Nigeria: Election Campaigns And Subtle Dictatorship

 By Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko

As preparations intensify for the January 16, 2027, presidential election, political parties and various interest groups are traversing different parts of Nigeria, canvassing for public support and seeking the commitment of eligible voters ahead of the forthcoming general election. 

*Tinubu

These campaigns are particularly important for the presidential, National Assembly and governorship elections. The second phase of the elections, involving governorship and state House of Assembly contests, is scheduled for February 6, 2027.

Bola Tinubu’s Brain Versus Peter Obi’s Brain

 By Onu Onwe 

The soapbox is a tempting platform. The politician and other users of it who utilize it to deliver an opinion may be seduced by the spontaneity it offers to say that which may be out of sync with their actual reasoning or intention. 

*Obi and Tinubu

That is why the soapbox is a dangerous place for all speakers. But Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria, has utilized it very well to his own advantage because Nigerian society is an “unthinking” one where emotional outbursts such as the one he delivered at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, recently may escape critique or questioning. This essay attempts to critique or question it.

Nigeria Still Needs A National Carrier

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Recently, the Senate was debating issues relating to the need to revive Nigeria Airways, our defunct national carrier, or the one that became a sakamanje run under the Buhari administration, called Nigeria Air.

The Senate rejected calls for the revival of Nigeria Airways and Air Nigeria, and instead urged the Federal Government to renegotiate and enforce Nigeria’s Bilateral Air Services agreements, BASA, with China to allow Nigerian airlines to operate direct flights to the Asian country.

None Of These Diseases: Christianity’s Perspectives On Wellness

 By Banji Ojewale

Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, who is also convener of the Global Crusade with Kumuyi, GCK, has lately cautioned that mankind’s war on plagues, pestilences, penury and privation, must not be restrictive; it must be catholic, beyond the confines of (un)orthodox medicine and technology, approaches which have conditioned humanity for centuries. 

*Pastor Kumuyi

The cleric, himself a fastidious student of ruthless logic and complex mathematical applications to unmask solutions in sticky situations, isn’t dismissive of the weight of modern science in man’s hunger for wellness. He’s disturbed, instead, that we’ve left out what’s pivotal in the equation: the God factor. By which he means there’s a Divine perspective on diseases in the Bible, which deserves attention in a truly grave contemplation and attempt to give ailments a fatal knock, and free man from cyclical ill health.

The Mounting Debt Burden Should Terrify Nigerians

By Dele Sobowale

*Tinubu seeks $20.5bn; €1.04bn foreign loans to fund projects – Vanguard, October 28, 2026

*Debt worse than leprosy, Obasanjo replies Tinubu — Report, October 31, 2026

*Tinubu 
Seldom do I find myself on the same side with former President Obasanjo on matters concerning national affairs. Right now, I am on all fours with Baba Iyabo with regard to his position on President Tinubu’s request for fresh loans amounting to over $21 billion or N29.4 trillion.

Duty & Allegiance: Gowon’s Memoirs, An Exercise In Self-Justification!

 By Olu Fasan

In the Acknowledgements section of his recently published memoirs My Life of Duty & Allegiance, General Yakubu Gowon, a former military head of state, writes: “Let me begin by saying that I was not anxious to document my memoirs, but the calls for me to do so kept coming.” 

Well, I am one of those who kept urging General Gowon to write his memoirs. I did so in three interventions in this column, the last of which, in March last year, was daringly titled “A plea to General Gowon: Sir, write your memoir before you die!” (Vanguard, March 13, 2025). So, when Gowon published his memoirs in May this year, I did not hesitate to spend £29.98 (about N54,000) to buy a copy from Amazon. I read the 760-page book with great interest! 

US Midterm Elections: Lesson For Nigeria

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

It was, to borrow former U.S. President Barack Obama’s word, a “shellacking” for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party on Tuesday – a damning verdict on his presidency.

*Trump 

On November 3, 2010, Obama, the then U.S. President, famously used the word during a White House press conference to describe his party’s heavy losses in the midterm elections. In what many considered as “a rare display of vulnerability,” Obama not only spoke openly about the Democratic Party’s drubbing, but also took responsibility for the “humbling” losses in an election that was a referendum on his then two-year presidency. But his experience was not peculiar.

