Traumatized Travellers, Broken Highways, And Coastal Road

 By Ugo Onuoha

The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended, stipulated that the security and the welfare of Nigerians, not some Nigerians, not many Nigerians, nor a majority of the citizens, should be the priority of the government of the federation. The provision was not optional in terms of adherence to it. It was not a plea to the conscience of the rulers to do good. It was not a request either. It’s the raison d’etre of every administration. 

For the avoidance of doubt, we will reproduce aspects of the relevant constitutional decree. Yes, decree, because the prescription was made to be obeyed. It did not make room for any administration to offer excuses in lieu of compliance.

Why The CJN Must End Abuse Of Power In Judicial Appointments

 By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

A Judge who takes advantage of the judicial office for personal gain or for gain by his or her relative or relation abuses power…. such abuse of power profoundly violates the public’s trust in the judiciary. Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Rule 8:3 (2016)

*Justice Kekere-Ekun-CJN

Eight and a half years ago, in May 2017, a viral audio clip circulated which was said to be a conversation between a male Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a female judge who, in the preceding year, presided over an election petition involving the Senator.

Don’t Let Food Poisoning Ruin Your Yuletide Celebrations!

 By Sylvester Ojenagbon

The world over, a festive season is synonymous with feasting. It is usually a time when kitchens work overtime, and tables overflow with culinary abundance. 

However, for all the joy these lavish meals bring, they also usher in a period of heightened risk for a globally common, yet utterly miserable affliction: food poisoning.

The problem of foodborne illness is common, cutting across continents and development levels.

The World Health Organisation estimates that as many as one in ten people globally fall ill each year from eating contaminated food, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, with children and those in low- and middle-income countries bearing the heaviest burden.

Deeper Life Retreat At 50: Beyond The Precincts Of Religion

By Banji Ojewale

At the time the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, held its first Retreat in the premises of then National Technical Teachers’ College, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, December 24-28, 1975, the group, led by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, hardly discerned that it was scripting a narrative that would roll into a half-century milestone in the womb of time. But then, not everything connected to that era had to do with abstract history, even if we agree that making history matters.  Events history admit must be substantive and possess the weight that turns a tide for the good of humanity. 

For, what is a record in the annals if it doesn’t transform or usher in something new to enable man forsake the beaten path?

The Supreme Court’s Emergency Politics

 By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

All judges are politicians whether they know it or not— Enrique Petracchi, former Chief Justice of Argentina, (2002)

Among lawyers trained in the traditions of the Common Law, judicial power is often mis-understood. In Nigeria, the 1999 Constitution divides the powers of the federation between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The first two are elected. Judges are not. In the elected arms, it vests the legislative and executive powers of the federation.

How Tinubu’s Inner Circle Is Misleading Him

 By Dan Onwukwe

Presidents throughout history have relied on an inner circle of deeply trusted aides who, sometimes, work behind the scenes to shape their presidencies. These individuals often wield significant influence on policy and strategy due to their close relationship and access to the presidents. Some became more powerful than official Cabinet members.

*Tinubu

In the United States, such notable aides include Harry Hopkins, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s shrewd adviser who became his most trusted confidant. He was fondly called “one-man State Department” during World War II. He lived in the White House and managed crucial programmes. Marguerite “Missing” LeHand was  FDR’s Personal Secretary, and arguably the most trusted figure in his inner circle.

New Tax Law Goes Rogue

 By Andy Ezeani

It is two days to Christmas. This, universally, is a season of goodwill. Already, President Bola Tinubu has retired to Lagos for his holiday. No one will begrudge him rest at this most fitting season to relax. Against the backdrop of unceasing flow of crisis and problems that have characterized his presidency, most of them self-inflicted, though, Tinubu can do with every peace and goodwill Christmas offers. 

*Tinubu

Before he left Abuja last Friday, December 19 2025, after laying the 2026 annual budget before the National Assembly, the President reportedly left appropriate messages of goodwill for the lawmakers at the National Assembly. That would be very characteristic of him in relation to the lawmakers. 

Forgeries, Taxations And The Reign Of Rehoboam

 By Ugo Onuoha

A little over three months into the presidency of Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on September 5, 2023, I wrote an opinion piece titled “100 days of Rehoboam” in this space and elsewhere. Rehoboam was a king of the divided kingdom of ancient Israel. He was the son of King Solomon and the grandson of King David, both of whom were also past rulers of a united Israel.

