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Opinion

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 05:58

Nigeria and the railway revolution - Ibrahim Hassan

Ever since its invention and commencement as a means of transportation at the close of the 19th century in Britain, the railway transportation mode has surpassed all other means of transportation in the crystallization of civilization and the advancement of mankind. While for instance, the seagoing vessels have it when it comes to bulk haulage across the continents, the rail has incomparable advantages over other modes in the movement of people and goods on land. The advantages of rail transportation include flexibility in its routings, relative capacity for bulk haulage and lower costs to its users. As a result of…

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 05:57

Whatever happened to soft power? - Joseph S. Nye, Jr

As 2021 drew to a close, Russia had massed troops near its border with Ukraine; China had flown military jets near Taiwan; North Korea was still pursuing its nuclear-weapons program; and Taliban fighters were patrolling the streets of Kabul. Seeing all this, friends asked me: “Whatever happened to soft power?” One answer is that it can be found in other recent events, such as President Joe Biden’s virtual Summit for Democracy, which was attended by representatives from more than 100 countries. Having been excluded, China took to the airwaves and social media to proclaim that it had a different and…

Monday, 24 January 2022 06:14

Big tech’s supersized ambitions - The Economist

Is there any limit to the ambition and hubris of big tech firms? In October Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook Meta and described humankind’s new future in virtual worlds. On January 18th Microsoft, worth more than $2trn, decided it wasn’t big enough and bid $69bn for Activision Blizzard, a video-games firm, in its biggest-ever deal. These decisions are part of a vast new investment surge at five of America’s biggest firms, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft—call them MAAMA. Together, they have invested $280bn in the past year, equivalent to 9% of American business investment, up from 4% five years ago.…

Monday, 24 January 2022 06:13

2023: Will the Yoruba act differently? - Bola Bolawole

Another General Election is approaching and partisan politics is in the air again – filled with its treachery and betrayals, nights of long knives, wisdom and tomfoolery, promises and deceits, hopes and frustrations with sharks and hawks of all hues jostling for supremacy. The doves and shrimps will not only be crowded out by the predators as had been the practice in the past, they will almost certainly be made easy prey as usual. Gainers and losers are often known ever before the contest begins. As Isa Aremu, Labour aficionado and Director-General of the Ilorin-based Michael Imoudu National Institute for…

Monday, 24 January 2022 06:11

The Northeast: Which way forward? - Hassan Gimba

The Northeast came into existence on the 5th of May, 1967 when, in his bid to check the influence of Odumegwu Ojukwu in the East, Yakubu Gowon created 12 states out of the four regions in the country. On the 3rd of February, 1976, Murtala Ramat Mohammed divided the monolith Northeastern state into three - Borno, Bauchi and Gongola. These three states were further divided into six. From Borno we got Yobe, Bauchi gave birth to Gombe and from Adamawa came Taraba. From a part of the Northern Region to an independent state, the Northeast, which now boasts of six…

Sunday, 23 January 2022 06:21

Nigeria’s one hellish week of ‘Zah Zu Ze’ - Festus Adedayo

How does one place last week’s abduction and murder of a five-year-old Kano girl, Hanifa Abubakar? Hanifa, a student of Kids Academy, a private school located in Kwanar Dakata in Nassarawa local government area of Kano in Tudunwada, was abducted on December 2, 2021 by Abdulmalik Tanko, the proprietor of the school. After kidnapping her and collecting part of the N6 million ransom he demanded, he was reported to have killed her with rat poison because the girl was able to recognize him. He then dismembered Halifa’s body and buried the remains within the school. Or, former military Head of…

Sunday, 23 January 2022 06:20

Dreaming your way to greatness - Taiwo Akinola

Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it ~ Jeremiah 1:12. Introduction: The subject of dreams is very pertinent to the Christian faith, especially to candidates of greatness and supernatural expansion. Vision is the indisputable bedrock of blessing. No matter what the plans of God are concerning your life, you must see them first before the hand of destiny will work them out. No wonder, oftentimes, we are limited by what we see. Whenever progress stalls in a life, declension and death set in. Therefore, anytime you see in…

