Author: Chief Editor

Tottenham coach Jose Mourinho will not countenance them ever “being considered title contenders” despite being two points off Premier League leaders Everton after Monday’s win at Burnley. Spurs fans could be forgiven for thinking otherwise after the scratchy 1-0 victory at Turf Moor propelled them up to fifth in the table. They are also the top scorers in the league with 16 goals from six games. Although considered a member of the ‘big six’ Spurs have not won a trophy since the 2008 League Cup, and their last league title came in 1961. Mourinho’s predecessor Mauricio Pochettino gave them hope…

By REUBEN ABATI Things went out of hand very quickly with the emerging Nigerian “revolution” when on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, soldiers stormed the Lekki Toll Gate Plaza in Lagos, and started shooting. We were told they shot in the air. But the reports have been conflicting and troubling. The protesters insist that persons died, and that the attack was pre-meditated. The state authorities insist that persons were injured and that there were no corpses; may be just one. They made it sound as if one person dying was nothing to worry about. Nigeria is a country of over 200…

There are critics and there are critics. Some Critics criticise for the fun of it. Others do so to be noticed. Yet, some others do so for altruistic reasons. Yours sincerely falls into this last category. As a Social Critic, Human Rights Activist and Pro-democracy Campaigner (leave out the Lawyer and Writer in me), I criticise and critique governments and their actions, with a view to making our country and society better. I use available and unassailable data, backed with hard cold facts, law, logic and common sense. I do this from a non-blurred set of analytical binoculars; akin to…

I just had, most humbly, the misfortune, of reading the 27 paragraph national broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari. I had guffawed when many Nigerians awaited the speech with great expectations and bated animation, believing erroneously, that, like I had humbly advised President Buhari yesterday, he would roll out drums of empathy for our slain innocent youths and their grieving families. I told them not to expect any calming or balming speech of reconciliation and empathy. Buhari did not disappoint me. His national address was devoid of sympathy, empathy, fatherly feelings, or even the mere milk of human kindness for a…

A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo, has urged the federal government to allow the youth to be at the fore in making and implementing policies for the country. Soludo said this in an article he wrote regarding the uprising by the youth against police brutality and the call for better governance. The professor of economics, who said his daughter had fallen victim to the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), added that he has been protesting for a better Nigeria since he was 19 years old. Soludo asked the federal government to “exploit the…

Residents of Osun have deserted major streets in different towns as banks and businesses, remained closed on Monday, in compliance to the curfew imposed by the state government on Saturday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent reports that joint security personnel were enforcing the curfew imposed on the state as roads were deserted, vehicular and human movements were also affected and restricted by the curfew. Soldiers were seen enforcing the curfew order at the popular Olaiya junction in Osogbo and its adjoining roads with checkpoints. Commercial activities were totally grounded too as no shop or business centre opens for…

The President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, has assured Nigerian youths that the National Assembly will collaborate with the Executive to ensure justice for victims of misconduct and rights abuses by personnel of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police. This is just as a member of the National Assembly, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the reported killings associated with the #EndSARS youth protests at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos last week. Lawan, who gave the assurance in a statement he personally signed on Monday, said the legislative arm…

The National Christian Elders Forum, being piloted by a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), and other statesmen, has demanded that Nigeria should be renegotiated. The NCEF also said the #EndSARS protests in the country was mismanaged by the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), because the army was released against unarmed protesters in the country. While demanding that whoever authorised the deployment of troops to face the protesting youths should be court-marshalled for murder, the organisation said the government should take advantage of the protests rejecting police brutality to introduce state police. These were contained in…

Tunde Odesola With a trap-like mouth comprising 80 spiky teeth, death is the smile on the face of an adult crocodile. In a dramatised circus that pledged to protect lives, limbs and fatherland, the Nigerian military, on Saturday, October 17, 2020, embraced the crocodile and its smile when it launched Operation Crocodile Smile. Like the smile of the crocodile which hides evil intentions, the Nigerian military, on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, wore peace-keeping camouflage and uncaged its smiling crocodile of death at the Lekki Tollgate Plaza, Lagos, to eat up innocent Nigerian children. Ironically, while Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram…

EZE ONYEKPERE The #EndSARs peaceful protest has come and gone as it has been called off by its promoters. In the protest, there were clear challenges and threats leading to adversity.  But in every adversity, there is a silver lining of lessons and opportunities unleashed, which if carefully identified and tapped will lead to a more prosperous future while guaranteeing that the labour of our heroes past and present will never be in vain. This discourse seeks to tabulate the adversities while listing the opportunities thrown up which can be tapped for a more secure future. Even though the promoters…