Ns-Opinion

Opinion

Tuesday, 08 August 2017 03:19

Joe Igbokwe, Nnamdi Kanu, and the Emperor's new clothes - Olalekan W. Adigun

The story is told of an Emperor whose obsession with clothes was second to none. His love for clothes was so much that he spent all his money on being well dressed. He cared less about state functions like warfare, people’s welfare, recreation, going to the theatre, or going for a ride in his carriage, except to show off his new clothes. He reportedly had a coat for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might, about any other ruler, "The King's in a meeting," here they always said. "The Emperor's in his dressing room." The…

Sunday, 06 August 2017 16:16

Porcupine Fayose’s arrows and Nigerian Army - Festus Adedayo

Oh, you do not know the porcupine? It is a species of rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, which protects it against predators. With backward-facing quills like needles, when threatened, the porcupine shoots the spines which pierce the skin of its predator and are painful to remove. We may think that, because they have demonstrated acute inability to turn Nigeria’s fate around, Nigerian political office holders lack strategic approach to political power. No, we are dead wrong. They may not have the strategy of sustaining power or making their imprints on the sand of time, but the…

Friday, 04 August 2017 03:55

That Naija Bet odd on Buhari’s return - Tonye Bakare

Naija Bet is running a betting odd on when President Muhammadu Buhari would return to Nigeria. Odd? Buhari has spent more time in the United Kingdom than he has done in Nigeria since the beginning of 2017. He was in London between January 19 and March 10. After a staying in Nigeria for less than two months, the president jetted out to the UK once again on May 7 and is yet to return. His prolonged stay in the Queen’s country has generated a lot of controversies. But who foresaw that his imminent return to Nigeria will be the subject…

Thursday, 03 August 2017 04:08

Their excellencies’ tent - Dare Babarinsa

The return of the six Epe school boys was a significant victory in the fight against organised crime in Nigeria, especially in Lagos. There is no doubt that the kidnapping industry is a well-organised empire where the heartless and the wicked dominate. They are the ones who could get the arms, the safe houses and the secret bank accounts where the money is salted away. They must have learnt one or two things from those brilliant government thieves who stored the loot in the soak away pits or the latrine. The Epe boys of Model College, Igbonla, Epe, are home…

Wednesday, 02 August 2017 03:53

Of herbal healing, spirituality and public health - Reuben Abati

The other week, July 20 to be precise, I was the reviewer of an important book on herbal healing. Herbal healing is often dismissed as a form of sorcery and in these days of obsession with Pentecostalism, many Africans still consider traditional medicine a taboo. To disprove this, a Catholic monk, Fr. Anselm Adodo began an experiment in 1996 when he set up in Ewu, Edo state, an institution titled Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories “to serve as a centre for genuine African holistic healing that blends the physical and spiritual aspects of the human person, and to serve…

Tuesday, 01 August 2017 04:22

A buffoon before, a buffoon after - Tola Adeniyi

We have always had buffoons who found themselves in position of authority. Although they were not many and history did not say mankind had been that very unlucky to have themselves ruled by idiots, we still did have a few dotting the pages of history books and ancient dramaturgy. In recent times however we may start with Joseph Desire Mobutu who having helped the Belgian Monarch and the CIA to murder Africa hero Patrice Lumumba assumed the unmerited leadership of the Congo. And as soon as he found himself on the elevated seat of power he displayed unprecedented buffoonery in…

Monday, 31 July 2017 03:33

So, Restructuring died in Nigeria's Senate! - Martins Oloja

It is indeed gratifying to note that it was in the hallowed chambers of the Senate of the Federal Republic the Nigerian army gave us that the people’s clamour for restructuring suffered terrible reverses last Wednesday (July 26, 2017). In a major setback for democracy and clamour for restructuring, the Senate on that day rejected the constitution alteration bill seeking the devolution of powers, generally believed to be a major factor in federalism that would have shifted some items from the bloated Exclusive List to the Concurrent List in the 1999 Constitution, which would have given more powers and resources…

