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 […]
Esua: Uniting with love, by Emeka Obasi
Lagos turned red with sweet smelling flowers of love as Offiong Esua flew across the Atlantic with his pretty wife, Vina, for a grand wedding. The trip from Houston was coloured with love notes well delivered in multifarious cultures. Esua is Efik, full of Calabar blood. His maternal roots lie in Yoruba land, atop rock-solid […]
The Ororification of the protests, by Ugoji Egbujo
The youths plan a public protest. The land has been feverish with hunger and suffering. The grounds for a protest can’t be more legitimate and compelling. The cost of living has become punishing. The weak naira has pauperised everyone, and the poor have been left without hope. The new government arrived with the old cluelessness. […]
Life after the protest, by Emmanuel Aziken
Nigeria has all of a sudden been taken over by a debate about protest. The frenzy immediately brings to mind the stinging rebuke on the nation by the president of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne who said that Nigerians love to debate at the expense of the collective good. “You love to debate… But if you look […]
Birthdays as a sign of our mortality, by Muyiwa Adetiba
The last two weeks have witnessed landmark birthday celebrations by some of my favourite people. Arit Tunde-Imoyo turned 70 and she decided on a different celebratory route from a decade ago when a few of us found ourselves in Florida to mark her sixtieth. Then, it was a small, intimate affair which included spending an […]
Between Paris, the Olympic Games and I, by Segun Odegbami
I am in London, hopefully on my way, in the next few days, to Paris, the host city of the 2024 Olympiad. I am very excited about visiting Paris again after two previous experiences that are significant chapters in my life. 48 years ago, my flight to my first Olympic Games experience started in a […]
