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

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

PilotnewsMay 27, 2022

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...

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

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

PilotnewsMay 27, 20221

“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...

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

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

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)May 25, 2022

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...

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OPINION: Nigerian Senate: A New Retirement Home?

ColumnsNewsOpinionPoliticsOPINION: Nigerian Senate: A New Retirement Home?

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)May 25, 2022

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....

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Playing God ―Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone Screwed Up

ColumnsDon OkoloOpinionPoliticsPlaying God ―Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone Screwed Up

PilotnewsMay 23, 20222

“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...

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Gruesome “Blasphemy” Killing Brings Nigeria’s Long-Running Ethno-Religious Divide Into Sharp Focus

ColumnsCrime & SecurityOpinionReligionGruesome “Blasphemy” Killing Brings Nigeria’s Long-Running Ethno-Religious Divide Into Sharp Focus

PilotnewsMay 18, 2022

The brutal murder of college sophomore evokes conflicting visions of citizenship and political identity in Nigeria.   Last week’s gruesome murder of Deborah Yakubu, a home economics sophomore at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, comes at a time of escalating social and economic tension in Nigeria, and will most certainly raise the political stakes as the country enters electioneering season in preparation for next year’s presidential election. Ms. Yakubu was thought to have...

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OPINION: Goodluck Jonathan’s Hidden Treasures in Aso Rock

ColumnsOpinionPoliticsOPINION: Goodluck Jonathan’s Hidden Treasures in Aso Rock

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)May 18, 2022

In 2015, Goodluck Jonathan was clearly unwilling to leave Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of political power, but he had to leave because that was his only available option since he needed to be alive to enjoy power. The odds were against him, if not, Goodluck Jonathan, like most other political leaders, would never walk away. It is in the nature of power that those who wield it are often unwilling to let go of it...

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Nigeria: the Deborah Yakubu heartbreak and the rest of us

ColumnsDon OkoloOpinionNigeria: the Deborah Yakubu heartbreak and the rest of us

PilotnewsMay 15, 2022

What in the world is God waiting for? Why is He not Pissed-off as I am? ―Don Okolo Lay Deborah Yakubu among the lilies. Bury her with a ton of roses. Let the barren State of Sokoto, her sullied, morally bankrupt denizens, her faithlessness in that certain faith dry out into the sands that work her hills. Let her valleys, and the bedrocks roiling and steaming with the hellish brand of fire remain unquenchable. Let...

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OPINION: Twists And Turns Of Jonathan’s Second Coming

ColumnsNigeria ElectionsOpinionOPINION: Twists And Turns Of Jonathan’s Second Coming

By Ezinwanne Onwuka (Senior Reporter)May 15, 2022

By Ezinne Onwuka (Senior Reporter and Opinion Writer) Ahead of the much anticipated 2023 general elections, there have been widespread speculations bordering on the question of who the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), will produce as its presidential candidate. As of the time of writing, over 20 aspirants have picked the party’s N100 million expression of interest and nomination forms. Interestingly, other politicians, undettered by the outrageous cost of the forms, continue to join...

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OPINION: A Stronger U.S.-Tanzania Relationship Would Be Mutually Beneficial

AfricaColumnsForeign PolicyOpinionOPINION: A Stronger U.S.-Tanzania Relationship Would Be Mutually Beneficial

PilotnewsMay 5, 2022

President Hassan’s emphasis on economic growth and political liberalization in Tanzania are especially compelling to the United States in the context of a generally troubled East Africa. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan made the most of her recent trip to the United States, signaling a desire for an improved relationship and deeper bilateral economic ties. Given U.S. interests in a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic East Africa, and the worrying trends in the region, her charm offensive should...

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