The metaphor of ship jumping still fits the current state of our opposition politics, but now the vessels and the sea have become more vivid, more painful, and more urgent. In the early hours of a sweltering Tuesday, January 20, the…

“The term of office of judges, their independence, security, adequate remuneration, conditions of service, pensions and the age of retirement shall be adequately secured by law.” Principle 11, United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, (1985)  Babajide…

In perhaps his most famous song after dying in a car crash in 1971, Cardinal Rex Lawson, Kalabari highlife soulful singer of the 1960s Nigeria, would seem to be passing a deeply emotive message to both the Adeleke and Labinjoh families. In a…

The pattern is troubling. When international actors portray Nigeria through a narrow religious-genocide frame, local extremists feel validated. But when global media question the credibility of those claims, it is suddenly labelled ethnic profiling. Public debate in Nigeria is increasingly…

We are taking the sign out of the window. We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better,…

History will be kind to the Aregbesola administration in the students that went to public schools, that partook in the school feeding programmes, and the 700,000 people lifted out of poverty who receive him enthusiastically whenever he appears on the…

Ranching livestock. Ultimately, transitioning from open grazing to ranching is not about erasing tradition or privileging one group over another. It is about aligning agricultural practices with the realities of a modern, densely populated, and security-conscious nation. Ranching offers a…

Throughout history, the moral stature of any society has been judged not solely by its economic prowess or infrastructural grandeur, but by the reverence it accords those who place themselves in harm’s way for the collective good. In Lagos State,…

Nigerians are a people of colour.  Music.  Dance. But the medal arrived like a thief in the night. No drums.  No roll call of service rendered.  No public citation read into the nation’s memory. Nothing. Well, only a document, quiet…

It has become a ritual for me to check Punch newspaper’s Facebook page for readers’ comments on my articles every Sunday. So, on the just concluded article on the dangers of deodorants and antiperspirants, one reader’s comment almost made me…

In most functioning democracies, government appointments follow a predictable sequence: identify a candidate, vet their credentials, confirm eligibility, and then, only then, announce their name to the public. But what happens when the process is reversed? When a candidate is…

Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State Confused. Undecided. Disordered. Manipulated. These words fittingly depict the current state of affairs and conscience of the Rivers State House of Assembly in its impeachment…

Nigeria’s first General Strike began exactly on 22 June, 1945. It lasted for 45 days in the Lagos area, at least 53 days in the Northern and Southern Provinces, and 74 days in the “British” Cameroons. This epoch-making strike was…

Context Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, now in its 27th year since 1999, represents the longest stretch of civilian rule without a successful military interruption. Our nation has now spent a total of about 37 years under civilian rule, compared with 28…

Silence often fills a home as a couple waits for their unborn child, echoing between quiet conversations and in the corners of a prepared nursery. You may have felt like your body was a map with a missing destination for…