The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • When grace speaks loud

    When grace speaks loud

    Reviewer:   Adaora Onyechere

    Author:       Goddy Jedy-Agba

    Book title:   Grace Unspeakable

    In an age crowded with performative memoirs and triumphalist narratives, Grace Unspeakable by Goddy Jedy-Agba arrives as something rarer and more enduring: a contemplative work that treats survival, leadership, and faith not as trophies to be displayed, but as questions to be wrestled with. This is not simply the story of a man who lived through a 25-hour brain surgery, a 31-day coma, and the slow relearning of life. It is a philosophical inquiry into what truly remains when certainty collapses.

    From its opening pages, the book establishes its moral gravity. In Valley of the Shadow of Death, Jedy-Agba writes, “Life is not measured by the certainty of our plans but by the resilience of our spirit when fate intervenes.” This line functions as both thesis and compass. The memoir is shaped by interruption by moments when ambition is halted, identity is stripped bare, and the illusion of control is exposed. What emerges is a voice tempered by suffering, reflective rather than declarative.

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    The sections detailing his medical crisis are rendered with unusual restraint. There is fear, anger, even a startling honesty in his spiritual confrontation “Sometimes, it is good to question or even challenge God” yet the prose never lapses into spectacle. Instead, the hospital becomes a philosophical space: a site where the self is dismantled and reassembled, where faith is tested not in triumph but in silence. When Jedy-Agba observes that “every breath, every heartbeat, is a precious gift,” the statement feels earned, not ornamental.

    What elevates Grace Unspeakable beyond a survival memoir is its rigorous interrogation of power. Drawing from his years in public service, the author dismantles the mythology of titles and positions with quiet precision. “The edifices we build, the titles we acquire… mean nothing in the face of life’s profound silences,” he writes. Leadership, in this telling, is not performative authority but interior discipline integrity held when applause is absent and consequence is real. These reflections give the book particular resonance in a political culture often starved of moral introspection.

    Equally arresting are the chapters on family, loss, and love. In The Gift of Beatrice, marriage is not idealized but understood as endurance, friendship, and shared vulnerability. In recounting the deaths of his parents, Jedy-Agba resists sentimentality, choosing instead to explore grief as continuity life demanding motion even when the inner world has fractured. These moments ground the book emotionally, ensuring that its philosophical reach never drifts away from the human.

    Stylistically, the writing is calm, deliberate, and confident in its silences. Jedy-Agba does not rush to impress; he allows ideas to unfold slowly, trusting the reader’s intelligence. His reflections on faith are especially notable for their maturity. Faith here is not presented as immunity from suffering, but as the courage to endure it without losing one’s moral centre. When Christ tells him, “You have an assignment you have not finished,” the line resonates not as mystical spectacle, but as ethical summons.

    Ultimately, Grace Unspeakable is a book about reorientation. It asks difficult questions: What survives when power is removed? Who are we when productivity halts? What kind of legacy is built not in noise, but in conscience? The answers are not handed down neatly; they are discovered through pain, patience, and reflection.

    This is not a loud book. It does not beg for attention. Yet it lingers long after the final page, leaving the reader quieter, more reflective, and subtly altered. Grace Unspeakable is less a memoir to be consumed than an experience to be absorbed a work that invites us to examine our own lives with greater honesty, humility, and grace.

    Grace Unspeakable can be found across all major book stores including Rovenheights and best sellers online book platforms, Selar, Lulu, Amazon and Kobo.

  • When story-telling unites migrants

    When story-telling unites migrants

    Aihawu Victor is an expert on issues of migration.  But more than that, he loves cultures beyond compare.  He uses cultures across Africa to bridge indelible bridges amongst Africans at home and in the Diaspora.  His concern is mainly about migrants across continents.  This is why he uses music, story-telling, fashion, festivals, exhibitions and all to make migrants feel more at home with one another.  Edozie Udeze writes on this man who loves to better the people concerned through his charitable works.

    Africa is naturally noted to have the highest indices of cultural properties in the world.  Counted among all these are diversity of languages that equally embellish the usefulness of cultures that entice.  This is why it is usually said that culture is dynamic.  Culture defines a people.  Culture determines a people’s way of life – foods, clothing, fashion, manners and so on.  It is within this realm of vision that Aihawu Victor can be safely described as a culture activist, a conveyor of those wonderful elements that make Nigeria’s, nay Africa’s, cultures prosper, thrive and endure.

