Ns-Opinion

Opinion

Monday, 22 July 2019 06:19

Ominous clouds rumbling across Nigeria - Tatalo Alamu

Once again ominous clouds are rumbling across Nigeria. The lights are going out and may not return for a long time. It is not yet Christmas, but fireworks and huge firecrackers are abroad, dazzling and dazing in their fearsome intensity. Unlike the ominous clouds of the past, these ones are coming with a big difference. All the contradictions are coming together—political, economic, cultural, regional and spiritualat once. It is a perfect storm in Nigeria. If there is still anything worth saving about this unfortunate and tormented country, this is the time to pull back from the brink. Unfortunately, never has…

Monday, 22 July 2019 06:13

The exploitation time bomb - Jayati Ghosh

Worsening economic inequality in recent years is largely the result of policy choices that reflect the political influence and lobbying power of the rich. There is now a self-reinforcing pattern of high profits, low investment, and rising inequality – posing a threat not only to economic growth, but also to democracy. Since reducing inequality became an official goalof the international community, income disparities have widened. This trend, typically blamed on trade liberalization and technological advances that have weakened the bargaining power of labor vis-à-viscapital, has generated a political backlash in many countries, with voters blaming their economic plight on “others”…

Sunday, 21 July 2019 03:36

A “technically” incompetent Chief Justice of Nigeria - Farooq Kperogi

A trending video clip of the senate confirmation hearing of Chief Justice of Nigeria Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad where he betrayed mortifying ignorance of the meaning of the term “technicality” aggrandises the point I made in my April 20, 2019 column titled “Atiku’s Citizenship and Buhari’s Illiterate Lawyers” about Buhari’s love affair with incompetence and mediocrity. I noted that, “The law of attraction says like attracts like, which explains why Muhammadu Buhari is a magnet for mediocrities. Almost all his appointees are, like him, underwhelming, intellectually incurious rubes.” Justice Tanko is the latest instantiation of Buhari’s passion for attracting and elevating…

Sunday, 21 July 2019 03:35

Dead burying their dead and el-Rufai’s dishonest demographics - Festus Adedayo

Tragedy struck when he was assassinated mid-life in 1987. However, the 43 years life of Jamaican reggae music star, Peter MclnTosh, otherwise known as Peter Tosh, put a considerable weight on existence over and above metaphysics. No, this is not an avenue to venerate the poetry in Tosh’s songs, his philosophy of equality of skin pigmentation and equal rights for all races, as well as his unrepentant Black-centrism. His belief that immediately a man transmits mortality for immortality, humanity should bother less about his perishable remains is what I am engaged with in this piece. Tosh demonstrated this in Burial,…

Sunday, 21 July 2019 03:34

Is immortality worth it? - Martin Rees

Almost everyone would welcome an extension of their healthy lifespan, and some scientists are looking at increasingly extreme ways to achieve that. But any major breakthrough in this area could have unwanted and far-reaching demographic, social, and economic implications. Humans have long sought the elixir of youth, so it is not surprising that even non-scientists closely follow the latest research into aging. But is what most people consider simply a fact of life actually a “disease” that can be cured? Or is there some insurmountable limit to the lifespan of human bodies? Of course, almost everyone would welcome an extension…

Friday, 19 July 2019 04:29

The president and his hoodlums - Dare Babarinsa

Next week, Mrs Funke Olakunrin, beloved daughter of Mr Reuben Fasoranti, would be buried in Akure, Ondo State capital. Last week, Funke was alive and well. This week, she is in the mortuary. Next week, she is in the grave. She was a victim. We are all victims. Last Friday, Funke was returning from Akure, where her father, 93-year-old leader of Afenifere, the mainstream Yoruba political and cultural movement, lives. She had a choice of passing through Ilesha and Ibadan on her way to Lagos, but the road between Ilesha and Ibadan is rough and traffics oftentimes snarl-up in Ibadan.…

Wednesday, 17 July 2019 05:30

Obasanjo, Soyinka, others should enjoy their Buhari, quietly - Lere Olayinka

I can excuse 40 year old Nigerians and below for voting Buhari in 2015 because they never really experienced a General Buhari between 1984 and 1985. Unlike the likes of former president, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo and Nobel laureate, Mr Wole Soyinka who witnessed what Mr Buhari turned Nigeria to within one year as Military Head of State and still supported him in 2015 just because they hated former President, Mr Goodluck Jonathan. As at December 31, 1983 that Buhari truncated democracy and forced himself on Nigeria, the entire States in the Southwest, including Kwara State had FREE EDUCATION and FREE…

