History ● Conjectures ● Insights
Decapitating the hawk for fighting an eagle was not the only strange of such things King Henry VII did. Earlier on, he had ordered the hanging of some mastiffs, those fierce dogs, for fighting a lion. I always wondered why he ordered such actions. Perhaps, my strong belief and faith in the underdog is responsible for my initial feeling of shock. Should those who already…
Trust my neighbour, though he admits that the similarity is not significant, he insists there is a similarity between the recent xenophobia crisis and that piercing line from biblical history, “… There arose a Pharaoh that knew not Joseph.” I told him I was listening. Those who are carrying out the xenophobic attacks do not know of the relationship between Mbazulike Amaechi (nicknamed The Boy…
My neighbour says when matters become complicated, overlapping various layers, that is when you need a man with a strong side. A man whose heart is at his right hand, not on the left. He says that when solutions many consider obvious have not brought the much sought after relief, those men with a strong side should step forward. I told him to cut out…
My neighbour invited me over to his place over the weekend. He wanted to tell me his two favourite stories about land. Was I interested? Of course I was. What Nigerian today is not interested in land matters. The chief protagonists in my neighbour’s stories passed away a long time ago, yet the land to which he drew my attention, remain. It was considered a…
The national football team, the Super Eagles of Nigeria were once called Green Eagles of Nigeria! They would have been called the Super Cranes of Nigeria after previously bearing the tag of Green Cranes of Nigeria, if the crane had won the battle of who would occupy that position on our national crest, in various competitions organised to select the words and music for our…
Nigeria’s first female professor of philosophy, Prof Sophie Oluwole once told me an interesting story of her first encounter with former First Lady, Mrs Maryam Babangida, with whom she later forged a close working relationship. Both ladies have since passed on leaving their families, close relations and those they impacted positively with fond memories to continually cherish. Mrs Babangida had started The Better Life for Rural…
President Barack Obama had his mouth, brain and emotions in the right alignment during most of the speeches he gave after his success as a senator at the elections had made him glimpse what was possible. Grandpa Aminu Dantata was in a similar place in terms of being armed and ready all the time while Jay Jay Okocha, who had travelled to Germany on holidays,…
Alhaji Mohammed Ribadu, fondly called Baba Ribadu by many of his admirers, was Nigeria’s first minister of defence. He played very important roles in the development of Nigeria’s armed forces. In the specific case of the Nigeria Airforce, he initiated the process for the establishment of the service following an official visit to Ethiopia, and being impressed by the Airforce of the East African country….
Obviously, my neighbour had not fully regarded the advice about taking heed what one heard because no sooner had I asked the question than he started giving his answer. He had gone off, on a tangent, like they say. Hear him, “Don’t mind her. Even though I liked her performance in John Wick, chapter three, I don’t agree with her. Of course, she is an…
That is how my neighbour began the dream he said he had a couple of days ago. He had on his chest his favourite collection of Aesop tales when he fell asleep. How he knew it was Aesop he saw I could not tell but I did not want to distract him from finishing the tale he sounded so excited about. He told the famous…