    Victor is no doubt a culture visionary who works everyday to redefine and reshape African cultural identities in the Diaspora.  Over the years, he has been working amongst Africans overseas to keep African cultural identities afloat.  This is the reason it is clear when he is seen as one of the most vocal and visible culture ambassadors abroad.  He is the founder of Cultural Hangout Festival (CHF) which he created in London to act as a formidable bridge between Africans at home and those in the Diaspora.  Victor originally set out to envision a time when culture would become a rallying point, a positive weapon for all Africans irrespective of where they live.

    This was why the initiation of CHF became imperative.  So, in the main, CHF is used by the founder to initiate dialogue, and heighten education for the Africans in Diaspora.  It is a vibrant organ also for story-telling, engaging with music, food, fashion and so on, to keep the brotherly relationship amongst the African Diaspora with their brethren back home.  In a world where avarice and prejudice have tended to keep people apart, what Victor does with his outfit has been seen to be too humanitarian for human comprehension.

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    He needs to be commended.  Interacting with Victor shows a man who is concerned about his love of Africans. A Nigerian, almost born into charity work, Victor has encountered lots of hurdles in the process of this mission.  Yet, he is not deterred.  He is determined to fulfill his love for humanity.  Cultural bridges help him to cement love.  Just like football, the culture of inter-racial and inter-ethnic marriages have become like a hub for Victor.  He sees such as some of those cultural ideals that must keep humanity together.

    When CHF was founded in May 2025, in London, to commemorate African Day, Victor used the festival in place to announce his vision, mission and the tenacity of the foundation to help in this regard.  Therefore CHF sounds like a child of necessity built on the relevance of cultures as a unifying factor.  It was instantly that CHF was endorsed by African Union.  On the day of its foundation, Victor and his people manifested so much love for African cultural displays that the AU was moved to give him an official recognition.

    Moved by this, in December 2025, he established a branch of CHF in Abuja, Nigeria.  This was also duly recognized by the Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.  The ministry understands what role CHF is likely going to play to enrich cultural creativity, douse hatred across peoples and then add vibes to music, arts, fashion and folklores.

    He also takes care of Migrants Voice in UK, a partnership he has with migrants in that domain.  His concern is to bring migrants in London and beyond within reckoning.  As a lover of culture, Victor is a peace maker, a bridge builder, someone who discovered before time that story-telling is still a means to bring people together.  And as a lover of people and what their cultures entail, he has indeed succeeded in extending the tentacles of his outfits to global attention, global appreciation.  He has established Centre for Youths Integrated Development (CYID).  This is also recognized by the Central Bank of Nigeria for through this agency Victor has empowered and reintegrated a number of returnee refugees.  It is a big feat only a man with a big heart like Aihawu Victor can conveniently accomplish.  His mantra is: take charge, own and rebuild your life’.  It is a message to the youths to always sit up in all situations, in all circumstances.

    To his credit also is to mention Africa Multicultural and Heritage Promotion Limited.  It is meant to showcase everything African.  In another instance, he has engaged himself in fashion and art shows to further entrench the importance of what defines Africans culturally.  Not done yet, he heads the popular outfit named Platform for Cooperation on Mixed Migration.  This laudable group has over 60 civil rights and society organizations within it ostensibly established to work in all areas to assist migrants in the best ways possible.

    Over all, the world has come to see through the actions, works and activities of Victor that there are still people charitable enough to use their personal touch to rule the world.  Victor as an enviable lover of cultures is hereby seen as a hero, a human being created to help the youths retell various stories, implore music and fashion and dances to reach out and make the desired changes.

  • National Gallery goes to KWASU

    National Gallery goes to KWASU

    Even as the year was about to end in 2025, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) an agency of the federal government of Nigeria in the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, still had time to enter an agreement  with Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.  The agreement was in form of strategic partnership for NGA to construct an Art Academy within the university premises.  This was on December 17, 2025 and the partnership was themed: Memorandum of Understanding between NGA and KWASU.

