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Opinion

Thursday, 25 April 2019 05:11

Fallouts from Onnoghen’s trial and conviction - Jideofor Adibe

Mr Walter Onnoghen’s nearly 100-day suspense-packed thriller with Code of Conduct Tribunal finally came to a conclusion on April 18 2019. He was found him guilty of not declaring some of his assets and removed as Chief Justice of Nigeria. The tribunal also barred him from holding public office for ten years and recommended forfeiture to government of monies in the accounts which he did not declare to Code of Conduct Bureau as he should. The former CJN has already filed notice of appeal. It is not unlikely that the case may be ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. Onnoghen’s…

Thursday, 25 April 2019 05:10

Notre Dame’s burning was an apt metaphor; and a warning - Marc A. Thiessen

Last Easter weekend, France was still reeling from the burning of the 800-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Its destruction is an apt metaphor for the devastation of Christianity across Europe — and a warning for us in the United States. At Notre Dame’s much younger sister church in Bordeaux (construction began in 1684), Easter Mass was well attended. But in his homily the priest noted that the church now has only two Sunday masses; he could remember when there were seven. And for the first time in 15 years, there was not one new priest ordained in the diocese.…

Wednesday, 24 April 2019 05:30

The return of people’s power - Obadiah Mailafia

Ultimately, it is the people that rule. That’s bad news for tyrants, demagogues, authoritarians, oligarchs, plutocrats and crooks. Sooner or later, the people will rise and demand accountability. The history of freedom is a long and brutal one. History teaches that freedom is never given; it is almost always taken by force. The first modern mass revolt in history occurred in August 1791 in the island of Saint-Domingue, renamed Haiti. Led by François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, the oppressed slaves of Haiti revolted against their French masters and took their destinies into their own hands. The Trinidadian Marxist political philosopher and historian…

Tuesday, 23 April 2019 05:10

Getting exchange rates right - Nikhil Patel

Standard calculations of a country’s real effective exchange rate (REER) ignore global value chains that spread production processes across countries. Taking this factor into account leads to more accurate REER calculations, which can have profound policy implications. The real effective exchange rate (REER) may sound arcane to non-economists, but it is one of the most important international financial indices. The REER is a summary index that tracks the difference in the prices of goods produced by a country and its trading partners. Other things being equal, an increase in a country’s REER indicates a loss of trade competitiveness. And rising…

Monday, 22 April 2019 04:38

Nigeria is heading towards Almajiri society - Dele Sobowale

“A man cannot gradually enlarge his mind as he does his house.”—Alexis De Tocqueville, 1805-1859. It is not just a man who cannot suddenly alter his mind-set as the need arises. Thousands of old men, especially, Nigerian politicians, irrespective of political affiliation, cannot expand minds that have atrophied as a result of decades of not using them to promote the collective interests of their fellow citizens. That is why today, virtually every part of Nigeria is heading rapidly towards the almajiri society. That is, a society consisting mostly of beggars and violent ones at that. Every economic and social index…

Sunday, 21 April 2019 04:05

Buhari’s second term: Looking back, and looking forward - Femi Adesina

To borrow the words of colourful First Republic politician, Mr Ozumba Mbadiwe, "come has finally come to become" for President Muhammadu Buhari, as he has won election to serve a second term in office, after a pulsating contest. The country, nay, Africa, and the world looks forward to the inauguration on May 29, 2019. What will be the priorities of the Buhari administration in second term in office? Before we look forward, let's first look back, as the future is often embedded in the past. The key to unlocking the future is usually in the palm of the past. What…

Sunday, 21 April 2019 04:04

Ajimobi and story of last-minute heists at Oyo Govt House - Festus Adedayo

Rumpus, said the report from a well-respected online medium, had erupted at the Oyo State Government House. An aide to Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State’s wife, Florence, had reportedly stolen part of an over N1billion being siphoned out of the Government House. This was March 25, 2019. Two days later, specifically on March 27, Ajimobi was subject of the medium’s cudgel again. Niyi Ajao, Special Adviser on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to Ajimobi, who “has a long history of using the Governor to dishonestly enrich himself,” had been suspended. His crime, for which penal sanction was a loss…

