LAST week, the issue at discourse here was headlined African leaders and the renewed scramble for Africa. While our leaders seem to be our problem, it must also be pointed out that a people deserve the kind of leaders they get. The way things are going, I fear that by the end of this century, the African, […]

The conduct of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, in the public space is quite unbecoming. It is not enough to dismiss him as unhinged as many are wont to do because to do so is to ignore the fact that for whatever it is worth, he is a Nigerian political elite, a member of […]

The recent announcement by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, of its plan to review the remuneration packages for all political, public and judicial officers in Nigeria understandably and rightly provoked nationwide outrage. Although the commission is constitutionally empowered to determine the remunerations of officeholders, its decision to bump up the salaries and allowances […]

In previous columns, we examined two critical elements of executive presence: vocal authority and physical comportment, followed by communication and emotional intelligence. Together, these qualities shape how corporate executives are perceived and how effectively they inspire confidence. Today, I turn to the third pillar of executive presence: appearance and professional image. In leadership, perception matters. People […]

STRIKES One major factor which is the cause of falling standard in our universities and afortiori responsible for our poor graduates among world universities is the incessant strikes by ASUU. There was a reported gathering  of the Oxford University Community some few years ago. A Nigerian guest among the gathering had wanted to know when the […]

Simon Ekpa, the so-called Prime Minister of the Biafran Government in Exile, the internet-based secessionist network of pretend freedom fighters who claim/ed to be fighting for the right of the Igbo to self-determination, was, yesterday, sentenced to six years in prison for terrorist activities and tax law violation by a district court in Finland where he […]

“In each successive revolution, the patient herd becomes the property of its new masters”–  Edward Gibbon The methodology involved in rescuing Nigeria from its state of listless drift and self-inflicted disaster, is to bring Nigerians back to their senses and to respect the tenets of good and effective governance that are obtaining elsewhere, as well as […]

A few weeks ago, I came across a video of an unknown man in his SUV crossing the bridge on Igwu River newly-constructed by the Governor Alex Otti administration at Ozu Abam in Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia State. He was exploding in words of praise for Otti, calling him things like “a man prettier […]

    “Give advice. If people don’t listen, let adversity deal with them”— African proverb. Ready or not, Nigeria appears to have been effectively placed in an election mode. There is enough in the last by-elections to draw some clues about the rest of the journey, and the elections themselves. There is also a huge […]

From last week continues the narrative how President Obasanjo deployed his presidential powers to ensure that his chosen candidate, Chief Evan Enwerem was elected Senate President over Dr Chuba Okadigbo, the candidate of majority of senators.  With the support of President Obasanjo’s allies in the ruling party, plus support from two opposition parties, AD and ANPP, […]

By Dele Sobowale “The time is a quarter to midnight” — Norman Borlaug, 1914-2009 Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution and Nobel Prize Winner in Agriculture in 1970 opened his address while receiving the prestigious award with those words. It catalyzed governments globally to take the issue of food security seriously. Nigeria briefly embraced it […]

The clans gathered. The intellectual clan surpassed the academic. The former flowed into the radical. The radicals bowed to the revolutionary. The revolutionary clan flowed into the Pan-Africanist. The Pan-Africanist made way for the traditional. We did not cry. It is not our culture to mourn the elderly who paddles to yonder sea. Rather, we rejoice […]

Seven years ago, in 2018, my good friend and former Dean of Law at the University of Ghana at Legon, Professor Raymond Atuguba, undertook a path-breaking study which sought “to move away from the perception that Justices of the Supreme Court dispense justice impartially under a constitutional democracy and reflect on the influences on the Justices as they are taking decisions.”

World acclaimed Jamaican reggae crooner had a song ‘Struggling Man’.Part of the lyrics of the song went thus: As the sun lights the day and the moon lights the night, Struggling man keeps reaching for the higher heights. So we plan for tomorrow as we live for today. Like a flower we bloom and then […]

“In all matters, one must consider the end” – Jean De La Fontaine, 1621-1695. “A man cannot be too careful in his choice of enemies”– Oscar Wilde, 1856-1900. Every active and deliberately controversial politician in a deadly political environment has two lives to protect – his real life and his political life. Occasionally, the two lives […]