The Kanem-Borno Empire is one of the ancient empires on the African continent. As far back as the 10th century AD, it got to the zenith and was an extremely prosperous city which attracted traders and tourists to its city walls. The reigns of Mai Idris Alooma, Mohammed El-Kanemi took the empire to its apotheosis as wealth untold poured into her.… Read More

I must confess to having been once possessed of the intellectual indolence required to embrace the asinine belief, that Nigeria’s problems, and more particularly, my interests as a “Yoruba” man, would be resolved by a breakup of the “Nigerian federation”. I was ideologically committed to the creation of a Yoruba nation, and at a minimum, I was happy to accept… Read More

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the entire world – the future of everything and the world of work, but perhaps the most visible effect of this disruption is most felt in the financial services sector, the markets and the global economy. In this regard, the banking sector is one of the most gravely impacted. It would be useful to reflect… Read More

In my last piece under the headline: Merchants Of Nation, I encapsulated our troubles in the hands of money mongers who masquerade as leaders. People whose motive in bending over to ameliorate the challenges of the vulnerable members of our society must come at a price. Everywhere you turn, their grandiloquence stares you in the face. They litter the entire… Read More

Three things are happening in quick succession. The Organised Private Sector including but not limited to Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association and the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industries,  the fledging big business Assembly in Lagos,  the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria ,jointly and severally opposed the proposal for fresh total lockdown in Lagos State in particular and Nigeria in general.The… Read More

Nigeria has always been an interesting case. It’s the richly endowed country that is also home to some of the world’s poorest . It is where sprawling mansions exist in close proximity to slums. For some unexplainable reason, we have struggled to transform the mineral and human endowment into a better quality of life for all Nigerians. Inequality has been a permanent feature of our nation, the rich-poor divide being one of the… Read More

We have been down this road many times before. “Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” have given way to permanent suffering, misery, poverty, chaos, crisis, violence, and nasty brutish life.  Purposeful government, responsible leadership, and constitutional accountability have been rejected by the Buhari imperial presidency that which democracy was explicitly designed to prevent. As 2023 sneaks upon us, it is… Read More

The news of the death of Uche Wisdom Durueke on the afternoon of 14 May, 2020 hit me with a devastating suddeness and benumbing shock. Words are not enough to adequately convey the enormity of my grief. My last communication with Durueke was on May 3, during a Facebook argument, and today, he’s no more.   Durueke was my friend… Read More

So much furore has attended the naming of Professor Gambari as chairman-designate of the steering committee of the Nigeria Delta Summit. Indeed the former External Affairs Minister and one time Ambassador/Premananet Representative to the United Nations would never have known that there was so much animus, antipathy and antagonism towards him from certain parts of the country, if he had… Read More