TheNewsGuru

Author: Hope Eghagha

  • Revolutions are dead, long live the Rat Race – By Hope Eghagha

    Revolutions are dead, long live the Rat Race – By Hope Eghagha

    Last week, I posted an observation on my Facebook page about how revolutionary ideas which were dominant in our university days have completely disappeared from the university system. Students who are leaders now copy the lifestyle of politicians. University teachers no longer teach revolutions. The reactions which I got have been presented in an edited manner. Enjoy!

    Kevbe: In our university days, we believed in revolutions, and our lecturers preached revolutions too. We joined societies and clubs which preached a drastic change in Africa. We read Walter Rodney ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’, the Frantz Fanon books ‘The Wretched of the Earth’, and ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ and many radical books. We had radical lecturers in most universities and especially at University of Ife, (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. I remember Patrick Wilmot, Yusufu Bala Usman, Omotoye Olorode, Comrade Ola Oni, Bade Onimode, Dr. Edwin Madunagu, Bene Madunagu, Dipo Fashina, Bala Muhammed, Prof Omafume Onoge, GG Darah, and many more, radicals who the government said were ‘teaching what they were not paid to teach!  The current set of teachers and students know no such stuff! Why?

    Isi: Big question! Big, big question! Why has revolutionary thinking disappeared from the university system?

    Mattu: Walter Rodney, Che Guevera, Professors Ayodele Awojobi, Eskor Toyo, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, and many others served as a source of inspiration. The universities were a hot bed for revolutionary ideas. I was an active member of the Movement for the Advancement of African Society (MAAS). We attended rallies and lectures given by radical lecturers. Professor Awojobi toured Nigerian universities to rouse students on social issues.

    Fatoyinbo: Yesterday, I was asking my wife the same question about Yoruba women of today. Where are the likes of Oladunni Decency Juju Orchestra, Funmilayo Ranco Traveling Theatre, Salawa Abeni among our young women of today? None of these women went beyond elementary school. Yet in their time, they made so much positive impact in society.

    Funke: So, what happened? Why are current students’ leaders more interested in being establishment guys than revolutionaries?

    Isi: Why are university lecturers more interested in government appointments and contracts?

    Peter: The present generation is more interested in ostentation and irrelevances. I once met an SA to the president of a students’ union who had a PA!

    Kent: When those they trusted speak lies because of political gain, certainly the flame of revolutions will die!

    Stephen: The current generation has been brought up by a thoughtless, old desperate generation and they have become imitative of the reprehensible culture of ostentatiousness. That is my point. You cannot isolate them for blame. That have known no love from their country – they have only witnessed political aggression, manipulation, and an ostentatious lifestyle. That, to them, is the culture. It is a very big problem!

    Mattu: How did those readings and mouthing of revolutionary rhetoric help any society? Most of those fire-spitting radicals became ice cream eating government officials! The table is very rich, and most people want to feed from it. The socialism that drove those thoughts those days have been found to be a ruse and the global injustices such as racism have been largely addressed.

    Kevbe: Globally, revolutions seem to have gone out of fashion. No Bob Marley, no Fela, no Okosun type of musicians. No Walter Rodneys.

    Rioux: We had our #FeesMustFall# movement in 2015 here in South Africa. Suddenly everyone was reading Fanon and Steve Biko again. It made me feel quite nostalgic.

    Kevbe: Vestiges of the past, of what seems to have slipped out of fashion.

    Opubo: Yes, it has gone out of fashion with the demise of communism, and the Soviet Union. The intervening period of neoliberalism swept away any vestiges.

    Ihria: What is REVOLUTION? Sloganeering and placard wielding? What’s there to show for it? Every generation tends to rewrite history, blaming the last or the next. True revolutionaries don’t quit. They don’t hang up the boots and leave the battle ground.

    Kevbe: This is deep!

    Ihria: Villains have become more vicious, and their reach has become much longer. And so has betrayals from transactional global leaders. Think of Navalny. Remember Khashoggi? It’s a rapidly sinking humanity!

    Areh: Those who believed in revolutions in the past are the ones currently engineering the failures and decadence of today. They are ensconced in the kitchen cabinet of the governors of today!

    Ighovwede: They are the ones conniving to shoot and kill anyone who dares to protest. So, who will come out, get hurt and have his family thrown into mourning while everyone else moves on as if nothing happened?

    Sam: The reason no one talks about revolutions these days on campus is that even you, their teachers, are not interested in or teaching it. You are not teaching it because the fervor of Marx has diminished in academia around the world, and it began after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Even the Soviets who sponsored some of this energy, are under the capitalist aura. Ditto China that is evangelizing capitalism competing with their American rival. Cuba has no Castro.

    Kevbe: Capitalism has won the war over socialism and communism. Erstwhile socialists are still smarting from that defeat, symbolized by the fall of the Soviet empire. I still remember President Ronald Reagan’s call on Mr. Gorbachev to ‘tear down this wall!

    Sam: China is not looking for any ideological revolution, but hegemony. After all, it is borrowing ideas and systems from the US. BRICS is a coalition for dominance, or if you like, a revolution of power shift, which is Hegelian suspicion of revolution.

    Kevbe: People who feel sufficiently aggrieved or fed up with poor governance or failed economic policies don’t have an ideological framework to confront the holders of power. Socialism, which provided a paradigm shift for us in the university, no longer has that attraction.

    Sam: There is a certain hubris of innocence about revolutions. Secondly, capitalism has eroded the communalist ethos of the African society and ushered in a fierce individualism that defeats collaboration.

    Kevbe: Power of money politics, the power of power itself, the power that anything, everything is possible. These would seem to be powerful attractions, closely associated with AI, that capacity to be superhuman in a scientific way. China is beating the US in the contest. It’s complex, isn’t it, yielding varying and complex mutations.

    Isi: Mutations?

    Kevbe: We need no revolution. We are mutating. We shall become better if we fit in in order to overtake the others.

    Sam: Revolutions have historically failed. An anti-climax!

    Kevbe: Expectations were never met. They were idealistic anyway, almost Utopian, akin to what Christian theology propagates.

    Ihria: Truth is, all hands should be on deck. There must also be adults in the house. Young people, students, can only do so much. They should be supporting the adults, not the adults waiting on them (with trepidation) to fight battles they are ill-equipped for. The media also has a major role to play. Except that poverty has set the bar so low, real journalists seek their means of livelihood in other skills. Everyone needs to look in the mirror and make the change they need to see.

