Opinion

Dear Chairman, It was about this time eight years ago, wasn’t it? I’m talking of course of when you took what was perhaps the most audacious, some may even say, most controversial political decision of your career at the time to run for the Presidency.  You had talked and written …

What a delightful week it has been for Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Heirs Holdings, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation. On Monday, he stood tall in Sokoto at the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference to receive a Recognition Award, handed out by no less …

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 When the new Osun State governor, the dancing-Senator now turned dancing-governor, Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, announced that Osun State Government House and properties, including items such as vehicles, had been looted, I was not surprised. Pictures of how the Deputy Governor’s and other staff quarters were …

turnpot@gmail.com 0705 263 1058 Politics, religion, corruption and crime are the most lucrative business ventures, activities or endeavours in Nigeria today. Whatever order of importance or priority you may assign to them, I do not think there is any other “business” in Nigeria of today that yields higher returns on …

Nigerian politicians are notoriously optimistic. That is a source of energy for them, but it also blurs out their reality. The optimism of the average Nigerian politician often conflicts with the disillusionment and pessimism of the average Nigerian. As the country prepares for the 2023 general elections, politicians will give …

Monday, 5 December, 2022 “Olagunju, let me know when you want to sell your car because I know you will need money very soon.” I got that text message the day I left government suddenly in November 2010. The sender hid his identity but I could guess the ‘friendly’ corner …

An Open Letter to the President Nigeria Friday, December 2, 2022 Dear President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, On behalf of the Ijaw Diaspora Council (IDC), I wish you good health as you return from your medical trip in the United Kingdom. May God Almighty give you the enablement to bequeath us …

You need not lead a corporation or country for your capacity to lead to become manifest. A leader is always a leader even when he is leading his primary school mates. This is the lesson I learnt during our one-day recent trip to an African country. We travelled to one …

There is a unique kind of frenzy in the country today. But it is not a general or commonplace hysteria. It is limited to a tiny fraction of the population, but who curiously hold a humongous part of the country’s wealth. Major denominations of our currency, the naira, have been …

Are you a student looking to make some extra cash from side hustles? Look no further! We’ve got some really good ideas for you. Years ago, you would have to wait to get out of school before making money, but all that has changed and you can start making enough …

Former US President Donald Trump didn’t just happen to the United States. He hit the world like the climax of a horror movie.  Scene after scene, act after act left the thoughtful in bewilderment, the reserved in shame, and even the incorrigible in doubt. Only the fantasts and ultra-right wing …

turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533 My mother had a saying, to wit: When God is doing good, human beings that cannot differentiate between good and evil will think He is doing evil. Bless my mother’s soul, O God, and continue to grant her sweet soul sweet repose! Saturday, 26 November made …

In the Holy books of the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam, the Red Sea is symbolic as a place of significant events and the beginning of liberation from oppression. Will the Red Sea town of Sharm El Sheik be recorded in history as a place of significance in the …

Monday, 28 November, 2022 The National Bureau of Statistics in January 2012 released its ‘Nigeria Poverty Profile 2010’ report which contained data covering the previous 30 years. It showed that 17.1 million Nigerians were in poverty in 1980; 34.7 million in 1985; 39.2 million in 1996; 67.7 million in 2004 …

turnpot@gmail.com  0705 263 1058 What goes around comes around First, they came for the socialists, and I didn’t speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the …

….Says: Peter Obi’s “prospect of becoming the next President of Nigeria come 2023 is very bright but, the challenges ahead of him are herculean, gargantuan and somewhat conspiratorial!” A deep thinker, an Elder Statesman and a patriot who says it as he sees it, Professor Echefuna’ R. G. Onyebeadi, granted …

If there was a prize for Nigeria’s number one letter writer, journalist-turned-lawyer and one-time minister, Tony Momoh, would appear to be the undisputed champion. The late Momoh performed the difficult task of making sense of General Ibrahim Babangida’s largely messy and convoluted political and economic programmes by writing regular letters …

Monday, 21 November, 2022 I do not know how many people still remember that Dr Tai Solarin was here. He was one of the most decent human beings ever created for Nigeria. Dr Solarin was a columnist with the Nigerian Tribune for most of his active life. Some 52 years …

The 2023 elections in Nigeria bring with them hopes and fears, expectations, and optimism for a better future. However, forces are fighting inadvertently to truncate the elections, imperil our nascent democracy, dim the light, and bring all our political calculations to nothing. These seemingly imperceptible forces are powerful, subtle, and …

During his recent trip to London for routine medical checkup, President Muhammadu Buhari had time to meet and greet newly crowned King Charles 111 at Buckingham Palace. The President recounted the encounter thus later: “He asked me whether I have a house here. I said ‘no’. Even in Nigeria, the …

It’s a great time to be a football lover. It might not feel exactly so if your country is not one of the 32 taking part in the 22nd edition of the World Cup in Doha, Qatar. But being a fan means managing to love the game without having your dog …

Today, November 16, belongs to one man who conquered the world for Mother Africa. In the words of the great Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiongo, “Achebe bestrides generations and geographies. Every country in Africa claims him as their own.” On November 16, 1930, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born to a …

Ikechi Emenike approached a state High Court (Umunneochi Division) and obtained judgment of court which mandated the APC and INEC to publish his name as Abia APC gubernatorial candidate. His claim before the court was that it was not a pre-election matter and for which the state high court was …

  You may not realise how difficult it can be to write a tribute about a departed colleague, until you sadly have to do it. Emotions do choke the written words, as they do the written ones. The situation becomes even worse when the departed was very much more than …

Monday, 14 November 2022 We had an unusual vice chancellor in Ife in the mid to late 1980s. His name is Wande Abimbola, professor of Yoruba Religion, Language and Literature. He loved his students and his students loved him. One day, he warned a sea of protesting students about the …