With the passing, last week, of one of the two 2nd Republic governors, a former governor of Oyo State, Victor Omololu Olunloyo, Nigerians recall with nostalgia, how eventful the politics of that era was and the characters that shaped the activities of that period.

Olunloyo was one of the politicians of that era that enlivened politics in the Southwestern part of the country and that of the old Oyo state in particular.

Laolu Akande, a spokesperson of former vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has said that there is a possibility of external influences in the crisis rocking the Labour Party.

The position of Julius Abure as the national Chairman of the Labour Party is now in contention as quite a number of people do not agree that he is their chairman.

They have shifted their support to the caretaker committee that the party leaders have put in place.

But addressing the press in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment, Abure insisted that the court affirmed his position as the chairman of the Labor Party.

DAILY POST reported that the LP held its National Executive Council meeting on Wednesday and Abure was not there despite the call by the Caretaker committee of the party that he should shelve his sword and join them.

Abure had warned Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labor Party in the 2023 elections and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti not to convene any National Executive Council meeting.

But they ignored his warning and convened the NEC.

They also proceeded to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to present a certified true copy of the judgment of the Supreme Court, which they said affirmed their stance rejecting Abure as the National Chairman.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, Akande said said it was important to speak to Abure that it is required at this moment that he shows a bit of charity to himself for the good of this country.

He said, “The Labour Party, at a point, represented a significant hope. You know, don’t worry whether the presidential candidate went as much as he wanted to, but the Labour Party showed that something new can brew out of this country.

“In terms of politics, you saw a new and vibrant mobilization of the people. It’s good for our country now. Since then and now, we’ve seen how all of that is beginning to unravel.

“What has happened this last week is a renewal of hope in the Labour Party, but Mr. Julius Abure is the only obstacle. And of course, you know people around him who don’t really, just like you said, they don’t form the significant essence of the party.

“Everybody that mattered in that party seemed to have gotten the right memory. Look, the time for Julius Abure is over.

“Now, if you come to the legal part of it, it was Julius Abure that went to court to stop INEC and the party from not recognizing him anymore, because his tenure had elapsed.

“And so the matter proceeded from the High Court to the Appeal, and now the Supreme Court has said it’s not our business. So, that means the matter has reverted to where it was when Abure went to court, which is no longer the chair of the party.

“So it’s just a question of time that Julius Abure is going to fizzle out. What I’m asking him for is a bit of charity. To just do the right thing, keep the remainder of his honour. He can keep it so that he can, he can exit in some dignified sense, because it’s very clear already.”

On why Abure is holding on despite being rejected already, Akande said, “We must also understand that Julius Abure also represents the typical Nigerian politician. So it’s not that Julius Abure is behaving out of context.

“This is how the average Nigerian politician behaves in personal advertisements. That’s the only reason why Abure is still paying for all these tactics.

“Why must you be a chairman of the party after your tenure has elapsed for God’s sake, somebody needs to do Julius a bit of good and call him to his side and say, ‘look, come on. The Labour Party is greater than you.’

“The Supreme Court ruling is very clear. It’s very clear that the Supreme court has rejected the chairmanship of Julius.

“The Supreme Court has said that you cannot be an obstacle. And yet he has the audacity to go out and be talking the way I just don’t understand.”

On if he sees external influences in what Julius Abure is acting out, he added, “It’s not impossible.

“We don’t have any evidence, but, you know, we will not rule it out, you know. But let’s just talk to Abure and say, ‘Look, help Nigeria, because a properly organized Labour Party brings a bit of fresh air. We saw it for the last time. Why is Aburi constituting himself into an obstacle?”

[DailyPost]

If you’re seeking countries that offer accessible work visas in 2025, it’s advisable to research each country’s specific requirements and processing times to determine the best fit for your career goals.

Here are some top destinations known for their streamlined processes and demand for skilled professionals. 

Canada

Because of its reputation for having a diverse and welcoming society, Canada is a popular destination for foreign workers. The nation provides a number of immigration initiatives, including the Express Entry system, which expedites the process of granting skilled workers permanent residency. Canada has a strong economy and a great standard of living, making it a popular choice for international labor.

Germany

Germany is well known for its robust economy and friendly disposition toward foreign workers with advanced degrees. For highly qualified individuals, the nation offers a variety of work visa options, including the EU Blue Card. For those looking for professional opportunities, Germany is a desirable destination due to its strong job market and high standard of living.

