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Opinion

Sunday, 10 May 2020 04:18

Unraveling the puzzles of earthly life (4) - Kola Oyefeso

In the previous series, we touched on quite a number of issues that man is faced with in the earthly life. They are so many and if one has to write a book on them, however voluminous such book is, he wouldn't have written enough. My take therefore is, those problems will always confound us, especially the reality of human being, of the world, object of human life, reality of time and space, problem of morality, good and evil, how really free are we, impracticality of freewill and omniscient God, why was the world created, who created the world, the…

Friday, 08 May 2020 05:29

The fascist politics of the pandemic - Federico Finchelstein & Jason Stanley

There is nothing like a pandemic to bring out the fascist ideology in countries under far-right rule. In the world's three largest democracies, national leaders are using the COVID-19 crisis to wage war on immigrants and minorities, while testing the limits of common sense. In stark contrast to the effective leadership shown by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Singapore’s autocratic technocracy, the world’s far-right nationalists have met the COVID-19 crisis with something not seen in decades: the fascist politics of disease. And no one typifies this brand of politics better than Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro.…

Thursday, 07 May 2020 04:53

In ‘defence’ of Bill Gates - Bola Bolawole

Bill and Melinda Gates and or their Foundation have been in the news for the wrong reasons. There are lots of conspiracy theories swirling around the Gates; apart from the Chinese, I do not think there is anyone as vilified as the Gates today. The other day, Bill was attacked in broad daylight in a European country. The Chinese are accused of having manufactured coronavirus in a laboratory in one of their cities, Wuham; of having been careless with it, thus letting the virus escape from the laboratory into the world; and of not alerting the world on time of…

Thursday, 07 May 2020 04:49

Reading the Covid-19 market - Jim O’Neill

There is no telling whether equity markets are correct in defying the popular narrative about a coming Great Depression-scale downturn. Investors may be clinging to irrational hopes, or they may be betting that reports of the death of globalization have been greatly exaggerated. Though I have spent nearly 40 years studying financial markets, I find them as bewildering, complex, and fascinating as ever. At the time of this writing, the most widely watched equity index, the S&P 500, is trading at around 2,878, where it closed on April 27 (a Monday). That was its highest close in six weeks, putting…

Wednesday, 06 May 2020 05:22

What about other diseases? - Kayode Komolafe

The hectic and draining schedules of the medical workforce in this season of gloom can only be imagined by those outside the realm of healthcare. Like George Ehusani, a Catholic Reverend Father, said in a recent homily, medical workers are at risk from infection as they care for patients suffering from a highly infectious disease such as Covid-19. It’s a risk taken on behalf of our collective humanity. According to the Catholic priest, the activities of medical personnel in this period of public health emergency amount to a deep expression of the Biblical love for fellow human beings because the…

Wednesday, 06 May 2020 05:21

My daddy, my best friend - Aisha Abba Kyari

On 17th April, 2020, my world came crashing down and my heart shattered into a billion pieces. Upon receiving the news of my father’s passing, I immediately felt the most excruciating pain – a pain I would not wish on my worst enemy. My biggest fear in the world had materialised. Most people knew my dad as the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. As it is with many public servants, there was much more to him than the signature white kaftan and red cap by which he came to be recognised. He was a most remarkable husband to…

Wednesday, 06 May 2020 05:18

A pledge for Africa - Abiy Ahmed

In 34 of Sub-Saharan Africa’s 45 countries, annual per capita health spending is below $200, and measures like lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and even frequent handwashing to combat Covid-19 are nearly impossible to implement. This simple fact underscores the urgent need for the Global Health Pledging Conference on May 4. The world will not be free of the Covid-19 pandemic until all countries are free of the coronavirus that causes it. This simple fact underscores the urgent need for the Global Health Pledging Conference to be held on May 4. Only by acting now to support developing countries’ ability to combat…

