PRIOR to the rescheduling of the Presidential and National Assembly polls to the 28th of March, there was palpable fear, mistrust and general feeling of insecurity by Nigerians culminating to the relocation of other ethnic groups from their hitherto place of residence ahead of the elections

SUNNY, what is happening to the world? That was the question my big brother Barrister Ballantyrne Ugege, of Faith chambers, Warri, threw at me as we sat reflecting on global issues generally. Thomas Hobbes’ life in the state of nature is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” but with the advancement of the human mind capabilities and interaction of people from diverse cultures, coupled with the influence of positive religion, the brutishness of man has been tampered. The whole world has become a global village and the concern of one has become the concern for all. The establishment of the United Nations organization immediately after the bitterly fought Second World War ensured that the arrangement was formalized and documented. No individual or nation can, on its own flout UN rules and regulations at will; at least that is the assumption. The world was happy and full of expectations but barely a century after, it is as if things have gone hay wire. Human lives have become worthless; killings and destructions everywhere. Nothing, no matter the value is too precious to be destroyed; man, material, edifices, all.

FOR almost eight years, the people of Akwa Ibom have been under the suffocating influence of Barrister Godswill Akpabio, the governor of the state, who, in active connivance of the federal might had subjugated the people to an unbearable level of mental and emotional torture, self doubt and humiliation in the name of governance. They persevered, prayed and hoped that someday and somehow, and by some touch of providence, they will have a Daniel come to judgement and free them from the internal slavery which they are subjected

I WAS in the late 1990s, a frequent visitor to the home of pioneer film maker and veteran journalist, Dr. Ola Balogun in Yaba, Lagos. In late 1998 with the unfolding of another Transition Programme to civil rule following the death of General Sani Abacha, he raised with me the desire of former Inspector General of Police, Muhammadu Dikko Yusuf to establish a political party. Could I assist in the development of the party programme, structure and manifesto?

REFLECTION on the existing number of books on President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan might well raise doubt about the desirability of adding to them. But since research does not stand still and its more assured results often take long to reach the handbook, there may be a place for a brief account of the man described severally by different people as a leader who is humble and simple to a fault.

“The heights reached and attained by great men, were not attained by sudden flight. They toiled all night , whilst others slept”.-Edmund Burke FROM time out of the reach of memory, through the Paleolithic age to the present era, philosophers, occults, men of God, free thinkers, necromancers and metaphysicians, etc have sanctimoniously postulated and didactically […]

THE Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) attracted the attention of two respected opinion leaders in sports. One is my senior ‘Malabite’ and seasoned Sports Journalist turned football administrator, Paul Bassey. The other is Lawyer whose passion for Journalism is such that one can also take the liberty to address him as a Sports Journalist, Godwin Dudu-Orumen aka Football Aficionado.

ALHAJI Mohammed Dikko Yusufu Nigeria’s third indigenous Inspector General of Police, former presidential aspirant and a blue blood from Kastina State passed away on Wednesday, April 1 2015 after a protracted illness.

By Omozuwa Osamwonyi To the utmost surprise of doom-watchers around the globe, Nigeria is going through historic moments of national renewal and democratic consolidation. Thankfully, the peaceful outcome of the 2015 Presidential and parliamentary elections does not synchronise with the catastrophic scenarios some know-it-all prophets of doom simulated and popularised. They audaciously fixed Nigeria’s death […]

Congratulations on your victory on the just concluded presidential election in Nigeria. Your victory is a lesson to every Nigerian, that no matter how many times  one has tried hard and yet failed to actualize his or her dreams, that if the person does not quit, does not give up, does not conclude that he or she can never be successful, that if the person remains resolute and committed, success will come. You are a historic and monumental lesson of “Never give up.” 

I HAD written in the past that one of the good things that came out of Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is the absolute freedom for everyone to express him/herself. Now he has gone on to conduct the freest and most credible election this country has ever witnessed at the presidential level. What an irony! A man who never struggled nor sweated for any political office he had occupied, suddenly found himself losing the only one he so desperately worked hard for.

FOR almost eight years, the people of Akwa Ibom have been under the suffocating influence of Barrister Godswill Akpabio, the governor of the state, who, in active connivance of the federal might had subjugated the people to an unbearable level of mental and emotional torture, self doubt and humiliation in the name of governance.

WE the people of Oke Ogun have waited in vain since the inception of regions and states creation to have one of our own son or daughter to be appointed as the chief executive officer of a region or a state, as military administrator or civilian governor. The best and the closest we have had is deputy governor of Oyo State despite the fact that we have always had pockets of individuals that could be considered.

It all started at a Friday social forum where friends had the opportunity to interact and unwind. But this soon gravitated into a discussion about the multiplicity of challenges in Nigeria and how it was difficult to change the status quo. After various arguments laced with mudslingings, reasons prevailed and it was agreed that rather than dissipating needless energy lamenting about our current predicament or cursing inept leaders, we should work within our sphere of influence to see how we can make a difference and engender good governance at the local, state and national levels.

Few years ago, one of my student stood up in the middle of a lecture and asked, ‘Sir, who owns Nigeria?’ I was teaching a topic on colonialism and it could have been easy for me to answer, the British, but that would have been appropriate if only we were still under colonial rule. Its been decades since we exchanged the union jack for the green and white flag to enjoy self-government.