Friday, 28 July 2017 05:29

Prof Anthony Azubuike Elueze: A tribute - Mohammed Kuta Yahaya

Eminent persons in human history emerge either through a fortuitous combination or by sheer grace of providence to serve a purpose for the good of humankind. This is the class of people to which Professor Anthony Elueze belongs. Prof Anthony Elueze was principled, methodical, service based and a man blessed with profound amiable personality. His numerous accomplishments and contributions to scholarship and human capital development provided these soubriquets, which will indeed outlive him. Professor Elueze, you are gone but your legacies lives on! This medium is so limited to bring to the fore your ebullience and mercurial endowments. Nevertheless, your…

Wednesday, 26 July 2017 17:49

The rebel who paid the price - Dare Babarinsa

Had Dr. Olu Onagoruwa died 25 years ago, his obituary would have been on the front page of the Daily Times. He would have made the front pages of many other national newspapers and the cover of several magazines. With profound pathos, I recall a quotation about Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia for 50 years until he was deposed in 1975. I cannot recollect the title of the book or the author now. The author stated about Selassie, who in his years on the throne was referred to as the King of Kings, Elect of God, Conquering Lion of the…

Wednesday, 26 July 2017 03:57

APC: The obstinate journey to shame via London - Pius Adesanmi

Those interested in the dustbin of Nigeria's history will one day find APC inside the rubble, among the putrefaction, just beside PDP, and bring out her carcass for examination. Such students of the dustbin of history will likely conclude that APC's signature contribution to the Nigerian tragedy is not in the empirical failure to deliver on measurable electoral promises in virtually all areas of national life but in the deadening of the Nigerian mind. A nation's mind is lost when the capacity for ironic sentience dies. And no group of Nigerians, at any moment in our chequered national history, has…

More...

Tuesday, 25 July 2017 03:46

Lunch in London, anxiety in Nigeria - Reuben Abati

“What’s gwan inna wa cwantry?” “What language is that?” “English of course.” “Sounds like Creole to me. Why don’t you just talk straight?” “Nobody talks straight in this country anymore.” “I still talk straight. I can’t start twisting my tongue because some people have lost it.” “Okay, I was asking what is going on in our country?” “Is that a direct question or a sly comment?” “Just answer the question” “What I know is that we are now truly, a country of hyenas, jackals and small animals. A big animal kingdom, but when the First Lady Aisha Buhari drew attention…

Saturday, 22 July 2017 03:08

PMB and the descendants of Shimei - Femi Adesina

There is nothing new under the sun, goes a popular saying. In fact, the more things seem to change, the more they appear the same. From time immemorial, some people have spoken evil of leadership, cast aspersions on them, and generally portrayed themselves as scum of the earth. No matter how a country loves its leader, there will naturally be those that the Good Book calls "filthy dreamers" who "despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." That is why as spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, I never respond to such people. Their type would always be around. President Buhari has…

Friday, 21 July 2017 16:03

Travails of federalism in Nigeria - Gbade Ojo

With my recent sporadic media intervention on the warped form and character of federalism in Nigeria, I assumed I must have contributed to the ongoing polemic vis-a-vis the imperatives of either political restructuring or secession as canvassed by the Biafrans. However, when the babel of voices on the kismet of Nigeria’s federal arrangement now takes a very dangerous dimension, I am compelled to lend my voice again. The snag is the idea that confederacy could save Nigeria; whereas, in the contemporary work no country is organized along confederal structure. Tola Adeniyi, a respected columnist surprisingly exhumed the spirit of late…

Thursday, 20 July 2017 16:00

"Nigerian unity not negotiable" mantra is pseudo-nationalism - Jideofor Adibe

Nigerians love mantras - statements or slogans repeated frequently enough that they begin to sound like established facts or self-evident truths. Recently, I interrogated the mantra of ‘generation shift’, which was renewed with vigour following the victory of Emmanuel Macron, 39, in the recent French presidential elections. In that article, entitled “The New ‘Generation Shift’ Mantra” I tried to show that contrary to what the purveyors of the mantra would have us believe – namely that the problem with the country is because the ‘old brigade’ have refused to hand over to younger elements - it is actually the young…

Page 242 of 274

Opinion

More...

Search

Most Read

Editorial

News

Business

Politics

Opinion

Features

Strangely

Crime

Wars

SCIENCE & TECH

SPECIAL REPORTS

Sports

VIDEOS