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It’s strange but I actually fell in love with Burna Boy before I even knew his name or what he does for a living. Stranger still is that I was attracted by his promotion of alcohol, which I don’t take. Okay, some of my friends would argue that Star Lager beer doesn’t fall into the […]
Continue ReadingLast night in Ilorin, Kwara State, I attended the posthumous 72nd birthday of Prof. Mary Ebun Modupe Kolawole and will be at the Wake Keep/Commendation service this evening. The late Professor of Literature and Women’s Studies and her husband, also a Professor but of Microbiology, were my guardians at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in […]
Continue ReadingOn 16th April 2014, the Northern Governors Forum met in Kaduna to discuss the security challenge facing the region at the time. Three days later, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), then Governor of Adamawa State, released a memo he presented at the session titled ‘On-Going Full-Fledged Genocide in Northern Nigeria’. In the poorly written, long-winding memo, […]
Continue ReadingFrom Olusegun Obasanjo to Goodluck Jonathan and now Muhammadu Buhari, ‘triumphalism’ by members of the ethnic group whose ‘son’ is in power has become the defining ethos of their relationship with other Nigerians. This display of arrogance of power—even without deriving any ‘benefit’ beyond the fact that the president speaks their language—not only causes problems […]
Continue ReadingFollowing a tip-off in July 2016, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) arrested an obscure fruit seller under a bridge in Zaria, Kaduna State. Investigations revealed the man to be a high-ranking Boko Haram operative who coordinated the finance cell of the group with others in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to disburse […]
Continue ReadingLast Thursday, a Judge of the Delta State High Court released a press statement claiming that Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) tests conducted on the three children from his first marriage (to a woman from whom he is now divorced) reveal that he is not their biological father. In the statement, he offered details as to how […]
Continue ReadingThe session started with a powerful prayer offered by President Olusegun Obasanjo on the benevolence of God for sparing our lives. This was 8th February 2001 when the THISDAY Board of Editors and top management were at the Villa to thank the president for his intervention following our survival in a plane crash in Maiduguri […]
Continue ReadingSuccession does not come easy for despots. Which is why elections under their watch are most often conducted as a mere formality to validate assured ‘victory’ – regardless of how the people exercise their franchise. The President of the United States, Mr Donald Trump, was not supposed to be a despot. But by proceeding from […]
Continue ReadingOnce again, Nigerian professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 are emigrating abroad. Those who are married go with their families. Economic upheaval at home and an almost out of hand national security challenge explain why these young citizens choose to vote with their passports. But this is also a global phenomenon. Whether in […]
Continue ReadingLast week, I recounted my family’s twin ordeal of an armed robbery attack and COVID-19 infection in my column, ‘Gunman, COVID-19 and My Family’. Unfortunately, the publication came on the day we had to move my son to the National Hospital Isolation Centre where he spent Christmas and subsequent days before his eventual discharge. That […]
Continue ReadingAn emergency family meeting was called to apprise all eight people in the house of our health circumstance and the precautions we had to take. The moment I announced a two-week quarantine and treatment, the house keeper who had been looking forward to travelling home to Akwa Ibom State at Christmas to bury his father […]
Continue ReadingLast Sunday, Mrs Ifeyinwa Angbo revealed her battered and bruised face in a Twitter video post. The clip, which also trended on WhatsApp, alleged assault by her husband, Pius Angbo, who works with Channels television. In a swift reaction, the management of Channels released a statement condemning domestic violence and promising to investigate the matter. […]
Continue ReadingThere is no worse position for a leader than when ardent supporters and implacable opponents sing from the same hymn book. That precisely is where President Muhammadu Buhari is today. On Tuesday, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) demanded the president’s resignation for his inability to tackle mounting security challenges in the country. “In civilized nations, […]
Continue ReadingIn July last year, the federal government established a task force comprised of the EFCC, ICPC, NFIU and the Federal Ministry of Justice to recover N5.7 trillion owed to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The government also proposed an amendment to the AMCON Act with a view to strengthening its institutional capacity. Although […]
Continue ReadingInitial election returns seemed to be going Donald Trump’s way until absentee ballots were being counted. And nobody was sure how he would respond to the change of fortune that put his vote tally behind that of former Vice President Joe Biden in key battleground states. So, when the president scheduled a press conference for […]
Continue ReadingAlmost everything you might expect from a presidential election in any Third World country were on full display in the days preceding Tuesday, November 3. Intimidation and thuggery on the streets of major cities occurred when supporters of the two candidates clashed. Threats of violence were made by militia groups should the result not conform […]
Continue ReadingIn concluding my column last Thursday, I urged President Muhammadu Buhari to address the nation in view of the EndSARS protests that had been hijacked by opportunistic criminals and the shooting of protesters two days earlier at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos. I was therefore elated when I received the Villa statement that the president […]
Continue Reading‘Soro soke, ki o se idajo ododo, ba talaka ati alaini gba eto won’ (Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy)—Proverbs 31: 9 When the army announced last week that beginning Tuesday it would commence ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’—not against Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east but rather across the […]
Continue ReadingEvents of the past one week across the country have revealed the true character of the Nigerian police: It is an institution that still sees its role as basically to put down any form of dissent or resistance, including to glaring injustice. Even at the cost of human lives. Only a few days of protests […]
Continue ReadingAnyone who has followed testimonies (backed mostly by video evidence) from victims of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) knows it would take more than feeble press statements to change the orientation of those who have been conditioned to believe they are above the law. For years, members of this notorious police unit have operated solely […]
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