Browsing: Reuben Abati

This is my third commentary on the Coronavirus pestilence (see “E ku Corona o” – ThisDay, March 3, and “Amala and the Coronavirus patient” – ThisDay, March 10), and now, three weeks later, the most important subject still remains this mysterious plague that has changed the way we live, the way we think,

The Buhari administration has given Nigerians a most unusual and disturbing New Year Gift in the form of a proposed increase in electricity tariffs, enforceable from April by the Electricity Distribution Companies and to be completed by the end of 2021, with the full backing of the regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. What happened? I am in a state of shock.

One of the major indications of the dysfunctional nature of the Nigerian social and political ecosystem is what can be best summarized in pidgin English as the “Na my brother dey there” syndrome. It is the politics of proximity by another name, the thinking by an average Nigerian that he or she is much safer,

President Muhammadu Buhari brought the issue of constituency projects to public attention when at an event organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, in November, he lamented that there is very little evidence or benefit to the grassroots of the One Trillion Naira that had been earmarked for constituency projects in the last 10 years.

“God has been so kind, the only way I can show my gratitude to Him is to use my resources to support those who are underprivileged. This I intend to do for the rest of my life. In a world full of conflicts, diseases, calamities and inequality, we all need to show the milk of human kindness, to reach out and comfort the sick and give a helping hand to the weak.”

No one is in any doubt that terrorism poses one of the gravest threats to humanity in today’s world. Here in Nigeria, within a decade and a little, unconscionable acts of violence by persons pursuing heinous ideological, religious, and political objectives have resulted in wanton destruction of lives and property, making Nigeria one of the most difficult places to be in the world,

Today marks the 59th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from British colonial rule. On Saturday, October 1, 1960, Nigerians gathered at the Race Course (now Tafawa Balewa Square) in Lagos as Princess Alexandra, the representative of Her Majesty the Queen of England handed over the instruments and symbols of independence to Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. It was 12.01am as the Nigerian flag of green white green was hoisted. It was a high moment for Nigeria. It was a major turning point since the amalgamation of 1914. It marked Nigeria’s exit from colonial, imperial rule. It was the birth of a new, independent nation.

They include, in this particular regard, Reno Omokri, Facts vs. Fiction: The Story of the Jonathan Years, Chibok, 2015 and the Conspiracies (2017); Olusegun Adeniyi, Against the Run of Play: How an incumbent President was Defeated in Nigeria (2017); Bolaji Abdullahi, On A Platter of Gold (2017); Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story behind the Headlines (2018); and Goodluck Jonathan, My Transition Hours (2018).