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Opinion

Saturday, 23 September 2023 04:42

The West and the hypocrisy of democracy - Toyin Falola

Western deception has been with Africa forever: 1493: Pope Alexander VI issued a papal bull, “Inter Caetera,” proclaiming the right of Spain and Portugal to enslave Africans and own the land. They were subjects. They stole your people and your land. 1885: Africa was a Dark Continent. It required colonization to become civilized. Europe would bring change and civilize them. They stole your raw materials and truncated your self-development. 1940: When over a million Africans fought in Europe, North Africa and the Far East during the Second World War, the West convinced them they were dying for freedom and democracy.…

Friday, 22 September 2023 04:46

Begging for a seat at the table - Azu Ishiekwene

Following the G-20 summit held in India, I have been amused by the debate about whether or not Nigeria should be more than a guest again at the next G-20 meeting in Rio, Brazil. If South Africa is a member, why not Nigeria? How do you offer Africa’s largest economy only a complimentary ticket every time to such an important global event, leaving it with the rather humiliating option of begging for a place? I thought that we had outgrown the belief that respect is earned by size or by simply hanging out with the right crowd, regardless of performance.…

Thursday, 21 September 2023 04:17

There are no abominations left in our culture - Abimbola Adelakun

If Nigeria were a different country, a society that draws a moral line no one is allowed to cross, the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye, would be out of her job by now. For some unclear reasons, she intervened in the case of the embattled Dean of Law, University of Calabar, Cyril Osim Ndifo, who is being investigated for cases of sexual assault. Her interference, the subtle threats she made to the young women she called on the phone, and her stunning lack of understanding of what sexual assault entails, jointly disqualify Kennedy-Ohaneye from holding a “Women Affairs” ministerial…

Thursday, 21 September 2023 04:16

Mohbad: When RIP is not enough - Soji Odedina

Mohbad is dead but the controversy surrounding his death is pretty much alive. If you are in my generation and you don't know the crooner of "plenty enemies..." you would be forgiven. Afterall, Mhobad himself predicted in his lyrics that he would be more popular when he's laid down, prostrate and dead. And it came to pass. He was born only 27 years ago and at that age, on reflection, I realised that that was just a year after I was done with my Masters degree at the University of Lagos. Like people my age at that time in Nigeria,…

Wednesday, 20 September 2023 04:42

The world’s population may peak in your lifetime. What happens next? - Dean Spears

Most people now live in countries where two or fewer children are born for every two adults. If all people in the United States today lived through their reproductive years and had babies at an average pace, then it would add up to about 1.66 births per woman. In Europe, that number is 1.5; in East Asia, 1.2; in Latin America, 1.9. Any worldwide average of fewer than two children per two adults means our population shrinks and in the long run each new generation is smaller than the one before. If the world’s fertility rate were the same as…

Tuesday, 19 September 2023 04:47

Is democracy at risk of extinction? - Michela Morsa

According to a survey by Open society foundations, more than a third of 18-35 year olds favour a military regime or an authoritarian leader. How did it come to this? Do people still believe in democracy? This was the question asked by a recent Open Society Foundations poll, which for the second consecutive year surveyed more than 36,000 people in 30 countries around the world to hear their opinions and feelings about human rights, democracy, and other important issues facing countries around the world. The "Open Society Barometer: Is Democracy Effective?" survey, one of the largest global polls ever conducted,…

Monday, 18 September 2023 04:33

How global currencies end - Barry Eichengreen

Is the dollar poised to lose its dominance of global economic and financial transactions? Many commentators apparently think so. Russia obviously hopes they are right, given that it has been shut out of the United States’ banking system and suspended from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). China evidently wants to help the process along by encouraging countries to undertake transactions in renminbi. And Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called for the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to create a common currency as an alternative to the dollar. Russia’s shift away…

