The Editor in a time of crisis, By Azu Ishiekwene
This topic reminds me of two recent personal incidents. I was in the office on the morning of Tuesday, July 13 when a colleague rushed […]
Azu Ishiekwene
How I Remember #ENDSARS One Year After
By Azu Ishiekwene On October 3, 2020, I watched a video of a policeman attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) shooting a young man […]
Nigeria: What they said about another 60 years, By Azu Ishiekwene
This is the time of year when we moan about everything wrong with Nigeria. Quite often, we do so not necessarily from a place of […]
Where to Wait for Buhari’s Successor, By Azu Ishiekwene
There is no greater evidence that Nigeria’s political elite are cut off from citizens than the disconnected, cold portrayals in the news headlines. While citizens […]
VAT: Wike, FG and Authority Stealing
By Azu Ishiekwene The guns of Nigeria’s three-year civil war were silenced 51 years ago, but in the battle for a truly federal state, the […]
Guinea Needs A Bitter Pill. But Will Africa Find It? By Azu Ishiekwene
Zambia’s peaceful and orderly election in August offered a glimmer of hope that Africa’s story might be changing. For the third time in three decades, […]
Quest for Federalism and Its Many Ironies, By Azu Ishiekwene
One month from now, Nigeria’s last batch of states created in 1996 to bring the total to 36, would turn 25 years old. The last […]
Stolen Crown, Failed Coronation and the Other Sultan
By Azu Ishiekwene Last week, while the eyes of the world were on Afghanistan, a fellow in one of Nigeria’s most tradition-bound states attempted the […]
An encounter with a doctor: It’s your life
By Azu Ishiekwene This is not a good time to talk about medical doctors, especially when those in the public sector are on strike to […]
What Jega didn’t say about APC and PDP, By Azu Ishiekwene
The former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, got himself in soup last week. His offence was saying it is […]
Benin Artifacts and The Choice Facing Robin Hood, By Azu Ishiekwene
When you find two people from the Benin kingdom talking these days, chances are that they are talking artifacts. That kingdom never ceases to amaze […]
How Do You Want the Result, Senator? By Azu Ishiekwene
Kicking the can down the road is government art. Once politicians maneuver themselves into office, they govern by repeating the promises they made and hope […]
Lauretta Onochie As Metaphor, By Azu Ishiekwene
The refusal of the Senate to confirm Lauretta Onochie, President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominee as national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is a […]
The Party Is Over, Really? By Azu Ishiekwene
If the defections from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) continue at the current pace, the only people left […]
Ataga and the woman in the Mirror, by Azu Ishiekwene
In one of my early journalism classes, my teacher, Olatunji Dare, said nothing sells like a judicious mix of crime, sex and money. It’s well […]
A President’s ‘missing’ iPad and other perils, by Azu Ishiekwene
Awkward moments are human, and hardly call attention when mere mortals are involved. But when the high and might trip, they make the headlines. Both […]
The Minister’s Code, By Azu Ishiekwene
There’s a growing feeling in high political circles that the media is too free for its own good, and maybe also, for the good of […]
What Twitter Ban teaches the World about Nigeria, By Azu Ishiekwene
The Nigerian government thinks Twitter is the greatest source of its misery. After straining at the leash for months, it couldn’t resist swatting the microblogging […]
What is the endgame in Nigeria’s South East?
Azu Ishiekwene Nigeria has been struggling with insecurity for over a decade. Against reasonable expectations six years ago when President Muhammadu Buhari was voted in, […]
COVID-19 Stories By Children, By Azu Ishiekwene
It all seems like memories from a distant past. But it’s not. This time last year we were in a lockdown. The world was under […]
The Travails of Malam Nasir El-Rufai, By Azu Ishiekwene
The list was long and the contents harsh and threatening. The notices may have been issued separately, but they landed like a packaged digital bomb […]
Coup Talk and Echoes of a Banana Republic, By Azu Ishiekwene
These days, it seems all right to play with fire. The blaze started like a solitary spark in Mali in August when the streets, the […]
Busybodies Outside The Gates, By Azu Ishiekwene
Bill and Melinda Gates had barely finished saying the “D” word when all kinds of marriage counsellors and grief-mongers besieged social media with suggestions of […]
‘Follow Me To The Market…’, By Azu Ishiekwene
Everyone has their meal of the day, and mine happens to be dinner. Having dinner, for me, is a ritual, but one that has evolved […]
First Jollof, Now Twitter. What Next? By Azu Ishiekwene
Something Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said reminded me of British political journalist, Andrew Marr. Journalism, Marr wrote in his book, My Trade, is […]