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From last week continues the narrative of how Abuja came to become Nigeria’s seat of government following the failed April 22, 1990 coup and how it has fared over the years compared to other countries’ federal capital Captain Bade Omowa from Oka, Akoko in Ondo State and others played a major role in rescuing General […]
Continue ReadingFrom last week continues the speech by Gen Murtala Mohammed on why Lagos lost its federal capital status to Abuja and government’s decision to maintain special defence and security arrangements in Lagos, which will henceforth be designated a ‘special area’. “These arrangements will be carefully worked out and written into the new Constitution. Kaduna and […]
Continue ReadingFormer Governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke, has a great deal of archival materials and enjoys discussing historical issues. Last week, he sent me a treasured publication that speaks to our country’s past and may help explain some of the challenges we grapple with today. ‘The Nigeria Handbook 1919 (Issued with the approval of the Nigerian Government)’. Compiled by […]
Continue ReadingMr Youssouf Sawane, a Malian money-maker, leads miners from Mali in Oyo State. He was asked by the Nigerian Tribune how much his group was paying into the coffers of the Oyo State government. He answered that he owed the Oyo State government nothing; his business was with the Federal Government. Displaying a remarkable knowledge […]
Continue ReadingDistinguished members of the faculty, esteemed guests, and the vibrant student body of the University of Lagos, it is with immense humility and profound gratitude that I stand before you today. As I accept this honorary doctorate, a powerful emblem of scholarly eminence, I am reminded of the incredible journey this prestigious institution has undertaken […]
Continue ReadingShe has come a long way. She started small, very small in fact, but life has been kind to her. She has found favour with God and man. Today, the young awkward marketing executive is the Chief Operating Officer of a multi-million naira concern. She has men, her father’s age, calling her Madam and women, […]
Continue ReadingVeteran politician Sule Lamido may not parade a chain of degrees, but he does appear to exercise his cerebral faculties admirably when trying to explain away the cul-de-sac to which he and his colleagues have transported Nigerians. This country, famed for having the happiest people on the planet, has always managed to step back each […]
Continue ReadingNearly one year after the country began voting in February last year, Nigeria’s Supreme Court is still casting the final votes in the 2023 elections. It has been a long, tortured and traumatic election season. First the people voted. Then the Independent National Election (INEC) decided what it announced as the results. By March last […]
Continue ReadingOn Sunday, Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State thanked President Bola Tinubu for not interfering with the judgment of the Supreme Court, which declared his election valid last week. It is a most absurd sentiment for a governor to express. One understands that the near-fatal judicial trajectory his electoral victory suffered before the Supreme Court’s […]
Continue ReadingA gentleman strolled into my office sometime ago and gave his surname as Adamasingba. In my almost thirty years in Ibadan, I had identified the name ‘Adamasingba’ solely with a stadium in the city. I never knew there was a family in Ibadan – or anywhere in Yoruba land – with that name. But here […]
Continue ReadingLet me guess: because there was a widespread belief that President Bola Tinubu would run a corrupt, laissez-faire administration, some of his appointees decided to hit the ground running by spending public funds with impunity and audacity — and gleefully spitting on due process. There is corruption and there is impunity. And then, there is […]
Continue ReadingThis sounds contradictory or unbelievable? You are right if you think so. But don’t forget that, in grammar, there are often exceptions to rules just as specialised usages are an integral part of languages. That is why even the present tense form of the verb can express not only the future tense but also the […]
Continue ReadingSoldiers are special beings. The things they do are not for lilly-livered people. The stuff they signed up for are deep and deadly. The danger they are exposed to just to keep us safe are difficult sometimes to explain. As a mother, I don’t even know how their mothers cope. For instance, how’s a mother […]
Continue ReadingI was taken aback on the evening of 9 January 2009 when my principal, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua asked, “Who is Prophet Joshua?” I wasn’t sure how to respond in case the late cleric had been recommended to him. Apparently sensing my unease, he explained what led to the question. Following the Economic Community of West African […]
Continue ReadingFor those of you who watched the BBC Africa documentary, Disciples: The Cult of TB Joshua (three episodes), an expose on the Synagogue Church of All Nations’ late founder Temitope Joshua and still insist on defending him, I have four words: you are not serious. Yes, the whole lot of you. Your faces are looking […]
Continue ReadingWhen General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida GCFR (82) moved the seat of the central government from Lagos to Abuja on December 12, 1991, he did so to hide himself. You cant be active when you are hiding. On August 17, 1991, he commissioned the third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. The bridge is the biggest project ever […]
Continue ReadingI use this story to point out an important reality to women. According to a sister, her husband came back from work one day and handed over a letter to her. The letter was addressed to him by the daughter of their gateman. According to him, the teenage girl waited at the gate to give […]
Continue ReadingOndo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu is dead! May God repose his soul! Since nature abhors a vacuum, his Deputy, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has now been sworn-in as the substantive governor of the state. May God order his steps in the onerous tasks ahead! By the way, if Aiyedatiwa could become the governor despite the […]
Continue ReadingSome cabinet members went to Western Region premier, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, to complain about the corruption of one of their colleagues. They said the man was stealing their party’s funds and eating government money with reckless abandon. They said the gentleman’s impunity knew neither the fear of the law, nor of the party and the […]
Continue ReadingYou are 33 and not doing badly. You are comfortable and beautiful but your love of easy money has blurred your childhood vision of a cozy happy home with children and a husband who loves you to bits. Your once vivid dream of falling in love and marrying early to raise four children, while nurturing […]
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