Category: Opinion

Nigeria’s governors: Halfway to where? (1) By abiodun KOMOLAFE

Emporium Reporters

To begin with, any assessment of the subnational level must acknowledge that Nigeria’s federal system is defective and quasi-federalist in nature. Put bluntly, it operates with the ethos of a tightly centralized “Bonapartist state”. This is the truth of the matter: no matter how well a subnational governor performs, the operating framework handicaps him. It’s like a boxer fighting with one hand behind his back. In other words, there’s a debilitating limit to what a governor can achieve. For instance, governors of states like Benue, Plateau and Zamfara have discovered…

Nnanyelugo and the 30 Percent Value-Added Raw Materials Fortune

Emporium Reporters

In the heart of a continent brimming with natural wealth yet shackled by economic underdevelopment, Nigeria has taken a bold and historic step toward economic transformation. That step is the proposed law mandating that no raw material be exported from Nigeria without a minimum of 30 percent value addition. It’s a bill that does more than legislate it philosophically repositions Nigeria in the global economic architecture. And at the center of this pivotal reform is Professor Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, the quiet revolutionary at the helm of the Raw Materials Research…

Wike’s Resolution of Perennial Water Scarcity in FCT, By Abubakar Yusuf

Abubakar Yusuf

In the last three decades , since the movement of the federal capital territory FCT to Abuja , the network of water supply to the nation’s city has not improved, particularly in the area of expansion beyond the city centre to the area councils.   In the same vein , the carrying capacity of the nation’s city in the area of consumption of water on a daily basis has expanded beyond the initial configuration , hence creating rooms for epileptic water reticulation and in some instances water scarcity in the…

EVALUATING NIGERIA’S REPAYMENT OF IMF COVID-19 LOAN By Adefolarin A. Olamilekan

Emporium Reporters

The IMF’s Resident Representative for Nigeria, Mr. Christian Ebeke, cleared the air on the repayment of the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) loan facility, which was disbursed in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to Nigeria. Recall that during the pandemic, the global economy was almost shut down, resulting in a sharp fall in oil prices, a slowdown in economic activities, and a drastic drop in government revenues. It is pertinent to recall that in the wake of the COVID-19 in 2030, Nigeria requested emergency assistance of about US$3.4 billion —…

The President’s new Hausa, Igbo caps By Lasisi Olagunju

Emporium Reporters

One hundred and seventy-nine Anambra kings gave President Bola Tinubu a chieftaincy title last week. They said the title, ‘Dike si Mba’ means “Warrior from the Diaspora.” That title, plus its translation, get as e be. I heard them and asked questions. If they didn’t translate it, I would be quiet. But they did. Why Diaspora? Why not ‘Dike Mba’ (People’s Warrior) like Ojukwu’s ‘Ike Mba’ which means ‘Power of the People’? Why negativise Tinubu’s with ‘si’? Àtòhúnrìnwá! You can honour the president with chieftaincy titles without calling him an…

The shame of Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa road By Lasisi Olagunju

Emporium Reporters

Mr Dele Alake represents Ekiti State in the Federal Executive Council. Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola represents Osun State in the Federal Executive Council. Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo represents Ondo State in the Federal Executive Council. All three of them are the president’s core men. Each time the council sits and approves federal roads for reconstruction in states other than theirs, what goes on in their minds? They are very powerful ministers but all federal roads that lead to their states are decrepit and abandoned. And they know. So, what is the problem?…

Aso Rock’s voodoo statistics and my friend, Al Venter By Festus Adedayo

Emporium Reporters

A couple of months ago, history walked on its two legs into my feeble embrace. When it did, I never knew it was Providence’s own way of anticipating Nigerian Aso Rock’s nauseating historical revisionism. History’s embrace had come by the way of a terse mail I received from foremost online medium, Premium Times. The newspaper had been sent an enquiry from a South African British author on February 7, 2025, “wanting to make contact with one of your Op-Ed writers, Festus Adedayo.” The enquirer described himself as “an old Africa…

A WORD FOR PETER OBI ON EDO ELECTION. By Kassim Afegbua

Emporium Reporters

To say that he is garrulous may be an overreach, but he comes across as a man with no scruples; one whose intellectuality is drab, and understanding of issues, somewhat limited. He makes statements before weighing their implications. Since Peter Obi garnered this nascent Obidient movement for the 2023 election, he maintains a belief that he can conquer most voters, and ride like a rollercoaster to Aso Villa. His political strategies are as pedestrian as the thought process that bakes them. He’s been jumping from one party to another looking…

Which Among His Favours Are We Denying?, by Hassan Gimba

Emporium Reporters

I borrowed my headline from a surah in the Holy Qur’an Suratul Rahman. Ar-Rahman in English means “The Beneficent”, and is known for its repetition of the phrase “Then which of your Lord’s favours will you both deny?”, Surah Ar-Rahman, with 78 ayats (verses), is the 55th chapter (surah) in the Qur’an. Surah Ar-Rahman, a Makkiya (revealed in Makkah), was unveiled in the early stages of the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) prophethood. This revelation underscores Allah’s mercy, numerous blessings, and gifts upon humanity, fostering gratitude and recognition of His power. The recurring question, “Which…

Baba Reuben Fasoranti at 99 By Festus Adedayo

Emporium Reporters

Today, icon of Akure Kingdom in Ondo State, foremost Yoruba leader and one of the major twines holding together the Yoruba nation, Baba Reuben Famuyide Fasoranti, clocks 99 years on earth. Born on May 11, 1926, Fasoranti is also a noteworthy bridge linking the highly romanticized First Republic politics and governance to the current order of things. Fasoranti’s political trajectory and ideology are deeply rooted in progressivism and Yoruba ideals and principles. As a politician, he affiliated with and imbibed the political philosophy of Yoruba’s ancestor, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Through…