The load on any country’s No One Citizen can be very heavy. This makes them want to decompress and unwind from time to time in order to avoid a total breakdown.  However, when a US President wants to take a break, he usually goes to Camp David; or in the case of the current President, […]

I have as my neighbor, a retired Police top boss whom I rarely see but whose friendship I cherish. I also met a lot of Police Officers over the years by virtue of my work as a journalist. A few of them developed into personal relationships at the time. Besides, I had played squash at […]

Mrs Obehi Ogbeh turned 75 early this week. Drums were not rolled out. Understandably. It was, in any case, always going to be a quiet affair with close friends, children, grandchildren and her constant companion of fifty years in attendance. A bigger thanksgiving party was being thought of for later in the year when their union would […]

Our Aviation Industry has been in the news recently and for the wrong reasons. It started with the humongous amount to be spent repositioning Murtala Mohammed Airport as the hub for Nigeria and the West African sub-region. The main reason given was a wrong design which has made the airport to be neither operation friendly nor passenger […]

Some Nigerian female athletes recently brought continental honour home to us in two different sports in consecutive weeks almost. In doing so, they gave Nigerians some respite from the gloomy pall which now seems to hang permanently in the air like a dark cloud that is pregnant with rain. It was a joy seeing Nigerians at viewing […]

The ways of our politicians are confounding sometimes. The constitution is the document that binds people of diverse backgrounds and nationalities together and therefore must be seen to be truly representative. Unfortunately, it is not often available. It is also often worded in a legal and technical manner that makes it difficult for an average person to […]

Sometimes, what one ‘looks for in Sokoto (Town) can be found in sokoto (trousers)’. So says a Yoruba adage. It is also one of the lessons I learnt from a timeless book titled ‘The Alchemist’

The other day in church, a Priest recounted an experience he had as a young Seminarian. Although it happened many years ago, it was an experience that has obviously stayed with him and has probably helped in shaping his priesthood. He had come to visit his parents in Lagos from his seminary in Ibadan during an Open […]

It usually starts with a barely noticeable spark, then it spreads quickly until it becomes uncontrollable. That is the nature of wildfires. That is also the nature of certain volatile newsbreaks. Managing such newsbreaks was my business for years and it doesn’t quite leave you. Like wildfires, the source is important and the trick is […]

It should not happen to anyone. Nobody should have to wake up in the morning to see their property worth billions of naira being demolished; or worse, completely demolished. And as a consequence, to find that the future of a business the property houses, a labour of love and sweat of several years, has suddenly become seriously […]

Many moons ago, when LMTS (Lagos Municipal Transport Service) used to rule Lagos roads, a senior in my secondary school entered a crowded bus. He had to stand up because all the seats were taken. It was not unusual and it was not uncomfortable. As he familiarized himself with the other occupants, he saw a younger student […]

‘Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: “I want to be you”. My stock reply is always: “Then you have to take the whole package.” That was Barbara Walters, the celebrated broadcaster, the first female face on TV in the US – aptly described as the most important woman in the history […]

I will call him John for the purpose of this article. He is one of the internally displaced persons living in the camp at Yelwata. IDP camps are dotted all over parts of the north as a sign of the times we live in – but that is a story for another day. John had gone […]

There is a feud currently going on in the US between its President and the Governor of California. It largely has to do with jurisdiction, or the limits of power if you like. The week has witnessed some protests against the forceful immigration policy of President Trump in parts of California, especially Los Angeles, America’s second largest […]

Former President Bill Clinton left the White House at fifty-four with a financial challenge. It is inconceivable for us in Africa and especially in Nigeria, for a former President who had been a two-term Governor to boot, to ever face the daunting prospect of insolvency on leaving office. It is not as if he had a […]