  • When a goodbye turns eternal! – By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    When a goodbye turns eternal! – By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    There are times in our lives when a temporary going-away becomes a permanent going away into a place where mortals never meet, and where no one is certain of which side of the eternal divide one would be when the ‘trump sounds and the end comes! That is, that ‘bye for now’ becomes a bye forever, an eternal goodbye because the voyager slipped into the abyss without notice, without a warning, and we catch ourselves saying ‘how I wish I had handled things differently’, and regret things undone or not properly done, and we mourn for a while and move on as if nothing happened! It is the way of man, this!

    Ironically, there is a mocking halo of ignorance at this leave-taking ritual, this parting of ways, leaving for the office, traveling to see one’s parents or relations, returning home after a routine visit, or going to the mall for a bit of shopping, when fate knows that there will not be another meeting, there will not be a return.

    A family is currently dealing with a situation in which a 78-year-old grandmother succumbed to death while they were preparing to bury her 141year old mother next week! What explanation do you give? What are the levels of goodbye? Who do you say goodbye to first? Who said goodbye to her while her children were preparing to bury her aged mother? Indeed, as Marcus Aurelius once said, “you could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think!

    Sometimes, this leave-taking is as dramatic as stepping into the bathroom in one’s home for a bath and hitting the head on a stone or the bathtub! Or when one collapses during home prayers or while giving a sermon or while walking to the car after a lecture. Or, when there is a fatal car or air crash. At such moments, the haplessness of man becomes evident. One minute alive, the next minute gone! And for Muslims before sundown, that bubbling, vibrant brother, sister, or friend is in the grave. How poignant! How instructive!

    Often when we meet and part ways, it is casual, routine, and taken-for-granted that there will certainly be another meeting. This is especially so when there was no known illness, short or protracted. This is a demonstration of how infinitesimal we are in the scheme of things. Our take-off point is ignorance. Our existence is predicated only on what we know about the past and the contemporary. The future is blank. We are shut out of that which is to come. How arrogant would man be if he could successfully and continuously prognosticate on future occurrences!

    So, when a loved one says ‘bye’ after a visit, after a call, or when you meet accidentally at an event, a family event, it is important to show a presence of mind, treasure it, for, you never know, it could be the last meeting or words ever spoken between you. In the hustle and bustle of life, we never stop to reflect on the transient nature of man. Buddha says: ‘impermanence is the fundamental nature of all things!

    It is true that if we were to dwell on or reflect on our mortality every minute of the day, life would be dull, boring, and morbid, and we would be zombies in a paradise of fools. How debilitating it would be to be conscious of the fear of death while we eat, play, sleep, work, entertain throughout our lives! The spontaneity and joy of living would vanish in a puff. Yet, as the ancient Greek philosophers said, ‘Man, Know thyself!

    Life is for the living. Not the dead. The dead stay dead. If we kill our spirit while we have life in us, then we are indebted to the Creator for foolishness. The grace of being alive compels living life to the fullest though with humility of spirit and respect for the eternal values of creation. Those who offend the values of life have the day of judgment to contend with. How wrong would they be when finally, they confront the Judge of the universe. Those entrusted with leadership positions and fail to promote eternal values will harvest the consequences of their deeds. Why is there so much bile and vile behaviour in the world? Why has life become so cheap that even teenagers take life of fellow human beings? Why are human beings butchered and their body parts sold in the market of body parts?

    Let every meeting therefore be relished, savored, and enjoyed. That meeting with your sibling or friend or co-worker could be the last. We bear burdens, burdens which sometimes we never disclose to those we meet routinely during our everyday lives. Some burdens burst the heart when we arrive home or when we embark on an innocuous activity. Even a blood clot that gets to the heart could end the journey of the wayfarer.

    Recently, too many people have taken leave of Earth suddenly. A man in apparently relatively good health leaves his house and does not return. Despaired people take the suicide route. Accidents, man-made and natural. Sudden illnesses. Believers are urged to move closer to God because ‘the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer. Moving closer to God will not prevent death, sudden or gradual. It could only mean that one is in harmony with God when the grim reaper comes.

    That meeting with your friend or brother or father may well be the last. Our eyes have been shut from the power of such knowledge. I last saw my younger sibling who passed away in March at a funeral in 2022. We took a photograph. We both wore broad smiles! I had no way of knowing that that was the last handshake. With the telephone, even video calls, we closed distances. Or so we thought. It turned out that we were wrong. Nothing replaces the warmth of a heartfelt meeting.

  • Treasonable teenagers and other matters – By Hope Eghagha

    Treasonable teenagers and other matters – By Hope Eghagha

    By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    Adiele: Nigeria is a crime scene. We must start documenting evidence against the day of reckoning. We hope that some day all the criminals will be arrested and brought to trial. Looting of the nation’s coffers. Impunity at the highest level. Judicial corruption even in the Supreme Court. Flagrant abuse of power by the executive and legislative branches of government. We cannot go on like this for much longer. The elites are having a field day and do not see the need to stop the descent into anarchy. But mark my words: the end is around the corner!

    Henry: Long overdue, it’s long overdue my brother!

    Gboyega: There you go again, Mr. Extremism! How can a whole nation be a crime scene? What do you mean?

    Henry: It’s an extended metaphor; do you understand what it means?

    Adiele: My brother, you live in the wrong side of town; that’s why you cannot feel the pulse. There is hunger, there is anger. People can barely feed. The people are boiling oil to pour on the criminals in power. The government is introducing all sorts of taxes. I assure you of one thing: the end-bad-governance protest was a signal of things to come!

    Gboyega: What came out of it, eh, what came out of it? Misguided elements in society taking to the streets to protest government policies is not new. Vapour! Nothing! It fizzled out as it started – without direction and a sense of purpose!

    Racheal: Is that what you think? That nothing came out of it?

    Gboyega; Did you see the pictures of those teenage traitors on social media last week? That’s what came out of it!

    Adiele: Are you for real? You have the temerity to mock those kids who waved the Russian flag? Did you think they were traitors to the fatherland?

    Racheal: I do not need to go into an argument with you if you entertain such preposterous ideas in your head. Come on! Those kids are the real heroes of the struggle for a true Nigeria.

    Gboyega: Such idealistic nonsense ended in the 20th century. Join the fray and have a bit or a mouthful of the pie. Those who sit by the side will die of hunger!

    Adiele: Let us have a context here so we can understand what befell those kids. Organisers of the mass protests on October 1st drew attention to the level of hunger and anger in the land. Some innocent kids were given Russian flags to wave as if they were inviting the Russians to come and deliver them from the shackles of poverty in the hands of their government. The government did not address the main issues. It simply arrested those teenagers and minors from Kano, dumped them in a cell in Abuja and totally forgot about them. Is this how to govern?

    Gboyega: If you do anyhow, you will see anyhow too! Period! The president had no choice. The country was on the brink of bankruptcy. The harebrained policies of the previous government took their toll on the nation. The naira was being shored up with foreign exchange that was borrowed. Some one had to take the tough decision.

