At this stage of Nigeria’s development, and considering the financial stress Nigerians are currently undergoing, perhaps the government may want to consider radical suggestions on how to make the burden lighter for the people. It is wrong, in my view, to routinely compare Nigeria with other countries, as politicians often do. When you complain that Read More…
The ongoing US/Israel vs Iran war will go down in history as one landmark event that has re-educated the world about how the politics of identity can be used as a baton to beat history, religion and geography on the head. Inequity, as carefully distinguished from inequality, is finely embroidered into the fabric of world Read More…
Africa does not have a dog in the fight going on in the Middle East. “Operation Epic Fury” is a war between a tag team of a lion and a polar bear on the one hand and a honey badger and its army of unseen Tasmanian devils on the other. What we have learnt so Read More…
A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.— Jackie Robinson There could only have been one BJ in any academic environment. Biodun Jeyifo! Bee-Jay! Like a hawk flying high above the environment, he had a bird’s-eye view of goings-on among mortals—our daily struggles to make meaning of our sojourn. Read More…
Fifty-six-year-old President Duma Gideon Boko of Botswana made the headlines recently when he declined the invitation of President Trump to visit the White House. There is no quarrel between Trump and Boko. The relationship between the US and Botswana is also cordial. Boko is only living true to the Yoruba proverb which says that a Read More…
We have recently witnessed spirited protests and media contestations on the electoral bill then in the works and now signed into law by President Bola Tinubu. If you immerse yourself too deeply in the emotive tragicomedy, you may miss the tragedy of how politics has torn the fabric of brotherhood down the middle, or the Read More…
We called him Muri, as if he was just the big bro next door. That was how intimate our imaginary relationship with him was. Murtala Muhammed was the hero of our youth. We accepted him, warts and all. He was different. As soon as he was pronounced Head of State after the overthrow of General Read More…
Talking about coups, the most benevolent military regime that ever ruled Nigeria was the one led by General Yakubu Gowon while the most principled one was led by his successor, General Murtala Muhammed, who committed billions of dollars and other logistic requirements towards the liberation struggle in Southern Africa. Easily the most bestial of all Read More…
In recent times, quite a number of ponderous statements have been credited to some self-styled ‘northern’ groups as regards the economy and governance. You would think the other zones of the country escorted them to the world. How presumptuous some people can get! Of course, I understand the game. Every politician wants to be relevant. Read More…
Congratulations to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, all members of Nigerian academia, and the Nigerian government for finally renegotiating the conditions of service of academic staff in Nigerian universities after many years of failed government implementation of the original 2009 agreement. Maybe we can now begin to experience a return to normalcy in universities Read More…