Why Peter Obi Is Their Major Threat

 By Dan Onwukwe

On a fine, rarefied atmosphere, December 16, 2009, just eight days before Christmas, a clutch of reporters had gathered at the magnificent Holy Trinity Cathedral field, Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra state. The reporters, from print and electronic media, had assembled for one of those political events, that was, in retrospect, of great importance in election season. It was the flag-off of the governorship campaign to re-elect Mr. Peter Obi for a second term in office. The election took place on February 6, 2010. 

           *Obi    

All eyes at the Cathedral ground were on Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the leader of All Progressive Grand Alliance(APGA), the party on which Mr. Peter contested the election. It was not for nothing that the presence of Ikemba Nnewi riveted attention that day. He had a lot to say about Obi that would define the direction of the campaign and perhaps determine the outcome of the governorship election. And it did. Known for his gift of the gab, Ojukwu looked at the mammoth crowd and said: “You  know I am getting old now, and one favour I ask of you at this time is to vote my political son(Peter) into office again to enable our people to continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy”. 

The New Face Of Corruption In Nigeria

 By Tonnie Iredia

Seventy-three (73) years ago, the Northern House of Chiefs made history when it passed a motion moved by the Emir of Gwandu mandating all native authorities to fight the disturbing trend of corruption among public officials in the colony. Other parts of what became Nigeria embraced the laudable motion.

From then till now, our successive political and military leaders have all taken several steps to continue with the fight, but the malaise has refused to go. To name just a few efforts, General Yakubu Gowon’s ‘Public Officer (Investigation of Assets) Decree’ of 1968, resulted in the forfeiture of corruptly acquired assets by culprits. The Murtala/Obasanjo military government sacked no less than 10, 000 public servants deemed to be corrupt. To invigorate our Code of Condict Bureau, President Ibrahim Babangida in 1989 added to it the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

Politics In Bola Tinubu’s Nigeria!

 
By Ikechukwu Amaechi

At best, Nigeria’s democracy in this Fourth Republic has been wobbly, standing, as it were, on feet of clay. And a quarter of a century thence, rather than getting better, things have got worse as the politicians are busy dismantling all the guardrails of democracy – civic participation, which undergirds every genuine democratic project; the rule of law, that norm which says no one is above the law and makes a democracy function properly; separation of powers and checks and balances, democratic values which ensure that no individual or institution would have too much power over others;  federalism and limited government, which Dr. Meena Bose, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency, at Hofstra University, described as “principles that ensure that the American political system protects liberty and natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Nigeria And Its Tunnel Vision Elites

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Nigerians are hypocritically sanctimonious, a trait that has become evident since the death of President Muhammadu Buhari in a London hospital on Sunday, July 13. Many, particularly politicians, have lied against the man, literally, by clothing him in borrowed robes in a bid not to speak ill of the dead.

*Late Buhari and Tinubu

All manner of adjectives have been deployed in eulogising the departed leader. But in doing that they lie against him, almost to the point of defamation.

But there is no use flogging a dead horse. While Buhari was alive, I wrote tons of articles lamenting his leadership style not because I hated him but because I wanted him to change. But he was a man set in his ways. Now that he is dead, the inevitable judgement of history will take its natural course. But one fact remains undeniable as Professor Anthony Kila aptly put it: Buhari is a promise unkept.

As Buhari Departs: A Personal Reflection

By Olayinka Oyegbile

When the news of the death of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s immediate past president broke, the first thing that came to my mind were the immortal words of the poet John Donne, who wrote years ago that: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” 

*Buhari 

The death of anyone affects people in different ways. People cannot feel the same emotion no matter how alike they look. That is the reason why the death of a parent always affects siblings in different ways and manners. The same with the death of Buhari. We cannot all feel it the same way. His family, close friends, associates, good-weather friends, et al, would all feel his death in different ways from the common folks. It is as Leo Tolstoy put it in one of his books Anna Karenina. He wrote: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." 

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.

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. 

Benue-Plateau: Tinubu’s Last Chance

 By Ochereome Nnanna

After two years as President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu has the last chance to prove himself in the Benue and Plateau theatres of the Fulani herdsmen genocidal attacks on indigenous Nigerian communities. These terrorists drawn from domestic and foreign Fulani jihadist bandit groups were named by the Global Terror Index back in 2014 as the fourth “most murderous” terror group in the world behind ISIS, Al Shabbab and Boko Haram.

*Tinubu

But here in Nigeria, they are protected, armed and facilitated in their genocidal campaigns, which the Federal Government, the military and even the undiscerning sections of the media deceptively call “farmers-herders clashes” or “farmers-herders crisis”.

