Otis Redding’s evergreen song, ‘Sitting on the dock of bay’ came severally to mind as I sat on the embankment of the lake at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan two weekends ago with a fishing rod in my hand.

By Muyiwa Adetiba I cannot claim to know Dr Obadiah Mailafia, the man whose sudden death shook the nation a couple of weeks ago.  I met him only once when I was introduced to him at a Vanguard function by Frank Aigbogun, the Publisher of Business Day Newspaper. Yet, I cannot truly claim not to […]

My pre-Independence thoughts are hazy. Understandably so given my age at Independence. But I still recollect growing up with local police around.

How many times have we heard the argument that herding – meaning open grazing – is a way of life for a particular tribe in Nigeria?

By Muyiwa Adetiba The news of the gruesome  murder of Abdulkareem, the  son of Senator BalaNa’Allah went viral recently. It was probably not so much because of the death itself or the manner of his death since brutal killings have become common in today’s Nigeria, but rather because of his status. Abdulkareem’s father is a […]

We all have those things that remind us of our parents whether dead or alive. Things which were so ingrained in them that they became parts of who they were.

The great Cassandra, the legendary columnist of the British Daily Mirror and one of the best journalists of his time, once said it was no use being a columnist if you could not use it to fight your battles.

Two things stand our house keeper out. Her punctuality and her cheerfulness. She is not the best we have had in terms of competence. But she is always cheerful and takes to corrections well.

The Tokyo Olympics ended last week. Nigeria won a Silver and a Bronze. To many Nigerians, it was a dismal outing full of drama and negative distractions. We had disqualifications; we had protests; we had a contractual agreement with a major sponsor cancelled.

Buhari poured cold water on the fire of pro-restructuring movements in his last speech on the burning subject.

Sometimes in the seventies, I had reasons to visit Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, the first Nigerian Chief Justice of the Federation. As usual, the person I met was not anywhere near a famed man of royalty and power, his grandfather was the Alake of Egbaland. I met a soft-spoken man who exuded so much simplicity. It […]

A President in jail is not a common sight. An African President in jail is even a rarer sight. A glimpse of a President, sitting or former, White, Black or Brown, in a prison uniform staying in line for food is not a sight to behold.

It was the best place to be on the night. To watch a high profile match without any vested interest. It meant there would be no anxiety. And no palpitating heart. There would be no chewing of nails or kicking against the poor stool, or worse still, knocking someone’s head as you tried to nod an imaginary ball into a seemingly empty net.

Nnamdi Kanu, the man who has been a thorn in the flesh of this administration from its inception was re-arrested a couple of weeks ago.

By Muyiwa Adetiba The economic stats for Nigeria haven’t been good for quite a while and the consequent quality of life of an average Nigerian has been on the decline. The situation predated this administration. In fact, arresting the societal rot and improving the quality of life and living were among the campaign issues of […]