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Opinion

Sunday, 15 May 2016 07:39

Social media and the English language

Reuben Abati I get confused these days reading many of the posts on social media, and text messages sent through cell phones, because of the kind of new English that young people now write. The English language is without doubt quite dynamic. In the last 200 years, it has lent itself to many innovations, as cultural, religious, and situational codes have transformed the language and extended the dictionary, with new words and idioms. The kind of new English being written by twitter and what’s app users, particularly young people is however so frightening and lamentable, because it is beginning to…

Saturday, 14 May 2016 01:38

The busy person's lies

Laura Vanderkam How's life? Oh, busy. So goes the mindless modern conversation — a constant assertion of the scarcity of time. A December Gallup poll found that 61 percent of working Americans said they did not have enough time to do the things they wanted to do. Some of us feel this more acutely than others: A 2015 Pew Research Center survey found that 9 in 10 working mothers said they felt rushed all or some of the time. In an attempt to understand this frenzy, I spent the past 12 months studying my own time during what might turn…

Friday, 13 May 2016 05:01

President Buhari, Cameron and corruption

Reuben Abati “We have got the leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain… Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world”, UK Prime Minister David Cameron was caught on tape telling the Queen ahead of the anti-corruption summit organized by the UK Government, this week, which was attended by Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari. This diplomatic gaffe rubbed many Nigerians on the wrong side, but most of the responses, coloured by overtly emotional love of country and a certain defensiveness is downright hypocritical. We all know that indeed Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt”, and that is…

Thursday, 12 May 2016 00:30

Nigerian govt must stop rejecting the Naira as a legal tender

SKC Ogbonnia Section 20 of the CBN Act of 2007 clearly states that the Naira “shall be legal tender in Nigeria at their face value for the payment of any amount.” Yet this law has meant nothing to many Nigerian businesses which commonly reject the Naira in preference to the US Dollar. But these businesses are not alone. The Nigerian government is also guilty of the same charge. Perhaps this practice is not new by any stretch and far predates the current Buhari government, but an eye-witness account below exposes a specious dynamic. Ikenga, a fellow Nigerian citizen resident in…

Wednesday, 11 May 2016 01:38

After my trip to Nigeria, I hoped to help my mother heal her scars of war

Karen Attiah When I learned last year that I would be going to northeastern Nigeria, I was more afraid of what my mother would say than I was of encountering Boko Haram militants. I broke the news to her over the phone two weeks before I was to leave. I held my breath as I finished telling her about my plans. “You know how I feel about Nigeria,” she said, after a pause, with an exasperated sigh. While I was growing up, my mother, Grace, rarely talked about her childhood in Nigeria. It’s only in the past few years that…

Tuesday, 10 May 2016 02:46

Enugu Killings 4th Dimension

Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba The killings in Enugu is a done deal but should be made to be the turning point of Boko Haram’s southward incursions. Let history understand that the point where the dead martyrs of Enugu were buried was the furthest and the last stop of the terrorists. That here was where we stood and declared that we will not take any more nonsense. Here’s how: 1. Burials of the dead: Let’s bury the dead one at a time and make each burial as gruesome and emotional as possible. The dead should be carried around the entire LGA with…

Monday, 09 May 2016 05:54

Putting the herdsmen issue in the right perspective

Olusegun Adeniyi: Early in 2012, I took my son to the birthday of a classmate of his at Maitama Amusement Park, Abuja where I noticed a familiar face. As I muttered almost to myself, “is that not Mrs. Maryam Abacha?” my son, then eight years old, replied in the affirmative. “Yes, that is his grandmother. His grandfather was General Sani Abacha that you wrote about in your book.” Although I didn’t say anything to that, my son then added: “They say his grandfather was a very wicked man. But he (the classmate) is not wicked. He is a good person.”…

