TheCable

In the ding over the accusations against the high priest in our country’s temple of justice, one could be pardoned for forgetting a governor’s theatrical performance last week. Governor Kashim Shettima wept publicly while visiting President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, January 7, in the company of others from the state. This newspaper, like others, reported the encounter and it is [...]

I need to first tell off those who allowed Mr. President to attend “the Candidates” last night. It seemed PMB was dead tired and as an effect of this, I doubt if he heard correctly virtually every question asked him by Kadaria Ahmed—the woman—who anchored the  “the Candidates,” town-hall meeting which was aired live on NTA.Also, it seems President [...]

A basic trouble with Nigeria, one which may render the country eternally underdeveloped is the people’s misunderstanding of the true meaning of loyalty to fatherland. A number of times, this unhelpful posturing is deliberate and directed at protecting some vested interests, which could be hinged on the economic, religious or ethnic considerations. The ones who perpetrate this level of treachery [...]

Dele Momodu’s fecund but wild imagination is capable of producing some entertaining prose. But his fulsome inaccurate ruminations are far divorced from political fact. In effect, he has reduced himself to being a tabloid sage, an ersatz wise man who seeks to disguise his cavalier arguments in a torrent of words.There is nothing wrong with people having different opinions. That [...]

Perception – also known as optics- is a belief or opinion held by people on the basis of  how things seem. Our perception of any event is our reality and our truth, which is why people say that perception is everything. The American essayist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau put it even more graphically: “It is not what you [...]

The first sign of chaos is the number of senior advocates of Nigeria who offered to take up the matter free of charge. Often, when you find that many senior lawyers falling over themselves to represent a client – usually a high-profile client – you can be sure that more than anything else, they’re in it for spite, drama and [...]

Being female in Nigeria can be considered an extreme sport, with women and girls perpetually playing the odds in a game where the house is rigged to win.For over 30 years, Nigeria has paid lip service to the protection and promotion of the rights of women and girls. Past governments have said one thing, hurriedly signing international treaties, but failing [...]

It is a season of Spartan political campaigns. I am sure you have noticed that “money is not flowing” this season as it did in 2015 when there was a blizzard of dollars. Everyone, who had hoped to make quick money from the campaigns, is gritting his teeth.  But what could be responsible for the “slush money drought”? Well, I have been reliably informed [...]

This is meant to be a sort of travelogue of my first train ride in Nigeria. I will focus the first part on exactly what happened and the second part on an analysis of what can be done better. I need to say that I am not one of those who are unnecessarily cynical or overly critical. Equally, I am [...]