Smoke woke me up. It started as an offensive odour. Then as it grew in intensity, the last vestiges of sleep quickly deserted me.Alarmed, I sprang up trying to trace the source of the acrid smell. My worst fear was that an electric circuit had been somehow bridged during the night which had caused a […]

By Dr Segun Odegbami Last Wednesday, at the invitation of the Federal University Lokoja, I delivered the 15th Distinguished Public Lecture of the university. I am devoting my column this weekend to a slightly edited version of the presentation. When I received the invitation, what immediately came to my mind was that the university must […]

Lagos today, Jakarta tomorrow. You will hardly see Peter Obi relying entirely on second hand news, for the Labour Party leader is a man of the globe, flying across continents in search of knowledge and solution to basic problems that turn nations to tigers. When you see Obi wearing the trademark black Indonesian cap with a matching […]

“The police is your friend,” is a popular saying of the Nigerian Police Force. “Friend” has many definitions, but this definition suits this article: “someone who is not an enemy and who you can trust.” Do Nigerians see the police as people they can trust? “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind…,” a refrain from […]

The wonders of the world are few – but you would be right to list Clement Okwufulueze, the school boy sports super star among them. Yes, he was a veritable wonder of Nigerian school sports in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Was it when he played for Anglican Grammar School, Ubulu-Uku or Federal Government College, […]