“He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his word good” – Confucius, 551-479 B.C., VANGUARD B00K OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 162 A picture, indeed, is worth a thousand words. The photograph published on Friday, July 19, 2024 by the media told the entire story. President Tinubu was smiling broadly; all the Labour […]

“There are times when a leader must move ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident he is leading his people the right way” – Nelson M“ andela, 1918-2013, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, p 124. Irrespective of any other mistakes his government hasmadeinitsthirteenmonths in office, the decision to remove tariffs on food imports […]

“As a nation, it is so shameful that we have about 4.5 gigawatts. We must increase our oil production too to 2 million barrels per day within the next few months. Remove all barriers hindering investments into the sector to enhance competitiveness” – President Tinubu in Abuja, July 4, 2024. Watching Tinubu addressing the Council […]

‘FG rolls out N1tn palliative, massive construction projects’ – Report, June 28, 2024. The report, similar in every respect to what other media reported, went on to say that “President Tinubu gave all the state governors seven days to provide concrete feedback on their plans to rev up food production in their respective states.” That […]

“We will continue the work of the current administration in reforming the civil service to fight corruption, reduce bureaucracy, streamline agencies and decrease inefficiency and waste” – RENEWED HOPE DOCUMENT pg. 17 We can protect our exchange rate, guard against inflation and preserve foreign currency reserves by limiting our exposure to large debt obligations denominated […]

“What you are, we were. What we are you will be.” Statement on a sign in an Italian cave in the 13th century First of all, I want to express appreciation for the way Alhaji Abubakar and Peter Obi reacted to the incident. The sense of responsibility demonstrated by the two strongest opposition figures was […]

“Silence is not an option when things are ill-done” – Lord Denning, 1899-1999, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS,VBQ, p 247 DENNING, British jurist, could be forgiven for wanting those accused of questionable performance to open up and talk. But, politicians never want to talk when things are going bad. For them, silence is always golden when […]

“Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, he also believes to be true” – Demosthenes, 384-322 BC, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, p 224 If you honestly believe that the Lagos-Calabar Road will be completed in seven years, then you probably have rocks where brains should be; and you represent one of the […]

“No one whose stomach is totally empty can be persuaded that his need is not for food but for entertainment” – Professor John K Galbraith Tears came to my eyes when I read recently that the World Bank (which some of us love to hate) announced that it was spearheading the effort to raise $300 […]

“Leadership is the ability to define issues without aggravating problems” – Warren Bennis, VBQ p 125. I spent my 80th birthday in a prayer and fasting retreat with four others who were also eighty. In my journeys throughout Nigeria since 1974, I moved with two obsessions. One, given a chance, I wanted to know which […]