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A few days ago, an alleged spokesperson of the Boko Haram terrorist sect contacted journalists and announced the willingness of the sect to dialogue. He went further to lay down their demands for downing arms, listed their preferred negotiators and even picked a location for the negotiations. Even though the Presidency has welcomed the idea of a negotiation, I find [...]
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Uche is the author of two collections of poem: Dark through the Delta, and Aridity of Feelings; a short story collection Tears in Her Eyes, and two children's fiction: Sam and the Wallet and The Runaway Hero. The Boy Who Throws Stones at Animals, a collection of Children's stories and The Outsider, a Young Adult novella, are due to be [...]
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Exasperated, we (Nigerians) are wont to describe "corrupt practices" as the only "industry" that thrives in the country. Ignored by official bean counters, anecdotal evidence of corruption abounds. An effete population's recourse? Against the huge sums of money cited as stolen by the prosecution in the James Ibori case (in the UK), the Central Bank of Nigeria's successful prosecution of [...]
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He knows the traffic light is on red but still zooms on, only to be stopped by traffic wardens who have strategically positioned themselves for that very purpose - not before the lights to deter potential offenders, but after, to arrest actual offenders. Once he stops, the officers get into the car and drive to a corner. They demand N5,000 [...]
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The Sallah holiday weekend was usual in many ways. Electricity supply was epileptic. The fuel scarcity has held out long enough for an ecosystem to evolve on its back. Long queues if you are minded to pay the recommended retail price (RRP); and often, the supply at such outlets never is enough for the queue. At the stations that succumb [...]
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"The more things change, the more they stay the same". Thus, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, commenting several years ago on the infinite capacity of our species to generate motion that leads nowhere. In the Nigerian case, as with just everything about this country, there is the very important difference that the more things change, the more they worsen. Everything about the [...]
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By Benson Eluma O Virginia, possessed Of the instinct of a plant On the riverbed, this body Knows not the symmetry Of the oar passing, but shivers With the shock all the same... Flower-dust in eyes Flower-dust in nose Body charmed in wind-waves Bred and battered In a civilization of stone Mind no naturalist like Adam Husband [...]
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There is a new game in town. It involves- no garlands for guessing- the Redeemed Christian Church of God. But I err. Actually, it's not a new game. What is going on is a rejuvenation of a scam that began ten years ago, and its chief perpetrator is no other than Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the General Overseer of the [...]
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It has been only a few weeks since the prolific and renowned author, Professor Chinua Achebe's personal account of the 1967 Nigerian Civil War, "There Was a Country" was published, yet the firestorm it has generated in the Nigerian public sphere still rages on. Admittedly, many, including yours truly haven't read the book, but the little we have gleaned of [...]
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It was about 10.00am Wednesday last week that a friend reminded me that Mr. President was before a joint session of the National Assembly outlining his administration's tax and spending provisions for next year. My initial response was censorious. How could I have missed that. Time was when the budget speech, the New Year and Independence Day addresses were anticipated [...]
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