History ● Conjectures ● Insights
I once knew a man who came under the weight of a name. In his case, it was double jeopardy because he had the extra challenge of trying to live up to the larger than life image of his father who had a towering name and presence. His father had emerged at an epochal moment in the history of his adopted country and provided leadership…
Can any federation, like Nigeria, excuse insensitivity to the feelings of others and not pay dearly for it? Can men and women of influence speak, as if they don’t care about the feelings of others, and there won’t be consequences? Should we not interrogate the beginning of this phenomenon and identify when the earliest seeds were sown if we have any chance to see how…
How many know the full identity and profile of one of the commonest visitors in the theatres of attrition and on the battlefields? How many have seen how it stalks like a shadow and creeps in deftly, slowly and steadily dismantling bricks of confidence and assurance, putting in their place mortars of hopelessness? How many know that feeling that hugs so tightly when rather than…
I understand a female think tank comprising some of the most distinguished women in Nigeria today had a meeting recently, to deeply interrogate this worrying matter of rape. They invited some teenagers and young adults as observers. Beyond the widespread rant and condemnation of the crime, cry for justice and healing of victims, I am told the conveners are concerned about pushing for a stronger,…
I am told promoters of National Amnesia Party of Nigeria, NAMPN are preparing to formally approach the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, for registration as a political party. They were at one of the popular cinema locations recently to watch the last instalment of Marvel’s Avenger’s series, Endgame, and widely applauded when Thanos delivered this unforgettable line: ‘… as long as there are those who remember…
Not many know that steam engines used to frequent the ports in Sapele (look at the photo above) Burutu and on to Yola carrying items used by nationals in those places and surrounding towns, and returning usually with materials for export. The trips were made during May and October each year, when the rains were heavy and the water level high enough to take the…
While championing regionalism in the 1940s, two of Nigeria’s founding fathers described Nigeria thus: Obafemi Awolowo writing in 1947 said: ‘Nigeria is not a nation. It a mere geographical expression. There are no ‘Nigerians’ in the same sense as there are ‘Englishmen’ or ‘French.’ The word ‘Nigeria’ is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria from those who…
In the late 40s, while Aminu Kano worked as a teacher in Bauchi, Sir Ahmadu Bello worked as Councillor or Works in the Sokoto Native Authority. For some inexplicable reasons, Sir Ahmadu Bello was imprisoned over some unfounded allegations. Some of his friends got together to raise money to finance his defence in court. Alhaji Adamu Jumba, who later became emir of Zaria, was one…
In 1948, a commission appointed to study and advise the government on the recruitment and training of Nigerians for senior posts in the government service of Nigeria recommended, among other things that ‘no-non Nigerian should be recruited for any government post except where no suitable and qualified Nigerian is available.’ Meanwhile, this is how the northernization recruitment policy of 1951 read, ‘If a qualified northerner…
It is the busiest and most famous expressway in Nigeria. On its sides lie various centres of religious activities, which draw millions of people from the rest of the country and abroad, on a regular basis. But it was not always like this. The photo above shows what that whole area used to look like in the early 60s. Just after Julius Berger Nigeria constructed…