The 10th anniversary of the abduction of 276 schoolchildren from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria, has again brought an eerie feeling of despair and panic. The anniversary is a high point as it has again shown the entire security apparatus of Nigeria as gravely inept and compromised. That’s what it tells us! The most important thing about Chibok is not just that it happened! As a matter of fact, it ought not to have happened! Instead, it is about what the country has learnt in ten years! People’s lives have been destroyed but it seems as if…
Author: Abiodun Komolafe
In the course of the week, I had cause to be at the Akure, Ondo State-home of the Afenifere Leader, Reuben Fasoranti, and I saw modesty in its raw form. From Fasoranti’s symbolic bungalow which has played host to presidents, governors and other crème-de-la-crème of the society in their monstrous agbada or Babarigas, to the information gleaned from Nigerians in and around his residence, yours sincerely couldn’t stop marveling at the Spartan lifestyle of this 97-year-old Awoist. Anyway, that’s a story for another day! Well, the threatening truth is that Afenifere is down and the progressive camp is beaten! So,…
When sometime in 2008, the late Yinka Odumakin invited me to his 23, Sylvia Crescent, Anthony Village-office in Lagos, little did I know that a big surprise was waiting for me. A fine gentleman with a consistent commitment to the progressive bent, Odumakin had offered to pay me a visit but since it was unYoruba for leaders and elders to initiate the kind of visit he was envisaging, I opted for the opposite. And there I was, face-to-face, with the inimitable Odumakin and the irresistible Jimi Agbaje, aka JK. One thing led to another and I eventually became the pioneer…
On April 5, 2024, Nigerians from all walks of life will converge on the Cathedral Church of St. Matthew, Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, for the 60th Birthday Thanksgiving Service of Dr. (Mrs.) Margaret Olusola Oluyamo. Margaret Olusola is the wife of the Rt. Revd. Isaac Oluyamo, the lord Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ijesa North. She’s a PhD in Yorùbá Literature from the University of Ilorin and lectures at the Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun. For some years between 2011 and 2018, she translated Pastor E. A. Adeboye’s ‘Open Heavens’ into Yorùbá. Famously referred to as ‘Mama Ijesa North’,…
When, in 1814, Europe’s leading statesman, Count Metternich, said that Italy “is only a geographical expression”, the former Deputy of the Kingdom of Italy and the Father of Modern Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, didn’t take it as an offence. Instead, the only question on his mind was how to create Italians. Take the recent detention escape of one of the Binance Executives held in Nigeria for tax evasion, Nadeem Anjarwalla, as a case study! Anjarwalla’s escape from protective custody didn’t tell us anything other than the statelessness of the Nigerian state. In some countries, there would by now have been a…
The Lagos State Government recently endorsed a food production agreement with the Niger State Government. The partnership, known as the ‘Produce for Lagos Initiative’, is aimed at ensuring a steady flow of agricultural products to the end consumers. Interestingly, this agreement is coming at a time Sheik Ahmad Abubakar Gumi is warning the Federal Government of Nigeria that unless it negotiates with the terrorists and bandits, recent attacks will be “the tip of the iceberg”. Well, irrespective of what Gumi stands to profit from this threatening statement, it is obvious that insecurity in Nigeria is spreading and no region is…
As of today, the basic problem with Nigeria in the war against terrorism is that she is following a defective strategic front. This is what the situation is and it is very sad! All the empirical evidence in the last ten or so years have shown that Nigeria has been following a wrong policy in her counterterrorism warfare and all eyes can see it. The problem is that we are fighting unconventional warfare in which our security forces are not trained in terms of equipment, strategy and mindset. To get things right, the reboot must start from the military academy…
Nigeria is at a crossroads and Nigerians are trying to find the responses to an economic crisis and currency turmoil. Of course, all manner of symptoms keep appearing! Towards the end of February, Governor Biodun Oyebanji unveiled a N12 billion economic relief programme for Ekiti residents. That’s in addition to other proactive steps already taken by the governor to mitigate the effects of the fuel subsidy removal and naira floatation by the national government. In Borno State, Governor Babagana Zulum has been putting in a stellar shift even as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has also been doing well…
As an avowed Federalist, Nigerians expected Tinubu to have sent a Constitution Amendment Bill to the National Assembly with a view to tinkering with dozens of items on the Exclusive List in favour of the devolution of powers, state policing and the like. But it is too early in the day to say that it is too late! Since Ekiti is an APC-controlled state, Oyebanji can lead the process of putting the national government on its toes. The neutrality and/or objectivity of the various arms of the security services and interfaith community will also help tremendously in determining the distance…
Well, much as causation has been attributed to poverty, religious and ethnic extremism and others, it’s time the Federal Government revisited its security architecture and remodeled countermeasure strategies to yield fruitful results. The faithful choice of a good businessman is to recoil his strategies if output isn’t justified by investments and governments across board must get the message right. That the price is rising and that the cost is becoming incalculable is like trying to find the words, especially in a celebratory culture of violence. Therefore, governments at the national and subnational levels must interrogate assumptions on how to build…
