I first met George Egbuchulam at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria sometime in 2007. He was very tall, gangling really, and seemed to tower above everyone else. George studied in the Faculty of Arts, and at times it was difficult to know what program he really studied because he often came across as a genius of all the Arts. I… Read More »Sadly, we didn’t #SAVEGEORGE
Politics in Nigeria is extremely screwed up, but that is not exactly headline news. For several decades, Nigerians have mourned, bemoaned and agonized over the kind of politicians they have been cursed with. Some argue that a people deserve the kinds of leaders they get, but Nigerians are yet to be convinced that what they have received is really what… Read More »Whipping Governors, Phony Pilots and Private Jets
Now that Governor Babtunde Fashola has concluded that the next phase of the ‘remodelling Lagos project’ is the eradication of commercial motorcycles from the streets of Lagos, the debate about whether he actually is a hero or villain inevitably resurfaces. In all honesty, no one doubts that at the core of his being, Fashola means well for the generality of… Read More »If Not For ‘Okada’
Be careful, dear innocent, humble, hardworking, conscientious gentleman. Be very careful of the help you offer and eventually render to that fragile, heartbroken young lady. Think carefully before offering your strong shoulder for her sobbing eyes and weary head. Think very carefully about the words of advice you give to help re-mould her shattered heart. Be afraid, for in the… Read More »Be Wary, Young Innocent Gentleman
I was barely five years old when I first encountered the Curse, or Corps or Corpse or whatever it is called these days. Little young boy that I was, I was fascinated by the very smart uniforms, head caps and yellow boots that hung in the corner of my dad’s rom (who knew that those dusty boots were called jungle… Read More »Intrigues of the Nigerian Youth Slavery Curse
I’ve never been a big fan of lawyers, though I’ve always maintained professional respect for the ‘learned ones’. That particular phrase, ‘learned ones’ is precisely the reason I retain a secret sense of disgust for lawyers. Even first-year law students are seen to wear an air of pride around them, sort of an irremovable halo that bestows special powers on… Read More »The Law is still an Ass
The tale of Nigeria’s journey from June 1998 till date is like the tale of the child whose birth was heralded with joy, whose infanthood gave so much promise, whose future was as bright as the mid-day sun, but who never really outgrew his diapers. This is the very sorry tale of a sickly infant who has retained the world’s… Read More »The Child Who Never Really Grew
Just like every single one of the four million people who were forced to leave their families, cattle, and burning villages behind, she walked for hundreds of miles into the great unknown after the outbreak of civil war in Sudan in 1985, not aware if she would ever return to the place she had always called home. Several years after… Read More »Beauty of the Dark Continent
Every Nigerian who has had the privilege to travel out of the country (whether to Ghana or Russia) knows the pains of being a Nigerian, and every Nigerian who has a relative who has enjoyed such privileges has at least heard about the countless headaches and embarrassments that Nigerians are condemned to suffer out of the borders of their fatherland,… Read More »Pains we live with
The last twenty days in Nigeria have been days of untold torture for all those who hoped against all reasonable hope that the Nigerian contingent to the 2012 London Olympics would return with a medal. Considering our history at the global games, no one harboured expectations of a rain of medals, but no one equally thought that we would not… Read More »If the Olympics came to Nigeria…
Over the last couple of months, I have found myself having to make repeated analyses of the state of education in Nigeria – focusing mainly on primary and secondary education. Hardly any Nigerian is unaware of the decrepit state of school facilities across the country or the woeful results that are reported every year when senior school students take external… Read More »Nigerian Education: What Works?
Over time, Nigerians have proven to be very patient people; they understand that there will always be a wide hollow between the fortunes of the average citizen and those of the political elite. They have lived through military regimes in which successive dictators have stashed away so much of the nation’s wealth in foreign personal accounts and determined by free… Read More »Moving Nigeria Forward (VI): Silencing the Wolves