The Recent Elections in FCT, Kano and Rivers
By Reuben Abati The elections, held over the weekend, Saturday, February 21, were interesting for the obvious reason that they were clearly the litmus test cases for the Electoral Act,…
Category: Opinion
Nigeria’s Declining Oil Output and Soaring Foreign Portfolio Investment Inflow
By Marcel Okeke It is most intriguing that at a time Nigeria’s capital importation (hence, external reserves) is rising in leaps and bounds, the country’s crude oil production (output) remains…
How Akpabio’s Leadership Secured Nigeria’s Electoral Future
By Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh mnipr In the evolving story of Nigeria’s democratic consolidation, few issues have provoked as much intensity as electoral reform. The signing into law of the…
EL RUFAI’S PUBLIC CONFESSION ON TELEVISION AND THE BURDEN OF PROOF: Why a Conviction May Not Follow
Prof Lawrence ETIM EL-RUFAI agreed on TV that he illegally listens to Ribadu’s phone calls, but he may not be found guilty: Here is why. 1) BELOW ARE ASPECTS OF…
Welcoming The American Troops
By Reuben Abati It should come as no surprise to anyone that American troops are now effectively on the ground in Nigeria to assist the country to fight Boko…
El Rufai’s Mind Game with Ribadu
By Farooq Kperogi Nasir El-Rufai claimed in his interview with Arise News that someone intercepted and recorded his former friend Nuhu Ribadu’s phone call in which Ribadu allegedly instructed El-Rufai’s…
Senate and the Electoral Act Amendment
By Reuben Abati The Senate returns from a two-week recess today to attend an emergency plenary session at noon to address the lingering and vexed matter of the ongoing amendment…
Okoiyak is where Umo Eno demonstrates leadership
Iboro Otongaran Since 2021, Okoiyak (aka, Stubbs Creek Forest) has been a metaphor for leadership failure. Okoiyak is a swathe of land that is home to 10 villages in Akwa…
76 Oil Wells: Akwa Ibom Must Pull Every Stop to Avoid High Jump
By Akpandem James I have a sneaking suspicion that the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) is not decidedly intent on reallocating the controversial 76 oil wells situated in…
Tinubu’s Many Travels And The Critics
by Reuben Abati President Bola Ahmed Tinubu returned to Nigeria on Saturday after a state visit to Turkey during which Nigeria and Turkey signed a total of nine agreements covering…
A Logical Critique of Pastor Yinka Yusuf’s Claims and Contradictions
Prof Lawrence ETIM The recent utterances attributed to Pastor Yinka raise serious concerns about credibility, responsibility, and moral consistency. A careful review of his statements reveals troubling contradictions that undermine…
Tinubu’s Türkiye Fiasco Spotlights His Age, Health and Wife
By Farooq A. Kperogi President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to Türkiye this week dramatized two uncomfortable realities: the visible toll of age or ill health on the president and…
What manner of pastor is Yinka Yusuf?
By ETIM ETIM The founder of Lagos-based Household of Love Church, Pastor Yinka Yusuf has launched the most derogatory and insulting attacks against the peoples of Akwa Ibom and Cross…
Where Was Africa In Davos?
By Reuben Abati To state the truth, Africa was significantly nowhere at the World Economic Forum which took place this January 19 – 23. You may say absent figuratively, sidelined…
New York Times and Onitsha Screwdriver Sellers’ Data
By Farooq A. Kperogi The New York Times of January 18, 2026 published an explosive story showing how unverified and methodologically questionable data produced by a little-known Onitsha screwdriver seller…
Freedom of expression is not that free
By Akpandem James Our people need basic education on rights and limitations. And the government must lead this charge in its own overriding interest. There are critical truths the people…
Why Giving in Nigeria Often Backfires
By Farooq Kperogi I have learned two interrelated lessons about giving in Nigeria. First, giving large sums of money to economically deprived people to start a business, in the hope…
The Importance Of Kashim Shettima
By Reuben Abati There is a potentially disruptive speculation, a kite being flown in political conversations, which could affect the fortunes of the ruling party – the All Progressives Congress…
Senator Bob’s New Book Shows Why Experience is Still the Gold Standard
By Iboro Otongaran In The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria, a former senator brings together lived parliamentary experiences across the country in a free-flowing nonfiction which delivers a revealing, myths-busting…
The Knee On EFCC’s Neck
by Reuben Abati “The knee on his neck” reminds us of the case of the American citizen, George Floyd who was murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020 by…
Wike Getting Awfully Close to Fighting Tinubu
By Farooq A. Kperogi Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike revels in controversies, contentious public disputations, vituperative recriminations, and tensile political stress like a pig exults in mud. Peace…
Wike, Fubara and Tinubu’s helplessness
By ETIM ETIM That the Rivers State House of Assembly has issued an impeachment notice against Gov. Sim Fubara – the second in a year – shows just how serious…
Trump, Venezuela And The American Empire
by Reuben Abati The received opinion in 20th century literature on America’s foreign policy process is that the United States, America as we know it, is not a colonizing power…
Gov. Mutfwang’s blood-soaked defection
By ETIM ETIM On New Year Day, Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau announced his resignation from the PDP in preparation for joining the APC the following day. It turned out…
Tinubu’s Top-Down, One-Partyist Reelection Strategy
By Farooq A. Kperogi What most Nigerians recognize as Nigeria’s creeping descent into stifling one-partyism, with what seems like the unstoppably expanding defections of major elected officials into the APC,…
Was mathematics invented or discovered?
