Azu Ishiekwene

Clockwise: Inset Ela, Orna and Itzik

A Nation at War: Five Days in Israel

International Affairs /

As Flight ET 404 approached Ben Gurion… I thought, what if a stray rocket hit us? It may sound like the product of an overwrought mind contaminated by familiarity with bad news. But after Hamas killed more than 1,139 people, including women and children, on October 7 and took 364 hostages, many of the victims at a peace party in Nova, southern Israel, overthinking the worst appears to be the standard way of life

A Nation at War: Five Days in Israel Read More »

presidential media chat with tinubu and journalists seated in a room in a U-shaped seating arrangement, with the president in the middle

Back Story of Tinubu Interview

Interview /

I had asked him why he ordered a shoot-on-sight against members of the militant Yoruba self-determination group Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), which operated mainly in the South West, Obasanjo’s home base. He was livid. He warned me, on air, that if I were going to bring the irreverence of my weekly column to the Villa, he would immediately throw me out of the panel. I insisted on an answer, to which he said, “If you’re a member of OPC, tell your people that I mean what I said!”

Back Story of Tinubu Interview Read More »

a word cloud of gen z slangs

Word of the Year 2024

Human Interest /

If you are already “vibing”, millennial-speak for “losing oneself in great music or conversation”, or feeling “shook”, the colloquial noun or verb for “surprise”, then welcome to the evolving vocab world of young adults fostered by the Internet. From activism to fashion, sports, and dating, the language topography is changing, leaving older adults in a trail of incomprehensible slang

Word of the Year 2024 Read More »

an image of president tinubu as the face of the one thousand naira note with a caesar gold coin by the side

The Trouble with Giving to Caesar

Economy /

Governors are concerned that the reform may not energise people and enable investment. Manufacturers also have these concerns, including the potential inflationary impact of an incremental hike in the VAT rate from the current 7.5 percent to 15 percent in six years. They worry that it does not address the economic realities of the different regions, may worsen existing inequalities, and may not benefit local economies. I have a slightly different concern. Centralising VAT and tax collection despite genuine concerns about a poor federal structure is ill-advised

The Trouble with Giving to Caesar Read More »

a photo of a triumphant donald trump and a defeated kamala harris

Unusual Reasons Africa Wanted Trump to Win

International Affairs, politics /

Trump 2.0 will do at least two things for the world. It would further hasten the internal decay of the US by aggravating racial tensions and emboldening right-wing excesses. Two, Trump’s America First ultra-
insularity and his off-the-fly foreign policy style will distance the US from its traditional allies and enable crazies around the world, like North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, to run amok. This sounds more like saying that if US voters were happy to be seduced by their worst selves, they deserve what they get.

Unusual Reasons Africa Wanted Trump to Win Read More »

michelle obama reading a letter with the faces of donald trump and kamala harris in it

Tight Race: Letter from Abroad to Michelle Obama

International Affairs, politics /

An inconvenient point, dear former First Lady, is that Kamala Harris is part-paying a backlash from Barack Obama’s era that your husband didn’t do enough for people of colour, especially blacks. This is a race of margins, and despite his charm and eloquence, your husband and former president has struggled to convince black male voters that Harris will serve them well

Tight Race: Letter from Abroad to Michelle Obama Read More »

Scroll to Top