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Six weeks after the civil war ended in 1970, Chief Obafemi Awolowo as Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and Federal Commissioner for Finance, addressed the revolutionary convention of the Nigeria Trade Union Congress (NTUC), the ancestor of today’s NLC and TUC. Chief Awolowo, at that event, listed what he called “the imperatives” necessary […]
Continue ReadingIn one of those moments of comic relief only Nigeria can throw up, the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign demanded that anti-corruption agencies arrest their opponent, the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over allegations of corruption by his former aide. In an electoral season, it is not unusual for party spokespersons to feign […]
Continue ReadingSometime in early 2021, news filtered out that Bola Ahmed Tinubu had assured the Northern APC leaders that he would sell a Muslim/Muslim ticket to the South-West and they would buy it. The report had it that at the meeting where the commitment was made, they asked him how he was going to convince the […]
Continue ReadingThere seems to be a scramble, a rush, by Nigerian politicians, and political candidates for appearance at or association with Chatham House in London, the policy think tank established by the British Institute of International Affairs, which for more than a century has served as a forum for the exchange of ideas and open expression, […]
Continue ReadingBishop Samuel Alawode of the Maranatha Worldwide Church caused a stir on the social and political scenes last week. In a sermon reminiscent of the vitriolic preaching of Jamaican poet, activist and reggae musician, Peter Tosh delivered through his songs, Alawode began by reminding the congregants and by extension, Nigerians, that it is close to […]
Continue ReadingI have restrained myself from getting involved in this kind of controversy. This was why I made a strenuous effort from being drawn into the brickbat between Bayo Onanuga/Dele Alake on the one hand and Arise News on the other despite pressure on me to say something. “Oga, this is shameful, won’t you say something […]
Continue ReadingThe hustle and bustle of life. The rush and rustle in human existence. But why do human beings get immersed in the hustle, bustle, rustle, and rush of life? I know why. It’s a strife to survive today and secure tomorrow. No one abhors a breakthrough. None detests success. Show me that man or woman […]
Continue ReadingTwo years ago, when Senator Uba Sani, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna state, pushed through a major reform of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Act, many Nigerians missed the fine print. AMCON had been set up by the federal government in 2010 to prevent another round of […]
Continue ReadingThere are a number of cognitive biases (dissonances in psychology) at play amongst us as a people. I have taken time to compile a few which are most concerning: The belief that the grass is always greener on the other side The belief that yesterday is always better than today The belief that there is […]
Continue ReadingFor many people, age 70 is a point of celebration. They invite several individuals to felicitate with them for what they have been through, what they have achieved, and all that has happened in seven decades. It is worth the celebration. Casting one’s mind back to every single moment and drawing out several memories, journeys, […]
Continue ReadingLabour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has reiterated his commitment to removing the subsidies on fuel. At the Channels Television town hall on Sunday, he called the monies “an organised crime” and promised they would not stay a day longer if he were elected president. All I can say to him for now is, good luck […]
Continue ReadingTHISDAY headquarters on Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos was not far from Mr Peter Obi’s corporate office. So, we visited each other regularly before he became Governor of Anambra State. Not only has our friendship endured, but Obi has remained the same man I first encountered more than two decades ago. Simple. Gracious. And, as I have learnt […]
Continue ReadingSeveral weeks ago, my 80-year-old paternal uncle, who is a community leader, called me to ask whom between Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu he should vote and canvass support for. That was a strange request considering that in 2019 he resisted my entreaty to him to not vote or campaign for Buhari because of the […]
Continue ReadingIt isn’t usual for me to devote an entire column to celebrate the birthday of an individual. But Professor Toyin Falola, a far-famed endowed professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin whom I have called the patriarch of African academics in North America, isn’t an everyday individual. He is an institution, a […]
Continue ReadingOn January 1, the former president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, published a letter addressed to the Nigerian youth. In that letter, he said a number of things, one of which was that the presidency of Major General Muhammadu Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has been catastrophic. The letter read inter alia: “The last seven and a half […]
Continue ReadingIt is said that a people deserve the leaders they get, but one wonders if Nigerians deserve their leaders. Since 1960 when Nigeria got her independence, Nigeria has moved from one mediocre leadership to another. The people are usually desirous to have transformative leaders, but somehow, they keep getting disappointed. Between February and March of […]
Continue ReadingMy friend sent me a WhatsApp chat shortly after President Olusegun Obasanjo announced his endorsement of Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. “What does the Obasanjo endorsement mean?” he asked. I smiled to myself and replied: “It means he is bored!” Like him or hate him, Obasanjo is a headline maker […]
Continue ReadingMonday’s statement by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) that one of its members, Uyi Iluobe, was murdered by relatives of his patient at a hospital in Oghara, Delta State is a serious allegation. Iluobe’s death, according to the NMA President, Uche Ojinma, as “response of the relatives to the loss of a patient from suspected […]
Continue ReadingThe ushering in of the new year has hastened the countdown for Nigeria as it hobbles towards the biggest event that ever happens in respective African countries: elections. In terms of the high expectations that precede it and even its ability to momentarily remind people fragmented of their shared identity, elections in Africa are equivalent […]
Continue ReadingThis certainly promises to be an interesting year for Africa where a total of 24 general, legislative and local elections would take place in the course of the year in Republics of Benin, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, South Sudan, […]
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