The Land is Green; Or Not

The Nigerian singer, TY Bello, sang a hit song asserting that “the land is green!” Interestingly, not a few Nigerians would argue otherwise because as it is commonly said, “the land appears greener on the other side”. Maybe we can say that all parties are both right and wrong, or as some cool Nigerians would say, “1:0; goalless draw!”

Uncle Wigwe and the Fickleness of Life

“For, All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall”

1 Peter 1:24 (NIV)

On 9 February 2024, news suddenly filtered through that a helicopter had crashed in the distant United States, bringing down with it a Nigerian famous enough to have people worrying and hoping he was not on board the chopper. Sadly, the news was confirmed; Herbert Wigwe, banking juggernaut, had died alongside his wife and their son. Alongside the Wigwes, Nigeria also lost another corporate juggernaut, Abimbola Ogunbanjo. For days, Wigwe was trending on social media platforms, but as certain as life is, people have moved on.

Of Life, Expectations, and Hopes for 2024

In primary school, we used to sing a marching song: “The day is bright; it’s bright and fair; oh happy day; the day of joy; … mama jollof rice!” Of course the “mama jollof rice” part was arguably not in the original rendering, but it was a testament to the joy that filled the hearts of the singers. Today, those singers are now adults, and for many, the joy has left. But with a whole year ahead of us, being joyful could be the recipe for staying sane.

Lost Decades of the Petroleum Industry

“A business ecosystem is just like the natural ecosystem; first, needs to be understood, then, needs to be well planned, and also needs to be thoughtfully renewed as well.”

Pearl Zhu

What would life on earth be like without lightning strikes, or without flying insects? Most persons are likely to see no significant use for these two, except maybe they sit in a science class and learn that lightning is an important player in the nitrogen cycle, which affects viability of plants (ignore artificial fertilisers and hydroponics), and also learn that insects are critical for pollinating plants to produce fruits (aka food). You see, life functions in many aspects like an ecosystem where different players need to be in the game, else we get stunted growth at best, or bedlam at worst.

A Struggle to Balance an Unbalanced Life

Just around two weeks ago, my birthday came around for the nth time in my short sojourn on earth. While looking forward to spending the day with my family, work had other plans as I would be on an early morning flight that day and work until late into the night. Work just said, “who birthday don epp”. While replying some birthday messages two days later, I would reflect on life and the struggle to balance different aspects of our lives with limited time.

Pressure Ti Po: When the Joneses Struggle to Keep Up

Growing up, except one was born into an unbelievably liquid family, one would have at some point or the other been advised against trying to “keep up with the Joneses”. Whereas the parochial connectivity of those days prevented many persons from knowing sufficient Joneses to benchmark against, today, social media networks have exponentially multiplied the Jonesian gene pool, such that you can be enjoying a 2G connection under hot sun in Nguru, while some random stranger suffering under a transparent lake in the Maldives would make you think your life is a joke.

P&ID Fiasco: Eleven Billion Lessons for Nigeria

It is all in the news. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is not liable to pay an obscure firm a total of ~US$11 billion arising from a bizarre contract concerning non-existent gas facilities. Considering allegations that the Central Bank of Nigeria either lied or executed “strategic miscommunication”, Nigeria surely had no way of forking out that many benjamins right now. Our closest options would have been either to give international law the middle finger (and outrightly destroy our economy) or negotiate some longer-term payment plan that would effectively turbocharge our debt burden (and further degrade our economy). Fortunately, neither option is currently required. But before we get drowned in the euphoria of a little respite for the naira, here are a few lessons to avoid the next gang of swindlers.

Eight Reasons Why Projects Cost More in Nigeria

Within the last one year, we have seen some public discussions around the cost of certain projects in Nigeria. Whether it is the Ajaokuta – Kaduna – Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, the Lagos metro line, or the recent brouhaha about a road awarded by the Abia State Government to Julius Berger, there are allegations of the contract sums being inflated. Now, we clearly have a corruption problem in both public and private sector procurement, however, here are eight simplified, non-corrupt reasons why a project may cost more than we think.

For Nigerian Lives Lost at Ologbo

How many lives is too much? One? Two? Hundred? If some random “racist White person” had ended the life of a Black Nigerian, we would likely be up in arms highlighting the low value placed on a black life. However, back home, we suffer worse from persons with the same skin colour whose words and actions demonstrate what Michael Jackson articulated as “they don’t really care about us”. This flagrant unimportance is the reason many Nigerians lost dependence on their lives while Nigeria marked its 63rd Independence Day.

A Nation’s Love for Untrue Numbers

Oh, yeah! The most populous black nation just marked 63 years of overt separation from colonial strangulation. Despite some overhanging sense of despair, independence, real or faux, is surely worth celebrating, especially considering that whereas Nigeria has failed to achieve its potentials, it has surely made significant progress standing without the Union Jack. So, we can say a hearty congratulations to Nigeria and continue to hope that our nation’s story can be rewritten for good; that we may build a nation that works for the generality of its people—a nation where peace and justice reign.