Point One

 “Yoruba ‘Ronu” (roughly translated as “Yoruba race, ponder a while”) was the title of a play and rallying call made by legendary thespian, the late Hubert Ogunde, in the thick of the Western Region crisis under the First Republic. Ogunde’s objective with his 1964 play, which became the most famous in his rich repertoire, was to get the Yoruba people onto a path of deep reflection and reality check amidst in-fighting that he perceived to severely disadvantage them in the emerging dynamics of then nascent Nigerian nationhood. That play was such a biting attack on the premier of the Western Region at the time that Ogunde’s theatre company was banned from the region, marking the first instance of literary censorship in post-independence Nigeria. The ban was in place until 1966 when it was lifted by the military government that overthrew the republic. “Otito Koro” (meaning “Truth is Bitter”) was another offering from Ogunde’s repertoire that satirized political events of 1963 in the We...

 For much of this year, the cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, has been on steroids. From a market rate shy of N3,500 for a 12.5kg cylinder at the close of last year, the essential fuel climbed first to about N4,500, then to N6,000, and presently hovers between N7,000 and N8,000 at the point of sale to consumers. And no respite is in sight, with marketers warning that the price could hit N10,000 before December if the present circumstances persist. Cooking gas became staple household fuel for many Nigerians, including the poor, when the price of kerosene, which by the way is a dirtier fuel, got deregulated and spiralled out of reach. Now that gas has also spinned beyond easy reach, many have been forced onto much dirtier alternative fuel sources like charcoal, firewood and sawdust – with all the negative implications for the environmental ecosystem. Those that could afford to revisit kerosene now are middle range consumers, who find it a lesser evil c...

Germany is on the cusp of transition as ‘Woman of Steel’ Angela Merkel winds out as Chancellor after 16 years of steady-handed leadership that saw her country emerge as Europe’s super power and most formidable economy. She held sway and is now bowing out with lavish grace. Not only is she the first female German Chancellor, she served a record four terms in power and is standing down on her own terms and entire volition, without external pressures as forced the hands of her predecessors.  Her country has been in drawn-out ovation as she leaves.  Merkel had since 2018 relinquished the reins of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which was the ruling party of Germany in coalition with the Christian Social Union (CSU), and she had long served notice she would not be seeking a fresh mandate as Chancellor in the election held on 26th September, this year. That poll threw up the candidate of opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) in a slim victory over her party’s candidate to t...

Like someone with fingers caught in the cookie jar, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has strained of late to rationalise safety tips contained in one of its handbooks advising corps members to prepare for the possibility of being kidnapped. But it hasn’t made a tidy or convincing job of that effort. The scheme, in a literature titled ‘Security Awareness and Education Handbook For Corps Members and Staff,’ advised any of its members travelling on ‘high risk’ roads to first alert relations and friends to set by some funds that could be used in paying off ransom demanded by abductors in the event that they (corps members) get kidnapped. The document further advised on sundry rules of behaviour by unlucky corps members and their family while dealing with kidnappers. On page 56, the handbook states: “When travelling on high risk roads such as Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Lokoja-Okene or Aba-Port Harcourt roads, then alert your family members, friends and colleagues, in order to have someone o...