    Racheal: Some people are ‘kept critics’, you know the tradition of mistresses who were kept by a big man and she must sing praises of the big man. No matter how bad the situation is, they would always look for ways to praise the government or justify its actions. Some news commentators are like the proverbial kept mistresses. There is one sitting in this room with us right now.

    Henry: I wonder if such people shop in a special market where hangers-on are treated specially.

    Racheal: There is no such market. But we primordial instincts are still very strong and powerful in the country. Look at the list of security personnel currently in circulation. What does the government hope to achieve with such a lopsided appointment scale?

    Adiele: That itself is the end of the exercise. All but two positions are occupied by appointees from the north and southwest. Southeast and south-south had only one appointee each. Put simply, the federal government is the property of politicians from the north and southwest. Infantile nepotism!

    Gboyega: Did the other zones vote for the president? No! They played politics of hate, of ethnic divide. Look, if you want the dividends of democracy, you must vote for the winning team.

    Henry: That is contrary to the spirit of democracy. The winner becomes president to everyone, whether you voted for them or not. That is the ideal. When some parts of the federation see themselves as superior, then you are creating room for anarchy.

    Adiele: Noting seems to be working. Look at the power sector. People are paying through their noses for power supply. The universities are crying foul over the new rates. Why should a president who was supposedly elected by his own people implement the agenda of world financial institutions to the detriment of the people?

    Racheal: The rate of people suffering from mental health issues has increased. You often meet people talking to themselves along the road. What about suicide attempts? Horrible ways of dying have entered the minds of people. What makes a man jump into industrial fire that is used to melt iron? Frustration! The president is not engaging with the people.

    Adiele: He cannot engage with the people because he is minding his health. His visits to France and the UK are not for fun!

    Gboyega: come on! Is a man is entitled to looking after his health? Do you want him to die suddenly?

    Adiele: He was ill before he came into office!

    Gboyega: Yet the people voted for him massively.

    Racheal: Did they vote for him?

    Gboyega: Of course, the national institution that is charged with declaring the winner pronounced him winner. The losers went to court to challenge his victory and lost all the way! What else can you say if the umpire said he won, and the courts gave him victory?

    Adiele: Those officials were severely compromised. We know, they know, and you know it!

    Racheal: Gbam!

  • Protests, Counter-protests and allied Matters – Hope Eghagha

    Protests, Counter-protests and allied Matters – Hope Eghagha

    So it was that some Nigerians, exasperated, dissatisfied and angry with the existing socio-economic conditions in the country, gave a long notice to the Nigerian state that there would be a ‘day of rage’ come 1st of August, a day when Nigerians would take to the streets and express their umbrage about living conditions in the country. It was notice long enough for a new city to be built to accommodate a new generation of Nigerians; it was notice long enough for dialogue and policy direction change to whittle down the notches of anger in the land! At a point I thought the protesters were not serious, what with the full gear of negative reactions from the purveyors of the commonwealth. I thought that they were simply trying to rattle the government and move on, just to make a point that the Jagaban had not and has not put the conscience inside the pocket of complacency and money.

    But, the state preferred threats, cajoling, labeling, and bullying tactics to scare the angry citizens in the land! Some of the spokesperson of government, official and unofficial, compromised and uncompromised, with some speaking from both sides of the mouth, made sure that the polity became a parliament of fowls! Was that ugly and arrogant statement credited to Senate President true?
    There were also attempts to ethnicize the protests. Which was unfortunate. Hunger and inflation do not recognize ethnic boundaries. A hungry man from Sokoto can be as angry as a hungry man from Nembe. So, one of the features of underdevelopment reared its head: ethnicity as a basis for supporting or opposing the bad governance protest. Is being foulmouthed, insulting, and rude some of the requirements for being a presidential spokesman? Bayo Onanuga, what is wrong?

    To be sure, the removal of fuel subsidy and the runaway inflation which unleashed itself on both the rich and poor compounded matters for everyone. As with the seller, the Bible says, so with the buyer! Garri, the poor man’s staple food, became gold. Rice? Chicken? These have become luxuries that only the upper middleclass can afford. Amidst these, there rumours of scandalous expenditures on luxury items in the seat of government. Rumours of humongous sums disappearing from the national coffers into the pockets of elected and appointed rulers. How did we enter this foretold hardship while a supposedly democratic government held sway?

    The media, both social and mainstream, could not identify the leaders of the proposed strike. The federal government was insanely jittery. And it took desperate measures. The IG fingered mercenaries. A presidential spokesman fingered a former presidential candidate as the sponsor of the protests. Some ‘owners’ of the city of Lagos warned protesters against taking to the streets in Lagos, that they should go to their home states to stage their protests, that masquerades will be released into the streets to unleash the power of the Oro juju on protesters.

    From this point on, a comedy of sorts grew wings like the proverbial horse in Greek mythology as government went on the offensive, recruiting foot soldiers to condemn the very idea of a national protest, and threatening brimstone and fire on protesters. Indeed, days before the protest was supposed to start, some groups who did not want the August 1st protests took to the streets with their placards, that is protesting the protest that was yet to take place! What an absurdity?

    The protest took off. Arise TV gave us a big objective peep into the actions of protesters. Most states in the federation preached against the protest. Of course, they were protecting their infrastructure. They did not necessarily support the regime of hunger and hardship which the President unleashed on the nation as soon as he took over. But everyone knows the implication of a breakdown of law and order in any environment.

    The President’s failure or refusa0l to address the nation before the protests is a minus. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a veteran of many battles. He has led protests, sponsored some and had established his credentials as a democrat. But in handling the ANISARS and Bad Governance protests, he did not acquit himself as a democrat. What has happened to the activist? Has he been caged by security forces and the henchmen who parade the corridors of power?

    Protests are a part of democracy. Indeed, the very fact that people can protest is an ingredient of democracy. The protesters may not be right. But they have the right to be wrong. Often people who are in power get disconnected from the people they lead or rule over. It is a weakness in human nature. A protest is a way of jolting the powers-that-be into reality. It is true that often protests lead to violent actions. Some persons see protests as an opportunity to break all the rules of the land. They burn. They loot. They steal. They kill. Yet, this does not give the state the right to ban protests. Good governance minimizes protests.

    President Tinubu should address the nation. He missed the opportunity to prevent the protest when he refused to negotiate with its leaders. He has unilaterally made some concessions by approving the new minimum wage with such speed as was never recorded before in our history. There is the naira concession to Dangote Refinery which if properly managed could bring down energy costs. But he must tackle inflation. He must do something about the value of the naira in relation to foreign currencies. He must step in vigorously into farmer-herder conflicts in the country which have affected production of food crops. The almighty rice must be taken on frontally now. Increased domestic production of rice has not brought down the price of rice. He should target garri production and its costs. Tinubu is a fantastic negotiator who can negotiate with the devil and get a reprieve or a bonus. He should do same with those who hold the levers of rice, wheat, and garri production and distribution.

