Ogiri John Ogiri

By Ogiri John Ogiri  In contemporary society, the pressure to accelerate academic progress has led many parents to view education as a race to be won rather than a development to be nurtured. This shift often results in children being pushed through school tiers at a pace far exceeding their biological and emotional readiness. This is a worrisome reality. It is important that parents understand danger of this practice. Dear Parents, If your child leaves primary school before he turns eleven, then you have distorted a very fundamental learning process in that child.  Stop rushing your child through school.  I once taught a twelve-year-old student in Year 10 (SS1). I must confess, I faced a Herculean challenge. Despite her bright mind, it was a struggle to get her to absorb, assimilate, and process the abstract complexities embedded in the curriculum, which she, alongside her colleagues, were expected to learn and understand at that level. While her older peers could bridge...

  By Ogiri John Ogiri Your Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Sir, As conversations and political consultations ahead of the 2027 general elections continue to gather momentum, your name has once again surfaced in national discussions, with some individuals and groups reportedly urging you to return to the presidential race. While this may appear flattering on the surface, many Nigerians who genuinely admire and respect your legacy are deeply concerned about the motives behind these calls. I am one of these Nigerians. Your Excellency Sir, the last thing you should and would ever want to do is destroy your hard-earned legacy by jumping into the 2027 presidential race. Those urging you to contest do not mean well for you. They merely want to use you as a pawn in a political chess game to satisfy their selfish interests. Let us be honest: anyone who thinks you would descend so low as to become a spoiler against Mr. Peter Obi in 2027 is simply mistaken. You are far wiser and more state...

By Ogiri John Ogiri Over the years, people have defined a serious Christian to mean the one who doesn't miss the Mass or Service, who prays everyday and who speaks in strange tongues or who pays tithe in church. But are these enough to qualify someone as a Christian? Can we align this display of piety in pari passu with those of the early Christians in Antioch in Pisidia- a way of life that made the people call them "Christians" because they behaved like Christ? The truth is that being a Christian goes beyond being a churchman or woman; it is more than trying to pray better and longer than Jesus taught and did. It is more than the superficial display of piety that characterizes our Christian life today. It requires sacrifice without counting the cost. It involves the cross as the lot of all of us. St Paul challenges us: "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophe...

  By Ogiri John Ogiri As Nigeria approaches another critical electoral cycle, political parties are once again confronted with decisions that will shape their future and influence the direction of the nation. For the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the moment calls for careful reflection, strategic thinking, and alignment with the prevailing mood of the electorate. Issues of zoning, fairness, and national cohesion remain central to political calculations, and any misstep could prove costly. It is within this context that the party must weigh its options and act in a manner that prioritizes collective success over individual ambition. Several candidates are jostling to fly the flag of the party by 2027. One of those strong contenders is our father, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is an elder statesman. Yes, he is widely regarded as an elder statesman whose experience in national politics commands respect. But I understand he won't contest. He shouldn't contest. ...

  By Ogiri John Ogiri It is no longer news that senator Ahmed Wadada has been formally endorsed annointed and presented to the president by the governor of Nasarawa State, His Excellency Engr A.A Sule. Senator Wadada is now the new bride and heir apparent to the governor's throne. However, what many may not know is that the ripples generated by that action may take time before finally settling into quietude. One thing is clear: a winner has been projected even before we go into elections. The implications of the governor's action can be troubling. By that singular premature endorsement, Governor A.A Sule has punctured and ruptured the sac of unity in the APC in Nasarawa State. Now, the initial quietude in the party has been unsettled by disquietude .Now party loyalists and their initial permutations are in disarray. New alignments and realignment have intensified. The governor has taken side too early. That open endorsement was ill-advised and premature. That was a tacit appr...

  By Ogiri John Ogiri Terrorism, insurgency, and banditry have become major security issues in Nigeria over the past decade, affecting lives, property, and national development. These threats are largely driven by extremist groups such as Boko Haram and its splinter faction, Islamic State West Africa Province, which operate mainly in the northeastern region of the country. Their activities include attacks on civilians, destruction of communities, kidnappings, and disruption of economic activities. In addition to insurgency, banditry has emerged as a serious problem, particularly in the northwestern region ( namely Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna States etc) and north-central region (Benue, Plateau, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kwara States and some remote parts of the FCT Abuja). Armed groups, often referred to as bandits, carry out mass kidnappings, cattle rustling, village raids, and attacks on highways. Unlike insurgent groups with ideological motives, bandits are largely driven by financial...

  By Ogiri John Ogiri There is a quiet, spiritual erosion occurring within many of our churches today—a deliberate shaping of the youth psyche that is both disturbing and damaging. Under the guise of "end-time" preparation, a generation is being systematically tutored into professional laziness and intellectual stagnation. It is time for a radical belief system reset. Let me be straight with you: the man or woman who tells you that Jesus is coming soon; that the world is ending but still goes ahead to build mansions, auditoria, investing in multi-billion dollar real estate, while he or she urges you to sit back to pray and fast everyday, is not being fair to you. We are often led by men and women who preach that "Jesus is coming soon" and the "world is ending," yet their actions tell a different story. While they urge you to retreat into a life of perpetual fasting and 24/7 prayer, they are busy expanding multi-billion dollar real estate portfolios, buildi...

  By Ogiri John Ogiri In recent political discourse, a prevailing narrative, which supports a kind of a consensus in some quarters, has emerged among patriots and leaders within Zone C—most notably championed by figures such as our dear Senator Comrade Abba Moro suggesting that the current administration under Governor Hyacinth Alia harbours a specific prejudice against the Idoma people. While such assertions find traction in the court of public opinion, a more nuanced analysis suggests that this perspective may be misplaced. Therefore, I would like to respectfully differ from this position. I would like to make the point that the Tiv man is not the problem of the Idoma man. To achieve political maturity, we must move beyond the convenience of externalizing blame. The fundamental obstacle to an Idoma governorship is not the Tiv ethnic group, nor any external political actor; rather, it is a crisis of internal cohesion within the Idoma nation itself. We are, in a very real sense,...