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A video of former President Olusegun Obasanjo's interview with News Central Television has been trending on social media platforms for the past week. In the interview, the former President, in a veiled reference to the current administration, said Nigeria has a President who came into office without a plan. Yet, the same ‘planless’ president is implementing a bold economic reform programme that Obasanjo initiated and abandoned mid-way. This intervention is essentially about a tale of two leaders and how they both handled fuel subsidy removal, a very touchy issue every president of Nigeria has avoided since 1973 because of its disruptive nature and potential to precipitate a pushback that may lead to civil unrest. This serious matter in itself can make a difference between a bold and courageous leader from one that is pretentious and hesitant. It is a fact of history that one of the things former President Obasanjo set out to do, among other reforms his administration embarked upon,

I purposely coined the above headline to reflect my earlier answer, on the social  media, to one of the reactions to my last piece, entitled " TINUBU, ATIKU AND NATION'S QUESTIONS?- THE 6 YEAR-TERM PROPOSAL!" My answers, which were in line with the issues genuinely raised by one of my followers, went thus- Just been able to read this, and thanks, immensely, for your deep, and painstaking submissions- it takes  a deep to go to the deep, indeed! Big KUDOS. Yes, you are very correct, Sir, corruption is the bane...but, including self-interest- 2006 Constitutional review recommendations could not be implemented, because of Baba Obasanjo's alleged third term agenda. While Jonathan used the CONFAB 2014 as a bait for his 2015 reelection bid, including lack of political will. On rotational presidency, as I submitted in my above article, it would be a seamless exercise in a more restructured dispensation- holistic restructuring of the country (politico-economic). As you rightly

As I was concluding this piece, my eyes caught a presidential sledgehammer which landed on the head of Conscience Nurtured by Truth – The Guardian. In a release issued by the State House yesterday, authored by erstwhile Editor-in-Chief of TheNews, Bayo Onanuga, the newspaper was accused of a crime almost similar to what General Sani Abacha accused it of in 1994 which led to its closure. The “NADECO government” of Bola Tinubu merely rehashed the allegation. I will address this presently. All over the world, the Lady Justice is sacred, representing the divine order, law, and custom. It is also an allegorical persona depicting the moral force of the judicial system. Originating from the Ancient Roman goddess called Justitia, her attributes are a blindfold, scales and a sword. When a leader is depicted to have raped this personification of justice, he has violated the deity of goodliness in society. Last week, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, narrated how he revoked t

The CEO of Jogor Event Centre and Jogor Hotel Ibadan, Engr. Femi Babalola has cleared the air on the claims that he made his mega bucks as a contractor during the regime of the late former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. Jogor, as the businessman is popularly known, made the clarifications on Sunday during an interactive session with some journalists, including Trendscopenews publisher. Recall that Babalola, alongside Akala and a former commissioner in the state, Hosea Agboola, was probed but later discharged and acquitted of an alleged N11.5 billion fraud. He, however, said that his companies executed only 3 projects of about #150 million in the whole of Akala's regime. He said, "I always laugh when people say Akala regime this, Akala regime that. The whole of Akala regime my companies did maximum of 3 projects. I can say it with all authority that all the money that came to us wasn't up to #100 million or #150 million. It was so bad that when Ajimobi wa

Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist, Femi Otedola has donated #3 billion towards the construction of phase 2 of the engineering faculty building at Augustine University, Epe, Lagos State. This came after an earlier donation of #2 billion by the debonair business magnate. The project, according to Otedola, is projected for completion within 12 months. Otedola, who is the chancellor of the Catholic-owned university, gave the assurance while speaking at 6th convocation ceremony of the university on Tuesday. The convocation was attended by prominent dignitaries, including Lagos state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, religious leaders, and university officials. In his address, Otedola honoured the academic and character development of the university’s graduating class. He thanked the university’s leadership, faculty, and staff for their role in shaping the graduates. He expressed his desire to see Augustine University emerge as a centre of excellence for engineering studies. The chancellor’

It's no longer news that the Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland Oba Adekunle Gabriel Aromolaran II has joined his ancestors. It has also become a stale gist that the 90 days traditional transitional rites for the deceased monarch has begun with the very first phase of it, the closure of markets across Ijesaland for 7 day, had already been observed between 14th and 20th September 2024. Within this period, curfew was also declared for Oro rituals for the proper spiritual cleansing of the ancient town. What has, however, remain the center of interest now is who succeeds Aromolaran who ascended the throne on February 20, 1982, and passed away on Thursday September 12, 2024, at the age of 86. Of course, it's a known traditional fact that no succession process will take place until after the final burial of the departed Kabiyesi. It's also an established fact that the ruling house to produce a successor to the throne is already known, according to the rotational

