Author: Bala Ibrahim

A FORMER Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has filed a petition against Justice Rilwan M. Aikawa, the judge presiding over his case against the Kaduna State House of Assembly at the Federal High Court, Kaduna. El-Rufai, in the petition filed to the Federal High Court, Abuja by his counsel, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), alleged bias, injustice and denial to fair hearing. Recall that El-Rufai had in June 2024, filed a fundamental rights case at the court, challenging the report by the House which accused him and some government officials of misappropriating N423 billion on the grounds that the House did…

PURSUANT to my last article, where I touched on the recklessness of the Govt. of Kano state under H.E. Abba Kabiru Yusuf, captioned: KANO GOVT: A RENDEZVOUS WITH RECKLESSNESS AND EXECUTIVE RASCALITY, responses came as expected. Some positive, while others were negative. That is normal and in conformity with the spirit of matured discourse. However, two peculiar responses compelled me to write this article, the first came from someone whose name I don’t know, but who was apparently responding to a question put forward about my identity. In order to get someone out of the way of danger, in case…

IF care is not taken, the present leadership of kano state, may go down in history as the most reckless and probably the one to squander the state’s resources the most, in paying damages to people, as a consequence of the executive rascality of those in power. A Federal High Court in Kano, has today awarded the dethroned Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, N10 million naira, for the breach of his fundamental rights, personal liberty, and freedom of movement. The ruling came pursuant to the executive rascality of Kano State Governor, H.E. Abba Kabiru Yusuf, who gave directives…

IN the English Literature parlance, where there is detailed study of plays, poetry and most times novels, a mindless person is sometimes placed in the category of the imbecile, because he is never thinking critically, analytically or intelligently. Some even call him blockheaded. The bizarre behaviour of such blockheads, can be mocked by those who think rightly, but the mockery may be misunderstood by those that are dead from the neck up. Today marks the day in which Nigeria is celebrating 25 years of uninterrupted democracy, as a result of which, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was at the parade ground…

AN unclean drama is beginning to unfold in Kaduna state and my instincts are telling me that it could come with extremely bad, awful, or even horrible consequences politically for the governor in particular, and the state in general. Kaduna is the political nerve centre of northern Nigeria, because of it’s centrality and the ease of accessibility to the rest of the region. So, whatever happens to Kaduna, is certain to have effects on the rest of the north, especially on matters that have bearings with politics. Few days ago, pursuant to the assignment given to it, undoubtedly by the…

FOR those, whose precious time I have been wasting with my nonsensical write ups, they have been at a relief for some time, because I was reasonable enough to go away on sabbatical. However, because of the insensitivity of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, I was compulsorily compelled to recall my IPad, and resume the business of disturbing their peace, starting with today’s heartlessness by way of a strike. Yes, the NLC’s, constant, swift, and speedy way of embarking on strike every time they are in dispute with their employers, is nothing but the arrogant exhibition of the absence of…

IT is no longer news that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is out of the country. He left the shores of Nigeria since last week, on official assignment to some countries, prominent among which is the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where he had a one day engagement at the invitation of King Willem-Alexander. The Nigerian delegation was made up of eminent personalities, comprising the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment; Agriculture and Food Security; Marine and Blue Economy; Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy; Power and Minister of State (Oil). Also on the President’s team are the Special Adviser to…

GOVERNOR Uba Sani of Kaduna State has said that he inherited a huge debt burden of $587m, N85bn and 115 contractual liabilities from the immediate past administration of Nasir El-Rufai, lamenting that the huge debt has eaten deep into the state’s federal allocation. The governor, who disclosed at a town hall meeting on Saturday, to give account of his stewardship, said he remained resolute in steering Kaduna to the path of progress using the available lean resources. In attendance at the meeting were traditional rulers and religious leaders, politicians, members of the Organised Labour, civil society organisations, youths and women…

GOVERNOR Uba Sani of Kaduna State has offered free education to the rescued Kuriga school students under his foundation.  The governor also promised to rebuild the LEA primary and government secondary school in Kuriga, in addition to providing other basic infrastructure in the community. Addressing the children at the state house before their departure to Kuriga on Thursday, Governor Sani assured them that the kidnapping incident, would not in any way affect their education, stating that adequate security has been provided to the Kuriga community, to ensure that the residents go about their daily lives without fear. He also announced…

THERE is an old and familiar proverb that says, necessity is the mother of invention. I learnt it originated from the Socratic dialogue, in the time of Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, but I don’t know why he chose to use mother instead of father. Because, from my elementary biology, the father is always the trigger in the fertilization process. But let’s not go into any unnecessary interpretation, and stick to the necessary aspect of the necessity, because the chips are almost down and Nigerians are nagging on the need for nationalism. Yes, there is another saying that goes thus:…

