Certificate Scandal: Minister’s Resignation Not Enough!

 By Tonnie Iredia

The uproar generated by the allegation that Uche Nnaji, Nigeria’s immediate past Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology forged both his degree and NYSC certificates has simmered considerably following the Minister’s resignation. But why he resigned is not clear. Did he resign because he was weighed down by the enormity of the scandal? Could it be that he wanted to save the government from further bad press or was he forced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quit? This unclear end to the scandal is one of the many reasons why the resignation is not enough.

*Nnaji

If Nnaji was not guilty as some of his supporters forcefully argued, it is unfair to sacrifice him over some purportedly concocted allegations. Considering that it was not just a fake degree certificate but also a bogus NYSC certificate, the allegation became one too many. On this score, the former Minister cannot blame those who concluded that he has a propensity to be blame worthy. A spokesperson for Nnaji had argued that there was a PDP faction within the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN who ganged up against his principal. If so, did the same political group permeate the NYSC to conjure the wrong official to sign Nnaji’s bogus discharge certificate?

Minister Nnaji: Is Tinubu’s Cabinet An Oluwole United?

 By Ugoji Egbujo

Atiku says the federal cabinet is an assembly of serial forgers, money launderers, election bandits and identity thieves. While it can’t be described as a total rogues’ gallery, it harbours far too many shady figures, granting too many reprobates access to the pulpits of power.

Tinubu, the acclaimed talent hunter, wanted a minister of innovation, science and technology and chose Nnaji. That is telling. Of all the brains in Igboland, of the constellation of Igbo intellects, Tinubu chose an Nnaji to lead innovation. Perpetuating the pattern. The third-class students march into politics to govern the first-class students, their footsteps echoing their hollowness in the corridors of power. Had Tinubu placed country above cronies, summoning scholars and inventors to ignite science and technology, he would have spared himself and the country this festering mess. And spared Nnaji this life-bending humiliation.

Plagiarism: The Silent Crime That Robs Nations Of Ideas

 By Stephanie Shaakaa

The first time I saw my own words staring back at me under someone else’s name, I felt an ache I cannot quite describe. Every sentence, every metaphor, every night of reflection poured into that piece stolen. Not borrowed, not referenced, but taken whole.

Plagiarism is theft. I know, because my original article carefully researched, deeply thought through, and published in Vanguard Newspaper on August 23, 2025 was stolen, rebranded, and published in a business newspaper in Nigeria under the name of Udo Maryanne Okonjo, who even had the audacity to call it “Side-Chick Economics: The Hidden Billions of Secrecy (Part 1)”. Part 1! As though she intends to build an entire series on an idea that is not hers.

Rufai Oseni And The Courage To Ask Questions That Burn

 By Stephanie Shaakaa

There are journalists who report and there are journalists who interrogate reality. 

*Oseni

Rufai Oseni of Arise TV belongs to that rare, unbending category of truth-tellers who refuse to be hypnotized by power or intimidated by titles. He has mastered the art of peeling away official veneers and exposing the hollow core beneath the rhetoric that too often passes for governance in Nigeria.

Some journalists report events. Rufai Oseni dissects them.

He doesn’t just anchor the news he interrogates reality.

The Tragedy Of Public Office In Nigeria

By Sam Amadi

The tragedy of holding  public offices in Nigeria is not only the prevalent bad governance we see everywhere. It includes the damage it does to those who hold such offices. 

*Amadi

Many of our political leaders are well trained professionals. Some of them have held top management positions before turning to political offices. But they never get back to doing any other meaningful work after holding high political office except continuing to politick. The reason for this captivity to politics is that Nigerian politics is corrosive. It destroys that quality of corporate usefulness such that once you have tasted it, you are never fit for anything else except Nigerian politics.

Rescuing Nigerians From The Talons Of Some Leaders

 By Owei Lakemfa

The resolve, determination, precision   and speed with which the Petroleum and Natural Gas   Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN   took on Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, frightened the ruling elites.  

They clearly had written off the Nigerian working people and their ability to strike if necessary. The elites   had come to the conclusion that the Nigerian people are conquered and can be trampled upon at will. The labour reaction which started with the resolve of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, to stand up to the Dangote Plc and its attempts to trample the rights of workers into the dust, was also a warning   to elites who seek to enslave the people. So, after   being staggered, these elites are admonishing labour for setting a bad example. 

Certificate Integrity And The Future Of Nigerian Leadership

 By Peter Obi

It is commendable that the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Mr Uche Nnaji, has resigned following the controversy surrounding discrepancies in his academic certificates. 

That is a decent and honourable step. Similarly, we can recall that during President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, then Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, resigned after issues were raised concerning her NYSC certificate. These instances remind us that such matters are not trivial; they constitute serious criminal offences. 

