The report was treated like a footnote in the main press, but social media and online news platforms gave it a wider play. It’s the story of the launch of a nomadic vigilante service by Miyetti Allah, a group of herders turned political pressure group, comprising mostly Fulani. The national president, Bello Bodejo, said in Lafia, Nasarawa State, where the launch took place, that the vigilante service, which had already recruited 1,144 Fulani youths, would assist security agencies in the state to combat criminal activities. Four years ago, the Nnamdi Kanu-led separatist group, IPOB, made similar doubtful claims when the…

Two weeks ago, this column in a piece entitled “Neither at War Nor in Peace” lamented that Nigeria has entered a new normal. We are neither a nation at peace or in a declared war. Instead, we are perennially in a state of psychological and physical siege. Even in that state, our government continues to live in perennial denial, behaving as if they are presiding over a normal democratic state. That hybrid status puts us in a unique category among troubled nations of the world. Side by side with a count of Nigerians who have recently been killed, abducted, kidnapped…

As reporters and analysts, we must inform, based on trends, and where possible, raise the alarm, hoping that those in authority will heed. In 2018, six years ago, that was what I did. And so, this is just a rehash of my article “Insecurity, the North under siege” written on this page on 24 December 2018. Perhaps those concerned did not read it or they were unmindful because they were safe or just that they did not care. Well, now Abuja is a town gasping for breath from the stranglehold of criminals. Read on: The Boko Haram insurgents, once touted…

Big calamities seldom knock before opening the door. Calamities’ sneaky essence is articulated in one song by grand old Odolaye Aremu, Ilorin, Kwara State-born Dadakuada song minstrel. While philosophizing the concept of calamity, which Yoruba call “eemo”, Odolaye sang that surprise and swiftness are primary features of calamities, holding tight to them like leaches. So he sang, “Peki laa k'eemo,” (calamity is met suddenly). The singer points at horses used in races and in ancient wars meeting their own end unprepared during races. It is the same with soldiers who mount horses and ride them to death. Odolaye sang that,…