Investigative journalist ‘FISAYO SOYOMBO spent two weeks in detention — five days in a Police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, beginning from the moment of arrest by the Police to the point of release by the prison. To experience the workings of the system in its raw [...]
'Fisayo Soyombo
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Investigative journalist ‘FISAYO SOYOMBO spent two weeks in detention — five days in a Police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, beginning from the moment of arrest by the Police to the point of release by the prison. To experience the workings of the system in its raw [...]
Investigative journalist ‘FISAYO SOYOMBO spent two weeks in detention — five days in a Police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, beginning from the moment of arrest by the Police to the point of release from prison. To experience the workings of the system in its raw state, [...]
Anyone who followed the national new minimum wage negotiations between the organised Labour and the Federal Government at the peak in November 2018 would have known, as they say in Nigerian street lingo, that it would “end in tears”. While receiving the report of the Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage from the Chairman, Amal Pepple, on November 7, 2018, [...]
In August 2018, one month after I ‘moved’ into a rented apartment, Ikeja Electric sent me a power consumption bill in excess of N22,000. This was daylight robbery; I knew there was no chance I’d consumed a quarter of that — because even though the house was mine, it also wasn’t. What Ikeja Electric didn’t know was that it was [...]
There are many things I wanted to write about from last week, but I can’t, otherwise I’ll end up in jail. Since the Department of State Services (DSS) charged Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of SaharaReporters, to court for “insulting” President Muhammadu Buhari, among other allegations, the message from the presidency has been loud and clear enough: insult the President, go to [...]
I have a distant acquaintanceship with Seun Onigbinde, meaning, if I wanted to, I could have privately congratulated him on his appointment as Technical Adviser (Budget & Planning) to the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning. My congratulations to Onigbinde will be public, via this critical piece. If he accepts it in good faith, he would have successfully [...]
For the first time ever, Nigeria-based Nigerians gave a violent response to the killing and maiming of their countrymen in South Africa. South African enterprises, the most unfortunate being food retailer Shoprite and telco MTN, were targeted, leading to the destruction of property and obstruction of trade. In some instances, innocent Nigerian shoppers and business owners were affected. The attacks [...]
On Tuesday, the United States announced a hike in the cost of visa application for Nigerians. The US Consulate in Nigeria didn’t mince words in explaining the move: The total cost for a US citizen to obtain a visa to Nigeria was higher than the total cost for a Nigerian to obtain a comparable visa to the United States. The [...]
The last 10 days have been very damaging for Nigeria’s already-battered international image. The spark was Obinwanne Okeke, once remembered for his listing by Forbes among the 100 Most Influential Young Africans 2018 but now an emblem of dirty wealth, following his arrest by the FBI over an $11 million advanced internet scam traced to him. This was followed by [...]
If we didn’t know better, we would have thought the subject of such effusive praise on his 78th birthday is a leader in the mould of the great Nelson Mandela. Abubakar Bello, Governor of Niger State, described him as “the legend of our time… not only an exceptional and exemplary leader but also as a peacemaker of international repute”. Ifeanyi [...]
If you believe the Army’s explanations about the killing of three policemen and a civilian in Taraba last week, please lend me your innocence. It probably means you have enough to go round the country! I have written about it before: when the Army writes, it cannot be trusted. Simple. At best the Army’s statements are half-truths; other times they’re [...]
It’s the scheduled day for the 21-state #RevolutionNow protests championed by activist Omoyele Sowore who, as he must have expected, is currently in Department of State Services (DSS) detention. Ordinarily, talks at the moment should be centred around the possibility of the protests to achieve its long list of targets, which, it must be emphasised, excludes a regime overthrow. But [...]
When youth corps member Precious Owolabi and Deputy Commissioner of Police Usman Umar were felled by protest-ground bullets, we thought we had seen the anticlimax to last week’s clashes between the Islamic Movement of Nigerian (IMN) and security agents. Speaking in tangible terms, we were probably right.A budding journalist still trying to make sense of his profession and a [...]
When President Muhammadu Buhari is sworn in on Wednesday for a second consecutive democratic term in office, it will be a low-key affair: no pomp or pageantry, no retinue of world leaders.In practice, this is due to Buhari’s admittedly smart decision to officially recognise June 12 — rather than May 29 — as Nigeria’s Democracy Day in honour of [...]
Had everything gone to plan, a new or recycled Nigerian President would have emerged by now. But it wasn’t to be. Roughly five hours to the scheduled commencement of voting on Saturday morning, Mahmood Yakubu, a Professor and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced a one-week postponement, citing sabotage, bad weather and other logistical challenges. But the [...]
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