Category: Opinion

Now is not the time to talk of separation By Hassan Gimba

Emporium Reporters

The calls for Nigeria to dissolve into its various parts have never been this high. The call is more strident in the Southern part of the country. In the South East, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is calling for autonomy of the zone, populated by the Igbo. In the South West, there are also such calls. The North, too, is not left out as many stakeholders align with those who think it is not worth remaining in a union with those who no longer want it.   In the…

LUGARD AS PASTOR ADEFARASIN’S ELECTORAL ACT AMENDMENT DEVIL By Festus Adedayo

Emporium Reporters

Seventy six years after his death on April 11, 1945 and cremation at the Woking Crematorium, Woking Borough in Surrey, England, poor Frederick John Dealtry Lugard has been killed many times thereafter by Nigerians. Though he died peacefully at the age of 87, having been born on January 22, 1858, this soldier, administrator and author, born in Fort St. George, Madras, India, raised at Worcester and educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, has remained one of the most vilified colonial officers in Nigeria. His presiding over Nigeria’s incongruous matrimonial…

JUSTICE IN A PLURAL SOCIETY                By Taofiq Adesina Azeez

Emporium Reporters

Text of a Lecture delivered at the 90th Birthday Programme of Pa Justice Gabsiyu Ademola Bakre on Saturday 17th July,2021 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria Introduction The basis of creation and the fulfilment of the WORDS of Allaah is Justice. Without it, Religious activities are fake and of no value. Al-An’am 6:115 وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًاۚ لَّا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَٰتِهِۦۚ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in TRUTH and in JUSTICE. None can alter His words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing. The…

‘WHY NIGERIAN POLITICIANS HATE ROBUST JOURNALISM’

Emporium Reporters

‘Let us not get it twisted, there will never be a cosy relationship between state actors and good journalists. And so whenever you see that state actors and journalists are harping on a buzzword, ‘we are partners in progress’, there must have been a compromise against the people. Journalism isn’t public relations. Journalism exists to scrutinise and question deviations, monitor governance and hold state and non-state actors to account, doubt and probe questionable reputation and integrity. Public relations goal is to manage reputation and control damage done to reputation perhaps…

Makinde magic in Oyo and the feedback from Alaafin By Moses Alao

Emporium Reporters

During the past week, His Imperial Majesty, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, upturned the apple cart of the opposition politicians in Oyo State. Kabiyesi lauded the efforts of the Oyo State Governor, His Excellency, ‘Seyi Makinde, in developing the state across different areas. But, he specifically hit the opposition elements where it pained the most, singling out the areas of the policies of the Makinde administration in terms of worker-friendliness and prompt payment of salaries and pensions since he took office in May 2019. This is one…

Why APC politicians are terrified by e-transmission of votes By Farooq A. Kperogi

Emporium Reporters

The political elites of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have chosen to regress to the stone age in matters of election at a time that Nigeria is relentlessly digitalizing in every other sphere. Banking is now almost entirely digitized, POS vendors have become ever-present fixtures in even the remotest Nigerian village, ecommerce is now mainstream, national standardized tests such as the UTME are now wholly electronic, and the Communication and Digital Economy Ministry insists that every phone in the country should be linked to citizens’ National Identification Number.  …

Why LG election is key to Engineer Sule’s development agenda By Ali Abare

Emporium Reporters

The Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission ( NASIEC), in line with its constitutional mandate, has since sounded the gong, for political parties and actors, to take up the gauntlet and to enter the ring, ahead of the October 6 local government election.   Indeed, the atmosphere in and around Nasarawa State, especially Lafia, the state capital, has become electrified, as political aspirants and their supporters, rode in motorcades, in time to meet up with the NASIEC timeline of events, particularly, picking their nomination and expression of interest forms.   Thus,…

Petroleum Industry Bill: What it  meant for Nigeria. By Hon Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya 

Emporium Reporters

Before PIB was tabled before the National Assembly in 2007,  Nigeria does not have a comprehensive law for the administration of the sector but has about 16 Petroleum Acts many of which overlapped in functions and responsibilities. The Nation’s oil industry  is being governed by laws enacted more than 50 years ago which has extremely not conversant with current   oil and gas reality. Even though a splinter Bill named the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB),  was passed in 2018 by the 8th National Assembly, but failed to receive the prerequisite…

Still On the Usifo/Chidinma Case By Olawale Olaleye

Emporium Reporters

I wore a goofy smile minutes ago, when I read that the police had reportedly made more arrests in the murder of Mr. Usifo Ataga and were gradually concluding there might be some collusion after all. This, of course, establishes my displeasure with the police at inception over their initial parade of Miss Chidinma Ojukwu and access to the media, because it was too premature and that almost messed things up. But after her recent celebrity interview with Crime Fighters, where she made a volte face, many people had started…

Why Islam is different in Yorubaland and Hausaland By  Farooq Kperogi 

Emporium Reporters

 Popular narratives about Nigeria, particularly in the West, routinely dichotomize the country into a “Muslim North” and a “Christian South”. But this dichotomization elides many subtleties, such as the fact that Muslims enjoy a numerical dominion in Yorubaland in southwestern Nigeria and that Christians predominate in many northcentral states and in the northeastern state of Taraba. This piece looks at Islam in Yorubaland and how it differs from Islam in Hausaland. It is a little known fact that Yoruba and Hausa people share a common, age-old Muslim heritage even though…