Opinion

Sometimes it feels like we have been childhood friends. That we have known each other forever. For over 30 years since our paths crossed, I can’t remember how many times I’ve called him “Louis,” much less “Louis Osaretin Odion.” Even now, it feels awkward to write it. I call him …

My beloved Elder Tim Akano, your article captioned: “PARADISE LOST AGAIN” and reproduced below for ease of reference, makes an interesting reading. However, it contains some inaccuracies that could be misleading to the less knowledgeable and the undiscerning, thus necessitating my humble corrigenda as follows: 1. The governorship election in …

Shamelessness is the vilest disease of the Nigerian establishment. The shameless mode of the leaders of Nigeria was activated in full force on February 25 and March 18, in this year of Our Lord, when so-called national elections were staged. It all turned out to be a sham, a charade …

There is no better way of introducing Odia Ofeimun than pointedly stressing that “Odia Ofeimun is Odia Ofeimun!” Enough said. Poet, publisher, editor, activist, polemicist, mentor, politician, columnist, factory worker, writer, dance-drama exponent, public intellectual, critic etc, Odia Ofeimun has packed uncountable lifetimes into one tumultuous lifespan. Born on March …

Monday, 20 March, 2023) Under the cover of darkness, a dish was placed on a highway in Lagos at the weekend. It was food for the gods but it was a madman that we saw eating it on Saturday morning. The video trended online in competition with the shrieks of …

JUST a fortnight ago I wrote my first ever article on Nigeria for a journal. I quoted the late British Prime Minister Harold Wilson who said that a week is a long time in politics. Little did I know that 73 hours which I gave as the due date for …

April last year, I wrote an article, titled, “Didn’t Tinubu Just Goof On MC Oluomo?” The piece did a post-mortem on the crisis rocking the Lagos State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). Long story short, Musiliu Akinsanya, alias “MC Oluomo,” was issued a query by …

It’s the figure of speech called oxymoron in literature, isn’t it? When you talk of a ‘good disappointment.’ When apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction, it is called an oxymoron. When you have antithetical words with opposing meanings coming together. Examples: ‘A gentleman of the road.’ ‘A honest thief.’ ‘Why, …

For the third time since 1999, I voted at a general election on February 25 and did so without much hassle. I knew my candidates would lose at the unit where I voted, but that didn’t matter. Voting mattered more.  The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) processed me so quickly …

Please permit me to start with response to a twist and contortion done by the lying online medium called Sahara Reporters to my article last week. I had written under the headline, For PMB, it’s Nigeria or Nothing, and the point I made was that President Muhammadu Buhari had given …

Trying to fit him into a mold can be sometimes problematic. I have always thought of him as a teacher and mentor. And later, only much later, as a friend. For over three decades he has been more than enough in each of these roles.   My path with Dr. Yemi …

When the storm of this general election is over, we shall be left with a few lessons. One is, never underestimate the will of a determined people. The other is, when the shepherd is ready, the flock will appear. Indeed, people, who study politics and societies in transition, will find …

The March 8 celebration of women is an occasion to give flowers to Nigerian women who contribute to our world and fly our flag high. International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually as a focal point in the women’s rights movement, highlighting issues such as gender equality, …

The last presidential and National Assembly election was as crucial to our democracy as it was controversial. A lot was riding on it, delivering more drama than anticipated. Our present reality is that going by the posturing of key political gladiators, the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections have triggered direct judicial …

The post under reference captioned: “NIGERIANS, WHO HAVE BRAINWASHED US”, reproduced below for ease of reference, looks good on the surface but, obviously highly misplaced! Over 300 Billion Naira of our Commonwealth and hard-earned money was appropriated and spent by INEC on BVAS among others to ensure instant electronic transmission …

Monday, 27 February, 2023 Who registered the kids we saw in the election queues in Kano on Saturday? I watched video clips of women on lines with four, five, six-year-old kids. They were all there to cast votes. I saw, in another video, a boy – a child – who …

In about 73 hours’ time Nigeria and the rest of the world would have the answer to this question. But judging by the opinions from independent quarters, like the Elders Forum which includes retired Generals like former Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma and Zamani Lekwot, and many others, Peter Obi is …

Nigeria gained political independence 62 years ago, and this came after nationalist agitations that had swept through the country. Africa then was mainly under colonial rule, and there were nationalists and freedom fighters all over the continent fighting for the emancipation of the African people. These notable nationalists in Nigeria …

Nigeria is a land of forgetfulness. We live in the bubble of the present. Everything about us is in the present tense. When General Babangida in his first broadcast to the nation as a Head of State said “I know Nigerians very well” he meant to say that Nigerians forget …

I was witness to history on Friday last week. I’d been invited to attend what was called NNPC Cutover Ceremony at the corporate head office of the burgeoning National Energy Company in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory. What did the event mean, in simple English. NNPC was completing its transmutation from …

Dear Nigerians, this election is not about Tinubu or Atiku or Obi. It is not about a Yoruba, Fulani or Igbo candidate. It is not about Easterners or Westerners or Northerners. No sir. It is about you and I. It is about the urgent need to fix systemic dysfunction brought …

He has been celebrated for years by his army of acolytes as the grandmaster of political strategies. His reputation was further burnished, and his place atop the country’s political pyramid confirmed, by the historic triumph of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general elections. He led the political …

Monday, 20 February, 2023 (I am calm. I am calm. It is the calm before something awful – Sylvia Plath, American poet and short story writer). Convener of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi, was asked by the Sunday Tribune in an interview last week if he didn’t …

It is now a cliché that this election is a make-or-mar election for Nigeria. It is our way of saying this is a consequential election. The importance of this election has dawned on everyone, and unlike every other election before it, it is the first election post military era that …

turnpot@gmail.com 0705 263 1058 The philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it – Karl Marx. Last Friday as I engaged in my usual house chores of washing my dirty clothes to exercise my limbs, I heard a sermon. By His …