Amen Uhunmwhangho, once quoted Patrick Wilmot as painting the picture of leadership failure in Nigeria as follows. “After almost half century of independence Nigeria, the potential superpower of Africa has travelled in reverse gear. If Nigeria had been a motor vehicle it would have been scrapped.

By Gab Ejuwa IT is no longer news that the Yar’Adua government can now beat its chest and claim to have chalked up some sort of achievement in an otherwise barren and arid tenure. The government’s squealing propagandists can now go to town, cities, countries and even continents to extol the virtues of the ailing  […]

By Okey Egboka FOR the past one year, Chief  Victor Umeh, the factional chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance has been in the trenches, fighting to ensure that his town’s man, Governor Peter Obi, gets the APGA gubernatorial ticket. For him, it is a project that must not be messed with. Ordinarily, an incumbent getting […]

By Seth Mbam CHRIS Nwabueze Ngige, Onwa, is somebody who has often been misunderstood. If ever there was a master propagandist, here is one. He knows and understands politics as played by Nigerians. Perhaps, he knows it like the riotous, strange looking rings on his right hand. This man came in when the state was […]

FOR the first time in years, Nigeria’s Niger Delta seems to be looking up. Large numbers of the region’s insurgents who had been sabotaging petroleum production and fighting government forces in a campaign for a greater share of oil revenues, have accepted President Umaru Yar’Adua’s offer of amnesty.

‘ In any case what are the democratic credentials of Powell? That he is serving in a government that rigged the American elections? ….Colin Powell is trying to discharge his duties as a house negro’

THERE is one thing one cannot take away from Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu , Ezeigbo Gburugburu – his passion for his people and his deep-rooted concern for their well-being. One thing we have come to associate with Ojukwu is his ability to speak for his people whenever he perceives danger lurking against them.

When on November 1, 2007, the House of Representatives elected Dimeji Bankole as its speaker, following a protracted wrangling for the enthr-onement of accoun-tability, good governance and integrity of the House, many expected a radical departure from a hitherto docile House. But not many would have expected the new Speaker to thread where even the angels tremble in the Nigeria power equation.

The bitterness and hatred with which Owei Lakemfa wrote his piece (titled “Fani-Kayode: Tales His Father Told Him,” The Vanguard Newspaper, Nov 25th 2009) about Chief Femi Fani- Kayode and his late and highly respected father, the Balogun of Ife, Chief R.A Fani- Kayode Q.C., S.A.N, C.O.N clearly reveals the fact that he cannot be regarded as an impartial columnist who seeks to establish the truth but rather he can be seen more in the light of a subjective and venom- filled commentator who is on a hatchet job for unseen forces.

By Ogroh Douye WHEN  I received the invitation, I was reluctant to go. My diary was booked, as we Nigerians say, and the last thing on my mind was a dinner on the Island that may last well into the night. The invitation was, however, tempting, very tempting. It was to attend a dinner in […]

THE global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, TI, has just released its yearly Corruption Perception Index for 2009. And what has made the headlines in the last few days is that Nigeria has slumped in the latest ranking. The country is placed 130 out of the 180 countries covered by the report.

RIGHT from the First Republic, up to the tenure of Rashidi Ladoja, not a single governor of Oyo State has had the privilege of being given a second term. Neither the Cicero of Esa-Oke, the articulate Bola Ige, nor Dr.Omololu Olunloyo, despite his illustriousness, was considered good enough for re-election.

ABOUT 50 years ago, a great warrior, “Ovuworie”, migrated from Ihero family in Okpe-Isoko to Onyah in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State and later settled in a place called Osekwenike, now in Bayelsa. One of his sons was Okorie.

I FEELvery reluctant to write this piece because it may appear like pouring cold water on the euphoria of the celebrated “success” of the amnesty programme which apparently has moved the Federal Government to initiate or to promise development in the Niger Delta to the delight of many.

KADUNA State governor, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, recently concluded a tour of the 23 local government areas during which he commissioned a number of projects and also used the opportunity to flag off work on some others. Faced with stiff opposition for a second term in 2011, Sambo may have used the tour as a subtle campaign to launder