IF there is anything like wrongness in righteousness, then we can say, the rectitude of former President Muhammadu Buhari, is good to go as a candidate for that catch. Yes, former President, former Head of state, former minister, former Governor, first and last chairman of PTF, Muhammadu Buhari, can be described as a man that seems to be working with the simplicity of naivety. Despite his pedigree of being everything in Nigeria, Buhari was placing too much trust on people, in a manner that is similar to that of a person with a naive mentality. I would have loved to…

A HASTY glance at the dictionary today, gave the meaning of an enterprise as a project or undertaking, especially a bold or complex one. This means, it would take a lot of courage, for anyone to venture into the endeavor of any complex errand, I suppose. And my mind quickly rushed with the feelings of pity, for our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, because of the herculean task ahead of him, pursuant to the difficult promise he made to Nigerians, who accepted to send him on a thankless errand. Yes, thankless. Leadership in Nigeria is a thankless task, that is…

NORTHERN senators have rejected the planned relocation of some federal agencies from Abuja to Lagos just as they alleged lopsidedness in the distribution and allocation of resources in the 2024 budget against the North. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in an internal memo last week announced plans to transfer some of its departments to Lagos State, citing congestion at the headquarters in Abuja. After the CBN announcement, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, also ordered the relocation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) headquarters from Abuja to Lagos. The lawmakers, under the aegis of…

ORDINARILY, I wouldn’t write on the subject matter, because it is legal, and comes with a lot of technicalities. But such technicalities are regular visitors in the career of my calling-journalism. Blunder, error and lapse are old hat in the newsroom, as such, nothing to get excited about, because they are words provided by the dictionary to stand for mistake. And sometimes, they come under the auspices of honest mistakes. In journalism, It is the practice of media houses to have proof readers, sub-editors and editors, whose duty is to double check, or read the script for a second time,…

NORMALLY, by my training as a journalist, praise singing, or the art of saying good things about someone, individual or institution, especially in a manner that would be extremely enthusiastic, is not in the doctrine of the calling of my profession. However, as a Human being, sometimes, one is compulsorily compelled to surrender to natural instincts, that could push you towards a particular desire, or make you to act in a particular way. And today, that instinct is forcing me to give a thumbs up, or an awesome approbation to INEC, for the conduct of the Imo 2023 Gubernatorial election.…

I HAVE nothing personal against Atiku Abubakar, the defeated presidential candidate of the PDP and the charismatic Waziri of Adamawa. In fact, to the contrary, I love him for his doggedness and deadly determination to do something, even where the issue at hand is very difficult. But my love for him is countered by the irony of disjuncture in his recent legal conjunctures. When Atiku Abubakar was fighting his former principal, the then president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, I was in support of him all through. He gave Obasanjo a bloody nose in court, incontrovertibly,…

THE dictionary describes morality as the principle concerning the distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behavior. At a time when Nigerians, particularly those Nigerians that fall in the teenager category, are being accused of all manner of immoralities, a pubescent from Kano, in the name of Auwalu, had exhibited a behavior that runs in the reverse of such ills, through a high minded manner that fits the real meaning of righteousness. Call it uprightness or virtuousness, the goodness shown by Auwalu, has given a special meaning to the virtue of rectitude and the merit of nobility. Yes,…

I SPOKE to my Oga this morning, the National Publicity Secretary, NPS, of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, Dr. Felix Morka, who is in far away London, where his eldest child and daughter, Naomi Morka, graduated with a First Class in Medicine, from the prestigious University College London (UCL). Effective from yesterday, 07/07/2023, Naomi must be denominated as Dr. Naomi Morka, MBBS, B.Sc (Hons) Surgical Sciences. Undoubtedly, this is a feat that must earn the felicity of any father, regardless of his personality or position in the society, and my Oga can not evade that elation. I would touch…

IN Nigeria, the shortest side-track or scheme to stardom is to take an appointment with the Government. No matter how private, quiet or inconsequential one is, the minute he or she picks up an appointment with the Government, particularly political appointment, he or she has become a prey for the press, who may turn him or her into a punching bag, out of whom a harm must be made. Yes, be a political appointee in Nigeria and get ready to be turned into a patsy by the members of the pen profession, the primary constituency of yours truly. According to…

SINCE the announcement yesterday, Thursday, 15th June, 2023, by the State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had named eight persons as Seniour Special Advisers, SSA, amongst whom is the retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, and the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the minds of many Nigerians, yours truly inclusive, went into a frenzy of bewilderment, because of the uncertainty of the position of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. The question everywhere is, as Adviser Security, is he going to be the familiar National Security Adviser? Pundits, teachers…