Author: Prince Charles Dickson PhD

Are Tom and Jerry best friends? Tom and Jerry are best friends. But Tom has to pretend to hate Jerry in order to protect Jerry so Tom’s owner doesn’t replace Tom with a cat that actually wants to kill Jerry. The biblical story of Pharaoh and Moses is freshly insightful and relevant to the current situation in Nigeria and albeit Northern Nigeria. To understand my take in this essay and my digression, the story of Pharaoh and Moses, and its theological, ethical, and political implications needs understanding and perspectives; also I read it as a compelling story of a religious…

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Some 2.4 million people in Rwanda are benefiting from telemedicine services. In many parts of the world and Africa, latest advances have been made in health tech, they include but not limited to those below. ❑ Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). ❑ Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) ❑ Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) ❑ Blockchain and data security ❑ Health-tracking apps ❑ Therapeutic apps ❑ Smart hospitals ❑ Robotics ❑ Electronic Health Records (EHR) ❑ Telehealth Nigeria is nowhere near in these advances, Tanzania is the drone capital of Africa, spearheaded by the Zanzibar Mapping…

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In the middle of the week, I had made my mind up to engage my readers in an admonition about our education, our future and where we were unknowingly knowingly headed to. Then several home callings happened that reinforced my decision and it was pertinent I do this admonition. First, we lost our mama in Bauchi (Rukky, my prayers are with you and the entire family) and then my friend Wakili Arewa Nupe Abdulrahman Hussaini was equally snatched by the cold hands of death. It was both so quick, one moment they were with us, and the next they were gone. The…

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Again Mr. President last week told our service chiefs to tackle banditry and insurgency, like really they needed telling (sic)?. After the futility of disconnecting citizens in many parts of Zamfara and Kaduna states, mobile network services were restored, no one has counted the loss, indeed no one will. If you think that the Abuja-Kaduna highway is a Golgotha, then ask the family of the Divisional Police Officer who’s family has been contacted by kidnappers in Edo, and he’s not the first that has been kidnapped, in fact in recent past, a police officer was kidnapped, we needed hunters to…

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Yau da shi ya sa allura ginin rijiya (Hausa axiom)  literally means doing a thing little by little made it possible for the needle to dig a well. During the week, this was one of the many sad headlines; Boko Haram seizes Shiroro, Rafi LGs in Niger. The story had the following riders…• Troops kill over 50 ISWAP fighters in reprisal for General’s death • Zulum postpones projects inauguration to honour fallen soldiers • Bandits ready to drop arms says Gumi • EFCC accuses NPOs of supporting terrorism • Tiv, other Benue groups, LG bosses pledge to back security agencies. The opening paragraph…

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South Africa’s last white president, F.W. de Klerk, died on Thursday aged 85, he apologised for the crimes committed against people of colour in a video released by his foundation on its website hours after his death. The abridged text of his recorded message to the people of South Africa. “This is my last message addressed to the people of South Africa… “Our country faces so many challenges of a serious nature. I hold firm opinions about all of them, but decided to keep this message very short, and only really focus on two issues – touching me and touching…

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In 1971, the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, rattled by the war in Biafra, published a poem called ‘Refugee Mother and Child’ in his 1971 book, Beware, Soul Brother. The beauty of this poem lingers in our wretched world: No Madonna and Child could touch that picture of a mother’s tenderness for a son she soon would have to forget. The air was heavy with odours of diarrhoea of unwashed children with washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms struggling in laboured steps behind blown empty bellies. Most mothers there had long ceased to care but not this one; she held a ghost smile…

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“The overwhelming opinion of Nigerians was that to be able to police the country effectively, State Police was a necessity. Now the APC government has refused to implement the report of the committee it set up, which was headed by an APC Governor and comprised of only APC members. Isn’t this hypocrisy? Isn’t this public deception, giving the impression that it is doing something about an issue on which the public harangued it but it is in actual sense doing nothing about it”  Ray Ekpu Real nonsense people everywhere… The easiest and most attractive national pastime is buck-passing, especially with the bunch of leaders…

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We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, we must be participants; we must be co-creators. As citizens, we have to co-create good governance, we cannot outsource it and hope to be passively happy consumers. Like everything worth its while, good governance must be earned. Rohini Nilekani It’s more difficult, often than not, to see anything encouraging about government and governance in our clime. It’s even tougher to write about it because it stays on record and if it turns out otherwise you are held liable, termed a government apologist, a paid writer, and an endless list of tags are attached to…

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Rumours They get started by certain people that run their mouths without the facts, they take a story they’ve overheard and begin to add to it or subtract, now the original story gets ‘twisted’ and the believers are agitated because the stories they’ve just been told has been completely fabricated, now everyone starts pointing fingers placing the blame here and there, when they all should’ve kept in mind you can’t believe everything you hear. Bernard Snyder “My brother took the COVID19 jab, he’s a health practitioner, he gathered six of us family members and asked us…

