Point One

Like some wild flood determined to overwhelm, terrorists have laid a siege on Nigeria. They strike at will, and make arrogant boasts about what they’ve done and what they would yet do. Besides mounting casualties of their deadly exploits, constituting an onerous burden on the nation’s conscience, the precision of their daring assaults on the country’s sovereignty and security integrity – seemingly without restraint or hard retribution by government – is unsettling. Early last week, two officers and some soldiers attached to the 7 Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army were reported killed in an ambush by terrorists in Bwari, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The military personnel on patrol duties were said to have been ambushed after they visited the Nigerian Law School in Bwari, following a distress call from authorities there that terrorists had dropped a letter indicating an imminent attack on the school. According to reports, the officers and soldiers were at the law s...

Two Saturdays ago, i.e. on 16th July, Osun State residents headed to the poll. They were to make their choice from among 15 contenders of who to hold the reins of governorship for a fresh four-year term that gets underway from Sunday, 27th November, 2022. The election was widely rated a good outing by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and it witnessed an average turnout by voters at 42.16 percent turnout of nearly two million registered voters in the state. Besides the good showing by INEC, the poll marked a high point of electorate civility in Nigerian elections. It ran largely peacefully and without incidents of violence that typified most elections across this country held before it. Although 15 political parties fielded candidates for the poll, it was in reality a two-horse race between Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who had sought fresh mandate for a second term, and Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP)...

With the multi-headed energy crisis presently choking the breath out of Nigerians, you hardly can resist a feeling of déjà vu. We have been here before, and at about this same juncture of our national life. The cause factors may slightly differ but the nestling turf is essentially the same – leadership failure. In the closing moths of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, Nigeria was in economic disarray. Government was de facto in abdication though de jure in office. All sectors of the economy grounded to a halt as an energy crisis hobbled the country. From the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and across the 36 states nationwide, there were reports that many public and private institutions had closed shop in the face of a crippling fuel shortage and perennial electricity blackout – sources of energy needed to power their operations. Worse hit were hospitals, schools, banks, transport operators and telecoms firms, which either altogether shelved services or i...

 Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle has apparently reached tolerance limits over persisting insecurity that hobbles his state and exerts a heavy toll on residents, and he isn’t pulling punches any longer to tackle down the menace. His latest recourse was a call on the people to get their own guns for self-defence against bandits. He rallied the residents to apply for licence from the police and acquire guns and other handy weapons to defend themselves. In a statement early last week, the Zamfara government declared its readiness to facilitate acquisition of guns and other weapons by state residents for self-defence.  “Government has henceforth directed individuals to prepare and obtain guns to defend themselves against the bandits, as government has directed the state commissioner of police to issue licences to all those who qualify and are willing to obtain guns to defend themselves,” the statement said, adding: “Government is ready to facilitate people, especially our fa...