Opinion

Monday, 5 August, 2024 They did what locusts do to farms. They spared almost nothing. They ate road slabs, pilfered roofs and stole ceilings. They attacked and looted at least one mosque – and at least one church. They hammered concrete slabs and squeezed out of them iron rods for …

This was published on 10/05/2024, precisely five months ago. Was I clairvoyant? No, the signs were there for all to see. Did anybody give a hoot? Hmmmmn! Well, here is a repeat. I do not want to believe that in a country of nearly 250 million people, I am the …

We are witnessing some of the worst anti-government protests in our recent democratic history, fuelled by economic hardship, hunger and a general feeling of disillusionment among many Nigerians. Whatever the arguments are for or against the protests, it suffices that some Nigerians are making public their anger against the system …

In its editorial of 2nd August, 2024, the BusinessDay newspaper, characteristically, launched another scurrilous and baseless attack on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd). In the editorial entitled: “NNPCL: Liability or Asset to Nigerians?”, the newspaper set out to paint the picture of NNPC Ltd that is a …

Sunday August 4, 2024 There is this anecdote in Igboland of M̀gbekē and her cutlass. By the way, M̀gbekē is a synonym for an unrefined and unsophisticated girl. Each time M̀gbekē’s farmer colleagues visited her in the farm, they saw haphazardly tilled land and a female farmer lazily fondling her …

BROADCAST BY HIS EXCELLENCY BOLA AHMED TINUBU, PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE NATIONWIDE PROTEST DATE: SUNDAY 4TH AUGUST 2024 My fellow Nigerians, 1. I speak to you today with a heavy heart and a sense of responsibility, aware of the …

[email protected] 0705 263 1058 Visit any of our institutions of higher learning and you begin to see toddler-undergraduates all over the place! Boys and girls who should still be in SS1 are already preparing to graduate! Merely looking at them testifies to the fact that they lack the much-needed maturity. …

Venezuela was the first Latin American country I ever visited in 2001. It was a land awash with wealth as most of its neighbors like Colombians, Brazilians, and Ecuadorians endangered their lives to smuggle themselves into her borders in search of a better livelihood. From its capital Caracas to the …

The protracted minimum wage negotiation between the Federal government and Organized Labour finally ended on Thursday 18th July, 2024 with the agreement of a new minimum wage of N70,000 for the Nigerian workers both in Public and private sectors. The historic agreement was facilitated by President Bola Tinubu under whose …

We met last on April 21. I went to Asaba from Lagos to promote my new book, Writing for Media and Monetising It, at Delta State University, which, according to JAMB statistics, is one of the country’s highest subscribers to Mass Communications in 2021. Senator Ifeanyi Ubah was on the …

The sonorous songstress, Onyeka Onwenu, has just passed, but my duty here is to add the human angle to the legend of the goddess. Onyeka Onwenu, inimitable singer, ace broadcaster and classy actress took no prisoners in all her undertakings. Back in 1986, in the early days of the defunct …

Protest is all the rage in Nigeria today. Democracy allows for peaceful protest, but it is well-nigh impossible for overzealous state agents and sundry nefarious elements not to conjure up violence to complicate matters. In this wise, the demons of death are on the loose, arranging mayhem and spreading damnation. …

The late Emeritus Professor Akin Mabogunje was a quintessential scholar-practitioner whose work had a profound impact on Nigeria’s development. His commitment to excellence and rigorous training enabled him to produce groundbreaking work, demonstrating the importance of continuous learning and expertise in achieving impactful research and practice. This article explores Mabogunje’s …

[email protected] 0807 552 5533 Those threatening to stage nationwide protests are badly heating up the polity. The government that is fretting about it is also helping to make a bad situation worse. Everyone, therefore, is in a panic mode. Many will die before they see what is going to kill …

“Unlike the stomach, the brain doesn’t alert you when it’s empty.” – Arabic proverb. There are many tales about how the tortoise got its cracked back. One with various versions stands out. It is the one in which the tortoise had two geese as friends. In the Buddhist scriptures, the …

Monday, 29 July, 2024 Nigeria is a drama, an entertainment. Listen to the ‘Wahala’ singer, Portable, as he wonders why anyone would want him to join this week’s proposed protests. Yes, he admits that he joined protests in the past. But he says that was when he was poor. “Now …

Any government can easily undermine its credibility if it sends mixed signals on essential policy issues or initiatives, flip-flops from one policy or strategic direction to another, and turns essential socioeconomic frameworks into a yo-yo game. The outcome and resultant consequences have  been consistent: a total erosion of integrity and …

July 28, 2024 Without moving his body, African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Akinwumi Adesina, waltzed his tall frame in a dance last week. He danced to the rhythm of Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo of Gentleman Mike Ejeagha’s trending song track, Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche. A rhythmic refrain track …

July 28, 2024 All of a sudden, President Bola Tinubu is running from pillar to post. The febrile fear with which his presidency tries to stave off the proposed August 1 hardship protest is baffling. It seems to remind one of the biblical verse in Genesis 4:7 which says, “If …

[email protected] 0705 263 1058 When two elephants fight, the grass, they say, suffers. But when cabals fight, and fight dirty like the NNPC and Aliko Dangote are doing, what happens? Dogs eat dogs and chickens gnaw at each other’s intestines. Can of worms explode in the open and cupboards full …

Nigeria is currently experiencing a significant economic downturn, largely attributed to two major fiscal decisions: the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of exchange rates. According to Charles Soludo, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the current administration had little choice but to eliminate fuel …

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is not a stranger to adversity or its more sinister cousin, sabotage.  One of the bitterest battles he has fought in the last 25 years – the cement war – was against his kinsman and founder of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu. Folks close to both …

No patriotic Nigerian should be delighted at the grave challenges facing the 650 barrels per day Dangote Refinery in Lagos. The challenges make efficient operations very difficult. Though Nigeria is a major oil exporter, the refinery commissioned early last year is now compelled to import crude from Brazil. The Nigerian …

Besides the trending old lyrics from Mike Ejeagha, “gwo gwo gwo gwom”, another issue that gained traction on social media platforms was the trademark diatribes from Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu. In his statements, he portrayed Mr. Peter Obi as an incurable anarchist without any …

[email protected] 0807 552 5533, 0803 251 0193, 0705 263 1058 Last week, Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) stirred the hornets’ nest when a letter addressed to the Lagos State branch of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria hit the newsstand. Dated Friday, July 19, 2024 and signed by its Head of Operations, …