Author: Simon Kolawole Simon

According to Mallam Abubakar Malami, LLB, BL, the attorney-general of the Nigerian federation, minister of justice, senior advocate of Nigeria and member of the Nigerian bar, banning open grazing is the rough equivalent of banning trading in spare parts. Let me take that again. When you say herders and their cattle should be legally restrained from invading people’s farmlands, destroying people’s crops, ruining people’s livelihoods and pouring petrol on the inferno that is fast burning the nation’s delicate fabric, it is as good as saying people should stop selling spare parts in shops and markets. Do you understand Malami’s logic?…

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Where were you on June 12, 1993? I was in Ilorin, Kwara state, enjoying the weekend with my cousins. I could not vote because I registered in Lagos. If I had voted, I would have thumb-printed the space for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) whose presidential flag bearer was Chief MKO Abiola. I had been rooting for Alhaji Bashir Tofa, the candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC). But after watching the televised presidential debate and having an argument debate with my dear friend, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu (now APC national publicity secretary), I was finally persuaded to vote for Abiola,…

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It started like a little rumour weeks ago that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was planning to descend on the African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM, owned by Daar Communications Plc, for allegedly violating the broadcasting code. Its founder, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, is a prominent member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the major opposition party, and is currently facing trial over allegations of money laundering. He was also recently questioned by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) after returning from a foreign medical trip. No reason was given by NIS beyond “we have the power to interrogate…

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SIMON KOLAWOLE LIVE! simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961 Your Excellency, I want to seize this opportunity to wish you the best of the Ramadan season as you prepare to be inaugurated for your second term in office. May the lessons of Ramadan — especially the aspects of sacrifice and service to God and humankind — guide your next steps as the leader of this potentially great country called Nigeria. I have many complaints about your first four years in office, some of which I have written about in this space, but I would rather let the past be gone and…

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I always hesitate to use the “R” word because I don’t understand how it really works, but a lot of Nigerians have been talking about “revolution” for a while. They say Nigeria will experience a revolution at a point in time, given the way the society has been going: the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer; the fat getting fatter, the lean getting leaner. One definition goes like this: “Revolution is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organisation which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due to perceived oppression — political,…

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