Babangida Should Apologise To Nigerians

By Godwin Afam Nkemdiche

As recently reported in the media, the heir of the widely acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Nigerian presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, Kolawole Abiola used the occasion of the 32 anniversary of the controversial annulment of that election to remind the Federal Government of Nigeria that there are many more heroes and heroines of the June 12 election that are yet to be recognised and honoured.

*Babangida 

He also used the occasion, according to the same reports, to inform the world that the Culprit-in-Chief of that vexatious annulment, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida has yet to apologise to the Abiola family. Weighty pronouncements those, more so the latter. An unreserved apology from IBB to the spirit of MKO Abiola and his family is a necessary step to attaining a holistic closure on the June 12 presidential election.

What Can Nigeria Learn From China’s Electricity Revolution?

 By Dakuku Peterside

The moment of revelation came unexpectedly on a high-speed train leaving Beijing, where a screen showed that 36 per cent of the train’s traction power came from wind energy. Outside, rows of wind turbines turned gracefully under the sun. For someone familiar with Nigeria’s unreliable grid—where diesel generators hum through the night and candles are often the only light—this was astonishing. By nightfall, Shenzhen’s LED-lit skyline shone brighter than Nigeria’s entire grid on its brightest day. 

After ten days engaging with institutions and professionals in Singapore, Qatar, and China, I am convinced Nigeria’s energy independence is achievable. The raw materials and technology to power Nigeria exist; what is missing is an unwavering commitment to unite our resources under a common vision.

The Roads Not Taken On Insecurity

 By Adekunle Adekoya

If it’s not over, then it’s not over, and therefore we cannot stop talking about it. We cannot, indeed, we must not stop talking about a problem that threatens our very existence. It is trite to restate that as at this time, majority of Nigerians are feeling insecure, what with the news of  killings and kidnappings in various parts of the country continuing to dominate news headlines. Things are so bad, security-wise, that people are getting benumbed by news of killings. If Boko Haram strikes and kills people in Borno now, the reaction of an average Nigerian would probably be: “Na today?”

That reaction means we are used to getting killed by mindless, Luciferous gangs of killers on a blood-sucking mission. They are on repeated missions to kill people and execute other sinister agenda.

See China And Live Longer!

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Time was when the refrain, “See Paris and die,” reflected the global view that Paris, the capital city of France, was so magnificent that once you have seen it, you can happily die, having experienced the apogee of life’s splendour. It was a refrain that also echoed the Italian saying “Vedi Napoli e poi muori” – “see Naples and die.”

*Tinubu and Chinese President Xi Jinping

That was an expression used at a time Paris was the ultimate tourist destination, a place so extraordinarily beautiful that life afterward might feel incomplete. And make no mistake about it: Paris is still an iconic city. Its art, architecture, cuisine and, indeed, atmosphere still make it an alluring and charming city. But the French capital is no longer the “End of Discussion” as Nigerian car enthusiasts branded the Honda Accord 2006 model a couple of decades back.

Bola Tinubu’s First Major Political Blunder

 By Emmanuel Aziken

Just a week ago, President Bola Tinubu was hailed and nailed on this page over his score in his first two years in office as assessed by the 2023 Social Democratic Party, SDP, presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo.

*Tinubu

Adebayo had in his assessment of the two years spent by Tinubu in power scored him an F9 in governance and an A1 in politics.

The reasons for the scores were robustly marshaled. On one side he was ‘hailed’ for becoming the first chief executive in the country to reduce the totality of the opposition into insignificance. On the other hand, he was scorched for the foibles that have forced Nigerians into their worst living condition in generations.

The Pain And Power Of ‘One Chance’ Governance

 By Dan Onwukwe

Have you ever had the misfortune of boarding a ‘one-chance’ bus anywhere in Nigeria?  Coming to terms with ‘one chance’ bus is a traumatic experience. Reliving such ordeal is like been in kidnappers’ den. But, what really is ‘one-chance’ bus? In Nigerian pidgin English coinage, it’s a situation where someone has been tricked or scammed. It often involves a deceptive or dangerous situation, particularly transportation. It makes escape by the victim difficult, if not impossible. I had been a victim of ‘One chance’ in Lagos.     

