Tag: By Lasisi Olagunju

The Waist Beads Of Olajumoke, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

All music comes from Africa,” African pop singer, Angélique Kidjo, told an interviewer in 2023. Kidjo’s dad is Fon; her mum is Yoruba. In locating Africa as the source of all music, she was saying that in our music and in our songs are all things that interest, excite or worry humanity. In that same interview, Kidjo waxed lyrical. She said she came from a culture “where you spend 10 minutes saying good morning, how is your father? How is your grandmother?” In every story, every conversation, there is at…

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Britain Is Nigeria’s ‘Bad’ Teacher, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

Number 10, Downing Street has been home to Britain’s prime ministers since 1735 AD. Why would a hugely popular new prime minister move into a 289-year-old mansion without spending good pounds on it to buff it up to today’s taste? Keir Starmer, the new British prime minister, moved into that official residence soon after he was appointed last Friday. There was neither a renovation of the building nor a sanctification of the rooms by clerics and priests. Red candles, white tapers were not lit; neither was turari (incense) assigned a…

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Let Kenyans Enjoy Their Kenya, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

Hugh Gaitskell became Britain’s Minister of Fuel and Power on October 7, 1947. Soon after taking that office, because there was an energy crisis, the minister told his countrymen and women to save fuel by reducing the number of baths they took. Gaitskell said: “personally, I have never had a great many baths myself, and I can assure those who are in the habit of having a great many that it does not make a great difference to their health if they have less.” Winston Churchill, who had by then…

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KANO’S MIDNIGHT KINGDOM, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

Today, those whose ancestors snatched Kano are fighting each other over the city and their spoils. The Yoruba would look at their drama and sing for them the song of Ambrose Campbell/ Ebenezer Obey: Eni rí nkan he tó fé kú torí è/ Owó eni tó ti so nù nko? I won’t translate this! Their victims are taking sides. I shake my head for them. May I never be found on either side of siblings feuding over whose turn it is to loot me. “Emir Sanusi II should be referred…

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Tinubu, Matter Don Pass Be Careful, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

The last premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, asked his guest what the town was saying. The guest told him the town was solidly behind him. The guest backed his claim with a cassette which he said contained the adulation with which the people of Ibadan welcomed every step so far taken by Chief Akintola. The premier listened to the cassette and brightened up. He thanked the guest, Chief A.M.A. Akinloye, as he took his exit. Akintola’s young confidant and aide, Adewale Kazeem, walked in. The premier…

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Ibadan Blast, Makinde And Federalism, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

Mr Youssouf Sawane, a Malian money-maker, leads miners from Mali in Oyo State. He was asked by the Nigerian Tribune how much his group was paying into the coffers of the Oyo State government. He answered that he owed the Oyo State government nothing; his business was with the Federal Government. Displaying a remarkable knowledge of Nigeria’s centrist federalism, the Malian said “natural resources deposited in states are owned by the Federal Government…We are paying to the Federal Government.” The Malian made that statement in November, 2020 – three years,…

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Buhari In Eight Years, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

“History has no friend and no fixed address. Its judgement comes now, maybe later. Just as I write this, a BBC report popped up online. And the report’s conclusion: “The fact is that Nigerians were safer, better off and less in debt before Mr Buhari took over, and many will remember him for presiding over the toughest eight years they might ever face.”   Exactly one week from today, Muhammadu Buhari will stop being our president; his place another shall take. But what kind of leader has he been? The…

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Olúségun Obásanjó’s Pounded Yam, By Lasisi Olagunju

ADEOLA YUSUF

“So, when I saw Tinubu in the home of ‘homeless’ Obasanjo last week, I saw irony in ways my literature teacher couldn’t teach me. If the axe forgot, would the tree forget too?”   Olúségun Obásanjó’s mother told him at the very beginning that if pounded yam is not much, it must be made hard and tough (iyán tí kò pò, ó gbodò yi). Read his biographies. Ashabi Obasanjo Bankole had only him and his sister, Adunni. Her hearth had enough embers, her mortar and pestle had diligence but her…

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Bólèk’ájà Party Primaries, By Lasisi Olagunju

Lasisi Olagunju

“You heard the commanding voice of Senator Bola Tinubu last Thursday demanding the presidency of Nigeria as a matter of right. “E gbé e fún mi/Èmi ló kàn (Give it to me; it is my turn).” That scene, complete with all the finger-pointing ‘thingfication’ of a sitting governor inside his Government House, reenacted what the conductor did on lorries of the past.”   Bólèk’ájà means ‘come down and let’s fight’. If you lived in Yoruba land of 1970s with its wood-bodied passenger Bedford and Austin lorries, the slang wouldn’t be…

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Requiem for Aláàfin Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, By Lasisi Olagunju

Lasisi Olagunju

The Aláàfin that answered the call of his ancestors on Friday was a reincarnation of the best of all his forebears. If you found Olayiwola Adeyemi with a hundred wives, know that he had a father called Aláàfin Olúaṣọ (1457-1500). With wives in every room, Olúaṣọ filled the palace in Ọ̀yọ́ Ilé with 1,460 children.   Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi spent his last three months winding down in a spectacular way. He made some moves and held some meetings which, in retrospect, showed that there was some urgency in his…

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