*Tinubu

Rehoboam caused Israel to be divided through policies that inflicted pains on his people. He was reckless. He was proud. He was unfeeling. He took counsel from his scatter head fellow young men. He told the Israelites that the privations they suffered under his father should be regarded as a child’s play. And that while his predecessors chastised them with a whip, he would chastise them with a scorpion. And he verily proceeded to do so. Rehoboam and Tinubu share similarities and dissimilarities.

No Xmas Dinner For The Fisherman

By Banji Ojewale

Kotei chewed on the flameless cigarette between two fingers on his left hand, regretting it was the last he took from the pack. He wished the manufacturers could load more into the paper box. He wouldn’t mind the cost, as long as it reduced the frequency of his visits to Handzin Ayen, two streets away, for the stuff. This would also ensure he would not run out of the stuff too early. But there was a bigger worry: for years he had always failed his New Year resolution to quit the smoke.

 At the moment, Kotei was in the Yuletide loop. In a few days, the year would be running its course and make a demand on him to decide on old ways to disallow from following him into the incoming one. 

Instinctively, Kotei holding a pack of cigarettes, would recite the legend: I promise not to smoke again. I won’t ever go to Handzi Ayen for the cigarettes, even if she asks me to come for them for free. I’m now going to smoke these ones as a parting shot. Thereafter it’s bye-bye. They go away from me. Depart with the departing year. You won’t go with me into the new one. So, help me God! 

Between Farouk Ahmed And Bello Matawalle

By Adekunle Adekoya

What amounted to an earthquake occurred in the oil sector in the week ending today. Mallam Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, fell from his Olympian heights and his resignation from office was suddenly announced after a meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa Wednesday evening. In unclear circumstances, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, also resigned his job.

*Matawalle 

The earthquake coming from Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Industries and operator of the largest single train refinery in Africa started with tremors on Sunday when Africa’s richest man accused Farouk Ahmed’s NMDPRA of economic sabotage, alleging that regulatory actions were undermining local refining capacity in Nigeria.

Panacea To Nigeria’s Lingering Insecurity

 By Chiedu Uche Okoye

Our federal government’s use of multi-pronged approaches in tackling Nigeria’s security challenges will yield no positive results unless and until sub-national governments are constitutionally empowered to have their own state police.

The government’s execution of measures other than establishing state police will scratch the surface of the problem without solving it holistically. Despite the efforts, which the federal government has been making to stem the tide of perpetration of crimes in Nigeria, our country is still in the throes of asphyxiating security challenges.

Genocide In Nigeria: A United Nations Tribunals Is Long Overdue

 By Dianam Dakolo 

It is exactly one month now since the appearance of the Trinidadian-American singer and actress, Nicki Minaj, at the United Nations to make a case for global action against genocide in Nigeria, perpetrated by Fulani bandits and herdsmen and Kanuri terrorists against Christian communities in the North of the country.

We have also had a United States Congressional Committee on a fact-finding mission to Nigeria. Snippets of its findings and conclusions are now public knowledge - that genocide in Nigeria is real and horrific, and that top government functionaries and the security agencies, particularly from the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari up till date, have been manifestly complicit. 

Tinubu’s Low-Grade Ambassadors: A Disservice To Nigeria!

 By Olu Fasan

In the end, Nigeria’s obsequious Senate lived up to its reputation. 

Toadyish as ever, it supinely rubber-stamped President Bola Tinubu’s tacky list of ambassadorial nominees without as much as a whimper.

*Reno Omokri and Tinubu

Last week, following the infamous and shameful “bow and go” practice it has adopted in approving President Tinubu’s political appointees, the Senate waived through his ambassadorial nominees without questioning. The perverse implication of nominating controversial figures, and of clearing them without scrutiny, is that the President and the Senate both believe that anybody, just anybody, however questionable their pedigree, provided they are in the President’s good graces, can represent this country as an ambassador in a foreign land. That’s a disservice to Nigeria! 

Certificate Mills And Doubtful Acquisitions

 By Austin Oboh

 The Federal Government appears to have been recently startled out of a long slumber that had stretched on for years while more and more Nigerians discovered has­sle-free means of acquiring diploma and degree certificates with the cooperation of our West African neighbouurs. 