*Akpabio, Abbas and Tinubu

On a fine rarefied late Saturday evening December on 21, 2002, the harmattan haze had just set in, making visibility poor. I had closed from work as Sunday Editor, Champion newspaper, along Ilasamaja/Oshodi expressway. The stress of editing a weekend newspaper had weighed heavily on me.

The Masses Need Food, The Elites Want More Bureaucracies

 By Owei Lakemfa

The World Bank in its May 2025 Report stated that 75.5 per cent  of rural Nigerians are engaged in deadly combats with poverty. The number in the urban areas, it said, is 41.3 per cent with an additional 13 million Nigerians, projected to slip below the poverty line by the end of the year. It also stated that 63 per cent of the entire peoples of the Giant of Africa are experiencing deprivations in various aspects of life.

The slavish Bank, which praises the Tinubu administration for allegedly taking hard decisions such as the removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the Naira, now says these measures, which have resulted in high inflation rates, are responsible for the deepening poverty. To these should be added the ever-rising electricity tariff and the prohibitive cost of fuel that have shot up transportation costs. This is to the extent that while the Constitution guarantees  Nigerians the fundamental right to movement, this is circumscribed by the high cost of transportation.

In Loving Memory of Oluwakayode Solomon Ojewale

 (July 6, 2024, One Year Without You)

By Olanrewaju Ojewale

It has been one full year since you left us, Kayode. One year since our world changed forever. One year since the earth stood still for our family and our hearts were shattered beyond comprehension. July 6, 2024, is a date engraved in our souls, the day we said an unexpected and painful goodbye to a man whose presence was as comforting as it was powerful. July 6, 2025, we gathered solemnly in remembrance, not just to mourn your passing, but to honor your life, your love, your laughter, and your legacy.

*Kayode

There are no perfect words to capture the depth of the sorrow we still carry. Grief, we’ve come to understand, is not a season that passes, but a companion that walks beside us. Some days, its grip is gentle; on others, it’s crushing. But every day, we feel it, because every day, we miss you.

Abacha’s Loot Laughs At Maryam’s Lies

 By Ray Ekpu

A former First Lady of Nigeria and wife of Nigeria’s most autocratic ruler, Mrs Maryam Abacha is trying to generate a controversy about her husband, General Sani Abacha. In a recent interview she said that her husband who ruled Nigeria from November 17, 1993 to June 8, 1998 never stole public funds but rather saved money for the country.

Late Abacha and wife, Maryam
She also claimed that this money he allegedly saved for the country mysteriously vanished after his death in 1998. She went further and “berated Nigerians for believing that her husband stole public funds and that it is because Nigerians are fools, that is why they listen to everything.”

2027: The Theoretical Case For Jonathan’s Return To Power

 By Olu Fasan

The title of this intervention is hedged with the word “theoretical”. That’s because the proposition that former President Goodluck Jonathan could return to power in 2027 is patently far-fetched and improbable: therefore, although there’s logic to the proposition, it’s purely theoretical.

*Jonathan

Indeed, Jonathan’s wife, Patience, put it unequivocally when she said recently that her husband would never go back to Aso Rock, and that she would campaign vigorously for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu. The bond between the Tinubus and the Jonathans is so strong, Mrs Jonathan implied, that it would be a betrayal if her husband ran against President Tinubu in 2027. 

Fear And Fragility: How Safe Are Nigerians?

 By Dakuku Peterside

When dawn cracks open the Nigerian sky these days, the first breath many people take is heavy with questions that shouldn’t linger in a country as rich in potential as Nigeria. It used to be enough to worry about food on the table or the children’s school fees, but now an even more primal fear sits beside those old burdens: “Am I safe enough to see tomorrow?”

