Reuben ABATI
Features
Lessons from Adeosungate
Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance (2015-2018), Kemi Adeosun threw in her letter of resignation on Friday, September 14, to bring to a temporary closure, the public outcry and the embarrassment that her possession of a fake National Youth Service more
2019: A brief manual of Nigerian politics
For the benefit of any outsider who may never have witnessed Nigeria’s general elections, the type that is ahead, I offer in this brief note, a description of what to expect, what is already happening in the context of the character, content and more
Buhari, 2019 elections and the law
President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly declared in China, last Sunday, that he believes in the idea of free and fair elections, and that he is committed to this pillar of the democratic process. I don’t expect him to say anything otherwise. more
Rule of Law: The President got it wrong
It is unfortunate that the most important statement made so far at the on-going Annual Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association, an outright derogation of the supremacy of the rule of law, has not yet generated any coherent response from either the more
A dry Sallah and other stories
“Baba is back, we thank God” “You have started your mischief again. Baba said he will be back in two weeks, and he is back, so what is special about that?” “You know sometimes when the President goes to London like that, we may then be told that more
Dauragate and the shame of a nation
The week that just passed will for long be remembered as perhaps the most momentous week in the history of the Muhammadu Buhari administration since 2015. Exactly a week ago, officers of the Department of State Security Services (DSS), acting under more
The Asaba disgrace
Shame on all the local organisers of the just concluded 21st Africa Senior Athletics Championships held in Asaba, Delta State tagged #Asaba2018 for spending N4 billion of the Nigerian taxpayers’ money to procure disgrace, and embarrassment for more
Understanding APC and the crisis of defections
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the “factional” leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reportedly asked Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki to resign his position as Senate President. What exactly does the Comrade want Saraki to more
Hadi Sirika and the return of Nigeria Airways
One of the usual features on Nigerian social media is the nostalgic passion with which Nigerians often distribute pictures of the old Nigeria Airways and how that company once considered one of the best in Africa was mismanaged and made to fail. more
The Adebayo Adedeji example
Professor Adebayo Adedeji, the towering intellectual, scholar, pan-Africanist, international civil servant and pioneer Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations more
In defence of the Fulani in our midst
In the last two weeks, over 200 persons in Plateau State were reportedly killed by Fulani herdsmen, 45 villages were ransacked and sacked and those villages we are told have been taken over by Fulanis, and the original owners have had to flee from more
Ten years after Lamidi Adedibu
It has been ten years since the self-styled “strong man of Ibadan politics,” Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu, died. He died on June 11, 2008. I do not recall seeing many tributes or advertisements in the newspapers or other media commemorating more
Super Eagles and Marcus the pig at the World Cup
I think Nigeria probably stands a chance of doing better in this World Cup if all the arm-chair coaches on social media can be blocked and all the fine girls with corruption-laden body parts can be banned from sending Direct Messages to the Super more
“Just do good”: A June 12 story
I used to have a friend we called Alhaji Bashy. He was not a Muslim. No. But he called himself Alhaji Bashy, even if that was not his real name. You want to know his real name? It was Theophilus. And his wife was named Ruth. His children? He was yet more
Buhari and the June 12 saga
There are three aspects - the strategic, the political and the legal - to the Federal Government’s decision to replace May 29 with June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day, and to confer on the late Chief MKO Abiola, the highest honour in the land. more
The impending implosion of APC
Just take the phrase: “impending” in the title above with a pinch of salt. I use the word because in politics as in life, things happen - as seemingly absolute situations become redeemable and what originally appears impossible could be the catalyst more
2019 and the politics of campaign finance
Each Governor was reportedly asked by the ruling APC party to bring N250 million ahead of the party’s National Convention. When the public protested, recently, the party disclaimed the news even if it added that it was the responsibility of members more
OPL 245: The most popular oil block
The Petroleum Act 1969 (as amended) grants powers to the Ministry of Petroleum, acting through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to administer the licensing of oil blocks in the country. These include Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL), Oil more
Buhari’s impeachment: Mission impossible
The Chairmen of the Committees on Public Accounts in the National Assembly – Kingsley Chinda (House of Representatives, PDP Rivers, Obio/Akpor Constituency) and Mathew Urhoghide (Senate, PDP Edo South) - have both had cause to ask the respective more
2019: Nigeria’s emerging political leaders
A strong indication of both the quality and failure of politics in Nigeria, as the people look forward to the next general elections in 2019, is the manner in which virtually “every” Nigerian believes that he or she is good enough to be President of more