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It is most disconcerting when a handful of mischievous, reckless, dangerous and hopelessly misguided religious zealots and ethnic bigots that ought to know better, like the Sokoto-based Muslim Solidarity Forum, issue threats and give quit notices and ultimatums to leading members of the Christian community like Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah. This is disappointing and unacceptable […]
Continue ReadingSuccession does not come easy for despots. Which is why elections under their watch are most often conducted as a mere formality to validate assured ‘victory’ – regardless of how the people exercise their franchise. The President of the United States, Mr Donald Trump, was not supposed to be a despot. But by proceeding from […]
Continue ReadingFor the first time in my life, I heard that some Americans were killed and the Capitol vandalised by a mob because of a presidential election. It was the kind of stories we hear from countries in Africa, Asia and South America. What changed? Nothing changed in the American system. The only thing that changed […]
Continue ReadingIn spite of apparent challenges around the funding of the 2021 budget, with Nigeria already cap-in-hand begging for loans from everywhere, I still believe the document should be thoroughly scrutinised for purpose, and if we do, we just may junk it altogether. Our budget, just like our nation, needs fundamental rethinking and rejigging. Some call […]
Continue ReadingBishop Matthew Kukah’s Christmas message, which called attention to the deepening depths of death and despair that Nigeria has been dangerously degenerating into in the last few years, attracted the commendations of critics of the Buhari regime and invited the condemnation of regime honchos and defenders. The impassioned, partisan responses the bishop’s message provoked was […]
Continue Reading“The Nigerian government is keenly monitoring the situation in the US and may impose sanctions on specific Americans and also a travel ban on President Donald J. Trump and his family. In addition, all those connected with attempts to scuttle democracy in the US may be restricted from traveling to Nigeria. We will not stand […]
Continue ReadingLost the White House Lost the Senate Lost the House Lost the popular vote Lost Electoral College Lost 60 suits in an attempted coup The end of a pathetic Trumpian era. Watching the Trump mob took over the United States capitol complex evening of Wednesday, 6 January ’21, will go into the history books as […]
Continue ReadingSadly, the United States last week became the laughing stock of the world. It is important to admit this: that the nation which has led the world in advancing the democratic principle for so long seemed to unravel, and on live television. In some fledgling democracies and failing states around the world, I am sure […]
Continue ReadingHooligans invading the Capitol Hill, disrupting the certification of presidential election result and desecrating the symbol of American democracy? That would be art imitating life. That would be the Machiavellian and eccentric President Frank Underwood doing his thing in the House of Cards on Netflix. But, no, this is life imitating art. This is US […]
Continue Reading“Every honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and got away with it. There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war. The president may have concluded […]
Continue ReadingDo not miss an opportunity to plant a seed of goodness. You may have initiated a chain of ‘paying it forward’ without realising it. Be in relentless pursuit of knowledge. Knowledge (if rightly applied) is the saving grace of mankind. Cultivate knowledge so that you don’t unknowingly help to propagate falsehood and ignorance that ruin […]
Continue ReadingFellow Africans, I’m sure many of us have been following the ongoing events and melodrama in the United States of America. It is simply unbelievable. I remember, once upon a time, the refrain in Nigeria was “this can never happen in civilized countries” and America was our model country. But since the invasion of The […]
Continue ReadingLegendary Highlife and Afrobeat musician, Sonny Okosun, in February 1983, sang a prophetic song with the above title. In the music, the Ozzidi master asked: Which way Nigeria? Which way to go? I love my fatherland I want to know which way Nigeria is heading to. Almost thirty-eight years after, the questions asked by Sonny […]
Continue ReadingSome equate the Federal Government with a certain tribe they hate, claiming the tribe controls the FG and as such wants to control them. However, each measure they themselves undertake makes one wonder if they aren’t the ones to first surrender themselves to the control of the tribe they complain about. For instance, the other […]
Continue ReadingOnce again, Nigerian professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 are emigrating abroad. Those who are married go with their families. Economic upheaval at home and an almost out of hand national security challenge explain why these young citizens choose to vote with their passports. But this is also a global phenomenon. Whether in […]
Continue ReadingUntil the mid-1980s, there were many things Nigerians did not need to pray for or fast for. The national economy was as strong and stable as those of most Western countries of today. Nigerians did not need to pray or fast to receive their salaries at the end of the month. Those who had worked […]
Continue ReadingDear Bishop, When I met you in Calabar three years ago at Southern Senators Retreat, you were still as fresh as the very Father Kukah I met in Lagos in the dangerous days of Sani Abacha when fear reigned over the land. Those were the years the Catholic church whose secretariat you headed led us […]
Continue ReadingNigerians are playing with COVID-19, and in so doing, they are playing with fire and death. Why are we so blest and yet so suicidal? When the index case of the virus was announced on February 27, 2020, and the government proceeded to adopt lockdown measures at both national and sub-national levels, the people were […]
Continue ReadingI can’t have ill-will for the Buhari regime. I have never wished that any incumbent government come to grief. I made this clear in those heady days when we felt that President Jonathan could have done better. We criticised out of love for our land. If Jonathan succeeded, we succeeded. If he failed, we failed. […]
Continue ReadingMy niece was getting married and the wedding was outdoors. But just as it was about to commence, the weather changed; a bleak rain cloud overshadowed the place. I called out to a so-called pastor nearby: “Come,” I said, “Let us shift this rain.” Immediately, a cloud came over him. I could see fear written […]
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