By Douglas Anele Even our revered erudite Emeritus Professor Chinua Achebe failed to appreciate the bold divide between Awolowo’s, call it local patriotism if you like, and Zik’s manifest egomania and selfishness. Because of the Igbos’ blind, crass and uncritical evaluation of our Igbo leaders, I am writing a book with title, ZIK IRONSI OJUKWU […]

By Douglas Anele For the first time in the twenty-two years I have been writing for Sunday Vanguard, I will do what I have never done before, namely, publish verbatim a reply from one of the teeming readers of “Perspectives,” Mazi Chike Chidolue. Because a large percentage of Ndigbo have an unfavourable view about late […]

By Douglas Anele Nigeria is a classic example of a country characterised mostly by false starts, missed opportunities, dashed hopes, and failed leadership. Thus, it is absurd to claim that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable, which means that the British colonial contraption must be maintained in situ even if a broad section of Nigerians, for good […]

By Douglas Anele Ill-advised and retrogressive northernisation of the Nigerian military led to lowering of the educational standard for officer admission, thereby allowing the north to dominate the combatant cadres of the army and provide 50% of the officers whereas eastern and western regions had 25% each. Moreover, the four most senior posts in the […]

As I stated last week, those claiming that the January 15, 1966 largely unsuccessful military takeover of government was an Igbo coup are either ignorant of the counterevidence that refutes their claim or are incendiary Ndigbo haters who endorse the bloody northern revanchist coup six months later as justified revenge for the regrettable death of […]

By Douglas Anele As an Igbo, I feel deeply about Biafra because,  inter alia, although I was a toddler when hostilities broke out between Nigeria and the eastern region over fifty years ago it is impossible to erase completely the horrendous memories of that conflict. Besides, there is hardly any family in Biafra, Igboland particularly, […]

By Douglas Anele When President Muhammadu Buhari’s apologists argue this way, they create the impression the President can do as he pleases and everyone should accept his actions without complaining. But that can never happen. Criticising top political office holders anytime they do something wrong is the linchpin of democracy. Buharimaniacs fail to understand that […]

By Tonnie Anele Continuing from where I stopped last time, it is clear that Mubarak Bala has paid a hefty price for his nonconformist beliefs. For instance, in 2014 he was taken by force to a psychiatric facility in Kano and kept for eighteen days. While there, he was drugged and subjected to vicious human […]

By Douglas Anele The worldwide lockdown in response to the novel coronavirus or Covid-19 pandemic has compelled a significant number of people to spend more time than they did before on thinking about their lives, the meaning of human existence in general, and other thought-provoking perennial questions that have motivated philosophers over the ages. Consequently, […]

By Douglas Anele Put differently, like other pandemics especially since the industrial revolution a plausible conjecture about the current coronavirus disease is that Nature could be using it as a warning to humankind that she cannot be abused with impunity without disastrous consequences. Now, Covid-19 is a highly infectious disease that causes painful respiratory illness […]

By Douglas Anele The major function of a philosopher, in my opinion, is to shine penetrating bright light on any subject-matter whatsoever, with the aim of providing deep insights about it and, more significantly, bringing into bold relief important lessons derivable from that topic or phenomenon. That is why in analysing any issue, philosophers endeavour […]

By Douglas Anele In the publication by the Vice-Chancellor, “Council received and considered C.P. No. 2019/20/3b, which contained the nominees for honorary doctorate degrees at the 51st convocation ceremonies of the university and the proposed budget estimate.” He informed that in line with the ethos and tradition of the University of Lagos, “the dates and […]

By Douglas Anele For everyone that cherishes the great University of Lagos and what it stands for in terms of swag, upward mobility, production of men and women of substance and character-building, the simmering cold war of attrition between the university’s management and the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council, Dr. Bolanle O. Babalakin, is a […]

By Douglas Anele In ethics, proposed standards of right or good conduct are thoroughly scrutinised and various ethical theories on offer dissected to determine their strengths, weaknesses, and applicability in real life situations. Of course, it is a grave mistake to think that ethics is a mere academic discipline, for it is of the utmost […]

Moving further on the subject matter of philosophy, some prominent logical positivists, notably Rudolf Carnap, maintain that the core function of philosophy is the clarification of language, particularly the language of science. David Papineau submits that the discipline involves “thinking hard about the most difficult problems that there are…[and] requires an untangling of presuppositions: figuring […]