By Prof Lawrence ETIM In case, you can’t read to the end, the answer is that maths was both discovered and invented. INTRODUCTION This is a classic – and genuinely…
Rethinking the Meaning of “Year” and the “New Year”
By Prof Lawrence ETIM My core argument is that time constructs are human inventions, not natural phenomena. The concepts of “year” and “new year” are not natural. They are man-made_…
When a Tax Law is an Illegality
By Farooq A. Kperogi What began as a routine legislative reform of the Nigerian tax system by the Bola Tinubu administration has transmogrified and metastasized into an allegation of unexampled…
Nigeria’s 2026 Budget: Another Ritual or Economic Plan?
By Marcel Okeke When, on Friday, December 19, 2025—twelve days to end of the year—President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented the 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National…
Nigeria, Trump And The US
by: Reuben Abati Nigeria seems to be making some progress in our engagement with the United States, against the background of the Trump administration’s re-designation of Nigeria as a Country…
How I dealt with Buhari’s cabal
By Solomon Dalung (Former Minister) Since former President Muhammadu Buhari left office in 2023 and following his passing this year, there has been a deliberate and coordinated effort by some…
The Politics of Posthumous Truth
By Oluwafemi Popoola Nigeria has a thriving afterlife economy. Its raw material is the silence of departed powerful men. Its finished products are motives, conspiracies, and convenient truths. It is…
The Death Of Truth: How Fear Has Kept A Nation In Chains
By Professor Usman Umar, Keffi *** Socrates was one of the greatest thinkers of his time. Yet, he was not beyond correction. His student, Plato, saw flaws in his ideas…
President Tinubu, Minister Wale Edun and Nigeria’s Fiscal Profile: The Truth and the Lies
By Marcel Okeke The truth, they say, is constant: in the face of outright falsehood, half-truths, propaganda and prevarications, the truth will always stand out. This is why a country…
Supreme Court, Rivers And The State of Emergency
By: Reuben Abati Yesterday, December 15, the Supreme Court of Nigeria struck out the suit filed by 11 Governors of states controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the…
Senator Ekong Sampson’s scholarship scheme
By ETIM ETIM At a time many Akwa Ibom students are having problems supporting themselves in schools, Senator Ekong Sampson recently disbursed N100 million to over 500 students in his…
Tinubu’s New Tax Regime as Sovereignty for Sale
By Farooq A. Kperogi For weeks, I deliberately avoided commenting on the sweeping new tax regime the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration plans to roll out next year. It’s not because…
PEBEC and Nigeria’s Business Climate Competitiveness Awards: What Message?
By Marcel Okeke On Tuesday, December 2, 2025, a body known as the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) held its 2025 Awards and Gala Night at the State House…
Tinubu’s Benin Republic Expedition
By Reuben Abati In the early hours of Sunday, December 7, 2025, there was the shocking news of a military intervention in the Republic of Benin, led by one Lieutenant…
The Tragedy of Brilliance
By Babafemi Ojudu I spent more than an hour this morning listening to Edmund Obilo’s interview with Col. Victor Banjo’s daughter, Prof. Oluyinka Omigbodun. As she narrated her father’s life…
Lavish celebrations, savings and development
By ETIM ETIM In the last few months, there have been several eye-popping and lavish celebrations in Akwa Ibom State to mark a wedding or death. These festivities lend credence…
Why is Matawalle Still a Defense Minister?
By Farooq A. Kperogi Even the severest critics of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration admit that the last few days have seen what appear (at least on the surface) to…
Tight Monetary Stance: Is the CBN Not Stifling the Economy?
By Marcel Okeke The decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) after its meeting on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, to retain the benchmark…
IPI and Akwa Ibom State
By ETIM ETIM The International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organization that champions press freedom and promotes quality journalism. Founded in 1950, the IPI has members from over 120…
Tinubu’s Ambassadors
by Reuben Abati No one should be surprised at the level of controversy that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambassadorial list of 35 nominees, whose names have been sent to the…
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s Ambassadorial Nomination: A Step Too Soon, Too Close, and Too Damaging
By Mohammed Santuraki President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the immediate past Chairman of INEC, for an ambassadorial position—barely two years after he supervised the very election…
December 1: A Date with Destiny
By Chijioke Amu-Nnadi December 1, 2025 is a Monday, the beginning of the first week of the last month of the year. For Pastor Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa…
The Drama Of Abductions And Impunity
By Reuben Abati Clearly, the most compelling, and confusing development in Nigeria in recent times is the recurring spate of abductions, the reign of impunity and the apparent failure of…
Michael Bush’s friendly fire
By ETIM ETIM I read Michael Bush’s article in The Sun newspaper of Monday, November 24, titled ‘’Just a little friendly fire’’, and it was immediately clear to me that…
Staggering, Like a Giant Robbed of Its Spine
By Babafemi Ojudu There was a time when this country walked tall — not because it was without problems, but because it possessed the will, the confidence, and the inner…