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“Even a corpse put in a coffin will defeat Tinubu in 2027.” ADC chieftain and northern politician, Buba Galadima, gave that promise at the ADC convention last Tuesday. He was wrong. The corpse, the coffin and the carpenter will be buried by Hurricane Tinubu in the election of next year, unless… Unless what? Unless they […]
Continue ReadingWar commanders die cheap deaths; farmers are murdered on their farms, traders in their shops, landlords vanish on their lands, tenants in their rented rooms; students abducted from their studies. What more must happen before we become what Italians would call “Paese dei Morti” (Country of the Dead); “Paese senza memoria” (country without memory)? When […]
Continue ReadingAnyone who has watched a hunting party in action will understand what is going on. What we have is a hunting expedition: beaters scour the bush, flushing the political parties—like duikers—towards INEC and the courts, where gunmen are properly positioned to take the killer shots. The PDP is in Bello Turji’s captivity; the ADC is […]
Continue ReadingIt is either Nasir El-Rufai is a very lucky man, or he is a very strong man. He was arrested by his friends, charged variously for multiple offences, none of the various courts has yet ruled on his bail application, but he arrived home in Abuja on Saturday. His jailers mourned with him and said […]
Continue ReadingI begin with Game of Thrones, a world not far removed from ours, where power, wealth, and revenge are the true currencies of politics. In Season 5, Episode 1, we hear this: Tyrion Lannister: What is it that you want exactly? Lord Varys: Peace. Prosperity. A land where the powerful do not prey on the […]
Continue ReadingA mother sits her son beside her, looks into his eyes and tells him: “Son, listen to me carefully. I want to tell you some important things.” “Okay, Mom, what is it?” The boy replies and the lesson class becomes a conversation in morality. “First, always be kind. Speak gently and respect everyone, young or […]
Continue ReadingOur power minister, Adebayo Adelabu, is now mocked as the King of Darkness—Kábíyèsi Olókùnkùn. I laugh at his traducers. They are crowning the wrong monarch. The true emperor of darkness sits higher. For more than three years, the president has wandered luxuriantly through the bush of politics while abandoning the hard road of policy that […]
Continue ReadingOn August 2, 1100, England’s King William II went hunting in the New Forest in southern England. During the chase, an arrow shot at a stag by his companion, the Norman nobleman Walter Tirel struck an oak tree, ricocheted, and pierced the king’s chest. The king died right there. The spot where he fell is […]
Continue ReadingJournalist arrived at the Government House with a proverb on his tongue. “Your Excellency,” he began after the courtesies, notebook open, “in Yoruba, there is a word: Apanimáyọdà.” The APC governor smiled faintly. “The one who kills without unsheathing a sword.” “Exactly,” the journalist said. “A + pa + ni + má + yọ + […]
Continue ReadingAlhaji Shehu Shagari first met General Murtala Mohammed in August 1974. Newly appointed Federal Commissioner for Communications, Murtala, wrote a memo for cabinet approval and needed financial clearance from Shagari, then Commissioner for Finance. Shagari recalled the encounter: “I studied the memo carefully and made a number of comments and suggestions. He replied it was […]
Continue ReadingI wanted to find out who the greatest massager in history was, but the Internet told me history keeps no such Hall of Fame. I asked Google and got no answer; I asked Google Scholar and got silence. Even super-intelligent AI hasn’t been able to help. So, should I just give that crown to Comrade […]
Continue ReadingThe headline came quietly, harmlessly on Thursday: ‘Senate wants more revenues for FG, moves to alter allocation formula.’ The report said the Senate is considering a bill sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi West) which seeks to “rescue” the Federal Government by increasing its share of the federation account. A week earlier, I had discussed […]
Continue ReadingPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu returned over the weekend, swagger intact, despite his tumble in Turkey. His face was calm; his steps steady. His left arm tucked into the left fold of his agbada; his right palm expectantly popped into the waiting hands of top appointees lined up to receive him. Ministers and governors do this […]
Continue ReadingThe Cambridge English dictionary defines ‘Wizkid’ as “a young person who is very clever and successful.” Collins Dictionary defines it as “a person who is outstandingly successful for his or her age.” Wisdom Library says “’Wiz’ is a shortened form of ‘wizard,’ connoting skill, talent, and expertise, while ‘kid’ implies youthfulness or being junior. When […]
Continue ReadingI was wondering why his 304-page biography carries the title, ‘Eye of Fire.’ Then I saw a reviewer answering the question any reader would have in mind: In Igbo language, ‘Anya’ means ‘Eye’, ‘Oku’ means ‘Fire’. His surname, ‘Anyaoku’, therefore, means the title of that book – or the title of the book means ‘Anyaoku’. […]
Continue ReadingTo the north of Ibadan, on the way to Iseyin, is a village perpetually wearing mournful, forlorn looks. You must have some interest in Yoruba history to know that this community, at the height of its glory, was Ibadan’s arch-rival in might and riches. It is today called Orile Ijaiye but some 200 years ago, […]
Continue ReadingThere is a Yoruba proverb for our insecurity and the external help we got last Thursday: Let the man see the snake; let the woman kill it. What matters is that the snake dies (Kí ọkùnrin rí ejò, kí obìnrin pa á; ohun tí ó ṣe pàtàkì ni pé kí ejò kú). The proverb is […]
Continue ReadingDuring the Kiriji War of the nineteenth century, a grim parable of war came and became a subject of racial slur and morbid joke. An Oyo-Ibadan warrior, disarmed and cornered by an Ijesa fighter, collapsed to the earth and begged for his life. The Ijesa man, scornful of pleas, mocked him with a cruel logic: […]
Continue ReadingBetter a child is confirmed dead than a child is unaccounted for. I am not sure we remember that about 250 pupils of St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri village in Niger State, remain in captivity. They’ve been with their abductors since November 21 without Nigeria losing a day’s sleep. And we say Donald Trump was […]
Continue ReadingFor ten clean years (November 2015 to 7 October, 2025), Mahmood Yakubu was the chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). On 29 November, 2025, fifty-three days after he left that impartial office, he became a beneficiary of the election he refereed; he was made an ambassador by the president. Yakubu is not a […]
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