In the light of PMB purported speech impairment and loss of hearing, the Acting President told his audience while commemorating fathers' day in Abuja, that corruption may continue to be with us if the church continues to offer succour and protection to members who are bleeding the country to death.

Fearing that the nation may not ressurect from timely death, pastor Osibajo has called on church leaders to ostracise and expose their members who grow rich through fraudulent means. And also to stop telling worshippers to give; adding “but we need to talk more about honesty”.

Being a former prosecutor and a senior pastor in one of the richest parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, he must have been appalled at the rate the state is losing clear cut cases against corruption in the courts. I share Osibajo’s consternation at his dismay with his two constituency-the church and court who jointly seem to have betrayed the fight against corruption. The question is that does the Acting President have a case?

Already, reactions are beginning to come from other men of God who are visibly enraged at the “former pastor” attempt at spoiling ‘business'. And some wonder why the pastor is not removing the speck in his eyes rather than taking a dig at the log in the church’s eye. Similarly, they see the Presidential pastor’s exposure of the church as casting the first stone in the midst of those who think they are without sins. Not the congregation.

With the way worshippers throng the churches during weekdays, you begin to wonder where is  our manpower that is meant to drive production and the country's economy? We now have a bunch of timid followership whose reasoning faculty is suspended in allegiance to the serving and deservingly rich pastors. I have nothing against the pastors riding the waves becuase, for you to be duped, you must possess an element of greed too. We are gullible because the modern day theology of tithing and offering is built on fear and greed, but it works!

The judiciary arm is no better; the acting President knows, and that is why he thinks judgement must starts from his house. The other  pastors whose churches are built not on the rock  however know that the only place you get judged without being prosecuted is in the Bible. And with that knowledge, they continue to exploit the masses, protect the looters and pray that the coming of the Lord tarries.

In the days to come, we may have to touch the annointed if they will not stop touching our collective inheritance in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the people say…?

June is usually a rainy month in Nigeria, roads or whatever is left of them are regularly flooded. What however is flooding the public discourse is the puported removal of Christian Religious Knowledge (known as BK during my time in school) as a subject from the school curriculum by the Federal Government.


Though, the Federal Government has issued a denial and Nigerian Educational and Research Development Council (NERDC) has corroborated through its chairman the fact that the above is just a false assumption. I hope not, because in our attempt to please all the parties that make up the contraption called Nigeria, we have often allow other consideration rather than merit to guide and inform our public policy.


Despite the government’s rebuttal, the storm generated by the controversy continues to gather like a turban. The jokers in government do not take themselves seriously, I honestly do not know why we do.


Here is the point: Israel and Saudi Arabia both remain the religious capitals of the world, irrespective of our piety. Israel is a signatory of the Convention against Discrimination in Education, and by virtue of that, operates an Arab education system for the Israeli-Arab minority, teaching Arab students, in Arabic, about their history and culture. That is how expansive their education policy is, and how broad minded these folks are.


I remember telling my kids when we just got here and  they complained of ostracism in school, that they need to introduce themselves to be known. They retorted that they already gave a bio profile of themselves in class. We obviously were not on the same page until I told them introduction is performance based in school. A term and many honour roll later, they are now the toast of the school!


Similarly, as a country, we are not going to join the league of developed and industrialized nations by converting all warehouses and industrial cottages to churches. Neither will our adept knowledge of the Bible get us either to United Nation permanent membership nor anywhere near heaven. We must as a nation elevate our discourse, up our games and commit religion to where it belongs-our heart, as we free our

brain for more cerebral issues.


Right now, we are not thinking. And it is not by who you know; it is by what you know. In all thy getting, get wisdom.

Blinded judgement

My characterization of the senate leader may be wrong in the sense that I have never met him nor heard him directly; but I consider myself a fairly good reader and listener that- has an above average objective comprehension of narratives. And from what has been streaming in terms of news from home in the last week about the embattled leader and his euphoric victory over corruption and perjury charges, I shudder at the complexion of the future of the country as a nation.


Dr. Bukola Saraki may as well arguably be the last titan of the Saraki family dynasty that has overwhelmingly held Kwara indigenes, and lately Nigerians captives for sometime now without demanding for a ransom. They did not have to. The family is famously rich. Richer than the banking institution that later went under from the burden of being tagged and managed by this family of no clear cut enterprise or endeavour.


As his name implies, ‘Bukola’ literally decided to add to the dwindling wealth of the family by dipping his hand in the cookie jar and his subsequent inability to reconcile the discrepancies arising from declared and uncleared assets despite his imported doctorate degree, landed him in the tribunal..


For two years, the nation held her breath as the good battles with the evil in the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Abuja. Credible sources from the bureau say that nothing was going to come out of the case, but I vehemently argued. The case against the senate leader appeared watertight and the stance of the President on corruption coupled with having a legal luminary Christian brother as a vice president further tightens the noose. The prosecution seemed to be on a roll as the battle was already lost for the senate leader in the court of public opinion. So I presumed.


In the end, the prosecutors could not establish a prima facie that would warrant Bukky to at least offer an explanation to us over these glaring malfeasance that the judge could not see because of the blindfold of paying overwhelming attention to technicality over substantive justice. An euphemism for “paddy paddy judgement”.


The judge therefore decided to brutally slap the defendant’s wrist by handing over a discharge and acquittal ruling. Meaning that the senate leader should not have been brought to court in the first place, not to talk of wasting taxpayers money on a case that should have been settled on the streets in the first place.


Just like Bola, I mean Tinubu, Bukola too never had his day in court. And so, the advice to the youth who want to pursue a career in organized crime is to try the public sector. As for the docile Nigerians who have decided to shrug and would rather hand the case over to God, they should read God’s ruling in the celebrated case of the “Prodigal son vs his brother” in the book of New Testament.


I rest my case!

Drive safely

The transition has not been perfect and understandably so, but it is still a lot better than Trump's first 100 days in or out of office. If there is any evidence to support that fact, it is the rate of our children's accelerated integration into an otherwise complex system. We undoubtedly did not think it was going to be easy; nothing good comes easy in life, but, we apparently were not not prepared to be shaken by everyday experiences.

In a land where there are more guns than people; and the blunt division among the people is becoming sharper by hidden deep seated animosity against them and us, settling down can be unsettling even in minute matters.

Here's my driving experience: I started driving from the womb, if you are in doubt ask my mum. She said my pregnancy drove her restless- had me late. Why? Ask my dad. But that will be rather too late now because they are both late. Anyway, prior to my relocation to the USA, I have had over two decades of sensational driving experience at home. Never hit anyone but had been hit by all manners of scraps on wheels. Nothing serious though, lost few side mirrors to okada and trafficator to marwa. If you can drive in Lagos, the maxim is that you will drive anywhere. Wrong.

Again, processes took over expediency in my first attempt at securing a valid USA driver licence. Needless, to say that comes after a painstaking procedures of ascertaining your mental condition and drug abuse compatibility. You're expected to pass a computer based driving tests by answering series of questions in a conditioned environment within a particular time. If you pass the aforementioned, you are then scheduled for a practical road test.

The road test is two way- one conducted in the safe driving course of the motor vehicle administration popularly known by it's acronym MVA. Here, you're expected to do some manoeuvring and basic driving coordination and its only after this that you will be unleashed on the public road.

My first attempt ended as abruptly as I started with the instructor terming my handling of the steering wheel as “too aggressive”. I have just failed. Racism! I complained heavily to my Nigerian host. He said the steering wheel is designed to be held with two hands and not one hand on the steering and the other hand dangling out of the window! Lesson learnt.

I read more and studied the usage of both hands for my second attempt: Again, a white instructor. I held my breath and the steering wheel. With concentration I survived the closed course driving course and moved to the road. I had a 300 horsepower, V6 engine and I felt both man and machine must be tested to be in sync with the tempting road. Good road is a luxury where I came from. I wanted to ‘enjoy’the road.

In a less than just two minutes on the road, she asked me to pull over and hand over the car keys. Haba! She said I was endangering our life and life of others with my driving “skills”. I grudgingly complied as she drove back to the MVA. Dissapointment, despair replaced our usual hearty banters as my host drove me back home.

This was becoming embarrassing- a mere driving test for somebody that came from Nigeria imbued with Lagos sense! So, the next driving test was successful as I purged myself of invectiveness, rage and home made “skills” during the test.

I mused at how perennially folks at home drive each other crazy with road rage, aggression, ignorance of road signs, road ethics and simple discipline and wonder how far this backward lifestyle will take us.