Wednesday, 17 July 2019 05:29

Nduka Obaigbena at 60: reading the heart of his art - Aliu Akoshile

Only few Nigerians have earned a national acclaim with their first names. Those who are old enough still will remember the late Nigeria’s former Head of State, Mr Ramat Mohammed. He was popularly known by his first name, Murtala. Even after he was assassinated in an abortive military coup in 1976, the name Murtala has remained glued to our memory. In that category is the late ebullient human-rights lawyer, Mr Fawehinmi. His first name, Gani, commanded a cult of followers across Nigeria. As a matter of novelty, a mere mention of Gani during the military era was like a call…

Wednesday, 17 July 2019 05:28

What’s driving populism? - Dani Rodrik

Is it culture or economics? That question frames much of the debate about contemporary populism. Are Donald Trump’s presidency, Brexit, and the rise of right-wing nativist political parties in continental Europe the consequence of a deepening rift in values between social conservatives and social liberals, with the former having thrown their support behind xenophobic, ethno-nationalist, authoritarian politicians? Or do they reflect many voters’ economic anxiety and insecurity, fueled by financial crises, austerity, and globalization? Much depends on the answer. If authoritarian populism is rooted in economics, then the appropriate remedy is a populism of another kind – targeting economic injustice…

Tuesday, 16 July 2019 04:33

Why you gain nothing from ethnic or religious bias - Pat Utomi

I'm a Christian from Niger Delta, but most of the things I've ever achieved occurred through the help of non-Christians and non-Niger Deltans. 1. I was actually looking for a way to get a banking license for a wealthy Nigerian; so I approached one Fulani prince whom I've never met before. After telling him my mission, he told me that I should register my own bank instead of being another person's agent for registering banks. I was shocked, wondering how an ordinary me will be able to afford the process of owning a bank. The Fulani prince told me that…

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Monday, 15 July 2019 05:01

As herdsmen become ‘the only criminals in Nigeria’ - Charles Kaye Okoye

Fasoranti's daughter... The first person that broke her death to the press was Yinka Odumakin. "She was killed by SUSPECTED herdsmen." Yinka Odumakin says an eye-witness told him. What does Yinka do after informing the press? He picks up the same phone and calls his good friend and brother, Femi-Fani Kayode, to tell him that the Fulani herdsmen had done it again. This time, even, to a daughter of a prominent elder. Fani-Kayode quickly calls the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland (the defender of the Yorubaland), Gani Adams, who himself is out of the country and pleads with him to…

Monday, 15 July 2019 04:57

The art of wait and see - Keyu Jin

Following yet another "truce" between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Sino-American negotiations over trade, technology, and related issues appear to be back on. But those hoping for a respite in the escalating rivalry should not hold their breath. Those now hoping for an eventual trade deal between China and the United States should not hold their breath. Contrary to what US President Donald Trump seems to think, the Chinese have not reached their wits’ end, and will not suddenly accede to his demands. A successful negotiation usually requires that each side understand the other’s perspective. One…

Sunday, 14 July 2019 05:43

Fasoranti and rise of Nigeria’s un-Nigerian President - Festus Adedayo

The killing on Friday of the daughter of Mr Reuben Fasoranti, 94-year old leader of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba group, may yet be throwing up two apparent equations in a post-Fulani herdsmen-sympathetic Nigerian leadership which may begin in 2023. The first is that, President Muhammadu Buhari may be the last Nigerian president. We will get so riled as a people by this daily bloodshed inflicted on us by an evading army of bloodthirsty Fulani nomads, sauced by Buhari’s obvious unpretentious Fulani leader leadership of Nigeria, that the hurt regions will demand, with a baffling stubbornness, their right to go their different…

Saturday, 13 July 2019 05:04

Who speaks for the Yoruba in the killing fields of Nigeria today? - Femi Aribisala

Bola Tinubu, Yemi Osinbajo and other APC opportunists can no longer speak for the Yorubas in Nigeria. President Buhari cares for his people. But although he is president of Nigeria, his people are not the people of Nigeria. His people are the Fulanis in particular, and Northern Nigerians in general. That is the token of a “good politician.” A good politician promotes the interests of his people. But what happens to members of the president’s party who are neither Fulani nor Northern Nigerians? Can they also care for their people as the president does for his, and at the same…

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