REUBEN'S VIEW

[OPINION]: Dauragate and the shame of a nation - Reuben Abati

14 August 2018

The week that just passed will for long be remembered as perhaps the most momentous week in the history of the Muhammadu Buhari administration since 2015. Exactly a week ago,...

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[OPINION] Ray Ekpu at 70 - Reuben Abati

07 August 2018

Mr. Ray Ekpu turned 70 yesterday, and we all turned up at the Agip Hall of the MUSON Centre in Lagos, to celebrate his arrival at the gate of the...

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[OPINION] The Asaba disgrace - Reuben Abati

07 August 2018

“I think this is the first and last time I will come to Nigeria to compete. If you are not ready to organise something please don’t…It was three days of...

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[OPINION]: Understanding APC and the crisis of defections - Reuben Abati

03 August 2018

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the “factional” leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reportedly asked Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki to resign his position as Senate President. What exactly...

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[OPINION]: Governor Ortom and The Herdsmen - Reuben Abati

31 July 2018

Samuel Ortom, the Governor of Benue State, former motor-park tout, former motor-park Chairman and driver, and former Minister of the Federal Republic, a self-made man by all accounts, has since...

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[OPINION]: The APC ship is sinking… - Reuben Abati

31 July 2018

When we wrote much earlier that the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling party was a coalition of strange bedfellows and a one-chance special purpose vehicle to get rid of...

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[OPINION]: Ekiti election: A few words- Reuben Abati

24 July 2018

I have up until this moment resisted the temptation to comment on the just concluded gubernatorial elections in Ekiti state for the simple reason that the more the facts of...

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[OPINION]: Dasuki’s bail and the Attorney General - Reuben Abati

24 July 2018

It is more than two weeks now since His Lordship Justice Ijeoma L. Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, gave clear, positive and unambiguous orders in the matter between...

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[OPINION]: Minister Adeosun’s NYSC Certificate - Reuben Abati

17 July 2018

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has been in the eye of the storm, and that is putting it mildly. While I believe that she may be the target...

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[OPINION]: Hadi Sirika and the return of Nigeria Airways - Reuben Abati

17 July 2018

One of the usual features on Nigerian social media is the nostalgic passion with which Nigerians often distribute pictures of the old Nigeria Airways and how that company once considered...

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[OPINION]: The Adebayo Adedeji example - Reuben Abati

10 July 2018

Professor Adebayo Adedeji, the towering intellectual, scholar, pan-Africanist, international civil servant and pioneer Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Under-Secretary General of the United...

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[OPINION]: In defence of the Fulani in our midst - Reuben Abati

03 July 2018

State of the nation: In the last two weeks, over 200 persons in Plateau state were reportedly killed by Fulani herdsmen, 45 villages were ransacked and sacked and those villages...

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[OPINION]: Ten years after Lamidi Adedibu - Reuben Abati

26 June 2018

It has been ten years since the self-styled “strong man of Ibadan politics”, Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu, died. He died on June 11, 2008. I do not recall seeing...

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[OPINION]: Super Eagles and Marcus the pig at the World Cup - Reuben Abati

19 June 2018

There has been nothing in recent memory like the build up to Nigeria’s first match at the on-going 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament in Russia. Football is Nigeria’s greatest unifier:...

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[OPINION]: ‘Just do good’: A June 12 story - Reuben Abati

12 June 2018

I used to have a friend we called Alhaji Bashy. He was not a Muslim. No. But he called himself Alhaji Bashy, even if that was not his real name....

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[OPINION]: Buhari and the June 12 saga - Reuben Abati

07 June 2018

There are three aspects - the strategic, the political and the legal - to the Federal Government’s decision to replace May 29 with June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day, and...

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[OPINION]: The road to Babylon - Reuben Abati

05 June 2018

Nigeria is on the road to Babylon: a place of confusion. Three years ago, the people were convinced that they had found a messiah who will lead them to the...

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[OPINION]: Shina Peters at 60: A life in music - Reuben Abati

29 May 2018

I consider it a great privilege to count Shina Peters, the Afro-Juju maestro, who turns 60 this week, as one of my friends and brothers. Dele Momodu has already penned...

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[OPINION]: The impending implosion of APC - Reuben Abati

22 May 2018

Just take the phrase: “impending” in the title above with a pinch of salt. I use the word because in politics as in life, things happen - as seemingly absolute...

