Category: The Ram

By Abdu Rafiu There is a bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that is called Long Bridge. It has rudely burst into the consciousness of commuters plying the expressway and the residents of the area. Commuters and once-in-a-while users of the expressway ask themselves how far they still are from the Long Bridge. Passengers in commercial […]

By Abdu Rafiu She was a Queen like no other. Several world leaders were wont to gather at her feet to learn wisdom. Dignitaries sought, protocols permitting, to catch her attention. Hundreds of thousands lined her route, with shining eyes and filled with warmth, waving enthusiastically and breathlessly. Famous footballer David Beckham said he joined […]

By Abdu Rafiu Everything was in the superlative. Joe Biden said of her: “A stately woman of unmatched dignity.” The outpouring of affection wrapped in grief. In genuine grief. To a clergyman: “She represented the finest of our generations.” That was his summation of the quality of the being of the Queen. There was repeated […]

By Abdu Rafiu When I learnt of the passing away of the Queen my professional instincts were re-awakened instantaneously and I breathlessly awaited how major newspapers around the world would treat the report the following morning of Friday. It is the kind of occurrence you don’t have too often. William Shakespeare said a long time […]

By Abdu Rafiu So, the curtain is drawn on the life and times of Mikhail Gorbachev, the colossus who tore off the masks from faces of a great many fellow human beings across the globe and brought down the proverbial iron curtain that separated the Eastern Europe from Western Europe. I am referring to the […]

By Abdu Rafiu The strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities has gone on for six solid months. It began on 14 February, this year, and it does not appear there is light flickering at the end of a long dark tunnel. From the decision of the lecturers announced on Monday, it is thenceforth […]

By Abdu Rafiu Predictably, as the dust of political contestation is gradually being kicked up, strange things start to occur. This is even when the gladiators are warming up and rehearsing. As of now, consultations are going on. So are negotiations. The real battle is around the corner. The hustings will start in the next […]

By Abdu Rafiu It would appear some of our fellow men are sensing certain developments from occurrences around us and in the world in general. Such sensing often leads to reflection. Both sensing and reflection can only make for gratifying progress in the end. This is after we have come to the recognition that the […]

By Abdu Rafiu The dream of most young men or most victims of wars and violence, indeed, intractable social unrest, is to flee to the United States of America, generally acknowledged as the land of freedom and opportunities. Five countries have developed the irresistible attraction and the pulling power. Search engine, citizenpath lists them as […]

By Abdu Rafiu In no time we will enter September. It is a special month. From the point of view of numerologists, nine signifies completion. Figure 10 takes us back to one as one plus zero is one. Eleven comes back to figure two. One is the figure of the Almighty. Five is the Lord […]