Sheikh (Dr.) Ahmad Abubakar Mahmud Gumi is an Islamic cleric and scholar based in Kaduna. He was born in Kano on the 1st of October 1960, the very historic day Nigeria gained independence from the Great Britain. He was a former military officer with the rank of Captain in the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA). He is the current ‘Mufti’ and ‘Mufassir’ (scholar and writer) at the Kaduna central mosque. Gumi went to Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria and after graduation he enlisted into the Nigeria Defence Academy. He resigned from the military service at the rank of Captain and…
Author: Ozodinukwe Okenwa
When two years ago the Sudanese people bravely organized a spontaneous revolution that ended three decades of brutal dictatorship led by Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir the global democratic community heaved a sigh of relief that another barbaric bloody dictator (wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court) had fallen by the way side. The glory of that revolution was however stolen as it were by the military (much like in Mali) that helped in achieving a protracted gory civilian insurrection that lasted for weeks culminating in loss of precious lives and destruction of properties. Following the deposition of Gen. Bashir…
Last year October, the 20th to be precise, blood of innocent young Nigerians flowed in Lekki Toll-Gate Plaza in Lagos. On that fateful day following weeks of sustained demonstrations across the country against the storied atrocities of the then notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) some zombie military officers opened fire on unarmed protesters waving the national flag and singing the national anthem. It was a spectacle of sadism, of horror! Since then it has been recriminations galore. Some observers and eye-witnesses had said that scores of youths were brutally massacred that gory night in Lekki. And others had declared…
Recently in the bustling city of Onitsha, Anambra state, the veteran Nollywood actor, Chiwetalu Agu (alias Ogwu) was arrested and allegedly manhandled by the military for wearing a flowing robe bearing the colours of the Biafran flag and the rising sun. The military officers that effected the arrest were said to be on a mission. They belong to the newly-formed ‘Operation Golden Dawn’ in the South-east. The Biafran ‘madness’ played out like a movie around Upper Iweka Bridge in Onitsha. And since a famous actor was principally involved some folks going about their normal businesses might have thought that a movie…
The great city of London means different things to different people around the world. To the British Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street are located some miles or kilometres from their neighbourhoods. It is the imperial capital of the Elizabethan crown, a glamorous royalty centuries old. To the average Frenchman, German, Italian or Spanish however London is that capital of a hitherto European country that voted, via Brexit, to become a non-European entity. To those countries colonized in Africa (including our Nigeria) London represents the very face of colonial oppression and man’s inhumanity to man. For many Nigerians London is…
Last week the husband of the late Dora Akunyili, ex-Minister of Information and Communications and former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Chike Akunyili, was gruesomely murdered at Afor-Nkpor in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra state. He had left Onitsha for Enugu after attending a lecture hosted by the University of Nigeria to pay tribute to the late NAFDAC DG. He hailed from the Agulu community in the Anaocha Local Government Area of the state. As soon as the assassination happened tragically with the news hitting the airwaves and the internet allegations…
Nigeria would turn 61 on the first day of October this year. Sixty one years of flag independence from the Great Britain. Ordinarily, a 61-year old man ought to have achieved everything in life according to his destiny or vision. If he is destined to be great and rich then he must have achieved greatness and richness even before attaining three scores and one years here on earth. But if at 61 he still gropes in the dark, wallows in self-doubt or in the valley of dreams unable to discover himself and become ‘man’ enough in the right sense of…
On April 2, 2020, in Aba, Abia State, a young pharmacist, Solomon Akuma, 29, was arrested for allegedly making an inflammatory social media post against the President, Muhammadu Buhari and his late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari. Akuma was said to have threatened to hire an assassin to kill Buhari and his former late CoS, Kyari! After spending more than three months in illegal detention without trial he was eventually arraigned at a Federal High Court in Abuja for charges bordering on terrorism, sedition, criminal intimidation of the President and threat to his life. But did Akuma actually said seriously that…
York, the US, for the UN General Assembly sessions. Leaders in attendance, including those from Africa, are always billed to address the world and meet and familiarize with each other. President Joe Biden is participating for the first time in this year’s 76th edition having been sworn in last January. His remarks were impressive as he hammered on the need for a COVID-less world and the one with controlled human-friendly climate. Promising to release billions of Dollars to help fight the Coronavirus pandemic and climate change President Biden demonstrated America’s leadership in a turbulent world. Again, the US President commended…
Last week Thursday the former controversial Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) officially defected from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). For quite sometime now he had been hobnobbing with APC chieftains and bigwigs across the federation apparently bidding his time and perfecting his strategies toward the announced PDP exit. We knew all along as rumours went viral online of his romance with the APC elements. So the defection came without any thunder! Not that there is any serious difference ideologically between the APC and the PDP but Femi decided to move to the side…
