Our presidential political calendar indicates May 2025 as the mid-term of the current presidential tenure. Every May 29th is some form of birthday for our democracy. Next May is mid-term. Mid-term is wake up time, a rude reminder that time is ticking and that what began as a ceremony of...
CHIDI AMUTA On Sunday
The “Jaguda” is a sort of rough -hewn familiar type in Nigerian urban street parlance. He is a general communal presence in such urban neighbourhoods, an outlaw that is often tolerated for his use value in times of trouble. He is a thug owned by the community in case...
Frances’s major military base in Cote d’Ivoire is billed to close down at the end of this month. The long -standing base, Port Bouet, is to be rid of its French troop occupants and is to be renamed General Quattara Thomas d’Aquinn base after an indigenous military figure. No...
The same old “Jingle bells! Jingle bells!! Jingle all the way!!!” is again uniting Christians and non-Christians in the ancient ritual of Christmas. Ordinarily, Christmas has become synonymous with happiness and family reunion. Kith and kin come together. Food and drinks flow in households and the grueling grind of...
President Tinubu may have stumbled on a sustaining logic and viable mission for his political future. Prior to last fortnight, I was among those who were doubting what narrative or political argument could sustain Mr. Tinubu’s interest in a 2027 run. Now, there seems to be something in the...
Of all the ills that afflict a democracy, a stubborn virus in the party system is the most lethal. Where politicians treat the party system as their exclusive preserve, to do as they wish, it is hard for the system to self- correct let alone see that there is...
There is a shrinking feeling about it all. With each off -season election that is conducted and results announced, we feel smaller and more unfree as a polity. Our elections bring about more insecurity; unpopular electoral outcomes require goons and thugs to protect illicit incumbents. And of course a...
The Nigeria Police Command in Bayelsa has warned Blue Economy saboteurs to avoid Bayelsa saying it would use every legal means to ensure that Nigeria’s economic interest in the state was protected. The Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Mr Francis Alonyenu said this on Sunday in Yenagoa...
Politics is in many ways like religion. It thrives on a foolish expectation of paradise perennially approaching but forever elusive. Take away the promise and prospect of eventual heaven and paradise and all religion falls flat. You dare not tell a devotee that heaven may not come or that...
In a matter of days, America’s democracy might self -correct and present a rough and bulky casualty. Mr. Donald Trump’s presidency is unlikely to be revalidated for a second term. As the various polls indicate once again, the American electorate seems poised to deal the disruptive Mr. Trump a...
Those in search of the human asset to help salvage our country have one major place to look these days: the departure lounge of the international airports. Some of the best minds of the nation are either on their way out of the country to assume leading positions or...
The current mood of the nation is defined by a question mark. Most people are not quite sure where the Tinubu presidency is leading us. You hear it in the market place, at airport lounges, on the streets and in boardrooms. At first there was an optimism founded on...
On May 17th 2024, this column published a piece with the tittle “An Emperor and His Nemesis”. It was a prognostic analysis of the impending political crisis in Rivers State because of the suffocating hold of ex-governor Wike on his surrogate, Siminalayi Fubara, the incumbent governor of the state. Recent...
The Godfrey Okoye University (GOUNI), Enugu has raised minimum qualification for its lecturers to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from 2025-2026 academic session. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Christian Anieke, announced on Friday while addressing academic and senior administrative staff of the university during a “Spiritual Retreat” organised for...
The Police Command in Ogun has confirmed that one Lanre Ogungbe, 32, was discovered dead in a hotel room at Soyoye in Abeokuta. the Command’s spokesperson, SP Omolola Odutola, confirmed in a statement on Friday in Abeokuta the incident occurred at 2 p.m. on Thursday. Odutola explained that a...
Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia has swore in the 23 newly elected local government chairmen in the state. Alia, during the ceremony on Monday in Makurdi, tasked the new council chairmen with accountability and transparency. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission...
Between 1967 and 1970, Nigeria narrowly escaped the misfortune of going into oblivion. An unnecessary war was raging here. People were dying on an industrial scale, from bullets and hunger. Most of the deaths were unaccounted for. Some inconsequential people emerged from the mayhem as war heroes and illustrious...
It is a sort of sinking feeling. Something like an uncontrolled slide into a dungeon down a slippery slope. You seem trapped as you descend into a hellish pit out of which you are powerless to climb out. The descent is often propelled by a force beyond your control....
It is that time of the year again for our ritual roadside assessment of the state of the nation from the perspective of the common folk . It is the last quarter of the year, that time of the year when nearly every Nigerian household takes stock of their...
Order in every credible democracy is a balance of compassion and hard policy choices. The hard choices, often of a reform nature, which confront new leaders only make sense if they are for the common good. Otherwise, a barrage of crushing reforms with no tinge of compassion can suffocate the...