Author: Abiodun KOMOLAFE

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…

Whenever a section of the society wants to embark on something new, it’ll first fly a kite. To sane minds, flying a kite is like testing the waters. If the society is gullible enough to ‘collectivise, objectify, even sacralise’ it, then, it becomes the norm. Unfortunately, societal norms tend to grow organic; and continue to evolve that, very soon, people may not even remember their origin. Such is the interim national government plot by some political gladiators in Nigeria. While it is no longer in doubt that the call has again added flavour to the political vocabularies available to the…

…says ‘call for interim national government is an invitation to anarchy’ A call has gone to the Federal Government of Nigeria to jettison any plan for an interim national government and begin arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the acclaimed winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election. The Bishop of Ijesa North Anglican Diocese, Rt. Revd (Dr.) Isaac Oluyamo, made the call recently, during the special Thanksgiving service to mark his 60th birthday. At the event, which was held at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Okeluse in Ondo State, Oluyamo said that anybody calling for the installation…

Nigeria is preparing for another round of population census rendezvous. Thanks be to God! But, if, at least, we must learn from past experiences, then, the primary question is: is the 2023 Census necessary? If one may also ask, when was the last time Nigeria held a census and how effective have previous exercises been? Or, must we fulfil the ritual of population headcount in Nigeria just for its sake? From the look of things, one may safely conclude that the National Population Commission (NPC), the body saddled with conducting censuses in Nigeria, has become an association created for political…

Oftentimes, intrigues exist in political matrixes. Concepts such as political mass participation, collective demands, group identity and determination, and collateral damages could all mean different things to different people. It only depends on which side of the divide the definer pitches his or her tent. This unrestricted latitude and privilege to operationalize concepts and political ideas (especially in Nigeria) with ‘sidon look’ response from the masses breeds complacency on the part of the political gladiators. The salient issue, however, is that a little divergence from the standard definition or central course gnaws on both the integrity and legitimacy of the…

In the choice of a fitting title for this piece, the late Professor Tai Solarin, one of Nigeria’s foremost educators and social activists, readily came to mind. May the labour of our heroes’ past not be in vain! That said, the title of the write-up suggests an overview of an anticipated journey and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Metaphorically, a rough road suggests an onerous means of achieving arduous set goals. However, the good news is that it keeps the journeying people awake and at alert all the time, because the road is not smooth. Coming to Bola Tinubu,…

There is a Yoruba adage, which says that ‘ogbon odun yii, were emii ni.’ (The wisdom of this year is foolishness in the course of time). Talking philosophically, when one relies on an older matrix to work in the present, one’s failure is likely to be like Atiku Abubakar’s. Why? The dynamics of the present may certainly not be exactly the same with the past. In fairness to posterity, the mindset of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and, of course, its presidential candidate – as Nigeria approached the last presidential election – was that the North was still the (typical)…