OPINION: Elite Compact Thrown Into Doubt as Atiku Abubakar’s Emergence Blows Nigerian Presidential Race Wide Open

The outcome of party presidential primaries appears to signal the end of post-military elite political consensus.   Insofar as the axle of political contestation in Nigeria is the struggle for power between the northern and southern elite blocs, systemic stability hinges on the moral understanding that power will rotate between the two regions. The order of succession since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic in 1999 has largely followed the logic of this entente, starting...

OPINION: Party Structure and its Essence in Electoral Victory

No political party can win any serious election without strong membership that can rival or contain the membership of its closest opposition. That is what party structure is all about. During election seasons in Nigeria, the concept of party structure is one of the most used phrases. Much so that the meaning of the concept is now trapped in confusion of sorts. Some say money is the ultimate party structure. Others say it is voters....

OPINION: Reaction to “Blasphemy” Killing Illustrates Complicated Role of Religion in Nigeria’s Democratic Transition

Horrendous killing of college sophomore highlights the country’s ethnoreligious fault line, but interdenominational rivalry in the south is of no less moment.   All in all, reactions to the murder of Ms. Deborah Yakubu, a 200-level home economics student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, have exposed Nigeria’s deepest political fractures and lingering questions over citizenship, national identity, and secularity. On May 12, following disagreement over a WhatsApp voice note deemed to have been...

Peter Obi: Between the Politics of a Delegate and the Downing Street Photoshoot

“Obi’s latest political move contradicts his own gospel of being indispensable, and it hurts his credibility moving forward.” Just a few days before his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was due for its national convention, Nigerian presidential hopeful Peter Obi shocked his camp with an announcement. Mr. Obi announced his resignation from the party and also his withdrawal from the presidential race on his party’s slate. There were, however, rumors that he would join the Labour...

Abi You’re Not Thinking What I’m Thinking?

Is ‘brand’ a lie or a camouflage? Or should I ask: “Is camouflage a lie?”   Am I confused?   Certainly not Or Maybe.   Let’s talk about the CEO that pushes junk snack and drinks to the common man but forbids himself or his children to take them. He takes and feeds them soya milk and smoothies, instead.   But he is the CEO, isn’t it? Don’t tell me it’s for money. Or maybe...

Indignity of a Sorry Mandate ―A Rage at The Wicked

It’s actually your dumb head for me. How you think to be hailed ‘The I Am That I Am’ How you envisage being praised ‘Baba hum baba hum’. Look at your fatty neck Suffocating your wind pipe, Full of stolen funds- The one you alleged to a monkey. Oh poor monkey.   Even this DRUM you call belly could pass for a parachute Come to think of it how does your tiny anus bear the...

OPINION: Peter Obi’s Resignation from the PDP: Examining the Igbo Option to Nigeria’s Presidency

Since 2020, I devoted time to analyzing the chances of securing Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction. At the time, I had argued that Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction is not a Nigerian project but an Igbo project and hence, Igbo political elites should own it and drive it. But this never happened. Up till a little over two months ago, Peter Obi had maintained that he was not contesting for the highest office in the...

OPINION: Nigerian Senate: A New Retirement Home?

Before 2011, it was uncommon for governors who have served for eight years in their states to aspire to the senate. Between 1999 and 2007, governors after serving their tenures simply moved on to something else. Most of the governors have now been forgotten. However, a handful of them have found their way into the senate between 2011 and 2019. But since 2011, it has become trendy for former governors to go to the senate....

Playing God ―Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone  Screwed Up

“This Archbishop must truly believe that THE BODY OF CHRIST, is his to grant. I say, screw him.” ―Don Okolo Sometimes, I find myself thinking the way atheists do. Atheists must have rationalized all tidbits of data their minds feed them before every one of them concluded that there is no God. Neil Degrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist, contends that if one can’t scientifically prove the existence of God, then God does not exist. A brilliant...

OPINION: The Horn of Africa’s Dubious Dialogues

The dialogues in the Horn of Africa inspire little confidence to resolve the region’s crises while U.S. diplomatic efforts seem insufficient in an area of strategic interest. It’s a matter of conventional wisdom that the crises gripping the Horn of Africa are fundamentally political, and that viable, sustainable solutions can be found only through inclusive political dialogue. But in both Sudan and Ethiopia, current dialogues—one internationally-backed and one a domestic project—inspire little confidence. The United...

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