Unearthing The Reality In A Professor’s Fiction (Book Review)

 Book: Winds Against My Sails

Genre: Novel

Pagination: 205

Writer: Tunde Ope-Davies

Publishers: Kraft Books Limited, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Reviewer: Banji Ojewale

Man has come a long way from the days of Aesop, the ancient Greek storyteller who developed a style of travelling to the animal world to draw lessons for men and women. History has a bouquet of his jungle stories and their morals: The ant and the grasshopper (You can shape your tomorrow today) The boy who cried wolf (It’s the lie you’re used to which will be remembered, not the truth you only drop once), The fox and the grapes (One can’t accommodate what’s beyond your reach; you will despise it).

Modern novelists also write to instruct or entertain us, some from forest life, like Nigeria’s Daniel Fagunwa (Ogboju ode ninu igbo irunmole, 1936) and the Englishman George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1945), with others strictly seeking inspiration from the world of human beings as Professor Tunde Ope-Davies has done in his work, Winds Against My Sails.

A New And Productive Nigeria Is Possible, And Nigeria Will Be OK!

 By Peter Obi

On 26th of October, our Party, the NDC Campaign Council was inaugurated in Abuja.

*Peter Obi (Right) and Musa Kwankwaso

As part of my remarks, I told Nigerians how our richly endowed nation, the giant of Africa, is now the world’s poverty capital. Regrettably, over 140 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor, representing more than 60% of the population.

Corruption remains widespread, while insecurity affects every part of our country. Unemployment and inequality are at record levels, and Nigerians face severe and avoidable hardship. Even with the removal of the fuel subsidy and reckless borrowing, with a debt of over ₦165 trillion, there has been little or no corresponding increase in productivity.

Inside Nigeria’s Poverty Factory!

 By Gbenro Olajuyigbe

Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice – Nelson Mandela

Poverty and inequality are bombs, detonated by bad governance; they shatter the worth of human dignity, diminish standard of living, enable economic and social injustices and unevadeably trigger social crisis that could reconstruct civilization that returns people to the dark age, with inch, not better than the Orwellian Animal Farm. In the words of Nelson Mandela at the London’s Trafalgar Square in 2005; “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”

Tinubu’s Misery ‘Relief’ Plans: A Blatant Electioneering Ploy

 By Olu Fasan

Economic reforms are universally measured by their impacts on the living standards of ordinary citizens, but President Bola Tinubu judges his reforms by macro-economic statistics that have absolutely no bearing on the wellbeing of ordinary Nigerians.

*Tinubu

More than three years after their introduction, Tinubu’s economic reforms have had devastating social consequences, deepening poverty, hunger and misery across Nigeria. But now, just over two months before the people decide whether to re-elect him for a second term, President Tinubu has suddenly realised that his policies have immiserated ordinary Nigerians, and, recently, announced “plans” to ameliorate their pains. However, those “plans” are too little, too late; and smack of cynical pre-election tactics.

Our Disappearing Currency Denominations

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Many Nigerians may not know it, but one of the issues at the root of our current economic hardship is that certain denominations of our currency have become utterly worthless. 

For the younger generation who may not know, our currency was formerly denominated as pounds, shillings, and pence, since the colonial times till well after independence.

Then, there were the £5, £1, 10/- (10 shillings), two and half shillings, one shilling, six pence, three pence, one penny and half-penny denominations. From two shillings were coins. The two and half shillings coin was called a guinea.

Our Unusual Electricity Industry

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Our country, Nigeria, is a wonderful one. In fact, there is no other country like ours on the face of this earth. What works seamlessly elsewhere is like rocket science here, and vice-versa. For many years, we imported what we have and have tried to export what we don’t have.

The unusualness of Nigeria reared its head a few days ago when the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, published data on the state of affairs in our electricity industry.

The data, in part, revealed that revenue accruing to the electricity distribution companies, called DISCOs, soared by 666% in 10 yrs, while electricity supply grew just 32% within the same period. Properly spelt, the data showed that DISCOs’ revenue rose from N302.93 billion in 2016 to N2.3188 trillion in 2025, an increase of about 666 per cent.

What Future For The Yoruba After Tinubu’s Presidency?

