Author: Chief Editor

Tunde Odesola Five monsters orbited around the dark universe of the doomed Goodluck Jonathan administration. The monsters were corruption, impotence, indifference, arrogance and wastefulness, all symbolising the five fingers of a leprous hand. From its outset in 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party left no one in doubt about where it stood on corruption as several retiring rogue military generals shed their dollar-strewn khakis and transmuted into sparkling white umbrella-dotted agbada amid mischievous winks and conspiratory grins, belching, “Nigeria na we own.” The PDP was corrupt; it spent billions of dollars on invisible power supply during the eight years of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo…

BY ALEX OTTI Chinua Achebe was arguably the greatest writer of our time. His works remain evergreen and have been translated into numerous languages across the world. One of his titles that I can never get tired of reading is ‘Things Fall Apart’, the epochal tale of how the near perfect Igbo society was torn apart and its values destroyed by the arrival of the colonialists. One interesting episode he related in the book was about Obiakor, the palm wine tapper who, at some point quit his job, ostensibly after the oracle had advised him to stop climbing palm trees…

Say name of outfit derogatory, abusive   Insist on community policing South-east govs ask state assemblies to enact laws on joint security outfit, write FG The plan by the Coalition of Northern Group (CNG) to establish a local security outfit known as “Shege Ka Fasa” as the region’s equivalent of Amotekun in the South-west has hit a brick wall as northern governors have rejected the initiative, THISDAY investigation has revealed. The governors who also described the name of the outfit as derogatory, indicated their preference for community policing to secure the region. Their rejection came a few days after the Sultan of…

Football is, without a doubt, one of the most popular games in the world right now. And while it is an extremely pleasing experience for the fans to watch their team win a game, the beautiful game also amply rewards the players who put in the efforts on the pitch. Footballers are generally quite well paid and some of the greatest footballers in the world do earn extraordinary salaries. L’Equippe recently published the list of the ten highest-paid footballers in the world right now, based on their monthly salaries before tax. Interestingly, the list is heavily dominated by players who ply…

Premier League clubs are queuing up to sign Jadon Sancho. But, Borussia Dortmund will not be rushed in parting with the England teenager. Dortmund are reportedly determined to make the most of a strong Euro 2020 for the 19-year-old. TOP STORY – DORTMUND WON’T RUSH SANCHO SALE Borussia Dortmund will take their time over selling in-demand star Jadon Sancho amid links to Manchester United and Chelsea, reports 90min. Sancho is a player in demand, with Premier League giants United and Chelsea interested in luring the 19-year-old back to England. Bundesliga outfit Dortmund, however, are keen to maximise Sancho’s transfer value after Euro 2020. ROUND-UP…

The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi If there is anything that points to the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari may not be getting a full brief on the security situation in the country, it was his expression of shock on Tuesday regarding the level of criminality across Nigeria. Incidentally, the president spoke 24 hours after Senate President Ahmed Lawan made his own lamentation about the growing lawlessness that pervades the entire country. But while it is encouraging that those in authority are finally coming to terms with the general climate of insecurity, any effort to address the situation must be holistic…

DIALOGUE WITH NIGERIA BY AKIN OSUNTOKUN In a manner of speaking, I sympathise with the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. He appears to be labouring under the burden of the distress of a double barell syndrome.The first layer of the syndrome is that the more untenable and unpopular the government they serve gets, the more the media managers and promoters are stressed and prone to lose composure, driven to extremes and lapse into incoherence in defence of the indefensible -lashing out left, right and centre in blind aggravation.Their sense of proportion and…

Death toll hits 170 as 8,000 cases reported worldwide The World Health Organisation (WHO) thursday declared a global emergency on the outbreak of the New Coronavirus, whose eruption first started in the Chinese town of Wuhan. The global health coordinator said the disease now represents a risk beyond China, where the first outbreak occurred last month. thursday’s declaration represented a U-turn in WHO’s pronouncement last week to delay such a declaration, a report by the New York Times said. According to WHO, since its pronouncement last week, thousands of new cases in China and clear human-to-human transmission in several other…

Govt: Security threats beyond arms, ammunition or robbery and gangsterism Jonathan expresses concern about poor security The federal government thursday called for the collaboration of Nigerians with the federal government and its agencies in the fight against the rising wave of insecurity threatening peace and stability in the country. Briefing journalists at the end of the first Security Council meeting in 2020, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in the State House, Abuja, National Security Adviser, (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd.), described the security crisis as complex, external, internal and multi-dimensional. The meeting came a day after the National…

Justice Abubakar Kutigi of an Abuja High Court thursday ordered the arrest of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Dan Etete; one Munamuna Seidouugha and Joseph Amaran, over their roles in the $1.09 billion Settlement Agreement on the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL 245), better known as Malabu oil deal. He gave the order in a ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The ex-parte application was brought pursuant to Section 3, 35, 36 and 37 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015. Justice Kutigi also granted bail in the sum of N50…