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You don’t promote unity by simply glibly mouthing off infuriating platitudes about unity being “non-negotiable.” You promote it through meaningful symbolic gestures to reassure estranged groups that they, too, matter. Unity is promoted when conscious efforts are made to heal national wounds, to accommodate disadvantaged groups, and to make political concessions to restore faith in […]
Continue ReadingThe office of Attorney-General of the Federation is the only ministerial office or department created directly by Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution. Described in section 150(1) as “the Chief Law Officer of the Federation”, the Attorney-General is also supposed to be the repository and defender of the country’s highest constitutional and civic values. The acronym HAGF, for “Honorable […]
Continue ReadingHere we go again. On Tuesday, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) issued a statement asking President Muhammadu Buhari to “seriously consider” resigning over the pervasive insecurity in the land. Several parts of the north have been experiencing devastating terror attacks, communal killings and kidnappings. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has resumed its campaign of […]
Continue ReadingTo begin with, it is not at all clear that the presidential election of February 2023 will hold as scheduled.This, in a manner of speaking, is a restatement of the ecclesiastical revelation of Pastor Enoch Adeboye to the effect that God has not told him that there will be a presidential election in Nigeria next […]
Continue ReadingGospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu’s death, reported to be a consequence of domestic violence, brought the issue of divorce to the fore. Expectedly, defenders of the oppressive patriarchal order have been mouthing one of the few verses of the scripture they have managed to master: God hates divorce! It does not matter to them if marriage […]
Continue ReadingMemoirs can help negotiate the complex and sometimes tricky relationship between individuals and their communities. Students of politics also find these recollections useful for interpreting events in their country. The memoir of Dr Ifeanyichukwu Oluwasegun Opeyemi Ogunbiyi being presented today in Lagos to mark his 75th birthday not only speaks eloquently to the Nigeria that […]
Continue ReadingPastor Tunde Bakare of The Citadel Global Community Church recently spoke through his hat while preaching a sermon. He told his congregation that, during the January 15, 1966 military action that toppled the First Republic, the soldiers that took Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa removed his turban, poured wine on his head and force-fed him with […]
Continue ReadingTo run for a governorship position in any state in the US in 2022, your political party’s primary filing and nomination fee can range from as low as $0 (yes, zero) to $3,750 (or N1.8m). The average fee is thus circa $2,000 (or N980,000). These charges cover what is labeled in Nigeria as nomination and expression […]
Continue ReadingLast week, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), a government agency under the Ministry of Communications, currently led by Minister Isa Pantami, took the decision and made same public that any user of a GSM phone who is yet to link his or her National Identification Number (NIN) to a Subscriber Identification Module that is SIM […]
Continue ReadingAre we being ruled by coincidences or by conspiracies? There was a British passenger liner, the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic. It was a ship of luxury boats that was built to sail forever; but it sank on the night of 14-15 April, 1912 during its maiden voyage. In Nigeria, over 270 secondary school girls […]
Continue ReadingExactly how does one describe a moment such as this in the life of a nation? A moment when that nation is exhibiting all the traits of collapse but there is no credible rebuttal by the evidence or the authorities. A moment that, it seems obvious, there is nowhere to run, nowhere to go, nobody […]
Continue ReadingTwo things happened on Thursday that forced me to write on this topic. First, I bought a copy of TIME magazine featuring “100 Most Influential Companies”. I will explain why. For 20 years, I have been challenging my wife to come up with an idea that would make us billionaires. I regret to report at […]
Continue ReadingLeader of the ‘unseen’ persons ruling us, Alhaji Mamman Daura, spoke last week. He said enough of turn-by-turn presidency for Nigeria. He decreed that North-South rotation of the presidency of Nigeria should be dead; from 2023, the most competent among contenders would be put in the Presidential Villa. The Afenifere reacted sharply; the North is […]
Continue ReadingArole Oduduwa, my second mental image of you left me in pure dazzlement of your unfolding personality, which I thought was a perfect fit for the big shoes left behind by the departed Ooni Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II. But William Shakespeare warns, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” Kabiyesi, it’s […]
Continue ReadingThe letter informing the Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque, Sheikh Nuru Khalid, that he had been sacked following a sermon where he criticised the government provides an intriguing study of what religion looks like when God has been removed from its contents. From a practice that should ideally demonstrate conscience, all you see […]
Continue ReadingIf only Ebenezer Obey’s mum knew! When her son said he wanted to be a jùjú singer, Madam Abigail Oyindamola protested vehemently. “In our family, we don’t sing people’s praises. Instead, they sing our praises,” the proud Egba woman reportedly told him. Not only did Obey go on to sing people’s praises, his own praises […]
Continue ReadingPrior to the July 11, 2007 coordinated bombing of commuter trains in India’s largest city of Mumbai, Indians, like Nigerians, were wrapped in the shawls of their innocence and naivety. On that day, terrorists violently yanked off the terror purity shawls off India’s face. In a matter of minutes, multiple explosive devices were detonated in […]
Continue ReadingThe railway used to be a very important part of transportation in Nigeria during the colonial era up until the collapse of everything that once worked in this country. The collapse began, suspect, with the civil war and its aftermath and the introduction of a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in the 80s which turned the […]
Continue ReadingIt’s going to be a different world when all this palaver with Ukraine is over: ‘Bad Boy’ Russia will be relegated back to its former cold war status, its economy in ruins and Vladimer Putin will become Public Enemy Number One. Ukraine, on the other hand will be rebuilt and remain an independent nation. Wars […]
Continue ReadingA nation goes irretrievably bad when bad things happen and the powerful decree against mentioning or discussing them, or, even, accepting that they are happening at all. Every worthy news manager in Nigeria today is very familiar with the strains and stresses of reporting the attacks and killings in north west Nigeria, especially since May […]
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