Opinion

Among those who insist that truth-telling is an indispensable form of nation building, Professor Wole Soyinka is the greatest. And I don’t mean this merely when he is often telling those in government the truth or only when it is done in public. I mean for all times, seasons and for all purposes. Here is the story of what Soyinka (who is not only to be referred to as Alagba, but also as Baba, not just by his biological children but so many of us), means to me. In 1992 as a Correspondent of The Guardian newspapers in Ibadan, I…

By People&Politics The English dramatist, William Shakespeare, posed the question, “What’s in a name?” That was in one of his celebrated plays, Romeo and Juliet. And he proceeded to answer, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” He meant names per se are mere human conveniences for identification and differentiation; and that names, in themselves, have no special meaning or depth. But one doesn’t necessarily need to agree with him: for we know that there’s much in a name i.e. there’s some depth, weight or mystery about names beyond their surface or…

Who will ever forget Malam Nasir el-Rufai, the great political gambler and the emperor of Nigeria’s contemporary politics? Famous for being adamant of the consequences of his actions and inactions, he is also renowned for perpetrating political shenanigans both at the state and national levels. He is reputed to be the ‘father’ of the ill-motivated Kano inconclusive election of 2019. El-Rufai means different things to many people. He is both the loved hero and the hated villain. He acts both the antagonist and protagonist roles with aesthetic talents and achievements. Arrogantly, he parades himself as a general who requires no…

By Olusegun Adeniyi For almost two weeks, we have witnessed the resurgence of fuel queues across the country. This of course exposes the never-ending mess in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry that has been with us for more than five decades. The main concern now is that the Dangote Refinery, which had been expected to guarantee fuel availability with all the multiplier effects, may not even change the narrative. Although currently producing diesel, jet fuel and polypropylene, the expectation that the world’s largest single-train petroleum refining facility would begin producing gasoline by next month is being hampered by…

By Abadom Lawrence Amechi THOSE who hold the state in trust for our captors: Western oppressive powers, will always enjoy themselves before their assignment life span expires, irrespective of whose ox is gored. According to Senator Godswill Akpabio, “We know that Nigerians are hungry, but that will not stop us to approve a private jet for the president. His life is more important now than ordinary citizens. We have to do that as fast as possible”. What Senator Akpabio was saying is that the president cannot be sacrificed for the people, but the people can be sacrificed for the president.…

By Hadiza Suleman Eight UK citizens of Nigerian descent were elected into the House of Commons following the announcement of results from the July 4 general election. Over 30 Nigerians took part in the poll, using their respective constituencies. Out of the eight elected, six are returning members of parliament, having served in the last session of the House. The victors include the Conservative duo of Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex), and Helen Grant (Maidstone). Despite her victory at the poll, Badenoch, who is a frontline contender in the Tories leadership contest after the resignation of former PM Rishi Sunak,…

By Dele Momodu Last night, I received a distressing message from Mr David Adeleke (aka Davido). He was obviously devastated by the counter-affidavit submitted in court, earlier in the day, in response to his affidavit seeking a joint custody of his daughter with my niece Sophia Momodu. I had seen David's affidavit about two weeks ago and I was very surprised as David and I had spoken on a video call days earlier, with him and Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, and he never told me he had any custody issues with my niece. So you can imagine my confusion to find…