During the May 2023 Group of Seven (G7) summit, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, near where the meeting was held. Not doing so would have been an act of immense discourtesy. Despite many calls for an apology from the US for dropping an atomic bomb on a civilian population in 1945, US President Joe Biden has demurred. Instead, he wrote in the Peace Memorial guest book: ‘May the stories of this museum remind us of all of our obligations to build a future of…
Author: Prince Charles Dickson PhD
For Naija Prison Yard Inside dis place, where time dey freeze, Na prisoners full, dem hold for squeeze. For Naija prison yard, dem dey suffer, Locked away, life gettin’ tougher. Dem wear dem stripes, dem wear dem chains, In dis concrete jungle, where hope remains. From Lagos to Kano, Port Harcourt to Abuja, Prisoners dey hustle, na dem wahala. Dem dey dream of freedom, dey dream of peace, Longin’ for release, for burdens to cease. But in dis place, where hope dey fade, Dem hold on tight, no matter di shade. Inside dis walls, na stories untold, Of lives shattered,…
One who hears and repeats a curse of the king is really cursing the king Quickly last week, my office premises and environs did not have electricity and some few steps from my office is the Jos Electricity Distribution Company. The company is one I did rate a 4 out 0f 10 which by any standards is fair enough. So, they were powering the office with a generator, yes you heard me generator. And I have seen this scenario, once or twice but it just occurred to me that we simply are not well as a people. However, truth be…
Often people ask me why I write on certain topics and issues all the time, like bashing the government, and seeing very little good in people in government and government actions and my takes on education, health and power, conflict, politics of ethnicity and more. My answer is that I do because I believe that such subjects are important for Nigeria and Nigerians as they are for other nations, but when it appears to me Nigerians and our leaders particularly do not react to these topics the way they should, I repeat them in new essays to remind old readers…
Man: My friend dey owe me money Woman: Wey dat your friend Man: E dey opposite e dey order beer Woman: you don’t mean it Man: even send waiter to come give me beer ooo Woman: Na lie Man: Human being get as dem dey Woman: wetin e come talk Man: E go say e never dey, I go pay no dey go jail, if we come go police we fix date, if I no fit meet up, we fix another date, e say broda drink beer, If you no drink beer na you dey short. If e no dey…
A society full of sinners judging sinners for sinning differently… Nigeria is a country where everybody is right, and everybody is wrong, it is a nation where when I am right, you must be wrong, we take decisions without critical thinking or analysis and when we do, we do it devoid of the learning and sharing perspective, there is hardly a middle ground, we have no consensus regarding what is wrong or a moral compass. It could be right on Monday and for Festus, and wrong on Tuesday for Ibrahim, it all depends. While many think it is a…
All mumu na idiot, but no be all idiot na mumu. So, make we talk, make I yarn una… For night of 14-15 April 2014, craze people group wey dem dey call Boko Haram bin kidnap 276 mostly Christian girls wey be say dem be from 16 to 18 years old from Government Girls Secondary School for Chibok wey dey for Borno State, Naija. Till now, Chibok don see like one dozen and more attacks, wey mean say every year after dat thing happen, every village like Kwarangullum, Piyemi, Kauitkari, Pemi don dey cry with wahala and people no even…
Place a scorpion in the paths of those chasing rats. They will forget the rat and chase the scorpion. Now, you throw a snake in their path. As one chases the snake, we can smuggle an elephant under his nose Let me start this short epistle by telling us the fable of the Lion and the Gnat. “Away with you, vile insect!” said a Lion angrily to a Gnat that was buzzing around his head. But the Gnat was not in the least disturbed. “Do you think,” he said spitefully to the Lion, “that I am afraid of you because…
A sage presented a prince with a set of three small dolls. The prince was not amused. “Am I a girl that you give me dolls?” he asked. “This is a gift for a future king,” said the man. “If you look carefully, you’ll see a hole in the ear of each doll.” “Ok?” The sage handed him a piece of string. “Pass it through each doll,” he said. Intrigued, the prince picked up the first doll; put the string into the ear. It came out from the other ear. “This is one type of person,” said the man. “Whatever…
An illusion shared by everyone becomes a reality—Erich Fromm Two neighbours came before Jupiter and prayed to him to grant their hearts’ desire. Now the one was full of avarice, and the other ate up with envy. So, to punish them both, Jupiter granted that each might have whatever he wished for himself, but only on condition that his neighbour had twice as much. The Avaricious man prayed to have a room full of gold. No sooner said than done; but all his joy was turned to grief when he found that his neighbour had two rooms full of the…