    In a statement, Emeka Odiari, Director, Information Services Department of NGA made it clear that NGA will continue to engage in town-and-gown programmes which are aimed at sensitizing art students on the need to take the course serious.  Fine Arts is obviously one of the courses that has been designed to keep Nigerian contemporary and modern arts in the front-burner.

    And since the NGA is entrusted with such responsibility, a town and gown memorandum of understanding is one of the best ways to bring the message nearer to the young and aspiring artists.  Therefore, the strategic partnership has come at a time when the Creative Economy needs the best from the young ones.  The students have a lot to gain from this programme.  Once the space is created, it will sure boast their chances of meeting and mixing with bigger artists when the opportunity calls for it.

    The statement says further: “Under the proposed partnership; (NGA-KWASU Art academy and Creative Hub) the University will provide land for the construction of an Art Academy and Creative Hub that will house studios for painting, sculpture, ceramics; textile; new media and digital art. Others are Exhibition hall; Accommodation for visiting artists and art residences; Art shops; Sculpture gardens; parking spaces and landscaping.

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    The Director-General of NGA, Ahmed Bashir Sodangi represented at the occasion by Mrs. Ekene Okoroma, expressed delight that this initiative is finally taking place after it was first conceived in 2022. He noted that this program me is part of the Federal goverment’s strategy designed to strengthen Institutional partnerships, empower youths creativity while making the Creative sector more vibrant and productive.

    Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Shaykh Luqman who signed on behalf of the university, noted that the art academy is to be located at the Osi campus of the university. He praised the DG, NGA, for his unrelenting commitment towards the development of art and the welfare of artist.

    NGA under the vibrant and visionary leadership of it’s DG, Ahmed Sodangi has signed up several collaborations with both local and International cultural organisations, festivals, corporate entities and influential stakeholders in the creative sector. These partnerships have established the NGA as a central hub, significantly expanding oppurtunities for programme delivery and resource mobilization. It also aims to enrich cultural dialogue and encourage broader public engagement in the arts, ultimately elevating the status and appreciation of Nigeria’s rich artistic heritage globally.

  • SNAPSONG    275  

    SNAPSONG    275  

    From Grass to Grace

    Rice and Shine

    Now let me arise

         With my precious bag of rice

    So long in coming

         Our heads were already turning

    We thought it was gone

         With our budget czar on the run

    Our empty stomachs growled

         In a tone that was tense and loud

    But this anxious time around

         Fate ran the tale aground

    The soothsayers were wrong

         Our luck was bold and strong

     So here they are

         Delectably rare

    Heaving golden grains

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         And their forgotten pains

     Hauled in from near and far

         On each bag a smiling star

    With gentle hints of the waiting kitchen

         And the feathery flavor of the wary chicken 

    Cooked, fried, and gently jollofed

         Ready every way to be liked and loved

    With dazzling dishes in their appointed place

         We find our way to the Orchard of Grace

  • *Adamant Kwankwaso versus Kano Emirate (First published October 20, 2024)

    *Adamant Kwankwaso versus Kano Emirate (First published October 20, 2024)

    In an interview two Thursdays ago, former governor of Kano State and leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, disclosed that the splitting of the Kano Emirate into five emirates in 2019 as well as the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi II in 2020 would be revisited. In May 2019, former governor Abdullahi Ganduje had assented to the Kano State House of Assembly bill splitting the emirate. With the assent, the emirate was split into five: Kano, the surviving rump, and Rano, Bichi, Karaye, and Gaya. Barely a year later, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II was deposed, for, among other things, disrespecting the office of the governor, and land racketeering. Dr Kwankwaso insisted that the former emir was deposed because of Dr Ganduje’s inferiority complex. The former governor, however, countered by flaunting his own PhD and his wife’s professorship, mocking his traducers for not having professorial wives.

