Public Affairs Analyst

Nigeria is blessed! But what are we doing with the divine blessing? Harnessing it to prosper us or frittering it away? I am a culture enthusiast and have been involved in research and advocacy for decades on how to promote and explore our arts and crafts, music, dance, films, sculpture, dress, monuments, food, festivals, waterfalls, groves, rocks, and artefacts into money spinner both for government and people in the communities. Udiroko festival just held last weekend in Ado Ekiti, Osun Osogbo Festival was also held earlier this month, how are the federal, state and local governments partnering to gain maximally from these events. As a culture ambassador, I make it a point of duty to dress in indigenous, Made in Nigeria attires. I have a collection of caps numbering 55 from different cultures in Nigeria. I have been to several tourist sites across Nigeria. Some of them include, the Shere Hills, Jos, Olumo Rocks, Abeokuta, Zuma Rock, Abuja, Ikogosi Warm and Cold Spring in Ekiti State...

  Are we cursed or are we the cause? I mean did our ancestors or adversaries swear to us that this great country shall never be developed? By this time next month, we will be basking in the euphoria of our 65 th independence anniversary. Same way we rolled out drums to celebrate our unbroken 26 years of uninterrupted civil rule in June this year. Why is Nigeria a crippled giant as described by the current Director General of Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Professor Eghosa Osaghae? Am pained that in this country, we celebrate mediocre performance as sterling. Sad! Ordinarily democracy should drive development and good governance but that is not the situation in this motherland. All development indices on Nigeria are pointing south. BussinessDay of Sunday, August 31, 2025 reported that the 2025 Chandler Good Government Index has again mirrored Nigeria’s snail movement towards holistic development and good governance. Released recently in South Africa, the CGGI 2025, a...

  Last Saturday, August 16, 2025, the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted the backlog of by-elections across 12 states. According to INEC, by-elections were held in 16 constituencies of the Federation, involving two Senatorial Districts in Anambra and Edo States; five Federal Constituencies in Edo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Ogun and Oyo States; and nine State Constituencies in Adamawa, Anambra, Kaduna (2), Kano, Kogi, Niger, Taraba and Zamfara States. These by-elections were caused by the resignation or death of serving members of national and State Houses of Assembly. Similarly, the court-ordered re-run election in Enugu South 1 State Constituency of Enugu State and the Ghari/Tsanyawa State Constituency of Kano State were held simultaneously with the by-elections. I have had the privilege of reviewing the polls on at least three media platforms since Saturday. They are News Central TV, Radio Now 95.3 FM, Lagos and Silverbird TV. Though I was not an accredited observer at t...

  Since creation, man has been an itinerant being. It is against nature to have someone remain on the spot throughout life. Aside from walking around his or her surroundings, human beings like to explore their environment. Travelling, therefore, forms part of human activities. The earliest forms of transportation were animals like horses, camels, and donkeys. We also heard from oral literature that Yoruba hunters and warriors use spiritual means, such as ‘Egbe’ and ‘Kanako’, to travel from one place to another. In one of Lobsang Rampa’s books   (real name Cyril Henry Hoskin, an English author), I learnt about ‘soul travel’.   Apart from animals, other earliest inventions of travelling include the canoe, boat, ships, cart and wagons, before cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, etc. were invented. In summary, there are four universal means of transportation, namely: road, water, rail and air. Nigeria, nay West Africa and indeed the entire continent called Africa needs an inte...

My neighbours might have thought I was mad last Saturday night. The way I was shouting when Nigeria’s Super Falcons came from a two-goal deficit in the first half of the final of the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations, better known as WAFCON, to defeat their Moroccan counterpart 3–2 got me shrieking with joy. I was so excited because it was a nail-biting victory that didn’t come on a platter. Nigerian ladies were trailing two-zero at the end of the first half until we got a penalty in the 68th minute, which was calmly slotted in by the Woman of the Match, Esther Okworonko. Esther was on hand again to provide the assist that was scored for us to level up by Folasade Ijamilusi before Jennifer Echegini completed the routing of the Moroccans with an 88-minute winner also via a free kick by Esther Okworonko.  I was scared stiff when we levelled up at 2–2 and a penalty was initially awarded to the Moroccan team before a review of the Video Assistant Referee by the centre referee made he...

  On    July 15, I was among the eminent panellists who discussed the ongoing alteration of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution on Tuesday Live on NTA. The programme, anchored by veteran broadcaster Cyril Stober, had on the panel Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, Prof. Dakas J.C. Dakas, SAN, Dr Tunji Abayomi and me. During the discussion, we looked at the desirability or otherwise of continuous alteration of our grundnorm rather than having a process-led, autochthonous, people-driven constitution, the kind of which Kenya did in 2010. We also analysed several areas the Constitution needs to be tinkered with. We finally submitted that amending the constitution is not the magic wand that will bring about good governance and prosperity to our dear country, but the right attitude of the operators. The principle of the rule of law stands on a tripod. Supremacy of the law, equality before the law and fundamental human rights. In Nigeria, our successive leaders are in breach of these three c...

“ Let it be known to all, that this coalition of national political opposition groups goes beyond gaining political power. It is a concerted effort to rebuild the crumbling pillars of Nigeria’s democracy.” – Senator David Mark in his acceptance speech as the Interim National Chairman of ADC on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. On Wednesday July 2, 2025, political juggernauts across several political parties decided to adopt the African Democratic Congress as the platform to wrestle power from the incumbent All Progressives Congress, Among the notable politicians that gathered at the Yar’Adua Centre venue of the unveiling of the new platform are the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-National Chairman of the ruling APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, erstwhile President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, former governor  of Osun State and immediate past Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023, Peter Obi, ex-Kaduna State governor Na...

  "How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished" is a quotation from the Bible, specifically 2 Samuel 1:27. And so it was the end of an era for the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje who threw in the towel after two years on the exalted seat. His sudden resignation purportedly on health ground came as a rude shock to party members and surprise to the nation. He was appointed on August 3, 2023 and resigned on June 27, 2025. In 12 years of existence of the ruling All Progressives Congress, the party has had its own fair chair of leadership crisis. Thus far, the party has had about seven national chairmen. They are Chief Bisi Akande (Former Governor of Osun State), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun (Ex-governor of Edo State), Comrade (now Senator) Adams Oshiomhole (also former Edo State governor), Mai Mala Buni, current governor of Yobe State who held sway in acting capacity, Senator Adamu Abdullahi (Former governor of Nasarawa...

  Compatriots, I don’t mean to scare you. I just thought we should do some cross-fertilisation of ideas and intellectual cobwebbing. What do you think can solve this rising cost of living crisis? Can you rely on the government for your daily survival? Do you believe things will get better with time? Are you hopeful of improved service delivery by government ministries, departments and agencies? Don’t you think it’s time to take responsibility? I mean, shouldn’t you and I take our destinies in our hands? Last Thursday was June 12, our Democracy Day, and we commemorated 26 unbroken years of civil rule in this Fourth Republic, which started in 1999. The President addressed the nation at the joint session of the National Assembly. He gave an update on his achievements in two years in office, particularly in the economy and used the occasion to recognise the heroes and heroines of democracy, dead and alive, as he gave them national honours. In about three months from now, it will be O...

  Introduction The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is one of the 14 Federal Executive Bodies listed in Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as altered. It is tasked to among other things organise elections into various political offices in the country. The Commission is made up of a Chairman, and 12 National Commissioners.   The functions of INEC as contained in Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended) include the following: Organise, undertake and supervise all elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President, the Governor and Deputy Governor of a State, and to the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each state of the federation; Register political parties in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and Act of the National Assembly; Monitor the organisation and ...