Public Affairs Analyst

  It’s a red-letter day for me, ladies and gentlemen. I ventured into writing for the media exactly 36 years ago. Prof. OBC Nwolise nudged me into it in 1988.   Then I was a student under his tutelage during my A Level studies organised by the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan. Today is a day of multiple celebrations – thirty-six years of my media advocacy and 14 years as a Columnist with The PUNCH newspaper. This is a day of reflection and reminiscences. In my over three decades of being involved with the media at both national and international levels, I have witnessed a lot which is worth sharing. Media taught me the true definition of passion. I am very passionate about making my voice heard and count on topical national issues. I started out with writing “Letter to the Editor” in the defunct Daily Sketch in Ibadan. Thereafter, I began writing full blown articles of 1,000 – 1,300 words. When Daily Sketch started rejecting my articles which were critical of milit...

  I was, and I am, a teacher. I was a Parents Teachers Association-hired teacher at Oba Akinbiyi High School (II), Mokola, Ibadan, in 1997. Apart from that stint, I also taught briefly at a private secondary school during my National Youth Service in Asaba, Delta State, as well as at another private secondary school in the Akowonjo area of Lagos State around 2001/2002. My late father, Deacon Isaac Ojo, taught for about 40 years across several primary schools in Oyo and Osun sates and retired as a headmaster in 1995. Currently, I don’t just teach but train people across various democratic institutions, namely election management bodies (Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria and State Independent Electoral Commissions), political parties, media, national and state legislative assemblies, police, and civil society organisations. Information gleaned from the website of UNESCO says, “World Teachers’ Day is held annually on October 5 to celebrate all teachers around the ...

Hearty congratulations compatriots on our country’s 66 th Independence Anniversary. I await what President Bola Tinubu will be telling us tomorrow, October 1. Meanwhile, I decide to drilldown the importance of fixing our politics if we want to see  good governance and development. I commend the yeoman’s job Dr. Oby Ezekwesili is doing at the School of Politics, Policy and Governance under the Fix Politics Nigeria project. I have had a rare privilege of being a resource person at the school. Information garnered from online source says SPPG “is a transformative leadership programme aimed at developing a new generation of public leaders across Africa. The programme focuses on building value-driven, disruptive public leaders grounded in character, competence, and capacity. SPPG emerged from research at the Robert Bosch Academy and has since become a pan-African movement for better leadership, addressing governance challenges shared by African countries. The school runs in Nigeria, ...

  It’s campaign season quite alright. From August 19 to February 4, 2027, politicians vying for different political offices are going to be criss-crossing their constituencies to tell what they intend to do for the people if voted into office. It is however concerning and disheartening to witness the scant regard that Nigeria’s political class held the Peace Accord they voluntarily signed on August 18, 2026. Across several states, politics of intolerance is on display. Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State reportedly said he will orchestrate the removal of Local Government chairman that fail to win his council for the ruling All Progressives Congress. The chairman of Kuje Area Council, Samuel Shekwolo asked those who will not vote for APC to leave the Council. Chairman of Gwandu Local Government, Alhaji Atiku Mandiya was seen in a viral video telling his supporters to deal with anyone speaking against Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State ahead of 2027 elections.   Borno St...

  I was once again dragged into the debate on whether it is   long overdue for Nigerian politicians to possess higher educational qualifications to be able to contest for political offices. This argument ensued on Monday, September 14, 2026 when I featured on Morning Brief hosted by Bukola Coker and Geoffery Uzono on Channels Television. We were reviewing the list of presidential and national assembly candidates for 2027 General Elections that was published by the Independent National Electoral Commission over the weekend.   Section 131 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as altered set the qualification for election as President as follows:   “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the President if - (a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth; (b) he has attained the age of thirty-five years; (c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and (d) he has been educated up to at least School Certif...

  Is Nigeria now a country of fakes and counterfeits? Last week, the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council reported that it uncovered 12 fake agencies and a network of about 58 bank accounts allegedly linked to its detained Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, The Chairman of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi disclosed the findings   while presenting the panel’s preliminary report to parliamentary correspondents in Abuja on the circumstances surrounding the council’s inclusion in the Federal Budget Framework. Over the weekend, there was a trending video where the immediate past Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo claimed that his wife Dolapo traced a recurring headache to a staple of freshly squeezed orange juice she makes a habit of taking every morning. According to the former No. 2 citizen of Nigeria, a laboratory test on the oranges she used in preparing the juice were found...