Nigeria And The Rio Paralympics
Whoever came up with the aphorism that “like attracts like” deserves a special place in the Guinness Book of World Records. How true! Our country Nigeria went to the Rio Olympics and came back with a bronze medal in football, looking really pitiable on the overall medals table whereas countries like Kenya, South and Ethiopia […]
The Dangerous Man In North Korea
When our public officials fall asleep while attending a meeting, or an official function, the standard Nigerian reaction is to have a hearty laugh at their expense. Harmless laughter. You’d remember many photographs of our lawmakers turning the National Assembly into an extension of their bedrooms, sometimes snoring loudly in the middle of a heated […]
The man who named his dog Buhari
The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog – George Graham Vest (1870) Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, the man who named his dog after President Muhammadu Buhari is right now probably […]
John Kerry’s Visit: Beyond The Cover Story
Essential elements of intelligence and the intelligence cycle in overseas relations include what is better described as “the cover story”. It is an old conundrum referring to the story that is put out to the public and sustained as a narrative to mask far more strategic interests in government-to- government relations. It is based on […]
Tales from Rio
In some other countries of the world, a bronze medal at the Olympics is not something to be talked about or celebrated. Not even silver is satisfactory sometimes, just remember that look on Russian athlete Yulia Efimova’s face as her arch-rival, Lilly King of the United States took the gold in 100m women’s breastroke swimming. […]
Endorsing Hillary Clinton
If there was any hope that Donald Trump would change tactics and be more restrained after winning the Republican party Presidential nomination for the November 8 US election, that hope is now lost. The fellow has remained aggressive, incorrigibly brash and completely negative. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has asked: “Is Donald Trump just plain […]
The Bleaching, Chameleon Crowd
I wrote a piece recently, a tribute to the late veteran actress Bukky Ajayi and the multi-instrumentalist OJB Jezreel, in which I raised a number of issues, including how in Nollywood today, there is an obsession with the whitening of skin, an anti-Negritude yellowing, what I referred to as “the bleaching, chameleon crowd of Nollywood […]
All Protocol(s) Observed
Nigerians love events and ceremonies. The engine of governance in fact runs on this special fuel, which in many ways has become an occasional excuse for waste and idleness. I have in the course of work attended and compered many of such events; one thing that I find curious is the obsession with acknowledgements. If […]
Theresa May, Melaye And The Leader’s Wife
“Have you been to Bourdillon? Or rather I should ask when are you going to Bourdillon?” “What’s happening?” “I hear people are paying solidarity visits to the Tinubus to express their dismay over Senator Dino Melaye’s assault on Senator Remi Tinubu, wife of the APC National Leader.” “Assault?” “That is precisely what it is. Assault. […]
Two Lives And Other Stories
Two lives lost recently in the creative industry convey useful messages in terms of the import of their careers and the circumstances of their departure: the elderly actress, simply known as Bukky Ajayi, and the music entrepreneur, multi-talented artiste, producer and musician, Babatunde Okungbowa, popularly known as OJB Jezreel. Bukky Ajayi died aged 82, and […]
The stolen pot of soup
“I am depressed, my brother.” “You are always depressed. I am actually used to that. I can’t remember when last you were not choleric, depressed, obsessed, uptight, down-spirited, what’s that your word again, yes, anxious. You better watch it, buddie-bae-bff-bros, stop carrying the world on your back, man. There was Atlas before you. There was […]
The Brexit Nightmare
What has the United Kingdom just done to itself, its people and the future of its youth? It is difficult to fully understand why a country in taking a decision about its future will decide on a false option that seems to negate long-term interests. And this, just because a total of 17.4 million people […]
America And The Man-No-Be-Wood Nigerian Lawmakers
There has been no shortage of controversy and hair-raising incidents from the 8th National Assembly of Nigeria, but nothing breaks the heart more than the name-them-shame-them letter that has been sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives by the US Ambassador in which he accused three Nigerian lawmakers of sexual misconduct during an […]
Dis Fela Sef!: He Lives
‘Benson Idonije: Dis Fela Sef!: The Legend(s) Untold- A Memoir. Lagos; FESTAC BOOKS, 2016, 282 pp.’ On the occasion of his 80th birthday, Benson Idonije, who is arguably Nigeria’s most informed analyst of jazz music and an enthusiastic promoter of popular culture and music has released for public review and consideration an absolutely well-informed […]
Remembering MKO And June 12
This day, June 12 will always be remembered by those who have defied the culture of silence and conspiracy against a significant moment in Nigerian history, to remind us of how today, 23 years ago, the battle against the exit of the military from power was fought at the ballot by a determined Nigerian people. […]