Bola Tinubu’s Two Years Of Pains And Anguish

 By Emeka Alex Duru

Nigeria was among the countries that observed Children’s Day, last Tuesday, May 27. It is largely a commemorative event celebrated annually in honour of children whose date of observance varies by country. On such occasions, speeches and pledges are made in assuring the children of their importance to society. 

*Tinubu

In this year’s edition, President Bola Tinubu advertised his administration’s commitment to safeguarding the rights and well-being of Nigerian children, declaring them as the “pride and future of our great nation”. Eating into the theme of the celebration, tagged, “Stand Up, Speak Up: Building a Bullying-Free Generation”, Tinubu said it aligns directly to the culture his administration is building, which he said entitles every child to feel safe, respected and heard, both in physical spaces and digital communities.

Bola Tinubu And His Game

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Today, May 29, 2025, is exactly two years since Bola Tinubu took the oath of office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria. And it is more than enough time to assess his stewardship.

*Tinubu

Even those who said, as Professor Wole Soyinka did in 2023, that the traditional 100 days was too short a time to make such an assessment will hardly have any excuse now. For those who may have forgotten, on December 24, 2023, Soyinka paid a visit to Tinubu in his Lagos home. Asked to assess Tinubu’s performance, the Nobel Laureate claimed that three months was too short a time to assess any government.

2027 And The Tinubu Forever Choir

 By Ugoji Egbujo

Tinubu hasn’t done half of his term. But he already thinks he is entitled to a second and perhaps more terms. The obsequious lackeys he has surrounded himself won’t let him catch a moment for sober reflection,  a glimpse of reality. They seem bent on making him the Oba of Nigeria, unaccountable to no one but his whims and caprices. They are gradually conscripting the entire political class into the Tinubu bandwagon. And emboldened by the relentless flattery, Tinubu is now unfurling his disdain for democracy. 

*Tinubu

Tinubu had promised a trillion-dollar economy. He has done nothing to give the people a stable power supply and resuscitate dying industries. Rural farmers have been conveniently sidelined. The food security program, it appears, has been outsourced to India and others. The government now proudly talks about food importation like it requires some genius. Tinubu had promised surplus agbado and told the masses to reject him if he didn’t provide power in his first term. 

Bola Tinubu’s Two Years Of Deferred Hope

 By Casmir Igbokwe

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, unveiled what appears to be one of the greatest achievements of President Bola Tinubu recently. Last week, the governor was quoted to have threatened his appointees to join him in his planned defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or resign.

*Tinubu

Governor Eno, who won his election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the latest big fish which the all-conquering APC’s dragnet has caught. Earlier in April, the Governor of Delta State, Mr. Sheriff Oborevwori, migrated to the ruling party with the entire leadership and stakeholders of the PDP in the state. More people had earlier defected. A triumphant Tinubu gleefully said last week that he expected more people to join the APC. Great achievement!

Ordinarily, this gale of defections should be an indication that something good is happening within the ruling party. Or that the government of the day has become a honeypot of performance, thus attracting a large number of honeybees.

Our Leaders Do Not Care!

 By Sunny Ikhioya

They did not care in the past. They do not care now, and most likely, they will never care in the future. According to Vilfredo Pareto, Italian sociologist, they “are the small number of individuals who, in each sphere of activity, have succeeded and have arrived at a higher echelon in the professional hierarchy”. 

*Tinubu and Akpabio

These ones are termed elites, which is “a class of the people who have the highest indices in their branch of activity”. They are the ones controlling our businesses, politics, and indeed every aspect of our lives. They are our perpetual rulers. Once in a while, somebody from the lower rung of the ladder finds his way upward and remains there with them, cultivating their habits and idiosyncrasies. Their interest is their self-protection first. 

That Mischievous ‘Don’t Vote, Go To Jail’ Bill!

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Nigerian politicians are a funny lot who have perfected the inelegant art of majoring in minor things, which explains why, at a time like this when the country is at a socio-economic and political crossroads, the House of Representatives is going around chasing rats while the house – Nigeria – is on fire.

Their puerile antics reminds me of the July 13, 2000 book, This House Has Fallen: Midnight in Nigeria, by Karl Maier which chronicled the problems threatening Nigeria’s existence. “We… ignore Nigeria at our peril,” Maier, a London Independent correspondent stationed in Africa for more than a decade, admonished the world. Sadly, 25 years thence, those problems are not only still prevalent but have, indeed, become metastatic cancer.

Mr. President, The Security Challenge Is Hitting Harder!

 By Emeka Alex Duru

It was quite depressing listening to a member of the House of Representatives from Zamfara State, Aminu Jaji recount the worsening security situation in his constituency. Jaji painted a harrowing picture of attacks, mass kidnappings, and general lawlessness that have left his constituents devastated and displaced.

