Headline

Pendulum: The Importance of Celebrity Journalism in Africa Today

Published

6 years ago

September 14, 2019

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Africans, I’m proud to give you a feedback and update on my Fellowship at The African Studies Centre, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

It all started as a joke, or one of those my brainwaves. I had toyed with the idea of heading back to school for further studies. But I was quite confused about which school, what course and when. I think my greatest enemy is time. I’m so permanently occupied with one activity or the other that I often wonder if I would ever have the chance and time to take time out, or even laze about, once in a while, like regular people. I believe I must have picked the habit of multitasking from two of my mentors and role models like Chief Moshood Abiola and Dr Mike Adenuga Jr. It amazes me how much work those two have packed into one lifetime. But they have fired me up with their drive, determination and ambition, so much that work has become an addiction.

I knew I would definitely go back to academia, either full-time or part time. Nothing else would ever make me happier. That was my dream and passion growing up as a young boy in the University city of Ile-Ife which combined tradition, history and culture with knowledge and innovation. But the risk and fear of hunger in our dear country Nigeria was always the beginning of wisdom. Since I had made up my mind to take the road less travelled in Nigeria, by not wasting my time with government people who see every critic as an enemy, I knew I must double up my hustle and pray for God’s bountiful harvests.

A window of opportunity opened up to me, almost spiritually. I had walked into the great Scholar, the first Black Rhodes Professor of Race Relations and Director, African Studies Centre, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies Fellow, St Anthony’s College, University of Oxford, Wale Adebanwi, by chance. I had not met him since he left his big job an erudite academic at the University of California, Davis. Incidentally, he was already a distinguished journalist before diving headlong into academia which he has also taken by storm. His stint in journalism, where he made a name for himself, has no doubt helped him in his exploits and achievements as a worthy ambassador of Nigeria in the field of journalism and academia.

I told Professor Adebanwi about my burning desire to return to school and he was very candid in his response. He told me it might be difficult for me, at my present level, and status, to find fulltime Studies enjoyable or worthwhile. I have not been back in school since I completed my Master’s degree at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife in 1988. So, I deferred to his superior knowledge and wisdom in this area and agreed with him. He suggested that I could apply for a Fellowship in the UK or America, which would be more flexible and less expensive. He said that I could apply to Oxford University and although he could not promise anything about the success or otherwise of my application to Oxford, he was confident that with my global exposure in journalism, it should be possible for most Universities, including Oxford to accept me and embrace my knowledge readily.

I decided, at the outset, that I would only limit my application to Oxford University. I felt buoyed by the confidence in my capabilities which Professor Adebanwi had evinced. His belief in my ability and widespread acceptability and connect with the literary world resonated with me. The day I got a positive response from Oxford was one of my happiest days. Who won’t be happy associating with such a powerful brand? I know the impact will live with me forever. And that was how my journey started.

I must say it has been so amazing. The Oxford environment is very conducive for learning. The libraries are certainly some of the largest and most up to date in the world. My God. How have African schools and students coped without books and reading? It is a question I soliloquise about regularly. Those who say education is not important have lost their minds for sure. We are going nowhere until we recognise the values of grounded education. It is the foundation for all things positive that any nation would want to imbue in its citizens. From education you learn about listening, learning, understanding, capacity, diligence, hard work, resourcefulness, innovation and above all integrity.

Anyway, I have made good use of the facilities offered me. That is simply the best I can do in the circumstances. My research work has been on Society Journalism and social media in Africa. I realised shortly after embarking on the project that the work is so vast that I couldn’t conclude it within one academic session. My innate feelings were soon to become real as I discovered that I could not complete the daunting task that I had set for myself in the last academic session. This did not make me happy as I am someone who constantly seeks to achieve perfection in everything that I do. The good news is that Oxford has graciously renewed my Fellowship. I’m extremely grateful for this honour and privilege. I’m now expected to spend the next academic session doing my research, reviewing my work and preparing an exposition of my research and findings and developing my treatise and conclusions to be presented in a seminal paper which I will submit to the Department. I’m also using the opportunity to work on my autobiography in preparation for its launch as part of my 60th birthday celebrations next year May, by the grace of God.

