Tag: saharareporters

Colonial regions were like countries, just as the UK is currently made up of 4 countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Colonial provinces were like the current states of Nigeria. There were 3 administrative regions (i.e. countries) in Nigeria from 1938 – 1963: Northern, Eastern, and Western (see Figure 1). By 1949, these regions had about 12, 12 and… Read More

Another case of witch persecution is unfolding in Cross River State. I was attending an event in Lagos when the news reached me. A renowned Nigerian journalist, Funmi Iyanda, is featuring the issue of child witch persecution in one of her Public Eye episodes later in the year. She invited me for an interview at her Lagos studio in August.… Read More

“Femi Fani Kayode is my boy. Give him food, he will praise you and sing for you” Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. 30/8/2018.  “Tell the truth, and let the devil be ashamed!”  These were the refrains of Mr Adewole, Vice Principal of my secondary school, and the one designated its Chief Administrator of the venerable “pankere”. The flexible cane, made of the branches… Read More

The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has ruptured the ceiling of liberties it enjoys. Like King Solomon in his last uneventful years, the government has compounded the yoke of the people with the rocketing of the prices of essential commodities. It appears the administration has lost its sensory organ and has become insentient to the ‘’wailing’’ of citizens. And like the… Read More

Sometimes when you hear certain things about Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions, you cannot help but weep for this country. You just keep asking yourself how things got so degenerated and why helps seem far away. That was exactly the anguish I suffered reading the story of the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof Emeka Obe, and his… Read More

Three years ago, it was a war spiced with condiments and paste over a dish of grain. Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed was answering a question by CNN’s Richard Quest about who makes the tastiest jollof rice in West Africa.  But Mohammed heard the question wrong. He thought Quest’s question was about the origin of jollof rice and answered Senegal. The… Read More

While efforts are being made to save the life of a 22-year-old Muslim singer, Yahaya Aminu-Sharif, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, the world should not forget Umar Farouq. The international community should pressure the governor of Kano state, Abdullahi Ganduje, to free this 13-year-old boy from prison because he committed no crime. Like Aminu-Sharif, Farouk was accused of… Read More

I met a young Nigerian the other day at the gym dripping with passion about Biafra. Oh wait, let me take that back. I met a young Biafran. I had to rephrase that statement out of respect for my friend who would rather identify as a Biafran and liked to be addressed as such. Few months ago, Chinedu and I… Read More

Sixteen years ago, many assumed that building a road from Gashua to Yusufari in northern Yobe state was an impossibility. There are 31-kilometres in between the two towns. The idea of impossibility was born out experiences of traveling on that desert and dusty path, with vehicles and people, often moving, as if on a wild guess or a game of… Read More

Major General Muhammadu Buhari has again resurrected the National Water Resources Bill that was overwhelmingly rejected by Nigerians in 2018. Renamed National Water Bill 2020, the National Assembly in collusion with Buhari has referred the bill to a “committee of the whole” for third reading and passage. As expected, the bill was vehemently attacked by prominent Nigerians including Nobel Laureate… Read More