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Magu, Still Nigeria’s Most Dangerous Man
It was framed as a question roughly one year ago. In a piece entitled, “Is Magu still Nigeria’s most dangerous man?”, I wondered why in a country with a shortage of heroes, a public servant would be rewarded with suspense and anxiety for giving of his best to his country. There’s no need to wonder. […] More
Weep Not For Atiku And The PDP
Five years after becoming a minority party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) looks pitiful in disarray. It has become a sorry spectacle of the party it used to be, devoid of a strong leadership, optimism, energy and a plan to get out of the woods. Having been hammered at the polls and in the courts, […] More
An Ambassador’s Exaggeration And Its Fallouts
Azu Ishiekwene writes on the fate of soon-to-be former AU ambassador to the US, Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, and why sacking her shouldn’t have been the response.
The letter was dated October 7, 2019; but it would come into effect on Friday, November 1. The recipient was probably expecting it, but it doesn’t matter anymore. She is moving on. Arikana Chihombori-Quao has not been a firebrand for over two decades without scars to show for it. And now, she’s nursing a fresh […] More
Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje: We Shall Not Forget!
Remember Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje? Well, let me remind you. Ochanya was the 13-year-old pupil of Federal Government College, Gboko, Benue State, who died a horrible and totally avoidable death one year ago. She was literally raped to death. Ochanya, the last of 11 children, in search of quality education was compelled to leave the comfort […] More
Buhari And The Kenke War
Ghanaian traders appear to have reached their wit’s end. Two months after Abuja ordered the closure of Nigeria’s western land border, traders in Accra are calling for a boycott of Nigerian products and also, asking their government to retaliate. Ghanaians may find it difficult to believe that this is not a war on kenke, shito […] More
Sex for Grades Demand Our Fury
Everything has its time, and we are missing an opportunity to control the epidemic of sexual harassment by lecturers of higher institutions in Nigeria. This is the right time for all well-meaning Nigerians to raise their voice and demand for a law against the victimisation of female students in the institutions of learning across the […] More
A Letter On The First Lady
It is gratifying that the first family rallied in the face of a blistering attack last week by busybodies. I would be remiss not to give full credit where it belongs: the office of the First Lady. In a week when President Muhammadu Buhari presented the Appropriation Bill in record time and when the entire […] More
- in Columns
When We Put Victims In The Dock
The Turkish Vahit Tuna isn’t your regular artist. She’s proved this with the 440 pairs of shoes she recently installed around buildings in the heart of Istanbul, Turkey. She used each pair to commemorate every woman killed by their husband in that country in 2018. I have since learnt it’s a usual practice in some […] More
- in Columns
Of Drones, The Governor And Saudi Prayer Warriors
Azu Ishiekwene writes on the ‘special’ ways Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno is fighting insurgents in his state.
A few weeks after the New York Times published a report that Boko Haram may be using drones in fresh attacks in the North East, something unusual happened. Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State entered a contract with Saudi-based clerics to offer prayers 24/7 for peace to return to the state. The full details of […] More
- in Columns
Sports In A Coma
Most Nigerians of my age love athletics. We grew up on it in the 1970s and 1980s. So, as the 2019 World Athletic Championships in Doha, Qatar, ran on television, I was glued, expecting to see Nigerian athletes display some glitter and deliver medals. But I was left to rue the fate that has befallen […] More
- in Columns
Buhari And Other Authors Of Nigeria’s Famous Book
If politicians are not tired of making speeches on Independence Day or such occasions, the public is weary of listening. In official circles, it may be a ritual performed with pleasure, but if it is being consumed by the public at all, it’s with great misery. If the ritualists – or speechwriters as they prefer […] More
Education, Greed And Hidden Costs
“Do you know about blow job?” That was the question 16-year-old Barakat a government secondary school student, faced in her quest for basic education in Nigeria. She had been chased away from school because her parents had not paid her fees. On her way back home, with bitter tears running down her face, a man […] More
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