Once upon a time, these worries were spoken in hushed tones only in the North-East, in places where Boko Haram and ISWAP turned towns into ghost settlements and farms into mass graves. But now, fear has found new postcodes, new voices, and new victims. From wedding convoys ambushed on the road in Plateau to explosions rocking markets in Kano, from gun battles in Kaduna’s streets to soldiers ambushed in Niger State, the message is clear: the fear of sudden violence is no longer distant. It has become the air we breathe.

Cuddling The Serpent Of Tehran!

 By Ochereome Nnanna

At the height of its power, Islam once controlled vast territories: from Morocco to China and from Russia down to sub-Saharan Africa. The rise of the European colonial empires, notably those of Britain and France, and later the United States of America’s global dominance, put the West and its value system at the centre of world power. It ended the 600-year-long Islamic Ottoman Empire and subjugated once powerful Muslim majority countries.

*Ayatollah Khomeini

The establishment of the Society of Muslim Brothers (Jama-at al Ikhwan al Muslimin), a Sunni Islamic movement in Egypt by Imam Hassan al Banna in 1928, set the tone for the political resurgence of Islam in the world of today. The Islamic Brotherhood and its offshoots seek to establish “caliphates” ruled with Shariah law, which is rooted in the Islamic scripture, the Quran. Most Islamists believe that the waging of jihads is something worth returning to in order to achieve the original aim of subjugating the entire world under Islam.

Senator Umeh, The Lying General And A Fallen House

 By Chuks Iloegbunam

Chief Victor Umeh, the Senator representing Anambra Central at the National Assembly, has instituted a lodestar that must henceforward be emulated by all legislators from the South East geopolitical zone, whether serving in their states of origin or Abuja. Last week, Senator Umeh called General Yakubu Gowon, Head of State of Nigeria, from August 1966 to July 1975 to order.

*Umeh, Gowon

He told Gowon that he owed Ndigbo an unreserved apology, the absence of which is at the root of the nation’s enduring instability.

What had Gowon done wrong? For the third time since October, when he turned 90, the man has, in three public statements on the Nigerian condition, demonstrated that appropriating the truth was beyond his competence. Had he heard of and listened to Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804), Gowon would have remembered the German philosopher’s warning that, “By a lie a man throws away and as it were annihilates his dignity as a man.” Just by the one lie, warned Kant. Of Gowon, however, the dreadful reality is his preponderance of concocting a legion of barefaced lies, a chronic incapability to face the truth, even for one millisecond.

Who Will Heal The Northern Nigeria?

 By Sani Danaudi Mohammed 

The North is currently facing a crisis of unprecedented proportions. The current wave of conflicts and the resurgence of the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno state, the killings in Benue, Niger, and Plateau states in the North-central call for urgent action. The situation is dire, and the people of the North are crying for help. The attacks have left many dead, while the survivors are living in fear. The North needs healing, and it needs it fast.

The killings in Benue, Niger, and Plateau states are a stark reminder of the security challenges facing the North. The killings are senseless, and the perpetrators seem to have no regard for human life. The federal and state governments are working tirelessly to overcome the situation, but their efforts seem not enough. The people of the North are losing hope, and something needs to be done urgently. The North needs leaders who can bring people together and provide a sense of security and stability.

Demolition Of Obi's Property: APC Crosses The Line!

 By Steve Osuji

Brigandage. Barbarism. Primitivism. Parochialism. Provincialism. These and many more synonymous words raced through the mind when news broke about the demolition of a property belonging to the family of Peter Obi (PO). 

*Obi

This property, said to belong to the brother of PO, former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 elections, which was razed to rubble using stealth instruments of the Lagos judiciary has all the elements and pockmarks of the ruling party, APC, the Lagos State government and indeed, Aso Rock. 

