Ahmed Dodo

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." ¯ Albert Einstein True, my dear country Nigeria is no longer a safe place, especially with the daily bombings, kidnapping and senseless killings of innocent souls across virtually everywhere in the country. To be honest, I am even scared writing this column this week, because who knows where the next deadly bomb is going to explode. Like everything Nigeria, the spate of bombings in the country has taken another dimension, with faceless living human beings among us senselessly going after innocent church worshippers and Islamic pupils. A shameless action and ungodly if you will agree with me. Is it not actually a worthless less efforts to go bomb or kill people worshipping or praising that magnificent, all knowing and all seeing God that none of us has ever seen or behold, and at the end of the day both the bombers and everyone else will definitely die and answer to all his or her good and bad dee...

“Nothing is more revolting than the majority; for it consists of few vigorous predecessors, of knaves who accommodate themselves, of weak people who assimilate themselves, and the mass that toddles after them without knowing in the least what it wants” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The oil subsidy palaver: It is currently the hottest debate and one of the most talked about issue across the country and beyond our shores.   And its few proponents are daily churning out different propagandas and ideologies on why the vast majority of us should and must support the oppressive idea of subsidy removal as being planned by the present administration under the commanding power of President Goodluck   Ebele Jonathan. I am still finding it very difficult to believe that our dear coordinating minister for Economy and Finance could disrespect her intimidating gele and almost practically weep to convince the majority of us to accept this repressive plan. And to quote her as reported by the ...

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. ” Peter Drucker Perhaps no other President has been unfortunate to be confronted by so many wahala since Nigeria independenceth than President Goddluck Ebele Jonathan. These wahala can be categorized into two:   the man-made and God made, with the latter dominating the scale.   And to be fair to the president, it has not been quite easy for him as the number one man of this great rich controversial country. The daily challenges and wahala confronting Mr. President comprise various strikes from different sectors of the Nigerian social, economic and political fronts, which are ASSU and NLC strikes amongst others. This administration has to its credit one of the most challenging and threatening internal problems since our independence. This courtesy of the deadly Boko Haram    mayhem, the Niger Delta militancy, the Jos, Bauchi, Kaduna, Yobe, Nazarawa ...

Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts - the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. ---   John Ruskin True, I have always tried to ask myself why Nigeria the most populous rich black nation on earth has still remained like this, despite our unquantifiable human and natural resources. Sometimes I ponder, wondering if all the intellectual capital and mineral resources at our disposal are real or mere imaginary assumption.   But my eyes over the decades I know have not been deceiving me with what I have been seeing, hearing and witnessing over the years since I found myself as a citizen of this great diversified country. To be honest, I sometimes feel mortified whenever I look round me and I see the wastage of both human and natural wealth littering everywhere. I am more embarrassed by the wasteful attitudes of some of past and present leaders, especially our current politicians who despite all the mother luck that has ...

Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts - the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. ---   John Ruskin True, I have always tried to ask myself why Nigeria the most populous rich black nation on earth has still remained like this, despite our unquantifiable human and natural resources. Sometimes I ponder, wondering if all the intellectual capital and mineral resources at our disposal are real or mere imaginary assumption.   But my eyes over the decades I know have not been deceiving me with what I have been seeing, hearing and witnessing over the years since I found myself as a citizen of this great diversified country. To be honest, I sometimes feel mortified whenever I look round me and I see the wastage of both human and natural wealth littering everywhere. I am more embarrassed by the wasteful attitudes of some of past and present leaders, especially our current politicians who despite all the mother luck that has ...

“Let it be said of us that we, too, did not fail. That we, too, worked together to bring America through difficult times. Let us so conduct ourselves that two centuries from now, another Congress and another President, meeting in this Chamber as we are meeting, will speak of us with pride, saying that we met the test and preserved for them in their day the sacred flame of liberty-this last, best hope of man on Earth.” ---- Ronald Reagan  the I don’t really know about you, but for me I have long decided never to leave my fate in the hands of our politicians alone. Like Chinua Achebe, I have decided not to make myself available for any national award unless the presidency and the other arms of government find an effective lasting solution to the various wahala bedeviling my dear country Nigeria. I think it is important and paramount that we all join hands together to save our one and only country from these man-made problems that are fast tearing us apart and robbing us of our shin...

