Category: Leaders

Introduction While there has been much talk on insulting the prophet of Islam, there has not bpeen enough focus on Islam based phobias, that is, strands of hatred that draw from Islamic beliefs and practices, texts, and traditions. In this piece, I use the story of Gandoki and some verses from the Quran to highlight some jihadist narratives and phobias.… Read More

Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire, has been in hot water lately. It’s hard to sympathise with him because he jumped into the cauldron with his eyes open, wearing his trademark black cap. And not once. The first time was when Ehanire appeared before the House of Representatives to answer questions about the welfare of medical personnel on the frontline of the… Read More

Tomorrow, May 29, 2020, is what is referred to in Nigeria as “Democracy Day.” It is usually a welcome excuse for great celebrations, chest-beating and wild claims about humongous achievements, many of which exist only in the imagination of the mostly failed leaders.  Even the term “Democracy Day” is such an excruciating irony in a country where almost all the features that distinguish democratic… Read More

Look at the picture attached to this article. Yes! You. The young man and woman in my generation.  You should be familiar with that sheet and the handwriting on it by now. If you are, then you can continue reading this piece.  If you are not, a faint search on Google using the keywords- “Obasa, spending, loots” will bring you… Read More

Since 27th February when Nigeria confirmed its first case of Coronavirus, there have been varied efforts to inform and educate citizens on the disease and its prevention. At the fore of these efforts to make information available to Nigerians was the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control mainly through social media and predominantly in English language. The NCDC over this period… Read More

If one should go by the prevailing substantive allegations of official misconduct about Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, his predecessor, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, would be a saint. That notwithstanding, just like his predecessor, Obasa does not care about other people; he only cares about himself. He displays this wanton attitude by spending billions of naira every… Read More

While countries all over the world including Nigeria are currently battling with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, there are other environmental disasters throwing punches on the faces of Nigerian citizens on a regular basis. One of these environmental disasters is the incessant building collapse. The cases of building collapse have become a common phenomenon in recent years in major cities of… Read More

It is not good news that security forces have killed more Nigerians than COVID-19 in the last eight weeks of lockdown. Premium Times reported a pregnant woman died at the police barrier (checkpoint) under the pretence of enforcing a COVID-19 curfew. The police would not allow the woman to be taken to the hospital until the woman died in their presence—incidents of… Read More

This year’s Eid-al-Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast for 29 or 30 days, in observance of one of the Five Pillars of Islam, was celebrated on Saturday and Sunday May 23/24, but it was a different kind of Eid. It was sombre, low key, and completely over-shadowed by the COVID-19… Read More

It is a month today since the police arrested Nigerian atheist, Mubarak Bala. It is still difficult to comprehend how the police had in the past four weeks connived with the petitioners to deny Mr. Bala his basic human rights. The petitioners and their sponsors have been in a triumphant mood, celebrating the arrest and illegal detention of a person… Read More