Every year on June 21, the world celebrates World Music Day, a global reminder of the power of music to connect people across cultures, generations, and borders. Yet, despite its universal appeal, music is still largely viewed as entertainment rather…

Unwritten peace and unity codes should become written in the hearts of all reasonable stakeholders in Nigeria. Presidential candidacy should be structured in a manner that the North and South rotational presidency should be adopted by lovers of peace and…

More than three months after promising Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, President Donald Trump has instead settled for a fragile ceasefire that underscores a difficult reality: the Islamic Republic survived a sustained US and Israeli military campaign and retained enough leverage to…

It is always a delight to test the ideas of a politician against those of the political scientist. Both are concerned with politics and the political, especially on the question of how a state ought to be governed and the…

Leadership effectiveness is not defined by constant activity or busyness, but by the leader’s ability to reflect before acting. Though leaders are often mistaken for being effective when they are always in motion—attending meetings, issuing directives, travelling, and responding to…

On a sunny afternoon, I saw some men in shorts unfurling a banner with a clear message. There was a guy at a female colleague’s house, pleading with her to promote his film. Elsewhere, another man appeared in a staged…

Nigeria is facing a slow-burning epidemic of non-communicable diseases driven by unhealthy diets, tobacco use, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use, with cardiovascular diseases now a leading cause of adult death and disability. Recent estimates suggest hypertension prevalence is about…

…the absence of serving security chiefs from the second day of the summit was disappointing. The gathering offered a rare opportunity for frank conversations, confidence-building, and institutional learning. Meanwhile, the communiqué issued at the end of the two-day summit, signed…

On Democracy Day last week, I wrote that Nigeria has confused the rituals of voting with the substance of democracy. We have celebrated ballots without building real parties, and we have mistaken slogans for values. That reflection leads directly to…

Southwark Crown Court, London: If the name sounds familiar in Nigeria, that is probably because it is where former Delta State Governor James Ibori became the face of Nigerian corruption in 2012. Ibori pleaded guilty to 10 charges of fraud…

Self aggrandisement – in politics and in business? Conspicuous consumption? The moral infirmity that is status competition? You can choose your pick of the poison that afflicts our economy. When, you might be tempted to ask, is “affluenza” enough? The…

Employment generation remains an important factor if the Nigerian government wants to claim they have delivered the dividends of democracy. Like many other African countries, Nigeria is full of youths below the age of 35 years. The task to create…

In the past, I had written about our rather obsessive preoccupation with ‘the true value of the Naira’. Every talking head on our favorite TV channels waxed lyrical about this true value, with many foisting what was their sheer opinions…

Nigeria’s democratic process received yet another jolt in the build-up to the 2027 general elections recently, with a Federal High Court, Abuja, judgment that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties for purportedly failing to…

Through Pastor Wilfred, something eternal was formed within me. We built a strong intercessory team with two other pastors and prayed fervently for our lives, churches, and city. We fasted, ate, travelled, and wept together. When I met my wife,…