    There is too much anger in the land. It is fueled by lack of access to food. Food! Food! That people are hungry and angry is no news. Not even obsequious aides can hide this from the president. Hunger now wears a coat, adorns it with agbada and babaringa and parades round homes in the country. The energy behind efforts to thwart the protests should have been directed into meeting the demands of the protesters. As a democrat, Tinubu should side with the people, the people he had led to the trenches when he was on the other side. Let it not be said that he fought the system only because he wanted to inherit power. That would be a tragedy. Things ought to change, Mr. President, Sir!

  • The King’s cancer and state cancer – By Hope Eghagha

    The King’s cancer and state cancer – By Hope Eghagha

    The king of England has cancer; may the cancer be short-lived and may the king live long on the throne of his forbears which he mounted at 75. When the king catches cancer, or when cancer catches the king, the land is in mourning. For we know the unforgiving aggression and anger of a remorseless cancer. But hope there is. This cancer was caught early by eagle-eyed doctors and the king will be spared. Perhaps it was the prostate that saved the king, saved the monarchy, and saved the land. What a fitting tribute therefore to the power of the prostate and such allied matters!

    The king was unusually open about his prostate. That very sensitive and private part of male anatomy, for royalty or working-class folks, is not for public show. African elders have a proverb that ‘a child may play with its mother’s breasts, but not its father’s testicles! Flash back to 1951 when heavy smoker King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth 11, underwent a left total pneumonectomy, euphemistically called ‘structural abnormalities’ but was indeed cancer. The physicians hid the diagnosis from him, the public and the medical profession. Although the king recovered slowly from the surgery, he died suddenly in his sleep on February 6, 1952, at the age of 56. And Elizabeth became Queen of England. Now, the Queen has passed on. There is no information on the cause of her death.

    So, we must commend King Charles for openness. The king’s private parts are not for public discussion. Indeed, the dead body of most African king is often hidden. Burial is often secret, except for some, like the last Ibadan monarch whose Islamic funeral was held publicly. But in the 21st century, the monarchy, especially the British monarchy, has become open and matters of their bedroom have entered social media and mainstream newspapers. NHS reports that after the king came open on his prostate, ‘visits to the NHS website prostate enlargement page were up by more than 1000%’. I went to check mine too! Be sure that the result is for my private consumption.

    Prostate enlargement is a health condition which affects half of all men starting in their 50s. It is also called ‘benign prostatic hyperplasia’. The chances of getting the condition increase with age. Some men in their 40s can also have an enlarged prostate. The main symptoms of an enlarged prostate are related to urination, either storage symptoms or voiding symptoms. Doctors say that being ‘proactive rather than reactive with the symptoms may be beneficial in preserving bladder and kidney functions. Here in Nigeria, the common attitude among men is that surgery should be avoided because it is a fifty-fifty success story. Whether this is tue I cannot say for certain. Bu the sheer number of herbs which Nigerians peddle and drink for prostate treatment is indicative of their attitude to orthodox treatment. Herbs which reduce the symptoms are found in the market.

    To be sure, most presidents and Heads of State in Africa are emperors in temper and character. They are not to be challenged. They do not disclose their health challenges to mere mortals. There is the fear too that an open disclosure of one’s health status could invite evil forces to add fire to fire and make the ailment incurable! Superstition is a way of life for them. Former President Buhari stayed in London for months taking treatment for an undisclosed ailment at the expense of the state. If our rulers must receive treatment for any ailment, it must be abroad. No shame. No dignity. But King Charles simply checked into The Clinic in London for treatment. He did not fly to America or France or Dubai. Pause for a while and see the embarrassment it would cause if Britain did not have the facility to treat her king or Prime Minister!

    Kings, like the rest of us, are mortals. They are subject to the frailty of mortals. They could fall ill and recover or die. They will all die, ultimately. The news therefore is not that the King has cancer. The news is that he is open about it. There is amazing self-confidence that the public announcement of prostate and suggests. He has lived a good life. At 75, anything could happen. One must show courage and get on with life. Cancer is dreaded. The mere diagnosis of cancer has killed some. It changes everything. It brings one’s mortality very close. Some have been given three months to live after diagnosis. At such times, one must put ‘his house in order! Repentance, forgiveness, kindness, and charity could come into the equation to make peace with God.

    Scary as it is to have a national leader who has cancer, the greatest problem is when the king himself is a form of cancer to the state. A president or governor or prime minister who bleeds the state is a form of cancer. Such cancerous heads should be severed the way cancerous organs are surgically removed. This is the notion of the king as scapegoat. It is atavistic, but not uncommon in modern history, either through the ballot box or other legitimate means. Indeed, the mass of the people are likely to pray for cancer to take away a cancerous king! Luckily, Charlie is not in that mold, despite Diana and the rest of their history.

    If the king has cancer, the king can be saved, the king should be saved, and the land can be saved. But if the king himself is the cancer, there is no hope for the land. We sympathize with the king and wish him well. Both parents of his were nonagenarians when they took their exit from the world. It is my hope that he too would have the same grace extended to him. While nothing is automatic, there is no reason not to believe that with the best of medical care his lot would be like theirs. Long live the king!

  • Loyalty and betrayal in a Season of Treachery – By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    Loyalty and betrayal in a Season of Treachery – By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    There are times in the life of a clan, people, or nation, when vice takes over the ethos of the people or the land. In such a circumstance, there is a prevalence of negative forces in the affairs of society. In eschatological terms, we encounter such a narrative in biblical accounts leading to the destruction of the first world. How and why this happens goes beyond conjecture. It is often not planned by anybody. It just happens. It is often gradual. Usually, it is started by people who have access to power- political power, financial power, and cultural power. In other words, a people can just find themselves descending into a society governed by vices after a group starts the process. This is because, the persons who are charged with the responsibility of guarding the moral values and ethos of society become guilty after being compromised my money or the wealthy class. Ironically, it is often a source of ‘joy’ or power to beneficiaries. What happiness comes to the heart of a man who runs afoul of the law and has the financial power to avoid the arms of the law! Or, what exhilaration does a man who acquires a position illegally after parting with some cash!

