Opinion

By IKECHUKWU AMAECHI Yesterday, July 12, my secondary school classmate who lives in Germany sent me yet another sit-at-home notice from Simon Ekpa, the self-nominated Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile (BRGIE). Dated July 11, 2023, the notice read in part: “Following the demand by the Biafra people for more sit at home civil disobedience, the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile (BRGIE) and Biafra De facto Government-in-Homeland wish to notify Biafrans that there will be sit-at-home civil disobedience starting from 31st July 2023 to 14th August 2023.” Claiming that Ndigbo want to continue sitting at home is a lie from the…

Mmesoma made the regrettable error of climbing the tree of her ambition beyond the leaf. And sadly, she has landed where there’s no road to medicine or pharmacy and she cannot continue to double down. Life is not over. With help, she can rise again. By Azu Ishiekwene I’m not sure what breaks the heart more: her insistence on her innocence or the prospects of a future that now hangs in the balance. For a young adult with a promising future, the emerging facts only suggest one thing: it doesn’t rain, it pours. Mmesoma Ejikeme was one of the numerous…

By TUNDE OLUSUNLE Whether the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a substantive one or a "placeholder" to deploy a new addition to Nigeria's electoral lexicon, will be decided by the courts in the land. He was declared winner of the Saturday February 25, 2023 presidential election by Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC). Two of the 18 political parties which participated in the poll and their candidates have since challenged the proclamation of Tinubu as true and authentic victor in that contest. The Peoples' Democratic Party, (PDP) and its presidential candidate, former Vice President…

By Deacon MALACHY CHUMA OCHIE, Ph.D Since the emergence of Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Iwuanyanwu, CFR, OFR, MFR (Ahaejiagamba of Igboland) as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo a few months ago, there has been a potpourri of reactions from across Igboland. While some fault the process of his emergence, a lot more others applaud his emergence as the best thing that has happened to Ndigbo at this critical moment in Nigeria’s history. It will be recalled that on April 20, 2023, Chief Iwuanyanwu was pronounced as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. His emergence was consequent upon the invocation of the principle…

By TUNDE OLUSUNLE For leaders, statesmen and constituents of the Okun-Yoruba sociocultural bloc in Kogi State, the last few weeks have been characterised by a flurry of consultations and interactions, meetings and engagements. At the core of these dialogues has been the unfulfilled desire of the Okun people of the state which lies ensconced at the very heart of the North Central state, to lead the multicultural geopolity. Created by the administration of Nigeria's former military President, Ibrahim Babangida on the sixth anniversary of his government, August 27, 1991, Kogi State is a bouquet of curious complexities. It is arguably…

By MALACHY CHUMA OCHIE, PhD Since the emergence of Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Iwuanyanwu, CFR, OFR, MFR (Ahaejiagamba of Igboland) as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo a few months ago, there has been a potpourri of reactions from across Igboland. While some fault the process of his emergence, a lot more others applaud his emergence as the best thing that has happened to Ndigbo at this critical moment in Nigeria’s history. It will be recalled that on April 20, 2023, Chief Iwuanyanwu was pronounced as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. His emergence was consequent upon the invocation of the principle of…

By CHIDO ONUMAH General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) left office on May 29 after eight uneventful years. We hope it is the last time we hear from a man who rode to power eight years ago promising to end insecurity, strengthen the economy and fight corruption, none of which he achieved. Thankfully, he has vowed not to intervene in our national life and expressed his willingness to disappear to Niger Republic if we request accountability after almost a decade of ruinous leadership. It is a fitting testament to the leadership calamity of the past eight years that Gen. Buhari (retd.) was…

By SHEHU USMAN IYAL It is not unusual in parts of Northern Nigeria, for a new child to be named after his place of origin, by the parents. It was a way of imprinting the very home address of a child especially when he begins to mingle with the broader society. This explains why we've had dignitaries like Nigeria's Second Republic President, Shehu Usman Shagari; former Inspector General of Police, (IGP), Ibrahim Gambo Jimeta, and one-time Minister of Works, Major General Mamman Kontagora, christened after their aboriginal domains. The case of General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, is slightly different, however. He…