Australia

Australia is a desirable option for people looking for work abroad due to its robust economy and high demand for skilled labor. To entice gifted people from all over the world, the nation provides a number of visa options, such as the Temporary Skill Shortage Visa and the Skilled Independent Visa. Australia is a popular destination for foreigners due to its stunning scenery and relaxed way of life.

The UAE, or United Arab Emirates

For foreign workers looking for work in industries like finance, tourism, and healthcare, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a desirable destination due to its tax-free income opportunities and opulent lifestyle. Through programs like the Employment Visa and the Investor Visa, the nation grants work visas, giving foreign employees access to a wide range of employment options in a booming economy.

New Zealand

New Zealand is renowned for its breathtaking scenery and hospitable immigration policies. Through initiatives like the Essential Skills Work Visa and the Skilled Migrant Category Visa, the nation provides work visas, which facilitate foreign workers’ ability to find employment across a range of industries. New Zealand has a great standard of living and welcomes residents, making it a popular choice for foreigners.

[TheNation]

It is difficult to pinpoint when the political gusts turned against the one time political impresario of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Delta State, Senator Victor Omo-Agege.

The contradiction in the circumstances facing Omo-Agege is the fact that he is being subjected to a social media trial in the hands of those he not too long ago had at his beck and call.

The petition to the state chairman of the APC, Elder Omeni Sobotie accuses Omo-Agege of among others infidelity to the party and betrayal of fellow party candidates in the 2023 General Election.

The accused has yet to give his plea, but many prosecution witnesses who allegedly signed the petition against Omo-Agege have told the social media court that their signatures were forged.

Indeed, Omo-Agege’s political ascendancy in Delta State was crystallised when he emerged as the first senator from Delta Central to win re-election. His feat came following the death of Senator Pius Ewherido, arguably the greatest political disruptor in Delta State who turned the political dynamics against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Delta Central in the 2011 elections.

It is remarkable that since Ewherido’s popular victory in 2011, achieved on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, that the PDP has been at sea on how to reinvent itself in that senatorial district. While Senator Emmanuel Aguariavwodo finished Ewherido’s impactful term, albeit on the platform of the PDP, the party has since then continuously failed in winning the Delta Central seat.

Omo-Agege’s two terms on the platform of Labour Party and then on the platform of the APC are about the longest stretch an individual has held on to political ascendancy in Delta Central. His emergence as Deputy President of the Senate, the first Delta senator to hold such a position, only strengthened his political confidence or brashness as some critics alleged.

Given his role in undermining the Bukola Saraki Senate during the 8th Senate, it was not surprising that Muhammadu Buhari’s political enforcers not only positioned Omo-Agege for the position of DSP, but also showed him favours that enabled him to swagger with bravado across the political space in Delta.

The constitution of APC structures across Delta State in 2021 by most accounts, was done in Omo-Agege’s bedroom. Given the natural proclivity of many Delta people to speak truth to power it was no surprise that a number of political actors  in the APC refused to be taken in by the lordship of Omo-Agege over the party.

Two of those who swore to that effect were Chief Great Ogboru, popularly known as the Peoples General, but who as Omo-Agege consolidated was almost turned to a recruit in the APC.

Another was the former civil rights lawyer, Mr Festus Keyamo who went to the extent of terming those who emerged as party officials in 2021 across the state as Omo-Agege’s houseboys and house girls.

Given the acrimony that trailed Omo-Agege’s emergence as Numero-uno in the APC, it was not surprising that a number of party officials who despised the fact that he also took the gubernatorial ticket for himself worked against him in the governorship election of 2023.

Among those who openly came out to confess that fact was the late Dr Cairo Ojougboh who claimed being part of the conspiracy of APC leaders who worked against him. Even more, Ogboru who has the national record of contesting gubernatorial elections, despite his abysmal performance in 2023, surfaced for once to congratulate the PDP candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori, for defeating Omo-Agege.

The prediction of Omo-Agege’s difficult straits was, however, very visible just before the 2023 election. Days to the governorship election and while still serving as the Deputy President of the Senate, he was shell-shocked when one of his most prominent houseboys, Nick Ovuakporie, who he had promoted the state secretary of the party, surfaced at the PDP governorship rally to denounce him. Ovuakporie’s defection was a masterstroke on the part of the PDP, given that he was allegedly the pointsman used by the Omo-Agege camp to wrest control of the APC from his former rivals.

But the problem for Omo-Agege was compounded by perceived actions he took in the days leading to the election. The charges drawn up against him for which party members have commenced a social media trial of the former DSP include the claim that he hobnobbed with the opposition to betray the party in the presidential election. It is a charge that President Tinubu may not have taken seriously given that Tinubu received the former DSP on his own after party leaders conspired to squeeze him out during the controversial visit to Aso Villa last February.

