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…
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 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…
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…
The leopard and the golden calf
According to my own calculations, the 6 core Yoruba States of Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun and Oyo have a…
The angel of history and the ghost of Biafra
Thursday 15 January marks 50 years to the day when our tragic civil war was formally ended. That was the…
France’s currency war in West Africa
On Saturday 21 December,French President Emmanuel Macron and his Ivoirian counterpart, Alassane Ouattara, announced a package of “historic reforms” of…
Borders and economic security
British wartime Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill famously noted that, “you do not negotiate borders - you defend them”. Borders…
Religion and Freedom
The Trump administration recently placed Nigeria on a special Watch List of countries where religious freedom has been grossly violated.…
The Economic Consequences of The Peace
The 20th century began in Sarajevo. The 21st century also began in Sarajevo. On a sunny summer day on June…
Beware, the Spirit of Unoka
A fortnight agoPresident Buhari submitted a request to the Senate to approve an external loan of US$29.96 billion (N10.7 trillion).…
Why is it that Africans never plan for the future?
A few weeks ago a dear American friend and former colleague sent me an email. Permit me to quote him…
Why are the French so obsessed with African civilisation?
WHY are the French so obsessed with Africa and its civilisation? I am compelled to ask this question because a…
What is hate-speech?
We live in strange times. Blatant travesties are being repackaged as wisdom and virtue while right is being made an…
Poverty capital of the world
LAST April, the international charity, Oxfam, revealed that the number of extreme poor in Nigeria had skyrocketed to 94.4 million…
Fiduciary duty of care over Chinese loans
HE IMF and other Western agencies have raised issues with regards to China’s open-cheque approach to Africa. I am an…
From Russia with love
THE Russia-Africa Summit which took place in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi recently has come and gone. And…
Leadership and moral conscience
The art of leadership is difficult enough in normal times. In an age of upheavals, the complexities are infinitely more…
General Buratai and spiritual warfare
Last week, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, raised a lot of eyebrows when he advocated the use…
Where are we with regards to sustainable development?
The recent United Nations (UN) General Assembly has come and gone. These days we never seem to go anywhere without…
