If you have been following the story, before Dr. Segun Osoba’s lecture to the students of the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (“Great Ife”), Ile-Ife, on 1st February, 1974 in commemoration of the 3rd anniversary of the police killing of Kunle Adepeju, an undergraduate student of the University of Ibadan during a peaceful student protest, an ideological argument, as someone called it, took place between Osoba and Professor L. Beverley Halstead. After the lecture, Halstead still would not let sleeping dogs lie but dragged the matter with Dr. Osoba. Titled “On Dr. Osoba’s drama”, he again said the…
Author: Bola Bolawole
The face-off between the anti-corruption agency – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – and the immediate past civilian governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Adoza Bello, is a sad reminder of how weak and easily manipulated institutions are here. It also showcases the crawling stage of our democratic governance. The ongoing Fourth Republic is the longest stretch of civilian rule we have had since our flag Independence from the British colonial predators on October 1, 1960; which 64th anniversary was marked yesterday. The creation of the EFCC and its sister-organisation, the Independent Corrupt Practices (and related offences) Commission (ICPC)…
The first part of this topic, published on Sunday, 15 September, 2024, was the debate between the Marxist scholar at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, Dr. Segun Osoba (as he then was), and another (conservative, foreign) lecturer in the same institution, Professor L. Beverley Halstead over Osoba’s acceptance of the request by the university’s Student Union Government to “give a small talk” to the Great Ife students on the occasion of the third anniversary of the gruesome murder, on February 1, 1971, of a University of Ibadan undergraduate, Adekunle (‘Kunle) Adepeju, during a peaceful student…
The Edo State governorship election 2024 has come and gone but, as usual, its reverberations will remain with us for some time to come. As expected, the All Progressives Congress (APC) that was declared the winner of the election has not only judged the election credible but also praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the umpire, to high heavens. Conversely, the losers, led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), have declared the election tainted, alleging rigging and other forms of manipulation by INEC and the APC. INEC, to them, has not lived up to…
There is a shadowy group of powerful Nigerians once described as the “owners of Nigeria”. They can be counted on our fingertips – not more than five of them. If you add their foot soldiers, then, they may be up to 10 or a dozen. They decide who rules and who does not. They decide the direction the country goes and which it does not. They decide what is and what is not. The destiny of the country – and of its citizens – is in their firm grips. They are our own Napoleon Bonarparte; when they sneeze, everyone catches…
It is a terrible thing when a man’s expectations are cut off. Proverbs 23: 18 says: “For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off” (King James version). Proverbs 24: 14 also says: “So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off”. I don’t now know where preachers, including yours truly, found the addition “the expectation of the righteous shall not be cut off”! May your expectations not be cut off! The scripture simply says…
Just as they say that social media neither sleep nor slumber, history also never forgets! The saying goes that today’s happenings constitute tomorrow’s history. Some of my contemporaries at Great Ife used to summarise History, my course of study, as “Oba ku; Oba je” meaning, one king dies and another reigns in his stead. Or they would say History is the study of the rise and fall of empires. That is not exactly true, though; but these cliches remind us that words and actions perisheth not. There is no “a-se-gbe”or “a-so-gbe” but every word and action lies in wait for…
Why “Injury” and not Ajuri? The creme-de-la-creme of the country’s media had gathered in Ibadan, the Pace Setter state and capital of Oyo State, on Friday, 7 June, 2024 for a two-day facility tour of the signature projects of the governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, as part of the activities marking the first year of his second, and final, term of office. Veterans of the media, the young and the-not-so young, traditional as well as new media, print and electronics – the assemblage was from all the country’s geo-political zones. Assembled in the dining room of the hotel where some of…
Man’s three basic needs or necessities are generally given as food (including water), clothing, and shelter. Food (including water) is needed to keep body and soul together and give us the energy required for our daily activities. Apart from air, food (including water) is the most basic – and important – of man’s needs. Water appears more indispensable to the human body than food. Clothing basically is meant to keep us warm as well as cover our nakedness. Shelter or accommodation is the roof that we need over our head, just as the Mighty Diamonds crooned. Taking a cue from…
On the raging controversy of 18 years or nothing less before admission into the country’s institutions of higher learning, the authorities have a mountain to climb if the groundswell of public opinion is anything to go by. The policy is not new; it has been in our statute books for God-knows-when. Just like I have said in previous interventions on this matter, the policy prevented me from starting school the very first time I was presented at the nearby Ansar–U-Deen (AUD) Primary School because I was deemed not of age. I only scaled through the next year. But like many…
