Columns

This piece was first published on the 30th of April, this year. However, considering recent happenings, there is need for it to be republished. For Sheikh Ibrahim Yakub elZakzaky, a foremost Nigerian Shi’a scholar and leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), and his wife, Malama Zeenatuddeen, today makes it 869 days since they were clamped in detention following Read More

I have a childhood attachment to the present-day Osun state. When I finished my primary education at the Baptist Day School, Bode Ijaiye, Abeokuta, in the early 60s, Iragbiji in Osun state caught my fancy. So, I settled for a post-primary institution also run by the Baptist Mission in the community. My choice was informed by the fecund hunting environment Read More

One can say without any fear of contradiction that things have not happened with such speed in life of this administration as they did in just one weekend. Over the weekend, former finance minister, ‘Kemi Adeosun suddenly resigned from her position, her resignation was immediately accepted by President Muhammadu Buhari, a replacement announced pronto, the new finance minister promptly assumed Read More

Last week, Stephen Haykin, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) country director for Nigeria reignited the thorny issue of fuel subsidy at a function in Abuja. Haykin argued that Nigeria’s scarce resources that could be used to improve education and healthcare were wasted on fuel and electricity subsidies. Nigeria operates the cheapest petrol pump price in West Africa. Read More

Now that we have heard from both sides, it is very important for the public to read between the lines and try to decipher the origin of vote buying, the very problem threatening to rubbish the little progress we have made as a nation in our democratic journey. It’s alright if you have not followed the debate on who actually Read More

MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, the South African outfit that controls close to 50 per cent of Nigeria’s telecommunication industry is something of a corporate outlaw. The company has no iota of respect for Nigeria and its laws. Sometime in 2017 when it became obvious that kidnappers, armed robbers and even terrorists were using unregistered telephone lines to coordinate heinous crimes, Read More

As tributes poured in for the super politician and statesman, Senator John McCain after his death recently, one of the archival materials that resonated with the world was when he (McCain) reprimanded one of his supporters who called Barack Obama, his opponent, names and doubted his identity. In a widely circulated video, and at a McCain rally in 2008, a Read More

I was born a Baptist and my dad went by the name John. He was fondly called John the Baptist… the fiery preacher in the Bible. The appellation played out in his life even though he was not a preacher. However, I remember how he used to engage his Muslim friends in matters relating to the Old Testament and the Read More

“Our apex court has had cause to adopt a position on this issue in this regard and it is now a matter of judicial recognition that where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place in favour of the greater good Read More

A combination of ethno-regional populism driven by religious fundamentalism in northern Nigeria, an entrenched dogma of party supremacy in the ruling APC and a mob of supporters whose partisan loyalty has been elevated above patriotism to the Nigerian state, may be paving the way for the transformation of Muhammadu Buhari into a democratically elected dictator. The image of Adolph Hitler, Read More

Over the years, in the course of this job, I have learnt not to dabble into stories that border on national security. Some stories we write have security implication; we sometimes think they are insignificant and simply call them fillers. I learned the hard way never to take any printed word for granted. In my days at Daily Trust, I Read More

The federal government recently approved the sum of N17 billion for the setting up of an electronic device for tracking trucks hauling refined petroleum products to different parts of the federation. The decision to sink such a colossal sum into the monitoring of refined petroleum products supplies emanates from the raging controversy over the quantity of petrol consumed in the Read More

Presidential democracy, the type we accept to practise through a constitutional conference made up of elected and selected representatives, is a tripodal system made up of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Each has its responsibilities as enshrined in the constitution and the system cannot be at its optimum best if one part looks at the others with disdain and deliberately Read More

On May 15, 2015, I did a piece in this column entitled “A season of political trekking”. The article was informed by the emergence of those rejoicing over Buhari’s stunning triumph in the presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Their rejoicing had found expression in trekking. It was Katsina-born Suleiman Hashimu that blazed the trail Read More

The whole defection saga remains a burning issue in our political climate and there are still a number of unresolved issues as per the legitimacy or not, of the defections; and what their cumulative effect will be in the matter of who remains or becomes the Senate president and whether or not the House of Representatives will also witness a Read More

The entry of President Muhammadu Buhari into partisan politics in 2003 birthed a new political culture in northern Nigeria. Riding on a wave of intense ethno-geographic and religious sentiments, Buhari would emerge as a sectional hero in northern Nigeria when he championed its conservative elements’ clamour for a return to power barely four years after the military authorities brokered a Read More

This article was first published on the 18th of December, 2017. Politics is now in the air and threatening more polarisation of the Nigerian people. I find this write-up very relevant and perhaps may make contending parties view Nigeria first over party affiliations andkinship. Hailer and wailer are new terms in our political lexicon. Just as ‘men and women of Read More