It is impossible to separate the nation from the people who are its natural summative constituent whole. For a nation is only acknowledged in the genuine fealty of its people, in their shared values, in their defined common journeys, in the formative essence of their agreed undying ideals. But nations do not arrive in some conjured perfection. Never. Nation building …

Perhaps more than on any other issue, the self-acclaimed “Nigerian unifier”, and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar waxes eloquently, even elegantly, on the salient twin matter of Peace and Unity! On several occasions, especially during nationally observed festive periods, he has been well documented by the national media pontificating about the virtues and values of …

American Nigerian-born columnist, Dr Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo and his American wife, Dr Margie Neal-Fayemiwo, owners of the oldest private mansion in Texas, want the house listed in Historical Homes of America For long, historians, writers and authors have reported the oldest standing mansion in the state of Texas as pictured below. Right? Oops, Wrong! Known as the Seaquist House built …

1995 was the first year that I travelled ‘abroad’. It was a trip to Paris, for my one-year internship at the Journalists in Europe programme. Apart from riding a Mercedes Benz taxi from the airport to Rue du Louvre, there was nothing remarkable about the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. France was older than Nigeria in aviation (or so …

Congressman Bimbo Daramola respects the rights of EVERYONE in Ekiti North Federal Constituency I as the contest for next February’s House of Representatives election hots up. However, there are more to the fate of the constituency and destinies of the constituents than individual’s rights. He has NEVER said he ALONE can do it. What’s obvious, even to the blind and …

Samuel Ioraer Ortom, the helmsman of Benue State, is human afterall. He had endured a truly torrid season where his ears had been relentlessly barraged by news and reports of cold-blooded killings of his constituents. He had wept his fill, his eyes periodically reddened by grief. In Mchia and Iorja communities in Mbagber in Logo Local Government Area (LGA), a …

Not so long ago, he was the poster boy of what looked like an African renaissance. Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo didn’t only know what to say, he also knew when and how. I still remember 2018. Barely one year after Akufo-Addo was inaugurated, he was on the big stage. He was the first African leader to address the National Governors Association, …

The squabble between two illustrious Yoruba sons over the leadership of the socio-political group called Afenifere and the consequent endorsement of this or that presidential candidate is as worrisome as it is unfortunate and embarrassing. Worrisome because if gold rusts, what will silver do? Unfortunate because it could have been avoided with a little bit of tact on both sides; …

In the face of poor governance and what Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, in a seminal work, called the “retrenchment of the state” in Nigeria, and particularly in the South East geopolitical zone where things have fallen apart, there is the compelling need to ensure that only men of character, imbued with a defining sense of public good are enthroned on the …

Twenty-twenty-three election is four months away. Already, ugly has begun to show its hand — in violence. It is typical. Elections in Nigeria without the spectre of violence is like a hunchback man without the hump. Preparing for election here — at whatever level — is akin to readying for war. And it often turns out to be war; war in all its …