Author: Abiodun KOMOLAFE

A man represents different things to different people. It’s like a mirror in the sun, reflecting different parts of humanity, which depends on who is looking at it, and what part of life we met him. It boils down to human behavioural patterns and the factors responsible for them. Unfortunately, the outcome becomes a political fortune or liability, depending on which side of the divide the individual or group of people belongs. In fairness to Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola, former Governor of Osun State, now Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, who turned 69 on September 29, 2023, he cannot respond…

There was a time in Nigeria when the name, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) suggested a dynamic, positive and functional institution. Perilous, and as the war against drug crimes and related offences was, society and criminals were conscious of the institution’s existence. During that time, everything was bright and beautiful for the Agency but, somewhere along the line, there was a lull and that lull represented a brief moment. It was as if it was strange to happen to Nigeria but, of course, it wasn’t strange to the world for a period of that nature to occur in public…

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent discourteous behaviour against some of the traditional rulers in Iseyin, Oyo State, has drawn an angry tirade from the public. Not unexpectedly, these comments have come as a mix of both printable and unprintable words. For yours sincerely, the former president’s comments could only be viewed from two main perspectives. The first is the pre-colonial era prestige attached to Nigeria’s traditional institutions. During the period under review, traditional rulers were in full control to the extent that the then-visiting white men who later became their colonial masters were always at their mercy for acceptance to…

There is nothing wrong with a very big dream. What is wrong is not having a dream at all. But with a dream, there’s also the possibility of a deluge of hindrances to its actualization. So, dreamers don’t go to the office to sleep. They go to the office to work. Actually, the dream that motivated President Bola Tinubu to appoint Zacchaeus Adedeji as the Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) must be big and vibrant. But how much the Iwo Ate, Oyo State-born technocrat can achieve will depend on the environment and society. Why did I…

Wait a minute, how many of the original National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) members are still alive and what’s their current attitudinal disposition and worldview to the democracy that we claim to be enjoying? We need to interrogate this premise so that we can appropriately gauge if what we have in place is worth what they have put into the struggle. Otherwise, we will only be deluding ourselves with the notion that NADECO lives, whereas it is long gone and lives only in the abstract. For example, Nigerians remember the name, NADECO, and what it stood for, but in concrete terms,…

Last week, I had the honour of visiting Dr. Amos Akingba, a chieftain of Afenifere and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), in his Ode-Irele, Ondo State country home. Akingba, who turned 85 last March, relocated to his hometown about two years ago. Since home is for rest, the elder statesman is back home to savour the serenity of his ancestral birthplace, but this time, the octogenarian is retiring to a community that has been without electricity since 2014. Ode-Irele is the headquarters to one of the four Local Governments – Irele, Okitipupa, Ese-Odo and Ilaje – that have been subjected to…

There’s always a general tendency which is often ignored at the peril of governments, and that’s the fact that bad governance brings exposure. Of course, this exposure comes in all ramifications. When people get dissatisfied at home, they look abroad for succour. Human beings are like that. What has helped the Francophone countries to remain silent for too long is the principle of assimilation – to be brainwashed like robots; unlike other colonizers who allowed people to be themselves. That’s why countries like Nigeria and Ghana experienced coups decades ago because, from the British culture, they saw bad governance and…

The world is a complex place, and the influence of the media in its representation and its power of communication and interpretation is a remarkable amplifier of emotions, and of illusions.- Tariq Ramadan. The marriage or inclusion of the media in politics is inevitable. The only credible institutional link between the government and the people, other social institutions and the masses is so interwoven with the reality of the society that, when Bola Ahmed Tinubu started his own media outfits, he had already known what he wanted before setting out for it. It’s not just for self but for the…

In an interview with journalists recently, the Elegboro of Ijebu-Jesa in the Oriade Local Government Area of Osun State, Oba Moses Oluwafemi Agunsoye stated that “no one can sit on the throne as a monarch nowadays without having good money”. According to the first-class monarch, “Gone are those days when people brought things to the palace, where the Kabiyesi would sit down and expect manna from heaven. Now, it is the palace that is giving out … So, an Oba must be up and doing, must have a job, or source of handsome income and he cannot rely on the…

Abba Kyari, CFR, OON! Remember him? Kyari was the Chief of Staff (CoS) to former President Muhammadu Buhari. Born on September 23, 1952, he served in that prestigious position between August 2015 and April 2020. While in office, little was actually known about Kyari in the public realm. Unfortunately, too, his name actually symbolized an uncanny error of namesake. The Borno State-born lawyer and banker shared a name with somebody who once had a favourable public perception until Satan smiled, and the ‘super cop’ lost it! Kyari died on April 17, 2020, following complications from COVID-19. In the case of…