As we approach the 2027 general elections, INEC and all relevant agencies must take decisive steps to verify and authenticate all academic and professional certificates of every candidate—from the President down to local government councillors. We cannot continue to allow dishonesty and criminality to sit at the heart of leadership.

ASUU Vs FGN: Renewed Hope, Renewed Struggle

  By Jeff Godwin Doki

One can say with considerable justification that our politicians do not know the meaning of honor. And this is because honor is a very expensive gift, and that is reason you cannot find it among cheap Nigerian politicians. For example, some of the salient attributes of honor include integrity, honesty and the keeping of a promise or an oath.

Nowhere is this idea of honor illustrated with more completeness than in the poem, ‘The Franklin’s Tale’ written by Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400), the first English poet. The story goes like this: Dorigen’s husband had traveled out of town when a young man came earnestly asking for her love. Jokingly, Dorigen gave the young man an almost impossible condition which is that: he can only get her love if he is able to clear away all the rocks from the sea.

Wilful Destruction of People’s Investment in Lagos

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

These are trying times for Nigerians. The diabolical nature of mankind is in full expression. For me, it has come down to the harsh truth that I never really knew my so-called friends. It’s indeed embarrassing to come to terms with the realities I see in modern-day Nigeria.

As Thomas Paine wrote in his time, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” The one consolation as ever is this knowledge: “Even this too shall pass…” 

The issue at hand does not need for me to pontificate. There was massive demolition of some buildings in the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos. The matter raised so much dust across the primordial divides of Nigeria. The talk was that the buildings were demolished because they were built without the requisite approvals. There was also talk that they were erected on canals and water channels. 

Forgery As State Policy: Tinubu, His Cabinet, And The DSS Must Be Held Accountable

 By Atiku Abubakar

Tuesday’s resignation of Uche Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, has once again brought to light the deep moral crisis at the heart of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. What should ordinarily be a matter of national shame is now being disguised as a “voluntary resignation”, an attempt to whitewash yet another scandal that typifies the forgery-ridden character of this government.

*Tinubu and Atiku

Let the truth be told: Uche Nnaji should not have been allowed the courtesy of resignation. He should have been summarily dismissed and prosecuted for deceit and falsification. By permitting him to quietly exit through the backdoor, the Tinubu administration has once again demonstrated that it is an assembly of forgers, impostors, and morally bankrupt individuals masquerading as public servants.

For Nigeria, 24 Million Reasons To Fear The Future?

 By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

When Olusegun Obasanjo took over in the middle of 1976 from the slain Murtala Muhammed as Nigeria’s military Head of State, the regime was already committed as a matter policy to transition power to an elected civilian administration in 1979. This was a big deal alright but not one over which he had much say as such.

As military Head of State, General Obasanjo identified two issues to define his personal legacy. One was food security. To address that, he launched “Operation Feed the Nation”, better known by the acronym (OFN). Those were the same initials of Obasanjo Farms Nigeria, the name of the company under which the General would later pursue his post-retirement vocation in agriculture. The coincidence was not lost on many.

Igbo-Yoruba Rivalry, Bridging The Harmony Route

 By Tony Iwuoma

On a hot afternoon in Lagos, Alaba International Market buzzes like a living organism. Igbo traders call out prices for electronics in quick Igbo-English pidgin, while Yoruba shopkeepers argue with them in Yoruba-laced banter. 

Bargaining is intense, voices are loud, but behind the noise lies a rhythm of trust: credit extended across ethnic lines, partnerships formed in cramped offices, apprenticeships that cut across ancestral origins.

At one stall, Chijioke, an Igbo importer, laughs as his neighbour, Bamidele, a Yoruba distributor, jokingly accuses him of being “too sharp.” Chijioke fires back, “And you Yoruba, you like to calculate everything!” Both men laugh. The stereotypes are alive, but in this moment, they are softened into jokes, not weapons. They know their livelihoods depend on each other.

Echoes of ‘Iya Shukudi’ In Trade Fair Demolitions

 By Ugo Onuoha

Many issues have been playing out in Lagos state between the government and residents, especially with those of Igbo extraction. There appears to be no love lost. It has been a cat and mouse relationship since after the February 2023 presidential election in which Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi [an Igbo], defeated a ‘son of the soil’ Bola Ahmed Tinubu, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress [APC] political party.

*Sanwo-Olu and Tinubu

The defeat of the Jagaban, who was a governor of the state between 1999 and 2007, was deemed an insult, an assault, and a sacrilege. It came as a shock of ‘tsunamic’ proportion because Tinubu, now president of Nigeria, was regarded as the builder and owner of Lagos, a claim that is blatantly untrue. He was regarded as a wily politician and a political strategist like no other. For once he was outed as a giant with clay feet. 

The 15 Best African Safaris To Add To Your Bucket List...

