By Bola Bolawole

Going through heaps of files, old newspapers and other records in my library a few days ago, I came across pieces of unsolicited advice I had offered mint-new President Muhammadu Buhari on how he could make a success of his tenure as the country’s fourth president circa the Fourth Republic, which started its run in 1999. One of the materials, titled “That Buhari’s anti-corruption war may not become ephemeral”, was published on 25th September, 2015 by The News, PM News, Daily Independent newspapers, among others.

By Azu Ishiekwene

Hadiza Bala Usman's new book, "Stepping on Toes," is a cautionary tale for anyone hoping to work in public service in Nigeria, particularly in the Federal Government. It's an incredible story by the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) of how to break your heart, if not your spirit, in public service.

By Simon Kolawole

There are endless peculiarities, I must here admit, about the 2023 presidential election, the least not being the outing of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). With the post-election brouhaha and hullaballoo, a cursory observer would be forgiven for thinking the February 25 poll was a two-way contest between Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). Atiku came second with 6,984,520 votes. Therefore, whether it is Tinubu that won, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), or Obi, as proclaimed by his supporters, Atiku is still ranked as second best.

By Bolanle Bolawole

One reason many people think the recent presidential election should be put behind us as quickly as possible is because there is a lot of work to be done and distractions are the least the country requires at this point in time. The problems bedevilling the country are many and solutions, if we must state the truth, will not come easy. Another reason is that there is sufficient enough evidence from the polls to suggest who, out of the four leading presidential candidates, was preferred by the electorate, regardless how imperfect some may deem the election to have been for, in truth, there are no perfect elections anywhere in the world.

By Emeka Obasi

There is every reason to celebrate Highlife maestro, Mike Ejeagha, the man who turns folklore and proverbs to sweet music, maintains his integrity and leaves listeners filled with much respect for culture. At 93, wisdom is still flowing from his fountain.

By Femi Adesina

There’s a saying in Yoruba language that the horse does not spurn the final gallop home. True. Home is that place you go to rest, after the labour and toil of the day. It is that place you find succor and respite, after the vagaries and vicissitudes that go with your daily exertions. No wonder they say, home, sweet home. There shouldn’t be a bad home. Worse than hell.

In about 44 days, we’ll be home. Who are the ‘we?’ Those of us who serve with President Muhammadu Buhari, whose second term expires on May 29, this year.

By Olusegun Adeniyi

Following a viral video in which police escorts attached to a prominent Kano-based musician, Dauda Adamu Kahutu Rarara were shooting bullets into the air like village hunters, authorities in Abuja have waded in. “The NPF has condemned the unprofessionalism and act of indiscipline displayed by the policemen caught in the video that is trending where some policemen were seen firing shots to rob the ego and hype a musician in Kano city”, according to a statement by the Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi. “The police officers have been identified and arrested. They will be brought to the force headquarters for an interview and necessary disciplinary action. Such an act is unpoliced and cannot be condoned.”

By Jude Eze.

This piece may go down as one of the unpopular opinions in this space, not because it is fallacious, but because the truth it points to, stands the risk of being dismissed as act of jealousy or malice. Of course anyone who maintains regular opinion column will definitely come under fierce criticism, except such fellow is hosting an ineffectual space aimed at pacifying all men and women of honour and dishonor. But any columnist that is worth his onion will occasionally run into rejection, once any of his/her verdicts clashes with popular schools-of-thought on a particular topic.

By Azu Ishiekwene

Donald Trump consolidated his record in demagoguery when he became the first former US president ever to be criminally indicted and arraigned in a Manhattan court on April 4.

By Bolanle Bolawole

Except for the calendar which says this is Easter and the Federal Government which declared Friday the 7th and Monday the 10th of April as Easter holiday, there are no celebrations in the air in the real sense of the word. Not many people are celebrating not because they do not want to but because they cannot. As they say, money has decreed that whenever it is not available, no one should make any plan whatsoever. Poverty ravages the land; the majority of the people can barely eke out a living. It is not for fun that Nigeria is today the poverty capital of the world. And poverty in Nigeria is no longer limited to the traditionally poor; poverty has climbed the ladder and now embraces even the hitherto comfortable middle class which, to all intents and purposes, has been virtually wiped out.

By Ugorji O. Ugorji

After three years of working in Hopeville (Imo State), I got permission to attend a security conference and also see my family in the US. This is the longest I have stayed away from Obama Country since the age of 16 when I went there as a student.

By Reuben Abati

THE “Obidients” – supporters of the mission and vision of Mr. Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party in Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential election had it coming. And now they are getting their “comeuppance” served in flagellating doses, from Professor Wole Soyinka, grandmaster in the art of dissent, debate and reasoning who has all it takes to sustain an intellectual fight in the public arena. In two high-profile television interviews in recent weeks – Channels TV and Arise News, and two published commentaries: “Media Responsibility” and “Fascism on Course”, Professor Wole Soyinka has reacted robustly to what he describes as a predilection for fascism on the part of the “Obidients.” Fascism also means dictatorship, tyranny, autocracy, intolerance, the unwillingness to entertain the other view, and the tendency to assume that one’s opinion is supreme and superior and that other human beings do not matter. Remember Hitler. Think Italy’s Benito Mussolini. Fascists simply want to have their way no matter what others think or suggest.