Whatever, the principal reason antagonists in the APC struck the four point charges against Omo-Agege is their determination not to have him represent the party in the 2027 governorship election. This is well manifested in their charge sheet against the erstwhile DSP.

Whatever, the prospects for Omo-Agege in browbeating his former houseboys are not easy. How he positions himself as the governorship candidate with the prospects of running two terms in Delta State will be a tough nut to crack. That is, given the zoning tradition that has governed the state since 1999.

The last time I wrote about this tragedy which I now call Tinubu’s Terrible Tribalism, I had asked: Is Tinubu settling scores? Because the president’s naked embrace of Yorubacentricism after a lifetime of railing with his kinsmen against Hausa-Fulani hegemony could only have been inspired by vengeance. 

But such undisguised and unbridled vengeance in his first term against the North, whose votes he must secure for re-election, would be foolhardiness. The focus on the North isn’t to understate the treachery other zones feel but to emphasize the political irrationality and moral hypocrisy of  Tinubu’s tribalism. Tinubu might be arrogant and occasionally temperamental, but he is a consummate schemer. The idea that he can allow self-indulgence to blind him to basic political calculations is a little preposterous. So why is Tinubu relentlessly perpetuating a Yoruba hegemony so early in his presidency? 

It’s doubtful even that the mercurial Sunday Igboho, saddled with the responsibilities of a president, would have relegated statesmanship and national cohesion to this extent in pursuit of an apparent ethnic championship. Igboho, being less cunning and presumptuous might have been more sensitive. The reality is astounding, so it bears repeating. All critical instruments of coercion are effectively in the hands of one ethnic group. A Yoruba is president. A Yoruba is the  Chief of Army Staff. Yoruba is the  Police Inspector General.

A Yoruba is the Director General of State Security. A Yoruba is the EFCC chairman. A Yoruba is the Chief Justice of the Federation. A Yoruba is the Attorney General of the Federation. A Yoruba is the Comptroller General of Customs. A Yoruba heads Immigration. The Chief Justice is not the president’s appointee but shouldn’t the Yoruba headship of two of the three arms of government make Tinubu worry about imbalance? Even if the Yoruba had conquered Nigeria, wouldn’t they have been more magnanimous? 

A few commentators have argued that having come to the throne majorly through self-help and against all odds, Tinubu perhaps feels entitled to do and undo. Expanding his Lagos dynasty and imposing it on the entire country might be, for him, his natural progression. But perhaps that portrays Tinubu too much as a Tarzan. However, Tinubu’s politics, read benignly, conceives good governance to be dependent on a guided continuity. For him, democracy means benign Babasopecracy (patriarchal autocracy). It doesn’t matter if it is forced to masquerade and run around as a liberal multiparty democracy.

So what others see as opportunistic self-aggrandizing godfatherism aimed at entrenching a private political dynasty using Yoruba as mere building blocks, he possibly sees as progressive politics. While an obsession for an expanded dynasty coheres with Tinubu’s political history and explains in part his carefree tribalism, nothing in this dynasty concept precludes shrewd calculated inclusiveness. Allowing pliable folks from all parts of the country to occupy critical security positions to hoodwink the populace would have provided a necessary smokescreen. But Tinubu has chosen to be explicit. 

Nigeria has six zones. Yoruba is primarily one zone. Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups. Yoruba is only one of them, though it constitutes about 20% of the national population. A Yoruba is the Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy. A Yoruba is the Oil Minister. Another Yoruba is the CBN Governor. A Yoruba is the Minister of Blue Economy. Yet another Yoruba is the Minster of Digital Economy. A Yoruba is the Minister of Solid Minerals. A Yoruba is the Minister of Trade and Industries. A Yoruba is the head of FIRS. A Yoruba is MD Bank of Agriculture. A Yoruba is MD NSTIF.

Another Yoruba is the Accountant General of the Federation. The Yoruba hold the most critical positions, not just in the security and law enforcement sectors but also in the economy. The Yoruba may be the smartest Nigerians, but the gap isn’t this wide. Therefore, any attempt to sell this perfidy as meritocracy is political Yahoo-Yahoo. The abject and comprehensive servility of the National Assembly should be proof to Tinubu that many other Nigerians are as willing as the Yoruba to worship Tinubu, to sing On Your Mandate while lying face down at his feet. If so, why is Tinubu’s  Tribalism so headlong, so relentless? 