 Why Is Nigeria Missing?

Few travel experiences rival the magic of an African safari. To embark on one is to surrender to the rhythm of the wild: rising before dawn for a game drive as the bush stirs awake, and closing the day with a sundowner as the horizon dissolves into one of the continent's surreal sunsets.

Unbeknownst to some travelers, safaris take many forms: open-vehicle game drives across sweeping plains, intimate walking safaris with expert trackers, canoe journeys along river channels, and even ocean safaris that unveil a world of hidden coral reefs and aquatic species.

Peter Obi: The Danger Of Making Crime A Norm

 Whenever I talk about Nigeria being a crime scene, those who are part of the criminality and their hirelings will quickly start their noise-making, attacking and blackmailing me.

*Peter Obi
But how do you tell people that those whose integrity, character and behaviour are supposed to be exemplary and emulated in society have become the very source of the nation’s decay? How do you tell young Nigerians to be honest and upright when those they are supposed to emulate are the least to be emulated because they are criminals and dishonest? 

Certificate forgery is a serious criminal offence in all countries of the world. It is one of the most corrupt practices heavily punished.

Peter Obi: Lagos Demolitions: Law, Justice And Compassion

 A week ago, a team of concerned leaders visited the demolished Aspamda Market in Lagos. Since then I have carefully followed the reactions trailing the demolitions, our visit, and feel that other extraneous variables are affecting our compassion for each other as Nigerians. The situation calls for deep reflection on the relationship between law, justice, and compassion in governance. 

*Sen Abaribe, Peter Obi and Sen Umeh vist the Demolished Market Buildings in Lagos

I recall an incident in the nineties, when I bought a house in the UK at 66 Donnington Road, NW10. While the building was still being refurbished, some squatters moved in. When I consulted my lawyer, he advised that I should write to them formally and approach the court. It would have been unthinkable for the state to simply wake up one morning and demolish people’s houses - especially when such houses were neither used for crime nor taken for any overriding public purpose. 

Nigeria: Befriending Bandits!

 By Suyi Ayodele

The photograph is graphic. The message is obvious. The semiotics are unmistaken. A bandit in military fatigue sits comfortably. On his lap is an AK-47 assault rifle. Around his neck are various communication gadgets. His look betrays his hubris. He is a man of power! His confidence shows who is in charge. It is audacity in its illiterate form!

Another man in a native attire bends towards the bandit. He smiles sheepishly. He holds a handset, in a very suggestive manner. The caption tells the entire story: “Nigerian Government Official ‘Exchange Contact’ with Bandits After a ‘Peace Deal’ Meeting in Subuwa LGA in Katsina State.”

Lagos And The Igbo: The Threats Of Pogroms At The Polls

 By Ugoji Egbujo

In 2023, after Obi defeated Tinubu in Lagos, MC Oluomo addressed the state. He warned the Igbo to sit at home on election day if they wouldn’t vote the APC. He wasn’t subtle. In that live broadcast, he framed  non-APC votes as a punishable betrayal. The police invited him for questioning, but the “chat” was more photo-op than accountability. He was released after a half-hearted apology that many saw as scripted.

*Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu 

A few days later at the polls, the Igbo were beaten black and blue, chased away from the polls. Many Igbo voters were hospitalized in Eti-Osa, Ojo, Amuwo-Odofin, and beyond. Oluomo’s agents had performed their task. The police did nothing. INEC said the election was credible. Oluomo and his principals celebrated the triumph of hooliganism. MC Oluomo’s street enforcers had turned words into wounds, and the lack of repercussions emboldened the playbook.

Nigeria: Has The Economy Stabilised?

 By Nick Dazang  

Leaders, like all mortals, experience fear. But most of them do not show it. In tempest and in turbulence, leaders must exude calm. They do so less their citizens find recourse in despair or paralysis. Which explains why at the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt assured Americans, in his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.

“Perhaps, borrowing from this tendency, of leaders to show outward calm in the face of grave difficulties, our President, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on assumption of office, elected not to raise the alarm about the economy. Even though the data and reality prevailing at the time suggested that our economy had taken a dark turn, he preferred to be taciturn.

Do We Deserve Bad Leadership?

 By Donu Kogbara

On Tuesday night, I appeared on Charles Aniagolu’s Arise TV show, alongside Dele Farotimi and Professor Jibrin Ibrahim.

We had been invited to discuss my view that most of today’s Nigerians deserve bad leadership because they don’t protest significantly when they are subjected to endless injustices and governance deficits.

Nigeria can and should be a great giant of Africa, thriving capital of the black world, source of pride for our Diaspora brethren and example of what black people can achieve if they do things properly.

But we are held back by corrupt, uncaring, cynical, inept politicians and civil servants at the federal, state and local government levels. And I don’t know why we do not rebel more and rebel vigorously.