    The descent into a world of vice – betrayal, decadence, treachery, infinite corruption – starts with a society’s cultural, political, social, and judicial institutions.  In the early stages, it favours only a small group. It then begins to grow and spread. It then becomes a way of life. For example, giving and accepting bribes starts in a small way, as is the example of Nigeria. In the First Republic, corrupt political office holders were contented with the notorious ten percent. By the Second and Third Republics, percentages disappeared. Whole sums of money which had been budgeted for a project simply disappeared into somebody’s account. In the speech which Major Kaduna Nzeogwu gave after the January 1966 coup, he said: ‘Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent…’. But these days, nobody talks about a percentage in looting public funds. It has been reported that during the Buhari days in Aso Rock, trillions of naira simply vanished. There is no indication yet that the Tinubu administration will be different.

    When treachery and betrayal reign supreme in a polity, loyalty becomes endangered, becomes rare, and finally becomes obsolete. When leaders or rulers betray the trust of the people, loyalty becomes an endangered virtue. In some instances, rebellion becomes an obligation to shake off the yoke of bondage. Nigeria is moving in that direction now. When a culture of betrayal is pervasive, individual loyalty is tested, both in our private lives and in our dealings with the powers-that-be. Sadly, it has percolated homes and families. Individual character has become redefined in line with the savage norms in the country.

    For me this is the real danger – character development. It is dangerous to individual growth. It is dangerous to obligations. It is dangerous to the overall development of the motherland. Character is being gradually eroded by a free-for-all anything-goes philosophy. Those who make a fuss about what is right and what is wrong become villains. Students in the school system brand teachers who are disciplinarians as wicked. Treachery. Betrayal. Loyalty. Disloyalty. Our yahoo boys say that their ‘enterprise’ is their own way of doing what political office holders do, and that in their case, they do not hurt any Nigerian. I was shocked beyond words when I first heard their arguments. Why should we disturb them from making money through love scams, internet fraud if these actions do not hurt any Nigerian? If government officials can steal and become chiefs, why should they be prevented from being the real ‘guy men?

    It is true that nobody pays attention to betrayal of trust by government anymore. It has become the norm in Nigeria. The original notion of governance was that the elected officials held power in trust on behalf of the people, and elected officials in the First republic were conscious of this obligation. They competed on how to deploy state resources to projects which fed or promoted the common good. If the notion of a social contract between (‘an implicit agreement between the people and their government about what each side provides to the other) the rulers and the ruled still subsists, it is certainly not in Nigeria. Democracy is a government for the rich and powerful, for the pocket of the rich, and for the benefit of the rich. This is Nigeria’s spurious contribution to the theory and practice of democracy.

    The truth therefore is that in Nigeria government is a thief; this, government is made up of thieves. In 2019, Chatham House said that $582 billion had been stolen from Nigeria. ‘At least, N11tn is said to have been diverted in the power sector alone since 1999’, writes The Punch Newspaper, ‘while N1.3tn public funds were reportedly laundered between 2011 and 2015’.  Government, a thief? This at least is the view of the average Nigerian. Government steals the commonwealth. Individuals are richer than the government, not from genuine business deals. Government officials get rich from the resources which are placed in their care on behalf of the people. Whole sums appropriated to build or maintain roads are cornered by powerful persons in government. This therefore is one of the greatest acts of treachery, of betrayal in the land. Reports by the EFCC indicate how much funds have been misappropriated by appointed and elected state officials. Sadly, even the EFCC has been roped in the dance of betrayal. How can we get out of the bind that has been created by kleptocracy? How can we get back to factory reset in the country? How long more can the precipice accommodate us as a people?

    Nigeria is currently adrift. The naira has depreciated, has been devalued like the life of the average Nigerian. Nobody in government, not even the president, is talking to the people. Generally, in economic theory, it is desirable to allow a national currency to float. But in a country like Nigeria which produces little to earn foreign exchange, it is a death knell. And that is what we face currently. The people have been betrayed once again. They do not matter because their votes do not count.  But betrayal is not a forever thing. It will end someday. When and how this would be, we are no prophets to tell. But no man enters his house through another man’s door forever.  ‘Every day is for the thief, so we say in street discourse in Nigeria, ‘but one day is for the owner! When will the owner catch the thief in Nigeria? Time will tell!

  • When the mind is blind! – By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    When the mind is blind! – By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    The eyes are useless when the mind is blind; so say the prophets and sages of old. How can a mind be blind? Does the mind have eyes to see? See what? To the uninitiated this sounds like a conundrum, an impossible and abstract journey in philosophical musings. Indeed, we are concerned with life choices and the quality of thinking that goes into our daily or life decisions. To be sure, a blind mind cannot lead. No wonder Christ said: if the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch.

    Within the context of this essay, I do not refer to aphantasia, which is the capacity ‘to see with the eyes but not in the mind’ or ‘being unable to predict behaviour and attribute mental states including beliefs, desires, emotions, or intentions.’ In this context mind blindness refers to lacking the power of seeing beyond the ephemeral things and taking decisions based on greed and selfishness. To be blind in the mind, is to live outside of the good, outside of our common humanity, outside of love, and outside of wisdom.

    We discover how a blind mind can obstruct vision as we grow older and begin to appreciate the spirit of things, placing them above the material contraptions of this world, those things which shine like gold and diamond, but which contain temporary and transient things, those things which after we possess them, we simply yearn for more and more because they lack the power of the spirit, the power to keep us happy. A blind mind yields a deviant, unhappy spirit. It shuts out doing good for the sake of good. Banquo tells Macbeth, ‘Now you have it all, Macbeth. You’re king, Lord of Cawdor, and Lord of Glamis. Everything the witches promised, yet I’m afraid you might have engaged in foul play’. This does not stop the murderous man from degenerating further into evil. After getting the kingship!

    As we wind up our affairs here on earth, either when we are mortally ill or knocked down by the burdens of old age, we join the prophets to declare I have no pleasure in them! For some, it is too late. The harm which a blind mind has brought upon the world around them haunts them in perpetuity. And beyond! Some end up confessing in delirious frenzy on their death bed, sometimes exaggerating the scope of their ills to get relief. It is for this reason that those who have read the mind of the wise and seen the ways of the foolish, proclaim from the rooftops for us to open the eyes of our minds to see the other side of things.

    The blind mind is often a victim of ignorance, of greed, of avarice, of fear, and lust after ephemeral things. And that is why King Odewale in Ola Rotimi’s adapted play The Gods are Not to Blame, gorges out his eyes when he realizes the incestuous relationship between him and his mother-wife. Sophocles had masterfully depicted this in his eponymous play Oedipus Rex when the disgraced king decries his inability see through the veils of humanity when he married his mother in blinding ignorance after committing patricide. How could he face his mother in the netherworld after his ignominious acts? Marry your mother and produce children by her? What blindness! What ignorance? Stop to think my dear reader. Are you currently in unholy matrimony with your mother in a metaphorical sense?