And in other cases, certificate mills sprouted at street corners, right under the watch of monitoring authorities, to feed the Nige­rian crave for certificates (not learning). Tuesday announcement by the Federal Ministry of Education suspending the ac­creditation or recognition of certificates from some West African countries, espe­cially Togo and Benin Republic, may have come like a knee-jerk reaction but it was a rousing up prompted by an embarrassing expose’ from a journalist who went as far as cracking his way through the NYSC with his arranged documents. The NYSC secretariat, with all its checks erected to stop impostors in their tracks, could not stop him. Again, state authorities were caught napping.

War Against Terror: Nigeria Needs Foreign Assistance

 By Emeka Alex Duru

A significant prayer point among the Igbo is that challenges do not force one to seek favours from an enemy. The supplication is deep. Seeking assistance from one’s enemy is an extreme point in desperation and fraught with uncertainties.

If it is turned down, the supplicant is left with shame; if answered, it is like drinking from a poisoned chalice in which the beneficiary, if ever he survives, is perpetually beholden to the questionable benefactor. It is dicey, from whatever angle it is looked at. A Nollywood flick of the early 1990’s, titled Living in Bondage, offers an analogy here.

Nigeria Needs Safe Schools

 By Gordon Brown

Edinburgh—In the last few weeks, more than 300 children have been abducted from Nigerian schools in a new wave of kidnappings by terrorist groups hellbent on extorting money and spreading fear.

By now, the pattern is depressingly familiar. On the morning of November 17, gunmen broke into the dormitories of a girls’ secondary school in Maga, a town in the northwestern state of Kebbi, killing the vice-principal and abducting 25 students. Only days later, on November 21, assailants staged an early-morning attack on St. Mary’s, a co-ed Catholic school in Papiri, a town in the neighboring state of Niger.

It was first reported that 227 people were abducted, but that number has since risen to 303 students – between the ages of eight and 18 – and 12 teachers, surpassing the notorious mass abduction of 276 female students in Chibok in 2014.

Peter Obi: Insecurity And The Crisis Of Accountability In Nigeria

 

Recently, a disturbing video emerged from Kwara State in which suspected terrorists arrested by security forces claimed that ammunition and logistics were supplied to them by government officials. This allegation, now circulating widely, demands nothing less than an immediate, transparent, and independent investigation. 

Over the years, trillions of naira and billions of dollars have been continuously collected by the government in the name of security. Yet insecurity has only expanded across the country, and in an increasingly brazen manner. 

This type of news fallout goes to give credence to the much-referenced quotation of late military leader General Sani Abacha that “Any insurgency that lasts more than 24 hours, the government is involved.” 

Nigeria’s Insecurity: Whither State Police?

 By Tonnie Iredia

Many scholars are agreed that in running large entities, be they companies or even countries, there is wisdom in embracing decentralization whereby decision-making powers are distributed across various levels.

It stands to reason therefore that a large heterogeneous political entity such as Nigeria which is almost 4 times the size of the United Kingdom ought to consciously avoid centralization. Unfortunately, some Nigerian leaders still cherish the unitary system of government which the military under the guise of national unity foisted on the country many years ago. In reality however, an exceedingly powerful federal centre can only create strong men and not effective institutions.

Peter Obi On The N20 Trillion New Loans To Finance The Budget e

 

*Obi
Today, Nigerians woke up again to the troubling news that the Federal Government is planning to borrow about ₦20 trillion in new loans to finance the 2026 budget. This is at a time when debt servicing alone is projected to gulp nearly half of our national revenue, and when our borrowing requirement has surged by over 72%.

At a time when Nigerians are struggling under unprecedented hardship, insecurity, and unemployment, we must ask the most important and logical questions: Where is the revenue from 2025?

Peter Obi On The Seizure Of Nigerian-Owned Vessel In The US Because Of Oil Theft!

*Obi

My attention has been drawn to reports that the Nigerian-owned supertanker was seized by the United States authorities over allegations of crude oil theft and related illicit activities. While the full facts are still emerging, this development is deeply troubling and speaks to a much bigger crisis that has continued to undermine our national economy, our global reputation, and the future of our young people.

