Character, values, and principles are the defining elements that shape the substance and essence of any man. This assertion resonates profoundly when we consider the remarkable life of His Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, whose journey of eighty-seven years has been punctuated by God with uncommon love, good health, joy, peace, divine guidance, and providence. It is evident that God has walked alongside him and worked through him, as verified by his numerous outstanding achievements in service to God, His Church, and humanity. With unwavering dedication and commitment, Cardinal Okogie blossomed wherever he ministered, and even in retirement, his vibrant service…
Author: Tobechukwu JohnPaul Nwabuisi
In these days of social unrest and political tension, when the problems of Nigeria has become gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie’s open letter to United States President, Joe Biden, engenders a timeless truth and an undeniable testimony about the political legitimacy and morality of the 2023 Presidential election in which the compromised chair of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) announced and endorsed the ruling party’s candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner. In the wake of Chimamanda’s open letter has been a mass of juvenile and childish criticisms which undoubtedly showboats a predilection for corruption, crass…
While the Formators and Students of Saints Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan, relished and basked in the euphoria of the Christmas vacation, the 28th day of December 2022 elicited an avalanche of pleasant and pleasurable emotions, when we were greeted with the news of the appointment of Rt. Rev. Msgr. Anthony Ovayero Ewherido as the Bishop-Elect of Warri Diocese. Indeed, our joy knew no bounds as Mother Bodija’s history was once again punctuated with the elevation of one of her noble sons to the status of a Bishop. Thus, like the Psalmist we say: “The Lord has done…
In a country where socio-political priorities are intentionally misplaced and not given due attention, it is only logical and commonsensical to see anomalies increasingly becoming norms, subtly sounding the death knell of that country. This assertion holds true in the Nigerian context wherein violence, corruption, bribery, embezzlement, anarchy, chaos, fear, intolerance, perversion of the law and celebration of criminals have become norms; the order of the day. This is not far-flung as the government’s dereliction of duty is the bane of all this calamities. On 12th May, 2022, the video coverage of the lynching of 22- year old Deborah Samuel,…
Upon the collapse of the defunct National Association of University Teachers (NAUT), The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was established in 1978, with the goal of regulating the relationship that exists between academic staff and employers. This regulation entailed the constant provision of suitable working conditions of service for ASUU members by the employers. Quite frankly, over the years, the Federal Government has failed to meet the demands of the Union. This grave failure has plunged ASUU into the habit of going on industrial action or strike. Sadly, this habit of calling strikes has been a fruitful means of…
It is indeed unfortunate that in Nigeria, the phenomenon ‘bad news,’ enjoys an undue recognition. With its roving ubiquitous nature and status, many Nigerians have become despondent and discouraged; throwing in the towel about decrying the decaying and failing state of the nation. In a search for succor, some Nigerians go as far as deliberately giving the media a wide berth to preserve their mental health and live in some temporary and momentary illusion that nothing is/was at stake. Conversely, the multidimensional and multifaceted existential crises that perpetually hounds us in Nigeria, bespeaks a nation in confusion, chaos, anarchy, and…
As a nation, we have never had it this bad, considering the deplorable state of things which decimates any ray of hope for Nigeria in the offing. We recall that seven years ago, the then Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Muhammadu Buhari during his campaigns promised to tackle and resolve the systemic problems of insecurity, corruption, and economic hardship. Regrettably, years after the baton of leadership was handed over to him, President Buhari has failed to prove his mettle as leader, plunging the nation into mournful tales of untold sufferings, pains and pestilence. The recent news…
Swathed by extreme existential threats which hunts and hounds us on every side, compounding myriads of problems that pose prodigious challenges in the offing for the youths and a peaceful harmonization of the multilateral and multifaceted ethno-religious groups, a copious amount of Nigerians especially her youths, on the 9th of February, 2022, frolicked in a bizarre and brazen celebration of depravity. These shameless youthful shenanigans joggled and jolted the individual data, consciousness, and minds of moralists, prudes and puritans to an awareness of the roving depth of depravity in Nigeria. It was indeed discomforting and distressing to see youths appraise…
