Category: Reconnection

By Abdu Rafiu Columns in newspapers normally attract remarks from readers, sometimes shedding more light on a subject they have read. In certain cases, reactions come in form of questions. There are a few of them to which I have decided to respond because of the tremendous interest the piece on Whiteman, Blackman has predictably […]

By Abdu Rafiu Many countries are undoubtedly unhappy with their leaders. The situation is perplexing to political scientists, philosophers and thinkers. Predictably questions are asked about perceived shortcomings in leadership. Have these to do with character? Have they to do with education, knowledge or capacity? Has the flaw to do with vision and wisdom? Has […]

By Abdu Rafiu The gruesome death of George Floyd in the hands of the police has predictably reawakened a deep feeling of unending persecution and has served as a reminder of centuries-old atrocities the blackman has had to experience in the hands of the whiteman. First, there was a slave trade when blacks were herded […]

By Abdu Rafiu The brutal killing of George Floyd in the hands of a white policeman in Minneapolis 25 May has taken the centre stage in the last two weeks displacing the ravaging Coronavirus pandemic to the second place in the consciousness of the human race. Horrified humanity in the free world spoke in unison: Enough […]

By Abdu Rafiu Concern about the influx of Chinese into Africa, and into Nigeria, in particular, is mounting. It is getting louder by the day. The worry is shifting from the large-scale engagement in extractive industries— mining of gold in Zamfara State, and exploratory mining in Osun State, again in gold, for example—to acquisition of […]

By Abdu Rafiu As I was saying…The appointment of Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari has put paid to all manner of speculations on who becomes the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari in succession to Malam Abba Kyari snatched away by the vicious Mr. COVID-19, alias Coronavirus of no known or fixed address. Baba Gana Kingibe […]

By Abdu Rafiu Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina drinks a sample of the “Covid Organics” or CVO remedy at a launch ceremony in Antananarivo on April 20, 2020. “Covid Organics” or CVO is a remedy produced by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA) created from the Artemisia plant and is claimed to help prevent coronavirus Covid-19 […]

By Abdu Rafiu A crowded bank after the COVID-19 lockdown in Lagos There is nothing like freedom. Last Monday proved to everyone how irrepressible the longing for freedom is. The longing was breathless, the desire to walk the street was pressing—to breathe in fresh air from outside, away from the stuffy room into which you […]

By Abdu Rafiu As I was saying…Could we say that the Almighty Creator created us human beings without a purpose? Can purposelessness arise from Perfection which everyone who believes in God attributes to Him? Can we say the pursuit of material endowment and raising of families is the whole purport of our existence on earth? […]