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Opinion

Monday, 29 April 2019 04:38

Bye bye to Lugardian contraption - Tola Adeniyi

The myriad of problems confronting the geopolitical space called Nigeria today could be traced to one single cause. It was a marriage that was not canvassed, not negotiated, not consented to that was the root, the father and mother of all the diseases that had plagued Nigeria since 1914. The diseases include consistently rigged Population Census, the basic fraudulent allocation of seats in the old federation, the fraudulent foundation of the country’s Military and the Police, and the inbuilt ingredients of sectional domination. The listed diseases and their by-products gave birth to the military incursion in the country’s politics, coups…

Monday, 29 April 2019 04:37

Protesting in the digital age - Ngaire Woods

Social media have made it easier to organize mass protests. Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, people with a common cause can instantly fuel each other’s outrage while sharing logistical details. But these modern-day demonstrations often lack the leadership and coalition-building skills that can translate collective grievance into real change. Elections and referenda are just two ways for people to have a say in how they are governed. Protesting is another, which is why rights of assembly and free speech are protected in most democracies. And in many democracies nowadays, those rights are being used to the fullest. Climate activists…

Sunday, 28 April 2019 03:56

God is not good all the time - Femi Aribisala

Nobody spoils a man’s life like Jesus. Jesus is a killer of all worldly joy. God’s attitude to the world is often lost on many. God hates the world system. The world hated Jesus and killed Him. Therefore, anyone who is a lover of pleasure; anyone who likes this world becomes an enemy of God. Accordingly, James asks: “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4). Paul is of…

Sunday, 28 April 2019 03:54

Ngige’s incestuous affair with Marie Antoinette - Festus Adedayo

Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, had taken the liberty to pass a mean comment on the people like Chris Ngige, Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment too. She was married at age 14 in May, 1770 to then Prince Louis-Auguste who was heir apparent to the French throne and later became Queen, upon Louis XV1 ascension to the throne. Antoinette was however roundly disliked by the French populace on account of accusations that she was wasteful, profligate and promiscuous. To cap it all, allegations that she offered embrace to France's enemies, especially her native…

Sunday, 28 April 2019 03:53

Mixed metaphors: Back to the beginning - Sonala Olumhense

Few things can summarise the Muhammadu Buhari era as succinctly as his return to a London hospital bed a few days ago. In May 2015, as he prepared to take office, he had travelled to the same city, a visit Nigerians had imagined to be for consultations with officials of the British government. It turned out he was trying to take care of his health. Following his oath of office, he would go on to spend a total of 217 days in London taking care of an ailment he never disclosed to the Nigerian people who pay the bills. By…

Sunday, 28 April 2019 03:52

The Sri Lanka bombings are part of an ugly anti-Christian pattern across the globe

John L. Allen Jr. “It is shocking that people who gathered to celebrate Easter together were consciously targeted in this malicious attack,” read a statement from German Chancellor Angela Merkel in response to the bombing of three Christian churches and three high-end hotels Sri Lanka that killed at least 321 people and injured hundreds more. Yet the shocking thing about the carnage is that it is not shocking — and instead forms part of an ugly, predictable global pattern. On major Christian feast days, somewhere in the world, some number of Christians are likely to be killed for no reason…

Thursday, 25 April 2019 05:11

Fallouts from Onnoghen’s trial and conviction - Jideofor Adibe

Mr Walter Onnoghen’s nearly 100-day suspense-packed thriller with Code of Conduct Tribunal finally came to a conclusion on April 18 2019. He was found him guilty of not declaring some of his assets and removed as Chief Justice of Nigeria. The tribunal also barred him from holding public office for ten years and recommended forfeiture to government of monies in the accounts which he did not declare to Code of Conduct Bureau as he should. The former CJN has already filed notice of appeal. It is not unlikely that the case may be ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. Onnoghen’s…

