Nigerian leaders have still not learned, By Abimbola Adelakun

On Monday, the Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, rued the recent death of his Deputy Chief of Staff, Mikhail Jare Adebisi. In eulogising the deceased, the governor said, “We would have flown out Adebisi for treatment, but for the COVID-19 pandemic.” The startling lack of irony with which the tone-deaf governor declared what they […]

Continue Reading

Rape: Men are truly not wood, By Abimbola Adelakun

Lately, a federal lawmaker from Borno State, Ahmed Jaha, walked back his comments that women who wanted to avoid being raped should learn to dress decently because  — and this is according to him — “men are not wood.” The comments were reportedly made during a plenary session while the House of Representatives members deliberated […]

Continue Reading

Speaker Obasa could have confessed, By Abimbola Adelakun

When the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, reacted to the allegations of corruption levelled against him, he added a touch of flippancy to the schtick. During a live Instagram interview with the publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, Obasa brazenly stated, “money is meant to be spent.” The rest of his […]

Continue Reading

The atheist vs. the ‘religion of peace’, By Abimbola Adelakun

Last week, the Kaduna State Police Command demonstrated probably their swiftest response to any petition ever when they arrested self-professed atheist and president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, Mubarak Bala, over his Facebook posts that mocked certain religious truths. The petition to the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Habu Sani, was signed by one […]

Continue Reading

MURIC and Akintola’s tragic conspiracy theory, By Abimbola Adelakun

Ordinarily, one should ignore the director of Muslim Rights Congress, Prof Ishaq Akintola. His predilection for inciting controversy via religious conspiracy, mostly for its own sake, makes him a public nuisance. However, we have been Nigerians for long enough to know religious matters easily escalate. Besides, inflammatory words thrown around amidst a pandemic can gain […]

Continue Reading

Why are Nigerians still so poor?, By Abimbola Adelakun

Less than a year ago, we were told that Nigeria had achieved food security. According to reports at the time, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) based his directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop providing foreign exchange for the importation of food on that supposed milestone.  For a country to be […]

Continue Reading

14 more days of ‘hunger down’, By Abimbola Adelakun

When Nigeria announced a lockdown of parts of the country in late March, people rightly questioned the possibility of surviving a lockdown in a country where the most basic infrastructure was missing. How do you remain indoors without a guaranteed supply of electricity, food, security, and even WI-FI? At least in the countries where the […]

Continue Reading

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has made history, By Abimbola Adelakun

In the past few days, I have watched several videos of my former pastor, Chris Oyakhilome, rehashing conspiracy theories that linked 5G technology with COVID-19. It has been a deeply embarrassing experience for me, watching him talk so confidently about what he has not even tried to understand. Oyakhilome’s church, Christ Embassy, has many upwardly mobile […]

Continue Reading

No God is punishing us with COVID-19, By Abimbola Adelakun

Among the many different Nigerian interpretations of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I have extracted three. First is the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, who claimed God allowed the disease to afflict the human race “only to redirect our steps back to Him.” He urged us to beg God for forgiveness to end […]

Continue Reading

Weep not for Abba Kyari and Co, By Abimbola Adelakun

On Tuesday, the news broke that the Chief of Staff to the Nigerian president, Abba Kyari, tested positive for COVID-19. Three of his aides reportedly also tested positive. Same Tuesday, it was announced that the Bauchi State governor, Sen. Bala Mohammed, also tested positive. Then, there is the son of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, […]

Continue Reading

Buhari has an attitude problem, By Abimbola Adelakun

On Monday, while in the Aso Rock Villa, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State tweeted photos of himself and the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), perusing still images from the Abule Ado explosion. Vexed by the scene, many Nigerians responded that Buhari should have visited the explosion site and not be served photos from […]

Continue Reading

For Sanusi, dethronement is freedom, By Abimbola Adelakun

Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was finally dethroned for insubordination to the political authorities in Kano State. It was not an altogether surprising development. Sanusi has both been outspoken and arrogant. He could not have survived the ultra-conservative ideology of the northern aristocracy nor conform to their willful blindness, even as their leadership shortcomings turned […]

Continue Reading

The real trouble with Magu, By Abimbola Adelakun

By the time the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, first claimed that the deadly coronavirus disease was caused by corruption, I had long concluded that his dimness was genuine. In 2018, Channels TV host, Maupe Ogun-Yusuf, asked him during an interview about building formidable structures to institutionalise his agency’s supposed fight […]

Continue Reading

Gaidam and the spirit of northern entitlement, By Abimbola Adelakun

On Thursday last week, a bill that purports to de-radicalise and re-integrate ‘repentant’ Boko Haram terrorists into society passed its first reading in the Senate. The bill was sponsored by the APC Senator representing Yobe East Senatorial District, Ibrahim Gaidam. According to Gaidam, the proposed agency would provide rehabilitative education and social re-integration for Boko Haram fighters […]

Continue Reading

One good thing about Buhari’s regime, By Abimbola Adelakun

Years back, a friend who had worked on the 2011 Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) presidential campaign told me about the overly enthusiastic responses they had received in the North. In one instance, he said Buhari’s horde of supporters had not only swarmed the airport where their campaign aircraft was to land, they also practically […]

Continue Reading

Okada ban will not solve Sanwo-Olu’s problem, By Abimbola Adelakun

Beginning from last Saturday, Lagos State placed a ban on commercial motorcycles (okada) and tricycles (keke) in 15 local government areas. The development has further impeded movement around Lagos, a city already plagued with some of the worst traffic gridlock in the world. With the perennial issues of congestion and mobility, Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu faces […]

Continue Reading

Femi Adesina did not change, By Abimbola Adelakun

Lately, the Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship issued a press statement to fault the assailment of the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina. The exchange had begun when CAN expressed its disappointment with the government’s handling of the Boko Haram threats, the […]

Continue Reading

What is the truth of Boko Haram?, By Abimbola Adelakun

The news of the murder of the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Lawan Andimi, is unfortunate. Andimi had been abducted earlier in the month when Boko Haram insurgents attacked his village. Days later, he appeared in a video clip where he appealed to his state […]

Continue Reading

Father Mbaka did NOT hear from God, By Abimbola Adelakun

Now that the Supreme Court has nullified the election of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State and declared the All Progressives Congress’ Hope Uzodinma the winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election in the state, I owe it to readers of last week’s article to insist that God […]

Continue Reading