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Opinion

Tuesday, 17 December 2024 04:41

Niyi Osundare: The Poet as masquerade - Babafemi Ojudu

If you have ever witnessed the Ede masquerade, the Aladoko, or the Alamudu perform, you will instantly appreciate the poetry of Niyi Osundare, the world-renowned poet. Osundare hails from Ekiti, as do these mesmerizing masquerades. Had education not found him, Osundare might well have been a bearer of one of these magnificent masks—adorned with multicolored feathers and mirrors cascading from the nape to the feet—chanting profound verses with the captivating grace of tradition. The Ede masquerades are revered for their boundless knowledge, weaving chants on any subject with a voice as sonorous as a nightingale’s. Their repertoire spans reflections on…

Tuesday, 17 December 2024 04:40

Dele Farotimi: Are the guilty afraid? - Jibrin Ibrahim

There appears to be panic and deep pain in Afe Babalola’s actions since the publication and sales of the new international bestseller, Dele Farotimi’s book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System. It became a bestseller precisely because the all-powerful Babalola is determined to stop Nigerians and the international community from reading it. Apparently, no one has explained to him that the best way to get everybody to read a book is to tell them that they must not read it. Babalola has however persisted in his errors by getting a court to restrain Dele Farotimi Publishers, as well as bookshops,…

Monday, 16 December 2024 04:53

Tinubu’s taxing times - Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

A mere four years after emerging from a civil war, in 1974, Nigeria was at the beginning of an oil boom. Then, as today, the country was in the middle of a debate about fiscal federalism and revenue allocation. Unlike today, however, there were significant differences: the country was under military rule and the men leading the debate were all soldiers. In the fifty years since then, the structure of this debate and the geo-political symmetries that define it have evolved only a little. The immediate spark for the debate fifty years ago was the publication of the statutory allocations…

Sunday, 15 December 2024 04:59

Kemi Badenoch: Shettima as flutist with ‘gègè’ on his neck - Festus Adedayo

This past Monday, Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, held the fèèrè (flute) and blew it admirably. However, bystanders listening to the rhythm of his flute didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. Moyo Okediji, Assistant Professor of Art at the Wellesley College, Massachusetts, in his “Art of the Yoruba” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, (Vol. 23, No. 2) described the flute held by Shettima as a symbol of the trickster god Esu, also known as the divinity of the crossroads. According to Okediji, Esu was so powerful that he could help or hinder the craft and life of man.…

Sunday, 15 December 2024 04:58

The basic fundamentals of divine visitation - Taiwo Akinola

For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end ~ Jeremiah 29:10-11. Introduction Of a truth, God is always present with us. Albeit, there are spectacular times of supernatural visitation when God formally stops over and spends time with His people purposely to grant them heightened manifestations of His love and…

Sunday, 15 December 2024 04:53

Article of Faith: The strange ways of God - Femi Aribisala

When we come to Christ, we must forsake not only our ways but also our thoughts. Isaiah says: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:7).We must also jettison the traditions of men. Jesus berated the Pharisees for teaching: “Man-made laws instead of those from God.” (Matthew 15:9). God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, child of God, forget your logic,…

Saturday, 14 December 2024 04:48

The Dele Farotimi saga: Persecution, not prosecution - Toyin Falola

One of the tenets of a democratic society is the assurance of freedom of speech and expression for its citizens. This includes the right to speak and criticise to ensure that society does not derail in upholding its values. The test of democracy is not at the point of comfortable tolerance of these rights but in allowing everyone to, even at the greatest inconvenience, manifest the utmost freedom granted to them by law and nature. Criticism is an innate attitude. Humans criticise others and themselves, either when they achieve something or when they disagree with an act. It is not…

Friday, 13 December 2024 04:50

Why Ghana’s election matters - Azu Ishiekwene

The news from Ghana was not how John Dramani Mahama’s opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), defeated Nana Akufo-Addo’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The news was how Akufo-Addo managed to survive a full second term. Towards the end of his first and for much of his second term in office, he governed with his head on the block, just waiting for the axe to fall. His party’s loss in the December 7 presidential election was a defeat foretold. It was barely two years after Akufo-Addo assumed office in 2017 when doubts about his party’s viability began to surface.…

