News, Events, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty, Inspiration and yes… Gossip! The Only Place It Happens!
Two matters gripped me at the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneur Forum held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, recently. Both strike at the heart of the economic struggles of Nigeria, particularly our current situation. Nigeria, bombarded by youth unemployment and extreme poverty, is clearly in dire straits. The symptoms are manifest in the rising […]
Continue Reading“So, did you join the #RevolutionNow protests yesterday?” “Which Revolution?” “The #RevolutionNow protest led by Omoyele Sowore. The security people grabbed him ahead of the August 5 protests, but the Grand Coalition for Security and Democracy still came out in full force in Lagos and Abuja.” “Yes. Yes. We did. But it rained in Abuja.” […]
Continue ReadingFellow Nigerians, are you one of those who buy into the fake narrative that our dear beloved country is too difficult to handle; that the different ethnic groups hate one another to the point of death; that Nigeria can never know peace; that all Nigerians are corrupt and fraudulent; that religious fanaticism is our problem; […]
Continue ReadingThere is the periodic cyclical perspective to the political crises that have plagued Nigeria since independence. It is what I have chosen to call the twenty-seven-year cycle. The cycle dates back to 1966 and the antecedent events that culminated in the coup and counter-coup of 1966 and ultimately the civil war. The cycle was renewed […]
Continue ReadingThe political narrative preceeding the release of the ministers’ list was: “I will pick people I personally know”. The optics from that statement does not signal competence or capacity, it symbolises cronyism. Favouritism, cronyism and nepotism have been the signposts of Buhari’s government since 2015. As things are, his cronies and the impunity with which […]
Continue ReadingYears ago, I read about a man who worked as a night soil man. When he found that his son was ashamed of his lowly occupation, he had to explain to the kid that there was dignity in labour. Besides, someone has to clean up after the city and its occupants. The fact that he […]
Continue ReadingThe video clips are two. In one, the young man, bleeding and shackled, is in the trunk of a Hilux vehicle as he rails at policemen. In a futile bid to demonstrate he is still in control of the situation, he even threatens them as he scoops his own blood with which he rubbed both […]
Continue ReadingThe decision of the Nigerian government to proscribe the Shi’ite Islamic Movement In Nigeria (IMN) and to declare it officially as a terrorist organization is a catastrophic blunder. In the first instance, the decision is illegal and unconstitutional. It is a blatant infringement on the freedom of religion guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution. But even […]
Continue ReadingBased on the myriad of queer things that we do in Nigeria, one sometimes wonders whether the outside world looks at us as normal human beings or something else. The ongoing screening of ministerial nominees is another example. Let us start by answering a simple question: What is the essence of the constitutional requirement that […]
Continue ReadingSenator Ahmed Lawan is the Chairman and President of Nigeria’s 9th National Assembly. His emergence as Senate President was prefaced by a lot of politicking and brick-bats within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of which he is a member and between members of that party and the opposition parties particularly the People’s Democratic Party […]
Continue ReadingAtiku Abubakar and Adedeji Adeleke are two particularly angry Nigerians and their anger is well-placed! While the former was a presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the last General Elections, the latter is a ‘sympathizer’ of Nigeria’s major opposition party, which, again, has failed in its quest to capture power. Adding to […]
Continue ReadingIn the mid-1980s, I became friends with a legendary Nigerian soldier known as “Black Scorpion.” His real name was Benjamin Adekunle, smallish stripe of a man who had acquired the reputation of a killer during the civil war. Tales abound about how he could reduce opposing military formations—and men twice his size—to dissolution and tears. When we met, […]
Continue ReadingAn enfant terrible dwells in the Lugard House and Kogites are in big trouble. His name is Yahaya Bello. He is exercising the mandate of a dead man. In reality, he didn’t win an election but became the governor by some judicial sleight of hand. Those of us who thought that the circumstances of his […]
Continue ReadingAnybody who is interested in studying the quality of leadership in Nigeria and why our country is perpetually stuck in underdevelopment would have learnt a great deal from the screening of ministerial nominees by the senate. I don’t know where to start from. After the reign of speculation and anxiety, President Muhammadu Buhari finally sent […]
Continue ReadingFellow Africans, I have chosen to address many of you gathered in Abuja today, at the instance and invitation of the Tony Elumelu Foundation. My sincere welcome and gratitude goes especially to the several African Presidents who have chosen to identify with the young entrepreneurs who are the future of our continent. By coming to […]
Continue ReadingThe media coverage of Prince Nduka Obaigbena’s 60th Birthday party has been a blitz. The millennials would have tagged it a super blast. Strangely, not much has been said about the “political party” which ran simultaneously with the Thanksgiving Service at the Cathedral Church, Marina Lagos on 13th July 2019 followed by the sumptuous lunch […]
Continue ReadingGrowing up Nigerian has been my greatest pride since childhood. Everywhere I travelled, I never hesitated to reveal my country of origin. Before I became a broadcast journalist and media entrepreneur, I was already a propagator of Nigeria’s immensely rich and beautiful culture and her collectiveness. Our collectiveness as a people was a pride of […]
Continue ReadingBishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop Catholic Dioceses of Sokoto “If it is Fulani today, yesterday it was the Igbos”- Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah. I have immense respect for Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah but to compare the situation of the Fulani in the south today to the situation of the Igbo in the north in 1966 […]
Continue ReadingOn Sunday in Abuja, I attended the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly church and ended up with some sensation. My quest was a purely academic one. I study Pentecostalism and Pentecostal culture, and I traverse different churches everywhere to see if the observations that I make about trends and practices are generalisable across the spectrum. So, […]
Continue ReadingHave you ever heard a sermon in your church about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse? The answer is probably ‘No!’ Sexual abuse, domestic violence and child abuse are not just mentioned once or twice, there are references to these issues in abundance. Examples can be found in the abuse of the Levite’s concubine, […]
Continue Reading