    But nobody listens to the wailing prophets. A blind mind sees only the periphery. It sees only shadows and takes the shadows for the real. Fantasy and an exaggerated sense of self-importance are the hallmarks of the blind mind. The mind is a powerhouse. Some men are imprisoned in their minds through negative thoughts and fear. They see the small picture even as chief executives of a billion-dollar company, a community, a local government, a state, or a country. They do not rise beyond the glamour of the surface. They are harassed and hurried by time to grab it all, by the racing hour, and remain bogged down by puerile thinking.

    There is the big picture. There is also the small picture. Moses in the Bible saw the big picture and rejected a false prince hood to become the real hero. He stood against Pharaoh because he in the picture about the big picture. In Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara and Blaise Campaore saw the big picture and decided to effect a change. Later, Campaore killed Sankara and settled for the small picture. So, do you have a mind that is locked against the beauty of humanity? Spinning around your enclave and excluding persons who are not from your comfort zone from career progress? Are you a parent whose mind is locked? Are you a pastor/imam with a locked mind? Are you blinded by bigotry?

    When the mind is blind, we place ourselves first and above all others especially when we are given power, or when we acquire power. A blind mind in political power only sees what will benefit him, not the clan, the community, the state, or the country. Of such men we must beware. They pose a danger to the survival of the state, of the human species. It is the blindness of the mind that makes a state official plunder resources meant for road construction and convert same for personal use. Later, months or years outside office, he dies in an accident on that road which he failed to repair.

    A blind mind surfeits itself with the abundance of material wealth believing in his foolishness that ill-gotten wealth brings happiness. A blind mind worships opulence and arrogates power to issues beyond the real. A blind mind at the helm of affairs leads to the followership to death. ‘And the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are ked of them are destroyed’, so says Prophet Isaiah. A blind mind exaggerates things. It is arrogant. It is not satisfied with taking a whiff. It buries its face and body in the heap of filthy things to savor the beauty of abundant rottenness.

    Open your mind therefore that you may see the beauty in character and the virtues of loyalty, of truth, of pursuing the common good. For the mind to see, it must be liberated from the shackles of greed, dishonesty, exploitative tendencies, and lust for the ephemeral things of life. A blind mind could not have developed Singapore of Dubai! A blind mind in power travels to Dubai to enjoy the beauty of what an open mind has done. But he never thinks of replicating Dubai in his home country!

  • Much ado about certificates – By Hope Eghagha

    Much ado about certificates – By Hope Eghagha

    BISHAK: A certificate is nothing! A certificate is nothing! A certificate is nothing!

    OBUKS: A certificate is nothing?

    BISHAK: Quote me. A certificate is nothing!

    OBUKS: How? What do you mean? We are in the 21st century, my dear friend!

    BISHAK: What certificate did Jesus have? What certificate did Mohammed have? What certificate does Ronaldo have? Did the last president have any certificate? Didn’t he govern well? What certificate has Messi? Messi is his own certificate. Football is Messi. Messi is football.

    OBUKS: Ibaboooo! I can’t believe what my ear is hearing oooo!

    BISHAK: What certificates do those traders in Alaba or kano markets have? Please, tell me another story!

    DEMOLA: Are you for real? We are discussing certificates, and you are referencing Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed? Who, what has brought this disaster on us as a people?

    DELILAH: A former minister of the Federal Republic? Now I understand why we are where we are!

    DEMOLA: A certificate is something! A certificate is something.

    OBUKS: I am baffled that a sitting president does not want the details of his credentials revealed to Nigerians, that a disclosure would cause him irreparable damage! President Jonathan also blocked his PhD documents in University of Port Harcourt from public view. It is not a good sign, not a good sign at all. Sends a wrong message to the youths in the country!

    DEMOLA: The youths? They are already lost. Is that not the reasoning behind the ‘school na scam’ slogan? We must trace them and bring them back to the path of truth!

    BAKO: Look here, what is the big deal about two different dates of birth? You see, people from the old generation did not have proper records and relied on oral accounts. Besides, some people keep two different birth dates so that they may remain in paid employment!

    BISHAK: What is a certificate? It is an ordinary paper which states that you went through an institution. It does not show competence. Why the sentimental attachment to an ordinary sheet of paper?

    OBUKS: Are you saying this? That a certificate is not necessary for employment?

    BISHAK; Calm down, young lady, calm down! Is it a university certificate that is driving Microsoft or Facebook. Let us look at practical things fa!

    OBUKS: I agree that a certificate is not always an indicator of competence. But here we are dealing with a false claim.

    BISHAK: It is this over reliance on certification that is propelling public officials to concoct results. The list is long. Speaker of House Salisu Buhari who falsified his age and educational qualification, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who did not submit his PhD credentials for public scrutiny, Senator Ademola Adeleke, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieyo running mate to David Lyon of Bayelsa State, Kemi Adeosun, Christian Abah whose tenure in the House of Representatives was cut short by the Supreme Court in 2017 over a forged academic certificate to INEC, Bello Masari who was accused of forging his secondary school certificate (the case eventually dismissed by the Supreme Court for lack of evidence), Speaker of House of representatives Dimeji Bankole, though the case was dismissed when he produced an NYSC discharge certificate.

    DEMOLA: Our country is a country riddled with contradictions. Former President Muhammadu Buhari hired 13 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to defend him after Nnamdi Nkwocha-Ahaaiwe argued that Buhari did not sit for the Cambridge West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1961 and so was not qualified to contest for president! A transparent leader would produce the certificate. But our national sheriff, the man who staked his reputation (non-existent as far as I am concerned) hid behind technicalities to block a verification of his certificate.

    OBUKS: Do you mean Buhari did not, does not have WASC? How did he enter a military academy?

    BAKO: His certificate went missing, we are told; a guard dog in Army Headquarters ate the certificate when there was no food!

    DELILAH: Hahahahahaha! I laugh in Fulfulde language!

    OBUKS: Let us return to the current issue. The rumour mill, galvanized by social media, has been awash with all kinds of allegations against then candidate Senator Bola Tinubu. The core of the allegations was that Bola Tinubu migrated to the US with a female visa. Now that the papers have been released, there is a discrepancy in the two documents. When was our president born? 1952 or 1954? We need to know.

    BAKO: Let us not waste time on frivolities. We know Bola Tinubu as president. We had known him as a senator, as a governor for decades. So, his identity is not in doubt. He successfully governed Lagos State. He was a successful senator. He was one of the arrowheads of NADECO that brought down the Abacha junta. Tinubu has political sagacity, and this has clinched him the presidency. He has built a network of friends across the country and should be allowed to govern in peace. We need a stable polity. Enough is enough, please!

    OBUKS: We do not doubt the person of Bola Tinubu. We are asking: is the Bola Tinubu we know the Bola Tinubu who graduated from CSU?

