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By now, Nigerians are used to the fact that our country is like a never-ending “Nollywood” television drama series. We move from one unnecessary saga/drama to the other, which mostly turn out to be, not particularly to the benefit of the people. Over the years, I think we have all learnt that these dramas are […]
Continue ReadingFellow Nigerians, let me confess that what I did on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, was nothing short of a commando operation. In planning and execution, it was daring, bold and brave. I had to keep my visit to Kaduna to meet with the irrepressible Sheikh Gumi close to my chest. Even my closest aides did […]
Continue ReadingThe chances are that, when you think of the late former Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, your mind also recalls the 2017 “constituted authority” episode. As it happened, he addressed the students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology who were protesting the extended closedown of their school. Unwilling to condone their belligerence, Ajimobi launched […]
Continue ReadingNotwithstanding the several decisions of domestic and regional courts which have upheld the socioeconomic rights of the people, lawyers and judges have continued to give the misleading impression that only civil and political aspects of fundamental rights are enforceable in Nigeria. Thus, the victims of violations of socio-economic rights have been left without access to […]
Continue ReadingRegardless of where one stands on the animosity between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), leading to the invasion of Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin, reports of the human tragedies are heartbreaking. Sadly, many of our nationals are also caught in the middle of this disaster. Ukraine and Russia have in recent years become […]
Continue ReadingIn narrating her experience with a domestic help to me, a lady wrote, “She started living with my family as a young girl. I have two kids and she was there when they were all born. In fact, when I had a miscarriage with my first pregnancy, she was there. “My husband and I took […]
Continue ReadingIf the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has taught us anything, it is that Black Africans need to take stock of how we view ourselves vis-a-vis how we see others. As a people, we must understand that we set the standard for how others see us and treat us. And what standards have we set? Please permit […]
Continue ReadingAlthough Oshodi Tapa rose from the ashes of slavery to become a warrior and foremost Yoruba leader over 170 years ago, his footprints on the sands of time in the land of Eko were etched in honour, industry and gallantry, unlike the infamous pathway to MC Oluomo’s emergence, which was soaked in blood-red colour. Unlike […]
Continue ReadingFor Nigerians, the crisis in Ukraine is not far away at all. It is next door, in fact it may be said that the war is having a major effect in many Nigerian homes and families. This is not about crude oil, the spot price of which has gone beyond $100 per barrel, and the […]
Continue ReadingIf we can rely on INEC’s timetable, voting will commence in 361 days on February 18, 2023, with the presidential election. For those who want Nigerians not cut from the traditional school of political chicanery and entitlement to start winning elections, the dilemma is how to disrupt the traditional means by which elections are won. […]
Continue ReadingKabiyesi means ‘we dare not question him.’ The nearest to its meaning is what my Hausa friend does with effusive ‘Ranka dede’ at the feet of his lord. The above headline should actually be ‘Nigeria’s Kabiyesi politics.’ That is what the Nigerian president plays. He is big and powerful and he is beyond query whatever […]
Continue ReadingAlthough I have said in the past that next year’s presidential contest will be a short in the dark in light of the continually shifting political variables in the country, the auguries for Bola Ahmed Tinubu to clinch the nomination of APC aren’t looking pretty. Unless something really dramatic happens between now and the next APC convention, […]
Continue ReadingGone are the days when high crude oil prices meant a lot to Nigeria, or should I say Nigerians. It used to mean a massive boost in our foreign reserves. This enabled the country to meet its foreign trade obligations more comfortably — without having to ration forex. We could also boost our excess crude […]
Continue Reading“The concept of loyalty is a very strange one. My prayer is, may our loyalty never be tested.” That famous quote was from the Works and Housing Minister and former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, during his senate confirmation hearing on 14th October 2015. But few remember the context. A hospitalized woman who […]
Continue ReadingOver the weekend, alleged political activists in Alimosho, Lagos staged a mock funeral for Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola. To display the coffin of a man still alive is a poignant symbolism, one instinctually understood by witnesses embedded in the local culture as a severance of his connection to the society of the living. For a […]
Continue ReadingWhen the British-American documentary film producer, Theroux, flew into Lagos from the US in 2010, looking for the hotbed of gangsterism in Nigeria, Oshodi stood naked in the sun. Theroux’ choice of Oshodi as the General Headquarters (GHQ) of disorder wasn’t a product of fate, fancy or accident. His choice was informed by the crippling […]
Continue ReadingHopefully, by the time this commentary is in print, on February 22, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari should have given his assent to the re-amended Electoral Act Amendment Bill which was transmitted to him on January 31, 2022. If so, the President would have laid to rest all speculations and conspiracy theories as to why he […]
Continue ReadingChinua Achebe’s Tortoise folktale in his highly celebrated Things Fall Apart, among other motifs, excoriates an act of betrayal as evil. In having Ekwefi, one of his characters, narrate the proverbial cunning and treachery of the Tortoise to her daughter Ezinma, Achebe attempted to paint a moral canvass suggestive of the fact that traitors always […]
Continue ReadingThere was a man in London 300 years ago called Jonathan Wild. He lived at a time robbery and violent crimes were rampant in the city, day and night. The people were helpless and the police were largely absent. And because nature abhors a vacuum, this man, a civilian, filled that void. He started hiring […]
Continue ReadingThe APC was birthed out of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s resilient appetite for presidential power. Its victory in the 2015 presidential election was a product of both his regional cultic followership and a nationwide rejection of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s bumbling presidency. Seven years afterwards, Buhari’s appetite for apex power has been fulfilled and arguably squandered. His […]
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