Author: Bolanle Bolawole

Although we know it is called Indian hemp, not many will be able to say why this is so. Hemp may not be native to India in the real sense of it. According to Google, the regulation of hemp in India began in the colonial era when cannabis was being restricted across all British colonies starting at the beginning of the 19th Century. In 1894, the British India government reportedly completed a wide-ranging study of cannabis in India. Indian hemp may refer to any of various fibre-bearing plants (Apocynum Cannabinum) some of which, like Cannabis indica and Crotalaria juncea, are…

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“Home is where/When you go there/They take you in” – Felix Houphouet-Boigny, late Cote d’Ivoire president. We begin today with Achilles’ heel, where one’s great strength and invincibility can also become an uncommon weakness and destructibility. Google defines Achilles heel as a weakness despite overall strength; while the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.  In Greek mythology, it was predicted that Achilles would die young. That this might not happen, mother, Thetis took her son to the magical River Styx, which was believed to possess…

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“The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation” – Jeremy Bentham. Last week’s “In ‘defence’ of Bill Gates” was a satire although some readers took it in its literal sense or face value and queried me for “defending” Bill Gates! Satire is a figure of speech and literary weapon used by writers to mean the very opposite of what they say. Not everyone is aware of this poetic licence that is available to writers; nay, even orators. Marc Antony, in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, employed it beautifully in the effusive encomiums he poured on…

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Bill and Melinda Gates and or their Foundation have been in the news for the wrong reasons. There are lots of conspiracy theories swirling around the Gates; apart from the Chinese, I do not think there is anyone as vilified as the Gates today. The other day, Bill was attacked in broad daylight in a European country. The Chinese are accused of having manufactured coronavirus in a laboratory in one of their cities, Wuhan; of having been careless with it, thus letting the virus escape from the laboratory into the world, and of not alerting the world on time of…

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Last week news broke that the Yoruba nation has been admitted into the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) as its 45th member. President of the Yoruba World Congress (YMC), emeritus professor of History and African Studies, Prof. Banji Akintoye, gleefully made the announcement in a press statement.  As if in competition, the Ralph Uwazuruike-led Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) two days later also announced the admission of Biafra into the same UNPO as its 46th member, bringing into remembrance the “bad belle” in some quarters when, in 1986, Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Yoruba,…

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Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in Mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. – John Donne. Retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was at it again recently with his nebulous arithmetic of 97% and 5%! He said recently 90% of those killed by Boko Haram are Muslims and, immediately, he stirred the hornet’s nest. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) jumped in his throat and told him point-blank that he lied. The days of diplomatic words are over!  The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), however, came to Buhari’s rescue…

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