Thank God October 21, 2014 came on schedule and it was a glorious day in every way possible. Threatening rain gave way to a bright sunshine and a cream of the Old People in Nigeria assembled at the United Nations Information Centre, UNIC, to celebrate the Older Persons Day, 2014. To Allah be the Glory.

Long before Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527, warned people in politics that “he who abandons what is done, for what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin than his own preservation”, Critias, an Athenian statesman, had already foretold the use of murder as a political weapon. Since 1999, Nigeria had experienced political murders as we approached the Presidential and governors elections – in 2003 (Marshall Harry, Bola Ige), in 2007 (Funso Williams) and again in 2011( ten, in the “Arc of Evil” (Abia, Akwa Ibom and Imo alone). The bodies are about to start falling before the 2015 elections.

By Dele Shobowale “Life is brief; a little hope; a little dream and then – good night.”Leon Montanaeken, 1859. “Ah make the most of what we may yet spend/ Before we too into dust descend/ Dust unto dust…Omar Khayyam. Dying is a serious business; as much as living – believe me. With it, the Grim […]

“If you don’t die, you are bound to grow old.”

By Dele Sobowale “That was the full extent of his [Senator Sheriff] participation in the visit and it was also at Ndjamena Airport that the pictures which formed the basis of the bogus allegation of President Jonathan hobnobbing with the ‘accused sponsor of terrorism’ were taken.” Dr Reuben Abati, PUNCH, Friday, September 12, 2014 p […]

Let me conclude my series on the “dandy duo” who defected to the PDP from the APC (can you spot the difference please?) – each of them bringing with them more liabilities than assets to the parties they join; and increasingly becoming political jesters. For sure, none has ever won an election; none has a political structure of his own. All they bring to a political party is noise and nuisance value. Wait and see. Let me remind our readers about one of Ribadu’s escapades.

When Femi Fani-Kayode took to politics, he embarked on a treacherous journey which had caused his father ruination because he could have been Nigeria’s most celebrated lawyer – if he had kept to his learned profession. Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, was the country’s youngest Queen’s Counsel, QC – the equivalent of today’s Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN. But, sadly, neither his proficiency in law nor his unfortunate foray into politics is remembered by most people. Pity. Among other things he talked tough and was widely known as Fani Power.

A honest politician, like a chaste prostitute, is almost an oxymoron – a contradiction in terms. Still there are a few who are passably honest and stay true to the ideals associated with them from start to finish. By contrast, the nation had witnessed a tragic-comical episode of two young politicians who in the space of a few years have turned themselves into political nuisances.

From the day after the Ekiti Election until two weeks ago, I received several text messages from PDP supporters, as well as those who just wanted to taunt me for declaring my support for Governor Fayemi who lost the election. I was unperturbed because I know that a democracy means that there must be at least two candidates contesting and one person must win – irrespective of whether the election is free and fair. And the fact that the majority had selected the winner does not always mean that they have chosen wisely.

On Wednesday May 28, 2014, I went to visit an elder statesman, from the Niger Delta, in Nigeria. On the same day, several newspapers carried the story about Mrs Patience Jonathan asking (begging? ordering?) people to stop insulting her husband – the President. My senior friend/Oga took out his iPad and showed me an audio/visual recording titled Na You One Waka Come. That spoof mercilessly and viciously lampooned Jonathan and his wife. At first, I found the stuff amusing; then it became annoying and finally alarming.