Author: Kazeem Akintunde

EVERY year since 2004, except when COVID-19 reared its ugly head, the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas, (NLNG) sets aside a $100,000 grand prize as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to celebrate scientists who have through their work, impacted Nigeria and humanity. This year’s event to announce the winner of the Nigeria Prize for Science award was held at the Lagos Continental Hotel few days back. On the high table were senior staff of the NLNG and the Advisory Board for the award led by its Chairman, Professor Bart Nnaji. Nnaji however dropped a bombshell when he told the…

IN two days’, time, Nigeria will clock 65 years as a sovereign Nation. We should all be rolling out the drums to celebrate and be merry. The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Nigeria @ 65: All Hands On Deck For A Greater Nation’. The theme, we have been told, was chosen to emphasize the need for unity, collaboration, and patriotism amongst all sectors and citizenry towards building a nation characterized by sustainable peace, prosperity and progress. However, are we building a peaceful country when bandits and kidnappers have made life a living hell for most Nigerians? Where is the…

THE suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, returned to Port Harcourt last week Friday, after a six-month forced holiday. I watched in amazement as political jobbers and hangers-on swarmed him immediately, he alighted from the private jet that brought him to the Port Harcourt International Airport. A day earlier, thousands of his supporters had taken over the Government House, ostensibly to welcome him back to work, while several others kept vigil at the Salvation Ministries Headquarters in Port Harcourt, with the hope that he would be there to give thanks to God for his return to the Government House.…

WITH less than two months to the Anambra State Governorship election, the political campaigns have taken a nasty turn, with the leading candidates descending into ugly debacles that partisan politics is noted for in this clime. It is so bad that even those who claim to have professorial titles amongst them are sitting in the front row in the show of shame. Although politics has been variously described as a dirty game, no self-respecting individual should be proud of the brand of politics coming out of Anambra State at the moment. It all began when the Governor of the State…

IN the next few days, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) will release the result of what led to the derailment of the Abuja-Kaduna train on August 26, during which not less than 14 passengers sustained varying degree of injuries. NSIB’s investigation, we have been told, will focus on identifying the direct and underlying factors that led to the derailment, with the aim of issuing safety recommendations to prevent a recurrence. The derailment caused significant damage to tracks, sleepers, and switching mechanisms, forcing a temporary suspension of services along the Abuja-Kaduna corridor. When the train derailed, a total of 618…

THE people of Ipetumodu, a bustling community in Ife North Local Government area of Osun State in 2019, selected Prince Joseph Olugbenga Oloyede to be the new Apetu of Ipetumodu after the demise of Oba James Adedokun Adegoke Akunraaledoye II who joined his ancestors in 2017. The two-year gap of enthroning the new Oba was to ensure that the necessary rites and traditions were fulfilled so that the new monarch would be the choice of Ifa, which the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria believed would lead to the peace and progress of the town. In Yoruba land, the Ifa…

Kabiyesi o, k’ade o pe lori, Ki bata pe l’ese. May your reign be long! SIR, I am compelled to write this open letter to you in view of the recent letter you wrote to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on a matter that should not warrant such a degrading letter. I want to believe that you did not see the content of the letter purportedly signed by your media aide, Bode Durojaiye, before it was made public. You come from a lineage that is well loved and respected in Oyo State and beyond. I still have fond…

IT was George Orwell in his satirical allegorical novella, ‘Animal Farm’, first published in England on August 17, 1945, that wrote that “all animals are equal but that some are more equal than others”. The novella was a critique of the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union under Stalin. The story follows a group of farm animals who overthrow their human farmer, hoping to create a society where all animals are equal. However, the pigs, being the most intelligent, gradually seize power, becoming as corrupt and oppressive as their former human rulers. The pigs, led by Napoleon, manipulate and exploit…

MUSICIAN Wasiu Ayinde Anifowose was in the news for the better part of last week for the wrong reasons. His big-sized ego and half-baked education eventually became his undoing. Scheduled to board a morning flight from Abuja to Lagos, Anifowose, who has rebranded his name and music on more than four different occasions, proceeded to take onboard a ValueJet Aircraft, a golden flask containing some liquid substance. When told that having liquid substances on board an aircraft was against standard aviation rules, he became unruly, asking the aircraft hostess ‘’Do you know who I am?’’. Hear the full account of…

NORTHERN politicians, eggheads, traditional rulers, and opinion leaders, on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, gathered in Kaduna to assess the two-year administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The ‘assessment parley’ was put together to enable them to make an informed decision on whether to go along with him in 2027 or dump him for another candidate. Their verdict at the end of the talk shop wasn’t that favourable, as the North gave him a long shopping list which literally said “Perform in these areas, or you will not enjoy our support in 2027.” The assessment parley, tagged: ‘Two-day Interactives session…

