The brutal murder of Dr Chike Akunyili by the so-called “unknown gunmen” — I call them “the Boko Haram of the south-east” — has torn my heart to pieces. I was an associate member of the Akunyili family, having related closely with his wife, Prof Dora Nkem Akunyili, who did an amazing job as director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) from 2001 to 2008. She died in 2014 after losing her fight with cancer. Her husband was one of those rarely celebrated in Nigeria — a successful man in his own…
Author: Simon- Kolawole
On January 18, 2020, when I first read of the new coronavirus on the BBC website, my heart missed a beat because of what China means to the world. The headline was: “New virus in China ‘will have infected hundreds’.” And these were the opening paragraphs: “The number of people already infected by the mystery virus emerging in China is far greater than official figures suggest, scientists have told the BBC. There have been more than 60 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but UK experts estimate a figure nearer 1,700. Two people are known to have died from respiratory…
After the leadership elections of the ninth national assembly in June, one fact stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb — not a single Igbo man or woman would be counted among the top seven citizens of Nigeria: president, vice-president, senate president, speaker, chief justice of Nigeria, deputy senate president and deputy speaker. Senator Ike Ekweremadu failed in his last-minute bid to return as deputy senate president. That could have changed the situation. In a federation where Igbo are one of the three biggest ethnic groups, this is bad news for enthusiasts of national integration like me — and possibly…
I recollect vividly as if it happened yesterday — the day I first had a one-on-one with Mr Nduka Obaigbena, editor-in-chief and chairman of THISDAY Newspapers. I had heard so much about him, the good and the bad, and I had always been fascinated by the good. By instinct, I focus more on the positive side of people, partly because I get inspired and partly because of my own glaring imperfections. That meeting was in August 1997. I had been offered the position of assistant editor of The Sunday Newspaper by Mr Eziuche Ubani, who was then the Sunday editor.…
Eleven years ago — to be specific, on July 7, 2008 — the title of my column was: “One Day, the People Will Rebel”. I warned that the extravagant lifestyles of our elite in the face of crippling poverty in the country would come back to bite all of us one day. At the time, kidnappings were a Niger Delta thing as militants agitated for resource control, but I was talking about what I called the “non-oil” kidnappings which I said would become the fad in the near future. I said the Nigerian elite must get the message that they…
A week ago, Mr Femi Falana, the human rights lawyer, raised the alarm that the Nigerian Navy had been holding 15 Nigerian citizens captive without trial since September 2018. Worse still, one of them got a court order to be released from illegal detention but the naval authorities have ignored it — which, to be fair, has been a consistent behaviour of government institutions in recent times. Time after time, Nigerians are being detained irrespective of court orders, under the nebulous excuse of “investigation is still going on” and “state security” — in absolute disregard for the rule of law.…
Last night, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc held its 2019 CEO Awards Ceremony, to which I was invited. This year, the bank is celebrating its 70th anniversary — having been established as the French & British Bank Limited (B&FB) in 1949. It took the name “United Bank for Africa” in 1961 following its metamorphosis and incorporation under Nigerian laws after the exit of the colonial masters. Although there was plenty to eat and drink at last night’s event, dining is the least exciting thing for me. Something else has been playing on my mind: when will Nigerian brands…
In July 2005, aboard an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Lagos, a number of Nigerians spent hours discussing the state of the nation. We were from different parts of the country and different religions. We discussed virtually every topic — from the horrible roads to the unending importation of petroleum products, from the inhospitable hospitals to the abysmal education sector. We spoke extensively on corruption in public institutions across the country, the bazaar of contract awards, the hyperinflation of contract costs, as well as the obscene lifestyles of civil servants, politicians and political appointees. I was fully charged as…
We marked the World Water Day on March 22 with a damning statistic: over 60 million Nigerians do not have access to safe drinking water. In simpler English, they get their water from unhealthy sources, such as streams and ponds. I will deliberately leave out the stinking statistics on the 47 million still practising open defecation and the 120 million lacking decent toilets to answer the call of nature. When 60 million people drink unsafe water, the consequences for their health are obvious. That is why we keep experiencing regular outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases, notably cholera. Guinea worm disease, typhoid…
