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Opinion

Thursday, 20 February 2025 04:23

Money ritual as a gap in knowledge - Abimbola Adelakun

The recent arrest of an Ilorin-based cleric, Abdulrahman Bello, who allegedly murdered and dismembered Ms Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student at Kwara State College of Education, in the same town has seen us doing the same things we do virtually every time the situation arises. We point accusing fingers at religion and certain sectarian beliefs, culture, society, and one another while wheeling out the squeaky machines of ethical reforms in the bid to charge ourselves to good behaviour. Religious and traditional rulers have been making routine calls for moral reforms. According to reports, Ilorin Emir Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari not only condemned…

Wednesday, 19 February 2025 04:44

Ayo Adebanjo: Trajectory of Nigerian politics - Owei Lakemfa

Ayo Adebanjo, 96, was a path through which Nigerian politics could be traced. The politics of the country was mainly about the ruling elites in military fatigue or civil dress ruling at the centre, and conscientious patriots opposing from the sidelines or working from the margins. Adebanjo belonged to the latter. At 14, in 1943, he had aligned with the radical Zikist Movement which wanted the British colonialists thrown out of the country, if necessary, by force. This was in contrast to the mainstream politicians who hoped for independence based on the benevolence of the colonialists. The Zikists were allies…

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 04:40

Discourse: Remembering Comrade Bene Madunagu - Wale Are Olaitan

I could not be at Calabar for the interment activities and ceremony of our own Benedicta Madunagu, eminent professor of Botany, the one we reverentially called Comrade Bene, wife of our elder and respected Marxist; one half of the revolutionary couple we have come to adore all these years; and a foremost revolutionary intellectual in her own right! Yet, as I surveyed the solid national list of those who chose to stand up to be counted for the Madunagus' at the burial, and for Bene personally even before her passing, that I could not but reach the conclusion about the…

Monday, 17 February 2025 04:45

In defence of judicial authority - Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

“The judiciary,…. has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment.” Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, No. 78. In January 1983, a suspicious fire incident did considerable damage to NECOM House, the high-rise building in Lagos that housed the headquarters of the country’s telecommunications monopoly, then known as the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL. Shehu Shagari was in power as elected civilian president. The belief was widespread…

Sunday, 16 February 2025 04:51

Journalists without questions - Sonala Olumhense

This month, the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, Musa Aliyu, brought senior journalists described as “northern Nigeria media editors” to Abuja. He apparently wanted to showcase his achievements and describe how difficult it is to fight corruption. Aliyu was concerned that corruption in the Nigerian public sector thrives “despite the efforts of the anti-corruption agencies.” He regaled the editors with stories of ICPC bravado to buttress the point that corrupt officials manipulate the judicial process to escape sanction and protect their proceeds. One of his stories was of a certain hospital, or better still, non-hospital, somewhere in the…

Sunday, 16 February 2025 04:44

Understanding the reach of God’s faithfulness - Taiwo Akinola

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9). Introduction: One of the strongest truths in the entire Bible is that God is inherently faithful. He is trustworthy. He honours His words, fulfills His promises, and He won’t let down anyone that trusts in Him. Our God is too faithful to fail! God’s faithfulness is in direct contrast to the other heathen faiths. Other gods are, generally, immoral, selfish, cruel and careless with their promises regardless of their pledged word. Contrariwise, the God of the Bible is always…

Sunday, 16 February 2025 04:43

Article of Faith: Thieves and robbers - Femi Aribisala

The bus was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and highway robbers waylaid it. They got on the bus brandishing automatic weapons: “This is a stick-up,” declared the leader of the gang in a menacing tone designed for maximum effect. “Is there anybody here who has been paying his tithes? If you have been paying your tithes raise your hands.” A few passengers raised their hands sheepishly. He told those who did to move to one side. Then he declared: “Those of you who have not been paying your tithes are thieves and robbers. You have been robbing God. Therefore, we…

