History ● Conjectures ● Insights
The conference was not about the most valuable concubine, MVC but it could as well have been. For my neighbour who gave me details of the conference, had made that conclusion about all ten ladies and not a particular lady from the list. At first, he spoke as someone who was smitten, one that was enraptured by the beauty of the ladies. I didn’t blame…
Many people think mostly of finance when they think of scaling an idea. But experts have suggested that other factors are as important if not more important than finance. If you are thinking of scaling an idea, I wish a Gowon metaphor will come into your space today, like the original, former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, did in 1975, when he came into…
We were talking about some of history’s strong men, institutions, systems and necessary safeguards against the tendencies for authoritarianism. We had considered Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Xerxes of Persia, Alexander the Great of Greece, the seven Caesars of Rome and others. Some of my colleagues insisted that institutions and systems were the ultimate safeguards against the overbearing tendencies of authoritarian leaders but others reminded them that…
The protest had been brewing for some time. Many vehicle owners had no idea something of that magnitude was in the making. They did not know that the notion, which states that misery loves company, had since expanded to include other categories. Vehicles that had been suffering bodily harm and injury, for years, had begun to share their tales of woes. As they moved about…
What is that thing again about the greatest being the person who serves the most? I like the extension one of my former teachers added to the idea. He said the greatest person is that person who is not ashamed of the weakest and most vulnerable, who rather than prey on them or use them as fodder for self-interests, enable them with opportunities to become…
The first is Nigeria’s word pride. A master of English language in its most exquisite form, whether spoken or written. And a Nobel Laureate to boot. The other three are successful humour merchants of the pidgin variety. And elevators of the art of self-ridicule. Prof Wole Soyinka has since moved away from making humour out of self-ridicule. Here is why: the recent widely circulated incident…
Djimon Hounsou has been on my mind in the last few days. Not because of his uniquely chiselled features. Or his usually unforgettable performances, notwithstanding that he is often cast as a villain. I have been playing back his spat with his fellow soldiers as they prepared for a mission to ward off another Scrull attack, in the early part of the Captain Marvel movie….
Chief Aina Onabolu was appointed as the first art teacher in any Nigerian school in 1922. Following his appointment, he developed the structure of art education in secondary schools and teacher training colleges in the country. Thirty-seven years later, one of Nigeria’s most famous artist and sculptor, Prof Ben Enwonwu, had completed work on the statue of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Late Prime Minister, Sir…
Step aside Agent 007, Agent 00W is the real deal. She (yes, long before Agent 007 became a lady, Agent 00W was doing her thing) got to me this morning. I had gone to the back of the house for some early morning business when I saw her; in the form of a plantain tree. I knew I had to take a photo. I could…
How many remember Rumpelstiltskin? How many remember that the story came about because a certain miner made a crazy boast about his daughter, which his king heard about, and commanded him to do the impossible? Facing compounded misery and certain death, Rumpelstiltskin came to the rescue of the daughter. But he made the lady promise to give him her child after he had helped her…