 By Olu Fasan

At some point, whether in 2027 or in 2031, the Yoruba will face a future without President Bola Tinubu in power. Following January’s presidential election, Tinubu will either retain the presidency for four more years or lose it and leave office in May next year! Whichever way, either sooner, in 2027, or four years later, in 2031, the Yoruba will face a future without Tinubu as president.

*Tinubu

But what kind of future awaits them, and how would they handle it? To answer the question, we must examine two things that have happened to the Yoruba under Tinubu’s presidency and consider their long-term implications vis-à-vis the Yoruba’s age-old political tradition and temperament.

Nigeria Is Also Ours, Not Theirs Alone

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Listening to some government officials speak these days, their mendacity, arrogance and the ‘you can hug the transformer’ bearing, it would seem that this country is their exclusive estate. The rest of us who they have reduced to ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’ are to be seen, not heard.

*Tinubu

Even that, to them, is a privilege, for which we should be thankful. Their contemptuous ‘take it or leave it’ attitude has reduced governance to a zero-sum game where those with opposing worldviews are seen as existential threats to be crushed, even as our commonwealth is ruthlessly appropriated and deployed in securing personal power in a self-aggrandising manner that deals fatal blow to public good.

Peter Obi: Month Discount On Petrol: From Reactive Policies To Flawed Outcomes!

 The announcement by the APC led Federal Government offering a 30-day discount on price of petrol to relieve the acute hardship and hunger caused Nigerians by its unplanned removal of subsidy can only be described as another very reactive and confused approach to governance that is now the culture of the Tinubu Government.

*Peter Obi

I had delayed in reacting to the announcement just to give the benefit of doubt and watch the outcome of the policy. Now, having assessed the outcomes, the policy is a substitution of political optics for sound policy.

As Nigerians will recall, President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, most carelessly removed fuel subsidy without any consultation or proper assessment of the negative impacts of such policies on our economy particularly on the livelihood of ordinary Nigerians.

Peter Obi: Scaring Investors While Celebrating Macroeconomic Stability!

 As the APC-led government continue in their delusional celebration of Nigeria's macroeconomic stability, the warning from the United States Government to prospective investors on inherent risks in Nigeria, further affirms the general and correct assessment that President Bola Tinubu-led government is incompetent, ineffective and corrupt.

*Peter Obi

In the 2026 Nigeria Investment Climate Statement, the U.S. Department of State clearly flagged corruption, insecurity, inconsistent regulatory enforcement and weaknesses in the judicial system, cargo delays and power sector challenges as key factors undermining investor confidence in Nigeria. The report went further to caution investors of the possible use of arbitrary detention, travel restriction and immigration enforcement to coerce foreign businesses in Nigeria.

Peter Obi: Building New Nigeria – Our Collective Responsibility

*Peter Obi

Today, I honoured an impromptu invitation to interact with fellow Nigerians in Manchester, United Kingdom. I had the pleasure of sharing fraternal moments with some of our compatriots in the diaspora. I spent time listening to their concerns about our nation and was encouraged by their passion and desire to build a New Nigeria for all.

Peter Obi: Data And Statistics Are Tools For Effective And Good Governance

*Peter Obi 

Data and statistics are indispensable tools for effective and good governance. They enable us to assess performance, measure progress, identify challenges, and learn from the experiences of others. Although the next World Statistics Day will be celebrated on 20 October 2030, I have chosen to commemorate it today because it is usually celebrated on 20 October, and to encourage our people to appreciate the importance of statistics in national development.

THE GOWON LIE: How The North Was Fooled And How His Own Memoir Convicts Him

 By Khaleed Yazeed

I have completed reading General Yakubu Gowon's 881-page memoir, My Life of Duty And Allegiance. I read every page, from the opening reflections on his childhood in Daura and Wusasa to the closing chapters on his exile, his prayers, and his long twilight as an elder statesman. 

*Gowon

I read it slowly, the way a man reads a document he knows will settle something inside him, and I read it with a question burning in my chest: how was the North led into a war that consumed more than a million lives, and how was that story sold to us? 

From my own understanding of those 881 pages, one conclusion stands above every other. Gowon is judging himself. He has convicted himself. He has written the indictment in his own hand, signed it with his own name, and published it for the world to see. A prosecutor becomes unnecessary here. A truth commission becomes redundant. Historians need not comb through archives in London and Lagos, because the general has laid the evidence on the table himself, chapter by chapter, page by page, and invited us to examine it.