    The Kano quagmire has become a huge entanglement, punctuated by bitter quarrels, trenchant language, and now almost irreconcilable differences triggered by a spectacular falling out due to unmet expectations of loyalty. Dr Ganduje was twice deputy governor to Dr Kwankwaso (1999-2003; 2011-2015), though punctuated by a two-term interregnum filled by ex-governor Ibrahim Shekarau. (They have rich CVs in Kano: highly educated, urbane, articulate, but cantankerous and unforgiving). Days after the Supreme Court gave judgement in the last governorship election dispute, Dr Ganduje invited Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, a civil engineer who also brandishes a master’s degree in Business Administration, and Dr Kwankwaso to abandon their party, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), and defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). He, however, sarcastically added that he would automatically become their Jagora (leader). The invitation has incensed the duo, Dr Ganduje’s sense of humour being lost on them. Though Kano’s leading politicians have so much in common, particularly the more than a decade of camaraderie between Dr Kwankwaso and Dr Ganduje, the Kanawa are likely to remain irreconcilable and will continue to bait one another.

    It is mainly in this context that the promised review of the Kano Emirate split should be understood. Dr Kwankwaso will remain adamant until it proves politically costly. It is obvious why he is at the forefront of campaigning for the review of the emirate balkanisation, but it is not altogether clear that it makes political sense to champion the cause instead of the governor. Gov Yusuf hails from Gaya, one of the beneficiary emirates consequent upon the Kano Emirate split. Whole new infrastructure and economies have followed the split; reversing history now will be more contentious than before the split. But this has not deterred Dr Kwankwaso. According to him: “Honestly it (the Kano emirates issue) is one of the things that nobody has sat with me to discuss so far, but I am sure we are going to sit and see how to go about it. Is it going to be allowed, demolished, corrected, or whatever? It will be revisited, and what’s supposed to be done will be done. There were a lot of things and this was a trap. All these things were not done in good faith or intention. It was brought with some bad intentions which every one of you here and our listeners are aware of. Sometimes you come with things that are good and they turn out to be bad while sometimes you bring bad things and they turn out to be good…”

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    For now, two things seem uppermost in the mind of the NNPP leader. One, he wants the Kano Emirate reunified. The previously monolithic emirate has a nostalgic hold on him and perhaps on many other Kanawa. It was a symbol of bigness, power and influence. But has the rump Kano Emirate become less influential in the cultural and political scheme of things in the state, and indeed in Nigeria where everyone is still besotted to Kano as a thriving and powerful emirate and entity? It is doubtful; for water is finding its level and course, especially after five years. To begin rebuilding the emirate through reunification will probably throw up fresh uncertainties. Will it not be better to let sleeping dogs lie, regardless of the politics that underscored the balkanisation? As the Hausa idiomatically put it, “A bar kaza a cikin gashin ta’. It is, sadly, very tempting not to let bad enough alone. The itch to tamper with things based on sometimes indefensible or untenable sentiments is always high. That the split was also ‘bad intentioned’, as Dr Kwankwaso said, and coming from, of all people, the hated Dr Ganduje, seems especially galling to the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement and protector of the emirate council.

    Two, somehow, either because of the goodness of his heart or for reasons not even he can properly decode, Dr Kwankwaso wants the ‘historic wrong’ done to Emir Sanusi II redressed. The deposed emir was not even Dr Kwankwaso’s first choice when he was appointed in 2014, a year before the former governor’s second term ended. Obviously he has grown to like him immensely. But since the NNPP controls the legislature, the lawmakers can of course be made to do the NNPP bidding. However, the emir wasn’t just deposed for thumbing his nose at Gov Ganduje, he was also probed for unregulated and liberal spending habits, and then queried for land racketeering. The NNPP will have to get all those inconvenient details expunged to legitimately return him to office. Reinstating Emir Sanusi II may not be the chief goal of Dr Kwankwaso, but he will do anything to rub Dr Ganduje’s nose in it.

    Targeting and trashing his former deputy, who is now chairman of the APC, may, however, be far easier than managing his new mentee and governor, Mr Yusuf. On both the emirate matter and possible reinstatement of Sanusi II, the more candid and less bashful Dr Kwankwaso has thrust himself forward and spoken more authoritatively than the governor. He forgets that a new sheriff is in town, and his obtrusions will in due course be resisted more and more as state affairs get more volatile. It is inevitable. All it takes is a little more consolidation by the governor, and the new helmsman will begin to assert himself, differ from his mentor in policy perspectives, and eventually strike out from under the shadows of his leader in whose government he was once a Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport between 2011 and 2015. Sooner or later, Mr Yusuf’s mollifying and conciliating rule will contend with Dr Kwankwaso’s fierce and adamant disposition until something gives. No state has yet balked this trend. It won’t begin with Kano.

