Category: Opinions

You may not like their reckless consumption of drugs, the airs they put on as “stars” and the pumped-up peacock ego sometimes exhibited by them at their apogee of stardom. The reality, however, is that, popular culture musicians, indigenous African musicians, that is, and even Africanist musicians among them, are prophets of some sorts. The ones who consume cannabis among… Read More

I remember in 1993 when as an eight-year-old starry-eyed lad, I was introduced to partisan politics. My father belonged to the then National Republican Convention (NRC) and he never told me to go and play outside when his political associates sauntered into our house for meetings. As the child, who was saddled with the responsibility of purchasing newspapers for him,… Read More

The global condemnation of the death of George Floyd, one of the latest in a constellation of officer-involved deaths of unarmed civilians, has grown into a social movement for disbanding or defunding police.  At the far end of the debate, there are those calling for abolishing the police altogether. Little consideration is given to what may occupy the ensuing vacuum. On the other hand,… Read More

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Democracy Day speech is a good example of “newspeak” in Gorge Orwell’s 1984 dystopian classic. In 1984, Orwell explains how dictators use “newspeak” language to manipulate their citizens.  “Newspeak” says Orwell, is a form of brainless speaking that enables garbage to be uttered convincingly. Going by Orwell’s theory, informed and rational Nigerians should take Democracy Day speech by… Read More

Nigerian humanist, Mubarak Bala, who was arrested on April 28 for allegedly making posts on Facebook that were critical of the prophet of Islam has yet to be formally charged. Detained for over 40 days, his situation has patently become a case of justice denied. Why do I say so? Mr. Bala was arrested in Kaduna in April and was… Read More

The disqualification of Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo State, from participating in the governorship primary poll of the All Progressives Congress fixed for June 22 did not come as a shock to me and I’m sure to many others. Obaseki saw this coming when he said he would not be treated fairly by the screening panel which was set up… Read More

One of the many contraptions that have defied contrivance and evolution in Nigeria is our politics. We still practise the basest, vilest and crudest kind of politics. In fact, there is a more transparent and disciplined political system in the animal kingdom than there is in our country.  Some studies have shown that baboons have an ordered democratic system –… Read More

This reflection relates to the recent murder of George Floyd and the emerging consequences of this for all of humanity. Not because George Floyd was a saint – actually he was a human being with good and bad parts, but because, somehow, it captures the deep flaws of what we have been masquerading for generations. And what have we been masquerading? We… Read More

Before 9am on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, the magnificent worship center of The Fountain of Praise in Houston, Texas,  has long lines of people. The lines extend outside the premises of the venue for the celebration of the life of George Floyd. He was killed with the knee of a Minneapolis police officer choking  his neck for more than 8… Read More

As we celebrate another anniversary of June 12, now for the first time, at the national level, it’s perhaps the most auspicious moment to do a critical assessment of our journey on the democratic road. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the fairest democratic election in the annals of our national democratic electoral process. That election was a watershed… Read More