Pointless debate on Tinubu’s certificate, by Suleiman A. Suleiman
The ongoing debate about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s educational certificates is not and should not be the defining issue in a Nigerian presidential election. We cannot always reduce serious questions of governance in a presidential election to fitful hysteria about the academic credentials of candidates. For a sitting president, the certificate controversy is not very useful […]
Giving back…
I spent a very delightful evening with a certain gentleman in a village somewhere in the middle belt last week. It was an evening that stretched far into the night. With choice liquor, soft jazz music and the enveloping peace and quietness of an agrarian village night to keep us company, we discussed what many Nigerians gather together to discuss these days—the state of the nation, our profligate and reckless leaders, the fuel situation, the general level of impunity, and the increasing poverty level in the country.
The Scavengers of the Niger Delta
She has rolled over many times. But they never come to their fill. They have taken her milk and her peace. She is desolate and inconsolable. But they are implacably ravenous. Many shades of hyenas. The latest, the avengers. A beautiful bride isn’t heart broken because her beauty would be consumed. She wants love and care , some requital. Niger Delta. The goose that has laid the golden eggs since Oloibri. Adaka Boro was prescient, fairness is not a given. The civil war left her frightened, and she went for safety.
Fuel price hike: Nigerian economy on the precipice
Though stakeholders are divided over the impact of the fuel price hike on the Nigerian economy in the medium to long term, it is however, a general consensus that in the short term, the effect of the hike on the economy would be unpleasant and near disastrous. In the wake of the hike, the Federal Government and other stakeholders had stated that the new price would bring temporary hardship on Nigerians, stating that it is a bitter pill that everyone must swallow for the country to survive difficult times and move forward.
The five myths of fuel subsidy
Many boisterous and healthy debates have broken out on social media platforms and, indeed, other fora on the recently adjusted price of petrol. But quite unexpectedly, some of the arguments are grounded in myths. Here are a few and my attempt to burst them.
Hunger, not war can end the world
WE live in a highly insecure world. However, the greatest source of global insecurity is not ISIS, Trumpism or the nuclear arms race; it is hunger, powered by the perhaps, the most devastating but virtually unreported drought in living memory. As this reality dawned on me, I thought about children going to bed hungry; how do they sleep? Adolescents going to school on empty stomachs; what can they learn? What do you tell a hungry populace; how can they listen?