    DEMOLA: Is the Bola Tinubu who studied in CSU a man or a woman? Who is Sangodele?

    BAKO: The admission letter shows that the Bola Tinubu who studied in CSU was a man! Period.

    DELILAH: Remember though that gender switch or change is allowed in America!

    OBUKS: If I were president, I would address the nation, display my certificates, and put to rest all the allegations and innuendos that have beleaguered me. I would post photographs of my classmates from the period. I would stand on the moral high ground and assure the youths that I attended CSU and graduated and that they should not listen to interlopers and haters. I would tell the nation that I did not peddle drugs and move on.

    BISHAK: But you are not the President (Laughter). Don’t daydream! Presidents don’t rush to address the nation on every frivolous allegation against them. What time would they have to govern? Talking seriously, the matter is before the Supreme Court. We shall soon know if the struggle in the courts in America was worth the trouble.

    BAKO: Too late! Too late!! On technical grounds, the matter will be thrown out. Gender identity is not one of the issues that was raised in the tribunal.

    OBUKS: What if a case of perjury is established?

    BISHAK: Do you think there is a court in Nigeria that can remove a sitting president who has been in office since May 29th? Remember the chaos that followed the removal of Chief Ernest Shonekan?

    DEMOLA: I’m worried about the image of the country. We should be discussing policies, not academic qualification.

    BISHAK: Don’t lose sleep. Even America the powerful has its own share of certificates wahala. Donald Trump hounded Barack Obama about his birth certificate. It is now clear that the diplomas awarded by Trump University are worthless.

    BAKO: Senator, now President Tinubu is my man. Let us not join rabblerousers to distract him from the excellent job which he is doing!

    DEMOLA: Alhaji Atiku is my man. Let us support him to ensure that truth is established in the Nigerian polity.

    DELILAH: What is truth?

    BAKO: The truth is that the deposition by the Registrar of Chiago State University has laid the controversy about this unnecessary drama to rest: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, now President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, did attend Chicago State University. No forgery. No fraud.

    DEMOLA: What about the inconsistencies in schools, and date of birth?

    OBUKS: Leave that to the Supreme Court!

    (End of discussion)

  • Democracy’s broken promises – By Hope Eghagha

    Democracy’s broken promises – By Hope Eghagha

    The average Nigerian or African believes that democracy’s promises to the people have been broken. Hunger, the prevalence of official corruption, the opulent lives of government elite, and collapse of institutions testify to this belief. Participation in the process of producing elected officials is severely compromised. The institutions which ought to safeguard democracy are feeble, weak, and compromised. Justice can be bought. No one cares for the poor. There is disenchantment with the antics of the small click of powerholders across the country.

    In theory, democracy promised and promises equal access to the ballot along with the power of the ballot to change the fortunes of a country or an unpopular government. But Eric Li argues that liberal democracy is failing because so many ‘countries face severe problems: persistent inequality, political corruption, collapse of social cohesion, lack of trust in government and elite institutions, and incompetent government’. Ethnic and cultural nationalism also pose a threat to democracy as envisaged by the proponents of that doctrine. It is reasonable to argue that democracy did not reckon with the complexities of nationhood in Africa when it was shoved down our throats at independence. Events in the Congo, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin Republic, Gabon, Cameroun, Uganda, and a couple of other countries show that we must rethink democracy. Can we say that the current beneficiaries of our democratic experiment democrats? Is democracy simply concerned with the power or lack of power of the ballot box?

    It has been argued that the big arguments about the failure of liberal democracy is not applicable to African nations, and that what exists on the continent is pseudo-democracy because we do not have institutions that can carry the burdens of liberal democracy. Without an independent judiciary, and a vibrant press what hope do we have to practice democracy as envisaged by its proponents? Why has the vibrant media in Nigeria disappeared? What, I may ask is the alternative to what we currently practice in most African countries which routinely announce general elections that produce dubious results?

    If separation of powers, an independent judiciary, a system of checks and balances between the different arms of government, a multiparty system, existence of viable political parties, transition from one government to another through the ballot box are the hallmarks of democracy, no one can beat their chest in loud proclamation that the experiment has been a successful one. We have been witnesses to arm-twisting of the judiciary, corruption, acquiescence under severe threats. We have also witnessed attempts to alter the Constitution of some countries to favour tenure elongation. Add to this the use of state security and apparatuses to threaten or exterminate the opposition, and the entrenchment of an elite that is not accountable to the electorate. The so-called Fourth Estate of the Realm in most African countries have become an extension of State House because their publishers are beholden to government for survival. In Nigeria, for example, where are the West African Pilots, or original versions of most of the independent newspaper houses in Nigeria?

    Democracy also promised the creation of an egalitarian society where all rights are guaranteed. By stating that democracy is a ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people’, democracy enunciated full participation of the people in shaping the course of history by establishing a good government. In practice, the experience of African nations has been a negation of these ideals. The resurgence of military coups on the continent is a direct consequence of the failure of liberal democracy.

    It is in the abysmal failure to combat poverty and build a pro-people infrastructure that most so-called democratically elected governments in African have failed the people. Indeed, the big question is: have these governments been genuinely elected by the people? What is the level of participation by the people? Do they so-called elected officials really receive the mandate of the people? What can we say is the acceptable percentage of mass participation to guarantee acceptability and legitimacy? Why is it acceptable for the electorate to be ignored until the next election cycle? What accounts for that disconnect between the elected officials and the people. Some sixty odd years after independence?

    Ethnic and primordial loyalties are still rated higher in the scale of things than competence, skill, and the nation has suffered for it. There is a deep disregard for the ordinary people of the continent. A big will exists between office holders and the mass of people. Local governments are created for development. But they have been turned into avenues for personal development. Local office holders are not close to the people. They avoid the people. They cannot tar roads. They cannot maintain hospitals. They cannot provide potable water. They cannot run primary schools located in their domain. In times of crisis, they have little or nothing to offer because the big men in the capital city have seized all funds.

    The central and state governments decide on what the people want without consulting them. Government ought to be for the people. If the people have no confidence in the government, they should be able to dissolve the government. This is only possible through the ballot box. The ballot is the symbol of the power of the people. If the rulers subvert the will of the people by massively rigging elections, the people are not obliged to obey and respect the impostors in power.

    Democracy does not put food on the table. Democracy ought to respect the will of the people. We cannot say with any certainty that our romance with return to civil rule in 1999 has respected the will of the people. It has always been ‘them’ and ‘us! It is this big gulf that makes the rumbling in some African countries a reality. And the rest of the continent is watching. If there is no change in attitude, the ugly spirit of the 1960s will return in a more furious and debilitating manner. Of that day we must beware!

