Author: Hassan Gimba

The death of a thousand good men is not as tragic as having an unfit man in a position of national leadership – Usman dan Fodio. The above quote by Sheikh Usman Ɗan Fodio, a Fulani philosopher, Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary, and leader who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled as its first Caliph, is quite true. This is so because an unfit leader can cause the death of millions and plunge a nation into chaos, anarchy and civil war. We are just about five days away from a presidential election, an important one because it is to usher in a…

THERE is something about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Jagaba of Borgu and the presidential candidate of the All Peoples Congress (APC), and Abeokuta. Whenever he feels threatened or that things are not going the way he wants them to, he goes to Abeokuta and delivers what we can term a declaration – in Yoruba. Appealing to the sentiments of the Yoruba, he plays the victim of a conspiracy. True or false, it somehow pays for him. Agreed declarations are not legally binding but they show certain aspirations. That he finds solace in making what we could term declarations in the…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s followers, therefore, created in him an image of an ascetic, beyond reproach, and so canonised him as a saint. And he also did his best to fit into that picture. Ramrod, shed of any fat and wearing the cheapest materials around, the story was that he had seen it all yet refused to be tempted into taking anything from anywhere he worked. He was a military governor with executive powers over what are now six states and then a federal commissioner of petroleum and later a military head of state. Yet he depended on nothing other than…

MANY governors who finish their two terms in Nigeria retire into the red chamber and become ‘distinguished Senators’. But not so His Excellency, Chief Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, the sixth governor of Rivers State and a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) strongman. When he refused to follow the traditional path taken by governors finishing their tour of duty, many thought he wanted to make a career in dancing to the beatings of a live band. There were arguments on where he would ply his trade – clubhouses or political gatherings – and whether he could attract a large audience that…

PERHAPS in the future, politicians, political analysts, strategists, scientists and consultants may want to look at one or two things here that make Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s campaign what it is, especially its tenacity, perseverance, astuteness and personal ties. Between 1993 and this year, that’s thirty years, Atiku Abubakar, former vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, would have contested the presidential election eight times. Twice – in 2007 and 2019 – he was a candidate on the platform of two different parties, and thrice – in 1993, 2011 and 2015 – he was stopped at the primaries level. He…

IS it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up – Mahatma Gandhi I wrote this on 22/10/2018. The only change is in the headline where I changed 2019 to 2023. Now that the primaries are over with about 99% of the registered political parties having concluded their primary elections and names of candidates that emerged finding their way to the Independent National Electoral Commission, all eyes are on the two major parties – the ruling All peoples Congress (APC)…

IT is no longer news that Hon. Muhammed Gudaji Kazaure, a House of Representatives member representing the Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa and Yankwashi constituency of Jigawa State, has been trending over some papers he made public and a story that sounded like a tale by moonlight. The lawmaker is claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him and some other distinguished Nigerians into a secret committee with the mandate to investigate, reconcile and recover all stamp duties, which he said amounted to N89.09 trillion, realised from deductions by banks but was misappropriated. Neither the Central Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the…