Rangers International And The Allure Of Soft Power

By Chidi Odinkalu 

“It was as if the football club wanted to regain through foot­ball what the Igbo ‘lost’ during the war.” – Segun Odegbami, MON

Nearly every Nigerian who was alive then remem­bers where they were at the end of 1976 when Al­yufusalam Rocks met Enugu Rang­ers International in the finals of what was then known as the Chal­lenge (Football Association) Cup. With a history going back to the Governor’s Cup, the first finals of which took place on 7 November, 1945, the Challenge Cup was the premier knock-out competition in Nigerian football. Although strict­ly inferior to the football league, the win-or-go-home traditions of the Challenge Cup captured pub­lic imagination in a way that the league did not.

Invasion Of The National Assembly And Its Implications

By Henry C. Onyema

 Dear Nigerians, do we really understand the implications of the invasion of the National Assembly by the DSS? Can we reflect and understand that the soul of Nigeria is at stake?

*Saraki and Dogara 

To those politicos misusing our security agencies, please do not forget that the sword you wield to cut off your enemy’s head can slice off yours easily. A little history may help. Back in the 1960s, the almighty ruling Northern People’s Congress turned the army into its personal weapon of terror. It unleashed the army on political opponents. Unfortunately, among the commanders of operations to crack down on the Tiv were officers who got pissed off by the whole thing and turned their guns on the government on January 15 1966, namely Majors Adewale Ademoyega, Christian Anuforo and Timothy Onwuatuegwu. You think all those masked operatives are conscienceless robots?