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[Opinion]: 2019 and the politics of campaign finance - Reuben Abati

15 May 2018

Each Governor was reportedly asked by the ruling APC party to bring N250 million ahead of the party’s National Convention. When the public protested, recently, the party disclaimed the news...

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[Opinion]: OPL 245: The most popular oil block - Reuben Abati

08 May 2018

The Petroleum Act 1969 (as amended) grants powers to the Ministry of Petroleum, acting through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to administer the licensing of oil blocks in the...

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[Opinion]: Buhari’s impeachment: Mission impossible - Reuben Abati

01 May 2018

The Chairmen of the Committees on Public Accounts in the National Assembly – Kingsley Chinda (House of Representatives, PDP Rivers, Obio/Akpor Constituency) and Mathew Urhoghide (Senate, PDP Edo South) -...

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[Opinion]: 2019: Nigeria’s emerging political leaders - Reuben Abati

24 April 2018

A strong indication of both the quality and failure of politics in Nigeria, as the people look forward to the next general elections in 2019, is the manner in which...

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Section 5 and the Mohammed Bello Adoke case - Reuben Abati

17 April 2018

His Lordship Justice Binta Nyako at the Federal High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory last Friday, gave an instructive, landmark judgment in the matter between Mohammed Bello Adoke...

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[OPINION]: Ayo Adebanjo: The man and his politics - Reuben Abati

10 April 2018

When friends, family and political associates gather in Ijebu-Ogbo, Ogun state today, to celebrate the 90th birthday of Chief Ayo Adebanjo, they will be honouring a radical and progressive politician,...

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[OPINION]: Where is the Nigerian opposition? - Reuben Abati

03 April 2018

Less than a year to the next general elections in Nigeria, the biggest deficit in the political process leading to that moment is the absence of a robust, virile and...

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[OPINION]: Bill Gates as “a wailing wailer” - Reuben Abati

29 March 2018

“I do not enjoy speaking to you this bluntly when you have been gracious enough to invite me here…” – Bill Gates. Mr. Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, friend of Nigeria...

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[OPINION]: Nigeria, ECOWAS and the Morocco question - Reuben Abati

27 March 2018

I was in Morocco recently, about 20 years after I last visited Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat and Laayoune. I was quite impressed to see how Morocco with its colour-coded cities remains...

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[OPINION]: The Kigali AU Summit: Nigeria’s diplomatic blunder - Reuben Abati

22 March 2018

President Muhammadu Buhari’s 12th hour decision to snub the African Union Extra-ordinary summit on the endorsement of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), in Kigali, March 20 – 22...

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[OPINION]: Soyinka and Nigeria’s dinner with the devil - Reuben Abati

20 March 2018

Professor Wole Soyinka was keynote speaker at the maiden annual lecture of the Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism held in Lagos on March 15. Topic: “Rebuilding Trust in...

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[OPINION]: Lagos state and the politics of taxation - Reuben Abati

13 March 2018

The government of Lagos state seems to be currently in the eye of the storm over its introduction of a law, a property tax as it were, known as the...

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[OPINION]: Africa: A continent without democrats - Reuben Abati

06 March 2018

The second wave of democratization in Africa, beginning in the 80s, and the gradual establishment of democracy as the new normal in the continent brought much hope and excitement. As...

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[Opinion]: Dapchi 110: The tragedy of a nation - Reuben Abati

27 February 2018

Karma is a bitch. Poetic justice is a bastard. Both have combined to wrong-foot the incumbent Buhari administration to make it look like a big mistake and an act of...

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[OPINION]: Judges, the law and our democracy - Reuben Abati

20 February 2018

To expand the democratic space in Nigeria and to ensure the legitimacy and stability of our democratic process, the rule of law, perhaps the supremacy of the law, anchored on...

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To NatGeo: A story idea on Nigerian animals - Reuben Abati

13 February 2018

Dear Editor, NatGeo, I am a great fan of your magazine, National Geographic, and your sister platform, National Geo Wild, and your coverage of natural history, particularly the behaviour of...

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Of drowning men and national security - Reuben Abati

08 February 2018

Jimoh Moshood, the current Police Public Relations officer in Abuja is probably the most unprofessional occupier of that office since 1999. His lack of professionalism and ready capacity to perpetually...

