Author: Chief Editor

Abimbola Adelakun aadelakun@punchng.com On Monday, the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum expressed unqualified support for Aso Rock’s scheme to cudgel Nigeria’s social media ecosystem. This time, their ruse is “the devastating effect of the uncontrolled social media in spreading fake news.” They called “for major control mechanism and censorship of the social media practice in Nigeria.” The Northern governors’ scaremongering is not the first time social media would be demonised by Nigerian politicians seeking its ban. In the last five years, Nigeria’s lawmakers and the All Progressives Congress stalwarts have consistently expressed their myopias about social media. However, two fundamentals…

It was something they never bargained for. Yet, the reality is that the Lagos State House of Assembly and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu are currently in the eye of the storm in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests. Apart from the celebrated standoff at the prestigious Lekki Toll Plaza, the protest left tears and blood in its wake as it claimed many lives and property in the state and some parts of the country. Several citizens and residents of Lagos State are anxious to see how Governor Sanwo-Olu would wriggle out of the contradictory actions and statements associated with his handling…

Two Americans with Nigerian descent, Oye Owolewa, Esther Agbaje, and Nnamdi Chukwuocha have emerged victorious in the US elections held on Tuesday. While Agbaje won a House of Representatives seat in Minnesota, Owolewa was declared winner of the shadow election in the District of Columbia (DC). During elections, voters of the District of Columbia elect a shadow representative who is recognised as equivalent to US representatives by the District of Columbia, but the US government does not recognise the individual as an actual member of the House of Representatives. Owolewa scored a total of 164,026 votes, which represents 82.84 per…

By Olusegun adeniyi Almost everything you might expect from a presidential election in any Third World country were on full display in the days preceding Tuesday, November 3. Intimidation and thuggery on the streets of major cities occurred when supporters of the two candidates clashed. Threats of violence were made by militia groups should the result not conform to their expectations. Fears that the country could descend into chaos after the polls were demonstrated by businesses boarding up windows. Even ‘stomach infrastructure’ was on offer for prospective voters in some places. And concession in the event of a defeat was…

The year 2020 has been a very complicated one for Nigeria and the world-afflicted with the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic that has claimed its fair share of victims in Nigeria and involving severe socio-economic devastation as governments locked down societies; businesses lost revenues and profits; oil prices plunged as global demand for the commodity fell; and the Nigerian economy already suffering from low growth, high poverty and unemployment and fiscal strain saw things got worse precipitating a probable recession and the worsening of socio-economic indices. The predictable outcome was that the quality of life of the average Nigerian has gotten much…

As a possible measure to end political unrest in Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation, The Initiative for Transformative Policy and Inclusive Development (INTRAPID, Africa), has called for the reformation of Nigeria’s political process to meet the developmental needs of the country against the current culture of predatory leadership. In a press statement signed by the Executive Director of the organisation, Dr. Mike Omilusi, in Abuja Wednesday, titled: ‘Governance Failure and Youth Protest in Nigeria’, the organisation called for political reformation to meet the developmental needs of Nigerians. INTRAPID also identified with those calling for national inquiry of all people affected by…

Pep Guardiola welcomed the option of having a striker fit for Sunday’s blockbuster Premier League clash with Liverpool after Gabriel Jesus marked his return from injury with a goal to seal a 3-0 Champions League win over Olympiakos. City is cruising towards the last 16 of the competition after gaining maximum points from three games in Group C thanks in large part to Ferran Torres’ free-scoring form. The Spaniard became the third-youngest player to ever score in four straight Champions League games when he opened the scoring on 12 minutes. However, the English side has lacked a ruthless streak in…

Argentine football great Diego Maradona underwent successful brain surgery for a blood clot in a specialist private clinic in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, his doctor said. “We managed to successfully remove the clot. Diego coped well with the surgery,” Leopoldo Luque said at the icon’s private clinic in the capital Buenos Aires. “It’s under control, there’s a little drainage (of blood). He’ll remain under observation.” World Cup winner Maradona had been taken to hospital in La Plata — where he is the coach of top-flight side Gimnasia y Esgrima — on Monday for a series of tests after feeling unwell.…

The immediate past Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, has returned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the second round of interrogation. Fowler, who is also a former Chairman of the Lagos Inland Service, was on Monday quizzed by the EFCC in Lagos for over seven hours and was allowed to go home late at night on the condition that he returns yesterday. Confirming the development, the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said Fowler still had questions to answer hence his return to the commission. Uwujaren said, “He was allowed…

Urges FG to sharpen intelligence collection mechanism The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has appealed to members of the Academic Staff of Universities (ASUU) to suspend their ongoing strike. Fayemi has also called on the federal government to sharpen its intelligence gathering mechanism to curb insecurity. He urged the lecturers to consider the children of ordinary Nigerians attending the “local universities”. A statement from the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, quoted Fayemi as making the appeal in Ado-Ekiti when he received members of the Board of Trustees of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, led by…