The policemen did not attack the robbers People: No mind dem The policemen attacked the robbers People: Dem just wan kill themselves. I was watching some little kids play soccer. These kids were only five or six years old, but they were playing a real game – a serious game – two teams, complete with coaches, uniforms, and parents. I Read More
In the last few months, I have had to defend/explain our editorial decisions to someone in the industry that I respect tremendously; explanation engendered by what he called harsh headlines in Blueprint to castigate the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, his hero and idol. For man not used to questioning our editorial decisions/judgment, including casting of headlines, you’d wonder what Read More
Nigeria may gradually be returning to the days when agriculture was the fulcrum of the economy. Considerable strides are being made in key areas especially rice production. Audu Ogbeh, Nigeria’s minister of agriculture insists that rice imports have been reduced by 90 per cent. Ogbeh is so elated by increase in rice production that some months ago he talked his Read More
Originally known as the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN), the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) assumed its metamorphosis shortly after we gained our independence in 1960. The grandfather of electricity generation in Nigeria (ECN) served a population of a little over 50m to the best of its ability until it gave birth to NEPA in the 70s. However, its presence Read More
Unlike in 2015, no crystal ball gazers can say with precision how the next one year will be and what the next few months will unravel in Nigeria’s political space. By this time four year ago, things were already shaping up: the rebellion leading to the dumping of PDP by five governors, their friends in the Senate including the current Read More
Six months after it was submitted to the National Assembly, the 2018 Appropriation Bill finally lumbered out of the legislature with the expenditure raised by N508 billion. That raises the proposal from N8.612 trillion to N9.12 trillion. The Appropriation Bill holds the notorious record of spending the longest time in the legislature. With the bill now back to the presidency, Read More
To appreciate, more fully, the current wave of political realignments in Nigeria and be able to make informed projections, we may need to go back to the Nigerian Civil War of (1967- 1970) and the long preparation for the Second Republic (1979- 1983). When the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo finally, in August 1978, lifted the ban on political Read More
In 2050, it is estimated that Africa will have over 600 million youths. This will form the bulk of its population and many pundits are scared to death that, with the current afflictions of Africa, this incredible amount of raw energy could be a ticking bomb for the continent. And if this is seen in any way as a ticking Read More
My aversion to pests nearly cost me my sight several years ago. It all happened one Saturday evening at Alheri, a settlement located along Zaria Road, Jos. I had returned from my normal evening workout at the St. Murumba College, Jos, which was a shouting distance from my residence. After taking my shower, I set the table for my dinner Read More
We thought it was a dirty rumour. Apparently not. On May 22, President Muhammadu Buhari received the Buhari Support Organisation in Aso Rock. In the course of his address, the rumour became an unsettling fact. The president said that past administrations spent or wasted $16 billion on power between 1999 and 2014. Just like you and me, the president too Read More
As Nigeria marks the milestone of nineteen uninterrupted years of successive civil democratic rule [the longest in its history], Nigerians are divided about the very relevance of politics in the economic lives of the citizens. However, all sides of the debate are unanimous in their conviction that democratic rule has not lived up to its promise of individual and collective Read More
At the best of times, Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system is decrepit. The hospitals are far-flung, under-staffed and poorly equipped. In some rural communities the nearest hospital is 40 kilometres away. Nigeria is not investing in its human resources. Bill Gates, the world’s richest man and co-founder of the Bill/ Melinda Gates Foundation which has fl ushed billions of dollars down Read More
I would like to preface this piece with the following four declarations: One: My dominant interest in Election 2019 is the strengthening of the Nigerian Left in the country’s electoral and non-electoral politics. That is the only real change that can take place and that Nigerian masses deserve. Two: By the Left I mean the aggregate of socialism and popular Read More
In one of his famous quotes, Simon Sinek says “Leadership is not about the next election; it is about the next generation.” And in congruence with his inspirational words, leadership must take into account every aspect of societal growth, advancement and prosperity. This must be at the core of policy move so that the current generation will enjoy something Read More
As a country, Nigeria has developed what may be called a dangerous national attitude to scientific innovations and inventions. This attitude is expressed in the fact that Nigeria is quick to copy scientific and technological breakthroughs without copying the necessary safeguards adopted by other nations to protect them from unwanted consequences of the breakthroughs. The truth of this can be Read More
There is no doubt that as the 2019 elections is fast approaching, a lot of Nigerians are anxious as to what the outcome would be. By outcome, I mean not just the results of how people voted, but the eventual climate – or anticlimax – of the progressively charged atmosphere over the whole nation as of today. Of course, everybody Read More
When I recently visited a private primary school, I attended a social studies class of children between the ages of five and seven. I was impressed by the high level of intelligence displayed by the children. They were very hopeful that their futures are bright. I could see it in the way they responded to questions. Every question received quite Read More
When civil servants from the newly-created Benue State were leaving Jos for home on the demise of Benue-Plateau state on February 3, 1976, my friend, Peter, a Russian-trained civil engineer, came to my office at the Nigeria Standard to bid me good bye. Peter walks with a swagger. With a pronounced swagger that day, he sauntered into my office, always Read More
From obscurity, Leah Sharibu has been upon the consciousness of mankind globally. Like a saint, Leah Sharibu who was little known outside her immediate family in her time of freedom has become a global phenomenon in her time in captivity. Leah Sharibu who turned 15 during the week was one of the 110 teenage school girls that were abducted by Read More
As the campaign for the continuity of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 begins to take shape, observers like me are dismayed at the dimension it is taking. Since Buhari joined partisan politics in 2003 his support base has been the ordinary people, especially those of Northern extraction. Northerners, and indeed Nigerians, supported Buhari for a number of reasons. One, Read More
As the 2019 election draws nearer political forces are forming alliances just as alliances are collapsing. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is, at the minute, taking the heat as some of its alliance partners issue subtle or direct threats and a few others withdraw their support. The opposition People’s Democratic Party, which lost power to PDP, is far worse Read More
It is said that thunder does not strike twice in the same place. That age-long aphorism has been proved wrong on the Plateau. It is no longer news that all is not well between the Governor of Plateau state, the Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, and the Minister representing the state, Barr. Solomon Dalong. The two key figures in the Read More
A little after a year into his first four-year tenure, the honeymoon between Nigerians and President Goodluck Jonathan had turned into bitter and acrimonious relationship. He failed to meet the expectations of the masses and fell short of satisfying majority of the ruling elite. Nigerians were convinced that corruption, which was rife in Jonathan’s government, was responsible for his arrested Read More
Days back, an undercover BBC reporter in a video, busted the acrimonious activities of a pharmaceutical sales representative whose job amongst other was to distribute different pharmaceutical products for his company. And among the products is a codeine cough syrup. Apparently, codeine is sold at the black market to the most vulnerable and addictive youths in the society. The video Read More
It is no longer news that the federal government is working out modalities for salary increase to workers through a new national minimum wage. A tripartite committee comprising federal/states governments, organised private sector and civil society is having meetings with stakeholders to arrive at an acceptable minimum wage. There have been many commissions set up even before independence to consider Read More
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