Category: OP-ED

One of the thrilling stories we all woke up to in the morning of Thursday, May 20, was the ‘official defection’ of Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade from PDP to APC, something that is common amongst political prostitutes in Nigeria. But the fact that this switch, naked as it had always been, surprised people I thought had long seen… Read More

It all seems like memories from a distant past. But it’s not. This time last year we were in a lockdown. The world was under the monstrous grip of the Coronavirus. Rumours and speculations about the origin and nature of this invincible foe were rife, leaving data and science in the dust. Fear ruled the world. The situation in Europe,… Read More

The National Youth Service Corps Scheme has been in the news following reports that the House of Representatives is considering a bill to repeal the NYSC Act.  The scheme, established by decree 24, was introduced on May 22, 1973 by Nigeria’s military leader, Yakubu Gowon, to foster reconciliation, reconstruction, and rebuilding of Nigeria after the civil war.  Initially Nigerian university… Read More

It all seems like memories from a distant past. But it’s not. This time last year we were in a lockdown. The world was under the monstrous grip of the Coronavirus. Rumours and speculations about the origin and nature of this invincible foe were rife, leaving data and science in the dust. Fear ruled the world. The situation in Europe,… Read More

When the pioneer investigative journalist in Nigeria, Dele Giwa, was blown to smithereens by a letter-bomb delivered to his residence in Lagos by two Babangida loyalists, ex-SSS Director, Kunle Togun and DMI’s Halilu Akilu one of the national dailies in Nigeria had asked repeatedly the question: “Who Killed Dele Giwa?”. Though the question was never answered everyone had known all… Read More

On Tuesday, 26 March 2019, a police Deputy Superintendent, Godwin Oshiogbuwe, was kidnapped from a checkpoint along the Ubiaja-Ewohimi-Agbor road by unknown gunmen. His body was found the next day by a police tactical team at about 1640 hours. It had been mutilated, and his gun had been taken away. To my knowledge, none of the men who found the… Read More

 My Life Is My Message. – M.K. Gandhi Prior to the meeting of Bola Tinubu and APC Governors and leaders, I penned a piece titled Tinubu Wishbone Leaders’ Meeting published on May 19, 2021 by SaharaReporters. In the article, I asked series of questions for the reason for such a meeting. I said “The meeting is not going to add… Read More

outh-east, insurgency and the coming refugee crisis, by Fredrick Nwabufo What fuels an insurgency? The combustible mixture of ideology and ignorance. If a clump of uninformed people has an ideology they can die for, they will do the illogical for it. The intercourse of ideology and ignorance does not follow logic. Insurgency ignites and thrives in the residence of seductive… Read More

It has been a while when the Nigerian Labour movement particularly, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) bared its fangs (some say broken teeth). Many have given up on the Congress as a bunch of self-serving labour aristocrats making hay while the sun shines. This view is not unconnected to the fact that during the several rounds of oil price increases,… Read More

In 1999-2002, I was a cabinet member in Katsina State Government. When I was preparing our first budget, I was unsettled by the past trends in government support for agriculture.  Year in year out, 80% of the budget for agriculture went into fertilizers procurement. Knowing the requirements of agriculture as I did then, I felt that I needed to interrogate… Read More