Football is more than a sport in Nigeria — it’s a refuge. While politics often feels chaotic and unrewarding, football offers clarity, fairness, and hope. Nigerians defend clubs thousands of miles away with fierce loyalty because those clubs embody values our institutions rarely deliver: merit, accountability, and structure. From Messi’s artistry to Ronaldo’s discipline, the...
This final edition of The Ballot, Series 2 for 2025 examines key electoral and political developments shaping Nigeria’s democratic landscape. Highlights include the House of Representatives’ approval of mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results, renewed advocacy for women’s political representation, evolving party dynamics, and ongoing conversations on electoral credibility and leadership accountability. As the...
Nigeria’s story has long been one of missed opportunities. Decades of leadership failures meet with an unbreakable national hope. Today, that hope has a new face: Generation Z. With their digital fluency, global perspective, and growing influence in activism, tech, and entrepreneurship, Gen Z is reshaping what leadership can look like in Nigeria. But hope...
Nigeria’s political stage is buzzing again, and this week, it’s all about turnout, party switches, and big agendas. INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan is raising eyebrows over a 27% voter turnout in 2023, warning that low participation threatens the credibility of elections. But not all hope is lost, as Anambra showed that when the system...
This article explores how politics is increasingly shaped by money, loyalty, and fear rather than ideas, vision, or accountability. It highlights the challenges young Nigerians face in pushing for genuine democratic reforms. It calls on citizens to reflect on the future of governance and demand a system that prioritises people over patronage. Download Here
This week in Nigeria’s political landscape, stakeholders intensified calls for constitutional reforms that would provide legal backing for electronic transmission of results and further strengthen INEC’s technological systems, including the IReV portal. As the first quarter of the Continuous Voter Registration winds down, civic actors are urging citizens to participate actively in the Display for...
This week’s edition of The Ballot highlights significant developments shaping Nigeria’s political landscape. The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to ending election rigging and vote-buying as he swore in a new Resident Electoral Commissioner for Oyo State, underscoring INEC’s insistence on integrity as the foundation of democratic practice....
Oluwatosin Jaiyeola, a guidance and counselling psychology graduate with experience in teaching, counseling, and community development, reflects on the state of democracy in Nigeria through her personal lens as a young citizen. In this piece, she shares her belief that while freedom is a cherished gift of democracy, it can only thrive when citizens pair...
