(Address delivered at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos on 4th October, 2020 in celebration of Nigeria’s 60th Independence Day Anniversary) I thank you most sincerely for inviting me to join you in celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the granting of Independence to our beloved nation by the British on 1st October 1960. It rained heavily … Read more
Nigeria celebrates its 60 independence anniversary today, as a people, a polity and as an independent entity whether or not it is a flag and anthem expression. Come to think of it, 54 years in the life of a man, no less so, a country is such a long time long enough to take stock … Read more
Nigeria At 60 The legendary English writer, poet and dramatist of all time, Williams Shakespeare, in his classical comedy, Twelfth Night,” said through Malvolio, “Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.” According to Punch Newspaper, the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on … Read more
By Simon Kolawole We often tell ourselves a lot of beautiful lies in Nigeria. One of my favourite is the saying: “This is not the dream of our founding fathers.” By that, we often try to claim our founding fathers had a dream for Nigeria from which we have deviated — the dream of oneness, … Read more
APC, PDP Oil Price Deregulation Prior to becoming Nigeria’s first citizen in 2015, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had asked the question: “who is subsidising whom?”, to advance his argument against the fuel subsidy regime of the then President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration. In a widely circulated interview which was aired on October 25, … Read more
Oshiomhole, Godfather Nigeria’s democracy has always been the wrestling arena for the rich and powerful who are the enthroning powers of a system that favours and promotes their grip on the corridors of power. Since the dawn of this unbroken democracy over 21 years ago, those who are blessed with financial prowess have turned themselves … Read more
(Address delivered at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos on 4th October, 2020 in celebration of Nigeria’s 60th Independence Day Anniversary) I thank you most sincerely for inviting me to join you in celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the granting of Independence to our beloved nation by the British on 1st October 1960. It rained heavily … Read more
As the dust raised by the Edo Gubernatorial election begins to settle, the verdicts are also coming out like ant infested wood when light has reached its hollow. The outcome of the election has spurred many assertions and conclusions from political analysts, armchair critics and neanderthal pundits. Many have averred that the outcome of the … Read more
Oshiomhole Not so long after the court of appeal affirmed his sack as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he has been dislodged in Edo where he governed from 2008 to 2016. The tussle with Godwin Obaseki whom he helped into power is one of his greatest undoing as he has … Read more
NCEF Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has set the ball rolling for Nigeria to be reinvented with his recent statement National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) says former President Olusegun Obasanjo has set the ball rolling for Nigeria to be reinvented with his recent statement that the country is a failed state and divided under President Muhammadu … Read more
Again, In this long, searing and poignant article released today, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka takes the present administration to the cleaners. He deconstructs the Buhari government—from a subtle reference to a presidential spokesman as ‘Garble megaphone’ to whole passages decrying the appeasement of killers, nothing is left standing. We reproduce the entire piece here: Between … Read more
By: Dr. Abdulkareem Onakoya, Foresight Institute of Research and Translation, Ibadan, Oyo state. The recent move by the federal government to remove the subsidy purportedly meant to put the Nigerian populace on the ‘smiling side’ was an ‘over-delayed’ step to push the economy from the doldrums. An average Nigerian was only blindsided by the timing … Read more
By Simon Kolawole You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose. Former governor of New York, Mario Matthew Cuomo, now of blessed memory, said those immortal words 35 years ago. Poetry is relatively short and flowery; prose is much longer and less flowery. Yoruba would render the same thing Cuomo said as “enu dun r’ofo” … Read more
I was 13 years old in 1957, in the first form [Form 1] at King’s College, Lagos when twenty-six-year-old Major Norman John Miners arrived along with Mr. Tim Doust. Not only was Mr. Miners twice my age, his reputation had preceded him. He was introduced as a ‘scholar’ – which he undoubtedly was, having bagged … Read more
By Fredrick Nwabufo Just yesterday — March 10, 2010 – Nigerians bent the capricious hand of kismet; they rose against the pirating of the presidency. Nigerian libertarians, in their hundreds, converged on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and marched to the residence of authority, demanding the actuation of the ‘’doctrine of necessity’’. The ailing Umaru … Read more
By Fredrick Nwabufo The Buhari administration has ruptured the ceiling of liberties it enjoys. Like King Solomon in his last uneventful years, the government has compounded the yoke of the people with the rocketing of the prices of essential commodities. It appears the administration has lost its sensory organ and has become insentient to the … Read more
By Simon Kolawole Two can play the game. That should sum up the politicking surrounding the disinvitation of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, for the 2020 annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) where he was to be a guest speaker. If he was “cancelled” simply because of the allegations that … Read more
In commemoration of the first one hundred days of the appointment of Professor (Ambassador) Ibrahim Agboola Gambari as Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Commander-In-Chief, Armed Forces of Nigeria, Resilience Television will on Friday August 21st 2020 devote prime time to a documentary on the President’s Chief adviser and ally. Much of it is … Read more
By Fredrick Nwabufo Femi Fani-Kayode makes conceit solemn. He is the sui generis of narcissism. His arrogance dovetails with his foul temper and cutting tongue. There is no shade of modesty, temperance and grace in the son of Remilekun Fani-Kayode (Fani Power). The mealy-mouthed politician takes the “H” in hubris. He is the undisputed crown … Read more
By Simon Kolawole In Nigeria, oil is definitely the apple of our eyes — we don’t need to argue over that. But this piece of news should set us thinking once again: Apple, the American tech company, is now worth over $2 trillion. By contrast, the GDP of Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, is estimated … Read more