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What exactly is Babangida saying? - Reuben Abati

06 February 2018

The drama, the controversy, the confusion, the double entendre, attended by seeming cowardice, that grew around a statement, perhaps the statements, purportedly issued by former military President Ibrahim Babangida on...

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Obasanjo and the extent of presidential powers - Reuben Abati

30 January 2018

More than a week after President Olusegun Obasanjo released his state of the nation commentary and devastating assessment of the Buhari administration, it has remained the main subject in the...

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Aisha Buhari: The critic in the other room - Reuben Abati

23 January 2018

Mrs Aisha M. Buhari, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari is probably the most loved person in Nigeria today, especially by critics of her husband’s administration. She first came to...

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The season of recanting - Reuben Abati

16 January 2018

“I wish I could travel to the US right now” “Why? Why not wait till summer time?”“No, I feel like going there physically to tell President Donald Trump exactly how...

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Buhari: Between yesterday and tomorrow - Reuben Abati

09 January 2018

I wrote the following piece, presented in italics, shortly after the postponement of the 2015 Presidential elections. It is important that the reader approaches it with an open mind, with...

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Fr. Mbaka and the Voice of God - Reuben Abati

04 January 2018

“I do not believe in my mind that the way things are in Nigeria, any Catholic priest has the mandate to decide which of the political contestants should be voted...

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Liberia: The Rise of George Weah - Reuben Abati

02 January 2018

George Weah’s emergence as Liberia’s President-elect after the December 26 run-off election generated considerable interest among Nigerians for a number of reasons. Number one is George Weah’s popularity. The first...

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Olusegun Obasanjo, Ph.D - Reuben Abati

19 December 2017

Perhaps in the long run, the most remarkable legacy of the Nigerian leader known as Olusegun Obasanjo would be his personal example, in terms of the manner in which he...

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PDP Convention: The Aftermath - Reuben Abati

12 December 2017

The elective Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that took place at the Eagle Square in Abuja on Saturday, December 9, was a charade and an anti-climax. Everyone who...

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Libya: “No brother in the jungle” - Reuben Abati

05 December 2017

Arab countries have a tradition of slavery dating back to centuries. This has persisted despite the existence of international conventions and legal frameworks classifying slavery as a crime against humanity....

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A nation of believers - Femi Fani-Kayode

04 December 2017

In both 2008 and 2012, I warned the world and particularly Africa and the Middle East about the evil of Barack Obama. No-one listened. In 2011, I warned the world...

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Atiku, ‘Atikulation’ and other stories - Reuben Abati

28 November 2017

“I hear say Atiku don port oh, from APC to God knows where…”“He used to be a Customs officer. Going from one port to another should not be an issue...

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Go, Mugabe, Go - Reuben Abati

21 November 2017

Since August, I have been the anchorperson of a programme on television called ThisDay Live where we discuss political matters - local and global. The programme is available on Arise...

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The worst of times, the best of times - Reuben Abati

14 November 2017

“I just love this country, I won’t lie”“What have you seen again that has suddenly turned you into a gushing patriot?”“I mean, just look around, in spite of everything, Nigerians...

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Buhari and the allegation of Northernization - Reuben Abati

07 November 2017

Perhaps the biggest news this week so far, has been the attempt by the Presidency to debunk the allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari has been kinder to Northerners and Muslims...

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The monkey business they call governance - Reuben Abati

31 October 2017

“Have you gone to visit your brother in Ekiti?”“Who is that? I have many brothers from Ekiti state”“The Governor. Osokomole himself, ekun oko oke, the dainty irunmole who eats jollof...

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Baba, Maina, Idris and other stories - Reuben Abati

24 October 2017

“I hear say our Sai Baba don return from Turkey” “Did you hope that he would stay there permanently? He went for the D-8 meeting, and he is bound to...

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Abati didn’t write that… - Reuben Abati

23 October 2017

I had dedicated Saturday, October 21, to two important events: attending to family duties and participating in a farewell funeral party in Abeokuta in honour of a doughty elderly woman...

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Okorocha and Jacob Zuma’s statue - Reuben Abati

17 October 2017

What is it about South African President Jacob Zuma and statues? Two statues in one month- generating controversy from the streets of Pretoria to the streets of Owerri in Nigeria....