  • Moral values in a changing world – By Hope Eghagha

    Moral values in a changing world – By Hope Eghagha

    JUSTICE: This world has degenerated into abysmal filth, immoral ungodly concupiscence, infantile greed, atavistic, primitive acquisition of property, and satanic hopelessness! The judiciary, the political class, the church, our royal fathers, and most other socio-cultural institutions have fallen into the cesspit of indiscipline and lack of respect for ethics! The Labour movement that used to be in the forefront of discipline cannot be trusted anymore!

    MARIAM: Hehehehehehe! Okpoyibo! Big grammar is talking. I must invite Hon Patrick Obahiagbon to compete with you on explosive vocabulary.

    PROFESSOR: That’s an old song. Our parents said the same thing some forty odd years ago.

    UMUKORO: You are right; it is the way of the old to berate the world and say the past was better!

    JUSTICE: Kindly don’t reduce the profundity of my introspective submission to the jejune level of the banal as has been the hallmark of pseudo-intellectuals in the polity!

    MARIAM: I am going to get a new and bigger dictionary. I can’t find Michael West anymore!

    JUSTICE: If you still restrict yourself to the archaic confines of Michael West, then you are a victim of historical detention, arrested development, and exploration of the brave new world!

    MARIAM: I give up!

    UMUKORO: Who still uses a dictionary in the 21st century? Ask Google my dear, ask Google!

    JUSTICE: Your infantile and rudimentary knowledge of homonyms limits your capacity to process thoughts of the new century. Away with you, thou physically beautiful body without an intellectual soul. I take exception to people denigrating my exceptionally brilliant exegesis on the state of Homo sapiens!

    PASTOR: ‘And in the last days, iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold’, so said the Master. The time is here!

    PROFESSOR: A broken record! A broken record waxed hundreds of years ago!

    PASTOR: But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved!

    PROFESSOR: Saved from what? Another holocaust? Another atomic bomb dumped on humanity?

    PASTOR: Do you spurn sacred and biblical prophecies?

    PROFESSOR: General prophecies mean nothing to me. Look here Mr Pastor. For all the false prophecies which members of your infernal gang of profiteering pastors gave before the last general elections, you should be behind the bars of God!

    JUSTICE: It is not late, not too late at all. The hounds of heaven are waiting for all the false pastors, especially those who have commercialized the Lord’s work! A wonderful and abominable thing is happening in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the people love it so!

    PROFESSOR: One preacher I knew used to say that one false prophet was more dangerous than 100 armed robbers. Now I understand why!

    UMUKORO: Armed robbery is no longer fashionable. Pen robbery fetches millions of naira with one stroke. Just add two zeros to the figure or transfer public funds to a private account.

    PROFESSOR: I spoke metaphorically!

    PASTOR: When it is becoming fashionable for persons of the same gender to marry and be recognized by the state, then the world is coming to an end.

    UMUKORO: Sodom and Gomorrah incurred God’s wrath with that abomination!

    PROFESSOR: Really?

    MARIAM: When Supreme Court judges dispense political justice, then the end of the state as we knew it, has come.

    UMUKORO: Even in America! Democratic judges give judgment guided by the so-called liberal values of the democrats while republican judges give conservative verdicts like abolishing the right to having an abortion!

    JUSTICE: What then is justice?

    MARIAM: Self solution! Your name is justice!

    PROFESSOR: Aren’t we mixing oranges and apples in the same basket?

    PASTOR: Let the tares and the wheat grow. At the harvest the Lord shall do the separation of sheep from goats!

    JUSTICE: Eschatological metaphors can be used to rationalize and explain currents and undercurrents of contemporary events. It is very convenient to do so!

    PROFESSOR: I am disappointed that our Nobel laureate could make such a one-sided pronouncement on the 2023 general elections. Unlike him, he didn’t speak like a man who comprehends the totality of our traumatic experience in February 2023!

    MARIAM: But he spoke his mind. The Constitution guarantees freedom of expression!

    JUSTICE: He spoke with the finality of a judge. I respect him for that. But he should also like an elder have acknowledged the level of rigging and violence which marred the exercise. The general thinking is that he is silent on that aspect because a friend of his now occupies Aso Rock!

    MARIAM: That is a most uncharitable thing to say about a man of such intellectual distinction and moral probity!

    JUSTICE: Excuse me! Has he occupied any public office in the country to enable you to arrive at that conclusion? Has he been tested?

    MARIAM: His name is a shield. His name travels before him.

    JUSTICE: Why did he wait for the PEPT to make a pronouncement before proclaiming his tigritude?

    PROFESSOR: Let’s leave that old man alone jor! I’m more interested in the shuffling feet at the CBN. What exactly is going on? Was there no due diligence before Shonubi was asked to act as Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria? Didn’t they know, couldn’t they have suspected that he was part of the rot that ran that institution aground in the dying days of the former president?

    PASTOR: Alas, it has given the president the opportunity to appoint his own man as governor. The new man by all account is competent and exposed in the financial world!

    PROFESSOR: My only worry is whether he will have the gumption to say no if he receives obnoxious directives from his boss.

    JUSTICE: How many appointees in our country have the liver to say no to the indiscretion of their bosses? It is not in our DNA!

    MARIAM: In Lagos state, the Speaker of House said no to the governor on the appointment of some commissioners! The heavens did not fall.

    PROFESSOR: The heavens almost fell. But that speaker is arrogant. No big man can trust him. Or was he dancing to music being played in higher quarters to spite the governor?

    MARIAM: Who knows! It is possible. The ways of politicians are not straightforward. How could he say that he and the governor are colleagues! He has no respect for the office!

    UMUKORO: I felt sorry for the governor! This attempt to humiliate him all in the name of politics.

    JUSTICE: I hear it is all about 2024. If he is thinking of becoming governor, that statement will return to haunt him in future!

    PASTOR: Now! Now! Now! Is the Dubai visa ban still hanging over us or Mr. President got the desert kings to lift the embargo?

    JUSTICE: Is there any ‘gbajue’ going on?

    PROFESSOR: Hahahahahaha! The more you look, the less you see. Proverbs to bones and silence!

    UMUKORO: I don’t think it is ‘gbajue! It is possible that there was an agreement in principle which would require Nigeria to finetune certain details before going public. A federal government cannot tell lies about such public matters!

    PASTOR: When the saviour comes, let him that be on the rooftop not come down to be saved. You will run to the mountain and the mountain will be melting!

    MARIAM: And the sea will be boiling!

    PROFESSOR: Who will save us? Who can take the nation back to factory reset? Shall we invite Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, and Ahmadu Bello to rescue us?

    PASTOR: Perish such thoughts please! Those men have not been able to save themselves. How can they save anybody? Jesus Christ is the answer!