Let us forget our differences—Dr. Azikwe Let us understand our difference—Ahmadu Bello Let us understand the misunderstandings of our differences—Abdul Balogun Chukwudi “Misunderstanding the understanding” can refer to a situation where someone fails to comprehend or interpret a concept, idea, or situation correctly, despite believing that they have understood it. This can occur due to various reasons such as cognitive biases, lack of knowledge or experience, miscommunication, cultural differences, or preconceived notions. For example, imagine a person from one culture trying to understand a complex concept or idea from another culture. Even if they have the best intentions and have studied the concept…
All women think the same things about men… their father is a hero; their son is a genius and their husband is an… Northwest of Managua, in the city of León, lived the poet Alfonso Cortés (1893–1969), who had been declared ‘mad’ at the age of 34 and chained in his bedroom. Another of Nicaragua’s great poets, Ernesto Cardenal (1925–2020), grew up not far from the home of Cortés. As a child, Cardenal said he used to walk by the Cortés home from the Christian Brothers School and once he saw the ‘poeta loco’ in his chains. A lack of…
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest…
We forget who we are sometimes— But oh, the power when we remember /Topher Kearby As you read this, millions of Nigerians would have cast their vote, like I said last week, a handful would have paid the ultimate price which is death because like I stated clearly that our elections are war in these parts. We have witnessed ballot snatching despite the best of efforts but I must also say that it has reduced and that is a big plus. As usual logistics has failed us There is also the early excitement of the very big possibility of…
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. – James Bovard, Civil Libertarian Verse 1 Rumuokoro don catch fire Last night I was walking on the road When they shoot the man and shoot him tyre Ikorodu don catch fire As I dey waka, I dey see one man wen be say dem shoot wey dey carry kaya The Baba carry kaya Soldier go, soldier come Barrack no dey run Kill by a gun, you will die by a gun How you go feel at the point of no return?…
Last week the OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERATION in a PRESS RELEASE stated that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the establishment of a Presidential Transition Council, for facilitating and managing the 2023 transition programme, and also signed EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 14, 2023 Members of the Committee are: i. Secretary to the Government of the Federation – Chairman ii. Head of the Civil Service of the Federation iii. Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice iv. Permanent Secretaries from the following Ministries and Offices: a. Defence b. Interior c. Finance, Budget and…
Under pressure we wail under pressure Under pressure black people under pressure Under pressure nigerians under pressure No food in we belly No money in ah we pocket No bed we lay we head The people dem are suffer In ah ghetto, in ah city Everywhere dah me go oh Me see them, some are cry, some are die Some are weeping! Some are wailing! Everywhere dah oh eh Under pressure we wail under pressure Under pressure everybody under pressure Ras Kimono Under Pressure You see the Nigerian looks upon Nigeria as a theatre and the…
(‘A person is dead, but their spirit lives; if you poke the iris of their eye, they still come alive’) Democracy has a dream-like character. It sweeps into the world, carried forward by an immense desire by humans to overcome the barriers of indignity and social suffering. When confronted by hunger or the death of their children, earlier communities might have reflexively blamed nature or divinity, and indeed those explanations remain with us today. But the ability of human beings to generate massive surpluses through social production, alongside the cruelty of the capitalist class to deny the vast majority of…
One who believes that the earth is chasing him, where did he put his feet while running? The Driver Many years ago, I was driving back from Gombe, and on the highway was this public/commercial Opel car carrying 5 Nigerians. It was at ‘high’ speed, I overtook the car, blocked them in commando style and came down. I asked the driver, “do you want to kill these passengers, is your speed check working…” and I turned to the passengers to scold them for not warning the driver. Before I could finish, they descended on me, “Oga how e concern you,…
NSCDC Officers It all happened in one day. One day he could choose his tee time at the nicest golf course in the country; the next he couldn’t even be the caddie. One day he could Learjet across the country to see the heavyweight bout at the Las Vegas Mirage. The next he couldn’t afford a city bus across town. Talk about calm becoming chaos… The first thing to go is his empire. The market crashes; his assets tumble. What is liquid goes dry. What has been up goes down. Stocks go flat, and Job goes broke. There he sits…
…teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.— Psalm 90:12 I don’t have enough time to live my own life! I reached this conclusion after trying to follow all the advice given on a morning news show one week in January. It seemed like a smart way to start my day. I figured I’d tune in, get the forecast, learn the headlines, and maybe hear a celebrity interview. I wasn’t expecting all the show segments telling me how to live my life better because it is the beginning of the new…
By Prince Charles Dickson Ph.D Someone who has sold an old woman before knows the price of an old man Yes, like Prophet Jeroboam, of Wole Soyinka’s famed Jero Plays, I danced, with eyes closed and spoke in tongues not known to me and ask the higher powers what is in store for Nigeria, the clouds I saw were misty, it was moving like this and like that and ghen-ghen. I saw that Nigeria will not break, Nigeria will not fail or fall, because it already has. We are not united, but we are one in corruption, one in greed,…
By Prince Charles Dickson Ph.D. I know the biggest crime is just to throw up your hands and say “This has nothing to do with me, I just want to live as comfortably as I can.” ~ Ani DiFranco. Dog wey wan lost no dey hear owner whistle I want to end the year 2022 in this manner. A #BIGTHANKYOU to Lawrence Njoku (Enugu), Gordi Udeajah (Abia), Charles Ogugbuaja, (Owerri), Uzoma Nzeagwu (Awka), Obinna Nwaoku (Port Harcourt), Monday Osayande (Asaba), Ayodele Afolabi (Ado Ekiti), Rotimi Agboluaje (Ibadan) and Adewale Momoh (Akure) all of Guardian and all media practitioners that put in…
By Prince Charles Dickson Ph.D. A sheep was passing and saw a lion crying inside a cage trapped, the lion begged the sheep to rescue him with a promise not to kill and eat it, but the sheep refused. After much persuasion and for the sheep’s gullibility, it opened the cage for the lion. Now the lion was very hungry having stayed in the cage for days without food. It quickly pounced on the sheep and was about to kill and eat it, but the sheep reminded him of his promise. They were still there arguing when other animals came…
By Prince Charles Dickson Ph.D. It’s so easy to be negative and there are so many reasons for the long term to be positive. Tom and Jerry is a series of theatrical animated cartoon films created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, centering on a never-ending rivalry between a cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry) whose chases and battles often involved comic violence… The series features comedic fights between an iconic set of enemies, a house cat and mouse. The plots of each short usually center on Tom’s numerous attempts to capture Jerry and the mayhem and destruction…
One cannot eat crab in secret. At the beginning of the year, I had promised that for 12 months, In Shaa Allah, I will once a month X-ray the issues around the forthcoming general elections in the world’s largest black population and sufacracy. This is the grand finale of them all, on local parlance the bottom plate. Years ago I had gone to see a seer, and before my turn was that of a pregnant woman, from my eavesdropping after all said and done the woman, asked the Baba, what would be the sex of the child. Baba after a…
How do you show you’re happy? If you’re a cat, you purr. If you’re a dog, you wag your tail. And if you’re a rabbit, you bust out your best binky moves. You read that right — binky. When rabbits are happy, they do this crazy kind of move called a binky. Each bunny has its own binky style, but it’s a kind of jumping, midair twist with a kick and a little hop or two on the landing. Some bunnies’ binkies can reach almost three feet in the air! If you watch a bunny binky, you can’t help but…
A good people can never have a bad government—AbduRafiu In 1845, Karl Marx jotted down some notes for The German Ideology, a book that he wrote with his close friend Friedrich Engels. Engels found these notes in 1888, five years after Marx’s death, and published them under the title Theses on Feuerbach. The eleventh thesis is the most famous: ‘philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it’. The most widely accepted interpretation of this thesis is that, in it, Marx urges people not only to interpret the world, but also to try…
The defects and faults in the mind are like wounds in the body. After all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. A gossip is one given to tattling, idle talk or rumour especially about the personal or private affairs of others. A gossip is a busybody, chatterbox, and a parrot, in local parlance, here in Nigeria, we call such persons an ‘amebo’. So let me start with this story—(sic) amebo story. Venomous snakes were being shipped from Africa to Europe in a plane. Unfortunately, the…
You only learn to ask questions by asking questions At the beginning of the year, I had promised that for 12 months, In Shaa Allah, I will once a month X-ray the issues around the forthcoming General Elections in the world’s largest black population and sufacracy. This is number eleven, and one more to go. So, I am writing this from Chemnitz, a city in Saxony, eastern Germany. I am inside the Technische Universität Chemnitz in English, it is Chemnitz University of Technology. And I am reflecting, and saying to myself, stop comparing joor. Chemnitz is a strong city, but…