Ikeja GRA is probably the primest (!) piece of property on the mainland part of Lagos. Ikeja is also the administrative seat of the Lagos Government. It therefore stands to reason that every inch of land in Ikeja, especially the GRA area is assumed to be well noted and annotated in the Lagos land registry.

Benue Bleeds Amidst Government Inertia

 By Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

“The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” – Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

After the villainous and senseless Agatu killings in February, 2016 accompanied by the usual condemnations, it was hoped that affliction of Benue people will not rise the second time. Contrary to the assumption, the evil struck again defiantly.

The recent attack launched on Yelewata, Nyiev Council Ward of Guma local government area by marauding terrorists was a deadly unprovocative onslaught against a sleepy, defenceless community taken too far. According to reports, it was a strategic attack launched on three flanks with a standby fourth reinforcement. Death toll currently stands at over 200 persons, including children while many are still missing.

Peter Obi On Lawlessness And Impunity In Our Society

*Obi

"Any society where lawlessness overrides the rule of law is not destined to be a haven for investors. Recent reports showing that Nigeria’s human rights indicators have worsened merely highlight severe shortfalls in government protection for civil liberties, personal security, and basic living standards. 

"I know what I have been going through as a person in abuse of my human rights just because I contested a Presidential election which I have legitimate rights to do. So I imagine what small business owners, regular citizens, and vulnerable communities face every day. If this level of lawlessness can happen to someone with a registered company and legitimate means, what hope does the ordinary Nigerian have?

The Benue Genocide

 By Nick Dazang  

Before now, and for reasons best known to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had preferred either to delegate or outsource his hallowed duties as the country’s Commander-in-Chief and Mourner-in-Chief to his minions. His minions, thus invested with presidential power, instead of showing compassion and fellow-feeling to their compatriots, carry on with haughtiness and uncommon superciliousness. Either they talk down at their bereaved hosts, who are reeling under the irreparable losses occasioned by the dastardly attacks visited on them or they snub critical stakeholders outright.

This arrogant pattern of behaviour has continued, ad nauseam, until last week’s engagement by President Tinubu with stakeholders in Makurdi, following the genocidal killings that took place at Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

Again, Who Killed Dele Giwa?

 By Olatuni Dare 

Some 34 years after Dele Giwa, crusading journalist and founding editor of the defunct Newswatch was killed in what remains one of the most horrific acts of preternatural malevolence ever carried out in Nigeria, nothing has been established beyond the fact and the manner of the murder.

 

“Who killed Dele Giwa?” has been a recurring question ever since.  Whodunit?

*Giwa 

Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, with whom Giwa enjoyed a cozy relationship, that he was not loath to advertise, has been and remains a principal suspect in the murder.  No arrests were made, and no suspects have been arrested, and no persons have been charged, much less prosecuted in what passed for the official investigation of the murder: a travesty perfused by obfuscation, intimidation, blackmail, perjury, denialism, and all the bureaucratic weapons that officialdom can conjure up.

There was ample reason for regarding Babangida as a principal suspect in the murder.

Dele Giwa’s Assassination: More Questions Than Answers

 By Ray Ekpu

Dele Giwa and I were close friends and colleagues at Concord and Newswatch. At Concord some colleagues called us Ray Giwa and Dele Ekpu, an attempt to emphasise the closeness of our relationship. And when Dele was badly treated by Chief MKO Abiola, the sole proprietor of Concord, I resigned my appointment as the chairman of the Editorial Board even before Dele did. And when Dele was assassinated, I lost 10 kilogrammes within two weeks and lost my memory for one year. 

*Giwa

That was how deep the relationship was. But at the 10th anniversary of his assassination, we, his colleagues, decided that despite the depth of the loss, we needed to forgive those who killed him and move on. 

However, the former president, Ibrahim Babangida has laboured to explain in his autobiography, A Journey in Service, why, according to him, the investigation of his assassination was not concluded by his government. But his explanation has produced more questions than answers, while he was trying to defend the officials in his security services who were fingered for the crime.