Opinion

Friday, 27 September 2024 04:37

Home run for Oshiomhole - Azu Ishiekwene

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had barely finished announcing the result of last Saturday’s Edo governorship poll when I got a call to eat the humble pie. Adams Oshiomhole, the man I called a product vendor in my last article, had pulled off another big one! Why? I had no dog in the fight. But I got the drift. I had warned that given Oshiomhole’s reputation for campaigning for candidates for whom he often ended up apologising, voters could hardly ignore the warning label on his candidate, Monday Okpebholo, and that, at any rate, if it wasn’t that in…
Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, and Muhammadu Buhari are Nigeria’s most anti-democratic, anti-federalism, and anti-people rulers since independence. The addition to that roll is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Obasanjo, as military head of state, standardised the tradition of wastage, the destruction of the public service, the pillaging of the economy, the mass killing of students, and the imposition of a anti-democracy and anti-federal constitution on Nigerians. With the exception of Abacha, these rulers oversaw the legalised plundering of Nigeria’s commonwealth in the guise of ‘privatisation’. They also handed over the country to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and…
The rising cost of living in Africa has triggered a wave of protests in recent months, underscoring the disproportionately higher economic and social costs of inflation on a continent with persistent widespread poverty and heightened vulnerability to global volatility. The world, it seems, is now living through a tale of two inflations. Initially, the current inflation cycle – a product of pandemic supply shocks and escalating geopolitical tensions – affected developed and developing countries alike. But inflationary pressures have become less synchronous over time. While price growth has fallen sharply in advanced economies, it remains stubbornly high – and, in…
The butterfly thinks himself a bird: It was a haunting scene in Beijing, China the other week when President Bola Tinubu met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Such meetings are usually stuff for history: Africa’s great and Asia’s great meeting minds to impact the world on a monumental scale.But sorry to note that Nigeria has diminished to the status of a toy country. Our host knows it too. They know Nigeria is at its lowest ebb today; roiling in the mud. They know the visitors consist of the poorest among leaders. They know the teeming crowd of Nigerians don’t understand…
When Major-General Muhammadu Buhari overthrew the elected civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari on the last day of 1983, he inherited an economy in a mess and a political system in a turmoil. This crisis of a dysfunctional political economy was Buhari’s principal reason for sacking the Shagari administration. For Buhari, Nigeria’s crisis of balance of payments was the result of two things: indiscipline and economic crimes. His answer to the former was a War against Indiscipline (WAI), a catch-all acronym for everything from instilling a queue culture in the population to capital punishment for drug suspects. Turning to the…
Sunday, 22 September 2024 04:30

I think Tinubu was right - Festus Adedayo

One by one, three Nigerian former military rulers, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, arrived at Babangida’s Hilltop Mansion in Minna, Niger State, last Sunday. So did former National Security Adviser (NSA), Aliyu Gusau. The Minna meeting had every trapping of African witches assembling at the coven. Like owls, a pervasive symbol of African witchcraft, did they fly to and perch on their Minna assembly nest at nocturne? Yoruba attribute the kind of powers this trio had/have to witches. They eat the head from the arm and masticate the heart from the liver. In any case, age and…
Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase ~ Job 8:7. Introduction King Solomon observed several years ago that the end of a thing is more important than its beginning (Ecclesiastes 7:8). Nevertheless, every glorious ending is a product of principled beginnings. Yes, your destiny is time-bound, but, with creative planning you can always get ahead! Many people failed to realize that greatness has a beginning (Genesis 10:8). They ignored and despised their beginnings and, consequently, having missed the essential ingredients of greatness, they lived and died in great sorrow without any appreciable record of achievements…
Isaiah says: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). “Who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” (Acts 8:34). This is certainly a prophecy about Jesus. But it also refers to believers in general. I used to assume messianic scriptures were exclusively about Christ. Until one day, the Lord spoke one (Isaiah 49:1-3) directly to…
Saturday, 21 September 2024 04:26

Just N1000 for a litre? - Toyin Falola

As is the case with most Nigerian things these days, the subject of this article has to do with petrol. And in commencing it, I am struck by the choice words of the real estate and automobile content creator, Ola of Lagos, as he markets multimillion naira assets saying “just.” He could go “for just N350 million, you can get so and so for yourself,” or, and this one stood out in my opinion, “for just N17 billion!” He rarely fails to intersperse his commentary with the famous catchphrase “It’s plenty!” or “I will not be poor in my life.”…
By his admission, Adams Oshiomhole is a lousy product vendor. In the real commercial world, his premises would have been closed and his products banned. But in politics, crime multiples grace. Oshiomhole dragged Godwin Obaseki into the governorship race in 2016 when the odds were against him. Obaseki’s daytime job was minding his business at Afrinvest, a financial services company he founded. But he soon landed a side hustle as chairman of the Edo State Economic and Strategy Team in Osadebey House, Benin. When Oshiomhole wanted to hand over the baton in 2016, after two terms as governor, Obaseki, the…
April 30, 2025

NNPCL faces criticism as Warri Refinery fails to take off after $897m in repairs bill

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is under scrutiny after the Warri Refining and Petrochemical…
April 28, 2025

Natasha mocks Akpabio in scathing ‘apology’ over sexual harassment claim

Suspended Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Sunday delivered a blistering, sarcastic "apology" to Senate…
April 29, 2025

How African popes changed Christianity - and gave the world Valentine's Day

Now predominantly Muslim, North Africa was once a Christian heartland, producing Catholic popes who left…
April 26, 2025

Declassified CIA file about UFO aliens attacking soldiers released

A declassified document posted to the CIA’s website is raising eyebrows with claims of an…
April 29, 2025

At least 26 people killed as 2 vehicles run over bomb planted by Boko Haram…

At least 26 people were killed on Monday when two vehicles detonated an improvised explosive…
April 30, 2025

Here’s the latest as Israel-Hamas war enters Day 572

UN chief urges 'irreversible action' on Israel, Palestinian two-state solution United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres…
April 27, 2025

Smartphone use could reduce dementia risk in older adults, study finds

The first generation that has been exposed consistently to digital technology has reached the age…
January 08, 2025

NFF appoints new Super Eagles head coach

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Éric Sékou Chelle as the new Head Coach…

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