My first memories of elections in Nigeria takes me to June 1993 when the biggest political event of my generation took place. Before then, the other most memorable event I remember was the death of someone called “The best president Nigeria never had.” That was Chief Obafemi Awolowo who, as the premier of the Western Region (another name for an [...]

Fayemi and the Usual Suspects: The evil that walked the rugged landscapes of Ekiti was not Segun Oni. The evil was a brand of regressive political system that President Obasanjo promoted since 2003. The guy was said to be a gentleman, Segun Oni, personable and humane, but so was Chris Ngige, who, however, would get an Abiku redemption, partly because [...]

Through the aspirations of the day of independence in 1960 we look beyond 2010 for a new Nigeria.

It didn’t take me long to locate him at Rayfield where he teaches in a private school. Once upon a time, he was in Riyom, a local government that has now made a name for itself in the spots of unrest around the state. On my way there, there were at least ten military checkpoints along the way so I [...]

I don’t know which to pick between May 29 and June 12 as the worst date to look forward to in our political calendar. I don’t know which is, to me, emptier of meaning as far as democracy is the issue. Perhaps, I hold a generally jaundiced view of Nigeria’s political history and career. But I truly pity the optimists [...]

Simon Adebola Every nation has laws by which it abides. The constitution is the basis for the legal systems that exist in each country. Each country’s constitution is equally binding on all its citizens and there is nobody that is above the dictates of this document. The sovereignty of any nation state is guarded by its constitution and indeed, no [...]

Though identity, as a category of self perception and self-determination, is considered unhelpful and mischievous because of its tendency towards entrenching xenophobia and ghetto mentality in globalised discourse, but one might be persuaded, in the light of recent ethno-religious violence in Jos, and especially the politics of responsibility that attends it, that what can be indeed helpful for Nigeria’s federated [...]