Thursday, 12 December 2024 04:52

Afe Babalola: Of a man and his weakness - Abimbola Adelakun

Contrary to assertions by some so-called experts who have been prattling all week that Dele Farotimi wrote what he could not logically substantiate in his book Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, this was a pre-meditated confrontation. Having depleted the legal means to get justice, he wrote to re-litigate the case in the court of public opinion. He seems calculatedly driven by the Yoruba proverb that says no one dies at the same spot they uttered blasphemy. In the time between your speaking and being punished, much can happen to change social dynamics. From the potpourri of events in the…

Thursday, 12 December 2024 04:51

That tax mentality needs reform – Justice Faloye

Value Added Tax (VAT) is a regressive tax that disproportionately affects poorer families, who pay a larger percentage of their income. Unfortunately, under President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform agenda, which aims to increase government revenue, the plan to double the VAT rate will place the highest burden on the poor. With manufacturing, employment, and income declining, the expected 100% increase in VAT receipts is primarily targeting the telecoms sector, where the poor market their goods and ideas at relatively affordable rates. The next target is bank charges, with 90% of accounts holding less than N500,000. In progressive societies that actively…

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Wednesday, 11 December 2024 04:46

The techno-realist manifesto - Nicholas Agar & Stuart Whatley

“It’s actually going to be easy to cure aging and cancer,” insists David Sinclair, a researcher on aging at Harvard University. Similarly, Elon Musk continues to claim that he will soon land humans on Mars and deploy robotaxis en masse. Major corporations have set carbon-neutrality targets based on highly optimistic forecasts about the potential of carbon-removal technologies. And, of course, many commentators now insist that “AI changes everything.” Amid such a confounding mix of hype and genuine technological marvels, are entrepreneurs, scientists, and other experts getting ahead of themselves? At the very least, they betray a strong preference for technological…

Tuesday, 10 December 2024 04:35

The wish God didn't grant Emmanuel Ayoola - Folu Olamiti

If wishes were horses, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola would have danced into his 100th birthday with joy and grace. Justice Ayoola, affectionately known as Baba, was more than just a legal luminary; he was a beacon of hope, a mentor, and a man whose presence illuminated every room he entered. He dreamed of celebrating his 100th birthday with the same vigor and grace that defined his life. While he fell just short of that milestone, his legacy continues to inspire everyone who knew him. Ayoola embodied a life full of vitality and hope, dreaming of milestones that mirrored the vigor he…

Tuesday, 10 December 2024 04:35

Dele Farotimi: Perils of unchecked power and erosion of justice in Nigeria - Emmanuel Ihim

The seduction of unchecked power is an ancient story, a tragic dance that transforms guardians of liberty into despots. History is replete with examples of leaders consumed by their pursuit of control, blinded to the bounds of morality and justice. From Nero’s Rome to Stalin’s Soviet Union, this intoxicating allure has resulted in untold suffering and oppression. In modern Nigeria, this specter rears its head again, with the arrest of prominent lawyer and activist Dele Farotimi—an alarming reminder of the perils of state overreach. Farotimi, a fearless voice against corruption and injustice, was arrested on allegations of defamation, a charge…

Monday, 09 December 2024 04:34

In the matter of Dele Farotimi before the Star Chamber - Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

Paul Anyebe was a judge of the High Court of Benue State in north-central Nigeria who had a young son with sticky fingers and a sense of adventure. It was his role as a dad that endangered his job as a judge. One night around 1983, Anyebe caught his son attempting to steal from his bedroom. In response, Anyebe pulled his gun in an effort to scare the boy. The gun went off, discharging a bullet which hit and seriously injured the boy. The Attorney-General of Benue State decided to prosecute Anyebe for attempted murder. The Penal Code applicable in…

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