Sunday, 23 January 2022 06:17

Article of faith: God’s fullness of joy - Femi Aribisala

Joy is one of many things that only come from God. It is the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23). That means it can only find true expression in those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and have been gifted with His Spirit. In effect, joy is one thing that many claim they have but do not have. This is because it is only God that makes us joyful. (Ezra 6:22). Counterfeits Since joy only comes from God, there are many counterfeits. Be suspicious of anything that gives you joy outside of Christ. There is no…

Friday, 21 January 2022 06:12

Shonekan was a riddle till the end - Dare Babarinsa

Ernest Adegunle Shonekan provided the confluence in which the two rivers of Nigerian history met. For him, power was a reward of a lifelong acquaintance with influence. He had climbed the totem pole for many years as the career technocrat in the giant United African Company (UAC) until 1980, when at the age of 44, he combined the two most powerful offices of the company as the Chairman and the Chief Executive. He shifted base to Abuja in 1993 as the Head of Government during the final lap of Ibrahim Babangida’s tortuous transition to civil rule programme. Then he became…

Friday, 21 January 2022 06:07

Why husbands often die first - Azu Ishiekwene

My wife occasionally jokes that my stressful, high-strung lifestyle could mean I’ll die before her. I’ve hardly paid any attention, until recently. Three weeks ago, we both visited a friend who lost his father on New Year’s Day. The deceased was over 90. We went in company with my friend and neighbour who also came along with his wife. We met two other friends at the home of the bereaved family. Before we departed, the five men - including our bereaved friend - took pictures. I didn’t make anything of it until the next day when I got a call…

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Friday, 21 January 2022 06:05

'Callous men are devils, please run!' - Michael West

A Lagos based businessman called to ask for help because he wanted to "secure" his wife so she can always obey him. "When I had money, I was 'king' to her and her family but since things have not been rosy with me in recent times, my wife has become stubborn and confrontational. As we speak, she has refused to return from the East since we travelled for Christmas last December. Surprisingly, she said she is no longer interested in the marriage. Can you imagine? I want to 'secure' her so she can obey me and stop listening to her…

Thursday, 20 January 2022 06:22

Rice pyramids do not match up to reality - Abimbola Adelakun

In place of awe at the spectacular sight of the rice pyramids stacked in the FCT in preparation for the president to officially unveil them on Tuesday, Nigerians have mostly expressed cynicism. Something about those thousands of bags of rice piled in the open feels both unrealistic and out of touch with reality. First, almost all the media accounts of the Tuesday ceremony laughingly repeated the claim that there were up to one million bags of rice in those pyramids. How could that be? In the days Nigeria had groundnut pyramids, each was estimated to have been constructed from around…

Thursday, 20 January 2022 06:21

2023: Now that Tinubu will run...(2) - Bola Bolawole

Expectedly, it has been torrents of hails and brimstones since Bola Tinubu officially declared his intention to contest the presidency in 2023. Tinubu lovers have also responded in kind; “arguments for” and “arguments against” rent the air as the contenders compete for supremacy. The din is deafening and the atmosphere electric. The cacophony over Tinubu’s “life-long ambition” has crowded out other trending matters including, surprisingly, the Super Eagles’ good run at the AFCON taking place in Cameroon. Thus, Tinubu has become the proverbial new-born babe that calls attention unto itself when it steps out to be named (on the eighth…

Thursday, 20 January 2022 06:20

Putin to Ukraine: ‘Marry me or I’ll kill you’ - Thomas L. Friedman

Why is Vladimir Putin threatening to take another bite out of Ukraine, after devouring Crimea in 2014? That is not an easy question to answer because Putin is a one-man psychodrama, with a giant inferiority complex toward America that leaves him always stalking the world with a chip on his shoulder so big it’s amazing he can fit through any door. Let’s see: Putin is a modern-day Peter the Great out to restore the glory of Mother Russia. He’s a retired K.G.B. agent who simply refuses to come in from the cold and still sees the C.I.A. under every rock…

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