Tag: Opinion

Writing this tribute is painful because I had intended to celebrate Innocent Chukwuma with a eulogy when he left Ford Foundation as Regional Director for West Africa in December 2020, but life got in the way and I kept pushing it. The plan was to recognize his pioneering efforts in Nigeria’s civic space and his contributions to entrenching democracy in Nigeria, including his fervent support for civic organizations and young emerging… Read More

Nigeria is at a tempestuous crossroads. It will be a failed attempt at casuistry to play down the multi-pronged encumbrances the country is contending with. All is not well. It appears when attention is turned to one problem, another irritation materialises angling for notice. Nigeria has never been this tried and tested by in situ tribulations since the return of… Read More

Tuesday, March 30, 2021, General Muhammadu Buhari for the 12th time jetted to London, UK for “routine medical check up.” Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu said it was unnecessary for Buhari to transmit power to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. “He (Buhari) will continue from wherever he is,” says Shehu. We have been here before. Nothing is new in Nigeria, a… Read More

On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to the United Kingdom for a “routine medical check-up”.  Expectedly, the news generated controversies and outrages amongst Nigerians who believe the President acted immorally and illegally by embarking on a foreign medical trip at a time the medical sector of the country is in a shameful mess. While a good number of Nigerians defended… Read More

Comrade Yinka Odumakin’s death gives us pause. It makes us stop and reevaluate our lives and values. It makes us think how much more we can do with our time and our resources.  Around 5 am US local Eastern Standard Time, while surfing the net for the latest headlines, my wife woke me up with the shocking news: “Yinka is… Read More

We know how it is, very young children just naturally want to tell things as they are. They will tell their parents the bad thing that big brother did. They will see someone who looks different and go up to them to ask them why they are different.  Little children are curious about the world and, it is not a selfish curiosity,… Read More

Recently the former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, marked his 69th birthday with pomp and pageantry. From Kaduna to Kano Tinubu was celebrated by political friends and well-wishers. Back home in Lagos, his wife, Oluremi Tinubu, a Senator of the Federal Republic, ensured that guests at Bourdillon… Read More

Brazil has proved a disaster in the management of COVID-19, but there are other areas where we can use their examples.  Like what to do about failing refineries. This hot-button topic returned to the front burner after the Nigerian government recently announced plans to repair the Port Harcourt Refinery.  That refinery and the ones in Warri and Kaduna have a… Read More

Never let a good crisis go to waste. This statement, often attributed to Winston Churchill, bears much truth that should come to bear at this moment. After the crisis of the second world war came the rapid innovations that brought to the world; satellites, radars, jet engines, and so on. The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that has revealed the… Read More

Psychasthenia, obsessive-compulsive-disorders, compulsions, nervous breakdowns, obsessions, unreasonable fears or any other psychological disorder. It seems almost inevitable that in this day and age most of the world is on the verge of one of these universal conditions. With all sorts of challenges worldwide; the pandemic, the lockdowns, the anti-vaccers, the economy, the immorality, the wars, the intolerance and the conspiracies,… Read More