RETIRED Police officers took to the streets across the country last week Monday to protest poor retirement benefits and meagre monthly pensions. One of the protesters who retired as a Chief Superintendent of Police, Manir Lawal, aged 67, painted a gory picture of what most police pensioners are passing through. Let me quote him: ‘’I am 67 years old. Many of us here are in our 60s and 70s. We have served this country faithfully and deserve to retire in dignity. This Contributory Pension scheme has impoverished us. It is our right to demand better’’. Another protester said: ‘’I am…

THE death of two prominent Nigerians, who were also bosom friends and passed away few hours apart last week Sunday, has once again shown the all-powerful nature of God. Former President Muhammadu Buhari died in a London Clinic at the age of 82, while the Awujale of Ijebu Land, Oba Sikiru Adetona gave up the ghost few hours later at the age of 91. Both were friends who loved and respected each other, and their deaths left many Nigerians in tears. Their friendship began in 1983, immediately Buhari became the Head of State. Two years before then, Oba Adetona had…

FORMER Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Boss Mustapha, raised the political barometer in the country a notch higher last week when said that President Bola Tinubu did not play any significant role in the election that brought former President Muhammadu Buhari to power in 2015. According to Mustapha, Buhari, who died just yesterday, entered the 2015 presidential contest with 12 million ‘sure’ votes from his devoted followers in the North, while the legacy parties in the merger that led to the formation of the All Progressive Congress (APC), contributed a meagre three million votes to his victory.…

AT 60, Rotimi Amaechi could be described as a very lucky politician in the Nigerian context. Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, his name has been in the public discourse, holding one political office or the other. From being elected as a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, where his colleagues also appointed him as the Speaker of the House, to being elected Governor of Rivers State for eight years, to being in the corridors of power in Abuja, where he was a federal Minister, Amaechi has at different times, effectively been in government and power…

WITH less than two years to the 2027 general elections, it is quite certain that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is not likely to pose any threat to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). Those at the corridors of power within the party have ensured that it has been battered, crippled, and left gasping for air. Some have said that it is in intensive care unit (ICU). In fact, former Governor, and a current Senator on the banner of the party, Gabriel Suswam, did not believe that the PDP will come out of the ‘operating table’ successfully and he is…

FOR indigenes and residents of Yelwata, a rural community in Guma Local Government area of Benue State, June 13, 2025, would forever remain etched in their memory. On that day, the community, a border town between Nasarawa and Benue States experienced torrential rain, which forced many of the locals indoors as early as 8pm. The rain, seen as a sign of blessing by many of the residents, who are predominantly farmers who planned to head out to their farms the following morning. However, shortly after 10pm, the residents were roused from sleep as armed militia men invaded the community and…

PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Thursday last week, addressed a joint session of the National Assembly in commemoration of the 2025 Democracy Day celebration. In his address to the lawmakers, he announced the granting of full presidential pardon to Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders who were murdered 30 years ago by the regime of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. Tinubu went further to confer posthumous national honours on the Ogoni 9 for their activism against environmental pollution caused by oil companies in the Niger Delta region, for which they eventually paid with their lives. Those…

EVERY year in Nigeria, a substantial number of lives are inadvertently wasted to floods and other preventable deaths due to lack of proper planning, ignorance, fraud, corruption, and the nonchalant attitude of those in government and the led. Just few days ago, over 200 lives were lost in Mokwa, Niger State, when torrential rain washed away homes, shops, Mosques, and other makeshift structures that now define the essence of average Nigerians. In fact, a total of 265 structures were washed away by the flood. Most of the houses were made of vulnerable building materials such as mud, zinc and wood,…

THE former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, through his lawyers last week, asked the Court of Appeal to overturn a judgement which granted the Federal Government full control of a substantial estate in Abuja comprising of 753 housing units. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had obtained a court order to seize the estate, situated in the Lokogoma District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Initially, the estate was linked to another unnamed former government official, but after extensive investigation by the anti-graft agency, Emefiele was fingered as the real owner of the property. When…

BY Thursday this week, the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will clock two years. That should be half way in his four-year tenure as President. It is time to take a critical look at what his government promised Nigerians when seeking for our votes in 2023 and what they have been able to deliver. A two-year-old child should be able to walk unaided if there are no underlining issues. He or she should be running up and down and should have been weaned off breastmilk. Since his administration came on board two years ago, can we say that Nigeria…