Daily Manna: Rescuing Mankind Through A Devotional

 Book: Daily Manna: A Daily Devotional Guide (January – December 2026) 

Author: W.F. Kumuyi

Pages: 379

Publishers: Life Press Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria 

Reviewer: Banji Ojewale 

In ancient times, the sages sought to know the bowels of the future by looking into the bowels of animals. They would spread the skin of a slain beast, and after studying the surface contours, lines and features, they would determine whether a journey scheduled for a future should be undertaken or not or whether the gods approved or disapproved the levying of a war. For a long time in history, according to legend, this meeting point between living men and lifeless creatures was the answer to man’s immanent crave to see beyond his present. 

Rising air Fares As Threat To National Economy

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Two major ironies are staring Nigeria in the face at the moment, in so far as it concerns air travel. A few days ago,  the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development rolled out the drums to celebrate 100 years of civil aviation in Nigeria. An international air show was organised and held in Abuja, among other events, to commemorate the milestone. It was on November 1, 1925 that the first flight into Nigeria landed in Kano.

It is therefore an irony of developments that citizens of a nation celebrating 100 years of civil aviation can no longer afford to travel by air. It has been in the news for some days now that the cost of air travel tickets to the South-Eastern part of the country, in particular, is hitting an all-time high.

Benin: Between Military Claws And Bloody Talons Of President Talon

By Owei Lakemfa

Early morning Sunday, December 7, 2025, while many Beninois slept, hoping to go to church, mosque and traditional places of worship at dawn, some members of their armed forces fanned out. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Paschal Tigri, they planned to bring the people under their claws.

*Tinubu and Talon 

At 05:00 they attacked the Presidential Palace and then retreated to the national broadcaster, the SRTB where they announced the removal of Patrice Talon, President of the French vassal state. The rebels accusations against Talon include imposition of harsh economic measures on the people such as increased taxes and cuts in healthcare. Others include clamping down on the opposition and deteriorating security situation.

Tinubu Can Find Soldiers For France But Not For Nigerians Dying In Their homes

 By Sa'adiyyah Adebisi Hassan

When the Benin Republic political crisis began, Nigerians woke up to a Nigerian army deployment that appeared out of nowhere – jets, troops, machinery, rapid response, zero bureaucracy. Less than 24 hours.

Compare that with years of massacres, kidnappings, mass abductions, villages burnt, clergy murdered, schools emptied, highways captured, and entire states under terrorist rule and suddenly Nigeria is “confused”, “slow”, “gathering intelligence”, or “waiting for weather clearance.”

10 African Countries With The Longest Road Networks

 Roads are the lifelines of Africa’s economies, connecting people, goods, and services across vast distances. They move produce from farms to markets, workers to factories, students to schools, and patients to hospitals.

An estimated 80% of goods and 90% of passenger traffic in Africa rely on roads, making them indispensable for daily life and economic growth. Yet, despite their importance, many road networks across the continent remain underdeveloped or poorly maintained.

Top 10 African Countries With Most Reliable Electricity Supply

 Across Africa, a handful of African countries stand out for consistently achieving high electricity access rates. These countries are united by a mix of committed infrastructure investment, diversified energy sources (often including gas or renewables), and policies that prioritize national grid connection.

While access rate is a useful proxy for stable supply, it’s essential to note the ongoing challenges, particularly in bridging the gap between urban and rural connectivity.

The top four countries have achieved near-universal or full electrification, a testament to decades of stable, strategic state investment.

How To Make Nigeria Work If Still Possible

 By Ugo Onuoha

It will be difficult, probably impossible, to make Nigeria work the way it is presently structured and governed. In theory we are running a federal system through the framework of a unitary structure. Operatives in  Abuja, the federal capital territory, determine who gets what, how, when, and where. Let’s illustrate right away with one trending absurdity. 

Until last week, Osun state was governed by the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with Ademola Adeleke as governor. The ruling party in Abuja is the All Progressives Congress (APC). Last year the APC regime of Nigeria’s president, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had approached the Supreme Court to make a pronouncement on the constitutional prescription on fiscal autonomy for the country’s 774 local government areas. And the court found in his favour.

Violence And The ‘Emilokan’ Presidency

 By Obi Nwakanma

It is no longer news that the current APC administration – the ‘Emilokan’ presidency of Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu – has no answers to the problems facing Nigeria. Bola Tinubu is in fact, out of his depths. He has not the actual training, the intellectual capacity, the visionary or rhetorical ability to move Nigeria forward. He is negotiating with terrorists.

