God and the Politics of Succession In 2023, By Azu Ishiekwene
2023 is a long, long way; longer in politics than the 1108 days on the Gregorian calendar. While we look to the skies for the heavens to reveal the name of Umahi’s successor in a celestial fly past, the governor will do well to double his efforts to lift the…
Weaponising Electoral Geography: Thugs and the Vote In Bayelsa and Kogi, By Jibrin Ibrahim
The weaponisation of electoral geography has become very scientific. They derail the opposition by frightening them into staying at home during elections. Those brave enough to come out are attacked by thugs, thus suppressing their votes. Meanwhile, security and electoral officials are compromised with a combination of threats and bribes.…
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Why Bello Is Coming Back, And Bayelsa May Fall, By Azu Ishiekwene
Bello would win, not in spite of, but because of his flaws – flaws which have dogged his predecessors in the past two decades but have not left the voters any wiser. Bello is done on social media, finished off by his perceived arrogance, his imperial style, and his acrimonious…
How They Gave Atiku A False Sense Of Hope, By Femi Adesina
After the Supreme Court threw out the legal challenge by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the February 2019 presidential poll last week, two things flashed across my mind. One was a song, the other, a quote from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which I’d read over 40 years…
Asiwaju Tinubu, Where Is Comrade Sowore?, By SKC Ogbonnia
Although they worked together in 2015 against the common enemy in the gross misrule under PDP, quite alright, Sowore has always seen Tinubu as the godfather of the corrupt cabal stifling progress in South-West Therefore, even if Tinubu ...has no hands in the travails of the stoic silence suggests clear…
The Farce of a Presidential Tribunal, By Dele Agekameh
From the frivolous contest of the president’s certificate by Atiku’s lawyers to the absurd argument over Atiku’s nationality by the president’s lawyers, the tribunal was an exercise in futility, made worse by INEC’s slap on the face of Nigerians about the server. In all of this, the country and its…
No Vuvuzela For the President!, By Banji Ojewale
We drive our crying friends and neighbours into more agony when we don’t moderate our wild festivities on victory day. No doubt, there will always be losers and winners in any contest. But the winner in politics must not contemn the loser by injuring his self-esteem in mindless jubilation. South…
Bayelsa ‘Guber’ Race: Only the Fittest Will Win, By Fidelis Nwagwu
Granting the way things currently stand amongst Bayelsa PDP’s ‘Top Five’ contenders, Okara appears to have an edge to clinch the ticket. Observers believe that he towers over other contenders, especially those from Yenagoa LGA because he is a bridge builder who is acceptable to both the Jonathan and Dickson…
Sowore And Revolution: As Buhari Forgets Why And How He Became President, By SKC Ogbonnia
Rather than toe the path of violence or emulate Buhari’s incendiary style, Omoyele Sowore called for a peaceful revolution with the goal of awakening an unresponsive government towards change. Unfortunately, similar to the pattern under military dictatorship, the president ordered the arrest of Sowore, naively claiming that the word 'revolution'…
Does Nigeria Really Need A Revolution Now?, By ‘Fisayo Soyombo
While street protests are important, I personally believe the biggest revolution needed in Nigeria is the revolution of self — the revolution of values, intellect and the mind. Our problem is more than Muhammdu Buhari; it is that warped sense of values that drive many of us to place self…
