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Successive administrations in Nigeria start out by apprehending demons, or enigmatic forces, against which they will test their political strength and define the character of their government. Those forces are the factors on which all evil bedevilling the nation must necessarily be blamed. From coup speeches to inauguration addresses, each administration launches itself by stating […]
Continue ReadingSince the ill-fated night of October 20, 2020, the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration has heavily invested in propagating its version of what went down. One press release issued by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Olusegun Ogboye, to deflate the outrage following the leaked memo revealing that the Lagos State Government planned a […]
Continue ReadingIn at least 70 recorded cases of police brutality in the United States, the victim cried out three words: I. Can’t. Breathe. From Eric Garner in 2014 to George Floyd in 2020, people hogtied or put in a chokehold cried out those words but were ignored by officers who thought they were lying or exaggerating […]
Continue ReadingLast month, popular Christian gospel singer Tope Alabi ignited some controversy when she appropriated a greeting associated with babalawos, while singing in a church. Several Christians defended her but did not assuage her critics who insisted she was encroaching. There is a reason Christians do not conduct their services in Arabic, they argued. What I […]
Continue ReadingShortly after his investiture as the new Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, proclaimed that he felt like a tiger ready to chase away criminals in the country. Despite the jeers he received from those who wondered if he has a multiple personality disorder, the man’s point is well-understood. It is that feeling of exhilaration that […]
Continue ReadingThis time eight years ago, Nigerians still basking in the euphoria of having a martinet president began to ascribe all kinds of wonderful happenstances to his body language. So excited were the supporters of former President Muhammadu Buhari about the country’s potential under him that they attributed some magicality to otherwise routine happenings. Civil servants […]
Continue ReadingOn Monday, the President signed into law a bill establishing an education bank that will provide interest-free loans to “indigent students.” The clumsily titled bill, “An Act to Provide Easy Access to Higher Education For Nigerians Through Interest-Free Loans From Nigeria Education Bank Established in this Act with a View To Provide Education for All […]
Continue ReadingNo matter how we pare it, the 2012 #OccupyNigeria protests will remain pivotal in our sociopolitical history. Its significance lies in how much the pushback against government insensitivity resounded nationwide and even among the Nigerians in the Diaspora. It started as protests against the fuel subsidies removal, but it soon culminated in other disquieting issues such as […]
Continue ReadingEvery government transition begins with a week of gràgrà where the new helmsman tries to assert their power by making definitive executive decisions. The week of gràgrà is when new leaders dis-anchor from the old. This phase, where the cliches of a “new beginning” are still being belted out, is where the newly enthroned must make a show of […]
Continue ReadingEven the most ardent supporter of the President, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) must be happy to see him pack his nuisance and return to Daura (or Niger, wherever) come Monday. If there is a regime in this world on which the sun cannot set fast enough, it is Buhari’s. He rode into the presidency […]
Continue ReadingNigerian universities come up in the news these days to announce either the inauguration of new dress codes or the revival of dormant rules. Fixating on appearance is not new in Nigeria, but the frequency—especially by academic institutions—in the past months is head-scratching. Hardly a month passes these days without some university or polytechnic issuing […]
Continue ReadingDuring the governorship and state house of assembly elections in March, the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) enjoined Nigerians to go ahead and collect any monies distributed by vote-buying politicians but still vote their conscience. Ideally, it should be shocking that a country’s president—especially one who came to power as an anti-corruption crusader—would shamelessly […]
Continue ReadingThe Nigerian Video and Film Censors Board Executive Director Adedayo Thomas said their agency is not taking any censorious action against Gangs of Lagos, a film directed by Jade Osiberu and streaming on Amazon Prime, because the law does not empower them to regulate online content. When I read that, I could not help but be […]
Continue ReadingIn March 2014, at a time Boko Haram terrorism ravaged the country, 12 northern Nigeria governors travelled all the way to Washington D.C. to make a case against President Goodluck Jonathan before his American counterpart Barack Obama. These governors, who got a chance to meet Obama’s National Security Adviser, Ms. Susan Rice, accused Jonathan of […]
Continue ReadingOnce again, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission imposed a heavy-handed fine on Channels TV, following a petition by an aide of Bola Tinubu. Ironically, the petition was based on some comment by the Labour Party vice presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed who, during a live interview, said something to the effect that swearing Tinubu into office in May […]
Continue ReadingIn retrospect, one should have expected that the ethnic attacks that blow up in Lagos State around election seasons would be intense this time round. First, this election was the first time since 1999 that another party came close to blowing the lid off the All Progressives Congress’ much-vaunted “structure.” From the traditional rulers to […]
Continue ReadingMonths ago, when the Independent National Electoral Commission announced its voter register listed a whopping 93.4 million potential voters, it was an exciting promise of how the elections would go. At the end of the day, the presidential election—which typically attracts more voters—ended up with an underwhelming figure. With all the raucous noise that the […]
Continue ReadingThe ethnic irredentists who regularly punctuate the atmosphere with the dog whistle of Yorùbá ro’nú are not sincerely invested in the gains of contemplation. If they were, they would deploy the same gusto to call for a reflection on the Yorùbá condition within this contraption called Nigeria. We would be asked to ponder if this is all […]
Continue ReadingThose whose understanding of Saturday’s presidential election is that the Labour Party played the “spoiler” for the Peoples Democratic Party miss the significance of the moment. As of now, the PDP is effectively dead and the LP is the new opposition party. The PDP presidential candidate might have won many votes, but they lost on […]
Continue ReadingElectoral choices in a democracy ultimately boil down to affirming one’s version of the truth that should reign in the nation. Casting one’s ballot expresses our vision of the country, individual or collective. While some people vote simply as a mundane exercise, many do so because they believe that the ballot conveys the truth of […]
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