My romance with society journalism could not have been by accident. As we love to say in Africa, it must have been preordained. My trajectory is almost surreal. Working for extremely famous and influential Nigerians has definitely prepared me for the humbling roles I’m currently playing in African media. The most important tools required for this job are confidence, courage and access. It takes a lot of guts and skills to penetrate the rich and famous. You must be able to hold your head high, be self-assured and audacious. You must be brave and convincing, displaying that you a master of your game. The rich, famous and notorious have to know and trust you reasonably well and same goes for you. Trust is therefore another key element, without which you may be kicked around like a football. Respect is another. It is essential that you are able to command the respect of those that you come in contact with. That, sadly, is the bane of many of our society journalists today. They do not respect themselves and therefore do not get the respect which should normally follow from those that they seek to interact with. Essentially, to become a celebrated society journalist you must have integrity. That is the benchmark or quality control which separates you from the best of the rest. Unfortunately, most of our present crop of journalists do not recognise this. It pays to be old school. The rewards can be great not just in financial terms, but also with respect to acceptance, status, contentment and fulfilment.

Though I didn’t set out deliberately to be a society reporter, I just found something I could hardly escape pulling me in that direction, almost helplessly. My foray into journalism was mainly out of joblessness. I would have preferred to be an author and editor of books than being an editor or publisher of newspapers and magazines. But it was not to be. I have no regrets though. I know and I have since proven that the one may be just a steppingstone to the other.

I started reporting hard news at the African Concord magazine when I arrived Lagos in 1988. My transfer to Weekend Concord, a tabloid, changed my life and career. My wide contacts from my personal relationships nurtured in the ancient town of Ile-Ife and extended as I expanded my horizons came in handy. I didn’t have to introduce myself in most places. My contacts and, more and more, as time went by, my exploits and writings meant that I was readily recognised and appreciated. Meeting people and extracting information from them was quite easy and straightforward from then on. I was lucky because people felt drawn to me and felt the need to talk to me and sometimes give me scoops, either wittingly or unwittingly. The result was that I produced covers after covers to the delight of our bosses, patrons and readers.

Society journalism wasn’t this big at the time. Not many society people could even be classified as such. And so, we had to manage and cultivate the ones that were available. And they belonged in different categories. They included royalty, sports men and women, artistes, business titans, and upwardly mobile professionals. Our society was not as open as it is today. We needed to convince them of our noble intentions. We live in a society when jealousy and envy are very common attributes.

There were several publications publishing the lifestyle of the rich and famous. We also had to create celebrities out of wannabes. It was not an easy task. Society journalism was more of hyping the assumed celebs. Some of the stories were sensational. We stepped on toes, some powerful, others not so. The earliest publications were gossipy and thrived on hyperbole. The screaming headlines often bore no correlation to the body of the stories. They fooled and titillated their readers endlessly. That style is being packaged and repackaged now, but oftentimes not with the style and guile of the original progenitors.

We had Lagos Weekend, Prime People, Vintage People, Fame, Climax, Encomium, City People, First Weekly, Global News, amongst others. They looked identical and had the same angles and convictions. And everyone was afraid to be put on those covers except when the stories were positive.

Things changed when Ovation International magazine came on board. The Directors decided they won’t damage reputations, but rather build and promote the best of Africa. Naysayers said it cannot, and will not, work. The quality was another feather to our cap. It was different in style and taste and too beautiful to behold. Many doubters said it is impossible to maintain the standards that we had set for ourselves from the very first edition. This was in 1996. 23 years after, the quality has not gone down. Instead we have over time continually improved on thee quality. We have maintained the same Printers in Enfield, England, in the past 18 years, because we believed that the style and quality could not be compromised. Our Printers have kept faith with us and kept ensuring the improvement of our product and brand.

