Nigerian News Leader
First with details then facts 
By Azu Ishiekwene
After futile attempts by others to get the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate allegations of genocide against the parties in the war in Gaza, South Africa raised the stakes by filing a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Unlike the ICC, the ICJ is an organ of the UN for civil complaints, and Israel is a signatory to its charter.
By Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba
December 27, 2023 dawned in a very grim manner. As I woke up, I saw a news item on the scroll bar of Channels Television that Ghali Umar Na’Abba 8th Speaker of the House of Representatives had passed on at the age of 65. The son of a wealthy Kano aristocrat, he became Speaker by default after the removal of Salisu Buhari, a short lived Speaker after a forgery scandal. A man of steeled convictions he became Speaker at the defining moment of our democracy.
Oorun ni n gba t’owo omode/Iku ni n bo bata l’ese Rago/Ko sohun t’o ni’bere ti kii l’opin/Bee si ni ko si ohun ti a n je l'enu ti kii tan/Afi ola Olorun Eleduwa/Igba o lo bi orere/Aiye o lo bi opa ibon/Bi oni ti ri, ola o ri be/L’o mu Babalawo d’Ifa ojoojumo/Toto, o se bi owe/O tun se bi ayajo/O si le f’ara jo ogede/Sugbon ase ti Eleduwa fi da ile aiye niyen/ Enikan o si le yii pada/Yala Oba ni, tabi Ijoye/Yala olowo, tabi talaka/Ogbo-oogba ni gbogbo Ise Ojo Kefa/Ni’waju Aseda, Ameda! Oro ree, e gbee yewo!
By Hassan Gimba
An Igbo adage says that when an anomaly persists for one year, it becomes the norm. So slowly, steadily but surely, it is becoming a norm, an accepted aberration, for a president in Nigeria to appoint himself as a minister. It is like saying in a country of 200 million-plus, there is no one good or capable enough to hold that particular office except the man entrusted with the running of the nation.
By Ikeddy Isiguzo
A bank once filled prime time television with a message asking us to imagine that one day cars will run with water. The power of imagination! It takes one to a future that not many see; a future that seems foolish, or unimaginable because it has not been imagined.
By Funke Egbemode
Before King Ahmed Ottoman went to war, he locked his beautiful wife, Queen Ottoman, in a private room and gave the key to his best friend, Mousa, telling him: if I’m not back in four days, open the room and she’s yours. Ottoman got on his horse and went to war. Half an hour later, the king noticed a cloud of dust behind him. It was his friend, galloping fast towards him. “What’s wrong?” The king asked panting. Out of breath, Mousa responded: “You gave me the wrong key.”