  • Discourses on Kwankwaso’s Kano

    Discourses on Kwankwaso’s Kano

    Last year, this column predicted the parting of ways between Kano’s Governor Abba Yusuf and his mentor and godfather Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former governor himself. Both politicians have now acrimoniously reached a point of no return in their relationship. The governor has virtually defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), tired of his mentor’s dithering, while Dr Kwankwaso has been left stranded in the litigious New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), angry with his mentee for his impatience and flirtation with the enemy. For more than one year, Dr Kwankwaso negotiated with APC leaders to facilitate his defection, but every time the ruling party met his terms, he shifted the goalpost. Vexed and irritated, the APC separately courted an already disaffected Mr Yusuf who was anxious to avoid the legal pitfalls in the NNPP that threatened his reelection. It turned out that the governor couldn’t wait any longer, while his mentor could afford all the time in the world. The explosion that followed in the last two weeks between the somnolent mentor and his agitated mentee was predictable and inevitable, as this column anticipated in October 2024.

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    One more prediction can be ventured on the Kano affair: Dr Kwankwaso has been left holding the short end of the stick, and Mr Yusuf is left with all the advantage. Having tarried so long in trying to negotiate a deal worthy of his stature, the Kwankwasiyya leader will now have to fight for his political life with little chance of stalemating the war or emerging victorious. He faces the unpalatable choice of either migrating to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), where there are covert and cowardly talks of unhorsing the immovable former vice president Atiku Abubakar, or of staying put at the forlorned NNPP. Whatever he does, he faces a veritable Hobson’s choice.  To return to the APC suitor is to follow his mentee to the new watering hole while simultaneously losing face. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is out of the picture, while the ADC, now seething with plots and dreams of utopia, will test his forbearance to its limit. Enjoy the following 2024 discourses that presaged the Kwankwaso debacle.

  • *NNPP will not be outdone (First published October 20, 2024)

    *NNPP will not be outdone (First published October 20, 2024)

    No one thinks that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) state chapters are free of bickering and rancour. If the rancour appears subdued, or if party elders still command respect and exert tremendous influence on quarrelsome rank and file, it is because the party controls the national levers of power and distributes patronage. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) are not so lucky. Since they lost the presidential election last year, both the PDP and LP have been at once strident in opposition and wracked by guilt and rage. Last week, this column explored the tangential issue of electoral cooperation between the NNPP and LP, wondering why instead of tackling their identity crises and internal conflicts, they chose to focus on the more ambitious project of taking the presidency in 2027. The PDP, as nearly everyone knows, had sunk into crisis since 2015. It is now the turn of the two other opposition parties to confront their fates.

    While the cancer gnawing at the liver of the PDP has festered for nearly a decade, some three weeks ago, the tremor coursing through the body politic of the LP assumed monumental dimension. Now, the NNPP, an otherwise fringe party controlling only Kano State, will not be outdone. Party leaders, led by the pugnacious and vengeful Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, have managed against the run of play to furnish themselves not only an internal crisis but also a war. No party has a monopoly of internal crisis, not even the APC, let alone the naturally fractious PDP; but the NNPP is determined not to be a laggard. The Young Turks in the party, though still scheming in the shadows, and working in concert with a smattering of old and calloused hands, have signaled the start of a rebellion. Their goal is to either dissipate the influence of Dr Kwankwaso or overthrow his suzerainty altogether. They feel his overbearing presence too constraining, and his diktats, not to say his malice, bilious and anachronistic. They also empathise with the ‘helpless’ Kano governor Abba Kabir Yusuf whom they are secretly nudging to extricate himself from the stranglehold of the party leader. But they do not yet have the courage to challenge their mentor in open fight. They know a thing or two about the unappeasable Dr Kwankwaso, with a few of them having at one time or the other been scorched by his fury; and they know quite well that he does not take prisoners. For now, however, they will fight him secretly, and even hide behind the thin flak jacket of the governor.