*Tinubu

He is not only clueless – yes that word again that has come to haunt the APC and its supporters who first used it against Dr. Goodluck Jonathan – Tinubu is confused. He has no ideas, beyond his “Agbado solutions.” He is surrounded by the most incompetent people ever to be assembled on Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council. A cabinet of lightweights, who like the man Tinubu himself, are also mostly out of their depths.

Police State Or State Police?

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

On 26 November 2025, Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, announced in a statement personally signed by him that he had “decided to declare a nationwide security emergency” to be accompanied by some measures, including the recruitment by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Armed Forces of 20,000 and 50,000 new personnel respectively.

In the fortnight preceding the announcement, a flurry of frightening terror incidents had created among populations and communities around the country a heightened state of fear. It also reinforced the perception of a normalization of insecurity and of the traumas associated with it.

Ten Reasons Peter Obi Must Shun ADC Now!

By Steve Osuji (EXPRESSO Umb-rage)

ONE: Engagement Through Subterfuge: The new party emanating from a coalition of opposition politicians has already been tainted. The African Democratic Congress (ADC), has been completely taken over by the Atiku group. 

*Obi

Analysts had mocked ADC as ATIKU DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS, and truly, the situation in the party today has proved them perspicacious. 

A few days ago, Atiku Abubakar, erstwhile vice president of Nigeria and one of the arrowhead of ADC announced that he had formalised his membership of the party. A few others followed suit. 

The Inside Story Of The Fake Coup In Guinea-Bissau

 By Owei Lakemfa

Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embalo on November 26, 2025 sat in his office as the President of Guinea-Bissau. As a retired General, the 53-year-old knew when he was beaten. Three days earlier, he had succumbed to unbearable pressures that he allowed general elections to be held despite his fears. His tenure had expired on February 27, 2025.

Rather than hold elections in accordance with the constitution, he had it postponed. The Constitutional Court had come to his aid by setting September 4, 2025 as the new date for his departure or mandate renewal. The seven-month extension had seemed a long way off.

Insecurity: Between Badaru’s Resignation And General Musa’s Return

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Curious. And curiouser. 

That’s how I can describe happenings on the Defence turf. Just weeks ago, immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa exited active service as a uniformed soldier. His exit, still unexplained, led to the elevation of his immediate subordinates into vacancies created by his exit. The burly Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Olufemi Oluyede, stepped in as Defence Chief, while the Navy and Air Force and Army also got new chiefs.

*Gen Musa 

Prior to these developments, there had been talk of insurrection, with more talk of some soldiers having been arrested for questioning. After Musa was formally pulled out of service, all that talk vaporised. It seemed as if the dog had been given the name they wanted to give it so they could do to it what they wanted to do.

Renewed Hope Or Renewed Hypocrisy: Tinubu’s Risky Politics Of Redemption

 By Emmanuel Aziken

At a time President Bola Tinubu has chosen to nominate some of Nigeria’s most controversial personalities as ambassadors to represent the country abroad, the emergence of his so-called Renewed Hope Ambassadors—appointed to canvass support for his second-term aspiration—has shaken the polity in a manner that many did not expect but which, perhaps, should no longer surprise anyone observing the curious evolution of our political culture.

*Tinubu and Omokri 

 The inclusion of figures like Mr. Reno Omokri, whose pre-election stance painted Tinubu with every negative virtue that should not be associated with a leader, did not completely shock Nigerians. After all, before Omokri, the president had already appointed Dr. Daniel Bwala as Special Adviser, a man who only a year earlier emphatically declared that “even if you give Tinubu 30 years, nothing will work.” With such examples, it has become increasingly clear that Tinubu’s political instincts lean heavily toward embracing, rehabilitating, and strategically deploying his most ferocious critics.

The Health Implications Of Commercial Grinding Machines

By Roberta Edu

We're slowly reducing our own population and blaming others. Imagine the extent of harm the locally fabricated grinding machines do to our population:

Here's the story of a concerned Nigerian:

When I started Moppet Foods  years ago, one of our Moppet cereal variants, Moppet Nutmeal, contained peanut. Now, when I was using a blender to blend, I could add the peanut together with everything and just roll.

But as we scaled, the blender was no longer enough. We acquired a grinder to handle larger volumes, but it couldn’t blend peanuts along with the grains, a major challenge.

Peter Obi: Is Nigeria Cursed, Or Are We The Curse?

