Our friends, Tamuno, Dike and Hadi are exercising their right to freedom of speech: Tamuno: By now, Buhari should have visited Owo to commiserate with the people over the killings. Dike: He should have visited Anambra and Imo for the same reason too. Hadi: He can’t be everywhere. The VP already visited Owo Tamuno: If he can’t be everywhere, Read More…
Wole Olaoye
Lumumba’s Tooth
Imagine reducing a human being— a political leader carrying the hopes and aspirations of millions of people… imagine reducing that person to just one tooth! One tooth — that’s all that remains to show that Patrice Émery Lumumba, a pan-Africanist and former Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo, ever trod this earth. After his Read More…
Lynch Mob, Broken System
“Never again!” That phrase was made popular by survivors of the Holocaust in which six million European Jews were systematically murdered in pogroms, mass shootings and gas chambers during World War II by Hitler’s forces. The phrase is thought to have been borrowed from a 1927 poem by Yitzhak Lamdan, “Never again shall Masada fall!”. Read More…
From Clueless to Adorable
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is not a bad man. He may have appeared to be overwhelmed by daunting circumstances confronting his administration — especially by the pro-democracy groups queuing up behind the expected messiah of the time, General Muhammadu Buhari — but generally he had as good a heart as anyone who has ever tenanted Aso Read More…
Sam at 60: Inspiration from the grave
It seems like just yesterday when I teased Sam Nda-Isaiah on his 50th birthday at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. “Are you now a young old man, or an old young man?” I asked. “I have to think properly before I answer you”, he said, adding, “I think there’s a catch in that question. But, Read More…
With Love from Oke-Ila
“Kabiyesi, I’m told you want my daughter to enrol in your school so that you can convert her to Christianity”, said Imam Oyefolahan, Chief Imam of Eripa Central Mosque. He was addressing the Orangun of Oke-Ila Orangun and founder of Abolarin College, Oba Dr. Adedokun Omoniyi Abolarin, Aroyinkeye I. The Imam’s daughter, Aminat, had won Read More…
Who the cap fits?
“Why is nobody putting me under pressure to contest for an office? Where are my people?”, asked Jibrin Ibrahim on twitter. One of the interesting replies he provoked was by M J Balogun (@balogunjide1) a former Director-General, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria: “We, your people, are here! We want you to run. We have the Read More…
OAU and Afreximbank in Historic Handshake
Mercifully, there’s some good news from Obafemi Awolowo University after the de-marketing efforts of land speculators in the guise of equity-seekers. No matter how optimistic one is, one cannot gloss over the fact that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and some other trade unions in our universities have been on strike for a Read More…
Train Ride to Eternity
Her name is Chinelo Megafu. She graduated in Dentistry from the University of Port-Harcourt in 2015. Ah, you already know her? She had never been one to seek cheap popularity. Her becoming a household name was entirely beyond her control. As a medic, she was trained to save lives. Nothing prepared her for a situation Read More…
Mending Great Ife Brand
Ile-Ife evokes memories of greatness, whether you are talking about the Town or the Gown. The Town is the courtyard of the progenitor of the Yoruba race, Oduduwa. It was in Ile-Ife, so the story goes, that the first dawn was willed into existence. As the cradle of an ethnic nationality, its people are used Read More…