    This is of course not the first time the NNPP, which was founded in 2002 by the Anambrarian Boniface Aniebonam, will be engaged in fratricidal conflict. Since its takeover by the Kwankwasiyya crowd in 2022, the party has been ill at ease. Last April, Mr Aniebonam accused Dr kwankwaso, who is now informally described as NNPP party leader, of hijacking the party, changing its logo and flag, and mutilating its constitution. But that initial fight was half-hearted and stalemated. A new chapter in the fight has now been opened. Unsettled by how the party leader has been riding roughshod over everyone in the party, particularly Gov Yusuf, a few party top shots reportedly schemed to throw off Dr Kwankwaso’s yoke. The alleged rebels refused to confirm the existence of any plot, but the state chairman of the party, Hashim Sulaiman Dungurawa, zeroed in on a few of the alleged masterminds and suspended them from the party ostensibly for disrespecting the party, disloyalty, and abuse of power. They are the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, and the Commissioner of Transportation, Muhammad Diggol.

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    The story of the brewing revolt in Kano is, however, not the usual kind. Sources suggest that the so-called rebellion tagged ‘Abba Tsaya da Kafarka’, meaning, Abba stand on your feet, was plotted to put an end to the dominance and dictations of Dr Kwankwaso. The suspension of the two officials has since been rescinded, and both of them have disowned the plot, but the feeling persists around the seat of power in Kano that the party leader is unsparing and megalomaniacal. The party leader himself refused to comment on the matter, especially on the suspension of the two government officials, preferring instead that all inquiries be directed to the party chairman; but no one is deceived that his reticence means absolution. The plotters may have shriveled like worms on a hot plate, but everyone knows that it is a question of time before the silent war breaks into the open. The excesses of Dr Kwankwaso will make an open confrontation certain.

    Gov Yusuf is unlikely to join any rebellion now, regardless of how much Dr Kwankwaso needles him. Though it is clear to many Kanawa that the governor does not enjoy as much freedom as he would like, he would, however, continue to walk the tightrope for as long as is humanly tolerable. He has been made to inherit the party leader’s enemies, chief among whom is former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. But he has probably seen why his predecessor fell out with the party leader. Whether his education is complete on this issue or not, he will nevertheless be wary of fighting his benefactor openly. Two reasons will account for his restraint. Firstly, he won the Kano governorship poll by a wafer-thin margin, scoring only 52 percent that was controversially upheld by the Supreme Court. If he is keen on reelection, he will try his utmost to accommodate the eccentricities of his mentor and party leader.

    Secondly, Kano has an unenviable history of godsons fighting with and alienating their godfathers, as exampled by the late Governor Abubakar Rimi versus the statesman and NEPU legend, Aminu Kano. The end result of that open warfare did not bode well for the former governor’s political career. However, Dr Kwankwaso probably exaggerates his influence and power in Kano, and by overreaching himself too many times, he may already have compromised the reverence in which he is held. But Gov Yusuf will not want to find out whether he would be undone by an open warfare with his party leader. More, seeing how the SSG and Transportation commissioner ate crow last week, no one in public office in Kano will be eager to flex his muscles anytime soon. Discretion, they say, is the better part of valour. Borno, Katsina and Niger States are some of the very few states where godfathers enthroned godsons without acrimony or subsequent interferences. Kano and Rivers States could borrow a leaf from any of those three states had godfathers Kwankwaso and Nyesom Wike been made of subtler and more nuanced stuff.

  • Five good camera phone alternatives to Samsung Galaxy S25

    Five good camera phone alternatives to Samsung Galaxy S25

    For smartphone users who prioritise camera performance over brand loyalty, several devices in 2026 now rival—or surpass—the Samsung Galaxy S25 in photography and videography. Equipped with larger high-resolution sensors, advanced cinematic video capabilities, and cutting-edge computational imaging, these phones deliver flagship-quality results that cater to both casual shooters and professional content creators.

    Here are the best camera-centric smartphones you can confidently choose instead of Samsung’s Galaxy S25 right now.

    1. iPhone 17

    The iPhone 17 brings polished imaging with dual 48MP cameras, sensor-shift stabilisation and Dolby Vision HDR video. Its consistent colour science, strong video recording and reliable autofocus make it a dependable camera phone. For users focused on video quality and ecosystem polish, it remains a solid alternative to Samsung’s Galaxy S25.

