Felabrations, the activities marking the death of the music icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti were on till last weekend. Although he has been gone for almost two decades now, yet he lives on in the minds and hearts of music lovers the world over, many of whom never met him; many of whom were not even born when he was alive and performing. Such is the power of creativity; such is the value of enriching your environment with your worth that your stock continues to appreciate long after you are gone.

I was taught the importance of good hand writing pretty early. We even had lessons and eventually, a subject on it in my primary school days. We were told that however brilliant you were, your handwriting could be the deciding factor between a good pass and an ordinary pass as an untidy or illegible writing could easily irritate and put a teacher off.

Three weeks ago, I wrote a column titled ‘Rich country, poor people’ in which I lamented the disconnect between our resource rich country and its poor people. I also lamented the nonchalant wastefulness of our leaders who prefer to line their pockets instead of developing their country.

I own a green passport. In the days around Independence, this I was told, was a great privilege. A story was told to me—and I can vouch for its authenticity—by a man who was a student in England at the time of our Independence. He was to travel to a couple of European countries for some projects and a UK passport would have meant a visa free, and therefore a hassle free travel. But he declined.

This is the season of weddings. The cards come thick and fast. It is not unusual to have three to five wedding invitations on a busy Saturday. After all, we live in a society where marriage is seen as a logical step to completion of self. Completion for a bachelor who has finished schooling, is about 30, and has secured some form of livelihood. Completion for a spinster who may, or may not have finished schooling, who may, or may not have secured some form of livelihood.

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.