About a year ago, precisely in the month of February, Nigerians burst into a bout of bland excitements as social media platforms glistened with comments and reactions on the trending hashtag ‘Lori Iro.’ This defunct hashtag came in timely as the customary valentine celebration was bellying up. Nigerians made use of this hashtag to raise pertinent questions about the foundation of modern day relationships which today is characterized by numerous lies. Unarguably, this faulty foundation has only birthed suicides, murder, revenge, retaliation, blackmails and heartbreaks. Hence, it is no longer surprising that abominable, awful and appalling news all in the…
Guns blazed in what turned out to be an attempted coup, and sporadic and spasmodic bullets lanced the air in a nearby compound where Guinea Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo chaired a Cabinet meeting on 1st February 2022. This jarring report of another unconstitutional attempt to takeover government by the military most probably sent shudders and jitters down the spines of well-meaning Organizations, Countries, Africans, and political analysts who seek to preserve the practice of democracy. For many years and still counting, Africa has been ravaged and plagued by the ills and oddities of bad leadership, predicated upon the ascendancy…
Alarmed and distressed by the swelling population growth and its politicking in the North, in the face of serious unemployment, colossal insecurity, uncertain dice of displacement, macroeconomic instability, burgeoning debt profile, high inflation, unstable exchange rate figures, and blurred political future among other fuelling uncertainties, Nigeria has been listed among twenty “Hunger Hotspots,” by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), in a report released on 28th January, 2022. Of the twenty countries identified as ‘Hunger Hotspots,’ Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen are on the watch list. In these countries, the report projected that…
As good governance nosedived in Nigeria over the years, Nigerians have been steamrolled into all sorts of dire economic conditions, deepening inequalities and injustices, emphasis on tribal, ethnic and religious differences, marginalization of minority, oppression of the poor, and unaccountability from her so-called leaders, inter alia. The exponential and astronomical rise in crime activities, impunity in the socio-political circuit, lurking joblessness, and a deficiency of basic amenities and accessibility to healthcare facilities just to mention a few, are stark empirical evidences to the pitiable state of affairs of the self-acclaimed ‘Giant of Africa.’ With this sad and sorry state, it…
Acrimony heightened and sympathy was elicited when Nigerian masses were greeted with the heart-wrenching news of the demise of 12 year old Sylvester Oromoni on 30th November, 2021. Probable accounts of Sylvester’s tragic end narrates that he was a student of Dowen College, Lekki, where some senior students were in the habit of bullying him, with allegations that they had forcibly tried to initiate Sylvester into their cult.[i] This ugly and pitiable event shifted the focus of the nation in a spectacular manner from more pressing concerns such as dire economic straits, gross insecurity challenges, poor infrastructural development and the…
As we anticipate the dawn of 2022 and the close of 2021, well-meaning Nigerian stakeholders have flooded newspapers and magazines decrying the sad and sorry state of the Nation; such decries are consequences of the political, social, economic and religious anomalies bedeviling the Nigerian state. Undoubtedly, these concerns should be given rapid attention, especially the northern part of Nigeria that has become storm-tossed by frantic insecurity challenges; banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, displacement of people and loss of lives and properties. It has become so bad that bandits in the North negotiate with the government, making proposals and tabling what is considered…
Day, after slow day, I sifted through my memory, as though through debris trying to find a reason why a student would be in a semester for almost a year. Sometimes, it is as bad as staying two years at a particular level; turning a four-year program into six years or more. Drowning in disbelief, I realized that this reality is common to Federal and some State Universities in Nigeria. This reality keeps repeating itself in the prolonged strikes by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as a reaction to the failure of the Nigerian government to meet up…
We were so happy and hopeful to see a generation of Nigerian youths stand up to the antics of such a wicked and barbaric government. They engaged in a peaceful protest and for the first time, Nigerians were united, traversing the barriers of religion and ethnicity. This protest was held in all parts of the states, having Abuja and Lagos as its focus. For days, the youths filled the roads with their placards demanding accountability from their government, justice for those who have suffered from police brutality, slashing of the salaries of politicians, and a cry for development and peace.…