Category: Opinion

Osun State is at a historic crossroads and must make a decisive choice on August 15. The state must either continue on the path of socioeconomic inertia or take a path less taken and dare to break the chain.   In the conventional wisdom, Osun should be doing so much better. It has the natural positioning of being surrounded by six adjoining states. A strategic imperative should have been to act as a feeder to those six neighbouring states, all of which have – within the Nigerian context – an…

Although, I am not so knowledgeable about aviation, I know it’s a capital intensive venture. So, I do not expect every state to own airport and airlines. Though states like Lagos can actually have an additional airport on the Island and it will be sustainable. Just like having a regional airline for the South East and South South geopolitical zones looks sustainable. The story of Overland Airways is telling about how airlines can create a regional niche. Another fantastic story I particularly revel is Ibom Air. May it grow in…

Nigeria’s national security architecture has, for decades, operated on a conceptual contradiction that has gone largely unnoticed in public discourse. While the country officially recognises and routinely refers to the office of the “National Security Adviser” (NSA), the law establishing the framework for intelligence coordination in Nigeria does not create any such office.   Instead, the extant law which is the National Security Agencies Act establishes an office known as the “Co-ordinator on National Security.” This statutory office, created under Section 4 of the Act, is vested with broad powers…

It is with profound deep sense of historical responsibility that I have to share felicitations with my compatriots today on this momentous occasion marking the centenary of Pa Reuben Fasoranti who was born on May 11, 1926 — a man whose life, over the span of a century, has come to embody discipline, moral clarity, and an unwavering commitment to the ideals that define the Yoruba nation. A hundred years in the life of such a man is not merely a passage of time; it is a living archive of…

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. All praise is due to Allah, who has commanded fidelity and trustworthiness, and has forbidden treachery and betrayal. I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship but Allah alone, without partner—Glory be to Him—“He does not guide the plan of the treacherous” (Qurʾan, 12:52). And I bear witness that our master and Prophet Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, the truthful and trustworthy. O Allah, send blessings, peace, and grace upon him, his family,…

A recent video of Senator Adams Oshiomhole praising Senate President Godswill Akpabio has put the spotlight back on the 10th National Assembly. In the clip, Oshiomhole called Akpabio’s leadership exceptional. He said the Senate President has brought politicians from opposition parties into the APC without threats, pressure, or public fights.   According to Oshiomhole, people who used to be fierce opponents are now joining the APC willingly because of the atmosphere Akpabio has created. He even joked that Akpabio deserves a Guinness World Record for pulling off these political shifts…

Yesterday marked more than the anniversary of your birth. It was a reminder of the lasting impact you have made on our society and your steadfast commitment to humanity. The world is better because you are in it.   _“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”_ You live this truth. Each time you rise, you lift others with you. Your hands have wiped tears. Your vision has created opportunities. Your sacrifice has rewritten the futures of countless people who had…

Monday morning on the pulpit can be very surreal. Today’s lesson is from Camara Laye’s ‘A Dream of Africa’, a 1966 novel of prophecy, the black man and his future. A young man called Fatoman returns for a two-week vacation in Guinea after six years of exile in Paris. He returns to a country whose idea of mystery and power “are no longer to be found where they used to be”; a nation badly fissured by violent partisan politics.   Crestfallen, he goes to his goldsmith father who has lost…

As part of her moves to consolidate women and girls emancipation, Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs under the leadership of the Senior Special Assistant to the President, SSAP SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope -Adefulire created an enabling environment not only to chart a new course towards achieving it as part of its goals in the UN programs, that highlighted women and girls emancipation.   As the life wire of families , the attention of women and girls are been prioritised globally and domesticated in line with the 17 goals of SDGs ,…

William Shakespeare, in Othello, warned of the destructive power of envy and manipulation when he wrote: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” Across history, enemies have often thrived by sowing discord among friends, destroying noble causes and wrecking enduring relationships. The tragic crisis between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola remains one of the most painful examples in Yoruba political history.   A very deep political analyst told me on Friday that he believed both…