Sunday, 08 May 2016 00:49

Lucy Kibaki’s death: Africa’s most violent First Lady

Reuben Abati Lucy Muthoni Kibaki was buried yesterday, 9.12 am, Nigerian time, in Othaya, Njeri County, Kenya in the presence of about 300 guests and family members, after a requiem mass attended by over 3, 000 dignitaries and 20, 000 mourners. She was the wife of President Mwai Kibaki, the third President of Kenya, in office from 2002 -2013. She is definitely, one of Kenya’s most controversial public figures in the last 50 years. There has been no other First Lady like her in the history of Kenya and perhaps in the whole of Africa. It was indeed not suprising…

Saturday, 07 May 2016 01:09

Letter to Comrade Oshiomhole

Azu Ishiekwene “Very well, thank you for coming.” I know you will remember me by these words alone. But for readers who may not understand, Dear Comrade, let me explain. These words were taken from a joke I shared about six years ago at the LEADERSHIP Annual Conference and Awards, where Governor Adams Oshiomhole was honoured as Governor Of The Year. It’s a fable about the ambassador’s wife who, in spite of her best efforts to master protocol, still got snagged when it was time to say goodbye to the large number of guests at a dinner hosted by her…

Friday, 06 May 2016 01:37

The cost of national depression

Reuben Abati “I hear the World Bank says Nigeria is now the worst place to do business in the entire world.”“ I don’t believe it.”“I also hear that of the 15 fastest growing economies in Africa, Nigeria is no longer on the list.”“ I say I don’t believe that. And stop hearing bad things.”“We are not even in the top 10 of the World Top 10 oil producers anymore. Yet, we used to be No. 6.”“ I still don’t believe that.”“Inflation is now 13.2%, or well may be 12.8%.”“Story”“If you go to the market with N400 to buy pepper, that…

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Thursday, 05 May 2016 01:10

Buhari, Fayose, Ugwuanyi, and this horrid life

Chuks Iloegbunam "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” -Archbishop Desmond Tutu. “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. VEXED voices have, in exasperation, been asking where Reverend Father Ejike Camillus Mbaka is. They are absolutely right who expect the priest to speak up. People should ask where Bola Tinubu is, the one who covets the feat of unknotting Pandora’s Box. People should be asking where many other previously vocal Nigerians are.…

Wednesday, 04 May 2016 01:05

Will Nigeria’s new Capital be old soon?

Tolu Ogunlesi A few weeks ago I sat in a taxi in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. “I think I’ve driven you before,” the driver said. How long ago, I asked. Two years, he confidently replied. And then a claim that stunned me: “I’ve still got your number saved.” Indeed he did. My name was saved as “TOLU TRANSCORP” — Transcorp being the city’s sole Hilton hotel, the center of Abuja’s social life, and the place where, two years ago, this driver took me. I had no such recollection, but his evidence sufficed. For me, that story perfectly illustrates Abuja’s sedate, small-town…

Tuesday, 03 May 2016 00:14

The trouble with Buhari’s approach to national security

Onyiorah Paschal Chiduluemije The recent massacre of scores of fellow Igbo and brethren in our homeland by the invading and marauding Fulani herdsmen and the seemingly implicit endorsement of their cruelty by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government (judging of course by what could arguably be regarded as a mere formality condemnation on the part of the Presidency that reluctantly had to speak on this nasty development following public condemnation of his almost notorious indifference and/or taciturnity on matters concerning increasing Fulani herdsmen bestiality under his watch) is not just heart-rending, but also it is an indication that there is indeed a…

Monday, 02 May 2016 01:54

Ambassador Uriah Angulu: Exit of an incorruptible anti-corruption crusader

Folu Olamiti On a very cold Sunday morning, April 3, 2016 to be precise, at Salt Lake City in Utah, United States of America, I was fighting idleness by scanning my Facebook page when my eyes caught a post by Amina Angulu-Tswanya, one of the daughters of Ambassador Uriah Angulu. It was an ominous post that sent chilling sensations down my spine. Amina had posted on her wall a beautiful picture she took with her father, with both father and daughter beaming with smiles, and wrote: "Finally at rest with Jesus...My Hero.” I swallowed hard as I took a second…

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