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Before the 2015 presidential election, Candidate Muhammadu Buhari essentially advertised himself as a magician. Even though oil prices were tumbling, Mr. Buhari promised to pay N5000 a month to unemployed …

I was disturbed by a report in last Sunday’s edition of The Punch newspaper. It read, “Buhari orders military to crush new Niger Delta militant group”. It’s meet to quote …

Last week, alleged herdsmen armed with rapid-fire guns and machetes descended on the Ukpabi Nimbo community in Enugu State, killing and maiming scores of victims. Images of heaped corpses, including …

If you happen to know any Nigerian armed robber, pickpocket, small-time con artist, low-level 419-er or participant in medium-grade crime, do invite them to read this important piece, a novel …

Last Wednesday, I got a phone call from a reporter at one of Italy’s major newspapers, la Repubblica. It was the second anniversary of the abduction of more than 200 …

…I would not have traveled to China. Not at this time, no. In fact, I would tell my Chinese hosts today that I must abbreviate my weeklong visit and return …

Nigeria’s political discourse is stuck, rather tragically, in a familiar binary pattern. On one side, there are the bashers of President Muhammadu Buhari; on the other, those who feel duty …

Last Saturday, voters in Nigeria’s oil-rich Rivers State cast their votes in a rerun election to choose lawmakers at the state and national assemblies. At stake: three seats in the …

During his recent visit to Qatar, President Muhammadu Buhari sat for an interview with Martine Dennis of Al Jazeera. Last weekend, close to two weeks after the trip, I finally …

I received a plaintive note last week from a young man who seemed rather shocked that I had not written about Nigeria’s scandal of the moment—the harrowing story of a …

In 1992, Bill Clinton, then the Democratic Party candidate for the US presidency, popularized the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.” A year earlier, then incumbent President George H. Bush—who was …

Two recent conversations reminded me of the extent to which the lives of “ordinary” Nigerians—that is to say, most Nigerians—have been gravely debased. Let’s start with the more recent. Last …

Tumbling crude oil prices—with some analysts expecting the price per barrel to hover for some time around $30—is the gravest handicap Nigerians have faced in a while. It is also, …

At the end of last week, Nigeria’s Supreme Court gave a judgment that many newspapers and online groups interpreted rather decisively and excitedly. Headlines declared that the court had dismissed …

Nigerian presidents are notorious for self-aggrandizement. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo termed himself founder of modern Nigeria. And yet he presided over one of the most imperial eras in his country’s …

Nigerians are in the midst of a familiar feeding frenzy. On the menu this time, former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Dasuki, a retired colonel of …