Nigeria, Aug. 29 -- On the afternoon of Tuesday, 25 August, I exchanged messages with Dotun Oladipo - respected journalist, former president of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), and publisher of The Eagle Online. I sent him a report on the unfolding political rivalry in Katsina State - between the camps of Governor Dikko Radda and Tinubu's adviser, Ibrahim Masari - which allegedly led to the arrest of security aides attached to the governor - for publication on his platform.

In his characteristically simple and professional manner, Dotun asked me to forward it to his Gmail address, instead of the Yahoo account I had previously used. I obliged. Within minutes, the article was published, and a few hours later, he promoted i...