Author: Kazeem Akintunde

HIS name is Iyorchia Ayu, a Tiv from Gboko in present-day Benue State. Iyorchia, among the Tiv ethnic group, means someone people are afraid of. Ayu, on the other hand, means a water mermaid. In essence, Iyorchia Ayu could be literarily translated to mean people are afraid of mermaids. But Nyesom Wike, the stormy petrel in Rivers State, and his faction in the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, seem not to be afraid of either Iyorchia Ayu or any mermaids lurking within the precinct of Wuse in Abuja, as they have succeeded in getting rid of the ‘mermaid’ at the Wadata…

YOUR Excellency, let me first of all, congratulate you on your hard-fought victory in the recently concluded presidential election. That you fought a real battle before the victory came as no surprise to many political watchers. Even before the main election, getting the ticket of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, which you co-founded, did not come easy. You were forced to make the now famous Emilokan chant in Abeokuta to remind those who wanted to rock the boat that it was your turn to become the next President of Nigeria, and that it was sacrosanct for a gentleman’s agreement…

THE president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, last week played a fast one on political watchers when he said that he had no preferred candidate for the number three position in the country, the Senate Presidency. Tinubu, who spoke at a meeting with the newly elected federal lawmakers on the platform of his party, the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, is of the view that the leadership of the party would come up with appropriate guidelines on who should get what when it was time to pick principal officers of the 10th National Assembly. Tinubu, who spoke through the vice president-elect, Kashim…

THE year 2023 is just three months old but two names that have had much impact on Nigerians in such a short time are those of Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Emefiele and Yakubu, within a very short period of time, have etched their names unto the subconsciousness of many Nigerians. Some sleep and dream of the duo, particularly the CBN governor. The two Nigerians, though not of the same ethnic stock, have impacted the lives of the average Nigerian due to…

THE 2023 presidential election has come and gone. It is now time to do a postscript and examine issues that define the poll. One of those issues is the dismal number of voters that turned out to cast their ballots. On February 25, 2023, a little above 24 million Nigerians went to the poll to elect a new president. This dismal number is far less than the 93.4 million Nigerians that registered to vote. Many Nigerians are shocked by the low turnout of voters on election day and have attributed it to the late-hour cashless policy introduced by the Central…