Let me waste no time in saying that if care is not taken, the new policy on education as enunciated by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, will translate into another “subsidy is gone” fiasco! Good policy but hastily pronounced before thinking it through and without adequate preparations made for its seamless implementation cannot but end up a malady! The resultant effects may be that an already distraught and gasping-for-breath education system will be thrown into complete chaos. That, I am sure, is not the government’s intention. The federal government may have good intentions but without proper spadework and…
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is threatening to shut down the country’s economy if its president, Joe Ajaero, is arrested by the police. Ajaero has been invited for questioning by the police authorities over serious allegations that border on the security of the country and the well-being of Nigerians. That’s on one side. On the other side is the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) giving notification that it could soon resume its suspended eight-month strike action that crippled most federal and state universities and threw the entire university system into a tailspin that it is yet to recover from.…
Nigeria’s second arm of government, the Legislature, is in the eye of the storm again! Tongues keep wagging the National Assembly basically on two issues that keep recurring. The first has to do with its salaries, allowances, emoluments and perquisites, which many believe are out of this world and out of tune with realities. The second is how effectively and diligently it has performed its oversight functions on the Executive arm of government. Many Nigerians are more concerned with the first than the second. Complaints about the humongous take-home of the National Assembly members have always been a sore point…
Last week, in the middle of the #ENDBADGOVERNANCE protests, an assemblage of eminent Nigerians visited President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential villa in Abuja with propositions on how to move the country forward. Quite expectedly, they were well received by the president who acceded to their request for a visit, flung the doors of the seat of power open for them, welcomed them warmly, and then excitedly responded to their bouquet of requests. A man in the cold, like Tinubu was weathering the #ENDBADGOVERNANCE storm, wouldn’t reject warm clothing thrown at him from any quarters! Besides, The Patriots were…
Yesterday, the #ENDBADGOVERNANCE protests ran its full gamut. In the days, weeks, months and years to come, pundits, critics and analysts will continue to discuss, review, critique and draw useful lessons from it. Did it fail? Did it succeed? Have lessons been learned on both sides of the divide? Will the protagonists as well as antagonists of the protests organize and behave better in future? The answers will depend on who is providing them! One thing is certain, however: No one will forget the protests in a hurry, just like we have not forgotten its precursor #ENDSARSNOW protests years after…
The story you are about to read is an abridged version of the true life experience of Yusuph Olaniyonu, communications strategist, journalist, lawyer, public affairs analyst and former Information Commissioner in Ogun State. I say without equivocation that Yusuph was one of the finest writers that Nigerian journalism has produced in this epoch – until we “lost” him to the politicians! I was moved to tears reading what he went through in the hands of our lousy health system. My wife nearly fell victim when we were about to have our second baby 24 years ago. I, too, nearly fell…
Visit any of our institutions of higher learning and you begin to see toddler-undergraduates all over the place! Boys and girls who should still be in SS1 are already preparing to graduate! Merely looking at them testifies to the fact that they lack the much-needed maturity. They may pass through the university but will the university pass through them? At the tender age that many of these boys and girls gain admission into institutions of higher learning, do they – can they – have a true understanding of the real essence of higher education? Is that not one of the…
Someone called my attention to a post he had forwarded to me last week and said: “You must have seen the post I forwarded to you (he was not the writer)”. I hadn’t seen it and I said so. “Then, check it out!”, he barked at me. Continuing, he said: “You must have heard the saying by some misguided elements outside of Yoruba land that they built or developed Lagos! “People who came to Lagos on the back of lorries and trailers wearing rubber or bathroom slippers and clutching polythene bags with the only clothes on their back their only…
Those threatening to stage nationwide protests are badly heating up the polity. The government that is fretting about it is also helping to make a bad situation worse. Everyone, therefore, is in a panic mode. Many will die before they see what is going to kill them, forgetful of the admonition of Julius Caesar when he said: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never tastes of death but once. Of all the wonders that I have yet heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear; seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when…
When two elephants fight, the grass, they say, suffers. But when cabals fight, and fight dirty like the NNPC and Aliko Dangote are doing, what happens? Dogs eat dogs and chickens gnaw at each other’s intestines. Can of worms explode in the open and cupboards full of skeletons, hitherto securely locked, are forced open. For instance, Dangote alleged that his refinery was being sabotaged by oil cabals bent on the continued importation of refined petroleum products. NNPC countered that the said refinery was not yet completed and certified and that its products were inferior to imported stuff. Dangote has fired…