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I possess an above average knowledge of psychology and have been fascinated with what is termed the Nigerian Psychology, that psychology has many branches, and stages, from the ethnic, to the religious, from the political to the apolitical, it has different shades, but of all the phases and typologies of it all, one that never ceases to amaze me is the psychology of the poor in Nigeria. We just watch and expect miracles, forgetting that such does not happen out of the ordinary. We are stranded but ask are we stranded? Stranded /ˈstrandɪd/ adjective: stranded left without the means to…

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For a nation that has completely lost its sense of rage, the norm has long become abnormal, the abnormal, so very normal and a way of life. What holds sway are deviant attitudes supported by an elite leadership well disconnected from the people they govern, and a docile populace. Despite the best of efforts, we are a society where leadership continues to deny rape that is so obvious, a society that has lost its sense of morality as policemen would fight publicly for N20, that is when they are not killing an innocent soul for the same amount. Education is…

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“…And very importantly, let them speak to the youths that the Federal Government has no more vacancies, virtually every department is filled. The same thing in the states, the same thing in the local governments, so you can have a good degree from a good university and you will never get a job…” Mr. Buhari, President of Nigeria In 2019 social media was abuzz over New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s short video of her blitzing through two years’ worth of her government’s achievements. In the video which was shot in conjunction with the second anniversary of her taking New…

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When the glory of the “God” of good leadership departs, the people perish. Chris Kwaja PhD So it’s now Value Added Tax VAT, everyone is an expert on taxation, the tempo has again increased on the need to restructure, we again are back to the fact we cannot continue like this, that all is not well, and that good governance is far from us. All the agitations is a mirror of the fact that citizenry look up to no one, to others it is Mazi Nnamdi Kalu, for others Sunday Igboho, there’s a cacophony of voices, on Monday it’s…

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If you want to understand me come, bend over my  African soul, the black dockworkers’ groans, the Tshopi’s frenzied dances, the Shanganas’ rebellion, the strange melody which flows from a native song through the night. And ask me no more if yoU want to know me… for I’m nothing more than a shell of flesh where Africa’s uprising froze, it’s cry swollen with hope. Noémia de Sousa in O Brado Africano (‘The African Roar’). Gyang Buba was born on October 10, 1951 in Madu Village of Du District, Jos South, Plateau State. He is the first son of Buba…

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“To get a certain job, you need work experience. But to get that work experience, you need to have had a job.” Catch-22 From September 7 to 13, 2001, almost 20 years ago, Jos, the capital of Plateau State in central Nigeria, was the scene of mass killing and destruction, the meanest in her recent history. Hundreds of people were killed and tens of thousands displaced in less than one week. Violence suddenly erupted between Christians and Muslims in a city where diverse communities had coexisted peacefully for years and which had prided herself on avoiding the inter-communal violence that…

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“Gods don’t kill people. People with Gods kill people.” Sasa Milosevic Nigeria’s history of ethnic bigotry and bias against each others’ religious, and ethnic and political affiliation has continued to cast a dangerous shadow over our nation. We are burdened with a legacy of violent opposition to people who are “othered” because of their ethnicity, origin, or religion. We have a history of hate that our elected leaders have frequently ignored on one hand and on the other explored, sometimes encouraged, and never adequately addressed. By this admonition I am committed to confronting our nation’s history of violence, bigotry, tribalism,…

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Have you lived in the Northern part of Nigeria, if yes, and you understand Hausa you would be familiar with the word “angwa or anguwa”.  Angwa is not an ordinary word that translates to neighbourhood but literally means ‘slum’, a word with so many negative connotations. The mood in many slums is desolate, criminal gangs and religious organisations providing them with fragile social glue. A journey into a typical house in the angwa, at the centre of a corner is a community kitchen where many of the occupants cook, and eat the one meal they are able to get. The food…

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“Fake news that has been spread during the COVID19 pandemic in Nigeria has been characterized by religious, political and conspiracy theories as well as misinformation about the number of cases and deaths and about prevention measures and treatment. Sadly the main dissemination channels are WhatsApp and Facebook, with the use of messages, images, and videos…” Bar. Adamu Madaki, legal practitioner and teacher. The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been accompanied by a large amount of misleading and false information about the virus, especially on social media. This is the real first pandemic to come with an “infodemic”,…

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By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed, and you can beat a fool half to death but you can’t beat the foolishness out of him. African Proverb. If you ask me who I go ask—it was Omowumi that sang the song. And true to Nigerians we are never constant or consistent in most matters, we lack a staying power. We at most make all the drama and move along, we are often than not riddled with the best producers when it comes to the national soap opera by the most porous of dramatis personae.…

