The incursion of terrorists from the northern states to the southwest of Nigeria was all too predictable. We had warned about that possibility over the years. The crisis is not from lack of warnings but from the failure to convert warnings into interoperable, cross-border security. There has been a steady expansion from border belts into Read More…
Several years ago, I had the pleasure of writing about the heartwarming feat of Oba Adedokun Omoniyi Abolarin, Aroyinkeye I, the Orangun of Oke-Ila, in establishing Abolarin College, the first free secondary school for the underprivileged in Nigeria. Today, products of that school have gone on to exceed the expectations of many people, and several Read More…
Julius Malema was not yet born when my generation of Nigerian student leaders put our lives and resources on the line for the liberation of South Africa and other countries under the yoke of colonialism and apartheid in the region. Yet, it was he who had the courage to defend foreigners of African descent at 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…
Once hailed as Nigeria’s model residential estate, Festac Town now grapples with overpopulation, filth, and moral decline. Once a symbol of post-Festac ’77 modernity, it has degenerated into what writer Wole Olaoye calls a “village cast in concrete and swimming in sewage.” The story of Festac’s “villagification” is both an elegy and a warning to other Nigerian estates losing their soul to neglect.
“Mercy is the compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. The object of our mercy may be grotesquely flawed. He may appear so inhuman as to be considered subhuman. But spiritual masters in all the known religions and mystic houses agree that the needle of human Read More…
It is not fitting for a king to have good luck charms. He is already a king, second-in-command to the gods. Does he want to become God? Generally, especially in the traditional societies of Africa, to be a king is to attain the highest position any mortal can aspire to. Whether the position is hereditary Read More…
We are in a season of canonised madnesses. In this era where the old definition of decency makes no sense to the Gen-z, somebody has got to tell the truth as it is, even if it runs contrary to your psychedelic unwisdom. The intricate immoral dribbles navigated by the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, to Read More…
By Wole Olaoye Professor Okello Oculi was a cat with many lives. He outlived the several dictators who would have been delighted to roast him, but he has left a long trail of inconsolable mourners in Nigeria where he made a home and raised a family. In all, he lived in Nigeria for 48 years, Read More…
Ostensibly, it was meant to be a compliment of sorts. But it has backfired massively all over Africa. US President Donald Trump had invited five West African presidents to the White House to discuss “trade instead of aid”. While there were various speculations as regards the real reason behind the invitation— especially as the continental Read More…