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Kachikwu, Baru and the NNPC debacle - Reuben Abati

10 October 2017

The current NNPC debacle is probably the most embarrassing, even if mercifully, eye-opening crisis in the history of that nationally strategic institution since its creation in 1977. I seek in...

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Ambazonia, Biya’s intolerance and internet democracy - Reuben Abati

03 October 2017

A Biafra-like agitation for independence has been unfolding in neighbouring Republic of Cameroon since November 2016. The people of Northern and Southern Cameroons under the umbrella of the Southern Cameroons...

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Letter to Nnamdi Kanu - Reuben Abati

26 September 2017

Dear Nnamdi Kanu, We have never met. I only know you by reputation and I have had cause in the last year to write on your activities within the public...

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Court proscribes IPOB

20 September 2017

The Federal High Court in Abuja has given a judicial backing to the executive order of President Muhammadu Buhari, outlawing the Indeginous People of Biafra and its activities. The Acting...

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The Python does not dance… - Reuben Abati

19 September 2017

Operation code-names have been an important part of military operations since the Germans first applied them in World War 1 but it may be said that the recent (or ongoing?)...

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Mama Taraba and the APC crisis - Reuben Abati

12 September 2017

Mama Taraba is Senator Aisha Alhassan, the current Minister of Women Affairs in the Muhammadu Buhari cabinet, and arguably the most influential female politician in Taraba state today. She did...

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Akwa Ibom churches as parastatals - Reuben Abati

05 September 2017

Religion was not quite a major divisive issue in the community in which we lived in the Old Cross River State in my days as a student there. On Sundays,...

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JAMB and the politics of cut-off marks - Reuben Abati

29 August 2017

I have followed with keen interest the controversy over the announcement of cut-off marks for Nigeria’s admission processes for the 2017/2018 session, with many commentators and the general public insisting...

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Buhari resumes old habits in days since return - Reuters

24 August 2017

President Muhammadu Buhari has kept a low profile since his grand return from sick leave on Saturday. Buhari disembarked his plane in Abuja on Saturday to a military salute and...

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Aso Villa and the audacity of rats - Reuben Abati

23 August 2017

"What’s that sound I am hearing?” “What sound?” “I thought I heard something like miaow, miaow…” “Oh my cats…oh yes…” “Are you now breeding cats?” “Not really. But I have...

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Presidential broadcast and other stories - Reuben Abati

22 August 2017

“Baba don come oh. Baba o yo yo, Baba Bubu o yo yo” “What is that?” “Eh, o yo yo” “If you are this excited about President Buhari’s return, then...

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Buhari’s reunion with his media team - Reuben Abati

15 August 2017

I was really excited on Saturday when I received news of the eventual visit of President Muhammadu Buhari’s media team to him in London. I had always felt that the...

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Osinbajo’s vision and the climate of fear - Reuben Abati

09 August 2017

“Where have you been?”“I have been around”“I was just wondering why you have not said anything since the Acting President proclaimed that those of you who are asking for the...

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Of herbal healing, spirituality and public health -Reuben Abati

01 August 2017

The other week, July 20 to be precise, I was the reviewer of an important book on herbal healing. Herbal healing is often dismissed as a form of sorcery and...

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Lunch in London, anxiety in Nigeria - Reuben Abati

25 July 2017

“What’s gwan inna wa cwantry?”“What language is that?”“English of course.” “Sounds like Creole to me. Why don’t you just talk straight?”“Nobody talks straight in this country anymore.”“I still talk straight....

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Floods and the rainmakers of Lagos Island - Reuben Abati

18 July 2017

“To live in Lagos Island, these days, one needs to engage the services of rainmakers during the rainy season”, a friend who lives in that part of Lagos told me...

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PDP: A lifeline from the Supreme Court - Reuben Abati

13 July 2017

On Wednesday, July 12, the Supreme Court saved our democracy and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It did with its ruling in the matter between Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed...

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Chi Onwurah MP: ‘British, not Nigerian’ - Reuben Abati

11 July 2017

Chi Onwurah, the Member of Parliament representing Newcastle Central in the UK House of Commons and my former colleague at the State House, Molara Wood, met recently at the 2017...

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The Nnamdi Kanu phenomenon - Reuben Abati

04 July 2017

The most discussed subject in Nigeria today is what is called “restructuring” and indeed so popular is this subject that it has attracted the attention of roadside commentators, the bright,...