Aminu Bello Masari, 71, is the incumbent Governor of Katsina State. Katsina happens to be the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari who is from Daura while Masari is from Masari village of Kafur Local Government Area. A former Speaker of the Federal House of Assembly between 2003 and 2007 during ‘Babacracy’ Masari could be described as a veteran politician — dour, austere and frugal much like Buhari. He speaks his mind independently on current national issues of importance. Sometimes he throws diplomacy overboard as he seeks to make his point. Like his brother in Aso Rock he belongs to the…
President Muhammadu Buhari visited Imo State last week. And during the working visit he commissioned some projects executed by the Uzodinma administration and addressed some selected stakeholders in the state including the Ebonyi state Governor Dave Umahi and the President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor who came visting as well. The President spent just four hours or thereabout. The entire state was subjected to a military lockdown with combat helicopters hovering menacingly above. It was like a war zone with almost every federal security structure represented in a show of force. Addressing the assembled dignitaries President Buhari decked…
Few weeks ago the Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque, Sheikh Nuru Khalid, had lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for his failure to tackle ubiquitous banditry and galloping insecurity across the federation. In a viral video seen online the Imam swore that Allah (God) would deal with the President if he did not return Nigeria “united and without bandits” as he met it. The cleric while addressing worshippers during his Friday sermon said Buhari must ensure that he ended the menace before leaving power in 2023. Speaking in his native Hausa language Sheikh Khalid asked the worshippers to go…
There is something absolutely ‘special’ about Guinea, a poor Francophone country in West Africa. Guineans are proud of their ancestral and cultural heritage. Their first President, nay founding father of the nation, the late Ahmed Sekou Toure, was a strongman who looked imperialism and neo-colonialism of France in the face and said a resoundingly historic ‘No’. Toure told the French imperialists that he preferred politico-economic freedom to that of slavery! Following independence in 1958 Toure went about dismantling the famous assimilation policy pulling out of the currency union (FCFA) and establishing the Guinean Franc and Central Bank. France as the colonial…
Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello of Kogi State was born on June 18, 1975 in Okene, Kogi State. Bello is about the youngest Governor in Nigeria and the only one to be born after the brutal Nigeria/Biafra Civil War. In 2015 following the victory of the late Prince Abubakar Audu and his sudden death the All Progressives Congress announced Bello as the replacement of the deceased seasoned politician who originally won the election but died before the result was declared. The youthful exuberant Governor obtained an accounting degree from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria in 1999. Yahaya Bello became Governor of…
The Executive Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ioraer Ortom was born on the 23 April, 1961. He is an accomplished politician, businessman, administrator and philanthropist. He was the Minister of State, Trade and Investments during the infamous presidency of Goodluck Jonathan. Before that appointment he had served as the PDP National Auditor. And before that he had worked as the Director of Administration and Logistics of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization in 2011. In Benue state he had served in different political capacities prior to his appointment as Minister and election and re-election as Governor. A politician…
Last weekend a musical Iroko tree fell in Benin City, Edo State! The legendary ‘Joromi’ melody exponent, Sir Victor Efosa Uwaifo (MON), joined his ancestors in the Edo state capital city at a ripe age of 80. He was a former Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism in Edo State during the Lucky Igbinedion governorship. He made history in 1996 when he was presented with the first Golden Record in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa by Philips for his hit song, ‘Joromi’. Uwaifo was invited by the United Nations Staff Day International Committee to perform during the UN Golden Jubilee celebration in…
Chief Joseph Igbokwe is a Lagos-based businessman turned politician of fortune. He is a proud ‘Lagosian’ much like his mentor, the former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, whose ancestral origin is elsewhere other than the state of aquatic splendour. The mega city-state of Lagos is of course home to Nigerians of all tribes and religions apart from the Yorubas who ‘own’ it. Igbokwe is a detribalized Nigerian, a patriot whose patriotism must have been engendered by material and political interests other than those dictated by nobility and/or altruism.…
The Taliban extremist forces are back in power in Afghanistan. Following the gradual withdrawal of the American occupation forces the religious ‘terrorist’ government took effective control of the entire Afghan territory, one village, town or city after another, in a record speed encountering little or no resistance as they marched to the capital city, Kabul. Kabul fell to the shocking surprise of the Western powers (especially the US) who had predicted otherwise. No one saw it coming too soon. Last Monday there was pandemonium at the Kabul international airport as despondent terrified Afghans trooped there in a desperate effort to flee the…
The 2023 presidential poll in Nigeria is still two years away but political permutations and tractations have commenced in earnest. The (mis)ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party are positioning themselves to retain power post-Buharism. Since President Buhari has failed to deliver on anything and change or transform Nigeria it would be very difficult for the APC to convince Nigerians to vote it again into power. But Nigeria being Nigeria (where everything is fair and possible) the APC could pull off a ‘stunning’ victory through elaborate rigging. Having rejected the electronic transmission of results the APC apparatchiks are apparently preparing the…
