I did not know that things have gone this bad. I do know of course that at funeral ceremonies when the dead is laid up for viewing people say the deceased has gone to rest. In other words they console themselves that their loved ones shall no more suffer the pangs and pains of the unpredictable vicissitudes of life. What is strange and worrisome these days is the common lamentation of many people spoken to who for various reasons say they wished they were like Mr So So and So or Professor YXZ who have joined their ancestors. “You see,…

It is intriguing how sex pops up in all narratives. Even when hunger and fear are supposed to freeze its warmth, it peeps, seeking to be counted. Nigeria’s trouble pot is bursting in its seams but some won’t let serious be serious. They would rather pour profanity into the sacred. They would seek to drag a bride to a show of masquerades. Where is the link between marriage and Egungun? They say because an endowed someone had many wives and many children therefore he cannot wail again. Because somebody’s fecundity enlarged his coast so well that he has many children…

Tuface’s decision to lead a protest to register the dissatisfaction of Nigerians with the performance of the incumbent administration and to reiterate the value of government’s responsibility to the people was his finest moment as a citizen and artiste. But it is also now, with his Jammeh-like volte-face, his worst moment. His transformation into a champion of democratic values and voice of the masses brought him added stardom and value. His retreat has turned him into a revolutionary manqué. He deserves our understanding and sympathy. When on 24th January Tuface (Innocent Dibia) announced that he was going to lead, under…

“The last 20 months have not witnessed any significant changes in the national economy. Contrary to expectations, we have so far been subjected to a steady deterioration in the general standard of living; and intolerable suffering by ordinary Nigerians have risen higher, scarcity of commodities has increased…. Unemployment has stretched to critical dimensions.” The above quote was an excerpt from the inaugural broadcast as military president of then Major General Ibrahim Babangida, justifying the August 27, 1985 coup that ousted his then friend and comrade-in-arms, Major General Muhammadu Buhari. Over the years, Buhari had disputed the real reason for his…