People&Politics

NEWS ANALYSIS By TONY ONYIMA, Ph.D. The recent closure of Badeggi Radio in Niger State by Governor Mohammed Umar Bago has reignited a fundamental national conversation around press freedom and the limits of executive power in a democratic state. The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has condemned the governor’s action in unequivocal terms, describing it as “a blatant attack on press freedom and democracy.” Beyond the headlines, however, the incident reveals a more profound unease with how public office holders relate to independent media, and it raises urgent questions about the protection of constitutional rights under Nigeria’s democratic dispensation. At…

FUNKE EGBEMODE I was scrolling through Facebook and I stumbled on this yet-to-be-verified ‘data’. Elumelu’s mom is 97 years. Otedola’s mom is 93 years. Jonathan’s mom is 88 years. Dangote’s mom is 90 years. Where are their fathers? Long gone in most cases. Did you notice the unsaid and unwritten insinuation that the women are somehow at fault and should be found guilty of ‘long life’? But I won’t let the insinuation distract me, after all, my father has celebrated his 90th birthday and my mother died five years ago. There are men who are also 95 whose wives died…