Category: OPINION

By Ibrahim Adeyemi, Mansir Muhammed, Alamin Umar and Usman Abba Zanna “On the surface, the disastrous flooding that overwhelmed Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria was caused by a ruptured Alau dam. [But] that the dam has suffered years of devastating decay, despite multimillion-dollar funds disbursed for its rehabilitation. When flooding submerged towns and villages of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state in Northeast Nigeria, a wave of terror gripped the atmosphere. Thousands of houses were buried underwater; the heavy rainfall swallowed people as families lost track of one another. Hundreds of…

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By Festus Adedayo (PhD) One of the thematic preoccupations of the book, “What the forest told me: Yoruba hunter, culture and narrative performance”, (2014) is that, inside the forest, there is a consistent superiority war, often fierce, between man and animals. Written by Ayo Adeduntan, Research Fellow at the University of Ibadan, the book averred that, while animals sometimes win this war, succeeding in crushing hunters for supper, many at times, hunters vanquish these forest dwellers. They fell these notorious animals renowned for bathing in the blood of their human…

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By Chiwuike Uba (PhD) In the bustling landscape of modern society, a subtle but profound transformation has been taking place. As we navigate the digital realm and grapple with the fast-paced demands of contemporary life, there are certain virtues and traditions that have quietly faded into the background, slipping away from our collective consciousness almost unnoticed. . As the philosopher Albert Einstein once remarked, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” This sentiment encapsulates the subtle yet…

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By Onyema Omenuwa On Monday, September 9, 2024, a delegation of the Abuja chapter of Izu Anioma Towns Union visited Senator Ned Nwoko, the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, in his Abuja home. For those who do not know, Izu Anioma (for short) is the apex and umbrella body of all socio-cultural associations with membership drawn from the nine Igbo-speaking local government areas that constitute Delta North Senatorial District in Delta State. The parent body of Izu Anioma is headquartered in Asaba, the Delta State capital. For someone like…

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By Bola Bolawole Why “Injury” and not Ajuri? The creme-de-la-creme of the country’s media had gathered in Ibadan, the Pace Setter state and capital of Oyo State, on Friday, 7 June 2024, for a two-day facility tour of the signature projects of the governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, as part of the activities marking the first year of his second, and final, term of office. Veterans of the media, the young and the not so young, traditional as well as new media, print, and electronics – the assemblage was from all…

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…Real Sons of Oduduwa and Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Do Not See Ndigbo as Enemies Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD, DD True Sons of Oduduwa know that their true enemies are not the Igbo. Their real enemies are those parading today as their devious political leaders collaborating with Muslim Fulani oligarchy to enslave the Nigerian masses. Their enemies are not the Igbo who come to build rather than to destroy and kill. The fact is, those Igbo and Yoruba elements who drum cross-Igbo-Yoruba hatred are either uneducated, semi-educated or are…

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By Prince Ejeh Josh On August 27, 2024, Enugu State commemorated its 33rd year of existence as a legal entity and state within the Nigerian federal system. But for the dark clouds and the thunderstorms on that fateful Tuesday, August 27, 1991, everything else was normal —the hustle and bustle of the buzzing atmosphere. The weather was only clearing up to rain, perhaps in preparation for the big news. However, due to the typical entrepreneurial nature of Igbo men and women, many had defied the gloomy sky to tend to…

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By Chris Agbedo Onyeka Onwenu, a woman whose voice resonated beyond the realms of music and entertainment, was a formidable force in Nigerian society. Her life was a testament to resilience, courage, and an unwavering commitment to justice, particularly for the Igbo people, who have long suffered under the weight of systemic marginalization and oppression in Nigeria. The narrative of Onyeka’s life, especially in her final days, is steeped in irony, a stark reminder of the unpredictable and often cruel nature of life, which dealt her its final blow just…

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By Femi Macaulay Dramatically, the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, is still playing hide-and-seek four months after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared him wanted. EFCC had on April 18 launched a manhunt for him in connection with a case of alleged money laundering involving over N80b. The agency is charged with the responsibility of enforcing all economic and financial crimes laws in Nigeria. He had earned the status of a fugitive following his mysterious escape from EFCC operatives who wanted to arrest him at…

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By Farooq A. Kperogi The unfailingly abiding emotional investment I have in the well-being of common people springs forth from my experiential and mediated identification with the twinge of hunger and misery that poverty breeds. As people who read my columns know, my father, who died on December 31, 2016, was an Arabic/Islamic Studies teacher at a government-owned primary school for almost four decades. His salary was modest and often not guaranteed both during military regimes and civilian administrations. So, my siblings and I grew up in relative deprivation. But…

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