Many copycats also came from nowhere with each promising to give us a run for our money. There were also foreign franchises like Ok and Hello magazines that were bought and brought to Nigeria as some sort of competition to us. I’m not sure they remain in circulation, not because they were not beautiful and appealing, but due to lack of patronage, especially in the area of advertisements. We have had our fair share of disappointments in that area, but we have always been proactive in everything that we do. The secret of our survival is as tight as that of Coca Cola…

To be continued…

Headline

Opposition Parties Reject 2026 Electoral Act, Demand Fresh Amendment

Published

10 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Eric

Opposition political parties have rejected the 2026 Electoral Act recently passed by the National Assembly, which President Bola Tinubu swiftly signed into law.

The parties called on the National Assembly to immediately begin a fresh amendment process to remove what they described as “all obnoxious provisions” in the law.

Their position was made known at a press briefing themed “Urgent Call to Save Nigeria’s Democracy,” held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Thursday.

In a communiqué read by the Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Ahmed Ajuji, the opposition leaders stated:

“We demand that the National Assembly immediately commence a fresh amendment to the Electoral Act 2026, to remove all obnoxious provisions and ensure that the Act reflects only the will and aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair, transparent and credible electoral process in our country. Nothing short of this will be acceptable to Nigerians.”

Some of the opposition leaders present in at the event include former Senate President David Mark; former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, all from the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ahmed Ajuji, and other prominent members of the NNPP, notably Buba Galadima, were also in attendance.

The coalition said the amended law, signed by Bola Tinubu, contains “anti-democratic” clauses, which they argue may weaken electoral transparency and public confidence in the voting system.

At the centre of the opposition’s concerns is the amendment to Section 60(3), which allows presiding officers to rely on manual transmission of election results where there is communication failure.

According to the coalition, the provision weakens the mandatory electronic transmission of results and could create loopholes for manipulation.

They argued that Nigeria’s electoral technology infrastructure is sufficient to support nationwide electronic transmission, citing previous assurances by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The parties also rejected the amendment to Section 84, which restricts political parties to direct primaries and consensus methods for candidate selection.

They described the change as an unconstitutional intrusion into the internal affairs of parties, insisting that indirect primaries remain a legitimate democratic option.

The opposition cited alleged irregularities in the recent Federal Capital Territory local government elections as evidence of what they described as a broader pattern of electoral compromise.

They characterised the polls as a “complete fraud” and said the outcome has deepened their lack of confidence in the ability of the electoral system to deliver credible elections in 2027.

The coalition also condemned reported attacks on leaders of the African Democratic Congress in Edo State, describing the incidents as a serious threat to democratic participation and political tolerance.

They warned that increasing violence against opposition figures could destabilise the political environment if not urgently addressed.

In their joint statement, the opposition parties pledged to pursue “every constitutional means” to challenge the Electoral Act 2026 and safeguard voters’ rights.

“We will not be intimidated,” the leaders said, urging civil society organisations and citizens to support efforts aimed at protecting Nigeria’s democratic system.

On February 18, 2026, President Bola Tinubu signed the Electoral Act (Amendment) 2026 into law following its passage by the National Assembly. The Act introduced several reforms, including statutory recognition of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and revised election timelines.

However, opposition figures such as Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have also called for further amendments, particularly over the manual transmission fallback clause, which critics say leaves room for manipulation.

The president said the law will strengthen democracy and prevent voter disenfranchisement.

Tinubu defended manual collation of results, questioned Nigeria’s readiness for full real-time electronic transmission, and warned against technical glitches and hacking.

The Electoral Act sparked intense debate in the National Assembly over how election results should be transmitted ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Civil society groups under the “Occupy NASS” campaign demanded real-time transmission to curb manipulation.

In the Senate, lawmakers clashed during consideration of Clause 60, which allows manual transmission of results if electronic transmission fails.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (ADC, Abia South) demanded a formal vote to remove the proviso permitting manual transmission, arguing against weakening real-time electronic reporting.

The move led to a heated exchange on the floor, with Senate President Godswill Akpabio initially suggesting the demand had been withdrawn.

