Tag Archives: Democracy

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Nigeria, and the gulf that drowns our voices

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Once, more than a decade ago, I wrote about the tale of two nations that was Nigeria. 

Suffice it to say one nation belongs to those who have eaten the national cake so much that their big bellies protrude into other people’s territories. This is not so much  parable as indeed, their potbellies cause untold hardship to the underprivileged contemporaries. 

The other nation belongs to those who suffer, victims who must shift in order to create space for the potbellies of those who eat big our national treasures. In-between the nations is a gulf that drowns the people’s voices, one group unable to hear what the others are saying. Yet , we believe we practise a democracy where our voices count and where the people, being true subjects of governance, decide their fate.  

Continue reading Nigeria, and the gulf that drowns our voices →
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LETTER FROM THE SON OF MAN vol. 6 by ‘Lakunle Jaiyesimi

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Dear Hannibal,

It is sad that you should be exposed to ludicrous acts and outbursts of people, who having forgotten that “nemo dat quod non habet” (no one gives what he doesn’t have), launch their assaults upon unsuspecting citizens, themselves ignorant of the havoc they wreak on their constituencies and the nation by implementing, as leaders, policies and intervening, at times of usually unexpected crises, out of an overwhelming ignorance that they have gotten used to wearing like a crown. Meningitis and God? That is more reasonable than when leaders elected to pragmatically solve national problems turn around to tell their electorates that recession is the wages of sin. Or, wait for it, that the lack of funds in government coffers is an experience of God’s wrath on the people. One thing is certain and that is they have not forgotten that the disappeared funds are in their personal possession. But at least, they have succeeded in creating a god of their chosen or convenient acts for their god that they believe will serve as sellable excuse for perpetuating their atrocities. Can one still say, “God is watching?” Continue reading LETTER FROM THE SON OF MAN vol. 6 by ‘Lakunle Jaiyesimi →

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JUNE 12 by Gloria Agboola

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June 12 This day, indeed, appears calm but alas!, appearances deceive. 276 months after Democracy was grossly undermined by those familiar forces who are yet to reasonably justify the actions that forever mar this day, for good and bad, and perhaps never would, we are where we are.

As at now, our Nation keeps plunging into Economic sorrows, the depth of which cannot be correctly gauged until we are at the very bottom, yet, there is much beauty to be seen. We did it.

We finally have a firm grasp of a reality that evolved many centuries ago…Democracy “by the People, of the People and for the People”. Continue reading JUNE 12 by Gloria Agboola →

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Happy Birthday! When exactly is that? by ‘Lakunle Jaiyesimi

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TimeeI really have never celebrated my birth date anniversary and I do not think I will start that ritual in contemporary terms. The reason, obviously (may be to me and a few others), is the ‘insignificance’ attached to such dates. What makes it more special than the other waking days? However, before I step on toes, let me appreciate everyone who has shown, and who will show, some great, heart-touching gestures towards me on this occasion that falls incidentally on the 24th of May, every year.

My wife quipped, “When do you actually make the turn of another year; Nigerian time or Continue reading Happy Birthday! When exactly is that? by ‘Lakunle Jaiyesimi →

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DEAR NIGERIANS, IT IS TIME TO ACT by Yemi Czar

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Nigeria-RevolutionIt is with much sadness, I believe, that we have, together, watched our country inexorably degenerate into a total fiasco in the over 60 years of its independence. What is more painful and disheartening is the fact that our crops of politicians are those who have not learnt any notable lessons from the country’s past or the current events around the world nor get moved by the tears and agonies of the oppressed Nigerian souls who constitute the majority of the entire Nigerian population. Perhaps, they either don’t read what the papers and social media reveal each day about their misconducts (I want to believe) or they read them aloof while we read a posteriori, or they are just too busy looting every aspect of our economy with the very worst form of predilection for pilfering that they’ve become so deaf to and unmoved by the cries of the oppressed, and thus fail to call to mind the realities of history and current times. Continue reading DEAR NIGERIANS, IT IS TIME TO ACT by Yemi Czar →

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Re: FFK, the prostitution of a statesman, by Seni Akinrinade

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ffk

It was with mixed feelings that I received the news that Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, FFK may have decamped from the main opposition All Progressives Congress APC to the ruling People’s Democratic Party PDP. As in, JUST LIKE THAT!!!!!!!

Well I described my initial reaction as “mixed” because even though FFK has recently gained a huge followership (or readership, if you mind) on social media due to his open criticisms of the anti-people policies of the current GEJ-led federal government, his antecedents as the mouthpiece (attack dog) of the not-so-popular Obasanjo-led FG remain fresh in my memory. It got so bad that the then presidential spokesman would spit fire plus venom on anybody (I mean anybody) who dared to disagree with the president on any matter then. OBJ just could not go wrong in FFK’s diary then, the same way GEJ cannot be wrong in Dr Reuben Abati’s opinion nowadays.

 

Well, FFK was later rewarded with ministerial positions but that pathway would not form part of this article. I think this short introduction was necessary just to remind us that FFK has always had the tendency to “defend” his source of livelihood and it Continue reading Re: FFK, the prostitution of a statesman, by Seni Akinrinade →