“But, the fact in our favour is that nothing was done under the veil of secrecy. We were as transparent and accountable as possible, being aware of the fact that posterity was the ultimate judge” – Ex-President Buhari at the launching of the books chronicling the purported achievements of his administration. I have not read […]

“Charity begins at home.” Dear President Bola Tinubu, from records available to me, you have always claimed Lagos Island in Lagos State as your home. If that is true, your visit to Lagos during the Yuletide in December did not reflect it. You came with a battalion of soldiers – mostly non-Lagosians – like a conqueror; […]

“I know death hath ten thousand several doors for men to take their exits” – John Webster, 1580-1652. This article could easily have been titled SCARCE DRUGS, HIGH PRICES KILLING NIGERIANS PREMATURELY and it would just have been appropriate. But, since the end of everything is death, we might as well confront the issue head […]

“All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies” – Dr John Arbuthnot, 1667-1735. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is close to the graveyard; mostly because Nigerians got sick and tired of the unfulfilled promises and outright lies the leaders of the party peddled for sixteen years. In a saner society, former President […]

“It matters not how a [woman] dies, but how [she] lives…” – Dr Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784 Johnson left many in teresting statements carved on stones. Among them was the one which startled me at first: “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” The second is the one above. Once you are alive, the only […]

“When Fortune means to men the most good, she looks upon them with a threatening eye” – William Shakespeare, 1564-1616. Daisi was born to succeed; but, he suffered greatly first. Our paths crossed in North Brewery Limited, Kano, in 1981. I was a young Marketing Manager, who had dared to apply for that position from the […]

“History does not repeat itself; man does” – Harvard Prof. Barbara Tuchman My heart sank after reading the summary of the 2024 Budget and the promise by the Tinubu government to create a $1 trillion economy in ten years. Now, I am inclined to believe that Nigeria will never become the global economic power we […]

“Wisdom in people consists in the anticipation of consequences” – Norman Cousins, 1915-1990. Approximately five years  ago, Lagos Island was in the vice grip of gang wars brought about by disputes over control of various sectors of our Island by unemployed and often violent youths. Several attempts were made by elders to bring about peace […]

“Every government is run by liars; and nothing they say should be believed” – I F Stone, US journalist, 1907-1989. Stone was one of about a dozen columnists I read religiously when I was in the USA. He cured me of the virulent disease of columnists sending their CVs to governments in search of jobs. Nobody […]

If visitors to Akwa Ibom State now describe it as a beautiful destination, the credit belongs to Obong Attah