Sunday, 17 September 2023 04:21

Obasanjo’s Bode Thomas discourtesy to Oyo Obas - Festus Adedayo

The social and cultural setting in Yorubaland literally exploded last Friday. It almost took the shine off the Oyo State government’s highly commendable inauguration of a 34.85 km Oyo-Iseyin Road and the completed Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Iseyin Campus. The highly disputatious ex-Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, was in his usual sabre-rattling element. At that event, he tongue-lashed Yoruba Obas in the most irreverent display of gross disdain for the traditional stool and institution. As I write this, an inclement anger of the people, like a vulture, is feasting on Obasanjo on the social media. He is minute by minute…

Sunday, 17 September 2023 04:18

Accessing the substance of supernatural honour - Taiwo Akinola

He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm ~ Psalms 105:14-15. Introduction The new creation man is a crowned honourable! He is crowned with glory and honor (Psalms 8:5). Indeed, all true saints of God carry the spiritual substance of honour, but in varying measures (Psalms 149:9). The world has long known that honour is a quintessential part of life. When you take honour away from any man, his life is done. Success without honor is like an unseasoned dish; it won't…

Sunday, 17 September 2023 04:17

Article of faith: The God who is not a Christian - Femi Aribisala

A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by armed robbers, stripped of his belongings, and left lying half-dead on the road. Divine providence ensured that first a priest, and then a Levite, passed by. But instead of helping the dying man; both quickly moved to the other side of the road and went away. Finally, a Samaritan came along. Unlike the priest and the Levite, he had compassion on the hapless man, bound up his wounds, took him to the hospital, and paid for his medical expenses. Good Samaritan Jesus’ story of this Good Samaritan is deliberate. It…

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Friday, 15 September 2023 04:40

From the mouth of his lordship - Azu Ishiekwene

It’s not often that you meet Supreme Court justices, serving or retired. I first met retired Justice Sunday Akinola Akintan casually at a reception in Abuja, for my friend and radical lawyer, Yinka Olumide-Fusika, who had been admitted to the inner bar. Then, we met again about one year later, this time, through his book. Years after his retirement from the Supreme Court in 2008, Akintan wrote a book, entitled, “Reminiscences: My Journey Through Life,” which Olumide-Fusika asked me to review. What struck me was one of Akintan’s motivations for writing the book. It was an answer to T.O.S Benson’s…

Thursday, 14 September 2023 04:42

Obi’s supporters still irritate you? Oh, good! - Abimbola Adelakun

Two developments that happened last week seemed disparate but were interconnected. First, it was the Bola Tinubu administration’s 100th day in office. That timeline used to be for an administration to glance back and celebrate its bold and decisive decisions that potentially set the country on track, but this one was rather muted. Several op-eds appraised how the (in)actions of the government foreshadow what is yet to come, but the atmosphere fell short of what one would expect from an administration that exaggerates its own worth. The second came during the Presidential Electoral Petition Tribunal when one of the judges,…

Wednesday, 13 September 2023 04:55

Failing the money test - Muyiwa Adetiba

I have always been intrigued by this portion in the Bible and sometimes amused by how some Pastors interpret it. It is the portion which says “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury”. Further down this verse, Jesus commended the poor widow who gave all she had into the treasury – a commendation that led to the famous ‘ widow ’s mite’. It is probably easy to explain why many Pastors have decided to limit Jesus’ commendation to the percentage of the widow’s earnings that…

Sunday, 10 September 2023 04:40

Of Shettima, cows and goats - Festus Adedayo

Yoruba have a solemn way of expressing disgust with vacuity. Wherever elders look forward, in huge expectation, that a respected person would utter words of knowledge - ogbon but its antonym – ago comes from that otherwise venerated mouth, they are downcast. Conversely, wherever ago is expected and ogbon is manifested, it elicits respect and high acclamation. Recently, American president, Joe Biden, was picturesque ogbon. Recall that, arising from his attempt to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump faced trial on a litany of felony charges. His trial was considered turning point in American legal…

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