Last week, Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) stirred the hornets’ nest when a letter addressed to the Lagos State branch of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria hit the newsstand. Dated Friday, July 19, 2024 and signed by its Head of Operations, Ayokunle Akinrinmisi, LASPA’s letter intimated the PFN that vehicles parked on designated streets by PFN and its members would be charged certain fees on an hourly basis while indiscriminately parked vehicles would be enforced upon; meaning, they would be clamped and or towed. Bedlam! Why single out only churches and its members? Quickly, LASPA recanted and retraced its footsteps…
The Supreme Court decision that federally-allocated funds be paid directly to the local governments (LGs) has raised serious concerns about whether we are actually practising Federalism and, if we are, what variant of Federalism. The apex court’s decision was at the instance of the Federal Government (FG) that dragged the 36 state governments to court. LG funds coming from the Federation Account used to go directly to the LGs but because the LGs were embezzling and or mismanaging the funds, so much so that many of them could no longer pay the salaries of primary school teachers and other LG…
In “Finding long-lasting solutions to Nigeria’s woes” published on 11 June, 2024, I commented on a post sent to me by a comrade and classmate at “Great Ife”, Wale Olajire Ajao, titled “The role of the public space in a democracy” In it, I disagreed with Wale that critics do not necessarily have to offer suggestions; the role of defending the government, he said, rests squarely on the shoulders of the public relations managers of the government. Today, I am honouring my pledge to publish Wale’s treatise in full (with little editing because of space constraints) and to further explain…
If you were to choose between three infrastructures, which is also often referred to as social amenities, which of these three would you choose? Or, better still still, how will you prioritize power supply, water supply and good roads? Which will come first in your order of preference? Power supply is the life-wire of economic activities, apart from its domestic use as well as for relaxation. Power supply also aids security. In the dark, anything can happen. That is why our people say darkness does not recognize who is VIP and who is not. Important as power is – it…
The richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, stirred the hornet’s nest recently when he accused the International Oil Companies (IOC) operating in Nigeria of sabotaging his efforts to put an end to the embarrassing, ridiculous and neck-breaking importation of refined fuel products by Nigeria. Although Dangote exonerated the NNPC from the alleged conspiracy, it should be obvious to the discerning that he might only be bending over backward to play politically correct. Dangote refinery has also elaborated Dangote’s allegations. NNPC and the IOcs have not responded frontally but proxies have seemingly done exactly that. Nigerians, smarting and suffering from…
What you are about to read was written by me and was published in The PUNCH edition of Monday, July 7, 1998; which is 26 years ago, the very day the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Basorun MKO Abiola, died in incarceration in Abuja. I must have scribbled the piece a day or two before Abiola’s death; it is titled “Abiola: Coming home empty-handed?” Enjoy it: “Once again, we are living in interesting times! Events are happening in rapid successions. Last week as Nigerians feverishly debated the way forward, all manner of rumour was agog. Kites of…
While marking his second June 12 or Democracy Day last June 12, 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu tried to remember the labours of our heroes past, so that their sacrifices may not appear to have been in vain. Good as his intentions were, he, nonetheless, stepped on toes. He did not remember the names of all the heroes or he could possibly not have mentioned all of them. In this, he stirred the hornet nest and attracted the example, the Fasheuns were upset that Tinubu forgot or glossed over the original founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), a man…
On the evening of Tuesday, 16 January, 2024, an explosion rocked Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state. The location of the explosion was later identified as Aderinola Street, Adeyi Avenue, Old Bodija Estate. The explosion was of such magnitude that people in the vicinity thought the world had come to an end! Close to 100 houses were seriously damaged or totally reduced to ground zero while not less than seven lives were immediately lost to the blast. Other losses owing to collateral damage caused by the blast followed. Hundreds of people suffered various degrees of injuries while property valued at…
Nigeria’s senior national team, the Super Eagles’ last two games against South Africa and Benin Republic left much to be desired; the one against the minnows Benin Republic especially left a sour taste in the mouth. Everyone knows that sports remains the only adhesive that glues this country together, football especially. It is, in fact, the only occasion when Nigerians’ sense of patriotism and nationalism overrides every other primordial sentiments of creed or religion, state of origin or region, and tribe or race. Assailed on all fronts by debilitating odds, sports offer the only opportunity for the vast majority of…
There is hardly anyone who does not aspire to add value to their life. Everyone wants to make progress. Everyone wants a better life. That was the expectation of Nigerians, especially the suffering masses, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office on May 29th last year. And that also must have been the expectation or desire of Tinubu himself: to make life more abundant for Nigerians; to make a difference in the existentialism of the people. But good intentions do not always translate into actualities; which is why it is said that the road to Hell is paved with good…
