Nigeria in a new Middle East, by Suleiman A. Suleiman
It was bemusing to read in the news that Nigeria has joined the Red Sea Alliance, an ostensibly “maritime security” coalition cobbled together by Saudi Arabia, along with 12 other predominantly Muslim countries in tow. The announcement exposes our current approach to foreign policy: episodic, sentimental, and reactive rather than deliberate and strategic. It has […]
I agree with IBB
Last week, the media was replete with tributes marking the 73rd birthday anniversary of former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB). I was also thrilled by the interview he granted on the occasion where he made two profound and related pronouncements-one, that it is dangerous to involve the military in elections and the other, that the Nigerian Military would soon be compromised. Last year, some top army personnel and the leadership of our electoral body were not too happy with me for expressing similar opinions. Now that a personality like Babangida has publicly expressed the same “offending” opinions, I have no option than to ‘agree with IBB’.
Christians Are Not the Light of the World
A blogger became so exasperated with my criticism of the Christian Church; he decided to launch what would be the definitive counter-attack. “Femi Aribisala,” he declared triumphantly, “is not a Christian!” When I thought about this, I concluded that, using the same logic, the prophets of Israel were not Israelites.
Overcoming strongholds
Everybody prays; we pray in times of trouble, when there’s danger and when we really desire something! It’s almost second nature to pray! Praying means we agree that there is a higher power and we believe it can help us! We can tear down every imaginable stronghold with prayer but not all prayers are answered and that in itself could be a stronghold! No one is to blame as even students of theology hardly have the incontrovertible method of prayer but I have found that science and prayer are extremely compatible.
Truth, reason and nation building (3)
In fact, the delegates went further: they wanted a secession clause inserted in the new constitution that might be generated from the conference. But something remarkable happened after the governor of the region, Hassan Usman Katsina, came around: the delegates left hurriedly for the North their home base, and the conference was adjourned.
Re: This beauty that makes me sad
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article captioned ‘This beauty that makes me sad’. It was centred around my experience on a cruise where I touched on the beauty of nature and our inability as a country to harness and use nature for the common good. It was an article that led to comments on twits, blogs and emails. A friend and reader described it as ‘your soliloquy on the sea’. It was an apt description; why didn’t I think of it?