Sunday, 21 April 2019 04:03

Between ACU Vice Chancellor and agitating parents - Folu Olamiti

Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo, Mr Dapo Asaju, a professor and Bishop of the Anglican Church, was in the news recently in what could be described as an altercation between the university and some parents over some rules and regulations introduced by the institution to ensure discipline and smooth running of the academic engagements of its students. Ordinarily, the VC should not have been in the direct line of fire from the agitating parents over an action duly approved by the University authorities if he had stuck to the usual practice of mandating the Public Relations Unit…

Saturday, 20 April 2019 06:09

Why Jesus on the cross Is no mere symbol - Peter Wehner

During a Christmas break while I was a student at the University of Washington, I tuned in to a show that influenced the trajectory of my faith, quite by accident. It was a broadcast of an hourlong “Firing Line” interview in 1980 between William F. Buckley Jr. and Malcolm Muggeridge, the British journalist who late in life converted to Christianity. In the course of the interview, Mr. Muggeridge used a parable. Imagine that the Apostle Paul, after his Damascus Road conversion, starts off on his journey, Mr. Muggeridge said, and consults with an eminent public relations man. “I’ve got this…

Saturday, 20 April 2019 06:08

Arguments in the Nigerian Left - Edwin Madunagu

The 2019 general elections provoked undeclared and unstructured discussions and debates in the Nigerian Left. Of the various themes that can be articulated from these animated exchanges of opinions – some of which are continuing – at least three may be considered central in the history and politics of revolutionary socialist struggle in Nigeria. My interest in this article is more to help the discussions to continue – at all levels - more productively and heuristically than to take definitive positions. And I shall attempt to serve this primary interest by providing information, clarifications and reminders. I shall also recall…

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Saturday, 20 April 2019 06:07

As ‘The North’ goes under - Okey Ikechukwu

The visit to Zamfara State in 2014 was at once frightening, sobering and demoralising. Though seated in a sprawling parlour with massive chairs, we were all unconsciously in a huddled position, as the then Secretary to the State Government explained how he abandoned his farm and ranch because of cattle rustling and fear for his personal safety. Zamfara was at the mercy of the elements and it was impossible to deploy law enforcement agents, even for himself, in any meaningful way. He talked about the humiliating experience some of the men were often subjected to by the bandits. They would…

Thursday, 18 April 2019 06:35

Nigeria will not survive 2019 elections - Femi Aribisala

For those of us who had hoped against hope, the 2019 presidential election has proved to be the last straw. We are now convinced that Nigeria is a hopeless case. This country is not just a major disappointment; it is decidedly firmly on the trajectory of a future break up. Today, the silence in the Nigerian political space is deafening. Just look back to 2015 and before, when there was vibrant debate about almost everything under the sun. But now it is “siddon look.” We just had an election that was no election and more like selection. It was even…

Thursday, 18 April 2019 06:33

Of rape, Helen Paul and Osun state govt - Bola Bolawole

Ace comedian, Helen Paul, is not your mill-of-the-run personality; not only because she is acclaimed in her chosen profession or extra-ordinary in the application of the gifts and talents God gave unto her but also because she combines brains with brawn. She is brave; she is courageous, and, above all, she is public-spirited. Her “never-say-die” spirit, which saw her rise from the status of never-do-well to a star and role model should encourage and energise others in her shoes. Her story, told by herself, that she was the product of rape, someone called a “bastard” even by family members and…

Thursday, 18 April 2019 06:32

Remembering the street child - Jideofor Adibe

April 12, the day set aside since 2012 as the International Day for Street Children, has come and gone. In our dear country, with its hustles and hassles, the day went largely unnoticed, barely reported and scarcely celebrated. The International Day for Street Children is meant to call attention to the plight of children without home – variously called ‘homeless children’, ‘beggars’, ‘juvenile delinquents’ ‘street urchins’ or ‘bad kids’. They are the children, who, while their mates are being pampered elsewhere; rough it out daily with the inclement elements. During the day you can find some going through trash, begging…

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