 The past 10 days in Nigeria have witnessed unprecedented negative news, a level of chaos, insecurity, and institutional decay that should trouble the conscience of all the leaders. 

*Obi

Our country is now going through troubling times, not by fate, but by our collective leadership failures that allow insecurity, lawlessness, and institutional decay to thrive. Each day confronts us with a new tragedy and a new reminder that our beloved country is drifting amid a clear absence of competent, compassionate, responsive and responsible leadership. 

Peter Obi: A Pain One Carries Silently!

*Obi
 This afternoon, as I travelled from Abuja to Lagos, a group of young Nigerians approached me at the airport and said: “We have not heard or read anything from you today or yesterday, despite all the heartbreaking news dominating our front pages—from the appointment of some of the least qualified individuals as ambassadors, to our institutions being ridiculed, the First Lady hosting extravagant dinners for Senators while children are being abducted, and the countless killings across the country.” 

Peter Obi: Distribution of Campaign Vehicles: Profound Insensitivity And Abuse of Trust

 At a time when Nigerians are struggling with hunger, unemployment, and insecurity, the decision of any government to allocate limited public resources for distributing luxury vehicles like Hilux trucks and Hummer buses as part of the 2027 campaign mobilisation is not only insensitive but also represents a serious moral failure. 

*Obi

While ordinary Nigerians are grappling with poverty and hopelessness, those in leadership positions continue to flaunt their wealth by driving brand-new Land Cruisers, Hiluxes, and Hummers, treating the suffering of the people as mere background for political theatrics. This tragic misplacement of priorities is unacceptable. 

Bola Tinubu Has A Police Palaver

 By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

When Olusegun Obasanjo returned as the president of Nigeria in May 1999, according to Mohammed Dikko (MD) Yusuf, a former Inspector-General of Police, (IGP) he “inherited a Police Force that was poorly equipped, decimated in numerical strength, deprived of necessary logistics, and lacking, as it were, moral and public support necessary for effective performance and the enhancement of the security of the nation.”

*Tinubu with the IGP

Former IGP, MD Yusuf said these in the report he submitted in 2008 to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as the Chair of the second Presidential Commission on Police Reform to report in as many years. Headed by former Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), Muhammadu Danmadami, he first submitted its report in May 2006 to President Yar’Adua’s predecessor and benefactor, President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Why Nigeria Is Not Working

 By Ugo Onuoha

The safe thing to do is to say that Nigeria is not working at its optimal best. But that will amount to playing the ostrich. Because the reality is that our country is not working, not at all, not even for the ruling political and economic elites who currently think that they are having a swell time. If only they knew how much more they would be better if the right things were to be done to make this country work for the majority of its citizens. Sadly, the understanding of our elites (and this is a wrong label for them) is limited, warped, myopic, and parochial.

It has to be acknowledged that the roles of elites, whether political, economic, or intellectual, in nation-building anywhere can be a mixed bag of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The sad reality in our case is that the impacts of Nigeria’s elites on the country over time have gravitated between the bad and the ugly. Any semblance of the elites doing good to the society started and ended in the first republic, 1960-1966. 

Hasn’t Tinubu Insulted Nigerians Enough?

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

It is extremely difficult to understand why President Bola Tinubu takes delight in insulting Nigerians at every turn. Or how else can one explain most of his actions other than that of a leader who does not care a hoot about what the people think or feel?

*Tinubu 

A few weeks ago, it was the issue of presidential pardon. It beggared belief that a president would demean a constitutional instrument, designed not only to temper justice with mercy but also give the Nigerian state a human face with the axiomatic milk of kindness flowing underneath near infinite executive powers.

Creating A New Nigeria Through The ‘Veil Of Ignorance’

 By Olu Fasan

The theory of political justice is based on two conceptions. The first is the ‘might-is-right’ school, which describes the illegitimate or amoral exercise of power over individuals or communities. The second is the contractarian perspective, based on the notion that a political community should be founded on consensus among its people, and serve their best interests. Nigeria is a product of the former, the might-is-right school. This country was created, built and continues to exist on the whim and self-interest of the powerful, not on high ideals or virtues. 

And because of this birth-defect, Nigeria is not a just society. What’s more, it has failed to transform itself from a perversely unfair society into one that the philosopher John Rawls describes as “a cooperative venture for mutual advantage”.