Thank God Ekiti school children and their teachers who were kidnapped on Monday, January 29, 2024, have now been released and reunited with their families. May the ‘Land of Honour’ never witness such a horrible experience again! Yours sincerely also join other well-meaning Nigerians to commiserate with those who lost loved ones to the two tragedies. May God repose the souls of the faithful departed and grant the bereaved families the courage to process their losses and the strength to face whatever lies ahead! Most of all, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, aka BAO, deserves a pat on the back for…
Once upon a time, growing up in Lagos was akin to living in El-Dorado. Life in Igbosere Road and Lafiaji was tolerable, with good social amenities and infrastructure for the common good. On a rather sad note however was the degeneration that became its lot due to rural-urban migration; and there was no town planning, which was more rigorous in the 1950s and the 1960s. These put immense pressure on public facilities and infrastructure to a breaking point, more or less turning the state into a looming disaster. Well, this situation could have been foreseen by those in government but…
Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution is explicit on the differences between citizens and settlers. But then, there’s a saying in Ijesaland: ‘Gbogbo ìjesà ni omo Owá, sùgbón b’álé bá lé, àwon omo Owá mo ara won.’ Translated literally, it means ‘Kings have many children but when the chips are down, each king knows his real children.’ To put it succinctly therefore, when it comes to nativity, no settler in Lagos can claim to be an Igbo and a Lagosian at the same time. Not only that, while an indigene can be likened to a tap root with the capacity…
My discussion about the performance of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu must be put in the context that I met him at Saint Andrew’s Anglican Church, Okepopo, Lagos; and that was in 2003, under the vicarship of the then Reverend Canon ‘Segun Ajayi. Meeting him, I remember Sanwo-Olu as a man with a good dose of human empathy. By the time I became a member of the Christian Progressive Association (CPA) of the Church later that year, he had already completed his tenure as its President. But I can confess that this man of many parts has a human touch, one who…
Since Nigeria is a star gold medal winner in prayers and celebrated spirituality, I think this intervention should be a special focus on the rational prayers for Nigeria. In trying to take up this special task however, my attention was drawn to a verse in the Christian Holy Book: ‘You ask and receive not, because you asked amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts’ (James 4:3). Thus, the first prayer is that Nigerians would not continue to pray amiss. First and foremost, it appears as if Nigerians are no longer interested in whether or not there are saboteurs…
Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu is dead! May God repose his soul! Since nature abhors a vacuum, his Deputy, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has now been sworn-in as the substantive governor of the state. May God order his steps in the onerous tasks ahead! By the way, if Aiyedatiwa could become the governor despite the intimidations from those whose hearts were made of rocks, nothing is impossible on earth. But then, this is just the beginning of what to expect in the foreseeable future, especially if the Obe-Nla, Ondo State-born politician is eyeing Alagbaka as its Chief Tenant, post-February 23,…
As of July 16, 2022, Iyiola Omisore, a Prince of Ife and a celebrated political strategist and master of the game, was the party’s National Secretary. Still, APC lost very badly in Ifeland. Incidentally, that’s where Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, the party’s current State Chairman, was also born. Lawal was at the time its Vice State Chairman. Most, if not all those who pretended to be Big Boys from Ifeland who served in the Oyetola-led government lost even their polling units. Was that also caused by Aregbesola? Again, why did APC contentedly slip into its familiar routine in Oriade and Obokun…
Olajumoke Ogunkeyede is a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State. JMK, as Ogunkeyede is popularly called, was also a chieftain of the now-rested National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). He participated actively in putting an end to military rule and the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria. In a chance encounter with yours sincerely recently, JMK has these to say on the state of Osun APC: “I am not a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and I try not to dabble into the running of Osun PDP. But, with the current situation of things, theres no doubting…
It is a glorious thing to have a tested leader as the president of a country. It is also a blessing when the president means what he says and when what he says is not just believable but also approved by the people. Such a society is bound to swim in an environment of enormous possibilities because the question of trust is taken care of. The question of purpose is also sorted. Be that as it may, it is a two-edged sword: the leader will have to be conscious of time and calculative of his achievements while the mass of…
At a programme in honour of the reconstituted North-East Development Commission (NEDC) recently, Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, warned that Nigeria risked being wiped off the map in the near future if no proactive steps were taken to stop young people and children from being recruited by Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists. Zulum’s warning came at a time no fewer than 13 farmers were beheaded on their farmlands in the state by Boko Haram terrorists, with some unspecified number of farmers also kidnapped. This is also amidst reports of harvest tax by farmers to terrorists. Well, Governor Zulum was…
