Author: Abiodun KOMOLAFE

Although the initial steps have to be taken by the individual, the picture of personality as having “power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless” is working for Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State. It is a poser that’s given back to the owner. It makes a man become enthusiastic because, each time he sees the good he has done, he becomes motivated to do more. Essentially, therefore, it is an individual’s character that defines his or her legacy. Tellingly, Oyebanji, aka BAO, has within a year in office redefined governance. He loves development.…

Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State is privileged to have inherited a stable platform. Were it to have been otherwise, one doubts if he would by now have finished negotiating the trouble zones, not to talk about development in the state. Not just that, the governor also has a thriving centre to his advantage. So, whichever way it goes, it’s a good step, which brings to the fore the need for him to engage the best of brains – which, of course, Ekiti State has not been short of – and apply the same towards development. Without a doubt,…

Perceived callousness in society comes, chiefly, from the responses of the government to public issues as they affect individuals and the collective. As a country and society, we are perhaps the most cold-hearted people on the surface of the earth. Here, a man who fed his children last night and … could still afford something substantial as zakat, that’s our definition of generosity. An armed robber who is lucky to escape unhurt is the one society worships. In our fated clime, if you don’t have money, you are in trouble. In the eye of the nouveau riche, why must you not…

Temitope Oladipo Fayehun must be passing through hard times. A native of Ilesa in Osun State, Fayehun’s ordeal started on March 2, 2021, when he, alongside others in his vehicle, fell into the hands of some Fulani kidnappers along Osogbo-Ibokun-Ilesa Road in the state. While some of the passengers were killed and had their corpses dumped in the forest, others were immediately hauled into a thick forest. Fayehun fell into the latter group. But then, that marked the beginning of a journey that eventually lasted 16 days in the kidnappers’ den; as expected, under hellish conditions. Hear Fayehun, in tears:…

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…