By Sumaila Ogbaje Nigeria has continued to contend with a number of internal security challenges ranging from insurgency and terrorism in the North East, banditry and kidnapping in North West and North Central, oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta, and separatists agitation in South East and South West. In spite of these security challenges, Nigeria has recorded a remarkable improvement in security administration in 2022. The Armed Forces of Nigeria has remained steadfast in restringing peace and security across the country and had deployed troops across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to tackle all…
Author: Editor
By Sven Hoppe His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church passed away at the age of 95. Benedict retired from his role as Bishop of Rome in February 2013, saying he was unable to fulfill the duties of his office because of a “lack of strength of mind and body” due to his advanced age. He had served in the role for eight years and was succeeded by Pope Francis I, the current pontiff. Benedict was born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in the Bavarian town of Marktl, in southeastern Germany.…
By the time you are reading this, I will hopefully be heading for Bo, the second capital city of Sierra Leone 🇸🇱- my maternal home District! The year 2022 is coming to an end and it has been a tremendously important one for me. Since January, I joined the District executive members, including youth, students and women of our party – the National Unity and Reconciliation Party (NURP) the CUT ACROSS Movement in commemorating 20 years of peace after war in Sierra Leone, targeting different stakeholders, in particular, the victims of war, disadvantaged youth, students and women, and representatives of…
My Fellow Countrymen and Women. I wish all of you a very happy and prosperous New Year. First, I would like to thank and honour the Almighty who saw us through the year 2022 and has given us the opportunity to see another year. Each New Year is an opportunity to reflect on the past year, reposition, and move forward with the New. As we celebrate the opportunity to be alive in this year 2023, we must also acknowledge the passing away of our brothers and sisters who didn’t make it into this new year. May their souls rest in…
‘Nearly all men can stand adversity. If you want to test a man’s character, give him power.’ – Abraham Lincoln President Muhammadu Buhari says, for the umpteenth time, that he cannot wait for the end of his term. He says he plans to live as far away from Abuja as he can when he serves his two terms out. Recently, he was specific in preferring Daura, his hometown, where he will live in peace without being troubled by anyone. In recent days, he had lamented that he has not been as appreciated as he should have been, in spite of doing…
Civics and the Words and Deeds of a Nigerian Politician was the title of my column of 18th March 2022. The theme was the state of wisdom in Nigeria is that you believe the words of a politician at your own peril. I circulated one of the posts going around on WhatsApp about specific lies some politicians allegedly told and did exactly the opposite of what the swore not to do. I have not fact checked the quotations and I should be forgiven if they are all lies. I will never go back to the PDP. PDP is beyond redemption!…
By Dr. Dahiru Maishanu Mallam Saidu Umar, Ubandoman Sokoto, the Sokoto State PDP Gubernatorial Candidate for the 2023 elections has departed from the norm. He has broken away from his usual, mild approach. He has broken his usual lines. Mallam Ubandoma, at the PDP’S flag-off for the Sokoto State Governorship Campaign at Dange Shuni local government did the unthinkable. He broke the ice. We were left Flabbergasted! He took the bull by its horns and damned the consequences. Un characteristically, Saidu Umar, at the flag-off, called the bluff-off his infantile opponents and braved the odds. As always, only my ardent…
By Dr. Dahiru Maishanu I have not been this close to him, despite our many decades of growing up in the same local area of Sokoto, and despite family ties. I never underestimated him though, having known his family background and knowing he is well schooled to the level of being an elite Harvard graduate and a former Minister of the Federal Republic, among others. Yusuf Suleiman stroke me yesterday and cleared any doubts that Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal indeed, remained a strategic thinker by choosing him to be the Director General of the Sokoto State PDP Campaign Director General.…
One balmy evening last week I ensconced on the sofa in my residence and watched Seun Okinbaloye on Channels television reveal the outcome of election projection results conducted by ANAP Foundation and NOI supported by Channels television. For those who know the Lagos business circuit and the personalities behind the two outfits would not be surprised by the collaboration, which I must say is also an attempt at deepening our democratic culture through the templates of audience measurements, feedback and research. The challenge however with embarking on these type of opinion polls is that it is primarily data-based, methodology-driven and…
In 1999, Sokoto, like all other states in Nigeria, was set for yet another political dispensation, sixteen years after the demise of democratic governance in 1983. The Third Republic was about to begin and blocks of political reckoning were poised to compete for power. The bureaucrats-cum old breed politicians (refered to as “”yan boko”) were pit against their former, mainly non-elitist associates, who had evolved into a political block. And by the close of voting, the outcome of the 1999 elections proved to be a turning point in the political character and power structure of Sokoto State. Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa,…