After procedural disputes and a brief confrontation among senators, a division was conducted. Fifteen opposition senators voted against retaining the manual transmission proviso, while 55 supported it, allowing the clause to stand.

Earlier proceedings had briefly stalled during clause-by-clause review, prompting consultations and a closed-door session.

In the House of Representatives, a similar disagreement came up over a motion to rescind an earlier decision that mandated compulsory real-time electronic transmission of results to IReV.

Although the “nays” were louder during a voice vote, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas ruled in favour of rescinding the decision, triggering protests and an executive session.

Headline

AFP: How Tinubu’s Govt Paid Boko Haram ‘Huge’ Ransom, Released Two Terrorists for Kidnapped Saint Mary’s Pupils

Published

3 days ago

February 24, 2026

Eric

The Nigerian government paid Boko Haram militants a “huge” ransom of millions of dollars to free up to 230 children and staff the jihadists abducted from a Catholic school in November, an AFP investigation revealed Monday.

Two Boko Haram commanders were also freed as part of the deal, which goes against the country’s own law banning payments to kidnappers. The money was delivered by helicopter to Boko Haram’s Gwoza stronghold in northeastern Borno state on the border with Cameroon, intelligence sources told AFP.

The decision to pay the militants is likely to irritate US President Donald Trump, who ordered air strikes on jihadists in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day and has been sent military trainers to help support Nigerian forces.

Nigerian government officials deny any ransom was paid to the armed gang that snatched close to 300 schoolchildren and staff from St. Mary’s boarding school in Papiri in central Niger state on November 21. At least 50 later managed to escape their captors.

Boko Haram has not been previously linked to the kidnapping, but sources told AFP one of its most feared commanders was behind the mass abduction: the notorious jihadist known as Sadiku.

He infamously held up a train from the capital in 2022 and netted hefty ransoms for the release of government officials and other well-off passengers.

Boko Haram, which has waged a bloody insurgency since 2009, is strongest in northeast Nigeria.

But a cell in central Niger state operates under Sadiku’s leadership. The St. Mary’s pupils and staff were freed after two weeks of negotiations led by Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, with the government insisting no ransom was paid. Nigeria’s State Security Service flatly denied paying any money, saying “government agents don’t pay ransoms”.

However, four intelligence sources familiar with the talks told AFP the government paid a “huge” ransom to get the pupils back. One source put it at 40 million naira per head – around $7 million in total.

Another put the figure lower at two billion naira overall. The money was delivered by chopper to Ali Ngulde, a Boko Haram commander in the northeast, three sources told AFP.

Due to the lack of communications cover in the remote area, Ngulde had to cross into Cameroon to confirm delivery of the ransom before the first group of 100 children were released.

Nigeria has long been plagued by mass abductions, with criminals and jihadist groups sometimes working together to extort millions from hostages’ families, and authorities seemingly powerless to stop them.

Source: Africanews

Headline

Unlawful Invasion: El-Rufai Drags ICPC, IGP, Others to Court, Demands N1bn Damages

Published

4 days ago

February 23, 2026

Eric

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has slammed a ₦1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for what he claimed was an unlawful invasion of his Abuja residence.

El-Rufai, in a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, also listed the Chief Magistrate, Magistrate’s Court of the FCT, Abuja Magisterial District; Inspector-General of Police, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as 2nd to 4th respondents respectively.

According to the suit filed through his lawyers, led by Oluwole Iyamu, El-Rufai prayed the court to declare that the search warrant issued on February 4 by the Chief Magistrate, Magistrate’s Court of the FCT (2nd respondent), authorising the search and seizure at his residence as invalid, null and void.

Security operatives had stormed and searched the former Governor’s residence in the ongoing investigations against him.

However, he argued in the case marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, that the search was in violation of Section 37 of the Constitution, and urged the court to declare that the search warrant was “null and void for lack of particularity, material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause thereby constituting an unlawful and unreasonable search.”

In the suit dated and filed February 20 by Iyamu, ex-governor, who is currently under detention, sought seven reliefs.

