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Opinion

Tuesday, 10 December 2024 04:35

The wish God didn't grant Emmanuel Ayoola - Folu Olamiti

If wishes were horses, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola would have danced into his 100th birthday with joy and grace. Justice Ayoola, affectionately known as Baba, was more than just a legal luminary; he was a beacon of hope, a mentor, and a man whose presence illuminated every room he entered. He dreamed of celebrating his 100th birthday with the same vigor and grace that defined his life. While he fell just short of that milestone, his legacy continues to inspire everyone who knew him. Ayoola embodied a life full of vitality and hope, dreaming of milestones that mirrored the vigor he…

Tuesday, 10 December 2024 04:35

Dele Farotimi: Perils of unchecked power and erosion of justice in Nigeria - Emmanuel Ihim

The seduction of unchecked power is an ancient story, a tragic dance that transforms guardians of liberty into despots. History is replete with examples of leaders consumed by their pursuit of control, blinded to the bounds of morality and justice. From Nero’s Rome to Stalin’s Soviet Union, this intoxicating allure has resulted in untold suffering and oppression. In modern Nigeria, this specter rears its head again, with the arrest of prominent lawyer and activist Dele Farotimi—an alarming reminder of the perils of state overreach. Farotimi, a fearless voice against corruption and injustice, was arrested on allegations of defamation, a charge…

Monday, 09 December 2024 04:34

In the matter of Dele Farotimi before the Star Chamber - Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

Paul Anyebe was a judge of the High Court of Benue State in north-central Nigeria who had a young son with sticky fingers and a sense of adventure. It was his role as a dad that endangered his job as a judge. One night around 1983, Anyebe caught his son attempting to steal from his bedroom. In response, Anyebe pulled his gun in an effort to scare the boy. The gun went off, discharging a bullet which hit and seriously injured the boy. The Attorney-General of Benue State decided to prosecute Anyebe for attempted murder. The Penal Code applicable in…

Sunday, 08 December 2024 04:30

A story about Dele Farotimi and the Nigeria legal system - David Hundeyin

Nigerian lawyers and judges are the absolute worst thing ever. And we should all be very, very worried about that. The date was May 15, 2023, and the venue was the ILEC Conference Centre in West London. I was preparing to deliver my keynote address at a press conference organised by the Coalition of Nigerians Living in the United Kingdom. Nigeria’s 2023 ‘elections’ had allegedly taken place a few weeks prior, and amid the flurry of post-election legal actions and intense diplomatic back-and-forth happening at the time, I had accepted the invitation to speak at this event. I saw it…

Sunday, 08 December 2024 04:28

Between Farotimi and Afe Babalola - Festus Adedayo

The question of whether the law of defamation is a hindrance to freedom of speech and a curtailment to democratic process confronted the Burkinabe, a few years ago. Lohe Issa Konaté was Burkina Faso, that landlocked West African country’s own Dele Farotimi. He was a journalist with the newspaper, L’Ouragan (The Hurricane). Like a tempestuous hurricane, on August 1, 2012, Konaté published a series of articles in the weekly newspaper attacking the conduct of a local prosecutor in a money counterfeiting matter. A week later, Konaté doubled down on this same allegation against the judicial system of Burkina Faso by…

Sunday, 08 December 2024 04:27

Provoking the incredible power of God’s visitation - Taiwo Akinola

And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age ~ Genesis 21:1-2a Introduction: The presence of God is a quintessential supernatural experience we all should aspire to have, and be determined enough to keep in our lives. Our success in life, homes and businesses is dependent on how much of God we have in our spaces.Even the quality of our Christian faith depends on how much of heaven we have in our hearts. Jesus’ life and ministry thrived…

Sunday, 08 December 2024 04:25

Article of Faith: No other father but God (3) - Femi Aribisala

James warns that a double-minded man is unlikely to receive anything from the Lord. (James 1:7-8). By the same token, Jesus does not bring to the Father those who already have a father. To be led to the heavenly Father, we must repudiate our earthly father. For God to be our Father, we must be born of God. This means we must be born again. Jesus says: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3). Inheritance of Salvation If God is our Father, we are heirs of God: “The Spirit himself bears witness with…

