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A Sokoto mob on Saturday violently protested against justice for Deborah Yakubu who was murdered by her schoolmates in broad daylight. They wanted her suspected killers released without trial. The mob thought the state did not owe the murdered that duty of care, even in death. She was a Christian from a minority part of […]
Continue ReadingToday is the 35th anniversary of the transition of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. A sage is “a profoundly wise person; a person famed for wisdom.” A sage is also he that is “venerated for the possession of wisdom, possession of judgment and of experience.” That is what my dictionary says ‘sage’ means. In life, […]
Continue ReadingDark horses always win in Nigeria and everyone appears out searching the skies for the next unknown charger. The cult of Nigeria will narrow our options to their choices. They are bringing a dark horse. Benjamin Disraeli was a late 19th century British prime minister, very distinguished in governance and first class in literary creativity. […]
Continue ReadingOba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi spent his last three months winding down in a spectacular way. He made some moves and held some meetings which, in retrospect, showed that there was some urgency in his strides. On February 8, 2022, he was at the University of Ibadan as chairman of my book launch. His speech at […]
Continue Reading“Someone who should know told me that our next president has not declared yet; that all those who have so far declared won’t be president.” I call him my mystery friend from the North. He comes around into my social media handles like a thief in the night; he drops his very few words as […]
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 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 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 […]
Continue ReadingI saw two bearded, bitter members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Channels TV late last week lamenting. They said ex-PDP leaders were taking over the house they built. They fretted and lamented what was about to happen to their tendency at the party’s national convention. I pitied them. It is not everyone who […]
Continue ReadingWith women, there is never an end to a war – any war in which their husband’s interest is involved. When they win, they go for choice wines and propose toasts with the skull of the enemy. When they lose, they, in bitterness, weep, withdraw and go underground to continue the fight by other means. […]
Continue ReadingThieves of a feather’ is the title of a piece written by American journalist, Emily Sohn, in the December 19, 2007 edition of ScienceNewsforStudents. Great writings advertise themselves first with great titles. You were probably suckled in a clichéd world where birds of a feather always flocked together. And in that world, your teacher warned […]
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 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 ReadingLast Tuesday at the public presentation of my book, ‘Cowries of Blood’, a reporter asked me to crack the title. I smiled the question off. I hope my quizzer reads this and connects the silhouetted dots. It is not only about cows and forest boys grazing in farms and killing grumbling farmers. It is about […]
Continue ReadingI experienced him for the first time as he was introduced as Imam Orímádégún. He was asked to preach at a Muslim burial service last Saturday in Osogbo, Osun State. He picked the microphone and announced that he was not going to preach about the dead. He said his sermon would be for the living. […]
Continue ReadingHow do you address a people who create a situation and then turn round to play the victim? The National President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Alhaji Bello Abdullahi Bodejo, talked tough in a Sun newspaper interview at the weekend. He said any southerner hoping to replace President Muhammadu Buhari next year must seek out […]
Continue ReadingSome people sold their father’s land to purchase guns; now that war is in their home, they are begging for where to stand on to use the weapons. I got that sense from an elder some days ago as we agonised over the destruction of the country’s peace by its unhinged children. In horrific details, […]
Continue ReadingThe aged died, we replaced him with the chronically ill; who does not know that there will be wailing once more soon in the palace?. (Arugbo ku a fi olokunrun j’oye; taa ni ko mo wipe ariwo k’eekan l’aafin?). This Yoruba proverb covers the field of fears of those worried about the age and health […]
Continue ReadingOnce upon a time, I got a book gift from Charly Boy. Like many in my generation, I love books, especially unusual ones. And that precisely was what I got from the son of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. The title of the book? ‘My Private Part.’ Curiosity won’t kill me. I grabbed the book and flipped […]
Continue ReadingWe’ve all walked gingerly into the uncharted dawn of 2022 hoping to make some sense of its covetous threats. Jonathan Swift, 18th century satirist and author, wrote of ‘The Day of Judgement’ when “the graves give up their dead” and “thunder roars and lightning flies” and “the world’s mad business now is o’er.” This new […]
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