Category: Opinion

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Abuja Chapter, has urged religious leaders, security agencies, and communities to join forces against rising insecurity and drug abuse in Nigeria, highlighting that these twin crises threaten the nation’s moral, social, and economic stability. The call came during a public lecture held on Saturday at the National Mosque Conference Hall, Abuja, titled “The Role of the Ummah in Addressing Insecurity and Drug Abuse in Nigeria.” The event drew a broad audience, including religious leaders, students, academics, civil society groups, and faith-based organizations, reflecting widespread concern…

The title of this commentary reflects a question asked wherever people gather – on buses, in bars, and at parties. Modern life revolves around the reliable provision of electricity, water and mass transit. Without power, the simple task of pumping water becomes nightmarish; relying on handheld pumps is a physically exhausting struggle.   Dealing with our so-called electricity distribution companies is like living through a series of ‘tales of the unexpected’. It is a tragicomedy of the highest order! Many have endured the harrowing frustration of failing to load prepaid…

Against the backdrop of hard data and lived realities, the analytical record of road traffic crashes between January and October 2025 when compared with the same period in 2024 tells a sobering story. Numbers may rise and fall, charts may stretch and contract, but one truth stands firm and frightening: nearly 85 percent of road traffic crashes during this period were speed-induced. Beyond the cold certainty of statistics, and behind every number, lies a human story abruptly interrupted a journey cut short, a promise broken, a family altered forever. Speed…

The recent revelations by the Nigeria Police Force concerning the tragic death of a female lawyer, Chigbo Princess Nwamaka Mediatrix, should shock the conscience of every resident of the Federal Capital Territory. According to police investigations, she was killed by a three-man “one-chance” gang operating a Volkswagen Golf that posed as a taxi for what should have been a routine 25-minute trip from Abuja city centre to Kubwa. The suspects reportedly confessed that once she entered the vehicle, the tinted windows were wound up, threats were issued, and demands for…

The Nigerian media is facing a credibility crisis, one that is deepening by the day and threatening its historic role as the conscience of society. Nowhere is this more evident than in the excessive and often distorted coverage of the impeachment crisis in Rivers State. What should have been reported as a serious constitutional and political development has instead become a marketplace of narratives, where cash inducements, sponsored “media chats,” and paid-for sympathies are increasingly shaping what Nigerians read, hear, and watch. Ordinarily, the politics of Rivers State, no matter…

To the north of Ibadan, on the way to Iseyin, is a village perpetually wearing mournful, forlorn looks. You must have some interest in Yoruba history to know that this community, at the height of its glory, was Ibadan’s arch-rival in might and riches. It is today called Orile Ijaiye but some 200 years ago, it was simply Ijaiye; it was also known as Ijaiye Kurunmi. Kurunmi was its leader who, in about 1830, with others, literally stole the town, complete with compounds, market and palace, from its original Egba…

I have just finished reading Prof. Chidi Odinkalu’s latest article in his continuing quest to sanitise a Nigerian judiciary that is generally perceived by the public to be corrupt and offers justice for sale. I was particularly fascinated by the title of the piece, “Mr Justice Steppin’ Razor,” being an allusion that instantly calls to mind the unusual refrain, “I am dangerous, said I am dangerous,” from Stepping Razor, the classic hit by Peter Tosh.   According to the learned Professor, the two justices, Flora Azinge and Polycarp Nwite, who…

Look around you. There is suffering. There is hunger. There is oppression. Our human potential is being wasted, insecurity deepens by the day, and the space for freedom and the simple enjoyment of life continues to shrink. Rich or poor, powerful or powerless, no Nigerian is insulated from the consequences of our wrong approach to nationhood.   As I write this, I am brutally reminded of my mortality and to number my days because the times are evil, as I am unable to freely move one of my arms and…

The Arbiter “And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient” – Qur’an 2:155   Iran, once known as ancient Persia, is home to 95 million people and boasts a civilisation stretching back 100,000 years. The Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE, has been around for over 2,500 years. Spanning a landmass larger than that of Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Spain combined, Iran stands as…