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State deserves a pat on the back for instructing the three senators representing the state in the Upper Chamber to “mobilize support for former Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s nomination as Minister” during last week’s screening exercise. Of course, it is a gesture that could not be caged! But beyond sheer propaganda, did the senators’ support amount to anything? Are we saying that, as senators, they cannot reason or talk unaided? If Osun senators have spoken against Nominee Oyetola, would the senate have rejected him and would the president have dropped him? How many ministerial nominees have…

In a nationwide address last Monday, President Bola Tinubu announced some palliatives to mitigate the impact of the high cost of living brought about by the fuel subsidy removal. Great speech! Excellent delivery! So, kudos to Mr President! However, some Nigerians frowned at the speech because ‘it was one-sided’. According to this group, the president only pleaded with the masses to persevere without telling Nigerians what the elite and the privileged clique would sacrifice to make Nigeria great again. Though Nigerians have never doubted Tinubu’s capacity to be to Nigerians what Prophet Elijah was to the widow of Zarephath, they…

“Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’” – Nehemiah 2:17 The belief in some quarters is that the Bola Tinubu presidency is being confronted by two enemies: the cabals and the masses. Well, while Nigeria’s real enemies are the impenitent and chauvinistic cabals, the fact remains that the masses have consistently been at the receiving end of successive governments’ bad policies and programmes. Nigeria’s real enemies are…

Not long ago, Adeola Olatunde (not his real name) fell ill and was admitted to the hospital. At a point, his condition became so critical that help had to be sought from public-spirited individuals. Eventually, former Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State heard about it and took up the challenge. Nigerians remain grateful to the Iragbiji, an Osun State-born politician for this benevolent act. Obviously, Olatunde was fortunate because a Good Samaritan intervened when help was most needed; otherwise, the story would possibly have been worse. But then, his case was not that of one indolent beggar or non-possession of…

On May 29, 2023, Bola Tinubu assumed office as Nigeria’s president, 16th leader. Nigerians wish him success in the onerous tasks ahead. All the same, it is important to note that President Tinubu’s Nigeria is home to an array of folks: the diligent and the intelligent, the determined and the focused, plus the great boasters and the little doers; and they cut across her socio-political geography. Tinubu’s country harbours the progressives and the conservatives, the strong and the weak, the praise-singers and the faultfinders, the slippery and the flippant, the perpetual pessimists and the embittered opposition. Above all, it is…

Change is inevitable! The trouble however is that, most times, one doesn’t see it coming; not even the military; otherwise, all coups would have been preempted and suppressed before they were eventually executed. So also, it is reasonable to say in public administration that, in the few weeks of Bola Tinubu’s administration, there have been many upheavals and things that quite a few Nigerians never believed were possible that have been announced and addressed. The nation has remained the same, even stronger. Going forward, President Tinubu wants to fly in the air at 1 a.m. He wants all the youth…

All through history, finding and keeping round and square pegs in their respective holes has never been a Sugarcandy Mountain party. It’s a tough job for experts and committed people! Therefore, President Bola Tinubu must keep working round the clock, looking for leaks and blocking the same. Take a look at Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), which, at its inception, was with its spectacular fanfare and related brouhaha. OFN was with the notion of an idea whose time has come, but the intangibles waited patiently for it. As fate would have it, the scheme’s promoter eventually became its albatross. The…

Without a doubt, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s greatest inner gift is the uncanny ability to deploy native intelligence. Some people rarely talk about it because they didn’t see it coming! Of course, that’s why people didn’t see him coming! Not even the former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Maybe that’s why ‘Balogun Owu’ keeps fighting him like a wounded cobra. The most brilliant asset that Tinubu represents to Nigeria lies in his antecedents in government and public administration. His pattern creation is legendary. His management and structure sustenance is remarkable. Nigerians are therefore assured that if he flows from what used to…

Birthdays come with their own adequate burdens of celebrations which the celebrants may not get out of, even after the celebrations may have ended. After the dance in the marketplace, in the forest, and, finally, at the power centre, what remains? Well, it is a question of the buoyancy or otherwise of one’s protocols. The list could be endless! But the expression is the same! On the flip side, the party has taken off in earnest and the rhythm has also reached the climax of its crescendo; then the mournful dirge surges into the atmospheric attributes of moderation. After that…

On July 29, 1966, Adekunle Fajuyi, a Lieutenant Colonel, and Military Governor of Western Nigeria, staked his life, when some revenge-seeking counter-coupists came for the head of Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigeria’s military ruler. Aguiyi-Ironsi was on a visit to the region; and the governor told the coupists that they’d not kill his guest in Ibadan, the regional capital. But the soldiers insisted. Ultimately, they killed the guest and his host. But there was no compensation, either for Fajuyi’s family or the Yoruba race, for the supreme price he paid to keep the country together. Instead, the atrocious crime was…