Opinion

From the first signs that Coronavirus, or COVID-19 was turning into an epidemic and was officially declared a world-wide emergency, the Federal Government started planning preventive, containment and curative measures in the event the disease hits Nigeria.

Were the English Premier League, or the La Liga, or even the Olympic Games to be on somewhere in the world, staying at home for two weeks during this most challenging period in human history, to wear off the destructive power of coronavirus would have been more tolerable for a chunk of the world.

Most of our 36 States Governors have so far done well in measures to combat COVID 19 and must be commended. Most of them, are leading by example and that is good.

Quite a challenging week it has been for Nigeria, and, indeed, the rest of the world. Except perhaps in China only, where the affliction started from, figures of Coronavirus infections continue to mount in other parts of the world. Italy and Spain have been particularly badly hit.

The Nollywood industry – which came to life in the early 1990s – is often seen as a natural heir to the Nigerian TV series which had already produced roughly 14,000 feature films in the previous decade

The recent reaction of the sacked governor of Imo state, Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, to the Supreme Court confirmation of Senator Hope Uzodimma as the duly elected governor of Imo state, was at best a self-deluding inglorious voyage totally blind to the truth, and at worst a hate speech.

His background in Islamic Studies at a leading Islamic University in Khatourm, the capital of Sudan, should have ordinarily perverted critical reasoning in him, paradoxically, the recently ‘deposed’ Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi 11, frantically utilized Islamic knowledge as an intellectual instrument to illuminate the dark sides of his society.

One of the big promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari in his campaign for Nigeria’s presidency is the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project.

I think solidarising in struggle is more rancour-proof than banding in victory. In 2013, the PDP galloped from one crisis to another until it imploded and lost power at the centre in 2015. The APC appears to be toeing the same path. Since the party cruised to power, it has been embroiled in tremulous wrangling.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on February 14, 2020, the Supreme Court of Nigeria sacked the Bayelsa State Governor-elect, David Lyon and his Deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo who had run on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

As I said in a column in June 2019, security is everybody’s business. No individual, group, institution or organisation is nugatory in matters of security. All efforts are needed and all hands must be forged into one fist in the pursuit of peace. In fact, it imperils security if any stakeholder to the peace is “quarantined” and stereotyped.

During an outing at 6:30 am last Friday to assess public institutions in Borno State, the Governor, Professor Babagana Umar Zulum, met Mrs Mazi Obiageli already at Shehu Sanda Kyarimi 2 Primary school under Jere local government education authority, waiting for her pupils.

Two weeks ago, the federal government announced the appointment of a new Football Ambassador for Nigeria. It did not come as a complete surprise because, somehow, I knew it was coming.

The supreme court of Nigeria has again awarded the governorship election in Bayelsa to the PDP. The APC won the governorship election but the supreme court nullified the candidacy of the APC on Thursday because the running mate of the APC governorship candidate presented forged certificate for the election.

Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Farida Waziri, presented her new book to the public in Abuja on Tuesday. I was privileged to have reviewed the book at the occasion.

Homily of His Lordship Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah at the Funeral Mass of Seminarian Michael Nnadi at Good Shepherd Seminary Kaduna (11th February 2020)

A study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) put the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria to 13.5 million – as of 2018. An unimpressive mass of this number comes from Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, and other northern states.

Nigerians everywhere, those of belief and those of none, are mourning the death of pastor Lawan Andimi, taken from us by Boko Haram for his refusal to denounce his Christian faith.