    2. Oppo Find X9

    The Oppo Find X9’s triple 50MP camera setup covers wide, periscope zoom and ultrawide shots with ease. Hasselblad colour science, Dolby Vision video, 10-bit LOG recording and strong stabilisation help it capture professional-looking photos and videos that clearly outshine the Galaxy S25’s imaging capabilities.

    3. Vivo X300

    Vivo X300 is a photography powerhouse led by a massive 200MP primary sensor. Paired with a 50MP periscope telephoto, 50MP ultrawide camera and Zeiss optics, it delivers exceptional detail and dynamic range. Smooth high-frame-rate 4K video and a sharp 50MP selfie camera make it a stronger camera phone than the Galaxy S25.

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    4. Google Pixel 10

    Google Pixel 10 sports a 48MP main camera, 13MP ultrawide and true 5x telephoto produce natural colours and impressive dynamic range. Ultra HDR, AI-powered processing and reliable 4K video make it a smarter camera-focused choice over the Galaxy S25.

    5. OnePlus 15

    The OnePlus 15 offers excellent value with its triple 50MP camera system powered by Sony’s IMX906 sensor. A 3.5x telephoto lens, 8K video support, Dolby Vision HDR and advanced stabilisation ensure consistent results. It delivers more versatile photography and video performance than the Galaxy S25 at a competitive price.

  • From Ese Oruru to Walida: Exposing selective outrage in child sexual exploitation cases

    From Ese Oruru to Walida: Exposing selective outrage in child sexual exploitation cases

    • By Yushau A. Shuaib

    I have always resisted being dragged into ethnoreligious arguments. Not because the issues are trivial, but because many of the loudest voices in such debates are not merely passionate—they are fanatical. Some are so blinded by affiliation that they excuse injustice, flirt with heresy, or even justify violence in defence of identity.

    In recent months, especially after U.S. President Donald Trump’s inflammatory threats against Nigerian Muslims over an alleged “Christian genocide” in Nigeria, I found myself losing respect for some elders, friends, and colleagues. Their positions were so reckless and prejudiced that I questioned whether our long-standing relationships had ever been grounded in sincerity.

    It was against this background that recent media reports jolted my memory: a Department of State Services (DSS) operative, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, had been arrested for allegedly abducting, raping, and forcibly converting a Muslim girl to Christianity. Instantly, my mind travelled back to 2016—the traumatic case of Ese Oruru and Yunusa Dahiru, popularly known as “Yellow.” That episode dominated newspapers, television screens, social media timelines, and the commentary of self-styled influencers who fed hungrily on outrage.

    In March 2016, precisely 10 years ago, I intervened in that heated national debate with an article titled “Ese Oruru: From Delta to Northern Savannah.” Drawing from my positive 1992 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) experience in Delta State, I contrasted a past era of inter-ethnic openness with the poisonous divisions that surfaced during the Ese Oruru–Yunusa Dahiru saga. Ese, a teenage girl from Bayelsa, and Yunusa, a young Kano-born artisan living in Yenagoa, became unwilling symbols in a storm whipped up by sensationalist media, political opportunists, and religious bigots.

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    My argument then was simple but unpopular: what should have been treated as a grave but personal criminal matter—an ill-advised and unlawful teenage elopement—was irresponsibly reframed into a national crisis of religion and ethnicity. The case was weaponised. Hypocrisy flourished. Sectarian outrage drowned nuance. And anyone who urged restraint or perspective was branded a traitor.

    The facts of that case are well known. Ese Oruru, a teenager, was taken from Bayelsa to Kano by Yunusa Dahiru, who claimed to be her boyfriend. She was allegedly forced to convert to Islam and married without parental consent. Following intense public pressure, she was rescued in 2016 while pregnant. In 2020, a Federal High Court sentenced Yunusa to 26 years in prison for child trafficking and sexual exploitation. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to seven years, accounting for time already spent in custody.

    What received far less attention, however, was what happened afterwards. Yunusa reportedly completed his secondary education while incarcerated and was described by the Nigerian Correctional Service as a well-behaved and reform-minded inmate and was released in 2023. Ese Oruru, on the other hand, despite the trauma and stigma, returned to school and later gained admission to the University of Ilorin, from which she graduated in 2025. These outcomes did not erase the crime, but they reminded us that justice, rehabilitation, and human recovery can coexist.