Without any political, religious, or ethnocentric indulgence, on my part, as a political realist, and not a political stargazer...their Excellencies, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, are still visibly standing, as veterans, in the nation's body politics, having traversed the Nigerian political landscape for decades with their experiences, and millions of political supporters, lovers, haters, critics, and villains in the saddle, for different reasons, across the country and in diaspora.  Hence, as the last contemporary political titans, therefore, the need to bequeath a new  viable modern day Nigerian nation, should not be far fetched, or traded away, on the pedestal of Nigerian political stock exchange market...'cos, any human emotional, ethno-religious, and political sentiment, error of judgment, abdication, or anything to the contrary, therein, may lead to the nation's future political jeopardy, tragedy, and untoward events, in the end ! Deep down...there are

On April 4, 2021, I wrote a piece with the title The President is a sick man: Buhari’s Secret Therapy Inside the ‘Oneida.’ It was a lamentation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s knee-jerk and off-the-cuff jetting out of Aso Rock Villa like a wandering evil spirit. At the drop of a hat, Buhari flew to the United Kingdom to attend to his health. But for the removal of Buhari’s name and its substitution with ‘Bola Tinubu,’ this piece is almost a complete cyclostyle of that Buhari piece. In 1849, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a French writer, pioneered a phrase which has become famous for its evergreen relevance to contemporary malaises. He had written, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” which, translated, means, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That phrase speaks volumes. It tells us that we are back to presidential night-time recourses to UK hospices and presidency’s spins to shroud the truth. In virtually all cultures, synonyms or variations to Karr’s thesis

It was a revitalizing moment on Thursday 17th October, 2024, when the South West Guild Of Online Publishers (SWEGOP) hosted a practical training session on navigating the digital transformation in the media industry for online publishers in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State. The training, organised in collaboration with the American Open University of Technology, Nigeria, ATECH, was held at the institution’s Global Campus, Bodija, Ibadan. The Campus Director, Dr David Akanbi, practically taught the online publishers how the digital transformation, driven by emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Block chain amd 5G network, are reshaping how news is produced, distributed and consumed. Dr Akanbi emphasized how online publishers can explore emerging technologies to the advantage of their businesses and society. Additionally, Mr. John Abayomi of Virals.ng delivered a presentation on leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for maximum

Aroba Groove, a group of cultural enthusiasts with a mission to preserve and promote cultural heritage, on sunday, hosted a colourful get-together for the casts that participated in Asiyanbi. Asiyanbi, produced by Akindeji Ibitayo and directed by Ropo Ewenla, Is a stage adaptation of 'Ti Oluwa Ni Ile. Ti Oluwa Ni Ile was written by veteran actor and producer, Alhaji Kareem Adepoju, aka Baba Wande, in 1987 and was produced by veteran filmmaker, Tunde Kelani in 1993. The drama featured Baba Wande, Kayode Olaiya, aka Aderupoko, Yomi Fash Lanso, Yemi Elesho, Lekan Agba Inaki, Jigan Baba Oja, Jude Chukwuka, Yaw, Dele Omo Woli, Baba Alariya, Baba Kamo, Ozain, among others. Apart from the merriment, the cast party held at Iris Gold Hotel, Anfani Ibadan was an avenue for the cast to reunite, interact and exchange ideas. Deji Ibitayo, the producer of the play,  explained that the rationale behind the party was to say thank you to the casts. He said, "We put them through very rigorous r

In Arabian folklore, the genie is a spirit depicted as being imprisoned inside a bottle or oil lamp. No matter how impregnable the walls of its captivity are, the moment it is summoned, the spirit comes out and grants the wishes of the one who invoked it. Trust them for their gift of incredible ingenuity, in the thick of their daily pain, Nigerians trip above their existential woes to summon the genius within them. Their latest invocation is a perfect-fit moniker which they affix to their president’s lapel. To them, their president’s diverse self-procured prefixes – Asiwaju, Jagaban etc – are miscasts today. “T-Pain” is his super fit. To be able to arrive at this moniker, Nigerians travelled through thorns and briers in search of existence. In the last 17 months, suffering and pain have been the first guests Nigerians see at cockcrow, sunset and at dusk. Noelia Bueno-Gómez, in his journal article, “Conceptualizing suffering and pain” published in the Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities