By HON IBRAHIM KABIRU GAGARAWA A Summit Meant to Fix a Region — But Who Showed Up? WHEN stakeholders gathered in Kaduna for the North-West Development Commission Summit — a meeting billed as a turning point for a region battered by insecurity, poverty and unemployment — expectations were high. The North-West is not just another geopolitical […]
By IKHIDE R IKHELOA A Different Voice from the Villa IN moments of political turbulence, tone becomes as important as policy. And few figures in Nigeria’s current power structure project tonal contrast as sharply as First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. While President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains the lightning rod for criticism over economic hardship and security […]
By ENUBUZOR CHUKWUDI Re-examining Ukwuani Identity A renewed conversation about the historical roots and cultural identity of the Ukwuani people of Delta State has stirred debate across Anioma communities and beyond. The discussion, sparked by commentary circulating within cultural advocacy circles, questions long-standing assumptions about ethnic classification in southern Nigeria. At the centre of the debate […]
SAMMY Asaba, October 1967: A Town That Was Not a Battlefield IN early October 1967, the town of Asaba was not positioned as a theatre of combat. It was a riverine commercial hub — a community of traders, farmers, civil servants and families navigating the uncertainty of Nigeria’s unfolding civil war. The war, which erupted […]
By MUNYASIRI MUHINDI ANGELA A Vast but Hidden Slave Network THE Arab-led Indian Ocean slave trade spanned centuries, targeting East, Southern, and Central Africa for human capture. Africans were taken from modern Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, then shipped through ports like Mombasa and sold at Zanzibar. The trade extended to Arabia and Central […]
Low Turnout in 2023 Sets a Dangerous Precedent NIGERIA’S 2027 general elections may see the lowest voter turnout in the nation’s democratic history, experts warn, as concerns over credibility, security, and public trust intensify. In the 2023 presidential election, only 26.71% of registered voters—approximately 24.97 million out of 93.47 million—participated, marking the lowest engagement since […]
By ADEMOLA OLADEGA AKINSHEMOYIN The Arrival of the Sierra Leoneans THE history of Lagos in the mid-19th century is inextricably linked with the arrival of Sierra Leonean settlers, commonly referred to as the Saros. Their migration, which began around 1838 during the reign of Oba Akinsemoyin, occurred almost simultaneously with the influx of Portuguese and Brazilian […]
Mid West in the Crossfire DURING the Nigerian Civil War, battle lines were rarely static. One of the most dramatic shifts occurred when Biafran troops swept into the Mid Western Region in August 1967. The region’s strategic geography made it a vital corridor between Nigeria’s East and West. Its capture altered the war’s trajectory, at […]
By OCHKO EDAFE Beyond Party Lines: A Growing Frustration in Delta Politics A wave of political criticism is gaining momentum in Delta State, framed not around party loyalty but around economic reality. At the heart of the argument is a blunt accusation: that the same political template associated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — concentration […]
An Election Law for a New Cycle WITH the 2027 general election looming, Nigeria’s lawmakers have moved to recalibrate the country’s electoral architecture through the Electoral Act 2026. The National Assembly describes the legislation as a product of rigorous consultation and consensus-building across institutional lines. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the law represents a collective […]