Author: Rudolph Okonkwo

Jesus wept three times in the Bible. One was at the death of Lazarus. Jesus showed his displeasure with death as a heritage that came from the failure of Adam and Eve on their mission on Earth. Jesus also wept at the inability of us, his creation, to believe Him and avoid dying in sin. Poor Jesus. He must have overestimated what we could do. The third time Jesus wept was when He pictured the destruction that would befall Jerusalem on judgment day for again failing to live up to Jesus’ expectations. Since then, Jesus has not wept again despite…

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On January 15 of every year, Nigerians remember what they were told was the most tragic incident that destroyed the ideal nation their founding fathers were building. That was the day Kaduna Nzeogwu and his co-conspirators executed a coup that ended the First Republic. As horrific as the events of that day were, that was not where the water entered the husk of the melon. This year, Senator Shehu Sani argued that Nigeria has yet to recover from the assassination of Sir Ahmadu Bello and others killed on that day. It is hard to quarrel with Sani’s perspective. Even for people…

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I did not study history in senior secondary school. Yet, if I know history better than most, it is because I stand on the shoulders of a giant: Professor Chieka Ifemesia. While many young Nigerians today attend secondary schools devoid of history classes, my era still included the subject in the curriculum. I longed to study history, just as my father had. However, as a science student, I had to choose between history and literature. I chose literature, leaving me to pursue history on my own. It wasn’t a simple path. Without a solid foundation, gaps in my knowledge remained—until…

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