Opinion

By TUNDE OLUSUNLE By the time the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari winds up on Monday May 29, 2023, it would have taken our country through every conceivable insanity and ridiculousness. Beyond the time-worn, tripodal possibilities of "the good, the bad and the ugly," Nigerians have gone through what the iconic afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, described as experiences in "craze world." Just name it: record-breaking killings in peace time; freestyle abductions even under the daylight nostrils of security forces; unabated insurgency, unceasing terrorism. Festering banditry, bestial butchery of hapless and innocent folks by psychopathic marauders, mindless arson, deliberate violence…

No matter how hard this government tries to rationalize Buhari’s unforced leadership gaffes, the president’s illicit dalliance with Niger Republic at the expense of Nigerians is the stuff quislings are made of. By Ikechukwu Amaechi Constitutionally, Nigeria has 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. But under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch, the country seems to have added one more state – Niger Republic – making it 37. The 37th state, ironically enjoys more federal attention and presence than some of the country’s bona-fide states. Nigeriens in their country enjoy more dividends of democracy, courtesy of the munificence of…

By Victor Anazonwu In a proper democracy, the APC would not be contesting Nigeria's Presidential Elections in 2023. Not in any real sense. It would, quite rightly, consider 2023 a lost cause. It would be content to take a few seats in the Senate and House of Representatives. And maybe a few governorship stools also. The party would be in deep anguish and sorrow, begging for forgiveness, groveling to rebuild its tattered image and depleted human stock. It would be hoping to groom some decent candidates with whom to make a fresh bid, perhaps in 2027 or 2031. By which…

Being in the crosshairs of Tinubu’s vaunting political ambition is the only excuse that Omatseye needs to assume the role of a vicious attack dog. By IKECHUKWU AMAECH When a friend of mine called on Monday afternoon to ask if I had read Sam Omatseye’s obituary in The Nation newspaper, my heart skipped a beat. I have not seen The Nation newspaper’s editorial board chairman this year and not being one of my favourite columnists because of his penchant for puerile exuberance and indecency, I hardly read him. His solecism in the guise of intellectualism puts me off. Did I…

By VICTOR ANAZONWU I have carefully read Obi-tuary by Sam Omatseye. I must say that, once again, Sam did not disappoint as an elegant purveyor of prose. But beyond his effervescent style and intellectual sophistry, Sam came up morally short. He set out to portray Peter Obi and the emerging Obidient Movement as a narrow ethnic (Igbo) affair and as separatist militancy in disguise. He failed woefully. Linking Peter Obi with IPOB is as logical as linking Bishop Hassan Kukah with Boko Haram. Saying that OBIDIENCE is a strictly Igbo movement is an insult to the intelligence of millions of…

By CHUKS ILOEGBUNAM Chuks Iloegbunam tells Sam Omatseye to cleanse his journalism_ Some have called you foolish, dear Sam Omatseye. Others insist that you are plain stupid. There are those who hold you to be beneath contempt. Their howls of execration upon you are in reaction to your August 1, 2022 article entitled Obi-tuary (https://thenationonlineng.net/obi-tuary/). For me, however, you are a dear friend. Our friendship started in the 1980s at Newswatch magazine where both of us practiced journalism before you travelled to the United States for further studies. It continued upon your return and strengthened to the point that, sometimes,…

By Azu Ishiekwene Nigeria’s political class has been largely irresponsible, having neither the aptitude to understand and tackle insurgency nor the honesty to admit its complicity. That is why the problem has grown from a few misguided itinerants proselytising for a theocratic state to armed terror. After BBC Africa service promoted a story on Friday of an interview with the bandit warlords of Zamfara State, a senior Nigerian journalist, Kadaria Ahmed, called out the broadcaster in a tweet. Kadaria, an ex-Beeb, said the interview would give the terrorists oxygen, stoke hysteria and bring nothing but pain and misery to hundreds…