    Fast-forward to the present. The DSS has confirmed the arrest of its operative, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, following a petition alleging that he abducted a Muslim girl, Walida Abdulhadi, kept her in a DSS residence for two years, sexually exploited her, and forcibly converted her to Christianity. According to her family, they searched desperately for Walida during this period and reportedly lost her mother to the trauma. They only learned of her whereabouts when the suspect allegedly called her father on New Year’s Day 2026, claiming Walida had given birth to his child and that he intended to marry her.

    The family’s lawyers have rightly described the case as a grave abuse of office and demanded prosecution and an independent investigation of the DSS facility involved. To its credit, the DSS confirmed the arrest, condemned the alleged conduct as a violation of its code of ethics, and announced that a full investigation is underway, with assurances that findings will be made public.

    And yet, here lies the uncomfortable question: where is the outrage?

    Nearly a decade ago, Nigeria erupted over the abduction and alleged forced conversion of Ese Oruru, a Christian girl, to Islam. Today, a Muslim girl is alleged to have been abducted, raped, and forcibly converted to Christianity by a state security operative. Will this case attract the same volume of condemnation? The same moral panic? The same international attention? Or will it be quietly processed because it does not fit a preferred narrative?

    When I wrote in 2016, I was almost crucified for refusing to dance to the drums of sectarian hysteria. Today, faced with a disturbingly similar incident, I find myself cautious—almost hesitant—to speak, knowing how easily principled arguments can be twisted into accusations of bias.

    But silence, too, is a position.

    Yushau A. Shuaib is the author of ‘An Encounter with the Spymaster’

    Email: yashuaib@yashuaib.com.

  • BAT-IG, LASUSTECH seal deal on Tinubu Institute of Politics

    BAT-IG, LASUSTECH seal deal on Tinubu Institute of Politics

    The BAT Ideological Group (BAT-IG) has entered into a strategic partnership with the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), Ikorodu, to establish the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Institute of Politics and Policies, aimed at deepening ideological orientation and strengthening political leadership development in Nigeria.

    The agreement was reached during a high-level engagement between the leadership of BAT-IG and the management of LASUSTECH.

    The BAT-IG delegation was led by its convener, Bamidele Atoyebi, and included the group’s Patron, Alhaji Tejumade Isa Onirin; Oyo State Coordinator, Professor Fayomi Oluyemi; and Oyo State Woman Leader, Dr. Bisi Akin Alabi.

    They were received by the Vice Chancellor of LASUSTECH, Prof. Olumuyiwa Omotola Odusanya, alongside principal officers of the university, including the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Abiodun Denloye; Registrar, Mr. David Ogungbe; Bursar, Mr. Oki Olashile; and Dean of Student Affairs, Owoeye Olaniyi David.

    Atoyebi said BAT-IG formally submitted a comprehensive proposal for the establishment of a School of Politics and Policies, envisioned as a national hub for ideological training, political leadership formation and governance studies.

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    He disclosed that both parties agreed to commence academic and professional activities of the institute within two to three months.

    According to him, LASUSTECH has provided a temporary facility for the immediate take-off of the institute, pending the construction of a purpose-built permanent structure to reflect the vision and national significance of the project.

    Atoyebi said the institute was conceived as a response to leadership deficits confronting Nigeria’s political system.

    He explained that it would offer structured academic programmes at diploma, master’s and doctoral levels, alongside professional certifications, fellowships and ideological grooming for emerging and established political actors.

    He described the initiative as historic, noting that it would be the first university-based political institution in Nigeria to be named after a sitting President.

    He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu represents “not merely a political figure, but an institution of leadership, ideology and governance whose political philosophy warrants academic interrogation and institutional preservation.”

    Atoyebi commended the LASUSTECH management for what he described as visionary leadership and institutional courage, and also acknowledged members of BAT-IG for their commitment to promoting ideological clarity, political education and democratic consolidation.

    The BAT Ideological Group is a political think tank and advocacy platform dedicated to promoting the leadership philosophy, governance ideals and reformist politics associated with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with a focus on political education, ideology and leadership development across Nigeria.