Saturday, 07 December 2024 04:47

Dele Farotimi: Afe Babalola’s mistakes - AO Adeleye

The following are said with the utmost respect to all parties involved… In my humble opinion, Baba made a mistake. When you are fighting injustice, there are at least three courts to consider: 1. Court of Law: what the law of the land says 2. Court of Public Opinion: the optics of the matter 3. Court of Conscience: what is known between you and your Maker Yes, Baba can invoke the legal mechanisms of the land of which he is an undeniable master. The law at first glance seems to be on his side. Now, somebody has accused you of…

Friday, 06 December 2024 04:30

Word of the Year 2024 - Azu Ishiekwene

I was watching the evening news on Monday night when two presenters used a word at different times that jolted me. I’ve heard and seen that word used often, especially by millennials and Gen Z, but I didn’t entirely pay heed because they were mostly in informal settings. Anyways – I meant to write, anyway – I was jolted to hear that word, anyways, twice from two TV presenters on different programmes on the same station just minutes apart! My Use of English teachers would have beaten the straying “s” out of me if I had used that word even…

Thursday, 05 December 2024 04:48

Fisayo Soyombo and the trouble with taking Nigeria too seriously - Abimbola Adelakun

After many years of guarding oil pipeline installations, the Nigerian Army finally made its first high-profile arrest. It turned out to be a journalist! Investigative journalist and founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, Fisayo Soyombo became the face of the Army’s eventual success in apprehending oil thieves. Of course, they regularly announce arrests of some faceless and nameless people. Hardly anyone bothers to follow up on their prosecution. We have all been Nigerian long enough to know that some crimes persist in the country, not simply because the criminals are resilient but because the ring of perpetration is so…

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Thursday, 05 December 2024 04:47

Was Dele Farotimi illegally abducted by Ekiti State police? - Seun Kolade

Nigeria’s public discourse is once again ignited by an incident that underscores the pervasive abuses of power within the nation’s institutions. Human rights activist and lawyer Dele Farotimi was arrested on December 3rd by officers of the Ekiti State Police Command. He was reportedly taken from Lagos, where the alleged defamation offence occurred, and transported to Ekiti State in what can only be described as a Gestapo-style operation. By December 4th, he was denied bail, sparking widespread outrage on social media and across the country. Many Nigerians have raised important concerns. Some argue that defamation, the alleged offence in this…

Tuesday, 03 December 2024 04:49

Requiem for PDP - Dele Sobowale

“All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies” – Arbuthnot, 1667-1735, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 191. Note: This article started on the day of the Ondo State election. The result was not surprising. “You can’t beat something with nothing”. PDP is now nothing. Obong Victor Attah, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State and former Trustee of the PDP, is an internationally-recognised architect. He was the first African to be granted licence to practice as an architect in New York State. Attah turned 86 on November 20 this year. Few Nigerians are aware that Attah…

Monday, 02 December 2024 04:36

When will the judges who cheated on their age be made to account - Johnson Agwu

On 20 October, I was gloomy. It was four years since the #EndSARS protests by Nigerian Youths against police brutality and the bloody reprisals that followed in its wake. I scrolled my phone with intention of exiting the #EndSARS sorrows. Instead, I scrolled unto premium tears. On Premium Times, I stumbled on an articleheadlined, “Theresa Chikeka: The retired judge who is chief judge of Imo State? By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu”. I take anything written by Odinkalu seriously because he bears a torch in the dark times we find ourselves in this country. By his flint we hope to find guidance…

Sunday, 01 December 2024 04:33

Reuben Abati and Davido as ‘cockroaches’ - Festus Adedayo

In 1992, Leon Mugesera, a senior politician in the then Rwanda ruling party, gathered a crowd of supporters at a rally held in the town of Kabaya. At the rally, Mugesera labeled the minority Tutsi “cockroaches,” who must be eliminated. He then asked this East African ethnic group to go back to its place of birth. He was quoted to have said: “Anyone whose neck you do not cut is the one who will cut your neck.” This “cockroach” typecast glued to the Tutsi ethnic group. Two years later, about 800,000 of them got brutally slaughtered, hacked to death and…

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