Tuesday, 05 May 2020 05:06

All aboard…! Steering Nigeria’s Covid-19 action train - Fola Adeola

The first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Nigeria on the 27th of February 2020. Just a little over two months ago and, yet, it feels like a lifetime has elapsed. The world we lived in then is so much different from the one we are about to be released into, as the lockdown restrictions are lifted. When the lockdown was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 27th of March, there were 65 confirmed cases in the country and the President’s Chief of Staff had just tested positive for the virus. Today, we have confirmed over 2,000 cases, and…

Tuesday, 05 May 2020 05:05

Coronavirus sets balancing act between science, politics

Should science alone dictate policy on how to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic? Governments worldwide are grappling with this thorny question as they loosen lockdowns that have tested the tensile strength of communities and economies alike. Stay-at-home orders have clearly saved lives by reducing the number of new Covid-19 patients streaming into overwhelmed hospitals. But measures to protect health have come at a steep economic and social cost. Even among scientists, opinions are divided. "If we want Covid-19 to be a bad memory and not a current nightmare, scientific advice must be prioritised in all political decisions, period," said Sara…

Tuesday, 05 May 2020 05:02

The coming Greater Depression of the 2020s - Nouriel Roubini

While there is never a good time for a pandemic, the Covid-19 crisis has arrived at a particularly bad moment for the global economy. The world has long been drifting into a perfect storm of financial, political, socioeconomic, and environmental risks, all of which are now growing even more acute. After the 2007-09 financial crisis, the imbalances and risks pervading the global economy were exacerbated by policy mistakes. So, rather than address the structural problems that the financial collapse and ensuing recession revealed, governments mostly kicked the can down the road, creating major downside risks that made another crisis inevitable.…

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Monday, 04 May 2020 05:38

UNPO: First step towards Yoruba sovereignty? - Bola Bolawole

Last week news broke that the Yoruba nation has been admitted into the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) as its 45th member. President of the Yoruba World Congress (YMC), emeritus professor of History and African Studies, Banji Akintoye, gleefully made the announcement in a press statement. As if in competition, the Ralph Uwazuruike-led Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) two days later also announced the admission of Biafra into the same UNPO as its 46th member, bringing into remembrance the “bad belle” in some quarters when, in 1986, Wole Soyinka, a Yoruba, became the…

Monday, 04 May 2020 05:35

From lockdown to lock-in - Simon Johnson

Gone are the days of short international travel, or long trips visiting multiple countries. In the absence of universal vaccination against the coronavirus, tighter constraints on human mobility will presumably remain in place – perhaps for a long time. At first glance, Covid-19 seemed to be a shared global experience, in terms of both the incidence of the disease and how countries responded. But now it has become clear that countries are diverging significantly in terms of strategy and outcomes. This means that, as the world exits from lockdowns, it will enter another difficult phase: Lock-ins that severely limit international…

Sunday, 03 May 2020 05:48

Buhari sacks NEMA DG, appoints replacement

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Mustapha Maihaja. No reason was given for the sack which was announced in a statement by Mr Willie Bassey, Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Bassey also announced the appointment of Mr Muhammadu Muhammed as the new NEMA chief. Muhammed is a retired air vice marshal. Read Mr Bassey’s full statement below. PRESS RELEASE APPOINTMENT OF MUHAMMADU ALHAJI MUHAMMED AS NEW DG OF NEMA President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Muhammadu Alhaji Muhammed as the new Director-General…

Sunday, 03 May 2020 05:42

Covid-19 and the classroom: Open schools first

Leader, The Economist Covid-19 has shut the world’s schools. Three in four children live in countries where all classrooms are closed. The disruption is unprecedented. Unless it ends soon, its effect on young minds could be devastating. During some epidemics keeping children at home is wise; they are efficient spreaders of diseases such as seasonal flu. However, they appear to be less prone to catching and passing on covid-19. Closing schools may bring some benefit in slowing the spread of the disease, but less than other measures. Against this are stacked the heavy costs to children’s development, to their parents…

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