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Opinion

Sunday, 18 December 2022 05:53

Cultivating and celebrating the gift of great joy - Taiwo Akinola

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people ~ Luke 2:10. Introduction That season of the year is here again when many people become overtly elated that they made it thus far in the course of the year. Usually, Christmas is a very exciting time but, sometimes, it can also be so busy and stressful for many people and for many reasons. For example, at this season, there is a heightened consciousness of so many underlying issues of socio-spiritual concern: security, finances, dreams and…

Sunday, 18 December 2022 05:51

Article of faith: God does not give true riches to unbelievers - Femi Aribisala

The scriptures affirm that: “The Most High God rules in the kingdom of men.” (Daniel 5:21). Nevertheless, the wisdom of God says it is only the wicked who prosper in the world: “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.” (Psalm 73:12). The righteous only prosper in the kingdom of God. Worldly Wealth The riches of this world are counterfeit. Jesus says they are deceitful. (Matthew 13:22). When a man has lots of money, we say he is rich. But Jesus disagrees: “You say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of…

Friday, 16 December 2022 05:47

Amidst chaos, 13-year-old boy vows to rebuild broken bridge of hope - Azu Ishiekwene

If he could, he might have built a highway to Sharm el-Sheikh where the world’s great and mighty gathered between November 6 and 18 at COP27 to discuss climate change. But who knows, he might yet do so. Thirteen-year-old Musa Sani, who has already taken infant steps in civil engineering, might live a bigger dream someday. At an age when his mates are dodging bullets and running scared with nothing on their backs in the midst of the chaos that Borno, a Boko Haram hotbed in Nigeria’s Northeast has been for nearly two decades, Musa is building things, literally, with…

Thursday, 15 December 2022 05:52

Of old times, old flames, sweet and bitter memories (1) - Bola Bolawole

Back through the ages I go wandering once again/Back to the season of my youth/I recall the bags of rags that someone gave us/And how my mama put the rags to use... In Dolly Parton’s “Coat of many colours”. There is nothing new that will not become old; even our world (as we know it today) will wax old like a garment and be discarded. Looking back in history, the world has gotten old anyway! And it keeps getting older with each day that passes! Scripture says so. And just like the Apola king of yore, Idowu Animashaun, crooned, the…

Monday, 12 December 2022 06:05

Arodan and the wild goose chase - Aba Saheed

The British imperialists and my people have so many things in common: wickedness, unforgiving spirit, vengeance-seeking, brutality and selfishness. But the most outstanding commonality is Deception. Deception is our breakfast, our lunch, our dinner and our supper. We breathe deception. We dream deception. It is our way of life; our mantra. Right now I am about to prepare my hand-over notes. I don’t know whether to feign illness and be hidden in a hospital, or run away, or plan my own abduction and get declared missing, or what? No, suicide is not an option. And I don’t intend to stop…

Monday, 12 December 2022 06:03

Time to foreclose ASUU’s salary arrears palaver - Bola Bolawole

My people have a saying, to wit, “when you flog a child with the right hand (and it cries), you embrace him with the left (to console and comfort him)”. If you fail to do the first (when a child errs), you are an irresponsible father or parent and should you fail also in the second, you are a wicked and thoughtless father. Your case would then be like that of the proverbial in-law of Mr. Tortoise, who did not know when to say “enough” or, like William Shakespeare counselled, who failed to quit the stage when the ovation was…

Monday, 12 December 2022 06:02

CBN, Qatar 2022 and time to rekindle our patriotism (1) - Hassan Gimba

There is nothing more touching than watching fans at the ongoing World Cup shedding tears when their national anthem is being sung, or crying when their national team loses a game or even wins. Such a show of intense emotion comes as a result of substantial love for one’s country. It is a sign of unbridled patriotism. You begin to wonder if a Nigerian would cry on hearing our national anthem or cry if we win or lose a game. But you must ask yourself whether such love for country has something to do with the anthem or with how…

