Tag: saharareporters

Although I have read about victimisation of journalists and repressive attacks on press freedom, last week added to my first-hand experiences of the travails of journalists, particularly some of us who have decided to ply the dreaded route of investigative journalism. It was hectic journeying to two states just to respond to invitations from two judicial institutions. One was to… Read More

Everywhere I go, they use Obafemi Awolowo as reference of and for all things. They point to his morality. They celebrate his achievements. They speak glowingly about him. They talk about him in awe. They have turned him into a god. No discussion ever takes place on any matter without him being referenced. Awo this, Awo that! Awo this, Awo… Read More

Insecurity is as old as man. Mortals from time immemorial have devised several means to secure their lives and properties from assassins and bandits who are ruthless and could be fatal if their sinister demands are not met. Some of this awareness for security could be ideologically driven and violence could be deployed to achieve its purpose. The Irish Resistance… Read More

I lived in Nairobi, Kenya, for 11 years working for the United Nations on peace for Somalia. It meant I went into Mogadishu where I had earlier lived for two years (before the UN’s evacuation), on an as-needed basis. It used to be nice to take my children and visitors to the Nairobi National Park and once or twice, drive… Read More

The feeling rife everywhere in Imo State currently is of rue; the dolour is palpable on almost everyone, as it concerns what many have described the biggest daylight fraud of the moment. That fraud and the basis of the feeling is the recent verdict of the Supreme Court ousting Emeka Ihedioha as governor. That verdict by the Supreme Court is… Read More

All things considered, General Muhammadu Buhari’s regime is an anathema. General Buhari as President, continues to govern Nigeria as a nation where the lion is led by monkeys. Buhari’s attorney general of the federation Abubakar Malami, is one of the most infamous members of Buhari’s cabinet. Malami always search for a banana peel to step on. When he can’t find… Read More

There were those who called him a mad man. Others wanted him kept away from their children to avoid corrupting them. After all he wore pants (underwears) not just in the inner sanctum of his home but sometimes very much in the public space. But he also did other things that were a menace to public morality and decency. He… Read More

In my article of January 6 – a riposte to Isa Funtua’s prejudiced utterance on the Igbo — I wrote: ‘’Funtua’s statement reeks of corpulent arrogance, bigotry and acute sense of entitlement. It reinforces the stereotype that his section of the country bullies any region that does not kiss the ring of the caliphate.’’ I was not surprised that Arewa… Read More

Since Major General Muhammadu Buhari frauded his way into power with the integrity mantra, some of us, who supported him initially have been stoically beating integrity into his integrity-challenged head and government. Regrettably, all such laudable efforts, setting the agenda for his ethnically-induced regime fall into deaf ears. Buhari’s failure to address the malady in this regard has nothing to… Read More

Finally, the chickens have come home to roost! The misdeeds of Nigeria’s leaders are coming back to haunt them. Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State painted a vivid picture of this during the week when he spoke about the horrors locked in the Northern forest, where anyone could get hundreds of armed men almost for free. He said that the… Read More