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There are a number of cognitive biases (dissonances in psychology) at play amongst us as a people. I have taken time to compile a few which are most concerning: The belief that the grass is always greener on the other side The belief that yesterday is always better than today The belief that there is […]
Continue ReadingThe masses! The masses!! The poor people!!! This hapless demographic has always been the excuse, the crutch with which those who have truly held Nigeria down have gotten away with many things. We keep going round in circles, making policies while our situation keeps getting worse. However, if we simply follow the money, we will […]
Continue ReadingI am afraid. Very afraid. I knew there was always a possibility that I will be left holding the can with my bet that Nigeria was the country to be and that we should stay here and make the most of our country. I always had a fear that we may one day totally screw up […]
Continue ReadingNo government can remove fuel subsidy in Nigeria. And this is simply because the chicken has come home to roost, not because it is desirable to subsidise a product that needn’t be subsidised. Well, some people may argue that because Nigeria is a crude oil producing nation, then it is good to expect the citizens not to pay what other […]
Continue ReadingIsn’t it too early in the year to start discussing death? But I am not really discussing death and I don’t intend to freak readers out. Instead, I am discussing life, and living, and trying to wrestle with the inevitabilities of life. This discussion is about what is really important in life, and how we […]
Continue ReadingThe ultimate question we need to ask ourselves is whether we believe we are worthy enough as a people and as a nation, to have and to manage a currency, or if we feel too worthless to have one. One-track-minded philistinism leaves us all wretched, one way or another. I have been struggling to write […]
Continue ReadingI lived in London in 2006 when the largest to date cash robbery in that country – and perhaps in the world – happened. It was the robbery of the Tonbridge, Kent facility of the Bank of England by a team of blaggers (that’s how they call thieves in Britain), which included fighter Lee Murray, […]
Continue ReadingI listened to the paramount ruler of Somolu and Bariga, Oba Gbolahan Timson, the other day, as he eloquently expressed support for Sunday Igboho, and as he foreclosed the idea of Yorubas continuing with the Nigerian entity. The Oba called it a war of independence (ija’gbara in Yoruba language). But he then launched into deep […]
Continue ReadingFounded by the proprietor of Elder Dempster Agencies, Alfred Lewis Jones in 1894, the British Bank of West Africa was meant to facilitate the importation of silver currency into the region, where Jones held a monopoly. The bank therefore had a clear historical and business advantage from the beginning, with the imprimatur of the British […]
Continue ReadingIn December 2019, I wrote an article about Thomas Cook, arguably the first ever travel agency and how that firm accidentally established tourism as we know it today. The company collapsed earlier that year, sending shockwaves across the world. The travelers’ cheques part of the business had since been sold to Travelex and that is still thriving […]
Continue ReadingI have always advocated for Nigerian youths not to allow anyone make their minds up for them. It is true that old Nigerians have done themselves many injustices over time. But given the relative age of our union, I believe the youths of today should first ask to be given a chance at running the country […]
Continue ReadingFormer Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance under the Jonathan and Obasanjo governments, and now the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was in town on a working visit recently. The good lady was feted in several quarters. Many people have anchored the salvation of Nigeria on her shoulders, especially […]
Continue ReadingIn spite of apparent challenges around the funding of the 2021 budget, with Nigeria already cap-in-hand begging for loans from everywhere, I still believe the document should be thoroughly scrutinised for purpose, and if we do, we just may junk it altogether. Our budget, just like our nation, needs fundamental rethinking and rejigging. Some call […]
Continue ReadingSome people have been asking me whether I will be running – again – for the post of Nigeria’s president in 2023. In fact, the moment the results of our 2019 elections were called, young Nigerians on Twitter started asking when I and other young-ish candidates will start coming together. Some sounded very arrogant or […]
Continue ReadingI wrote the other day, an article titled “Thomas Cook Collapse: Lessons for Nigeria”, wherein I traced the origins of the Travel Agency industry in 1841, the sociopsychological benefits of global travel, how the West shut its doors on us, and how the United Arab Emirates (UAE), especially, opened another vista, even as the rest of […]
Continue ReadingThe whole world is looking for money. In some parts of the world, they are doing so for all the right reasons because they are well-experienced in the art of taking care of people and building governance around human beings. In some of those countries, they are paying even private workers 80 per cent of […]
Continue Reading2023 is approaching. Frustration is setting in in many places. The president’s nephew and the only one remaining of his three initial confidants, Mamman Daura, among many others, especially from the north of Nigeria, are saying there is nothing like rotational presidency, that the best man should be voted for the job (that is assuming […]
Continue ReadingOn April 30, news filtered out that President Buhari had given final approval for the implementation of the Steve Oronsaye committee report, which was commissioned by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to look into the proliferation of government agencies, many with duplicated or lavishly overlapping functions. At some point, the figure we had was 541 […]
Continue ReadingI was rereading Mr. Femi Adesina’s vehement pronouncement at Mrs. Farida Waziri’s book launch and the part that got me was his claim that Buhari declared his assets openly in 2015 but chose not to declare these openly in 2019, and that it was his (Buhari’s) prerogative, since the Constitution does not say he should […]
Continue ReadingI believe Nigeria and any other interested nation which may have sent delegates everywhere to discuss how to put the Eco currency together for the purpose of integrating the West African economy, should be seeking redress – financial and otherwise – from France for the hijack of the idea. Whether we had a patent or […]
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