Opinion

In 1999, I returned to Nigeria from London where I had lived for a decade, armed with my biography of Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi. I needed to have the book introduced to the reading public. Friends advised that it should be launched in Abuja, Enugu and Lagos, given the late Ironsi’s pedigree …

Diverse developments in our country often bring to mind lyrics of the song ‘God Moves in a Mysterious Way,’ by William Cowper. The lines go thus: “Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour.” If we are not discerning enough, the …

In his four years in office, President Trump has made attacking the media a hallmark of his administration. He has called journalists fake news and enemies of the people — but also scum, liars, and bad people. He continues to blame the media for his electoral defeat, accusing journalists of …

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 As the Yoruba would say, “iyan ogun odun n gbona”; meaning that a pounded yam prepared 20 years ago can still remain fresh, as if it was prepared a while ago. So also with a statement made eight years ago by retired General Muhammadu Buhari, the …

On the 18th of November 2020, Cable News Network (CNN) released a disturbing mini documentary on the now infamous #EndSARS incident at Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos on the late hours of the 20th of October, 2020. CNN stated that the report was an outcome of a meticulous investigation conducted by …

I remember with nostalgia our time together. The indelible memory of our time together is my expression Nwaa-chuu-kwuu and your expression mmburu-ce (a.k.a. Donbruce), which we fondly used to refer to each other. If I think of a true friend that I shared my early adulthood with, it was you. …

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 When a professional colleague suggested that I beam my searchlight on the Nigerian judiciary to witness some of the reforms he said were taking place there, my retort was like biblical Nathaniel’s. John 1: 45: “Philip found Nathaniel, and saith unto him, We have found him, …

A Google search of ASUU, the acronym of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, comes with the suggestions ‘ASUU strike’, ‘ASUU strike update’ and ‘ASUU strike update today.’ The above are not surprising because most Nigerians have come to associate ASUU with ‘strikes’. ASUU is a union of teachers in …

turnpot@gmail.com 0705 263 1058 Below are excerpts by the Egbe Omo Oduduwa to Gov. Kayode Fayemi’s Arewa lecture; enjoy it! “As is customary of the Nigerian Post-Colonial ruling elite, Gov. Kayode Fayemi simply grafted onto the Nigerian Problem borrowed expressions of a (United States of America) reality that is incongruent …

When a bird loses its wings, it is no better than a chick running round and merely looking up longingly. It can’t soar into the azure sky, and is just doomed for a certain time to walk the night. That was the state of the Nigerian Air Force years back, …

  turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 Fewer deaths had shocked and left me dismayed as that of Flight Lieutenant JJ Rawlings (retired), who died on Thursday, November 12, 2020 a few weeks after he had buried his mother. He was aged 73 years. The death, by car assassination, of Dr. Walter …

  Dear Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.,  I wish to congratulate you on your winning the hard fought US Presidential Election, unseating the incumbent President Donald Trump. We all know the difficulty in defeating an incumbent American president, even a deeply flawed one. We know what happened when John Kerry challenged an incumbent President …

turnpot@gmail.com 0705 263 1058 The collective wisdom of the Yoruba race speaks to the fact that we should never speak tongue-in- cheek for the simple but unassailable fact that if we speak the harsh, bitter truth, we shall die; whether we are killed for speaking the truth or we die …

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, our own Hajia Amina Mohammed, led a team to visit President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday. Many things agitated the minds of the UN team, which said it was visiting to highlight issues dear to the heart of the global body: COVID-19 and its ravages, …

Ndigbo are key stakeholders in the Nigerian project but sadly, they are not treated as such in the scheme of things. Notwithstanding man-made setbacks, it is arguable whether there is any other ethnic group in Nigeria that has contributed to the development and unity of the nation like the Igbo …

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 Since March this year when the universities were shut down on the orders of the Federal Government, they are yet to re-open. While it can be said that the shutdown was occasioned by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, no one can say for certainty now …

A few days ago, I turned 22. I am part of a generation of Nigerians who have lived most of their adult lives under ‘democratic’ rule and yet, I wake up this morning feeling there is no difference between the Nigeria I grew up in, and the Nigeria my parents …

The recent #EndSARS protest in Nigeria focused mainly against police brutality organised and executed by Nigerian youths is a sign that our youths are waking up and are no longer interested in being passive with respect to the harsh realities they face daily as a result of years of bad …

  turnpot@gmail.com 0705 263 1058 In those days on campus at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, we were atheists who “preached” that there was no God. There couldn’t have been anything or anyone called God, we said. The whole idea of God sounded or appeared …

On October 20 2020 at the Lekki Toll Gate we crossed the Rubicon. As battle trained elite Army troops opened fire with live bullets and ammunition at young citizens whose demeanor were far from provocative and whose only shield were the green white green flutter of our national banner which …

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 Last week Friday as I made my way home after a hectic day of burial arrangements for my mother-in-law, I ran into some “area boys” not far from my home at Agege. Five of them rudely forced the driver to a halt. One stood right in …

As life gradually returns to normal after a tumultuous week of looting, arson, wanton destruction and death that followed the #EndSARS protests, many Nigerians are counting their losses. In Lagos, hoodlums attacked public and private facilities two weeks ago and burnt Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses in their terminals in Oyingbo and Berger Yards. Many …

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 An adage says: When a child falls, he looks ahead of him to see why he fell but when an elder falls, he surveys where he is coming from to find out what caused the fall. In other words, today’s events are not necessarily – in …

It was the immortal Dante Alighieri who told us that “the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their own neutrality.” Our nation has turned that frightening corner where all conscionable men and women must now choose to stand with the …

The drama, arson, destruction, looting and death witnessed in the past two weeks are unfortunate. The resultant loss in GDP and adverse effect on the common man and the economy as many states impose curfews and restrictions to stem the orgy of violence is very regrettable. There have been attempts …