It’s been quite a while since I took a small break.But I’m getting much pressure to express my take.After so much thought, I’ve decided to awake.In this Nigerian equation, I too, have a stake.To keep ‘Schtum’ on what’s happening is a huge mistake.We must all work together so this nation won’t break.While we may have a leader as white as [...]
It was sometime in late 1991. Uniformed soldiers were still in power in Nigeria. Somewhere in Orlu, in the then Imo State, kinsmen called a meeting with a rather curious agenda. They were worried that one of their sons, a young lawyer, was wasting his talents on opposing military rule and taking government to court, when soldiers wielded power through [...]
In case you missed it, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an advocacy group, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint Muslim ministers from five south-west states when he constitutes his cabinet for his second term. Why? The group says because five of the south-west governors would be Christians, that is the way to go — to address the “marginalisation of [...]
Lagos, Nigeria in the 2019 Nigerian general elections had a lot in common with the Nigerian 1964 federal elections. The unifying factor between the two elections was how the ethnicities of both Igbo and Yoruba were deplored as a noticeable weapon of fighting elections. Ethnic fissures became dominant catchphrases in political campaigns of the two political periods with demonization of [...]
The major and foremost reason there is always so much tension, crisis and bloodshed in our polity during elections is because governance in Nigeria is a multi-trillion naira industry for a few, not a tool for national development. Sadly, it is the only industry in Nigeria that is working. Also, it is the only industry that can make you a [...]
Ademola Adeleke’s victory at the Election Petition Tribunal is a locus classicus for democracy. It jogs the cerebral cortex and revivifies cautious hope in the judiciary. But really, the victory is just one small step to the archipelago of power in Osun state for the "dancing senator".In 2016, about 81 elections, conducted during the 2015 general election, were upturned by [...]
When it dawned on him that he was on his way to losing his bid for re-election as governor of Ekiti State in 2014 before the official pronouncement by the electoral umpire, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi delivered his concession speech to the people of Ekiti State--and the world at large--precisely on Sunday, June 22, 2014. In the speech, the then [...]
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children” – Nelson Mandela.I did not think I would write about Pius Adesanmi. No, it’s even worse than that, I have battled with myself and resisted every temptation to write about the man with whom I sat in some undergraduate classes and graduated [...]
Occasionally, one wonders the way we are configured in this part of the world. Lest I’m accused of subtle racism, this is not affirming that we’re inferior, no, after all our compatriots have gone on to do greater things outside these shores just as some are forging ahead here even with the rot around us.Two pictures that made the rounds [...]
On election day for governors in 29 States and State Houses of Assembly seats on Saturday March 9, 2019, my family and I were having a late breakfast at about noon and Trace Naija, the popular music channel on DSTV, was on and featuring songs by top Nigerian artistes. Then I popped this question to no one in particular: who [...]
