Remembering Deborah Samuel

 By Julius Oweh

The toxic mixture of religion and politics is the distinguishing trademark that has beggared Nigeria's development and progress and until our leaders get the priority right, poverty and instability shall remain the signature tune of the country for a long time to come. I may be wearing the garb of a doomsday prophet but the realities are so stark and revealing. 

*Deborah Samuel

The butchering of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto State by fellow students is a tip of the iceberg. It is not going to be the last time religious zealots nurtured by poverty and insane religious ideology shall continue to make a mockery of the secular nature of the country and a bad reason for Nigeria to attract international media attention. 

An Attempt To Defend Professor Mahmood Yakubu

 By Emmanuel Aziken

Against the background of dashed hopes and the intrigues that shadowed the conduct of the 2023 presidential election, it is difficult for anyone with a clear conscience to rush to the defence of Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

*Prof Yakubu 

Given that Yakubu is a professor of history, it is telling that historians will in the immediate and distant future easily pick him out as a facilitator in the conspiracy to suppress what many had projected would be the beginning of the Nigerian renaissance in the third decade of the 21st century. What with the promised hopes that spurred many Nigerians who had in the past not voted, to on February 25, 2023, take that first step in their civic responsibility to enthrone good governance.

Nigeria: When Polls Are Rigged Before Election Day

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

President Muhammadu Buhari has stated for the umpteenth time that he desires to bequeath the country a legacy of credible elections. That seems to be the only low hanging fruit waiting for him to pluck as his disastrous presidency comes to an insalubrious end on May 29. He has made the promise not only to Nigerians but also the international community.

While commissioning a wide range of operational assets acquired by his administration to strategically improve the capabilities of the police, particularly in crowd control and anti-riot operations, on February 13, the president harped on the need for them to be professional while policing the elections.

On The People’s Train With Peter Obi And Datti Baba-Ahmed For Nigeria’s Redemption

 By Sola Ebiseni

Our presence at the momentous OBIDATTI rally in Ibadan last Wednesday, November 21, was the ultimate evidence that we have boarded the people’s train with Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed for the redemption of our country.

*Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed 

To those who could not see beyond the conventional and are irredeemably fixated on the search for structures that have only held our nation and people hostage, let them know that the Obidient phenomenon is not a joke they thought would soon frizzle out. 

A brother and learned colleague, out of sheer love, described our move, after my initial television interviews justifying the Afenifere’s endorsement of the ObiDatti ticket, as a descent to political Golgotha. We are quick to remind him that the way to redemption is paved with torns and a burdensome cross that must be borne at Golgotha, which Nigeria must experience, willy nilly.

God-wins, Edo And Lessons Learnt

 By Reuben Abati

The pundits who had predicted the outcome and the nature of the Gubernatorial election in Edo State got it all wrong. The Edo 2020 election may well prove to be a turning point in the management of elections in Nigeria, and if not, there are certainly lessons to be learnt from it. It was in every sense a rude awakening for both the actors in the drama and the community of observers who witnessed and monitored the election. 

                                                           *Reuben Abati

Pundits predicted that the election would end up as war, a do –or die affair and that there would be blood-letting in all the state’s three Senatorial Districts. That didn’t happen. An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was shot in Etsako Central LGA, another person was macheted and given a cut on the face. In Orhionmwon LGA, a person was killed. In Egor, Ovia South West, Ikpoba-Okha, Oredo LGAs there were reports of skirmishes involving vote buying, and physical assault, but on the whole, the election went on peacefully. There were fears that voters would stay away from the polling stations, out of fear and anxiety, for indeed, before election day, September 19, campaign rhetoric was febrile, hate speech dominated political talk. The people had every reason to be afraid.