Obiora Udechukwu: Honouring Genius, Moral Integrity
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View ArticleThe Wonder Known As Wole Soyinka, By Okey Ndibe
Wole Soyinka turned 80 at the very beginning of this week. For many, that milestone must seem incredible.
View ArticleSomething Really, Really Dangerous, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe Something really, really dangerous has happened in Nigeria. It is the reduction of human life to the scale of an ant. It is not about to happen; it has happened already. Forget all the...
View ArticleTowards an Ethnicity of Values, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe For me, one of the most disconcerting facts about public discourse in Nigeria—including intellectual exchanges—is the rampant, if not default, deployment of ethnic or religious sentiments....
View ArticleNigeria and Biafra’s Wasted Memory, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe Much is often made of the hundreds of billions of dollars that Nigeria has frittered away since huge deposits of crude oil were discovered within its boundaries. A contemptible, uncreative...
View ArticleBiafra, the Ostrich Mentality and Nigeria’s Tragedy, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe There is a sense in which the name of the malaise afflicting Nigeria is Biafra. I have argued before—and I must do so again—that Nigeria’s refusal to confront and address the sore of the...
View ArticleUncle Sam Is In, But Let’s Not Pack It In, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe Now that the United States, Britain, and some European countries may be stepping in to help rescue the Chibok girls, I hope that Nigerians won’t fold up, reach for their beers and pepper...
View ArticleWhat Do APC, Nigerian Leaders Stand For? By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe The All Progressives Congress (APC) is now frequently called Nigeria’s main opposition party or group. Which designation raises the question: what exactly does the APC stand for? Or—a...
View ArticleJonathan doesn’t know poor nigerians, by Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe If anybody wanted proof that Nigerian “leaders” do not occupy the same space and time as most of their country folk, President Goodluck Jonathan amply provided it in an astonishing speech...
View ArticleThe Time Of The Gross Domestic Producers, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe That Nigeria has passed South Africa as Africa’s largest economy—when calculated by Gross Domestic Product—is almost old news. The coverage of that feat afforded Nigeria’s image a rare...
View ArticleA Letter To President Jonathan From The Grave, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe Dear President Jonathan: We, the more than 200 victims of Boko Haram’s latest savage bomb attacks, feel we must write to you from beyond the grave. Our simple message is summed up in the...
View ArticlePower, Uninterrupted, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe No, I didn’t mean to tease you, dear reader. I didn’t want to leave the impression that Nigeria has magically realized its dream for regular, uninterrupted (electric) power. That aspiration...
View ArticleAbba Moro and the War on the Poor, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe I was going to title this piece, “Why is Abba Moro Still a Minister?” but changed my mind. In the context of Nigeria, the answer to the question seemed rather obvious. Nigeria is ravaged by...
View ArticleThe Example of Lateef Jakande, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe One of my most revered friends rang me a few days ago after reading last week’s column. He wanted, first, to echo my criticism of Nigeria’s public officials who, despite loud claims to...
View ArticleOkay, Here Are Some Answers, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe I’m often taken aback when some of my Nigerian readers respond to my column by noting a failure to offer solutions. These fairly frequent responses are stated as complaints. It’s as if...
View ArticleA National Insult Rejected, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe For those unaware of its source, I might as well state from the outset that the title of this column is not original. It’s adapted from a statement released last week by Wole Soyinka. The...
View ArticleBesieged by the Police By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe President Goodluck Jonathan is notorious for moving at slower than the speed of a snail when called upon to address issues that rather demand alacrity. Yet, Nigerians are besieged by a...
View ArticleThe Shape of Things To Come? By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe I have had several sad conversations in the past two weeks with friends who, like me, are from Anambra State. The conversations have focused on the local government election held in the...
View ArticleBillionaire House Helps, By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe Nigeria’s (misnamed) Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the schedule for the 2015 set of general “elections.” The presidential and National Assembly “elections”...
View ArticleNigerians Yawn Over Missing Billions By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe On December 9 and 10, several websites and newspapers published a startling letter that Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had written to President Goodluck...
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