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Opinion

Monday, 26 September 2022 06:10

Frustrations of a dancing wannabe President (1) - Hassan Gimba

There must be something that does not sit well between Adamu Maina Waziri, a former minister of the federal republic, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and one of Atiku Abubakar’s right-hand men, and Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State and runner-up in the presidential primary election of the PDP. Wike lost the primary election to Atiku by 237 votes to 371. Without a doubt, that loss, which he never expected, hit him hard. A few weeks later, he lost the chance to be Atiku’s running mate. That completely unhinged him and, frustrated, he has been in pain…

Monday, 26 September 2022 06:09

Government Ekpemupolo: The only government that works in Nigeria - Osmund Agbo

In Nigeria’s resource-rich but hunger-ravaged communities of the Niger Delta, young men aspire to be one of many things – a militant, pirate, warlord, terrorist or whatever names people like to call them. They don’t just care anymore and their role models are never in short supply. Those are careers they believe could easily get one noticed, earn a great deal of respect and recognition from the soceity but most importantly, guarantee an endless supply of the great things of life, big and small. Ateke Tom, Henry Okah, Brutus Ebipadei Solomon Ndigbara, Tubotamuno Angolia. If those names do not sound…

Monday, 26 September 2022 06:08

Capitalism and the Queen - Jacob Soll

It might seem like an obscure footnote among the history-making events of 2022, but the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s death coincides with the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. It also might seem like these two famous British figures have little to do with one another; Smith, after all, tends to be associated more with Margaret Thatcher, who was said to have kept a copy of The Wealth of Nations in her handbag. But Smith was more a humanist than a Thatcherite. Like the late queen, he was interested in creating a happy, peaceful, prosperous, benevolent society through the…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:43

Okon pads his budget and heads for Iyanfoworogi - Tatalo Alamu

As the economic hardship bites harder in the land turning hitherto strong men into human fiascoes, snooper has devised a series of stringent austerity measures to stem the steamrolling tide of economic adversities. In addition to physically tape-ruling yam tubers and monitoring the outflow of foodstuff from the pantry like some ancient teacher, yours sincerely has stopped the unbudgeted inflow of country bumpkins and upcountry yokels to the house by cancelling existing visas. These days snooper tells his agrarian folks that he prefers to visit them, which is what the Americans call immigration control at source. But trust Okon to…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:42

PDP and allegory of the sick lion, wise fox - Festus Adedayo

Traditional Africa had anecdotes and allegories it configured to explain autocracy and how autocrats always met their waterloo. One of them is the story of the Lion, the king of the jungle and the tortoise. After years of tearing its animal victims into shreds, its mane soaked in their innocent blood, the Lion became too senescent to haunt for games. Stricken with old age, diverse infirmities and unable to put food on his own table, the King decided to get food by subterfuge and trickery. Always by himself and soaked in myriad thoughts and stratagems for many nights and days…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:40

Recreated and approved to reign in life - Taiwo Akinola

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ ~ Romans 5:17. Introduction: Man was created to reign over all creation, and to dominate over all circumstances of life. He was, so to speak, the de facto paramount ruler of the then world, under God. Whatever he called any situation or thing, that was the name thereof. And, for as long as he stood by the Word of God, man's throne was preserved. But, as soon as…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:39

Article of faith: The contradictions of faith - Femi Aribisala

When Jesus was born, an angel brought good tidings of great joy to all men. But soon after, something contradictory happened: “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18). Similarly, when Jesus was going to the cross on the way back home to the Father, instead of rejoicing with Him, some people were crying: “A great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.” (Luke 23:27). There always seems to be dissonance between the perspectives…

Friday, 23 September 2022 06:06

Do campaigns have to be bloody to win? - Azu Ishiekwene

If this were a compulsory exam question, a number of politicians would simply answer: it depends. On what? On what is at stake. What the opponent does and how. And, of course, how far the resources of the one at the receiving end can go to exact revenge, sometimes in spite of the rules. As campaigns for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria begin, everything is at stake. From the office of representatives in state houses of assembly to the positions of 28 governors, 469 national lawmakers, and the president. In all, about 1,520 positions are up for election and…

Thursday, 22 September 2022 06:18

Lest NANS protests become another #EndSARS - Bola Bolawole

University students under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) have begun to make good their threat to shut down the country over the intransigence of the Muhammadu Buhari administration on the strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which is more than eight months old already! The students’ action can be described as being in support of ASUU and helping to mount pressure on the government to make it hearken unto the striking lecturers but, in actual fact, it is more than that: the students themselves being the major victims of…

Thursday, 22 September 2022 06:17

No Shettima, Nigeria does not need another ruthless leader - Abimbola Adelakun

One hackneyed fallacy regularly bandied around in the Nigerian social media spheres is that people fail to retrospectively learn from their experiences because “history was removed from the Nigerian school curriculum.” As a cure for this inability to introspect, commentators suggest re-introducing history into the school curriculum. Listening to them, one gets the impression they take history lessons as a pre-packaged set of factoids, already interpreted and unnuanced, and handed out to be weaponised by those who need them to win low-stakes arguments on social media. Learning history is a lot more, of course. It is a process that, perhaps…

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Thursday, 22 September 2022 06:16

Shehu Mahdi and his Northern Christian brothers and sisters - Okey Muogbo

If you have never fully appreciated the meaning of "hate speech", then listen to the vomit of Shehu Mahdi against Northern Christians and the people of the Southern part of Nigeria. How does his brain work? People of that mental frame existed in the crude and unenlightened pre-colonial era and the first republic time. That an old man like Mahdi could in front of the camera pour out such uncivilized bile is a confirmation that something is wrong with his brain. He should be taken to medics who should break his skull, remove every trace of his present brain and…

Wednesday, 21 September 2022 06:39

How Nigeria’s state lost the trust of its citizens - David Pilling

One measure of the trust that a nation’s people have for the state is the amount of tax they are willing to pay. However grudgingly, under an unwritten social contract people agree to part with a share of their income in the belief that the state will spend it more or less wisely. The public goods provided range from schools, hospitals and roads to police, national defence and the running of the government itself. Everyone benefits from improved services, a better educated and healthier population, safer streets and protected borders. On this measure, trust in Nigeria’s state is at rock…

Wednesday, 21 September 2022 06:30

ASUU strike: The right of students to protest and the duty of security agencies to protect them - Olarinre Salako

I have read a few comments, including the one by Otito Atikase - my former mate in FUTA and our Students Union President then, arguing that the Nigerian Students starting their protest in Lagos amounted to political partisanship. Those pushing such arguments are wrong. I provide my rationale below: (1) Nigerian students under the umbrella of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) can protest anywhere in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They can however add zonal arrangement to their protest. But they have to start from somewhere within the Nigerian geography. (2) There is an interconnectedness in Nigeria, indeed in…

Wednesday, 21 September 2022 06:29

Emilokan or Emilojebi? How 23 years of political domination sabotaged Lagos economy - Justice Faloye

When you hear APC Lagos State government declaring the closure of two major markets from September 22nd 2022 for flimsy reasons, and trace their wilful economic destruction back to their 2015 intentional destabilization of our foreign exchange markets that led to the greatest divestment since the Civil War, one can't but wonder whether this is not a repeat or continuation of how the Europeans colonised our indigenous civilisations by destroying Nigeria’s economic foundations. Some call it weaponizing poverty but it is economic treason against our popular sovereignty, and instead of Emilokan claim to presidency, arrogance of failure, what we should…

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