I was at Oke Agbe, Akoko North West in Ondo state home to business mogul Otunba Solomon Oladunni and the late Chief Rufus Giwa where I was Guest Speaker and Special guest of honour at the commissioning of one of the 50 Mega schools built by the Mimiko administration. Each of the schools with capacity for 550 pupils provides conducive learning environment with contemporary facilities for the learners. The facilities include among others: computer laboratories, modern library, sick bay, and recreational facilities with magnetic boards. Primary school children clad in uniforms freely provided by government were seen working dexterously with…

In garden talks and beer parlour political conversations, one often constantly hears one side charging the other: “Please let’s put sentiments aside and be patriotic here”. Such admonitions are fairly common when Nigerians of different political, ethnic and religious persuasions engage in political conversations. Over time, I have come to believe that the concept of ‘patriotism’ is not neutral in such conversations but often a veneer used by the contending groups to gain mileage during arguments. In this reflection therefore, I will interrogate the notion of ‘patriotic Nigerian’, and how the identity of the ‘patriotic Nigerian’ interfaces with other identities…