The World As I See It
Here we are again at another start to the month of October. For most people around the world, October is just the first day of the tenth month for each year, but in Nigeria, it is a day to mark the country’s shift from a colonial serfdom to an independent entity. Go throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria and the views of Nigerians would likely range from intense optimism to resigned dejection. On my part, herein lies my own view. Continue reading “Another Independence Day”
Let’s begin with a quote attributed to Emily Thorne: “If we choose to, we can live in a world of comforting illusions. We can allow ourselves to be deceived by false realities. Or we can use them to hide our true intentions.” For some reason, this quote reminds me of the Greek trojan horse, the famed peaceful gift that led to the downfall of a city. My mind also links the quote to a bill being considered by Nigeria’s legislative arm. Some may consider the NGO bill as well-intentioned, but what I see is disguised evil waving a white flag. Continue reading “Yet Another Trojan Horse Bill”
Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Uncle Ben’s quote may have been triggered by someone or some persons whose excuses really pissed him off. Now, I’m surely not pissed off enough to say that an expert excuse creator cannot gain expertise in any other useful areas, but I’m just sufficiently pissed to want to write a blog post about excuses. Continue reading “A Somewhat Subdued Rant”
This is the fourth part in a series tagged “A Stroll Through Israel”. If you won’t jump into the fourth episode of a Game of Thrones season, you may want to begin with the first article.
Our trip to Israel began with Tel Aviv, then Nazareth, Bethlehem, Rawabi and Ramallah. Having gone through these cities to view Israel and Palestine from a different lens, it was time to tour what is unarguably the most contested piece of hills in this galaxy. From being a space merely contested for mainly political reasons, Jerusalem morphed into the site of a religiously-charged contest, and has now retained the political dimension, making it a hotspot for flares. It is in this context that the #LetsTalkBusiness entourage went on a tour of Old Jerusalem. Continue reading “Jerusalem: Land of Uneasy Peace, Religion and Business”
This is the third part in a series tagged “A Stroll Through Israel”. If you won’t jump into the third episode of a Game of Thrones season, you may want to begin with the first article.
When you hear or read of the Israel-Palestine conflict, what comes to your mind? If all you think of is chaos, poverty, oppression and bloodshed, no one would blame you. The media have ensured negativity is groomed in people’s minds. However, there is more to Palestine than the media presents. Join me through a day spent unlearning and relearning about Palestine. Continue reading “A Day for Palestine”
Israel meets Palestine
It is commonly said that there are two sides to every story. One thing with life is that we sometimes seek to view life in terms of absolutes—right vs wrong, black vs white, good vs evil—but sometimes life isn’t something that can be linearly modelled as it covers more than fifty shades of grey. In this second part of the series, we relive a day spent partly in Israel and partly in land governed by the Palestinian Authority. Continue reading “A Stroll Through Israel [Part 2]”
The clock had just gone past 8pm local time when the EasyJet plane touched the tarmac at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. It was the end of a five-hour flight that had departed the UK earlier that day. On board were fourteen UK students, stepping into the warm Tel Aviv evening with eyes set on a trip that was months in the waiting. These students were joined by two others who had arrived on earlier flights. For me, it was the end of a four-month wait after an earlier disappointment. Continue reading “A Stroll Through Israel [Part 1]”
“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy … therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”
Jesus Christ (Luke 12:1 + Matthew 23:2)
In writing this article, I understand that some persons’ sensibilities would be offended; maybe a little more than some. Yet, I choose to write because we cannot continue to shy away from important issues that affect Nigeria’s existence. During the 2015 general elections campaign, the then General Muhammadu Buhari pledged to ban medical tourism by government officials. Today, we are celebrating 100 straight days of President Buhari’s sojourn in London, his second trip this year. Continue reading “Celebrating 100 Days of Excuses”
Let me begin with a quote by George Washington Carver. He wrote that “Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.” Since most calls for secession in Nigeria are linked to hatred of one tribe or region for the other, Carver’s theory stipulates that Nigerians are afraid of something; something so fearsome as to trigger vitriolic hatred. Continue reading “Theorising Nigerian Hatred”
In recent times, the Nigerian polity has been flooded with secession calls by Nnamdi Kanu’s organisation, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Kanu’s request has been quite clear: take a knife, carve out Nigeria’s “Biafra region” and let it become an independent nation. In the midst of debates on what areas constitute the requested Biafra, secession calls have also come from other parts of the country. Apparently, many persons are tired of Nigeria’s present composition and feel a divorce is the best way forward. Continue reading “Biafra and the Knifing Calls”
Jilomes 