Sunday, 16 February 2025 04:42

A radical invitation: Why Jesus calls us to become like children - Emily Hunter McGowin

Among all the people of the first-century Mediterranean world — from Praetorian guards to peasant farmers — the child was the most powerless, and this is the main reason that Jesus uses children as exemplary disciples. No doubt childhood 2,000 years ago was very different from childhood today. (In truth, even the concept of childhood is a social and cultural development that varies across the world.) Nevertheless, amid all our modern developments, one aspect of childhood remains true across the years: vulnerability. Children are extraordinarily vulnerable because they are weak, needy, and defenseless, and this is one of the major…

Friday, 14 February 2025 04:54

Understanding the nonsense about state creation - Azu Ishiekwene

Many years ago, when my son was completing paperwork for a job with the Lagos State government, he was required to fill out a form that included his State of Origin. He paused. It had been marked a compulsory field, and he wanted to know if not filling it would affect his chances. I said it would. He replied that he wouldn’t fill it, even if it meant losing the job. It didn’t make sense to him that his chances might come down solely not to his competence, merit, or the fact that he was born in Lagos where he…

Tuesday, 11 February 2025 04:44

Discourse: The world is a funny place - or has it always been a joke? - Wale Are Olaitan

It is tempting to want to see the world as a funny place, or perhaps as a joke, going by the level of foolish things that are not just pursued as valuable, but are presented as important to life and social actions and relations. Imagine that in spite of historical antecedents and the extensive reality of human action and inaction within the context of natural interventions, that in spite of the number of people tending toward evil in the world being such a great and high one - or what some people sometimes describe as the general inclination of humans…

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Monday, 10 February 2025 04:06

Before the Supreme Court of Nigeria becomes a commune of Bantustans - Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

In 1954 John Verity lost his job because he won an argument. It was in his ninth year in office as Chief Justice of colonial Nigeria. John arrived in Nigeria in October 1945 from the British Guyana, where he had served in a similar position since 1941. At the time, Nigeria was still a unitary system under colonial rule. Two years before John’s arrival in Nigeria, the Native Courts (Colony) Ordinance of 1943 had created a “Supreme Court of Justice” for the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Taslim Elias, the distinguished academic who was destined to play a significant role…

Sunday, 09 February 2025 04:25

Mixed metaphors: Tinubu’s Nuhu, and The Guardian’s Maiden - Sonala Olumhense

There is a lot of anguish in The Guardian family concerning a statement by publisher Maiden Ibru at the ThisDay 30th Anniversary Awards. I write as a pioneer staff member of The Guardian. I have said that it is unethical for a media organisation to establish and administer titles and awards.This is even more dangerous if the awards involve people or organisations about whom it reports, with no clear standards about how “winners” are determined. That is the precinct of show business—or politics—not journalism. The dangers are limitless in the same sense that a man, once he pays the prostitute,…

Sunday, 09 February 2025 04:23

Maintaining the radiance of the Lord’s glory - Taiwo Akinola

My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel ~ Job 29:20-21. Introduction Whatever is received as a precious gift from the Lord must be retained, and even maintained, if we’re to enjoy the ongoing blessings it brings. Whenever we access His glory, it must remain evidently fresh in our lives, not attenuated. Nonetheless, this calls for sound wisdom, firmness and discipline. God’s glory is magnetic, pulling attention (Isaiah 60:3). It is progressive and declarative (Proverbs 4:18; Psalm 19:1). It also shouts…

Sunday, 09 February 2025 04:21

Most misunderstood, neglected doctrine in entire Bible - Dan Delzell

If you have ever struggled to wrap your mind around the biblical doctrine of election (predestination), you are not alone. In fact, it is perhaps the most misunderstood and neglected doctrine in the entire Bible. The Apostle Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus, "In Christ we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" (Ephesians 1:11). And when addressing "all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints," (Romans 1:7) Paul wrote, "We know that in all things God…

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