Opinion

To understand the profligacy, indiscretion and misplaced priority in the purchase of N1.14 billion ($2.7 million) worth of 10 luxury vehicles by the Muhammadu Buhari government for neighbouring Niger Republic, ostensibly to shore up that country’s security, at a time when there is excruciating hunger in the land and terrorists …

[email protected] 0705 263 1058 The supposedly Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ended the registration of (new) voters despite the fact that there were hundreds and thousands of would-be or intending voters trooping into and milling around voter registration centres or points all over the country. We saw pictures of …

WITNESS to history. Animated discussions. Banters. Back slapping. Roaring laughter. Seeming riot, but orderly. Various groups, including the elderly and children. Then the crowds burst into songs and dances. They herald the arrival of the host. He is clad in white with a traditional white dog-eared cap. He flashes his …

*N24 billion disbursed to States, 732 water facilities, 494 health facilities, 616 schools built, yet some people say Buhari is not working By FEMI ADESINA It’s an eternal battle between light and darkness, truth and falsehood. In fact, they are in mortal combat, and at times, there are fears that …

These are not the exact words of any of the headlines on this issue. But this is basically what the former Edo State Governor said on the matter. To appraise Tinubu and his support to Buhari, let’s refer to the Catholic Church’s doctrines of venial and mortal sins. A venial …

[email protected] 0807 552 5533 My path and Michael Awe’s crossed after I was appointed editor of The Punch newspaper in 1992. He was one of the brilliant chaps I head-hunted from other newspaper houses with the sole aim of turning around The PUNCH newspaper and positioning it as the flagship …

I have read a number of rejoinders to Mr. Sam Omatseye’s insane and hate-filled diatribe driven by the mental cacophony of a man likened to a slave abruptly invited to dine and wine on his master’s table because of his master’s intention to send him to a self-sacrificing mission, but …

In 2018, as the news started sinking in that incumbent Lagos state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode would not be backed by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for a reelection, there was a kind of tension across the state. In the middle of all that, a relatively unknown name, Babajide Sanwo-Olu was floated. Announced …

Some have called you foolish, dear Sam Omatseye. Others insist that you are plain stupid. There are those who hold you to be beneath contempt. Their howls of execration upon you are in reaction to your August 1, 2022 article entitled Obi-tuary (https://thenationonlineng.net/obi-tuary/). For me, however, you are a dear …

The other day, Mr. Sam Omatseye – a writer many used to have respect for due to some reasons, including the fluidity of his prose – wrote an article entitled “Obi-nomics”. In the said article, clearly embittered by resentment, he hurled obloquies at Mr. Peter Obi. He saw Obi as …

I read Sam Omatseye’s piece titled OBI-TUARY with a lot of disgust, pity, and disappointment. For the record, Sam is supposed to be a seasoned journalist who should know the negative implications of junk journalism. I used to respect him in those days as a fearless, incisive, and cerebral columnist. …

Monday, 1 August, 2022 Will there be elections next year? Across the 19 northern states, tell me, apart from certain parts of Kwara and Kogi, where else will people queue on Election Day in 2023 without wearing vests of steel? Senator Shehu Sani is one big man from the North …

Once upon a time, Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, was a serene and sprawling city that accommodated persons of all faiths, social strata, and economic pursuits. Abuja, to the elite, offered an escape from insecurity, hustling, and bustling that plagued other major cities in the country. It was a city in …

The week began on a dolorous note. Gloomy, sepulchral. Early Sunday morning, a ghoulish video began to make the rounds, in which abductors of the train passengers held since March 28 were being brutally beaten up, with their captors threatening fire and brimstone against everyone in the country. It was …

After BBC Africa service promoted a story on Friday of an interview with the bandit warlords of Zamfara State, a senior Nigerian journalist, Kadaria Ahmed, called out the broadcaster in a tweet. Kadaria, an ex-Beeb, said the interview would give the terrorists oxygen, stoke hysteria and bring nothing but pain …

  I have been careful not to jump into this matter of imprisonment of Mr. Inibehe to avoid being accused of hasty intervention. Effiong is my friend and sort of a “brother”. He is known for his courage, straightforwardness and perhaps bluntness. His defence of one Leo Ekpeyong for defamation …

Barring any last-minute change of mind, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will, this week, embark on a nationwide protest in solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which has been on strike for more than six months forcing students to stay at home endlessly. The planned protest by the …

[email protected] 0705 263 1058 In the wake of the terrorists attack on Owo, Ondo state on June 5, 2022, I asked questions around to try and establish the likely reasons for the bestial and dastardly attack. One explanation was that the terrorists appeared to have a grouse with Catholics – …

Let me start with some clarifications. I’m from Osun State, and my homestead is Ipetumodu, in Ife North Local Government Area. And I am not Osun in Diaspora. I was born in Osogbo, capital of the State, when my father was Principal of St Charles Grammar School in the 1960s. …

[email protected] 0705 263 1058 Erstwhile Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, fled the capital, Kabul, on 15th August, 2021. Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapasa, fled the country on 12 July, 2022 on a military aircraft. With Boko Haram, ISWAP, bandits and other terrorists literally swirling over Abuja and running rings round it, …

Monday, 18 July, 2022 “Who jails society when it does horror to people?” Fela Anikulapo Kuti asked that question the first time he was jailed by Nigeria for going against society’s bad manners. He was a deviant of no precedent. After Fela, very many others have asked the same question …

As we await the festival of elections in 2023, a few polls this year are increasingly signposting the nature and manner of the general elections. The last of these off-season state elections (Anambra, Ekiti and Osun) took place last Saturday – the Osun State gubernatorial election. The conduct and outcome …

[email protected] 0705 263 1058 Penultimate Friday, Gov. Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu was quoted as raising the alarm that terrorists were trooping down South from the North. As volatile and scary as the statement was, the governor said nothing new. That the entire South-west, and not Akeredolu’s Ondo State alone, has been …

If the presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu thought a placeholder would be a lightning rod, and maybe soften the blow of his final decision, he has seen by now that he is mistaken. There is a gathering storm. Those who are mad …