Category: OPINION

By Clem Aguiyi We were taught we were one country, that we were one people and that we were one nation under one God. We were taught about unity and strength and why we must under all circumstances stay united as one people. We were taught that a bundle of stick cannot be easily broken but that a single stick can be broken effortlessly. We grew up knowing there was joy in being at one with each other. We boasted of our numerical strength and proudly declared our country, ‘the…

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President Muhammadu Buhari (middle in skyblew caftan) and his spokespersons and the Arise TV crew during the controversial interview By Farooq A. Kperogi That even the vaguest pretense to traditional watchdog journalism is in throes of death in Nigeria’s institutional news media was instantiated by the interview Arise TV’s crew had with Muhammadu Buhari last week. It was out and away a PR job that masqueraded as journalism. The questions were feeble, obvious follow-up prompts were ignored, the questioners were diffident, and the viewer was left scratching their head about…

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Map of Nigeria showing the Southeast region, the ‘dot‘ in Buhari’s circle By Ikechukwu Amaechi I had no personal relationship with Abba Kyari, a lawyer trained at Cambridge University in England, who amassed more power than any of his predecessors as the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. So, after his death last year, I reached out to a close friend of his to make sense of all that had been written and said about him. Was he a victim of blind loyalty, as his friends claimed, or a…

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Dr Reuben Abati (left) and President Muhammadu Buhari By Reuben Abati I have been privileged to interview quite a number of world leaders in the course of my journalism career. These include President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Ketumile Masire of Botswana, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Commonwealth Secretary General Shridath Ramphal, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan etc…not to talk of holding the microphone across the world in the presence of countless Presidents in my then capacity as President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesperson. But no other encounter held as much memory and nostalgic feelings…

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By Prof Abdussamad Umar Jibia Like many other weeks before it in the past several years, the past one week has been very tragic for the people of Jibia LGA. It was during this period that bandits sent a notice to the people of Jibia of an impending attack. Such notices are not unusual since banditry became the order in the North Western part of Nigeria. The criminals do normally not fail in their promises although it does not have to be on the day they mention. Thus, since Thursday…

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Gov. Seyi Makinde (left) and President Buhari By Festus Adedayo Was it better that President Muhammadu Buhari remained unapologetically deaf to all entreaties to address Nigerians or open a window into his mind and reveal a cesspit of foul-smelling hate? Peradventure there were still nationalistic remnants among his coterie of admirers, after last Thursday’s interview the president granted Arise TV, they would be at the crossroads. Their dilemma may jolly well be addressed by a famous Maurice Switzer quote whose authorship had before now been a subject of controversies. Was…

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By Dike Chukwumerije Mister President, I listened very closely to your last interview, and would respectfully like to respond to the parts that stung me the most. You are famous for saying a lot with a little. And, in that interview, you did not disappoint. It is an ability every good poet strives to have. But forgive me, this letter is rather long. Let us begin. Your solution to the farmer/herder crisis is not the correct one. You have asked us to understand that open grazing is part of the…

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By Clem Aguiyi This is the most interesting piece I have read on Restructuring so far and highlights why there is an urgent need for what l call Economic Fortification in the South.  The time to do that is NOW!  We no longer have the luxury of time…New Telegraph.  Give it to the North, they get what they want at every turn while the South do the talking. Most radical ideas that had shaped Nigeria’s political landscape often originated from the South only to be perfected to advantage by the…

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An updated Special Report by compiled by International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law Onitsha-Nigeria on Friday June 11, 2021, and signed by the body’s Principal Officers that include the following: Emeka Umeagbalasi, Criminologist/Board Chair; Barrister Chinwe Umeche; Barrister Chidimma Udegbunam and Comrade Samuel Kamanyoku. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law is drawing the urgent and ‘red signals’ attention  of Governments of the United States, the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Brazil and the European Union; the Secretary…

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By Joseph C. Ibekwe The greatest dilemma of any leadership is agitations – agitations from among the people. Why do people agitate? There are so many reasons, some are obvious some are not. How a leader handles agitations, for whatever reason, is what determine his/her quality of leadership. The reason is that human needs are insatiable. No matter how good you are, you neither meet every need nor satisfy everyone. But that does not mean you cannot handle agitations arising from needs in some humane manner, even though you cannot…

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