Tag: sahara reporters

It came like a bolt out of thunder. After months of sponsored speculations, it finally dawned on Nigerians that they had entrusted their biggest vault into the hands of a politician. Not that politics in itself is so bad. After all, politicians are the ones ruling us. But never did we anticipate that the inner recess of the Central Bank of Nigeria was also playing host to a presidential aspirant and financial regulator all at once. The main question that many Nigerians have asked about this embarrassing revelation is: how…

The gruesome killing and burning of Deborah Samuel, a Christian, by Muslims in Kano makes it difficult to believe Nigerians are living in the 21st Century. The extent of the savagery by the northern Muslims is all too reminiscent of barbarian tribes. The cold-blooded bigots hurled stones at Deborah, chased and beat her to death and finally set her ablaze. They felt happy, fulfilled, and victorious. The connection of Islam to violence was not in doubt. The bloodthirsty northern Muslims successfully portrayed Islam as a religion of violence. The attacks…

Just as there is no debating that the Hutus of Rwanda carried out a deadly onslaught against the Tutsis, so also in Nigeria there is no debating that the Fulani are carrying out an ethnic cleansing-genocide against indigenous people so as to grab their rich lands, and permanently change the demographics, culture, and name of the country known as Nigeria. Survivors of armed Fulani attacks have told us so. So too have armed terrorists revealed that their reward for killing is to be given land, and for Nigeria to become…

Over the last week, I have stood bewildered watching from the frontlines as numerous gruesome developments unfolded in Nigeria’s heavily disturbing news headlines. And, as is customary, just days after a global social-media audience witnessed the lynching of a student, I have again watched haplessly as Nigerians allow the discourse on the matter to be swept to yonder seas. I hate to be a prophet of doom. But I also love to embrace reality. Especially when such realities are so glaring and there is nothing meaningful to show that the…

Data published in 2017 by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed a huge and very disturbing gap in the literacy index between Southern and Northern Nigeria.  These statistics showed that only 7.23% of the entire population of Yobe may be regarded as literate; the lowest of our National literacy index. The statistics further puts Zamfara at 19.16%; Katsina10.36%; Sokoto 15.01%; Bauchi 19.26%; Kebbi 20.51%; and Niger 22.88% respectively. Only Taraba remains an interesting exception with a 72% literacy rate. Whereas, Imo state, in Southern Nigeria, is pegged at 96.43% –…

Parents, students, and indeed anyone with a conscience is still shocked at the killing of Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto over allegations of blasphemy.  The brutal termination of the life of a promising young Nigerian in a school will again pass with lamentations and condemnations as has become the norm, but most likely, without the consolation that justice would be served. As we flip over this page and move on, we would most likely overlook the real problem that led to this tragedy. The small cause, the little speck, that has produced…

Expectations are high. Rightly so. 2023 has been roundly described as a make-or-mar year for Nigeria. Citizens seek change. Things have to change. The current socio-economic tailspin must be arrested. But we have to be pragmatic with our expectations. Good things do not come easy. No single individual can magic Nigeria into an El dorado in four years. Nigeria’s problems, which are functionally in situ, are age-long. But one ‘’Alexander the Great’’ can actuate the process to cutting the systemic Gordian knots. According to legend, Gordius, king of Gordium, tied…

INTRODUCTION Recently, the news media, both electronic and print,had been agog on whether Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the erstwhile President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is qualified or not to contest for the office of the president by virtue of the fact that he had earlier occupied the office for a period of five (5) years. I did not want to intervene in the debate over the constitutional competence  of the former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest in the 2023 presidential election because the entire debate was based on speculation. I…

“We have mastered the art of taking the law into our hands. Criminals, shoplifters, burglars are stoned and beaten to death or lynched.”On May 12, NIGERIANS woke up to watch a horrific video of the stoning to death and burning of a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto over alleged blasphemy. The female student identified as Ms. Deborah Samuel was accused of uttering unflattering comments about Prophet Mohammed on campus. What started as the slightest provocation soon became a premeditated murder case that has ruined the…

On 15 May, Palestinians commemorated the Nakba, or “catastrophe” – the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 to make way for the creation of the state of Israel.Israel’s creation entailed the forced expulsion of at least 750 000 Palestinians; the destruction of over 500 villages and cities; and the murder of about 15 000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres.But it’s difficult to look back when one can barely keep up with Israel’s fresh crimes against the Palestinian people. The Nakba never ended. Its…