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Opinion

Thursday, 02 May 2024 04:34

The only sin Yahaya Bello committed - Abimbola Adelakun

Anti-graft agency Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is taunting us with another emotional roller-coaster. They are asking us to join them in navel-gazing over another sensational case of thievery by a politician. We will do that for weeks (or months) and nothing else. Meanwhile, the said politician will be rehabilitated—probably appointed to a crucial position—in contempt of their ongoing case with the EFCC. One needs not be clairvoyant to say the latest graft case, involving ex-Kogi governor Yahaya Bello, is another ploy by the EFCC to titillate a public that still allows itself to be amused by jokes that lack…

Tuesday, 30 April 2024 04:45

Mohammed Kuta Yahaya: Encounters and reflections - Toyin Falola

On April 18th, 2024, I ran into Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, a distinguished professor of Agricultural Extension, at the airport in Abuja; he was going to Ibadan, and I was on the way to Sokoto. He demonstrated the respectful side of him, as he always does whenever we meet, three times in recent times at University Convocations. He facilitated my appointment as a Professor Emeritus at one of the universities in Niger State. It was at Abuja he also showed his respected side of him when he told me that he would be receiving the Fellowship Award from the National Executive…

Sunday, 28 April 2024 04:41

The vile game of the Ibadan separatists, Akure renegades, and Abuja prebendalists - Justice Faloye

The Odua Separatists fiasco in Ibadan is reflective of the politics of tribe that brought President Bola Tinubu to power. The politics of tribe and prebendalism whereby the psuedo elites use tribalism to gain economic and political power for self aggrandizement. Normally, the world runs on civilizationism whereby tribes that share common genetic and cultural origins unite in pursuit of collective aspirations based on civilizational values and survival. However, coloniality limits elites of former colonies to Pan Tribalistic perspectives unable to contest against civilizational blocs, and therefore frustrated into desperate, illegal, immoral and defeatist means to achieve their selfish goals.…

Sunday, 28 April 2024 04:40

The marabouts of Yahaya Bello - Festus Adedayo

The enchanter recited the incantation with utmost fury: “River Niger and River Benue, the confluence is in Kogi State. Except say River Niger and River Benue no come meet for Kogi; if River Niger and River Benue come meet for Kogi, dem no go fit arrest Bello... Dem dey use EFCC pursue am, dem no go succeed o. Dem go lay siege for im house for Abuja… Except say I no be born of Igala kingdom… EFCC dey front, you dey back; you dey back, dem dey front; you dey left, dem dey right; you dey right, dem dey left;…

Sunday, 28 April 2024 04:39

Purity in our quest for power and durable possessions - Taiwo Akinola

LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart ~ Psalms 15:1-2. Introduction Man today is in a constant, frantic and insatiable search for power. This is directly connected to the systems of our present world, wherein the powerless is treated as a hopeless pauper. Hence, the constant striving to accumulate more. Albeit, what we need is real power to become better versions of ourselves, make true progress and fulfill our assignments on earth. But such power can only be accessed…

Sunday, 28 April 2024 04:37

Article of Faith: Fulfilling God’s prophecies (2) - Femi Aribisala

The Lord told me a story. A man was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was attacked by armed robbers. They stripped him of his belongings and beat him black and blue. They beat him until he slumped and died. Then the Lord asked me a question. He said, “Femi, what happened after the man died?” I did not know the answer, so I asked the Holy Spirit. He said: “They stopped beating him.” Then He said to me: “Femi, if they are still beating you, it is because you are not dead yet. Once you are dead, the beating…

Saturday, 27 April 2024 04:47

Let there be light! - Toyin Falola

From time immemorial, electricity has played a significant role in fostering economic development and growth in both industrialized and developing nations. It has become a social glue that ties capacities to intentions. It is, first and foremost, crucial to the general developmental strategy of every society, sine qua non, developmental possibility would be a mere fuss. After the Industrial Revolution, economic and social activities were built around the electricity supply, and it gradually became the force behind the actualisation of the state blueprint. It is an essential part of the manufacturing process for many companies ranging from all levels of…

