But the most bizarre development since that ruling last Friday has been the intervention of a group called the Ndigbo Cultural Society of Nigeria. The group says Nigeria has nothing to gain by shedding Rev. King’s blood and that President Muhammadu Buhari should grant the convicted murderer state pardon because “he is still a spiritual leader to many Nigerians
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Senator Bruce, who goes by the moniker “the Commonsense Senator” even introduced a hashtag #BuyNaijaToGrowtheNaira. He hasn’t quite explained the connection, but with the exchange rate melting down and the Naira yo-yoing, everyone including our neighbourhood electrician, and his friend, the battery charger, have both become experts on the fortunes of the national currency
The GSM companies are making money selling Valentine messages. And that is the point: the frenzy over Valentine’s Day is commercial, capitalistic, and it is of course, global. In the United States, even the White House is not left out, with the First Lady composing a poem for President Barack Obama on this special occasion
Public intellectuals are at the centre of this phenomenon: they include academics who go beyond their narrow specializations and university-based scholarship to take a keen interest in public affairs and who use their expertise and exposure to shed light on a broad range of issues. They also include journalists, writers and other professionals who question society’s direction, and offer alternative ideas.
This is downplayed just as government similarly conveniently ignores the fact that January 15 is also the date of the first coup d’etat in our country. It is 50 years today since that incident. And it is most unlikely that the Federal Government will devote much attention to that particular aspect of our history
The flight from Jo’burg to Abidjan was delayed, and we missed our connecting flight to Lagos. Our first instinct was to go to the Nigerian Embassy in Abidjan, after the airline had given us hotel accommodation for the night. When Professor Tamuno and I arrived at the embassy, the Ambassador had closed for the day. We left a message
That year, the military junta led by military leader, President Ibrahim Babangida annulled a democratic election, which threw up late Bashorun MKO Abiola as the undisputed and undeclared winner
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, while reacting to the story on the social media, described it as mere “fiction”