“As for the charges against me, I am unconcerned. I am beyond their timid lying morality and so I am beyond caring”, said the redoubtable Nigerian nationalist, Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, who, along with Margaret Ekpo, Laila Dogonyaro and a few other women you can count on your fingers, have been canonised by Nigerians of all Read More…
Wole Olaoye
Stupidophobia is the Beginning of Wisdom
If you have a morbid fear of being stupid or being perceived as stupid by your peers and associates, you are suffering from stupidophobia, a.k.a. stultophobia. Many well educated people suffer this condition because it directly affects their claim to social relevance and intellectual depth. In the last 100 years, very few intellectuals have devoted Read More…
Don’t Urinate On Their Graves!
All animals are not equal. If you doubt it, attempt to replicate General Ibrahim Babangida’s actions and inactions over the years — and see where you’ll end up. First shoot your way into power. Confront civil society with both an iron fist and a toothy smile. Be a military Janus — on one side Santa Read More…
Two men who lived for something
When veteran politician, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, and foremost publisher, Chief Joop Berkhout joined the ancestral realm within days of each other, Nigerians were unanimous in their verdict that the two deaths truly diminished us all. In both cases, it can be said without equivocation that the men lived for something. Last year, on the occasion Read More…
Why have standards fallen so badly?
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, please rise and give a standing ovation to welcome the re-inventor of our state, our far-sighted, God-ordained leader, the father of our civilisational aspirations, the father of infrastructural wonders, the most outstanding governor in the whole of Nigeria, His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Nwamkpi State, Architect Doctor Sir Chikeson Read More…
All Hail Iku Baba Yeye!
He is not just a deputy of the gods, he is the father and mother of death, the offspring of perdition, of metaphysical ruination and wanton loss. His suzerainty over Oyo Empire in its glory days was the stuff of which legends have been made. The long list of his forebears and their unique individual Read More…
Kids For Sale!
I don’t want to de-market Nigeria by saying that it is a country where anything goes. But it will take some deep thinking to come up with something that can actually be described as unattainable, impracticable or unimaginable here. We inhabit a land of paradoxes where poverty and humongous wealth maintain a grudging cohabitation. In Read More…
Between Tinubu and the ‘North’
Happy new year, everyone! As 2025 was rolling in, we were escorted into the new year by cries of discrimination, attempted marginalisation and emasculation from some politicians who claim to be speaking for the ‘North’. Apparently there is a coordinated effort to ensure that the proposed tax reform bill sent to the national assembly by Read More…
He who Japas may eventually Japada
If you ever ventured near the World Headquarters Shrine of the Palmwine Drinkards Club at the University of Ife of yore, you would hear the constant refrain: Things fall apart, the centre must hold;A house divided against itself shall stand;Few are called, many are chosen… In the midst of all the lightheartedness for which that Read More…
The Chinese Armada
Very soon, Chinese boys and girls will be selling pure water on our highways. Many of them will out-sprint our own hawkers and there will be messy street fights. Write down that prediction and remember to acknowledge my copyright to that prophecy when it comes to pass. But, wait! What prediction are we talking about Read More…