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Opinion

Monday, 20 December 2021 06:09

Why China continues to rise - Zhang Jun

In just four decades, China’s economy has achieved an unprecedented level of wealth and development, and, until recently, its upward trajectory of economic growth and prosperity seemed set to continue. But as political pressures and the coronavirus push many countries – particularly the United States – to embrace more nationalist policies, the heyday of globalization soon could be replaced by a post-pandemic era shaped by national-security concerns and border controls. This is not good news for China, which would prefer that the world maintain the economic openness it achieved in recent decades. For that reason, China had been working hard…

Sunday, 19 December 2021 06:26

How not to kill the ‘hustle’ of Nigerians - Simon Kolawole

Do 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 shut down people’s businesses, rupture an economic vein and render people jobless. To be clear, I am not saying standards should not be enforced. Rules are rules and should be obeyed. The regulations are designed for order, health and safety. They are not for window…

Sunday, 19 December 2021 06:25

Only Buhari’s switch to Christianity will nudge the North - Farooq A. Kperogi

Quite a few readers requested me to offer a perspective on the protests that seem to be sweeping the North over insecurity, especially in light of the observation I made in last week’s column that “there are only muffled, barely audible voices of outrage from everyday northerners” and that “there are no mass protests in the streets and no consistently violent maledictions against Buhari in mosques—like there would have been if the president were a Christian.” Well, firstly, the protests are not “mass,” don’t seem to resonate widely, and are already caving in before they have even started. Give it…

Sunday, 19 December 2021 06:23

Circumstantial evidence says it’s murder, sir! - Festus Adedayo

(A factionalized – fact and fiction – account of murder in a hotel) Media frenzy over the death of Tim Goke, a 37-year old man whose remains were found in a hotel, had been very huge and unsettling. As Police Detective and Head of its Legal Division, Muhammadu Kura sat on the swivel chair in his office at Kam Salem Police Headquarters this Wednesday afternoon, he reflected on his encounter with the Inspector General of Police about 40 hours back. The media had literally dragged the IG off his fanny to begin to take drastic actions. The social media had…

Sunday, 19 December 2021 06:22

Christmas lightings and life’s rough experiences - Taiwo Akinola

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed ~ Luke 2:1. Introduction: Christmas season is here again! Of course, this is one of the greatest seasons of all times, with lots of pomp and pageantry, as well as lively recollections of communal joy, tasteful meals, bright lights, new clothes with a kaleidoscope of colours, surprising gifts, and so on. Yes, all these stem from the real reason for the season — Jesus Christ — the all-surpassing and the Transcendent Gift from our Heavenly Father…

Sunday, 19 December 2021 06:20

Article of faith: When God loves you, He programmes something bad to happen - Femi Aribisala

My first name means “God loves me.” When God called me to ministry in 1994, He called my name three times. Then He said to me: “I have loved you from the foundation of the world.” The Bible says: “The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” (Hebrews 12:6). God so loved me, He sent armed robbers to waylay and shoot me. He told me so Himself and validated this with scripture: “Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned?…

Saturday, 18 December 2021 06:14

My son is not alone. Millions of young people commit his crime - Laila Soueif

Standing outside the Tora prison complex, where my son is held, a mother asks me: What’s your son in for? “Politics,” I say. She looks surprised, not because you can be imprisoned for politics — there’s nothing strange about that in Egypt — but because most political prisoners are Islamists, and she doesn’t think I look like the mother of an Islamist. “He was one of shabab al-thawra, ” I add, the young people of the revolution. No further explanation is needed. Why is my son, Alaa Abd El Fattah, in prison? He is one of tens of thousands of…

Friday, 17 December 2021 06:11

Travellers’ misery and Nigeria’s slot war with UAE - Azu Ishiekwene

It’s not been a merry run up to Christmas for many Nigerian travellers. It all started with Canada, Saudi Arabia, and then the UK, red-listing Nigeria (and 10 other African countries) for the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in spite of relatively low reported cases. If there were any remaining doubts about Covid-19 racism, these countries shed it and showed the world they could not help wearing bigotry on their sleeve. Countries that were rightly opposed to labelling Covid-19 the “China virus”, were quick to target Africa, which is not the original source of the new variant, for detecting it among…

Friday, 17 December 2021 06:10

Marital rape: An exotic idea, joke or crime? - Michael West

Until last Tuesday, I didn't know that Western society "crime" has found its way into our consciousness and as we speak, efforts are being geared towards making what is termed "marital rape" a crime in Nigeria. I would not feign ignorance of the law. It actually exist and it is actionable in the court of law in advanced countries; but applying such a law here is like courting trouble, at least, for a start. I was a member of a five-man panel at the symposium organized by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, DSVA, held at Agip Recital…

Friday, 17 December 2021 06:09

The big issues for 2022 - Jim O’Neill

With the calendar year drawing to a close, the parlor game of pretending to know what will happen in the next 12 months has begun. Yet when it comes to 2022 (and beyond), I am not sure whether it is worth even pretending. I cannot recall a previous time when there were so many big question marks looming over so many key economic issues. This deep uncertainty is especially intriguing with respect to financial markets. Should any of several developments to watch take a negative turn, the implications for today’s elevated markets could be dire. Among the most urgent and…

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Thursday, 16 December 2021 05:59

Nigeria’s food inflation: losers, winners and a possible solution

Zuhumnan Dapel Recent inflation numbers from Nigeria are creating serious concern over the rising cost of food items in the country. But this is not Nigerians’ first encounter with food prices running hot, as the spikes date back roughly two decades. Between January 2003 and August 2021, the food inflation rate has raced to three major peaks. The first and highest was about 38% in August 2005, more than 16 years ago. The second, about 21%, was in July 2008. The third – the second-highest in 20 years – was about 23% in March 2021. Many Nigerians believe that either…

Wednesday, 15 December 2021 05:58

From Lagos to Ilorin to Ife... - Bola Bolawole

The past many days, starting from Saturday, December 4, 2021, witnessed, for me, a flurry of activities, beginning with the Distinguished Great Ife Alumni Award hosted at the Marriott Hotel, Lagos by the authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly the University of Ife). Sixty alumni were honoured for contributing in various ways to the well-being of their alma mater. Yours truly was one of those so honoured - for which I am grateful! It must have been a herculean task for the Great Ife authorities to pick just 60 names out of thousands of qualified candidates – whatever the…

Monday, 13 December 2021 06:04

Rule of law: Nigeria’s only hope of survival (1) - Hassan Gimba

Our current situation of a glaring failure of the rule of law must disturb any Nigerian who has come of age. The average citizen today lives in fear. When you retire into your house, you pray to God to deliver you from evil marauders who have removed peace from the calmness of the night. When the sun rises, you again rely on God to protect you from those who have become the law unto themselves. In Nigeria today, the rule of law has taken flight. Charlatans carrying guns that are daily becoming accessible to any riff-raff who wants to own…

Sunday, 12 December 2021 06:06

Why the North bleeds and the people sleep - Farooq A. Kperogi

Northern Nigeria, particularly Muslim northern Nigeria, has become by far the most dangerous place to live in Nigeria— and one of the most dangerous places to live in the entire world. Terrorist bandits have almost literally taken over the region. Terrorists habitually waylay and burn passengers alive, kidnap Islamiyya and conventional school pupils, murder imams and worshipers in mosques, slaughter innocents in their sleep and incinerate their homes, vandalize and burn harvested crops and farms, and constitute a source of permanent terror. The carnage and terror are unabating. They are spreading out to previously sedate parts of the region. Niger…

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