By Tunde Odesola Nature was enveloped in darkness as dawn quickened in the womb of time, pushing towards the birth canal, carrying on its head daylight. The cock, being nature’s timekeeper, knew the water was about to break. So, it sounded the flute in its throat, cookooorooocooo! And nature stirred awake. Upon hearing the cock crow at the crack of
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By Tunde Odesola From football to jollof rice, and other sundry striving like music and acting, I love the healthy rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana. But truly, Ghanaians know which is the giant of the two countries just as Nigerians know that the tattered singlet of Musa at the gate is worthier that the starched khaki of the brain-lazy,
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By Tunde Odesola May we consider these two sentences: ‘You are stupid’ and ‘I am stupid’? While ‘You are stupid’ may be a wrong prognosis of another individual’s personality, ‘I am stupid’ is a dispassionate diagnosis of self. The former may draw arrows from the quill, the latter may draw pity or derision from the heart. I’ll tell you what
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By Tunde Odesola The stunned policeman, whose left cheek Seun Anikulapo-Kuti sandpapered on the lagoon last Saturday, didn’t turn the right cheek. I know why. He feared losing his eardrum and, or a couple of teeth. Seun doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ and His temptation story. He doesn’t believe in Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), either. Does he believe in Satan? I
Read moreBy Tunde Odesola I possess neither the intellect of Albert Einstein nor the anointing of Apostle Matthew, the tax collector and Jesus’ disciple. I’m only a Lagos-born hunter from Igbajo, the Citadel of the Brave — an inheritance of Osun State. Unlike Einstein and Matthew, I’m no Jew, no scholar, no philosopher. Never can I hold a candle to Einstein’s
Read moreBy Tunde Odesola Unlike charity, hypocrisy is homeless. Since the Soyinka-Datti fascism brouhaha broke out, Mr Obi, you’ve not made a categorical statement in condemnation or commendation of either Soyinka or Datti. But your supporters, Obidients, have been painting the internet sick in riotous colours, denigrating the impeccable integrity of the greatest literary enigma ever to come out of Africa.
Read moreBy Tunde Odesola, Dear Mr Obi, Today being Friday, I should’ve wished you Barka Jumat if you were a Muslim, but being a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic, who cringingly curried Christian favour in the just-concluded presidential election, I think it’s better to wish that the power of Christ’s resurrection heals your frailties – be they moral or political – this Easter season.
Read moreBy Tunde Odesola At the Admin Block, where I had to pay some fees and do some paperwork, something instructive happened. I came before a registration officer, who was in high spirits. He greeted me in Igbo but I answered in English. He looked at me from head to toe, and asked in Igbo what my name was. “I don’t
Read moreBy Tunde Odesola Was. Is. Will. The spellbinding sight of the throne would blush King Solomon green with envy. With a grin, the elephant walked majestically towards the throne, swishing his tail as its tree-trunk legs embossed map-like footprints in the brown earth. He clambered up to the throne, turned around, made a throaty sound of satisfaction with his skyward
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By Tunde Odesola I don’t understand this madness about ‘Yoruba rascals’. Are there really no rascals in Yoruba land just as there are among the Igbo and the Hausa? In his speech in Anambra during Prof Chukwuma Soludo’s first anniversary in office, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu was talking about the violence that trailed the Lagos governorship election, and everyone who has
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