BAT 2023

The recent exposé by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu on a number of procedural violations at one of the firms under his ministry’s supervision, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation; a major driver of our decrepit national economy which has been responsible both for our common wealth and our subsisting mass […]

What is it about South African President Jacob Zuma and statues? Two statues in one month-  generating controversy from the streets of Pretoria to the streets of Owerri in Nigeria. In the first week of October, a 30-feet monument was unveiled in honour of President Zuma in the North West region of his country. South […]

I will start this report by drawing copious excerpts from Ohaneze President, Nnia Nwodo’s speech last week in Umuahia, Abia State. Hear Nwodo; “Some months ago, I invited Nnamdi Kanu to my house and we met for three hours, I told him clearly that both in my personal capacity and as President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, […]

I have little doubt that Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Energy, regrets the day that he left the relative comfort of the private sector and entered the stormy waters of Nigerian politics. I am sure that he curses the day that he met President Muhammadu Buhari, that he opted to […]

A Biafra-like agitation for independence has been unfolding in neighbouring Republic of Cameroon since November 2016.  The people of Northern and Southern Cameroons under the  umbrella of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF) finally decided to affirm the independence of the English-speaking sections of Cameroon from the Republic.  Like the Indigenous People of […]

While the sharp division of opinions over the government’s Operation Python Dance 11 in the Southeast, the proscription of IPOB and the consequent designation of the organization as a terrorist organization could be interpreted either as a reflection of the vibrancy of our putative democracy or a reflection of how polarized the society has become, […]

Much as both labour to put up gestures suggesting cordiality, truth is there is no love lost between them. And interestingly, the one thing that came between them is corruption, which is also supposed to be the only thing that should see them basking in a harmonious relationship in this dispensation. What a paradox! How […]

“Baba don come oh. Baba o yo yo, Baba Bubu o yo yo” “What is that?” “Eh, o yo yo” “If you are this excited about President Buhari’s return, then why didn’t you go to Abuja to welcome him when he arrived from England on Saturday.” “I didn’t have to” “After 104 days on medical […]

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III on Monday called on Nigerians to focus on devolution of ‘dams’ rather than restructuring the country, a question mark (?) oratory and order which to many observers and well-meaning Nigerians represents a deliberate and calculated sentimental infantry-ism, perhaps a masterminded attempt to disrupt the diverse calls from the various nooks […]

One of the constitutional amendments that Nigerians have been clamoring for is the separation of the office of attorney-general from the position of minister of justice. For many citizens, the continuous lumping together of the portfolio of attorney general with the minister of justice, a politician, will never improve the administration of justice in the […]

An Igbo group known as Igbo Renaissance Agenda, IRA, has replied the Arewa Youth Assembly, who, on Friday called on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to arrest the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, for what it termed “threat to national security”. However, in a press statement signed by Jude Ndukwe and Amaka Ekwo,  […]

I read a recent report in a national daily, of ‘Southern and Middle Belt leaders’ meeting in Abuja to insist on the demand for restructuring. Out of curiosity, I decided to check these ‘leaders’ who made this demand and lo and behold, the only names I saw were the same PDP leaders that were very […]