Over 200 of such attacks have taken place in communities across Kaura Namoda Local Government Area alone, including Dayo, Banga, Gabaki, Korea, and Madura, according to the lawmaker. In one instance, 60 people were abducted in Banga. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 30 million naira. Out of those abducted, 10 were killed, and the fate of the remaining 50 hangs in the balance, he said. The chilling aspect of his narration was one in which a pregnant woman gave birth in captivity and her newborn twins thrown to dogs by a bandit leader. He also gave instance of a boy with epilepsy who was executed for falling in the presence of a bandit. This is bestiality at its worst.

The Fraud Called ‘Band A’ Electricity Tariff

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

No matter how anyone tries to rationalise the obtuse economic reforms of the Tinubu administration, the most searing no confidence vote in their sustainability has been passed by the president himself when the presidency announced that it was no longer sustainable for the Aso Rock Villa to continue paying the yearly N47 billion ‘Band A’ electricity tariff.

Aso Rock’s move which jolted many is coming on the heels of increasingly unreliable public power supply, even as the cost soars for both households and government institutions.

In 2024, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company which said the Presidential Villa owed a bill of N923.87 million issued a 10-day notice to Nigeria’s seat of government and 86 MDAs to pay the combined debt of N47.1 billion or risk disconnection, hence the presidency’s bid to opt out of the national grid.

Is Gov Soludo Envious Of Peter Obi?

By Ugoji Egbujo

President Tinubu was in Anambra. The timing of the visit was ominous. Anambra governorship elections are due in November. Southern first-term governors from opposition parties are defecting in droves to Tinubu’s party. Soludo didn’t defect but a defection might have been more hygienic. Soludo showcased his projects and swore allegiance to Tinubu. Soludo was within his right to twerk for Tinubu, but did he have to spit on  Peter Obi to magnify and enchant the president? 

*Soludo and Obi

The first line of Soludo’s speech was reeked with pettiness. He said that the last time a  President visited the state was in 2021 to commission the Premier Breweries which he called a private brewery project. That Soludo’s preferred hook was puerile.  Some might say it should be seen as political banter. But did Soludo need to introduce that famed line of bigotry peddled by Tinubu’s men in this welcome address to the president to the home of Peter Obi, Tinubu’s arch-rival? 

Soludo: Professors Sans Commonsense

By Steve Osuji

Nigerian professors are giving a bad name to the academia. We grew up to revere people who wear the tag 'professor' as very special kinds.

And as we went through the university, the power and aura of professors on our campuses didn't wane. Indeed, we cherished being under their tutelage.

I encountered a few in my journey through those rarefied corridors of learning. Who would forget in a hurry, Professors Alfred Opubor, Ebun Clark, Alaba Ogunsanwo, Onuora Nwuneli, among others, in the University of Lagos of the 1980s and early 90s. 

But today in Nigeria, everything seems upside down; including the university system and the professors therein.

If a professor is not being goaled for sexually harassing his students - in a most idiotic tango - he's being jailed for helping a rogue politician rig election. 

One cannot understand how our university system crashed so low to the point that professors, even vice chancellors, are co-opted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), into a tacky and highly malleable electoral system. 

Mr. President, Rein In Your Son, Seyi

 By Dan Onwukwe

Have you pondered why presidential offsprings sometimes behave in such bizarre and irascible manner that bring embarrassment to the first family? Mr Seyi Tinubu, a pampered grown adult and son of President Bola Tinubu, has had some run-ins with some people since his father became Nigerian president almost two years ago. The controversies he has attracted have hugged the headlines. If this bizarre behaviour is not normal, you may ask, why? Does the President feel hurt watching his son each time his son’s conduct makes the headlines? 

*Bola Tinubu and his son, Seyi

If the President does, why hasn’t he deemed it necessary to rein him in as he did early in his administration when Seyi reportedly barged in, without invitation, at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the Presidential Villa? This is what the President said on that day: “I have noticed the undue access of people sneaking in and out of this Council, including my son, Seyi, sitting behind the cubicle. That’s not acceptable”. The president instructed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume to take note of his order.

Human Rights And Freedom In Nigeria Under Tinubu

By Kenneth Okonkwo

Gasiokwu defined human rights as claims made on society by individuals and groups which claims have found expression in objective law either at national levels and international levels, and serve as the standard for measuring the conditions of human existence below which no human being should enjoy.

*Tinubu
They are rights held by individuals simply because they are part of the human species. They are rights shared equally by everyone regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, nationality and economic background. They are rights inbuilt by God in human beings and discernable by human reason and man-made laws must conform to these natural law rights of human beings.