Friday, 26 April 2024 17:19

The origins and authorship of the iconic "Iseya" song (watch video) - Olusegun Olaleye

The inception of the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) marked a significant milestone in broadcasting history, with its first office established at 78, Lantoro Road, Isale Ake Abeouta, on July 1, 1976. This followed the creation of Ogun State on February 3, 1976, from the former Western State. During the planning phase for the commissioning of its inaugural transmitter and studio at Aiyetoro Road, OGBC's board, under the leadership of Chief Hezy Idowu, directed management to develop a station identification song. The commissioning, scheduled for December 1976, necessitated the creation of an anthem to symbolize the station's identity. A song…

Friday, 26 April 2024 04:36

Musings on parties in turmoil - Azu Ishiekwene

Nigeria’s three main political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Labour Party (LP) – are in turmoil. They have been infested by little foxes that threaten to damage and, potentially, destroy them. I know that discipline is not a virtue of political parties in a presidential system. In Nigeria’s own version, however, indiscipline governs everything. Whether the political parties are winning or losing – of course, it is worse when they’re losing – politicians never forget that the party is simply a convenient tool, serviceable only when it can help them get…

Thursday, 25 April 2024 14:28

Beyond fighting insurgency, here’s the critical role of the military in Nigeria’s tech and economic transformation - Justice Faloye

Some disgruntled politicians and citizens often wish that the army takes over after shambolic elections or economic mismanagement. Army coups swept out post independence democracies across Africa, and ruled for decades until it became obvious that they had no business with politics and governance. Since returning to democracy, we have been in search of the right political systems and economic ideologies to bring prosperity to our people, but the current political class has no solutions of how to attain the prosperity of the industrialized world. George Washington, the largest slave owner became a soldier to protect the local slave economy…

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Thursday, 25 April 2024 04:45

In Ukraine, low hopes for the liberation of lands occupied by Russia

As Kyiv's forces struggle, fewer than half of Ukrainians believe the country could return to its pre-2014 borders. Kyiv, Ukraine – Natalya Brovko doesn’t believe that Ukraine will be whole again. In recent months, Ukrainian forces have been slowly retreating in the eastern Donbas region amid excruciating losses, and top brass warn that the front line may burst open because of dire shortages of ammunition and manpower. “With all these retreats, I don’t see how we can even get back what we lost,” the 37-year-old mother of two told Al Jazeera. “I was scared two years ago and now I…

Wednesday, 24 April 2024 04:27

Once upon a planet - Niyi Osundare

(For Earth Day 2024) The sky above our head is A ragged umbrella in need of a needle The rain which leaks through the ruptureIs a cocktail of contending toxins The cloud up there is a wet blanketDripping like a dirge upon a feverish earth The birds fled several season agoWithout leaving a forwarding address Prodigal saws have felled the joy Of flourishing forests There is a twilight stanzaIn the song of the wind Several seasons ago we sowed the WindThe Whirlwind is ripe for our heedless reaping The Earth we used to knowIs once-upon-a-time ** Niyi Osundare, one of…

Tuesday, 23 April 2024 04:46

Yahaya Bello and a complicit judiciary - Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

Josiah Majebi is the fifth chief judge of Kogi State (in North-Central Nigeria) in four years and the fourth to exist almost entirely in the pocket of the state governor. He has been in office as substantive chief judge since the beginning of February 2023, having acted in that role since 26 June 2022, when his predecessor, Richard Olorunfemi, retired. Henry Olusiyi served in that office for just under seven months from the end of June 2020 until January 2021. Sunday Otuh, who succeeded him, spent eight months in office before retiring in September 2021. The last Chief Judge of…

Monday, 22 April 2024 04:53

Needed: One standard hospital per state (2) - Hassan Gimba

Two days after I started taking the medication prescribed by Heba, I could lift myself out of the wheelchair and walk about. By the fifth day, I walked into the hospital, gingerly, but surely, and came face to face with DHeba, who was not even surprised to see me on my feet, on her way to buy a cappuccino, I guessed. We went to the waiting area and waited to be called in to see her. She soon returned, holding a cup of her drink. She asked me certain questions and, after taking my vitals, sent me to go for…

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