If we go back to the history of Nigeria, the truth is: dear fatherland has learnt nothing. In the days of Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola, this was how they started inventing stuff that had never been in existence; and that has continued to trouble the Nigerian state, even till this day. Therefore, what’s yet unclear to the likes of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his protégé, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is that, since society is like a cyclical entity, the chicks will always come home to roost. Since what goes around…
When our forefathers came up with the wise saying that ‘the earnest wish of potters is for earth to be clay’, it was not only worthy of commendation but also no mean achievement. The beauty of the adage is that, in some 1000 years to come, it will still be relevant. So, instead of concentrating on having more wealth, the wisdom in it is learning how to be frugal and maximally productive with the little that’s available. Simple Economics: economic activities breed taxation while taxation without representation is problematic. Generally, the mission of governments is revenue generation which practically translates…
From time immemorial, the masses have relied on constituted governments to implement road projects for the socio-political economy of the society. Whichever government got the construction right would be praised while those who focused on the maintenance would also be eulogised by the masses. However, those who neither got the construction nor the maintenance right would be recorded in the psyche of the people. Hence the adage: ‘The king who sits on the throne in halcyon times, his name shall not be forgotten. Same for that whose reign is turbulent.’ To say the truth, an emergency should be declared on…
Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State is privileged to have inherited a stable platform. Were it to have been otherwise, one doubts if he would by now have finished negotiating the trouble zones, not to talk about development in the state. Not just that, the governor also has a thriving centre to his advantage. So, whichever way it goes, it’s a good step, which brings to the fore the need for him to engage the best of brains – which, of course, Ekiti State has not been short of – and apply same towards development. Without doubt, the quietness…
“Insecurity along the Osogbo-Ibokun-Ilesa Road in the southwest state has led to the plight of kidnap victims at the hands of Fulani kidnappers.” Temitope Oladipo Fayehun must be passing through hard times. A native of Ilesa in Osun State, Fayehun’s ordeal started on March 2, 2021, when he, alongside others in his vehicle, fell into the hands of some Fulani kidnappers along Osogbo-Ibokun-Ilesa Road in the state. While some of the passengers were killed and had their corpses dumped in the forest, kidnappers immediately took others into a thick forest. Fayehun fell into the latter group. But then, that marked…
There was a time in Nigeria when the name, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) suggested a dynamic, positive and functional institution. Perilous, and as the war against drug crimes and related offences was, society and criminals were conscious of the institution’s existence. During the time, everything was bright and beautiful for the Agency but, somewhere along the line, there was a lull and that lull represented a brief moment. It was as if it was strange to happen to Nigeria but, of course, it wasn’t strange to the world for a period of that nature to occur in public…
A man represents different things to different people. It’s like a mirror in the sun, reflecting different parts of humanity, which depends on who is looking at it, and what part of life we met him. It boils down to human behavioural patterns and factors responsible for them. Unfortunately, the outcome becomes a political fortune or liability, depending on which side of the divide the individual or group of people belongs. In fairness to Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola, former Governor of Osun State, now Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, who turned 69 on September 29, 2023, he cannot respond to…
Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent discourteous behaviour against some of the traditional rulers in Iseyin, Oyo State, has drawn an angry tirade from the public. Not unexpectedly, these comments have come as a mix of both the printable and unprintable words. For yours sincerely, the former president’s comments could only be viewed from two main perspectives. The first is the pre-colonial era prestige attached to Nigeria’s traditional institution. During the period under review, traditional rulers were in full control to the extent that the then-visiting white men who later became their colonial masters were always at their mercy for acceptance…
There is nothing wrong with a very big dream. What is wrong is not having a dream at all. But with a dream, there’s also the possibility of a deluge of hindrances to its actualization. So, dreamers don’t go to the office to sleep. They go to the office to work. Actually, the dream that motivated President Bola Tinubu to appoint Zacchaeus Adedeji as the Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) must be big and vibrant. But how much the Iwo Ate, Oyo State-born technocrat can achieve will depend on the environment and society. Why did I…
Last week, I had the honour of visiting Dr. Amos Akingba, a chieftain of Afenifere and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), in his Ode-Irele, Ondo State country home. Akingba, who turned 85 last March, relocated to his hometown about two years ago. Since home is for rest, the elder statesman is back home to savour the serenity of his ancestral birthplace, but this time, the octogenarian is retiring to a community that has been without electricity since 2014. Ode-Irele is headquarters to one of the four Local Governments – Irele, Okitipupa, Ese-Odo and Ilaje – that have been subjected to ‘uninterrupted…
