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Have you asked why every saviour always ends up worse than his bad predecessor? King Dionysius (430 BC—367 BC) was famously called the tyrant of Syracuse. He conquered Sicily and southern Italy and made Syracuse the most powerful Greek city west of mainland Greece. But Dionysius was a very cruel king. Almost every citizen of […]
Continue Reading“In an upcoming foreign policy piece, Dr Robert Rotberg and I will argue that Nigeria is a failed state.” That is a 6 May, 2021 tweet from John Campbell, a former United States Ambassador to Nigeria. It should worry all who know that this came from Campbell, author of ‘Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink’ published […]
Continue ReadingVulture means Igún in Yoruba. At the very beginning of time, he was the priest of the earth. The priest was also earth’s doctor. It happened that Olófin, the king in Ile-Ife that time, had his life in total disarray – a life broken like calabash and rent like cloth (ayé e rè fó bí […]
Continue ReadingA normal southern Nigerian citizen would be shocked to hear cries of ‘Jihad now’ or ‘give us sharia or death’ or ‘it is sharia or bloodshed.’ In the fundamentalist north, what will shock the street will be if the rabble refuses to lick blood from the plate of those cries. The huge support which Isa […]
Continue ReadingThere was an open rally against the entity called Nigeria on the streets of Ibadan on Saturday. The organisers wanted a Yoruba country. That it happened where it happened should worry everyone. The Yoruba believed so much in Nigeria and sacrificed so much to make it live and work. Now, the medicine man no longer […]
Continue ReadingZamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle is in the news. He issued a very long statement on Thursday attacking the south in defence of his north. He also attacked anti-Buhari London protesters for their hatred for the president and the north. This governor belongs to the PDP, a political party that claims to be in opposition […]
Continue ReadingIn June 1948, Sir Adeyemo Alakija, President of Egbe Omo Oduduwa, was in Ile Ife with other leaders to inaugurate the Egbe. At that event with the organisation’s founder, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alakija spoke strongly to the imperative of a ‘big tomorrow’ for the Yoruba race. “This big tomorrow,” he said, “is the future of […]
Continue ReadingNorthern leaders are an intriguing lot. They are looking for shortcuts to the top of the palm tree by befriending their nemesis, the bandits. They want peace, yet they express open sympathy for killers. They speak volubly for bandits and have no word of empathy for their own people, daily killed, daily abducted by the […]
Continue ReadingWole Soyinka, last week, wrote about mad cows and madder narratives. Where else do cows, what they eat, how they eat, and where they eat dominate discourses in the 21st century if not in a kingdom of fools? And, again, last week in Ibadan, Nigeria, rotten tomatoes and how they were disposed of claimed lives […]
Continue ReadingRespected Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, has lately been mounting campaigns for amnesty for murderous bandits. He has also been meeting with them in their forested hideouts. This past weekend, the Sheikh went beyond the bandits; he looked south and labeled Yoruba and Igbo youths demanding security, equity, restructuring and true federalism as secessionists who […]
Continue ReadingEven if you feed on tortoise’s head, you should weep reading this young man’s tribute to his dad who was recently murdered by Fulani herdsmen on his farm: “I remember one of our last conversations, I told you I had lost every hope in Nigeria and how I don’t see it becoming better in another […]
Continue ReadingThe president is in Katsina state, he is not on leave, yet the Federal Government sent a delegation from Abuja on Sunday to ‘commiserate’ with the Katsina State government. I do not know if you also find that very awkward. Is that how it is done? What is happening? I know there are persons in […]
Continue ReadingOur own Tukur Buratai and the United States’ Michael Flynn are both Lt Generals. Buratai, Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, four days ago warned his Generals against toying with any plan to undermine our democracy. Buratai reminded his Generals that, “democracy has come to stay.” He warned that he “will not tolerate any agent of destabilisation” and […]
Continue ReadingThe Chinese say blessings rarely come in pairs; misfortunes never come singly. In one single day last week, a lot happened to our country: Nigeria was again named the third most terrorized country in the whole world; Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar said his north is the worst place to live in Nigeria; bandits left villages […]
Continue ReadingThe Fulani have many intriguing proverbs. ‘If a man says he will swallow an axe, hold the handle for him.’ That is one of the proverbs. If you want to understand the full import, then listen very well to Alhaji Buba Galadima who professes to be Buhari’s enemy. He was in the news a few […]
Continue ReadingA state well-defined is where law and order reign. And it is not difficult to have a country of degraded, disappearing statehood. We already have it. We say when the roots of a tree begin to decay, they spread death up the stem to the branches. Across the south west where I live, the police are on […]
Continue ReadingEverything Nigeria finds impossible to do, the Lekki protesters did. Orderliness, organisation, security, equity and equality. They forged peace and flaunted it with good music. They provided electricity for protesters to charge their phones. Food was available; there was water for all. There was no class, no creed. Everyone was fed without favour in an atmosphere of […]
Continue ReadingWhatever made Olubadan to have Adedibu/ We also have Omisore…(Oun t’ó m’Ólúbàdàn t’ó fi l’Ádédibú/ Àwa náa l’Ómísore)” This song was popular at Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rallies in Osun State some years ago. The rhythm there is in the strong, no-nonsense characters of Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu and Otunba Iyiola Omisore, two former chieftains of […]
Continue ReadingA Yoruba officer walked up to General Oladipo Diya at the height of his 1997 crisis with his boss, General Sani Abacha. “Sir, what is happening?” The very senior officer looked away from the colonel and told him there was nothing. “Sir, did you say there is nothing?” The officer asked with a tone of […]
Continue ReadingApart from Nigeria, can you think of any other country in the whole world where brothers kidnap brothers for ransom? Or where kinsmen visit raw, crude death on their kinsmen in the name of banditry? Or where parents let loose their own pre-teen children to the wild world of terrorism in the name of something […]
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