Pastor Christopher Oghenebrorie Okotie, better known as Chris Okotie, is the founder of Household of God Church International Ministries. In 1987 after a thrilling career in music and entertainment he decided to join the growing list of evangelical businessmen otherwise known as “men of God”! He is 63 years old. He is blessed with the power of the tongue. He is highly educated and well travelled. He is a golden boy in the area of church business having ‘graduated’ from the hip-hop entertainment scene. He commands good followership in his church and on the social media. He is sophisticated and…
Retired General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) broke his silence last weekend on the rising Arise TV network. Ms Ngozi Alaegbu travelled to Minna, Niger State, to interview IBB inside his mind-boggling edifice. Living reclusively in obscene opulence in the city near Abuja since beating a forced hasty retreat from the national political scene post-June 12 Babangida must have considered it auspicious making himself heard again. The big man does not need any introduction to anyone conversant enough with his ‘Maradonic’ political exploits in power decades ago. Gen. Babangida rose to national prominence in the middle of the 80’s when he…
The voluble Spokesman of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Emma Powerful had released a statement recently indicating that starting from Monday next week (August 9) the south-east region would be subjected to a total lockdown in protest against the continuing incarceration of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Codenamed ‘ghost’ Monday it seeks to mount pressure on the Buhari regime to release Kanu from detention. What the weekly action means is that, until Kanu is liberated from the DSS custody, every Monday would witness a generalised shutdown of all activities in Igboland — schools, markets, shops and every other socio-economic…
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, is the so-called super cop who works as the leader of the Inspector-General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team. When the incarcerated Nnamdi Kanu’s Eastern Security Network or the “unknown gunmen” were running berserk in the south-east raiding police stations and prisons, killing security officers, and torching critical national infrastructures DCP Kyari was one of those ‘intelligent’ officers assembled by the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and sent to neutralise the budding threat of secession by the Indigenous People of Biafra and their ESN paramilitary affiliate. In the end, even before Kanu’s abduction and…
Just weeks after Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the mercurial erstwhile fugitive leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its military wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) was nabbed in Nairobi, Kenya, and renditioned controversially to Nigeria the popular Yoruba (Oduduwa) nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, was arrested by the Interpol in Cotonou, Benin Republic, as he made his way to board a flight to Germany. His wife, Ropo, was apprehended with him. Unlike Kanu, however, whose abduction and rendition generated much furore on the Biafran streets more than the elite circles, the Yoruba elite, kings and leaders, had…
South Africa recently witnessed days of rage, fire and fury following the incarceration of the former President of the country, Jacob Zuma. He was officially accused of grand corruption and abuse of office as investigations intensified over the heist he organized while presiding over the Rainbow nation for close to a decade. And his manifest disdain towards the judiciary led to the Constitutional Court issuing an ultimatum for his capitulation which culminated in the apex court sending him to prison for failing to honour summons and convocations. Jacob Zuma is a perfect example of what is fundamentally wrong with leadership in Africa,…
It is stale news that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the embattled fugitive leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN), was kidnapped in Nairobi, Kenya, and brought back to the country of his birth he derisively described as a ‘zoo’. His judicial odyssey would now have to restart in earnest (26 July) from where it was abandoned some years ago following his disappearance on bail. Kanu has maintained that he decided to flee the country when his country home in Afaraukwu, Abia State, was attacked by the Nigerian security operatives. If he had not fled…
Recently a report online indicated that the Department of State Services (DSS) had arrested three Israelis shooting a documentary in Ogidi town, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, southeast Nigeria last week. The film-documentary was titled: “We Were Never Lost”. It was exploring the Jewish communities in African countries such as Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and Nigeria. According to the ‘Times Of Israel’ newspaper those arrested included Rudy Rochman, a Zionist activist, filmmaker Andrew (Noam) Leibman and Edouard David Benaym. The report said the crew were detained at a synagogue during Friday night services in the town of Ogidi by the notorious…
Ever since he was spectacularly ‘kidnapped’ in Nairobi, Kenya, at the international airport as he reportedly drove himself in to keep an appointment with a man arriving for an IPOB crucial meeting and bundled back to Nigeria Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has continued to dominate home news. Not because he was a paragon or Jesus revisiting the world in yet another missionay journey of redemption but because he dared to actualize Biafra by hook or by crook. However long it takes, whether in this generation or next, Biafra might be a reality unless the needful is done urgently to accommodate the Igbos…
Just days after the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) fugitive leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was ‘kidnapped’ in Kenya and brought back home in chains Sunday Igboho’s Soka country home in Ibadan, Oyo State, came under serious assault at midnight hours from the Department of State Services (DSS) and military forces. In the end two people inside the house were killed and thirteen others arrested and taken ‘prisoners’. Igboho himself, whose bedroom was ransacked and ‘sacred’ personal belongings taken away, escaped mysteriously. It was a second violent attack on his house and apparent assassination attempt on his…
