Northern-Nigeria Perspective

Thirty-two years ago, Nigeria stood on the cusp of greatness. The winds of democratic change were sweeping through Africa, and all eyes turned to our nation with hope — hope that Nigeria would rise as a beacon of liberty, justice, and self-determination. I was privileged to be an active participant in that defining chapter, which culminated in a historic election that captured the imagination of the world and reshaped our political destiny. It was a moment of great promise — and great sacrifice. The political class made painful compromises, but it was the Nigerian people who bore the heaviest burden. They yearned for a new democratic order, and many paid dearly for it. I, too, made my fair share of sacrifices, most notably setting aside my own presidential ambition in deference to the late Chief MKO Abiola — a gesture made in faith and fidelity to a higher national cause. But others gave far more. The late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, Tafida Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Alfred Rewane — t...

For over a quarter of a century, Nigeria had not seen a master political strategist like Tinubu. He is a damn cool political customer that perfected the art of manipulating political friends and foes alike, using machinations that borders on capitalizing on polical greed, corrupt stance and selfish inclinations of our political elites. Forget the NADECO days and the self imposed exile, or even the brief stint at the National Assembly as Distinguished Senator, he launched the first step of realizing his ambition to rule the country by contesting and winning the Lagos State Governorship in 1999. You must give Tinubu credit for transforming Lagos in his two terms through pragmatic strategy of surrounding himself with some of the best minds and technocrats Lagos can offer at the time. He withstand the high-handedness of Obasanjo as he choked Lagos revenues by freezing it's Local government funds for two years. Tinubu not only launched himself but his human machinery, hoping...

*Title:* The Criminals in Suits and the Silence of the Educated *To the ones they tried to fool with flags and degrees,* We’ve spent decades pointing at the man with a gun in the forest.  The rebel with no ideology. The boy who hijacks trucks on a dusty highway. *But I’ve lived long enough to know, that’s not the real enemy.* The real enemy sits in boardrooms and conference halls.  The real criminal wears a suit, speaks fluent English, and calls his theft *policy reform.* You see them on TV.  *They smile as they announce the privatization of water, electricity, a state owned institutions.* They celebrate budget cuts to public schools in the name of *“fiscal responsibility.”*  *They sign mineral rights away for fifty years, then fly to Geneva for a climate conference.* They don’t carry *AK-47s.* They carry pens.  And the blood doesn’t spill fast, it spills slow, across generations. *They Kill Us With Policy* They called it SAP; *Structural Adjustment ...