Thursday, 25 April 2019 05:10

Notre Dame’s burning was an apt metaphor; and a warning - Marc A. Thiessen

Last Easter weekend, France was still reeling from the burning of the 800-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Its destruction is an apt metaphor for the devastation of Christianity across Europe — and a warning for us in the United States. At Notre Dame’s much younger sister church in Bordeaux (construction began in 1684), Easter Mass was well attended. But in his homily the priest noted that the church now has only two Sunday masses; he could remember when there were seven. And for the first time in 15 years, there was not one new priest ordained in the diocese.…

Wednesday, 24 April 2019 05:30

The return of people’s power - Obadiah Mailafia

Ultimately, it is the people that rule. That’s bad news for tyrants, demagogues, authoritarians, oligarchs, plutocrats and crooks. Sooner or later, the people will rise and demand accountability. The history of freedom is a long and brutal one. History teaches that freedom is never given; it is almost always taken by force. The first modern mass revolt in history occurred in August 1791 in the island of Saint-Domingue, renamed Haiti. Led by François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, the oppressed slaves of Haiti revolted against their French masters and took their destinies into their own hands. The Trinidadian Marxist political philosopher and historian…

Tuesday, 23 April 2019 05:10

Getting exchange rates right - Nikhil Patel

Standard calculations of a country’s real effective exchange rate (REER) ignore global value chains that spread production processes across countries. Taking this factor into account leads to more accurate REER calculations, which can have profound policy implications. The real effective exchange rate (REER) may sound arcane to non-economists, but it is one of the most important international financial indices. The REER is a summary index that tracks the difference in the prices of goods produced by a country and its trading partners. Other things being equal, an increase in a country’s REER indicates a loss of trade competitiveness. And rising…

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Monday, 22 April 2019 04:38

Nigeria is heading towards Almajiri society - Dele Sobowale

“A man cannot gradually enlarge his mind as he does his house.”—Alexis De Tocqueville, 1805-1859. It is not just a man who cannot suddenly alter his mind-set as the need arises. Thousands of old men, especially, Nigerian politicians, irrespective of political affiliation, cannot expand minds that have atrophied as a result of decades of not using them to promote the collective interests of their fellow citizens. That is why today, virtually every part of Nigeria is heading rapidly towards the almajiri society. That is, a society consisting mostly of beggars and violent ones at that. Every economic and social index…

Sunday, 21 April 2019 04:05

Buhari’s second term: Looking back, and looking forward - Femi Adesina

To borrow the words of colourful First Republic politician, Mr Ozumba Mbadiwe, "come has finally come to become" for President Muhammadu Buhari, as he has won election to serve a second term in office, after a pulsating contest. The country, nay, Africa, and the world looks forward to the inauguration on May 29, 2019. What will be the priorities of the Buhari administration in second term in office? Before we look forward, let's first look back, as the future is often embedded in the past. The key to unlocking the future is usually in the palm of the past. What…

Sunday, 21 April 2019 04:04

Ajimobi and story of last-minute heists at Oyo Govt House - Festus Adedayo

Rumpus, said the report from a well-respected online medium, had erupted at the Oyo State Government House. An aide to Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State’s wife, Florence, had reportedly stolen part of an over N1billion being siphoned out of the Government House. This was March 25, 2019. Two days later, specifically on March 27, Ajimobi was subject of the medium’s cudgel again. Niyi Ajao, Special Adviser on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to Ajimobi, who “has a long history of using the Governor to dishonestly enrich himself,” had been suspended. His crime, for which penal sanction was a loss…

Sunday, 21 April 2019 04:03

Between ACU Vice Chancellor and agitating parents - Folu Olamiti

Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo, Mr Dapo Asaju, a professor and Bishop of the Anglican Church, was in the news recently in what could be described as an altercation between the university and some parents over some rules and regulations introduced by the institution to ensure discipline and smooth running of the academic engagements of its students. Ordinarily, the VC should not have been in the direct line of fire from the agitating parents over an action duly approved by the University authorities if he had stuck to the usual practice of mandating the Public Relations Unit…

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