WHILE pondering over the current sub-par economic situation of Nigeria, despite six decades of post-independence policy-making and political rhetoric amid abundant natural and human resources, I sampled the opinion of renowned economists, loyalists and critics of this administration. The feedback, which aligned with my long-held opinion, was almost the same regardless of their leanings. The consensus was that, despite the misleading but widely accepted notion that Nigeria’s problems are too complex to be tackled significantly in four years, lessons from less endowed African nations have shown that a leader can rewrite the worst of history by shutting out economic marauders…
Author: Dr Yemi Kolapo
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ON Friday, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters confirmed the death of the Commander of the 29 Task Force Brigade in Benisheikh, Borno State, Brigadier General Oseni Braimah, and three other soldiers, following a ruthless attack on the military formation. Though this confirmation calmed initial reports that more than 17 soldiers were killed in the April 9, 2026 attack, it, however, ignited a deeper cause for concern among Nigerians, considering the fact that just about five months earlier, another brigadier general, Musa Uba, was murdered in cruel but avoidable circumstances near Wajiroko, in the same Borno State. The attack on the military formation…
FOR about a week, the burning issue in the media space has been the Independent National Electoral Commission’s discontinuation of its recognition of former Senate President David Mark and his team as leaders of the opposition African Democratic Congress. The derecognition, signalled by the removal of the names of Mark, a former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and others from the commission’s portal on April 1, 2026, came at a time Nigeria’s political environment was getting charged with the defection of a former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and some other northern big players to the ADC. It was…
ON Saturday, thousands of sons and daughters of Egbaland converged on the Ake Palace Pavilion for the grand finale of the 39th Lisabi Festival, an annual week-long festival, originally conceived to honour the celebrated 18th-century warrior, Lisabi Agbongbo Akala, who led the efforts that secured independence for the Egba people. Though the annual festival has been documented as a week-long event, this year’s edition, themed “Integrating Apprenticeship Training and Education: Opportunities and Challenges”, started on March 16 with a press conference at the Ake Palace Auditorium. By March 23, vehicles could hardly find parking spots at the Itoku Market, considered…
ABOUT a week ago, I ran into an old friend, a classmate at Command Children School, Ojo, Lagos. She is one of the three primary school friends that I have kept in touch with since our graduation about four decades ago. We lost contact in between and reconnected on Facebook. Back then, Bisola was an average pupil who aspired for the very best and only made friends with the most brilliant people in class. So, I was not surprised when she told me that she got married to a medical doctor who passed on in January 2009, 10 years after…
WHEN, on February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a large-scale offensive against the Islamic Republic of Iran, not a few people assumed that the first strikes, which came after weeks of military mobilisation and threats by US President Donald Trump, might have been enough to achieve more than 60 per cent of whatever goals pushed Trump, in particular, to commit such a world order anomaly, unprovoked. The war, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”, which was declared because Trump had “a good feeling” that Iran was going to attack the US, has, however, turned out to be one that…
DESPITE weeks of agitation over a controversial clause that makes the electronic transmission of election results optional, President Bola Tinubu finally signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026 into law on February 18, 2026. Following this, the Independent National Electoral Commission rolled out the long-awaited revised timetable for the 2027 general elections four days ago. According to the new timetable, the country should have a new President in waiting after January 16, 2027. Incumbent and aspiring federal legislators will also know their fate on the same date, while governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls will be held on February…
ON February 18, 2026, President Bola Tinubu stirred up another hornet’s nest in the management of the Nigerian economy with an Executive Order mandating direct remittance of oil and gas revenues to the Federation Account. The Executive Order, which significantly clipped the ‘broad’ wings of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, set aside key provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 in a landmark decision that could eventually be positive or negative depending on implementation, executive discipline and sincerity of purpose. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said the order was to safeguard…
IF there was anything I was worried about when President Bola Tinubu took the baton of the highest office in Nigeria from late former President Muhammadu Buhari, it was the dilemma he would face in settling the complex IOUs emanating from the many political and professional blocs that ensured his slim victory in the keenly contested 2023 presidential election. Although the title “Jagaban” conferred on him by the late Emir of Borgu, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Haliru Dantoro III, means “Leader of Warriors”, my own interpretation of Jagaban, even from its sound, is “master strategist”. His worst critics can attest…