A childish sermon on Children’s Day, by Ugoji Egbujo
With nursery school children languishing in the forest, tortured by bandits who snatched them from school, President Tinubu ought to be sleepless . Or at least speechless. But no. Tinubu is a god. He is a living encyclopedia of strategies. Beyond reproach and accountability. He removed fuel subsidies. So he rescued the country from the valley of […]
The metamorphosis of Ndi Igbo
“Igbo enweeze” ( Igbos have no kings) pays tribute not to disunity but to the independent mindedness of Igbos and their republican spirit. Igbos rightly believed that when the community ruled itself then arbitrariness and inequality that kings epitomized would not afflict them. ‘Igbo enweeze’ therefore is the enthronement of not just consensus and equity but also industry and meritocracy. Monarchy and feudalistic structures , despite all the historical sophistication ascribed to them , enthrone not mediocrity but also servitude. But the political docility that has beset Igboland now is startling.
The ‘big man’ and the kwashiorkor child
I am a big man, so I bark orders, talk at people, put them in their places. When I froth , they fawn . I get attention and give back indifference and insolence. That locks them into servility. I dish arbitrariness, it feels godlike. Reckless unpredictability leaves those around me nursing my moods, makes them live lives guessing my moves.
This Nnamdi Kanu, that Radio Biafra and the tragedy of charlatanism (2)
From the great heights of Ikemba Ojukwu to the wretchedness and mediocrity of an Nnamdi Kanu. What a tragedy! “As long as your mother ties a two piece wrapper you are a Biafran, you are a descendant of light. …..Why would anyone go to church to worship the Son of God when we have many Nwachukwus( sons of God) in our midst?”
This Nnamdi Kanu, that Radio Biafra and the tragedy of charlatanism
The itinerant luxury bus medicine dealer starts with prayers , sings choruses and sells fake ‘omnipotent’ drugs to both the sick and the healthy. He touts a particular knowledge of staphylococcus and expertise in improving watery sperms and weak erections. He will suggest his bag contains cures for every known disease. He will jump off the bus but not before he is done . He tells tales like the ‘zoo’ story, playing on the vulnerabilities of an impoverished and ignorant society.
Reuben Abati: An ‘Otimkpu’ in whom the man has since died
Nigeria isthe land of political eunuchs. The country is replete with loquacious apostles of morality , sanctimonious technocrats, who come into government with so much promise butare castrated by a brief exposure to the irradiation of power and money.When technocrats in Nigeria are offered political appointments they accept them before considering the moral complexity of the tasks and potential consequences of their engagements.
