SIMONKOLAWOLE! BY SIMON KOLAWOLE
I had a good laugh when I read the reply to an anti-vaccine tweet by a lady wearing medicated glasses. She had declared: “You CANNOT have FAITH in God and still take this vaccine. If you take the vaccine that means you do not have faith in the Most High. Simple.” In jest, someone replied: “You CANNOT have FAITH in God and still wear recommended eye glasses. If you wear eye glasses that means you do not have faith in the Most High simple.” I enjoyed it so much that I screenshot the conversation and used it on my WhatsApp status. The anti-vax lady must have taken BCG, polio, diphtheria, measles and HPV vaccines before – but it is only the Covid jab that shows lack of faith!
Simon kolawole! By Simon kolawole
The quit notice served on the Fulani community in Igangan, Oyo state, by a non-state actor, Chief Sunday Igboho, is a timely reminder that Nigeria is at the risk of becoming a failed state.
In my previous article, I argued that no private individual should have such powers in a modern nation-state. But with unending raping, kidnapping and killing â and with the Nigerian state unable or unwilling to bring the criminals to justice and protect its citizens â Igangan people cried out to Igboho, a âyouth leaderâ who works for politicians during elections, for help. They have more faith in Igboho than the Nigerian state. He swiftly asked the Fulani to quit. We are playing with fire.
SIMONKOLAWOLE! BY SIMON KOLAWOLE
Recent events in south-western Nigeria, as I would offer to think, are not ordinary. First, Chief Sunday Adeyemo (also called Sunday Igboho), a private citizen described as “youth leader”, stormed the Fulani community in Igangan, Oyo state, and gave them seven days to vacate the land, failing which he would expel them. The “grassroots mobiliser” confronted the Seriki Fulani, Alhaji Saliu Kadri, accusing his kinsmen of killing Yoruba people. After issuing his ultimatum, Igboho said: “It’s not like I just commanded the Fulani to leave our land or that I suddenly said something arbitrarily. For like two weeks now, these Fulani people in Ibarapa have been killing our people.”
SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE! BY SIMON KOLAWOLE
If I’m honest, there has not been much to cheer about Nigeria in recent times. As someone who always tries to keep a positive attitude towards life a disposition that makes me celebrate little successes here and there I’ve found it very hard to cope. The news is always about one abduction or another, Boko Haram attacks, banditry and whatnot. More so, the second wave of COVID-19 is hurting so badly, taking away precious medical personnel and further crushing our extremely stretched and perennially inadequate medical facilities. It has so disrupted the education system we don’t even know when our students will write exams or graduate anymore. It can be overwhelming.
SIMONKOLAWOLE! BY SIMON KOLAWOLE
If you take time to study Nigeria since 1960 when we began to govern ourselves you would notice an unrelenting constant: bloodshed. From political violence to coups, civil war, ethno-religious riots, communal clashes, military massacres, banditry, terrorism, farmers/herders clashes and kidnappings, it has been a gory story spread across 60 years. In the last three years, though, it appears all the terrible things are happening at once, like under Murphy’s Law. As we are battling communal killings in Kaduna, terrorists are beheading farmers in Borno, bandits are slaying villagers in Zamfara, and kidnappers are grabbing people all over the federation. We are in a horrible state.