Feature

By Ike Abonyi Today marks not merely the passage of another year, but a commemoration of the profound and lasting impact of a leader whose political philosophy and personal conduct have fundamentally reshaped the definition of leadership in contemporary Nigeria. As His Excellency Peter Onwubuasi Gregory Obi reaches his 65th birthday having been born on July 19, 1961, I pay tribute to a friend, an individual of exceptional intellect, strong character, and unwavering dedication to public service. The Nature Of A Change Agent Peter Obi's political trajectory has consistently been characterised by a drive to challenge and improve upon the…

Murky water first tore down a perimeter fence, then bubbled into the yard before spilling into every room. Within minutes, electronics, kitchen appliances, furniture, documents and academic certificates lay submerged. With the water rising rapidly, Daniel Ebiesua evacuated his home in the Shogunle area of Lagos, with his wife, their two-week-old baby, four-year-old son and his mother-in-law to a neighbour’s upstairs apartment. There they stayed trapped for four hours, helplessly watching the flood swallow the streets below. “It was a painfully difficult evening for my family and me,” he says of the evening of 28 June. “I had to relocate…

*Reception Party Shakes Abuja By our reporter It was an electric atmosphere yesterday in Garki, Abuja, as rejoicing family, friends, associates, admirers and other happy minds with strong affection for young Miss Ummul-Kathum Maccido converged on a popular leisure spot to celebrate her call to Bar. At the well organized, well-attended reception that oozed scents of panache, the guests,dressed resplendently, and from virtually all parts of the country, embraced the rollicking ambience, amplified by the pulsating music belted out by the DJ, drowning themselves in the mood of celebration of one destined for the stars. Twenty-six-year-old, fair-skinned Ummul-Kalthum was as…

Ethiopian refugee Helana Wolde locked his home and watched on television as thousands of angry demonstrators marched through South Africa this week calling for foreigners like him to ​leave. His wife and their three South African-born children were terrified, he said in the shop in downtown Durban where he sells coffee ‌and lentils. But after leaving Ethiopia 21 years ago to escape political persecution, he does not see going back as an option. While thousands of immigrants packed up and left South Africa ahead of the June 30 protests, many more feel their best option is to stay, even though…

Beneath the shade of the wide-spreading branches of a neem tree, five young gang members wearing camouflage and beanies and cradling AK47 rifles took refuge from the harsh midday sun. They passed around cold bottles of water and a popular energy drink called Fearless. To their left, a dreadlocked teenager with his own rifle rested on one of three motorcycles parked on the sparse grass. To their right, another teenager sat with his back to the others, rolling a spliff. The rendezvous of some of the most dreaded men in Nigeria took place near Batsari, a settlement in the north-western…

Nigeria's bid to ensure safer water for the citizenry moved several rungs up with the election of Dr. Mohammed Ali Dan-Hassan as Chairman, Abuja chapter of Nigerian Association of Hydrogeologists. People&Politics notes that a hydrogeologist, who is a specialized earth scientist, impacts lives through mapping aquifers, locating water sources, managing contamination, and ensuring safe water supplies for human and environmental use. The paper further notes that access to safe water has been a major developmental hindrance in Nigeria. According to a health and safe water accountability site, nigeriahealthwatch, visited by the paper, only about 30% to 32% of Nigerians "have…

By Sylvia Kodilichukwu, Enugu ​A high-profile land dispute between the former Governor of old Anambra State, Chief (Senator) Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Energy FM, Dr. Basil Kenechukwu Ogbuanu, has escalated into a legal firestorm following the alleged demolition of property worth hundreds of millions of naira. ​At the heart of the crisis is a ₦5.8 billion claim brought by Dr. Ogbuanu against the elder statesman and his wife, Dr. Patricia Nwobodo. The Lagos-based businessman alleges that his investments at Patson Estate, Independence Layout, Enugu, were not only secured through a deceptive web of shell…

*Landlords Routinely Demand Millions *Short-Term Let, AirBnB Increasingly Preferred, Depriving Potential Tenants Of Accommodation *Many Employees Sleep In Offices After Work *Lagos's Loss, Ogun State's Gain Every weekday before dawn, Oluwatobi Ogundipe leaves his small flat in Sango Ota, an industrial town in Ogun state, for a four-hour commute to the glass towers of Lagos Island. Despite working in one of Nigeria’s growing technology sectors, the 32-year-old product manager cannot afford to live any closer to his office. “In 2023, I found a self-contained room on Lagos Island, close to my office, with its own toilet and kitchen, renting for…

By Felix Durumbah, Abuja Apparently struggling to sustain its leadership role as beacon for many African nations, Nigeria has, over time, often tried to live up to expectation, its clearly jutting warts notwithstanding. The country's endemic, self-inflicted wounds screaming for healing, Nigeria has trudged on relentlessly, even attracting the attention of other African nations that seek tutorials on how to keep up certain aspects of national life. To Doomsday prophets, this may not be good news, but the raw fact remains that Nigeria is not a total failure in all areas. Of course, this must have been the underlying reason…

*Their Ancestors Arrived Present-Day Iran As Slaves Under Babylonian Supreme Ruler Nebuchadnezzar, Others *Practice Of Judaism Under Islamic Iran On the evening of 6 April, Asef, 65, and other members of Tehran’s Jewish community braved the US-Israeli bombing campaign to celebrate an evening Passover service at the Rafi’ Nia synagogue in the centre of the Iranian capital. Inside the dim hall, lined with Persian carpets and mint green curtains, Torah verses were recited and prayers murmured under the breath. Asef, his shirt neatly tucked into his trousers and a kippah on his head, sat among the men, while the women…