Yusuf Maitama Tuggar is the CPC governorship candidate in Bauchi State. He speaks on why he believes the election on Thursday was a sham. In your petition to INEC you alleged that security personnel stopped your party agents from escorting electoral materials to the polling units. How did this happen? Our party agents witnessed the giving of materials to the…
It was not completely unexpected, but the flurry of rejections and protests that have trailed the national elections must have taken officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) aback. Despite the near-universal acclaim of the organisation of the elections and their claim to fairness, hundreds of politicians who lost have faulted the polls. Some of them appear headed for…
Michael Itegboje, the president of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), says stockbrokers should not be singled out for the stock market crisis that was also due largely to regulatory lapses. How would you assess the capital market in the first quarter of the year? Nothing much has changed except that the market is a bit more stable now, unlike…
Food price hikes are hitting Africa’s urban populations harder now than in 2008 and pose a serious challenge to some of the continent’s leaders, who face elections this year, a World Bank official said. Policy makers across the globe are fighting rising food prices, currently 36 per cent higher than levels this time last year and near peaks from 2008,…
Are you on the other side of 45 and have little or no retirement savings? Have you ignored this most important stage of your life and suddenly find that retirement is looming? Very few of us save enough for retirement and most people will fall short. Research has suggested that retirees will require about 60 to 70 per cent of…
In a competition, someone has to lose for a winner to emerge. Olusegun Obasanjo’s ‘do or die’ political sentiment is re-echoing where ‘Baba’ does not have a base, and even outside political discourse. Some people will stop at nothing to exploit any and every opportunity to stir up commotion. The spate of violence, particularly in places that can be described…
A youth corps member, Tunde Felix, volunteered to join the Red Cross Society while in the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp and found it quite fascinating to be so engaged in the service of humanity. He enthuses about his experience in the camp, saying it motivates him to willingly be at the service of humanity whenever the need arises.…
But for other guests who stepped in to broker peace, a heated argument between two groups of youth at a bar in a Lagos suburb was on the verge of degenerating into a brawl. “The smokes from their cigarettes were coming in our direction and we told them politely that since we came here before them, they should change their…
29 April 2011 Barcelona look to build on their morale-boosting 2-0 Champions League semi-final win over rivals Real Madrid by moving a step closer to their third consecutive league title with victory at promoted Real Sociedad on Saturday. Two goals from Lionel Messi helped Barcelona put one foot in the Champions League final with the triumph over Madrid on Wednesday…
30 April 2011 Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, has tipped the Flying Eagles to win this years African Youth Championship in South Africa on Sunday. (John) Obuh is a disciplined and very determined coach and I see him inspiring the team to win the cup at the expense of Cameroon on Sunday, predicted Siasia. We have the players who can…
“Are you not an Ibo?” I sat in one of those red LTC buses on the way from Ikeja to my job at the Central Bank in Tinubu Square, Lagos, in April 1967. At Ojora, armed soldiers had sauntered into the vehicle at a checkpoint. A dozen men and women earlier bagged at the checkpoint lay face down in a…
The groundswell of opposition against the ruling People's Democratic Party in the north seemed to have petered out. Although voting for the gubernatorial election did not take place in Kaduna, Bauchi, Sokoto, Adamawa and Kogi states, in most of the north where it did take place, the apathy was pervasive. Of course, a major reason for this is fear--as many…
The governorship and House of Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom State were conducted under an atmosphere of peace, despite some skirmishes and cases of ballot box-snatching witnessed in some local governement areas. Fights were witnessed in places like Uyo, the state capital, Nsit Ibom, Etim Ekpo, and Etinan, while two cases of ballot box-snatching were reported in Ibiono Ibom. The…
Stingomania (April 2010) Starring Trybson Dudukoko, Gabriel Afolayan, Jaywon, Kayode Odumosu, Rachael Oniga and Doris Simeon This Dagrin biopic begins what may become a new filmmaking trend in Nigeria. It explored a genre that is well-defined in other countries but new to the Nigerian movie front. Without a prior work to test the viability and profitability of the genre within…
Joy Odiete, popularly known as J’odie, wrote her break-in single ‘Kuchi Kuchi’ after heartbreak. The viral hit, which has been on the airwaves for a while, has set Jodie’s foot in musical stardom’s door; the rest, it seems, is up to her. After participating as a top ten contestant in the 2007 musical talent hunt show, ‘Idols West Africa’, her…