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The former minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Madueke had not openly spoken, or granted any interview in the last five years that she’s been standing trial in absentia for corruption and embezzlement. But when she did about four weeks ago, she pontificated on morality and social values at a virtual event organised by the Ijaw […]
Continue ReadingDr Chidi Amuta’s elegantly entitled article ‘2023: Igbos and the Politics of Moral Consequence’ (THISDAY, August 23 2020) and Bishop Kukah’s rejoinder, ‘Of Igbos, 2023 and Politics of Moral Consequence’ (THISDAY, September 2 2020) have perhaps opened up the space for robust, unemotional conversations not just about the current clamour for a President of Igbo […]
Continue ReadingYou never know the value of freedom until you’ve lost it. The hard-won freedoms that our fathers bravely fought for are being systematically eroded in our country today. Evil swaggers across the land like the proud harlot of Babylon. I have borrowed the title for my piece this morning from the novel by the 19th […]
Continue ReadingIn 2015 I said Buhari WOULD divide Nigeria, you didn’t believe me. In 2017 I said Buhari HAD divided Nigeria, you didn’t believe me. In 2019 I said Buhari had pushed Nigeria to the BRINK of disintegration, you didn’t believe me. Today I say unless Buhari retraces his steps and we build bridges between ourselves […]
Continue ReadingAll through last week while Nigerians were killed in different parts of Nigeria, what occupied most Nigerians was the exchange between radio personality, Daddy Freeze (whose real name is Ifedayo Olarinde) and Pastor David Ibiyeomie, Senior Pastor of Salvation Ministries, over last week’s reaction of Daddy Freeze to Oyedepo’s message on marriage. Oyedepo had said […]
Continue ReadingThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought about great changes globally, leaving varying effects in different parts of our world. From health, economies to education, politics and sports, the effects of the pandemic come with currents and tides that claim many lives and threaten the livelihoods of many people and the nationhood of some states. People-oriented programmes […]
Continue ReadingTwo contradictory images and news feeds recently competed for this reporter’s attention. The first was a ceremonial outing in the North East displaying rows of ‘repentant’ Boko Haram combatants in neat government uniforms. They were being admitted into an amnesty programme to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into normal social life. The second is a mammoth […]
Continue ReadingA few days ago when he provoked the failed state thesis, unbeknown to him, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was stirring up attention to the medical condition called gangrene. In its manifestations, gangrene bears similarities with the political condition of a failed state. If a patient of gangrene is put side by side the victim of […]
Continue ReadingAmidst the series of tough decisions rolled out by President Muhammadu Buhari as the Nigerian economy gasps for breath under the weight of low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, a mini-war broke out between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) last week. In a statement with the […]
Continue ReadingIn trying to justify Buhari’s latest callous hike in the price of petrol (amid a pandemic, no less), Buhari’s supporters increasingly sound like noisome idiots straining hard to be low-grade morons. Here are 4 reasons it’s stupid to compare Nigeria’s petrol prices with others: 1. Nigeria is the undisputed poverty capital of the world, thanks entirely […]
Continue ReadingFellow Nigerians, please permit me to make some quick clarifications. I’m not a Lawyer. I’m not a Prosecutor. I do not work for EFCC, ICPC, SFU, CID, DSS, NIA or any of such organizations. I’m a journalist, a reporter, a columnist, a publisher, a social media addict, an author, etc, who is amazingly passionate about […]
Continue ReadingOn Tuesday, at a ministerial performance retreat in Abuja, Nigeria’s President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), told an interesting story about his USA counterpart, Donald Trump. Given how taciturn he could be, those rare moments when he tells stories about himself are useful insights into his mind. According to Buhari, he was at the White […]
Continue ReadingFifty years ago in January 1970, the victorious commander of the conquering Nigerian Army, Major General Yakubu Gowon, pronounced the outcome of the civil war as that of “no victor, no vanquished”. Such generosity of spirit was consistent with the jolly good fellow visage of the youthful Gowon and it rightly earned him accolades across […]
Continue ReadingWhen in the closing prayers after the church service his Pastor declared that it would be a week of INCREASE, according to a man on Twitter, he said a loud Amen. But that was because he had no inkling that the increase he would encounter during the week would come from DSTV subscription, Pump price […]
Continue ReadingSometime in 2017, the Buhari administration forwarded the National Water Resource Bill to both chambers of the National Assembly with a request that it be passed into law. The bill which sought to transfer the control of water resources from states to the Federal Government was rejected by many Nigerians. Hence, it was dumped by […]
Continue ReadingVice President Yemi Osinbajo urged the global community at the weekend to avoid a scenario in which only the “highest bidder” would have access to the coronavirus vaccine. As a matter of fact, the vice president was far from making a nationalistic statement; he actually spoke for all those described as the “wretched of the […]
Continue Reading“So this is how we will just adjust to the new fuel price at the petrol stations, and government will get away with the imposition of greater hardship on the people?” “No. Government is very clear. The fuel subsidy regime is not sustainable. The PPMC, NNPC and the PPPRA made that clear in April. What […]
Continue ReadingThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it – George Santayana 1863 – 1952 Let’s take you on a journey down memory lane. Imagine a youngster, born in Kano but whose parents are from the Eastern part of the country. Brought up as a Northern Nigerian kid, he had come to regard […]
Continue ReadingDear supporters of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, if you truly want to fight for a better Nigeria, do this on principle, not on the basis of interest. Do so dispassionately, not selectively. If you hate corruption, injustice and bad governance, it should not matter who is in power. It should not matter which region or […]
Continue ReadingYou campaign in poetry. You govern in prose. Former governor of New York, Mario Matthew Cuomo, now of blessed memory, said those immortal words 35 years ago. Poetry is relatively short and flowery; prose is much longer and less flowery. Yoruba would render the same thing Cuomo said as “enu dun r’ofo” i.e. “it always […]
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