Nigeria Village Square

Grandpa in Politics: The Necessity of Sober Reflection

The good news for Professor Ango Abdullahi is that no Nigerian who has followed his history of public utterances since the 1980s runs the risk of accusing him falsely of being blessed with the ability to place reflection before speech.

NATION BUILDING: HOW WE MISSED THE PLOT

It took me by surprise. Well, since it is the refrain that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable it was unusual for someone so highly placed to say the British should have seen so clearly how different we are as peoples, North and South of Nigeria.

Jonathan’s Half-Time: Club Down, Manager Out

May 6th 2013 would make it 3 years since Goodluck Ebele Jonathan became president of Nigeria. As an elected government, the administration would be celebrating its second anniversary next week.

Chinua Achebe Can Only Be Immortalised On The Altar Of Social Justice

For a man like Achebe who abhorred and indeed battled the Nigerian government over corruption and misrule, it is nothing short of an abomination to propose as some dubious politicians are doing the naming of Nigerian roads or institutions afte

THE WOOLWICH MURDER AND WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT ALL OF US

Some lone radical extremists high on drugs commit a crime and everyone and their grandfathers becomes an extremist expert. It is particularly galling to hear some sanctimonious nonsense being spouted about by some uninformed, half educated

What Happens After (During) the State of Emergency?

Many who have quite rightly praised President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe — strongholds of Boko Haram’s wasting war against a secular Nigeria — will be forgiven for