History ● Conjectures ● Insights
When it was time for his vacation, late Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa did not go to Beirut, London, New York or Paris. He went to his village, Tafawa in the former Northeastern State (now Bauchi State). It was reported that one day a BBC reporter was looking for him and was told he had gone to Bauchi for his annual vacation. When he got…
Prof Chinua Achebe wrote the seminal work Things Fall Apart in 1958. In the Nigeria that existed before the literal classic was penned, a Fulani man from Sokoto, Umaru Altine, served as Mayor of Enugu over two terms between 1952 – 1958.
Jesus was teaching the crowd on a certain occasion. Suddenly, someone who must have been particularly moved by something he said remarked, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you.” It was an interruption, which Jesus did not let pass. He told the person paying the compliment what he thought of the compliment and more. Last Sunday, while preaching at the…
Once upon a time, a certain tomato seed decided to grow in an interesting place. It was a strong, hard and concrete-laden place where there was barely any kind of soil. Not only was the place extreme and resistant, the tomato seed chose the dry season to grow. What a plant! To make matters worse for the tomato plant, my neighbour went to the market…
Mei was back at the 43:00-minute mark to drop another vital key for keeping it together when things are Turning Red: “All right, troops, listen up” she said. Listening is such an important skill Nigerian youths must generally cultivate at this time. It is one of those life-skills that can make the difference between life and death. Facts could easily die in a multitude of…
The object of desire. Or crystallize the goal! And crystallize the thrill. In this case the goal is to identify compassionate and competent Nigerian youths that can make a real splash in Nigeria’s proverbial pool! The besties were unanimous in their thrill that “The boys are coming to the SkyDome on May 18th” Clearly, many more Nigerian youths will come alive with interest after the object…
Having seen the need to work together and agreed to do so, the next strategic challenge for the partners was to think. Here is how Mei threw the challenge to her besties, “Come on, girls, we have to think.” Thinking is serious business. Thinking is serious work. Think of the people, think of the problems; think of the positions; think of the possibilities and think of the…
Just before the 41:00-minute mark in the movie, an incident happened and Mei turned red! But one of her besties, Priya told her, “Dude, keep it together.” In the discussion that followed, they agreed they needed to ‘do it together’ or work together to achieve their goals. Put simply, Nigerian youths must intentionally cooperate among themselves for the task at hand. To cooperate means to…
The producers behind the movie Turning Red at Disney and Pixar Studios might have a different thing they wished to emphasize in the colourful movie, while showing us different instances when people ‘turned red,’ but some of those moments in which people ‘turned red,’ easily align with the general interpretation given to the slang “Eye don dey red’ in Nigeria. In Nigeria, when people say ‘Eye don…
Who’s feeling anything for these three combatants currently engaged in war? Who can convince them to back off from fighting and engage in peaceful dialogue? How much fight is left in the three men after weeks of fierce and deadly fighting? Who can determine how much fight is left in all of them since they stepped forward and have seen firsthand some of the outcomes…