By Taire Okudolo Unarguably, poor parenting contributes in no small way to formation of behaviours among the youth which they will exhibit later in life. Bad attitudes among the youth have, in several occasions, resulted in their eagerness to participate in cultist activities, militancy and ritual killings, among other vices. Ranging from soliciting good grade among students, indecent dressing, cultism, rape, examination malpractice, teenage pregnancy, prostitution and sexual harassment to drug abuse, observers note that poor parenting has a lot to do in checking the youth on these behaviours. Similarly, sociologists note that Nigerian parents are failing in their duties…
Author: Editor
One inked fingernail and old burn scars: the story of Kenya’s past election traumas and current hopes is written on the skin of Philip Wangoi’s hands. At 16, he was badly burned in a church set aflame during the post-election violence that rocked Kenya after the disputed 2007 elections. More than 1,200 people were killed. Today, he cast his ballot peacefully in a poll still haunted by the ghosts of previous elections. Like millions of citizens, he prays politicians take disputes to the Supreme Court, instead of the streets. “I’m scared. Whenever it nears the election period, I get scared,” said Wangoi, clasping his scarred…
By Ruth Oketunde The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) views Gender-based violence as one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world. Following this, observers have noted that low conviction rate and the culture of silence had contributed to emboldening perpetrators to continue to perpetuate the heinous crimes. They also note that survivors of gender-based violence suffer devastating short and long-term consequences to their physical and mental health. Concerned citizens even believe that the high rate of cases might be as a result of inability of the victims to access aid, get justice or contact with appropriate authorities.…
My esteemed readers, I crave your indulgence to recall my first sentence on the above topic last week, I wrote “Except for insecurity, the ASUU strike is the most burning issue of the moment”. The strike is still ongoing, and there seems no hope in sight as Minister for State, Labour, and Employment, Festus Keyamo, perhaps woke up from slumber and joined Dr. Ngige to further scuttle efforts in resolving the ASUU-FGN imbroglio. As of this time, five months into the strike, the government has made the offer to ASUU for consideration except requesting parents to “beg” ASUU to call…
By Ifetayo Adeniyi and Patrick Ochoga It was former South Africa President, late Nelson Mandela that wrote, “Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and country, he can rest in peace”. While one of the greatest and famous Scientist that lived, Albert Einstein wrote about death, “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us; our bodies are only wilted on the tree of life”. A sad fact is that with life comes death. It…
By Ibe Pascal Arogorn “They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time” – Banksy “Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out” – Mitch Albom Africans, especially Nigerians have taken it as tradition to eulogize people who pass away even the ones with woeful characters when alive. My obituary story, yesterday, on the demise of Tafa Balogun, the former Inspector-General of Police…
“The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonourably, foolishly, viciously.” ― Julian Barnes, Flaubert’s Parrot Till the rivers run dry and the world ceases to exist, problems shall never end. Problems became part of man the moment he took a bite of that apple and was banished to earth to come and find the solution that would take him back. And so, seeking solutions to problems must be our eternal habit. However, just as Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when…
The digital transformation of customs and borders in Africa could improve efficiencies in processes and yield trade gains on the continent of $20 billion a year Digitalization brings new opportunities in trade and creates the potential to underpin resilience in times of crisis. The digital transformation of customs and borders in Africa could improve efficiencies in processes and yield trade gains on the continent of $20 billion a year (https://bit.ly/3cXzIgY). With digital trade in place, pre-existing bottlenecks in infrastructure can be tackled, efficiencies can be leveraged, and Innovative solutions can be harnessed. However, countries in Africa vary greatly in their readiness…
About five months ago, Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA), an authority under the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, published a notice inviting public comments on whether it should approve the country’s first genetically modified crop, the Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea or beans. The gazette notification dated 18th February 2022 said the authority had received an application from some Ghana government scientists to allow for the “environmental release” of the GM cowpea. The request was from scientists working with the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The approval will eventually…
Sometimes, one is forced to repeat himself over and over again simply because that is what the facts dictate. I cannot remember how many times I have prefaced my articles with the phrase that Nigeria has never had it so bad. For the umpteenth time therefore, I have never seen Nigeria in such dire straits. Terrorists have surrounded our capital city Abuja, they are attacking the elite Brigade of Guards soldiers established to protect the Nation’s leaders and its inhabitants. They have freed their colleagues jailed in the Kuje Correctional Centre and they are now threatening to capture the President…