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Have you flown an aircraft before? I just did. At the first attempt, I was nervous and crashed as I tried to take off. I laughed, shrugged and gave it another try. At the second attempt, my instructor was more than impressed with my lift-off. He confessed this was a rare feat for a novice. […]
Continue ReadingA neighbour sent me a WhatsApp chat last week with a million-dollar question: “Who are we voting for?” It was an awkward question. I have been discussing all the theories about the qualities the next president should have but I have paid little attention to a crucial part of the equation: what determines the voting […]
Continue ReadingPardon me: I used the title of this article as a bait. Sensationalism is not in my character, pardon me again, but discussing who should be the next president always excites us in Nigeria. We were created for elections and permutations. I decided to trick you by making it look like I wanted to appraise […]
Continue ReadingLest I forget, I have been living in the Magodo Residential Scheme II, fancifully called “Magodo GRA” by residents, for 20 years: first as a tenant and now as a homeowner. One day in 2012, I got home and saw a letter hanging on my gate. It was written by a retired Supreme Court judge […]
Continue ReadingMrs. Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, dropped a familiar bombshell at the launch of World Bank Nigeria Development Update some weeks ago. Petrol subsidy was going to end, she said, and as a sweetener, a monthly transportation grant of N5,000 would be paid to the poorest 30 million to 40 million […]
Continue ReadingDo you know how many bakeries I have shut down today? That was the sadistic boast of an official of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on an “inspection” visit to a bakery in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) some years ago. To her, it is a lifetime achievement to […]
Continue ReadingThis little story says a lot about Nigeria. I was driving along Opebi Road, Lagos, when the traffic lights turned red at Salvation junction. The vehicles ahead of me kept moving nonetheless. I thought the lights were faulty but still decided to stop and watch. Then the drivers behind me started hooting as if I […]
Continue ReadingOn Thursday, I did something I had not done in Lagos since 1999: I rode in a public bus. I had taken my car for service at Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja. I was told it would be ready “in two hours”. I thought to wait at the reception to do some office work. But as […]
Continue ReadingAs I was saying, an unliberated mind is instinctively sold to prejudice. It is a form of imprisonment. I had barely shut down my laptop after writing on ‘Yoruba Muslims and the Fifth Columnists’ last week when I received a WhatsApp broadcast that helped make my case even better. It was a post by Saminu […]
Continue ReadingA Yoruba Muslim engineer recently alleged that because of his Islamic faith, he was denied a job by Femi Osibona, the real estate tycoon behind the collapsed 21-storey building. Since then, there has been an intense debate over allegations of pervasive discrimination against Yoruba Muslims by their Christian kith and kin. I, however, find it […]
Continue ReadingWhen you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. This always comes to mind anytime there is an outbreak of debate over the naira. It is a discussion we have been having since, I think, 1986 when Gen Ibrahim Babangida, then military president, launched the structural adjustment programme (SAP) essentially to develop the non-oil sectors. […]
Continue ReadingOn Monday, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo might have made his boldest pitch yet for his expected presidential bid in 2023. Speaking at the administration’s midterm retreat — with President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in the room — Osinbajo appeared to have broken ranks with the […]
Continue ReadingAs we speak, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) — set up in 1989 to, among other functions, “review, from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities” — is consulting round the country to do a tough job: review the revenue allocation formula. […]
Continue ReadingThe brutal murder of Dr Chike Akunyili by the so-called “unknown gunmen” — I call them “the Boko Haram of the south-east” — has torn my heart to pieces. I was an associate member of the Akunyili family, having related closely with his wife, Prof Dora Nkem Akunyili, who did an amazing job as director-general […]
Continue ReadingMy decision to vote for Candidate Olusegun Obasanjo in the 1999 presidential election was influenced by many factors, one of which was his acceptability across regions and religions. Here was a southerner acceptable to northerners, a Yoruba acceptable to Hausa-Fulani and Igbo, a Christian acceptable to Muslims, and a civilian acceptable to the military. Although […]
Continue ReadingThe evolution of Nigerian federalism has undergone major genetic variations in the last 20 years, but the war that has just broken out over the value-added tax (VAT) may become the turning point because of the potential impact on fiscal federalism and the political economy. On December 11, 2020, Justice Stephen Pam of the Federal […]
Continue ReadingAt the centre of separatist campaigns in Nigeria, and possibly around the world, is the desire to have “homogenous” nations, or nations where an ethnic group is overwhelmingly in the majority, thereby leaving little room for rivalry, conflict and instability. When an ethnic group is overwhelmingly dominant in a country, the tendency for ethnic conflicts […]
Continue ReadingPlateau state is back in the news again — and for the usual tragic reasons: maiming and killing in the name of God. In the last eight weeks, over 100 lives have been wasted in the state. Not by bandits or kidnappers, but by ethnic and religious warlords. On July 1, attacks left 34 people […]
Continue ReadingHave you heard the news? The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) signed by President Muhammadu Buhari is the most anti-Niger Delta legislation in history, conceived and designed to further exploit the oil-producing region in favour of the north. How can PIA allocate a mere 3% to host communities while giving a whopping 30% of the profit […]
Continue ReadingIf you think this is a satire, then you are taking life too seriously. It is time to start thinking about unusual solutions to Nigeria’s unusual problems. There is no use following the regular route to address our irregular situation. For instance, conventional wisdom says Nigeria needs higher oil prices to address its cyclical budgetary […]
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