Nyesom Wike’s day job is to administer the affairs of Rivers State as Governor. But in actual fact, he is more than that. He is the ‘bee’ of Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). The bee makes sweet honey and is loyal to its colony or beehive. The sweetness of the bee’s Read More…
If you are not aware that one ‘mudu’ of yellow Garri which used to sell for N140 in Abuja is now N500, you would at least know that one litre of diesel has jumped from N240 per litre to N820. That was why my barber disagreed with the headline of the newspaper I was reading: Read More…
“There’s fire on the mountainand nobody seems to be on the runThere’s fire on the mountain top and no one is a-running… One day the river will overflowAnd there’ll be nowhere for us to goAnd we will run, runWishing we had put out the fire In this season of university closure and youth rudderlessness, the lyrics Read More…
Today, we roll out the drums for Matthew whose other name is Hassan, the son of Kukah. The young man from Anchuna, Zangon Kataf, heard the Call and, forsaking everything, embraced the sacerdotal commitment of Obedience and Chastity. How does a brilliant lad forsake the world when he had everything at his feet? Wondrous are Read More…
There are only very few instances of humiliation and frustration that can compare with what the average Nigerian goes through in a quest for a US visa. You would think America was Paradise or something close. You would think that the applicant’s very life depended on the granting or denial of that visa. But if Read More…
To what extent does the last presidential election in Kenya foreshadow what is likely to happen in Nigeria in 2023? I am not one to draw undue parallels, knowing as I do that there are different intervening variables and sub-texts which may render a blanket generalisation sterile. However, there are many similarities that signpost the Read More…
Have you heard the news? About 727 medical doctors trained in Nigeria relocated to the United Kingdom between December 2021 and May 2022. As of November 2021, 8,983 Nigerian-trained doctors were working in the UK. That figure has now jumped to 9,710. Nigeria is the country with the third highest number of foreign doctors working Read More…
Don’t look down on the soot-encrusted earthenware pot; remember, the white porridge that slakes your hunger comes from its bowels. It is the way of Providence: when it was time for Nigeria to rise for recognition, the whole world rose to salute the Green-White-Green. It was not only Oluwatobiloba (Tobi) Ayomide Amusan that was shedding Read More…
How does one shake off the depressing feeling of déjà vu as one tragedy rolls over another? At times, one feels like an idiot. Wrapping one’s head around the way things have turned out in Nigeria — diminishing security, fuel queues, unprecedented inflation, intractable closure of universities, Naira depreciation etc — is physically exhausting. The Read More…
“They are bombing my backyard. They are firing big guns too! Pray for us o!” The desperation in the caller’s voice was palpable and eerie. Had Armageddon managed to come unannounced? It turned out that the bombing was some distance away although it sounded as if it was within the caller’s premises. Some terrorists had Read More…