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AfDB President, Adesina, wins prestigious World Food Prize- Reuben Abati

27 June 2017

The President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has emerged the winner of the prestigious World Food Prize,...

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Buhari and the Hausa language -Reuben Abati

27 June 2017

“Baba just fall my hand! Ha, wetin.” “Which Baba?” “Baba Bubu, the President of all Nigeria.” “In the spirit of this season, may Almighty Allah (SAW) grant him good health...

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JAMB 2017: Matters arising -Reuben Abati

20 June 2017

I attended a meeting recently at the headquarters of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board in Bwari, Abuja: the post-2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination review meeting chaired by the JAMB...

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Igbo-haters, the Arewa ultimatum and our nation - Reuben Abati

13 June 2017

Fifty years after the civil war ended, Igbos do not yet feel a sense of belonging, acceptance or safety in the Federation called Nigeria. The sad part is that this...

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Two years of change - Reuben Abati

06 June 2017

“How is it going my brother?" “We just dey look. Two years and we thank God.” “How was your May 29?” “There was no celebration. We just siddon dey look.”...

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Democracy, Biafra and a sense of history - Reuben Abati

30 May 2017

It is sad that many Nigerians today talk glibly about the possibility of a coup or of military intervention in politics. They make it seem as if this democracy is...

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Buhari and the marabouts - Reuben Abati

23 May 2017

“Have you read Lauretta Onochie’s latest post?” “Lauretta. Lauretta. Who is she?” “She is a social media assistant at the Presidency. She shoots straight and direct. She defends President Muhammadu...

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The First Class degrees galore - Reuben Abati

16 May 2017

The Daily Trust newspaper has published an interesting feature story (May 15), on the sudden surge in the number of First Class degrees being churned out by Nigerian universities. Daily...

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The 82 Chibok Girls and other stories - Reuben Abati

09 May 2017

“E ku amojuba awon 82 Chibok girls, o” “What is that supposed to mean in plain English? You better watch your tongue. It will be politically incorrect and suicidal to...

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In defence of Titilayo Momoh - Reuben Abati

02 May 2017

On March 24, one Ms Taiwo Titilayo Momoh, attempted suicide at the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos. Both the police and concerned citizens rescued her from killing herself. The said Ms...

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Who is the Presidency? - Reuben Abati

25 April 2017

When last week, President Muhammadu Buhari decided to suspend the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ayo...

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The Abuja-Kaduna airports: A testimony - Reuben Abati

18 April 2017

I have just returned from Abuja travelling through the Kaduna airport. As we disembarked from the aircraft and moved towards the arrival section, I could hear an announcement being made....

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#BBNaija: Television as madness - Reuben Abati

11 April 2017

What a relief! So, the Big Brother Naija reality television programme is finally over. It ended Sunday evening with 23-year old Efe Michael Ejemba, University of Jos graduate of Economics...

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Dino Melaye: The making of a brand - Reuben Abati

04 April 2017

// It is a sign of the times, and a tragedy that the most popular Senator in the Nigerian National Assembly at this moment is not the person who has...

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Nigeria’s angry children of suicide - Reuben Abati

28 March 2017

I once wrote about Nigeria’s “children of anger”, but the country seems to have progressed from anger to clinical depression, resulting in a rise not merely in social aggressiveness, but...

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Travelling dangerously in Nigeria-Reuben Abati

21 March 2017

A fortnight ago, I was in Ondo state to attend an event; that was the day the heavens chose to open up. The rainy season seems to have started early...

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Buhari’s return: Matters arising -Reuben Abati

14 March 2017

As someone who has been in that corridor recently, I do not share the view of those who insist that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent 50-day medical vacation was mismanaged by...

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From London to Abuja in 50 days: Buhari’s return -Reuben Abati

10 March 2017

The cities of Daura -President Muhammadu Buhari’s home town, Kano - his political base, and Kaduna -where he has a home, and where the aircraft that brought him from London...

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The Man Who Sat On The Tor Tiv’s Throne - Reuben Abati

07 March 2017

This is about Stephen Nyitse, the young man who on the day of the coronation of the new Tor Tiv managed to beat security and went straight to where the...

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The Nigeria-Prays-For-Buhari Competition - Reuben Abati

28 February 2017

After the publication of my column last week, titled “I want to go to London… to see Buhari”, I received a lot of feedback from persons who were either amused...

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