Browsing: Column

The narrativization in most public domains is that it is a monstrous sin to violently invade a person’s most sacrosanct cavity for demonic, sexual gratification. We have seen black-shirted anti-rapist’s militant women with placards as they lay siege after siege at the seat of power calling out time against sexual monsters in our society.

By their fruits we shall surely know them. For instance, the word Guru is an India word for Hindus Leading Light or Spiritual Teacher. Mahatma is used for a Sage, such as Mahatma Gandhi. Maharaji is a Sanskrit word, which denotes a great King. It goes without saying that any non Indian, particularly a Nigerian, laying claim to any of these names must have something up his sleeve

The announcement was greeted by vitriol and anger on and off social media by the youthful, extremely vocal and so, not surprisingly, social media savvy beneficiaries who did not wish to exit the programme even though Batch A beneficiaries had, somehow, managed to stay for over 40 months, 16 months longer than the programmes advertised for 24 months.

But those who thought otherwise had strong arguments, too. The turmoil in the South South following the Ogoni crisis and the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa by the government of General Sani Abacha, had heightened demands for “resource control” in the region. The crisis needed more than the appeasement offered under the existing fiscal structure.

Furthermore, the book “highlights the pathway to success, through the experiences of some accomplished Nigerians, who operate in different spheres of our society”. Besides, the book takes a look at a wide spectrum of achievers; from businessmen and women, lawyers, human rights activists through entertainers to top journalists, sportsmen, preachers, to the big players in the nation’s hospitality industry.

Communication has been perhaps the most important aspect of human and social existence even during the primitive age. Therefore, care must be taken to preserve its sanctity and values and that demands that the content being pushed out is not distorted or cooked, espousing the public good and sometimes truthfully exposing wrongdoings in the society.

“A 21st Century woman is a privilege and special blessing to a family and society and anointed to lead corporates and countries from the second quarter of this century. Leadership shall demand global knowledge, style, absolute trust, creative energy and faith in God and all these are domiciled as a right in today’s civilized woman.” – LeoStan (2019).

Along with our search for money, we project our own sordid fantasies into what money could bring: big mansions, prestigious cars, fine clothes, first class air travel, houses abroad, gold, silver, carnal assignations with voluptuous figure 8 women, fine wines, snobbery and that instinct to insult and oppress the poor and helpless.

For me, WS is not the unfathomable mystery that many perceive from a distance and he is not the mythological pantheon that exists in the realm of the gods in the imagination of many. He is a mentor, a role model and a thought-leader with whom I have had the rare privilege of sharing a great moment of significant historic importance in my life.

However, the state to watch out for in the league of transitional governments is Delta State. The state where one man, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, is currently holding sway as the next man to mount the saddle of leadership in the State Government House, having paid his dues in politics over the years; virtually in all ramifications.

It was yet another shocking revelation at the Senate hearing at the National Assembly on the troubled Niger Delta Development Commission. That the Interim Management Committee, led by Prof. Pondei Kemebradikumo, allocated about N1.3 billion to themselves as palliatives since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

In the following paragraphs I summarise my contribution and recommendations in the hope that this will stimulate further discussions among diverse audiences, including civil society groups, government policy makers and academicians in “conflict studies” leading to focused action to prevent mass atrocities.

Political carpetbaggers and their hired mercenaries have strained and tugged so hard to paint recent developments within the All Progressives Congress to be what they are not. With the legal disputes regarding the national chairmanship, the party was certainly going through a rough patch.

Sure, this is the most depraving thing I have ever heard – adults sedating babies, children to rape them? Their victims include three-month-old babies. My God! It is bad enough to rape, worse to have sex with children and then the highest form of wickedness to drug, rape and film them.