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In Nigeria, when beggars die, there are no comets seen. But when a politician dies, we have to contend with hagiographic writings that fly into the public space seeking to beatify these dubious saints. As noted when the President’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, died recently, the attendant obituarisation-the effusive rain of tributes poured on […]
Continue ReadingIt is a measure of the collective amnesia that defines our country that Nigerians are hardly paying attention to what is happening in Lebanon. Perhaps more significant is the contrasting response from the two countries. A similar tragedy 18 years ago in Lagos actually claimed more fatalities, but no one was held accountable. In Lebanon, […]
Continue ReadingIt is an irony of Nigeria’s history that while today’s political parties are bereft of ideologies and articulated programmes, an ideologically sophisticated party was formed in Kano 70 years ago. On August 8, 1950, the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) was born. It was the culmination of the efforts by some leftist elements, among whom […]
Continue ReadingBefore anyone decries this piece as ‘anti-North’, or even ‘pro-North’, it is neither. Most readers familiar with the ethos of this column would agree. What you are reading is simply a dialogue (albeit) a hard, but necessary dialogue we need to have with one another as compatriots. Jaw-jaw, they say, is better than war-war is […]
Continue ReadingClause 8 (1) of the $400 loan agreement signed by Federal Ministry of Finance (Borrower) on behalf of Nigeria and the Export-Import Bank of China (Lender) on September 5, 2018, provides that: “The Borrower hereby irrevocably waives any immunity on the grounds of sovereign or otherwise for itself or its property in connection with any […]
Continue ReadingThe black man has always been a ‘sufferhead’ since the 15th century when slavery was introduced and sanctioned by European countries in the 17th century. In between, slaves were transported to the Americas but when slavery stopped it took some time before the practice was halted in Africa. The last race to accept that slavery […]
Continue Reading2023 is approaching. Frustration is setting in in many places. The president’s nephew and the only one remaining of his three initial confidants, Mamman Daura, among many others, especially from the north of Nigeria, are saying there is nothing like rotational presidency, that the best man should be voted for the job (that is assuming […]
Continue ReadingThen let them laugh and rejoice in our man’s ill-luck. Alive perhaps they felt no need of him, but now that he is dead, they will grieve their lack in the demands of war. For foolish men do not appreciate the noble prize they have, until it is discarded from their hands. His death pains […]
Continue ReadingMarketplace. The telltale firefly that reveals human nature. It’s the field of fortune and the mine of misfortune. Inside the marketplace are darkroom secrets that whelp wealth. The marketplace also contrasts with the muffled yelp of poverty in the sun of missed opportunities. On a visit to the US some years ago, I was struck […]
Continue ReadingWhen Shoprite owners announced that they were selling their stake in the Nigerian market, many of us were baffled. Initially misunderstood to mean the South African food retailer was going to close its stores in the country, the development was clarified as a case of investors opting to sell the business to Nigerians in a […]
Continue ReadingIn a season of sundry masks, Mr. Mamman Daura has courageously cast off his political mask. He did so in order to speak on a matter of great general public interest: the 2023 presidency. This is an act of unusual boldness for an elder who has been content with living as a shadow under his […]
Continue ReadingFellow Nigerians, this story you’re about to read is the stuff of fairytales or even science fiction but it is very real and absolutely true. Nothing worries a man of big dreams and voluptuous ambition like me than the fear of failure and the cataclysmic humiliation that goes with it. But that was the condition […]
Continue ReadingIn sane climes, when a government signs any loan agreement, the interest of the citizens is prioritised. That has not been the case with loan agreements signed with China by Nigerian governments – past and present. Some critical things are signed away by our governments in these deals. Between 2010 and March 31, 2020, 11 […]
Continue ReadingAs a lawyer, the unfolding scenario post last week’s election of the Nigerian Bar Association leaves one totally abashed. That is, of course, not to suggest that the NBA is populated by super humans who are infallible. It is only to recognise the fact that the legal profession is held to a measure of standard, […]
Continue ReadingThe resurgence of killings in Kauru, Zango-Kataf, Kaura, Kajuru and Jema’a local governments in Kaduna State is not altogether surprising. My column, ‘Mass Murder on a Market Day’, followed the orgy of violence that led to the death of no fewer than 55 persons at the Kasuwan Magani weekly market in Kajuru local government in […]
Continue ReadingI was with a group of businessmen friends of mine in a busy high street the other day, and witnessed several battery-powered, hand-held, rolling plastic ‘fan’ people were dangling across their faces and sweaty necks in a valiant but ultimately futile effort to cool off under the blazing sun. I looked in bemusement, wondering aloud […]
Continue ReadingFor five years now, the kitchen cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari has been in the news for various reasons. This kitchen cabinet is markedly different from the cabinet that the President would preside over its meeting in Aso Rock this morning. A recent report that the President’s nephew, Mallam Mamman Daura, expressed (personal) preference for […]
Continue ReadingThe relationship between Nigeria and China with regard to loans obtained from the latter to fund Nigeria’s infrastructural projects suddenly became a matter of legislative intervention and public scrutiny last week when the House of Representatives summoned the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Minister of Communications and […]
Continue ReadingThe quote reads, ‘’A perfectly crafted body will certainly get my attention but I will get bored with it. I always do. I need you to outsmart me. Make me feel like I could learn from you, grow with you. Do that and you can have me forever.” The “I need you to outsmart me” […]
Continue ReadingThe architecture of a new world order may just be sketching its untidy outlines. Today’s axis of strategic equilibrium is a deformed triangle with two and half sides. The two sides are the United States versus China with a supporting undefined half role for Vladimir Putin’s neo-Tsarist Russia. But by far the more consequential axis […]
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