Category: Opinion

I am going to play a dangerous little game this morning. It will make the BATists happy—at least for a moment—the Obidients furious, and the cynics exclaim, “Ṣé bí we told you? All politicians are the same. He don dey look for job!” Gbogbo wọn ò gbádùn.   Well, let the game begin.   I am a member of the APC. I am, however, not of the Emilokan persuasion. I am not endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term, just as I am not prepared to endorse any…

Hope springs eternal, and with elections just days away to determine the next governor of Osun State, we should strive to keep the hope alive. The saber-rattling, threats and counter-threats should stop because everyone in the state is a bonafide stakeholder. Whatever the outcome of the election, it is meant to prepare for the future. For those who care to know, the future is important for, right now, Osun State – to be fair, like a lot of states – is socioeconomically wounded, and the task of finding its bearing…

The Nigerian Presidency has announced a seven-week roadmap for the drafting of the National Policing Bill.   According to the Presidency, the executive-backed process will include a period for public consultation during which Nigerians are expected to submit memoranda before the final draft is presented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on September 3, 2026, ahead of its transmission to the National Assembly.   While HallowMace Africa welcomes every genuine effort aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s policing architecture and improving internal security, we are compelled to raise important constitutional and democratic questions…

HISTORY has never been kind to institutions that mistake political opportunism for moral clarity. When the leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), led by Most Rev. Matthew Ndagoso, accompanied by Archbishop Emeritus John Cardinal Onaiyekan, stepped into the State House on July 28, 2026, Nigerians expected a high-minded, clinical, and ecclesiastical engagement.   Every religious leader who chooses to intervene in political debate assumes a delicate responsibility. The moral influence of the clerical office depends upon being seen as independent of every political tendency. The moment public…

A grandson of Uganda’s former military ruler, Idi Amin Dada, is Aziz Abdul, better known as “Ringo.” Like his grandfather, the young Ugandan is a super-heavyweight boxer who competed at the Commonwealth Games, which ended yesterday, August 2. He left the ring at the weekend convinced that he had been denied victory by a biased referee. Reflecting on the defeat in an interview with the BBC, Ringo recalled the boxing philosophy his grandfather often preached: “Don’t try to win on points—you will be cheated. Knock out your opponent, so the…

The Arbiter America, or Trump (these days they are interchangeable), fresh from bullying Venezuela, arrogantly thought it could replicate that in Iran. Seeing that Iran had a different chemistry from Venezuela, it devised a more sinister approach. It killed the country’s spiritual leader and a string of its military leaders. It thought the regime would collapse, enabling it to balkanise the country into fragments, making it difficult for them to come together again in a hundred years.   But if there is a honey badger nation, that should be Iran.…

For Nigerians old enough to remember the 1990s, the phrase “Who build dis gada here?” was proudly hung on Brigadier General Raji Rasaki as his lasting moniker. A former military governor of Ogun, Ondo, and Lagos States, Brigadier Rasaki acquired this viral nickname in the aftermath of an on-site inspection of public works in Lagos. With his fold-able swagger stick held firmly in hand and a penetratingly authoritative aura, Rasaki was touring project sites when, in the searing baritone of military overlords, he loudly demanded of a contractor in a…

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, grabbed the headlines recently. In a sensational repertoire, he alleged that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was “an unhealthy man” who, at the drop of a hat, junkets to French hospices. Lawal was not done. In the headline-grabbing interview, among other allegations, he claimed that Tinubu sprouts out smoke like an old British classic car, the Morris Minor. “The only thing I know he likes much is cigarettes, silk. He smokes. I don’t know whether he does it now. He…

Democracies are built not only on elections but also on institutions. While elections provide legitimacy, institutions provide stability and growth. The strongest democracies are those that balance the need for accountability with the need for continuity, recognising that enduring reforms often require consistent leadership to move from legislation to implementation. As political conversations gradually shift towards the next electoral cycle – 2027, Nigerians should therefore ask a fundamental question: when leadership has demonstrated measurable performance and is steering major national reforms, does changing that leadership necessarily serve the national interest?…