Author: Rareview

By Ali Elias A First Bank customer, Ojo Eghosa Kingsley, has sparked widespread public debate after openly choosing a prison sentence over refunding ₦272 million, the outstanding balance from a ₦1.5 billion mistakenly credited to his account. Kingsley was arraigned on 19 January 2026 before the Edo State High Court in Benin City by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of theft and fraud, contrary to the Edo State Criminal Law (2022). The charges stem from a banking error that saw his account credited with ₦1.5 billion, funds which prosecutors said he knowingly diverted for personal use between June and November 2025. Upon the reading of the charges, Kingsley pleaded guilty without hesitation. His counsel appealed to the court for leniency, citing his clie...

By Ali Elias The Federal Government’s decision to spend $9 million (about ₦12.8 billion) on a U.S. lobbying firm to promote its narrative on the protection of Christians in Nigeria has ignited intense debate across the country. At the heart of the controversy are questions of legality, prudence, optics, and priorities—particularly at a time when millions of Nigerians are grappling with poverty, insecurity, and institutional decay. Documents filed with the United States Department of Justice show that DCI Group, a Washington-based public affairs and lobbying firm, was engaged through Aster Legal, a Kaduna-based law firm, on behalf of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), led by Nuhu Ribadu. The contract, signed on December 17, 2025, runs initially for six months, with an...

By Elias Ali Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has denied assertions that he dismissed the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, insisting that his remarks have been mischaracterised and taken out of context. Speaking on Sunday on Boiling Point, a current affairs programme broadcast on multiple radio stations, Kukah was responding to widespread reports suggesting he had said there is no Christian persecution in Nigeria — a portrayal he said was incorrect and misleading. “I never denied the killing of our people [Christians],” Kukah said.“I don’t want to go into the details of the mischaracterisation of what I said, but it shocked me that Christians were going around saying that I said there is no persecution of Christians in Nigeria.” The clarifi...

OPINION By Ali Elias This article is a direct response to a question posed to me by a Chinese friend: Is the United States’ action in Venezuela wrong or right?My answer is immediate: right and wrong are relative, not absolute—even in international relations. Context, consequences, and prior failures matter. To understand US action in Venezuela, one must first look inward—at Nigeria. Although Nigeria formally practises democracy, the will of the citizens has rarely been meaningfully exercised. Elections are held every four years, citizens vote, yet their choices are often not reflected in who ultimately governs the country. What exists, therefore, is democracy in form but not in substance. Political outcomes—at the level of the presidency, governorships, and local governments—ar...