(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 13 September, 2021) President Muhammadu Buhari last week in Imo State acknowledged the resourcefulness and enterprising spirit of Igbo people. He said: “The fundamental thing about the Igbo people is that there is no town you visit in Nigeria without seeing the Igbo being in charge of either…
FIRS & Rivers State Government: Who should Now Collect VAT?
The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, has just ruled that both parties maintained the status quo in an appeal filed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS against the judgement of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, validating the Rivers State law that empowered Rivers State Government to collect VAT, as against the FIRS that…
Yesterday Was Better Than Today
(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 6 September, 2021) Somehow, we’ve all, individually, managed to get by and get better but the country gets progressively worse every new day. I thought of how much I paid to get university education – my first degree. The first year, I paid N20 caution fee; I also…
Will There Be a Crash, Nigeria?
(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 30 August, 2021) Scary! One spring night, the pilot of a small plane experienced a complete engine failure. On top of that, he lost his electrical system, and with it, the use of his radio and navigation instruments. Mist filled the sky. The moon had not yet risen.…
Why We Should Fear the Nigerian Taliban
(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 23 August, 2021) Some years ago, an editor-friend told me that he was slapped from behind by someone during his first pilgrimage to Mecca. His offence was that he pointed at ‘something’ with his shoes in his hands. The person who slapped him was not an Arab. The…
The President is back
(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 16 August, 2021) Twenty-four hours after paying an inter-infirmary visit to his co-Londoner, co-APC founder, comrade and power-sharer, President Muhammadu Buhari came back last week to meet his Nigeria as dying as he left it. Nigeria’s definition under him has remained sorrow, tears and blood. In his absence,…
Buhari: 658 Days to Go
(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 9 August, 2021) Six hundred and fifty eight days from today, Nigeria will be free from Muhammadu Buhari and his government. To count down is to wait for something to happen. You are counting down when you consciously take note of every day or moment as it passes…
Kyari and his hushpuppy
(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 2 August, 2021) The mountain top is a great place to be, but it is very slippery. History is full of cases of very promising heads lost to the sharp edges of indiscretion, of meeting or making bad friends, and of taking wrong bends. The most ‘popular’ names…
The Honest Emir of Muri By Lasisi Olagunju
(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 26 July, 2021). Deep, dark secrets are snakes; they shed old skins to torment their keepers. So it is true that some Nigerians received non-Nigerian Fulani outlaws into our forests? The Emir of Muri in Taraba State, Alhaji Abbas Tafida, spilled the beans last week. He threatened bandits…
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