Author: Obayomi Abiola Benjamin

A fallout of Dinogate: some ABU students and alumni have been roaming the internet with the good news of ABU’s greatness. I have often advocated that misbehaving Nigerian public officials should be dragged to the Eagle Square and flogged publicly. Anybody talking about any University in Nigeria today and the words “great”, “excellent”, and “exceptional” appear in his sentences should be taken to the Eagle Square and shot. Many Nigerians, home and abroad, are in denial about the gravity of the situation with our Universities. When I mention the 17th century, they think I am deploying hyperbole for effect. In…

Even though I had watched the two minute Youtube clip, “Silent Battles” several times on WhatsApp, what the young man was saying offered a whole new meaning last Sunday afternoon. That was after someone reposted it on a platform, following the newsbreak that a medical doctor whose name was later revealed as Allwell Orji had just jumped headlong into the lagoon off Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. My thoughts and prayers go to Mrs Chinyere Orji who, like most mothers would, was hoping against hope for the miraculous return of her beloved son until his dead body was finally recovered…

A report released by World Economics, a financial analysis organisation, yesterday says Nigeria is on its way out of recession. The reports titled: Sales Managers’ Index (SMI), released Tuesday said, “The data suggests that the Nigerian economy has started growing out of the recession which saw 10 months of consecutive contraction.” This is coming on the heels of the February inflation report released in March by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the rate slowed down in February for the first time in 15 month The data further noted that the country recorded a market growth index above 50…

I spent much of this past week in Washington, talking with friends still in government, former colleagues, high-ranking Democrats, a few Republican pundits and some members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. It was my first visit to our nation’s capital since Donald Trump became president. My verdict: Washington is more divided, angry, bewildered and fearful than I’ve ever seen it. The angry divisions aren’t just Democrats vs. Republicans. Rancor is also exploding inside the Republican Party. Republicans (and their patrons in big business) no longer believe Trump will give them cover to do what they want to…

Economic experts have said that the drop in inflation figure from 18.72 in January to 17.78 per cent in February was a signal that the country’s economy would overcome recession soon. The experts told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the 0.94 per cent inflation decline was an indication that recession could end before the end of the second quarter of 2017. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) February Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicated that inflation rate dropped to 17.78 per cent for the first time in 15 months. Mr Lawrence Ode, a development economist while reacting…

The Senate once again on Wednesday rejected the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as the substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the second time. The Department of State Services (DSS) had written another letter to the Senate insisted that Magu failed the ‘integrity test’ and therefore not qualified to lead the commission. Intervening in the process, the former Senate Majority leader, Ali Ndume in a point of order however opposed Magu’s rejection, stating that the Senate recieved two different letters from the DSS. Although Mr. Magu had answered to the satisfaction of lawmakers earlier questions he…

Your outcome in life is a function of what you see per time. It is quite an unfortunate thing that many people do not go far in life and destiny simply because they are not seeing the right things. There is so much power in vision. This is why the eye is a fundamental and necessary part of the body. A man without legs or hands but with functional eyes that is wide opened is a force that cannot be undermined. Take for instance; Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States of America. At some point…

Aliko Dangote is now a coal miner as Tanzania has offered his Dangote Cement Company in the southeastern town of Mtwara, land to mine coal for its operations. Tanzania’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals at the weekend handed a 10-square-kilometre plot of land to the $500 million cement factory set up in 2015 by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man. The factory has an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes. According to local media The Citizen, the coal concession was sanctioned by President John Magufuli to allow the company get a reliable supply of coal to fuel its activities. Tanzania has banned…

Nigeria’s GDP performance improved slightly in the 4th quarter of 2016, and showed us a route to recovery. The current recession has affected all of us. But the root causes of it are deep, and they must be addressed if we are to build a more sustainable and competitive economy. We must understand the causes of our economic malaise in order to implement solutions that are sustainable. Nigeria’s economy has been structurally weak for decades. Our oil wealth has disguised the fundamental structural weaknesses that we have, and while the cash flowed many of those weaknesses were overlooked. We were complacent.…

The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday directed the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to promptly investigate and prosecute the culprits in the recent communal clashes in Ile-Ife. He gave the order in a statement issued by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, in which he noted that many lives were reportedly lost in the crisis. Mr. Osinbajo also called on all the different groups of people in Ile-Ife to live in harmony, remain calm and keep the peace “while police investigation is in progress’’. He gave the assurance that perpetrators of the acts of violence would be identified and brought to…