Column

In Nigeria, democracy is just a word: The devil in Nigerian elections is in result collation, not voting. Mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results may not be a silver bullet that can prevent the country’s electoral woes entirely, but for now, it is the only plausible guardrail against electoral malfeasance. The Tinubu-led APC does not want that hence the brazen attempt to manipulate the Electoral Act. Nigerians should not be deceived by the ongoing political hanky-panky in the Senate… As an Igbo proverb says, a bird that flies from the ground onto an anthill, which was what the Senate did…

(As published in Sunday New Telegraph on 8th February, 2026) By SHEDDY OZOENE The next time Nigerians reflect on the country’s deeply flawed elections and the persistent ineptitude of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it may be worth pausing to interrogate not only the electoral umpire, but also the role played by civil society and democracy advocates. Today, more than at any other time in our history, their influence on the electoral system, and their own accountability, has come into question. On this issue, I use YIAGA AFRICA as a sampler, chiefly because it has played perhaps the most…

By ABRAHAM OGBODO I have heard about Onitsha Market Literature. I did not know about Onitsha Market Politics until now. The idea has come through Charles Chukwuma Soludo who is a professor of economics and Governor of Anambra State. I shall come back to this. There are a few more things that I know about Onitsha market and Onitsha town. I know, for instance, that everything that holds value is available for sale in the market. What is sellable and buyable that is not available in Onitsha market might very well not exist on planet earth. Such is the character…

By SHEDDY OZOENE (As published in the back page of Daily Times, Tuesday, February 3, 2026) Since the middle of 2025, when rumours first began to circulate that Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, was contemplating a break with the Kwankwasiyya Movement that brought him to power in 2023, many dismissed the speculation with a wave of the hand. Abba was not only the favoured godson of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; he shared a personal relationship with the former governor that dated back more than four decades when both men worked together as civil servants in Kano. That bond was further…

(Also published in Back Page of Daily Times on Wednesday, 28th January, 2026) By SHEDDY OZOENE Since his swearing-in as Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara has faced a cascade of challenges. The state has lurched from one crisis to another—some minor, others serious, and a few outright grave. In most of these crises, public perception has cast the governor—locked in a deadly political contest with his predecessor, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike—as the victim. The heavy hand of godfatherism appears to have tightened relentlessly around his neck. Even as a sitting governor, Fubara has reportedly…

By OREVA GODWIN Before anyone sharpens their knives, let me be clear: I do not support cheating. I have never romanticized infidelity, nor do I excuse men who lack discipline. As my Delta brothers love to joke, “Men don’t cheat; only women cheat.” That entitlement alone is why feminism and I struggle to coexist peacefully with Delta men. There’s also a popular belief that a woman who becomes a side chick will one day “pay for it” when she marries, that karma will hand her a cheating husband. This belief is lazy, misogynistic, and conveniently ignores reality. If karma truly…

BY ABRAHAM OGBODO Readers do not have any way of knowing what writers go through to serve the dish hot and sizzling on a regular basis. Cooking a readable article involves all the art and science, including the patience and perseverance to stand the pressure in a choking kitchen to see through a good dish. This is more so when a writer, by choice, boxes himself or herself, into a weekly columnist. It becomes a social contract to be discharged as contracted with all the attendant contractual obligations. Irrespective of other factors, like running out of ideas or incapacitation by…

By FUNKE EGBEMODE Happily ever after is what most girls set their eyes and hearts on. Right from when we know that you are still a girl without the frilly dresses and pink bows and ribbons, we begin the plan. Yeah, we know how to be coy, bat our eyelids and try not to swoon and faint at the feet our first crush. The heart-melting smile comes naturally. We are born sweet, all of us girls. It is the men who ruin us. Or why do you think pretty little things who once curtsied politely in pink become hard-faced big girls…

BY ABRAHAM OGBODO Aliko Dangote is a national asset. He is somebody to crow about outside the shores of Nigeria. I had one golden opportunity in 2013 to do so. It was in Dubai in 2013. Multi-choice had brought us together to discuss arising matters in the digital space. It was tagged ‘Digital Dialogue.’ It was a yearly media meet, sponsored by Multi-choice Plc, that brought top journalists from different locations in Africa and in the Middle East to interrogate emerging trends in ICT. On this particular day, the dialogues got a bit off range to create a conviviality that…