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.