The recent Sunday Vanguard carried a rather sad story of our oil industry and in the story, was a strong indictment of leadership both in Government and in the communities. The article stated very bluntly, the poignant facts that more gas is flared in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. According to the article, 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas is wasted annually which is 40% of all of Africa’s natural gas consumption

The Buhari Government recently celebrated its hundred days in office, if celebration is the word. The ruling administration was certainly not in a celebratory mood. It claimed it was in for a marathon; not a hundred meter dash and did everything to discourage any rolling out of drums.

By Muyiwa Adetiba We all have a reason for doing what we do. Otherwise the gruelling hours and the discipline that we have to put into our jobs would be pointless. Most of us spend incredibly long hours at what we do. First, there is the period for the acquisition of knowledge, formal and informal; […]

Fashola is also—or should be—the poster child for APC. He set a bench mark for what governance should be and his achievements were recognised by friends and foes alike. Yet by all accounts, judging by the way political outings are rated, it was a dismal outing. None, as in none, of the political heavyweights was in attendance. The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu who normally loves these things could not find the time to honour one of his own. If the de facto Chairman of APC was absent for reasons best known to him, what about the de jour Chairman?

The NNPC has another Group Managing Director in the name of Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu who until his appointment, was the Vice-Chairman of Exxon-Mobil for Africa. He is about the fourth GMD for NNPC in half a dozen years. So volatile is this job, so open to abuse, political interference and pressure, that you wonder whether to congratulate the present occupant or commiserate with him. Yet, so important, nay, so vital is his job that it is in our collective interest to wish him the best.

Do you know about the third eye? It is a simple trick of looking at a picture or slide and seeing another hidden picture or configuration different from the obvious one. At a time, a lot of management or training courses featured it

Back in the 70s,my close friends and I fantasized about speed as most young people are wont to do. We loved those sleek, ugly- beautiful cars that promised, not just driving pleasure, but also speed in the realm of Formula One.

The book inside us. Many of us believe we have at least one creative book inside us and would love to have a published book to our name. It is one of the reasons, if I must be honest, I took to journalism. It is also one of the reasons I believe that many journalists all over the world, take to the pen profession. Journalism, for us, is a sort of half-way house which is supposed to satisfy the hunger for the written word while preparing us for that one book that will catapult us to the literary hall of fame. And for that, we are prepared to suffer the poor pay and inhuman working hours that journalism offers.

An article appeared in the Daily Times of the late 70s that struck a chord in me. It was written by one of Nigerians’ most celebrated columnists. Mr Peter Enahoro, writing as Peter Pan, wrote an article titled: ‘Let Papa Die’. It was an incisive commentary on a major social issue of that time.

The current APC saga reminds me of one of those folklores. You know, the one where three people came together to plan a major heist. At the successful completion of their dare-devil operation, they faltered at the sharing of spoils. Each wanted the entire spoil to himself and planned on how to eliminate the other two.

There was a hit song in the 80s that had a refrain which went something like this: ‘Now that we’ve found love what are we going to do with it?’ This song came to my consciousness each time the APC members went from one comedy of error to another in their quest to acquire or consolidate power. Substitute the word love with power and you will have the APC scenario which has found power but is fumbling so terribly with it.

If you get up in the morning expecting a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. It’s about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly and the customers were unhappy.

People who know Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Governor of Osun State say he is a brilliant man. I have never met him despite my close ties with Osun State but have watched him on the soap box a couple of times and I can attest to his oratorical prowess. But there was nothing brilliant or oratorical about him last week when he appeared on TV trying to defend his inability to pay salaries. He looked incoherent and pathetic.

Last Saturday was the kind of day you’d want to stay at home.
Apart from the fact that it was wet, cool and therefore cosy, there were two major sporting events lined up for the day, not to mention the Canadian Grand Prix for the growing number of Formula One fans.

Three years ago in far-away America, a General like our General Buhari who found himself in politics at the highest level, wrote an interesting book on leadership. His name is Colin Powel, a four-star general of the US army, a former Secretary of State and a one-time aspirant to the world’s most coveted seat. Titled: ‘It Worked for Me’, this best seller is a compilation of the experiences and lessons learnt during his illustrious public life, especially the ‘The thirteen Rules’ which had shaped his life and career.