While refuting revenge as a motive for Tinubu’s Terrible Tribalism, I had wondered about the virtue of the entire NADECO and Afenifere enterprises of the 90s and early 2000s. Perhaps we had all been deceived into jumping onto a duplicitous wagon for group vendetta or ethnic actualization rather than national liberation. That attempt to interrogate the original authenticity of Afenifere because of the startling repudiation of its core principles by one of its champions provoked the former Afenifere leader, Ayo Adebanjo, who sadly died recently. In response to that article, Adebanjo had disowned Tinubu and disagreed vehemently that Tinubu was promoting any genuine Yoruba interests. He said Tinubu’s tribalism was dangerous cronyism, a patently self-serving adventure by a wolf in sheep’s clothing to turn Nigeria into a one-party state and become its life president. 

In his response to that article, a former minister in the Jonathan administration said he was baffled by the scale of Tinubu’s tribalism which he believed was borne of triumphalism. He wondered why Tinubu was recklessly alienating people of other tribes who were starting to respond by switching off, becoming apathetic, in many government institutions. He wondered how embracing only a section of the Yoruba instead of the entire South would help the president assuming he had something deep-seated against the North and wanted to call it’s bluff.

My response was that besides triumphalism, Tinubu wanted to conscript the Yoruba emotionally to protect and preserve his presidency as a Yoruba project. In addition to their block votes which might compensate for some of the inevitable losses up north, the Yoruba intelligentsia, if pushed into ethnic defensiveness by any indiscriminate anti-Yoruba sentiments by the other groups, could become the formidable and validating voice to legitimise and promote him, his second term ambition, and possibly any life presidency ideas, no matter his performance. In other words, Tinubu could be banking on the benefits of becoming synonymous with Yoruba, arguably the country’s most enlightened clan. 

Many years ago, Tinubu was an apostle of Sovereign National Conference. The SNC, that vehicle of inclusion, was supposed to transport ethnic nationalities to a people-oriented constitution to enthrone freedom, equity, social justice and prosperity in the nation. The SNC was the gbogborise fermented in Yoruba land, which must be administered to Nigeria, or it would inexorably perish. Then, Tinubu had said the cracks in the foundation of the nation demanded a fundamental overhaul. Those days, he regarded the unity of the country as desirable and negotiable rather than inviolable and sacrosanct. Now, Tinubu regards that unity with callous levity. And perhaps any noisy agitation for a Sovereign National Conference now could easily be treated as treason. 

For so many years, Tinubu and his political associates demanded true federalism underlined by resource control and devolution of powers. Those days they seemed the most principled politicians in Africa. They wanted a decentralization to curb the prevalent national ailment. That ailment was stagnation and inequity and the reign of mediocrity. Unavoidably, they wanted an end to Hausa Fulani hegemony. Now  Tinubu is cheerfully concentrating power in the hands of one ethnic group. It has become his obsession. Now, Tinubu no longer remembers the positions and appointments that defined lopsidedness, which made him and his friends cry about Hausa Fulani’s hegemony. They now say all positions are equal. Perhaps Tinubu thinks Nigerians are cows. 

In truth, nobody expects habitually wheeling and dealing politicians to be averse to opportunism or to pass any strict tests of moral hygiene. But Tinubu’s brazen tribalism is confounding. Some say Tinubu has only revealed his true colours. But for some of us who saw some good in him, his industrial-scale tribalism is concerning. Because such crippling myopia could be a consequence of a more fundamental moral depreciation. In multi-ethnic African nations, rabid tribalism is always a recipe for stagnation and instability. Any concentration of power in a single ethnic group is always a disservice to the tribe and country. That Tinubu cannot foresee this ruin is worrisome. That he can, uninhibited by conscience, and with defiance, choose this course is pitiable. 

The United States Embassy has introduced updated visa interview requirements for Nigerian applicants, effective from April 22, 2025.

In a statement released on Friday, the US mission emphasised that all applicants attending visa interviews in Abuja and Lagos must present a DS-160 form featuring a confirmation barcode that begins with “AA” followed by two zeroes (00). Crucially, this barcode must match the one used to book the appointment online.

Applicants with mismatched barcode information will be denied entry to the Consular Section and disqualified from their scheduled interviews.

“Starting April 22, 2025, all visa applicants in Abuja and Lagos must bring a DS-160 visa application form with a confirmation/barcode number (starting with AA and followed by 00 – two zeroes) that matches the one used to make their appointment online. You also must make your appointment in the location you selected when filling out your DS-160,” the statement read.

