Author: Osmond Agbo
Yet, Tinubu, having honed his political instincts on the streets of Chicago, understands human nature well—he knows when individuals are motivated by hunger rather than ideology. Both Omokri and Fani-Kayode were clearly desperate for sustenance, and now, Tinubu has promised to nourish them. Once they are adequately fed, he will ensure that their disruptive presence is relegated to foreign shores, where their nuisance value will be minimal. Never before have Nigerians found themselves in such a dire predicament, where the fate of an entire nation hinges on the whims of a single individual. One man handpicks who becomes governor or…
Any revolution, wishing to outlast its creator(s),must be basically epistemic and ontological, as to enjoy the ductility and malleability of the tides of time and history. But once it forgets bread and butter, it would either send her creators to the guillotine,or to to the Isles of irrelevance; and dump the revolution into the trashcans of history. He took me to a high mountain. He pointed towards the horizon. I saw it before he could utter a word. It was a Babel of agitations. Amadioha has a habit of leading me, to such mountains of realization. There, scales have always…
Don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm. Sometimes the most radical act of compassion is the one you extend to yourself. “I remember during my clinical rotation in the neonatal unit, there was a night that etched itself into my bones. A young mother had just delivered twins prematurely, and the room buzzed with a quiet urgency as the team worked to stabilize the fragile babies. The mother was scared, utterly overwhelmed, and as the nurse assigned to her, I felt her desperation settle on my shoulders like lead. I stayed past my shift, made phone calls to…
Oppression does not pacify, it inflames. Children who grow up amid rubble and funerals do not forget. They inherit grief, and with it, rage. What future can be built upon such soil? What peace can be negotiated with those whose humanity has been discarded? Not long ago, Nigerians awoke to the harrowing news of a brutal massacre in Uromi, Edo State, where sixteen able-bodied men, reportedly hunters of northern Nigerian origin, were violently killed. Preliminary reports suggest that their ethnic identity as Hausa-Fulani may have played a decisive role in their tragic fate. It appears the attackers, driven more by…
It is no coincidence that social media platforms employ endless scrolling and push notifications, psychological traps meticulously crafted to ensnare us. Yet, the most insidious aspect of this system is not just the distraction, it is the manipulation. By passively consuming content curated by algorithms, we surrender our capacity for critical thinking. Our worldview becomes shaped not by deliberate reflection, but by whatever content is most engaging, sensational, or emotionally charged. Over the past two months, I embarked on a mission to complete two reading tasks: first, General Babangida’s autobiography, A Journey in Service, followed by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dream…
If we truly want to empower the next generation, we must shift the focus from just giving money to building systems. Because at the end of the day, you don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. Like many other “bothers” (our corrupted version of “brother”), I receive countless requests for financial assistance daily, relatives, friends, and even total strangers. These pleas have become woven into our social fabric, something we’ve come to expect, even in times of economic stability. But in these recent years of Baba Go-Slow and T-Pain, Nigerians are…
While trying to make sense of all this, the one thing that comes to my mind is the song, “Kasongo ye ye ee, mobali na ngai!” If you’re an avid TikToker or frequently find yourself scrolling through Facebook and Instagram during downtime, chances are you’ve come across this meme. It’s often deployed in situations of confusion or dilemma, where one is trying to make sense of a perplexing scenario. “Kasongo ye ye” it turns out, is actually a song by Orchestra Super Mazembe, a renowned Kenyan soukous band with roots in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). Formed in…
In Africa, we like to revel in the notion that we are the last bastion of moral conservatism, standing firm while the West descends into moral anarchy. We view their societies as unmoored, decadent, and irreverent, while ours remain sanctuaries of divine order. This illusion is often reinforced by the sheer omnipresence of churches, which dot every street corner of our lands like monuments to our piety. Yet, beneath this façade of righteousness lurks an unsettling reality: societies riddled with corruption, overrun by kidnappers, ritualists, and criminals who render our cities uninhabitable, forcing an exodus of our best minds, some…
These examples underscore a fundamental truth: people are often more willing to spend money to satisfy emotional and social needs rather than purely practical ones. The value of an object or experience is not just in what it is but in what it represents—and ultimately, that value is determined collectively. This phenomenon extends beyond everyday consumer behavior into the world of high fashion and art. A close friend of mine recently commemorated his birthday, and as a true epicurean, he sought to mark the occasion with an unforgettable gastronomic experience. Naturally, we, his friends, took it upon ourselves to…
Thus, when someone requests that you be brutally honest with them, do not fall into the trap. The reality is that most people do not seek raw truth; rather, they crave affirmation, and those who speak with unfiltered honesty often bear the brunt of society’s disdain. Does this mean one should resort to deceit, or that I should have feigned admiration for how stunning my sister-in-law looked with that makeup? Certainly not. Flattery, on the other hand, is not merely insincere; it is manipulative and driven by self-interest, one that many can easily see through. A few years ago, I…