(A Reaction To Azu Ishiekwene's Opinion Piece Published In The Nigerian NewsLeader Newspaper Online Edition of Friday, May 16, 2025)

AN UNNECESSARY COMPARISON:

By Uche Chris

The article by Mr. Azu Ishiekwene (titled: How To Crown An Impostor) is clearly a product of bad faith and muddled reason. Azu may be a celebrated writer and journalist, but that doesn't confer on him the best gift of logic and intellectual acuity. Whatever the young man, Captain Ibrahim Traore, is doing or not doing in Burkina Faso should not elicit such malevolent opinion from a Nigerian, whose country has remained an unfulfilled promise of greatness since independence - betrayed by its leaders, and endured, and even encouraged, by a docile and cowardly resilient people.

By Fred Itua

In Edo State, Governor Monday Okpebholo and members of the State House of Assembly are united in taking a firm stand against the escalating threat of kidnapping. The Edo State House of Assembly has passed the Kidnapping Prohibition (Amendment) Law, 2025. This amended legislation marks a bold legislative milestone aimed at tightening the noose on kidnappers, their accomplices, and enablers. It reflects a sharpened resolve by the government to enhance public safety and restore confidence in law enforcement and judicial systems within the state.

By Azu Ishiekwene

Burkinabe leader Ibrahim Traore is acting like a rock star. It’s not entirely his fault. He’s receiving a lot of help from dozens of social media users, especially TikTokers, who are desperate to anoint him as the best thing to come out of Burkina Faso since Thomas Sankara.

By Tony Onyima, Ph.D.

The 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), sparked public outcry over widespread failures, leading to a rare press conference by the Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede. His statement is notable for its candour and rhetorical flourish. However, in light of best practices in crisis communication, the address reveals commendable efforts alongside critical shortcomings.

By Steve Osuji

Nigerian professors are giving a bad name to the academia. We grew up to revere people who wear the tag 'professor' as very special kinds.

By Bola Bolawole

”Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

The above scripture is a key concept in Christian theology, which emphasizes the principle that our actions, be they good and be they bad, will have consequences. Another word for it is “payback” time! As you lay your bed, the English would say! Does this key Christian concept also apply to states, countries, and nations? I think it does - and this is where a country like NIgeria will run into problems because we are a people who do not believe that actions have, or should have, consequences. Here, we eat our cake and have it; we cut corners and engage in a fire brigade approach to serious issues. To quote Frederick Douglass, we want rain without thunder, neglecting the fact that before we can have pounded yam, yam must pass through pounding in a mortar. To refine gold, it has to pass through fire.