Biodun Jeyifo (1946-2026), by Obi Nwakanma
There are these times when uttering words feel too overwhelming, because words sometimes weigh like stones. Such moments are like now, when we must make offerings to the memory of a man like Biodun Jeyifo – BJ for short. At his death, I was too tongue-tied to make appropriate tribute. In these times, when vulgar […]
Silence in the East, by Obi Nwakanma
A terrible time has fallen on Nigeria. There is no hiding it. Hunger is not just rampant; it is now an epidemic. There is a food crisis, and it is inevitably leading towards massive national food riots. However, a few weeks ago, a minister in the current government said that there was no scarcity of food […]
Nigeria: What the mirror says…, by Obi Nwakanma
I return to the Orbit column this week, after a sorrowful time. I apologize to my readers for my long silence. I have used this time to ruminate and mourn my brother, Chukwuma, who died suddenly and unexpectedly on November 28, 2023, and we buried him on December 27, 2023. He was born in Ibadan, studied […]
The terror of being Nigerian, By Obi Nwakanma
Last year my son made plans to buy a ticket and fly down on his own to Nigeria, and spend the summer with his uncle in Abuja and in the village, East of Nigeria. He was twenty, young, and raring to go. He wanted to explore Nigeria on his own. It was I that stopped […]
One for Zik…., By Obi Nwakanma
Zik was a child of privilege. But it was his proximity to the effects of colonialism that turned him, like Moses, towards the liberation of his kind.
The lost hope, By Obi Nwakanma
Dear reader, measure Nigeria fully, and it will be very clear that the nation has collapsed. It exists now, only on paper.
