Gowon’s memoirs: Nigeria owes Awolowo an eternal debt, by Olu Fasan
Last week, I started a discussion of General Yakubu Gowon’s multi-themed memoirs, My Life of Duty & Allegiance. My focus was on the book’s general tone, which I find unduly self-justificatory. In his attempts to defend his legacy, General Gowon presents himself as a saintly figure who did no wrong as a leader, whereas some […]
How refineries worked under Babangida
By Dele Sobowale “Liars ought to have good memories”. Algernon Sidney, 1622-1683 VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 127. Read online. Right now, the nation, and indeed the entire world, is still confused regarding the situation with the two Port Harcourt refineries. Suddenly, in the last ten days of November, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, announced […]
The Great Yusufu Bala Usman-Yusuf Bangura debate: Forty years after, by Owei Lakemfa
Dr Yusufu Bala Usman was, in the 1980s, a lion in the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU. His roar could be heard across the country. He was a domineering academic and political figure with followership in the country. His reputation had been boosted when, in 1976, he and fellow radical academic and historian, Dr Olusegun Osoba, as […]
In the matter of Dele Farotimi before the Star Chamber, by Chidi Odinkalu
Paul Anyebe was a judge of the High Court of Benue State in north-central Nigeria who had a young son with sticky fingers and a sense of adventure It was his role as a dad that endangered his job as a judge.
What if Farotimi’s allegations are not false? By Tonnie Iredia
According to Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999,”every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.” To underscore the importance of this right, the constitution further expands the empowerment beyond private discussions by recognizing […]
Honour Attah with street names, by Dele Sobowale
“No man was ever honoured for what he received, but for what he gave”— Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933, 30th US President. It was twenty years ago, when the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, launched his book titled RESOURCE CONTROL. I was deeply honoured to have been asked to write the Foreword to that […]