Sunday, 11 December 2022 05:45

Charlatanism at Chatham House - Festus Adedayo

Egba, Ogun State-born indigenous African Sakara music exponent, Sanusi Aka, popularly known as S. Aka Baba Waidi, in two of his vinyls, illustrates my drift today. This he did in the albums recorded in 1959 and 1974 respectively. While the former was highly political, which he entitled Ibo fedira, (Federal election) the other was entitled Awon Orisha. The Awon Orisha track is a fabulous narrative of how some renowned deities in Yorubaland, in an ego clash and desirous of sorting out their supremacy battle, met with and had a conversation with God. Some of the deities were Ifa and Osanyin,…

Sunday, 11 December 2022 05:44

The God that answers by fire (7) - Taiwo Akinola

Releasing The Rain of Abundant Blessings And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain ~ 1 Kings 18:45a Introduction Anyone that ever suffered the agonies of drought would never despise the rain, nor join hands to hinder its showers. And, whoever experienced the wretchedness of warped satanic contortions wouldn’t ever wish to downplay the significance of divine interventions. An uninterruptible, all-round, rain is the Lord’s favorite promise to His people (Joel 2:23). Whenever He sends His fire amidst our drought experiences, the rain is…

Sunday, 11 December 2022 05:43

Article of faith: Learning obedience - Femi Aribisala

Have you ever been in a situation in which you told a child to do something, and he asks you why? “Why?” is one of the favourite questions of children. You tell a child to do something, and he asks: “why?” If you give him the reason, he will ask you “why?” again. In effect, what is the reason why you gave the reason you gave? For every answer you give, he might just continue asking you “why?” until you become fed up, refuse to answer him, or ask in turn: “why not?” “Freddie you must brush your teeth first…

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Friday, 09 December 2022 05:53

A letter to Sam - Azu Ishiekwene

Dear Chairman, It was about this time eight years ago, wasn’t it? I’m talking of course of when you took what was perhaps the most audacious, some may even say, most controversial political decision of your career at the time to run for the Presidency. You had talked and written about what was possible for over 20 years. Now, it was time to just get in there and do it! To show that Big Ideas was not a pipedream but a possibility. I don’t know which was more difficult: the decision to run or the decision – when you finally…

Thursday, 08 December 2022 05:40

Osun lootings and Oyetola’s jejune alibi - Bola Bolawole

When the new Osun State governor, the dancing-Senator now turned dancing-governor, Ademola Adeleke, announced that Osun State Government House and properties, including items such as vehicles, had been looted, I was not surprised. Pictures of how the Deputy Governor’s and other staff quarters were stripped to the bone later surfaced to confirm the allegation. Condemnable as this act of common criminality is, it is, nevertheless, a usual occurrence in Nigeria, especially where the government that is vacating office and the one that is taking over are hostile one to the other. Between Gboyega Oyetola, who was vacating office, and Adeleke,…

Monday, 05 December 2022 05:51

This oasis must bloom the desert - Niyi Osundare

Prelude. It was eight years ago that I delivered the short piece below as my acceptance speech for the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA). As I read it again in the process of readying up the delivery of my NNMA Winner’s Lecture in December 2022, I was forcibly struck by the fact that many of the points and issues raised in the acceptance speech are more poignant and more menacing now than they were in December 2014. A journey down memory lane has ended up as déjà vu, an all too familiar plotline in the narrative of the Nigerian malaise.…

Monday, 05 December 2022 05:50

Should we still pray in Nigeria? - Bola Bolawole

Politics, religion, corruption and crime are the most lucrative business ventures, activities or endeavours in Nigeria today. Whatever order of importance or priority you may assign to them, I do not think there is any other “business” in Nigeria of today that yields higher returns on investment, if we may call it that – sadly! Anyone desirous of cutting corners to get to the “top” must take one or the other of the four routes. If you know anyone who is involved in the present-day Nigerian fad of get-rich quick syndrome, it is either they are in politics, in religion,…

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