To avoid issues, applicants are strongly advised to verify that their DS-160 barcode matches their appointment information at least two weeks before their interview date.

The embassy also clarified that DS-160 forms from previous applications cannot be reused. In the event of a mismatch, applicants must log into their AVITS account at least 10 days before the interview and submit a correction request.

“If your DS-160 barcode is incorrect, you must log into your AVITS account at least 10 days before your appointment to create a support ticket requesting correction of your barcode number,” the mission added.

Additionally, appointments must be made at the same location indicated on the DS-160 form. Applicants who are turned away due to mismatched barcodes will need to resolve the issue and reschedule a new appointment. If the visa fee has expired, a new payment may be required.

Since January 1, all applicants have also been required to visit the US Consulate General in Lagos twice as part of the visa application process.

[Vanguard]

Five persons have been injured in an explosion inside a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera shop in Ikeja, Lagos state. 

The explosion occurred on Friday evening at the Computer Village axis.

The victims sustained various degrees of injury and were taken to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for medical attention.

Benjamin Hundeyin, Lagos police spokesperson, said the scene has been cordoned off by operatives of the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) unit.

Hundeyin said the command is investigating the incident to ascertain the cause of the explosion.

“The scene was swept by the EOD experts of command to ensure the safety of residents and facilitate a comprehensive investigation to determine the actual cause of the explosion,” the Lagos police spokesperson.

“The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Olohundare Jimoh, arrived at the scene within minutes for an on-the-spot assessment.

“He has assured the public that the command is fully on top of the situation and has urged residents of Lagos to remain calm and not to panic.

“While investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the explosion and other factors that might have caused the incident, the general public are enjoined to go about their lawful engagements and businesses peacefully without fear or apprehension, as the scene of the explosion and the adjoining area have been rendered safe and secured.

“Five (5) people inside and around the shop that sustained various degrees of injury have been rescued and swiftly recovered to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for medical attention.”

[TheCable]

When vigilantes incinerated traveling Hausa hunters in Uromi, Edo State, on the mistaken assumption that they were “Fulani herdsmen,” countless Hausaphone Muslim northerners sent the videos to me with commentaries that reeked of unappeasable wrath.

Because there is a 6- to 5-hour time difference between Atlanta and Nigeria, some of the people who shared the videos with me became noticeably impatient with the perceived delay in my response. 

Frustrated by the lag in my intervention, they sent messages reminding me of my swift and impassioned condemnation of the May 2022 murder of Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto. They wondered aloud why, unlike my immediate reaction to that previous incident, I had not yet commented on these recent videos.

A few even recalled my January 1, 2011, column titled “Jos bombings: Can we for once be truthful?” where I denounced, in the strongest terms possible, the mass massacre of Jos Christians by a group that called itself Jama’atu Ahlus Sunnah Lid Da’awati Wal Jihad. (I’ve just been made aware of a similar mass murder in Plateau recently. I could republish my 2011 column, and most people won’t notice that it's a 14-year-old piece except for some names).

Of course, they never reminded me of my swift, full-throated denunciation of the February 1, 2018, murder and burning of 7 innocent Fulani cattle herders in Benue “by people who have been programmed to associate criminality with all Fulani cattle herders,” as I pointed out in my February 10, 2018, column titled “News Media’s Cultivation of ‘Fulani Herdsmen’ Hysteria.”

The people who were impatient with me implied that I was deliberately courting the approval of Christians. In their view, this meant I was seeking validation or favor from the Christian community, possibly at the expense of my own religious identity. Essentially, they accused me of prioritizing external validation over internal solidarity, implying a certain negligence or disregard for the sentiments and expectations of my own religious community.

Nonetheless, since the publication of my March 29 column, titled “Barbaric Mass Burning of Innocents in Edo,” scores of Christians routinely tag me to mass murders committed by Muslims against Christians and challenge me to objurgate them with the same passion as I did the Edo mass incineration. 

It seems to me that public commentators unfairly shoulder a burden of intervention that should properly belong to people in positions of authority. Too often, it falls upon commentators to address and amplify crises, even though their roles are fundamentally different from those who wield executive power and influence. 

Writing about the horrendous human tragedies that have increasingly become the signature of our national life in Nigeria imposes tremendous mental strain on me. It is emotionally draining and psychologically taxing to continually engage with, dissect, and articulate these disturbing events. 

