Month: July 2024

This must be a particularly thoughtful moment for Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, and world acclaimed novelist. This is not because the man is ageing. Rather, it is because the atmosphere of his familiar turf, human rights activism, is cloudy and, its future, uncertain. Soyinka has paid life its dues and he must be happy that the society, to which he has devoted so much, is giving him so much in return. When he once tagged this generation a wasted one, not many people liked his guts; quite a good number…

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy Will be done; on Earth as it is in heaven.   Give us this day, our daily bread.   And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not unto temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is The Kingdom, The Power and Glory, for ever and ever. Amen.   We all need to pray in Nigeria now as the ship of state is dangerously tottering on the…

At the June 12 memorial a few weeks ago, Senator Shehu Sani took a bold stance to describe President Tinubu as a father of protesters; it’s a flower for their sacrifices during the pro-democracy struggles in the most dangerous time to be a government critic. This episode is a reminder for those who’ve made a transition from demanding essential public services from the government to being in charge of providing them, and it’s a necessary mirror for each of us.   Those of us who grew through the tradition of…

On a bright, randy day in Lagos in the year 2015, a judge hurriedly used the law to dissolve a troubled marriage. Three months later, the woman was discovered impregnated by the tender-hearted judge. I pray that won’t be the case with the benevolent presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigeria’s local governments.   Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, said “the closer the collapse of the Empire, the crazier its laws are.” He is also credited with saying that “the more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.” These…

Justice Ibrahim Kolapo Gambari, JCA became the Emir of Ilorin in August 1995 and decreed the ‘Kolapo’ in his name abolished. He said he should thenceforth be known and called Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari; all former documents remain valid. He gave no reason for his decision but not a few of us thought it was his way of hiding the Yoruba content in the bloodstream of the House of Shehu Alimi, his Fulani roots. When Emir Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari took that unusual, surprising step, little did he know that the day would…

With Nigeria’s National Assembly at it’s 10th lap , 25 years down the line , after the celebration of the silver jubilee on May , 29 , 2024, the desire to put in place adequate and quality health care services for staffers of the National Assembly has been on the drawing board.   This is at the background of the growing population of the National Assembly which included the 109 Senators and 360 members of the Federal House of Representatives including the over 4000 legislative aides attached to the members…

Nigeria is held down by economic losses and threats to lives due to the perennial insufficiency in public power supply. According to a report, “what Nigerians spend on self-generation of power – on fuelling and servicing their generators – is N16.5 trillion” yearly. Imagine the economic outcomes of investing this sum elsewhere. Yet, the federal government is seemingly indifferent.   Though there have been successive attempts the power sector is still yearning for robust interventions.   The latest was the privatization of the generation and distribution segments of the electricity…