With the exception of Rivers state — where former friends are at war — governorship elections have been concluded across Nigeria on the not-so-unfamiliar note: the good, the bad and the ugly. As typical of Nigerian politicians, if they win, “the election was free and fair”; if they lose, “the election was rigged”. No politician rejects a result that favours him or her. It is worth celebrating, though, that many are accepting defeat these days and sending congratulatory messages to the winners. We can take this as a positive trend — as the Fourth Republic approaches its 20th anniversary. And,…
In case you missed it, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an advocacy group, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint Muslim ministers from five south-west states when he constitutes his cabinet for his second term. Why? The group says because five of the south-west governors would be Christians, that is the way to go — to address the “marginalisation of Muslims” in the geo-political zone. Put plainly, what should determine the choice of ministers from the south-west should be religion, religion, religion, religion and religion. The press release said Yoruba Muslims have been marginalised in ministerial appointments for too long…
The conduct of the 2019 general election has, expectedly, become the subject of heated discussions and debates everywhere — offices, schools, homes, newspaper vendor stands and social media. Predictably, supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari are satisfied with the outcome which favoured their candidate, while those in the corner of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the flag bearer of the leading opposition party, have questioned the integrity of the elections. In the opinion of Buhari’s supporters, the overall result reflected the wishes of Nigerians. Atiku’s supporters are, however, crying foul. Like Buhari did thrice, Atiku will challenge the outcome in court. In December…
If you ask me, I would say there are three critical stages of elections in Nigeria — and each is potentially explosive. The first is pre-election, where campaign rhetoric is usually a major trigger for tension. There could be episodes of violence, although they are not usually widespread. The second is the election day. It could be peaceful in the main, but we hardly avoid the skirmishes, voter intimidation and ballot-snatching. And there is the third stage: the post-election. That is usually where all hell is let loose by the losers. We have now navigated the first two stages and…
When your wife is pregnant and gives birth at the end of nine months, you cannot claim you were caught unawares and so you couldn’t buy items for baby delivery ahead of time. Since 2015, we had known that we were going to hold another general election in 2019. It is every four years. It is there in the constitution. We knew we would need ballot papers, ballot boxes, inkpads and result sheets. We knew the geography of Nigeria. We have meteorologists who forecast the weather all the time. We knew that some locations have peculiarities at a particular time…
When Globacom, the Nigerian telecommunications giant, unveiled Anthony Joshua as its brand ambassador a couple of weeks ago, something delighted me. Even though I know that the world heavyweight boxing champion is originally from Nigeria, I always see him as British. After all, Joshua — who currently holds three of the four biggest world titles — flies the British flag. He represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics and won the superheavyweight gold medal. I had some good feeling watching him in the Glo TV commercial talk about “we Nigerians” and our resilience. He may be flying the Union Jack…
By the year 2050, Nigeria will have a population of 410 million people, the UN has projected. We will become the third largest country in the world, after India and China. We are currently seventh. Let’s pause for a minute. Imagine the number of hospital bed spaces, the gallons of water, the megawatts of electricity and the millions of new jobs we would need by 2050. Imagine the number of graduates we would be churning out. As things stand now — with an estimated population of 190 million — we are struggling to get enough doctors to attend to patients,…
In 2010, when Dr. Goodluck Jonathan assumed office following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, he promised us electoral reform. He launched a campaign on “one man, one vote; one woman, one vote; one youth, one vote”. He started to speak about “credible elections”, staring our vocabulary away from “free and fair elections”. This was partly in response to the ridiculous 2007 elections that brought him and Yar’Adua to power. It could well be that 2007 was not the worst in Nigeria’s history, but INEC, under the leader of the inimitable Prof. Maurice Iwu, had conducted itself in such…
