Do you remember when El-Rufa’i chased bandits into the bush, along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway as he came across a bandit attack along the highway? He practically trailed the assailants into the bush, chasing the gunmen, along with his retinue of armed escorts. He just wouldn’t stand aside and watch the security men put their lives on the line alone. They Read More
We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, we must be participants; we must be co-creators.As citizens, we have to co-create good governance, we cannot outsource it and hope to be passively happy consumers. Like everything worth its while, good governance must be earned. – Rohini Nilekani It’s more difficult, often than not, to see anything encouraging about government and governance in Read More
Being a speech delivered by Hassan Gimba, publisher of Neptune Prime online newspaper and magazine, chairman Northeast Publishers’ Forum, as the Guest Speaker at the 6th Annual Awards and Recognition Night of the Northeast Star magazine, held on the 21st of October, 2021 at the Conference Hall of AUN, Yola, Adamawa State. All protocols observed. The North East came into Read More
The book, titled “Discover Nigeria,” is largely reputed for its beautiful images but, in reality, it is much more than that. It chronicles Nigeria’s peoples, its places, cultures, governance, leaderships and development. The record largest photo book measures 7.8 metres by 7.8 metres (totalling 60.84 square metres or 654 feet² by 87 inches²) when closed. When opened, it is 15.65 Read More
Nigerians are no strangers to tussles as we witness big and small tussles of various kinds every day. They range from family squabbles to community/ state tussles to even national fights. Nigerians themselves do not seem to agree on anything as we argue over virtually everything. Legislators at state assemblies and the national assembly itself sometimes engage in shouting matches. Read More
Sometime in 1996, my good friend, the late Abidina Coomassie, published a book, Political Opportunism, in which he primarily excoriated the political enemies of the late head of state, General Sani Abacha. He saw them as men lacking in principles and floating in the wind and being blown wherever political opportunities beckoned; men who were willing to eat leaves, mud or Read More
In higher education, the student union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organisational activities, representation, and academic support of the membership. It’s a formidable movement formed by realists for the sovereignty of many countries including Nigeria. History will be kind to the Nigerian students led by Ladipo Solanke who fought and restored the Independence Read More
It is now one and a half month since the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission (NCC) issued an order to all telecommunication companies to shut down their telecommunication sites in Zamfara state.According to the information released by Nigeria’s telecommunication regulator, it did so at the instance of Zamfara state government. The shutdown, according to the NCC boss, was necessary to “enable relevant Read More
On July 10, 2020, agents of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) prevented the departure of 58 Nigerian medical doctors from Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on a chartered aircraft bound for London, United Kingdom. This was at a time when the Nigerian airspace was closed to international air travel as part of the public health measures put in place by the Government Read More
Notwithstanding the fact of the former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus’s avowal not to throw in the towel, in form of withdrawal from court, of the case instituted over his unlawful removal, the leadership of the party appears to have moved on; basking in the euphoria of their new-found consensus that threw up Iyorchia Ayu as Read More
Any Nigerian graduate youth who had passed through the gamut of national youth service love to tell their experiences with nostalgia.The national service, though faced with its challenges, its prospects far outweigh those challenges. Recently, some Nigerian opinion moulders, at different fora, spoke for or against the continuous existence and relevance of the scheme. While few individuals criticise the activities Read More
In the first part of this article, last week, Food security was defined as a state in which food is quantitatively and qualitatively available, accessible, and affordable to meet the nutritional needs of the people over a given period. The levels of food insecurity range from mild, to medium, to severe and chronic depending on the three As; availability, accessibility, Read More
There are so many burning topics to discuss in columns and news commentaries this week. From the controversial revised Covid-19 protocol for civil servants by the Presidential Steering Committee, to the heated politics of rotational presidency, to Pandora papers revelations, to electoral laws amendment, to the executive scorecards which Buhari’s government published recently, etc. In fact, many editors will have Read More
Muhammadu Buhari recently argued that Nigeria has revenue challenges, and not debt crisis. There is a lot of economic and logical sense in the president’s argument. Nigeria’s debt of N35 trillion is a scant 30 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). The United States of America (USA), the world’s largest economy, carries a debt burden amounting to 105 Read More
There is hardly any day that passes by without getting unpleasant news of child defilement, especially against the girl-child. This topic took a centre stage on Radio Law Clinic, a weekly programme on the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State radio station, FUNAAB Radio 89.5FM, where listeners are given basic knowledge of the law to become better citizens. Read More
When the driver takes an unfamiliar road we all remove our earphones to see properly! Rumours They get started by certain people that run their mouths without the facts, they take a story they’ve overheard and begin to add to it or subtract, now the original story gets ‘twisted’ and the believers are agitated because the stories they’ve just been Read More
I attended a play recently at Glover Memorial Hall at Broad Street, Lagos. Yes, the old Glover Hall built and named in 1887 in honour of Sir John Hawley Glover who was Governor of Lagos Colony between 1864 and 1872. The hall has undergone a lot of repairs, thanks to the Lagos state government. The title of the play was Read More
If I were to be as sentimental as people are, I would say the North-east, my zone, must produce the president in 2023. Many people fight for their people, region, zone or state to produce the president for various reasons. Reasons may range from the fact that a president attracts some goodies to his area. Ministers and other chief executives Read More
Four political parties in 2014 merged to become the Àll Progressives Congress (APC). These were the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Alhaji Atiku Abubakar-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). That merger led to the defeat of a sitting government, for the first Read More
President Muhammadu Buhari said that Nigeria must remain a strong and united country despite the current challenges. In a nationwide broadcast to mark the 61st independence anniversary, the President said the country’s unity is not negotiable. “Nigeria is for all of us. Its unity is not negotiable,” he said “And its ultimate success can only be achieved if we all Read More
The lives of important people matter. Here is some evidence. There are 400,000 personnel in the Nigeria Police Force. For a population of 170 million people that works out at one policeman to 425 people. The UN recommendation is one police man to 400 people. As the experts like to say, we are under-policed. We expect one policeman to effectively Read More
Finally, the curtain has been drawn on the Big Brother Naija reality show, season six, tagged, ‘Shine ya eye’. As I said some months ago, like some other persons, I did not subscribe to the BB dedicated channel on DSTV. Yet, one is still confronted with stories about the show and its participants, online and offline by both social and Read More
Chapter VI, Part I, Section 131 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, states that a person may be qualified for election of the office of the president if he or she is a citizen of Nigeria by birth, and has attained the age of 35, and a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party, has Read More
OCTOBER 11TH has been marked as the Girl child since the sitting of the UN general assembly of 19th December 2011.This resolve to mark this day came about because of the apparent challenges, struggles, violence, and discrimination the Girl child faces around the world with the intent to preferring solutions and implementing them. However, billions of Girls all over the Read More
Last week, as we mused on this topic, we established that it behoves on us, Africans to carve for ourselves the best images for our continent, our corporate nationalities and unique individuals as global citizens. It is a project we must embrace patriotically. Today, we will round off the discussion by highlighting some commendable efforts of our people and palpable Read More
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