmly on this page. We, therefore, call on all […]
Our de-radicalisation faux pas
THE Operation Safe Corridor, OPSC, of the Federal Government is ostensibly designed to encourage “repentant” Boko Haram Islamic terrorists to surrender and accept the De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration, DRR, a programme of the Nigerian Army. President Muhammadu Buhari administration created it in September 2015. At least, three batches numbering over 1,000 have been reunited with […]
Kano’s ban of child begging
WE are glad to note that gradually but surely, the political leadership in the North has started making bold moves to eradicate street begging, especially by the Almajirai pupils of Islamic schools. A 2014 report by the United Nations Education Fund, UNICEF, indicated that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children (13.2 million) in […]