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In 1963, the Trinidadian writer CLR James released a second edition of his classic 1938 study of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. For the new edition, James wrote an appendix with the suggestive title ‘From Toussaint L’Ouverture to Fidel Castro’. In the opening page of the appendix, he located the twin Revolutions of Haiti (1804) and Cuba (1959) in the context of the West Indian islands: ‘The people who made them, the problems and the attempts to solve them, are peculiarly West Indian, the product of a peculiar origin and a peculiar…

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Proposed law on donkey ranching divides senators, Bill on Donkeys tears Senators apart, Senate Divided over Bill on Slaughtering, Breeding…Senate sets aside constitutional point of order for donkey business bill Whichever headline suits…the crux of the matter is that last week a constitutional point of order during consideration of a bill to regulate donkey business in Nigeria was set aside yesterday following disagreement among senators. As reported, the bill was passed despite disapproval from Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe and Senate Spokesman Ajibola Basiru (APC, Osun Central). The bill tagged: ‘An Act to regulate the slaughter of donkeys and establish…

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Life is a circle (CONTRIBUTION) I contribute. You contribute. We contribute. When any party ceases to contribute, the circle will be broken and leakages will be discovered. Whatever you are enjoying today is someone’s contribution. Whatever you are lacking today is because someone who is supposed to contribute didn’t. Don’t be that person, who because he refuses  to contribute, causes leakages to the circle. Contribution is the essence of living. You can contribute anything useful. You can contribute in knowledge, in understanding, in wisdom, in love, in peace, in resources, in finances. Also, You can contribute physically, spiritually,  intellectually, financially,…

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In 1869, at the age of fifteen, José Martí and his young friends published a magazine in Cuba called La Patria Libre (‘The Free Homeland’), which adopted a strong position against Spanish imperialism. The first and only issue of the magazine carried Martí’s poem, ‘Abdala’. The poem is about a young man, Abdala, who goes off to fight against all odds to free his native land, which Martí calls Nubia. ‘Neither laurels nor crowns are needed for those who breathe courage’, Martí wrote. ‘Let us run to the fight … to war, valiant ones’. And in the rousing address by…

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Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc-ra-cy): A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing; and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers Until we welcome problems as perspective-lifters, Nigeria and Nigerians suffer ineptitude and it shows in how we tag issues, it shows in our lens of approach. We tend to sleepwalk through our days, our issues until we bump into an obstacle that stymies us. If we encounter a problem…

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Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes-Peter Drucker. So let me start in this manner, I was discussing with Rukky, She was telling me how great I was as a father, I believed her, but I was tired on matters concerning Nigeria, last week alone, over a dozen friends approached me, they wanted counsel, they were also tired of Nigeria, I wanted to give myself a birthday gift, which was “stop writing or talking about Nigeria”, leave Nigeria for Nigeria…and Gbam, I was staring at MARTINS OLOJA’s Inside Stuff and the title was ‘DOES GOD…

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So, last week I was a guest at a federal parastatal, the Federal Inland Revenue, the Jos MST Office, I hope I got the initials right. For a nation that her citizens demand much and are not conversant with the tax regimes, and how they work. It was a really learning curve. Loads of parastatals, MDAs are sorry sights both in structure and customer service, but a cursory study into the work ethos of the staff of the Jos office, these dudes are the best, indeed not just jolly good fellows but hardworking Nigerians, irrespective of faith and creed. From…

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A coconut shell full of water is an ocean to an ant. It was in November 2015 that I wrote “I fear going to Biafra”, that fear is probably real and palpable now, but hey wait, before I am asked if I want short or long sleeves, let us reason together on this matter. Then the Indigenous People of Biafra had retained lawyer Prof. Dr. Göran Sluiter to file a complaint against Nigerian President Buhari before the International Criminal Court. He was then instructed to file a criminal complaint against Nigerian President Buhari before the International Criminal Court (ICC), on…

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My name is Prince Charles Dickson, I am an untribalized Nigerian, an unrepentant patriot, I believe in the inherent good of a Nigerian. I am also of the tribe that is fast evaporating, not accepted, labeled and branded by a people whose hate quotient is daily on the increase. Those that don’t really care about us—you and me! I am a pacifist. I believe that war and violence are unjustifiable. I don’t not subscribe to those that fight for their ‘gods’, I hate the fighting in the North, I distaste the killings in the southeast, burnings of security posts, and…

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Chicken cannot at this late date bemoan its lack of teeth, and when it sees the snuff seller, it enfolds its wings. (Everything at its proper time and when one sees potential danger approaching, one should take precautions). Do you know about the Amistad revolt? If no, let me tell you a little about it… In January 1839, 53 African natives were kidnapped from eastern Africa and sold into the Spanish slave trade. They were then placed aboard a Spanish slave ship bound for Havana, Cuba. Once in Havana, the Africans were classified as native Cuban slaves and purchased at…

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