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VERITATEM with Obadiah Mailafia
A destiny among the nations (part 2)
THE late French agronomist, René Dumont,was one of those rare Europeans that were genuinely passionate about Africa’s development.He was consulted by many African leaders and was on first-name terms with statesmen such as Julius…
A destiny among the nations (part 1)
I am delighted to be Guest Speaker at this colloquium to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Honourable Kudla Satumari and the great humanitarian work he has been doing with his Haske Foundation.The people of his native Southern Borno…
Should our traditional institutions be privatised?
THE furore over the removal of the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II from the throne of his forebears may not die down any time soon. Much of the saga, as far as I know, is a storm in a tea cup – a tale of smoking guns and mirrors.…
Poetry and the wealth of nations: Odia Ofeimun @ 70
THE poet Odia Ofeimun’s seventieth birthday comes up on Monday, March 16. When I was a first-year undergraduate at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in the late seventies, the name Odia Ofeimun was quietly making waves on campus. He was a…
Manias, panics, pandemics and world economics
THE Coronavirus, (COVID-19), began in the in Chinese industrial city of Wuhan in December. It has brought the Chinese industrial juggernaut to a virtual standstill. Schools have been closed down, public transport systems have been halted…
The IMF article IV visitation team and the economy
Last week the boys from Washington were in our country under the framework of the IMF Article IV Visitation exercise.Under the statutes of the Fund, the Article IV team is authorised to carry out economic and surveillance activities in…
A conversation with Chief Obafemi Awolowo
Chief, you are looking resplendent in your heavenly regalia. The aura around you is radiant and glorious. I am overwhelmed sir!Smiling triumphantly, the avatar replies: “Well, thank you very much for your kind compliments. But my…
Emeka’s haunting elegy of childhood in Biafra
In response to a piece I did on the war drums that seem to be engulfing our collective psyche today, one of my gentle readers, Nnaemeka Nnolim,businessman and media executive, sent me the manuscript of a book he is writing on recollections…
One step forward, three steps backwards
The Nigerian economy is a series of paradoxes. In the first place, we are a very wealthy nation in terms of natural resource endowment. We in fact have an embarrassment of riches. And yet, we are the poverty capital of the world. In 2017,…
Britain and the New Scramble for Africa
Let me place my cards on the table: I have always been partial towards Britain. Apart from my Nigeria, it is the only other place I can call “home”. Sadly, we would never forget that the British colonialists wilfully left behind a lopsided…