Nonetheless, I deeply understand the reasons behind distraught citizens' desire to have their anguish acknowledged and amplified by individuals they perceive as having sizable platforms. They turn to public commentators because of their frustration with those in authority, who are perceived as detached, indifferent, or ineffective in responding adequately to their suffering.

Most importantly, though, our outrage toward mass murders often seems conditioned by whether the perpetrators differ from us in identity or affiliation. During Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, for instance, I faced vicious personal attacks from northern Muslims for drawing attention to Boko Haram’s relentless massacres of Muslims in the North, massacres that many preferred to overlook. 

Similarly, bandits in the North have consistently burned, slaughtered, and dismembered their victims, yet these atrocities rarely provoke widespread indignation or inspire righteous anger. Because the victims do not fit the narrative of northern Muslims being victimized by (southern) Christian aggressors, their suffering is met with muted concern at best and outright indifference at worst rather than outrage or vigorous outcry for intervention.

This dynamic is not unique to the Muslim North. In the Christian North, numerous lives are frequently lost in inter-ethnic communal violence. In these cases, however, both the victims and perpetrators typically share a common Christian identity.

 As a result, the collective sense of hurt and urgency felt by communities within these areas is markedly diminished. The outrage and intensity of grief that would typically accompany violence perpetrated by Muslims against Christian communities is notably absent, which reflects how religious identities powerfully shape public empathy and indignation.

In the southeast, so-called unknown gunmen perpetrate shocking acts of brutality, including gruesome murders, against fellow Igbo people. But there is rarely any pressure or expectation placed upon commentators like me to amplify these events publicly or to demand action from authorities. 

This selective silence, this inconsistency in how acts of violence are perceived and responded to, this tendency for our outrage to be contingent upon the identity dynamics between victims and perpetrators, is an instinctive, age-old, even evolutionary human trait about which psychologists and philosophers have written.

For example, in their Social Identity Theory formulation, Henri Tajfel and John Turner assert that we derive our sense of self from our membership of collective identities, and that attack on the collective triggers an intense emotional response but that intra-group violence, though troubling, is psychologically processed as an internal issue and thus evokes less public rage.

From the standpoint of evolutionary biology, we are hardwired to depend on group cohesion and cooperation and to be suspicious of outsiders. Thus, violence perpetrated by out-groups is perceived as a threat to group resources or status, which invokes defensive anger and intolerance.

Emmanuel Levinas and Richard Rorty have also written about the moral burden of "othering," which refers to the process through which out-group members are mentally constructed as fundamentally incompatible or as morally deficient, thus deserving harsher judgment or reduced moral consideration.

The moral distance created by “othering” leads people to interpret out-group violence as evidence of moral depravity or inherent hostility. The result is that out-group violence elicits intense moral condemnation. Conversely, violence within the in-group, involving individuals perceived as morally closer, is more readily explained away, forgiven, or rationalized.

In communication scholarship, we also talk of selective perception. It is an instinctive cognitive bias that predisposes us to perceive reality in ways that reinforce and soothe our predetermined prejudices. 

Related concepts are selective exposure (the tendency to see only those things that affirm our pre-set biases and to block out those that cause us cognitive dissonance) and selective retention (the tendency to remember only those things that confer psychic comfort to our sentiments and to forget those that don’t fit that frame).

We are more tolerant of and readier to justify hurtful words that come from our “friends” than we are of even less hurtful words that come from our “enemies.”

Psychologists who study cognitive biases point out that our default positions as humans is to support our kind, to selectively expose ourselves to and perceive, even retain, only those points of views and perspectives that reinforce our prejudices. 

It’s often an unconscious process. And so, it takes nothing to be prejudiced. It’s effortless. What isn’t effortless is the capacity for conscious distancing, for dispassionate reflection, and for self-criticism.

It takes self-reflexivity and self-awareness to rise superior to the default impulses that so readily and so easily crowd and becloud our minds in moments of emotional tension. Very few are capable of this, and that’s why some people question the practical utility of the idea of deliberative democracy—the idea of government by rational conversation.

Because this is not unique to Nigeria, I hope humans can evolve to the point where we transcend these troubling predispositions. 

Programme: City Talks with Reuben Abati

Time: 12:00

Guest: Inibehe Effiong
Public Interest and Human Rights Lawyer

Topic: Criminalized and Forgotten: The Plight of Nigerian Children Behind Bars.

Date April 12th, 2025

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92877141732?pwd=VEJWb29OL2VVekZUTHRpdWYxK0xxZz09

Meeting ID: 928 7714 1732
Passcode: 600206