He prayed the court to declare that the invasion and search of his residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on Feb. 19 at about 2pm and executed by agents of ICPC and I-G, “under the aforesaid invalid warrant, amounts to a gross violation of the applicant’s fundamental rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy under Sections 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the Constitution.”

He urged the court to declare that “any evidence obtained pursuant to the aforesaid invalid warrant and unlawful search is inadmissible in any proceedings against the applicant, as it was procured in breach of constitutional safeguards.”

El-Rufai, therefore, sought an order of injunction restraining the respondents and their agents from further relying on, using, or tendering any evidence or items seized during the unlawful search in any investigation, prosecution, or proceedings involving him.

“An order directing the Ist and 3rd respondents (ICPC and I-G) to forthwith return all items seized from the applicant’s premises during the unlawful search, together with a detailed inventory thereof.

“An order awarding the sum of N1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira) as general, exemplary, and aggravated damages against the respondents jointly and severally for the violations of the applicant’s fundamental rights, including trespass, unlawful seizure, and the resultant psychological trauma, humiliation, distress, infringement of privacy, and reputational harm.”

The breakdown of the ₦1 billion in damages includes “a N300 million as compensatory damages for psychological trauma, emotional distress, and loss of personal security;

“A ₦400 million as exemplary damages to deter future misconduct by law enforcement agencies and vindicate the applicant’s rights.

“A ₦300 million as aggravated damages for the malicious, high-handed and oppressive nature of the respondents’ actions, including the use of a patently defective warrant procured through misleading representations.”

He equally sought ₦100 million as the cost of filing the suit, including legal fees and associated expenses.

Iyamu argued that the search warrant was fundamentally defective, lacking specificity in the description of items to be seized, containing material typographical errors, ambiguous execution terms, overbroad directives, and no verifiable probable cause.

He added that the warrant violated Sections 143-148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015; Section 36 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) Act, 2000, and constitutional protections against arbitrary intrusions and several other constitutional provisions.

“Section 146 stipulates that the warrant must be in the prescribed form, free from defects that could mislead, but the document is riddled with errors in the address, date, and district designation;

“Section 147 allows direction to specified persons, but the warrant’s indiscriminate addressing to “all officers is overbroad and unaccountable.

“Section 148 permits execution at reasonable times, but the contradictory language creates ambiguity, undermining procedural clarity,” he submitted.

Iyamu stated that the execution of the invalid warrant on Feb. 19 resulted in an unlawful invasion of his client’s premises, constituting violations of the rights to dignity (Section 34), personal liberty (Section 35), fair hearing (Section 36), and privacy (Section 37) of the Constitution.

He further argued that the search was conducted without legal justification and in a manner that inflicted humiliation and distress.

“Evidence obtained without a valid warrant is unlawful and inadmissible, as established in judicial precedents such as C.O.P. v. Omoh (1969) NCLR 137, where the court ruled that evidence procured through improper means contravenes fundamental rights and must be excluded,” he said.

In the affidavit in support of the application, Mohammed Shaba, a Principal Secretary to the former governor, averred that on Feb. 19 at about 2p.m., officers from the ICPC and Nigeria Police Force invaded the residence under a purported search warrant issued on or about Feb. 4.

According to him, the said warrant is invalid due to its lack of specificity, errors, and other defects as outlined in the grounds of this application.

He said the “search warrant did not specify the properties or items being searched for.”

Shaba stated that the officers failed to submit themselves for search as provided by the law before proceeding with the search.

“That the Magistrate did not specify the magisterial district wherein he sits.

“That during the invasion, the officers searched the applicant’s premises without lawful authority, seized personal items including documents and electronic devices, and caused the applicant undue humiliation, psychological trauma, and distress.

“Now shown to me and marked as ‘EXHIBIT B’ Is the list of the items carted away.

“That no items seized have been returned, and the respondents continue to rely on the unlawful evidence.

“That the applicant suffered violations of his constitutional rights as a result, and this application is brought in good faith to enforce same,” Shaba said.

Source: Naijanews.com