Why we must not leave our fate to Jonathan alone “Let it be said of us that we, too, did not fail. That we, too, worked together to bring America through difficult times. Let us so conduct ourselves that two centuries from now, another Congress and another President, meeting in this Chamber as we are meeting, will speak of us with pride, saying that we met the test and preserved for them in their day the sacred flame of liberty-this last, best hope of man on Earth.” ---- Ronald Reagan I don’t really know about you, but for me I have long decided never to leave my fate in the hands of our politicians alone. Like Chinua Achebe, I have decided not to make myself available for any national award unless the presidency and the other arms of government find an effective lasting solution to the various wahala bedeviling my dear country Nigeria. I think it is important and paramount that we all join hands together to save our one and only country from these man-made problems that are fast tear...

“Homosexuality is a psychological and psychiatric disorder; there is no question about it. It is a purple menace that is threatening the proper design of gender distinctions in society.” ——- Dr. Charles Socarides, Former NARTH President Our selected legislators to be honest are some of the most amazing bunch of representatives in the world. They are unpredictable and sometimes very funny in their legislative duties. And over the years since the lucky break from military regime almost twelve years ago, the Nigerian citizenry have been subjected to different bills and funny law making by our lawmakers at the states and national assemblies.   One of the amazing parts of our legislators is the fact that since 1999 when the country regained its democratic freedom, the Nigerian legislators are yet to sign into law one significant bill or law that is visible and has affect the lives of the ordinary Nigerians.   Still fresh in our minds are some unimportant bills like the repatriation...

“ A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men” - Thomas Carlyle There has been various suggestions by different thoughtful minds on the need to eradicate a few living human species among us, particularly here in Nigeria where a few group of men and women among us have over the decades turned us into modern day slaves in our own country. These few segregated few among us have since and before independence forcefully inherited our collective national treasure. They are those cliques of Nigerians who are the rich minority of our large populated country. They cut across all the political zones and have been enjoying the vast rich wealth of this nation to the detriment of the majority who as rightfully described by the late Afro Beat icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti are those who are daily suffering and smiling. To be honest, it takes an animalistic feeling for one to wish his fellow human being dead or elimination, but the current situation in my dear country is quite frustr...

I remember growing up in the bustling city of Kaduna not giving a hook and eye on the tribe or religious background of my playmates, classmates and neighbours. Like many Nigerians who lived anywhere and everywhere then around the country, north, south, east and west, I never cared or was I ever apprehensive about the culture and tradition of others around me. All I was taught and grew up with was the understanding that Nigeria was one country with so many tribes and people. I remember that many of us Muslim kids in our neighbourhood partook in eating heavy pounded yam or rice in Emeka, Joseph, Esther, Bidemi, Segun and the other wonderful Christian friends around during Christmas and they also happily did the same in our houses during Sallah celebration. Our detribalized parents never discouraged us or bombarded our ears with segregated and hate induced upbringing instructions. We were a united bunch of happy and merry-go-round kids. Our parents then I could still remember were their ...

Frankly speaking one would have thought the massive enlightening and happenings going on across the globe with   regard to the new information age should have been eye opening to our security agents,especially our scandalized Nigeria Police Force (NPF). But,unfortunately, this seems to have worsened the understanding and social conscience of our men in black. It is quite baffling and sometimes embarrassing when you hear the stories of our policemen still being used as puppet by some of our selfish politicians. Just like what happened last week, when the police hierarchy threw caution into thin air and shamelessly went bullying some patriotic journalists who were just doing their job for God and country. The coming of the internet and the globalization of our today’s activities, especially our freedom of expression and freedom of opinion has not really sank properly into the minds of our police force, neither have they comprehended that no nation, no matter how much it tried, can ...

Sycophancy and governance in Nigeria “The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about a...