To be very honest, I thought President Goodluck Jonathan was going to rig the 2015 Presidential elections and that thought crept in from the day, Femi Fani-Kayode was made the spokesman of his Presidential campaign. FFK was a talking time bomb. Patience Jonathan's comments on how 'people dey born shidren troway for the other side' targeted at the north, stuck [...]
Umar Sa'ad Hassan
ON THE GO
Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on media, Garba Shehu, in a response to a statement by Phrank Shuaibu, the SA public communications to PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, said the late submission of handover notes by the Goodluck Jonathan administration was responsible for the late appointment of ministers.I remember citing the timing of the submission and the voluminous nature [...]
Five years after my NYSC, I still hold my boss in high esteem. Olumuyiwa Olowokure was not only understanding, patient and tolerant, he was courteous and very refined. He was a black oyibo. Oga O.O. it was who when he called me to his office with my law school gra-gra to ask how I thought a certificate relating to a [...]
President Buhari's most sensational comments since assuming office have come from outside Nigeria -- South Africa, the UK, Qatar and more recently, Poland. Unsurprisingly, most of the questions he has also been asked have been outside these shores. It appears he is too scared of the many questions that will be asked of him if he hosts a media chat [...]
President Buhari's decision to withdraw the sum of $1bn from the excess crude account to fight insecurity raised a lot of eyebrows. He was initially reported as saying the sum was specifically intended for the war against Boko Haram before Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo adjusted the rhetoric to 'fighting insecurity across the country'. Either way, government's priority had always been the [...]
Much back in the days when the military was still in power, it was a common sight for a soldier in a commercial bus popularly referred to as 'danfo' whether in uniform or mufti, to reply a conductor's request for bus fares with the word 'staff'. Like magic, the conductor moves on to other passengers and lets the man be.It [...]
It didn't make sense that Lawal Daura was acting without the knowledge of the Presidency when his operatives shut down the National Assembly on the 7th of August 2018. Particularly because the DSS with the help of some police officers had barricaded the residence of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and that of his deputy just days earlier.Nobody in [...]
The legality of President Buhari's Executive Order 6 (EO6) has been affirmed by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Abuja Federal high court and right now the most cries against EO6 seem to be centred around Buhari's cronies not listed among the 50 persons banned from travelling outside the country but a careful look at the constitution viz-a-viz EO6 would show [...]
Garba Shehu, the special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media, just a day ago made the first official reaction on behalf of the presidency to an allegation against its Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, of defrauding a contractor to the tune of N30 million in a transaction for the supply of 15 Hilux vans to the Aso Rock villa.Shehu [...]
One peculiar thing about the 2018 World Cup holding in Russia is the absence of a clear cut favourite. The Spaniards were tipped to win the 2010 edition right after their 2008 Euro Championship heroics and Brazil was hugely favoured to win at home in 2014. The small teams aren't quite small and the big teams don't act big. A [...]
Dear Mallam Garba Shehu,They say if your father is a garlic and your mother an onion, you can't smell good. Defending President Buhari's performance is practically impossible and no, it's not because he has assembled unarguably the worst media team ever seen, it is because he has set an unprecedented low for governance in Nigeria. That is a fact we [...]
BY UMAR SA'AD HASSANThat the Headies is still undoubtedly Nigeria's biggest music award is a testament to the work Ayo Animashaun and his Smooth Promotions company have put into the brand over the last 12 years. So much so that the Headies have not been shaken much by three successive controversial editions. [...]
The travails of Sen. Dino Melaye don't surprise anyone. As a matter of fact, it was always a question of when and how. Asides being a staunch critic of President Buhari, he also picked up a fight with a man who has said he will jump into fire if President Buhari asks him to; Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state. Dino [...]
WARNING: If you heard Buhari say a 'lot of Nigerian youths' but understood it to mean 'all nigerian youths' till date,you may not like this. The edited version of President Buhari's comments at the Commonwealth leaders meeting has become the accepted one and that is very worrying.It is the new trend on social and even regular media for young working Nigerians [...]
The clamour for an alternative to the APC and PDP has led to movements like the Red Card and 3rd Force to name a few but realistically, no movement can gather momentum enough to make a significant impact next year. Thus, the PDP still remains Nigerians' best hope of ousting the APC government next year. It has an existing structure [...]
Jessy Jonah was a classmate in my early years of high school. He was not only older than the rest of us, he was much bigger. And ironically,the most playful too. He was always ready to kick around black board dusters with us in classroom 'soccer matches' and play the chalk stoning game too. Everyone got a kick out of [...]
