Tayo's Files

M.K.O. Abiola Ibrahim Babangida Olusegun Obasanjo Umar Yar'Adua Chronicles of Nigeria's Leadership Decay (Part.2) Just like Mac Arthur Douglas [the American general] argued in his memoirs that judgment was a crucial determinant of successful leadership. An officer with poor judgment ought to be made to face court martial, he concluded. Obasanjo, not only made the wrong judgments in a preponderant number of his policies and decisions, even in his personal, turbulent and bohemian life, he was in general infatuated with poor judgment at same time addicted to so many transparent monkeyshines. The consequence of his abrasive tongue, his impulsive behavior and his almost surrealistic attachment to the smaller pleasures of life was that he came across as a rather plain man, even a rustic, transported by a freak of nature into positions far beyond his ken. A reporter once said that no man was so privileged to remake Nigeria history and no one ever made such a spectacular failure o...

Yakubu Gowon Sani Abacha Mohammadu Buhari Obafemi Awolowo Murtala Mohammed Chronicles of Nigeria’s Leadership decay (Part.1) If character is taken in isolation, Murtala Mohammed would be considered to glow with desirable commodity. When he was alive leading the nation ( Nigeria ), he had on an inner conviction which seemed to resonate well with Nigerians who were so dissatisfied with Yakubu Gowon’ s regime. A government that had a character the was not matched with adequate judgment. We must not forget that character always goes with something else, otherwise the notorious stubbornness and cocksureness of Nigeria’s former president Obasanjo could be confused with character. We’ve had leaders of very noble characters. We can actually make comparison with the case of French De Gaulle in 1946, when he attempted to amend the French 5th Republic Constitution and he was vehemently rebuffed. Ask me what he did: He had enough character to resign his position. As a man who believes in G...

Haba! this guy is driving, at same time making a fone call. This's very unethical. FONE ETIQUETTE – How not to use your cell phone Since the cell phone phenomenon burst into our lives, things have not remained the same. All the rules of etiquette we grew up with have crumbled like shop-soiled cookies: “Never talk too loudly”, “Never eavesdrop on people’s conversation”,” Never tell lies”, “Never wash your dirty linen in public”,” Never speak with food in your mouth and so on; sadly nowadays, the new rule of engagement is a crisp one-liner: never say “never”. So phone users shout their conversations, cause others to eavesdrop on their dirty linen, and tell lies on the phone with impunity, sometimes to the hearing of younger, impressionable people for whom they should be laying good example. It has come to my notice that phone users have thrown caution to the winds. Hear this: one phone addict abuser actually asked the interviewer to excuse him as he took his call mid interview! Wha...

CRUISING IN LA(chaos)GOS Las-gidi (acronym for Lagos), Nigeria’s former capital, often acclaimed as the most exciting city in the country. This metropolitan city is laced with beehive of activities. Perhaps, it also doubles as the most exciting city to drive. Who would argue? For those of you that think driving anywhere else in the whole wide world is tedious, herewith for new comers, and visitors, are a few basic rules of the road for driving in Las-gidi. First of all. U must identify the battalion to which u belong. In the 1ST Battalion are the motorcyclists popularly known as “okada”. They’ve a pact with suicide………….do you grab what I’m saying? Pls, avoid them like plagues at all cost. In the 2ND Battalion are the commercial bus drivers. Their buses are known by various names including: Danfo, Molue (literally means “I go beat you”, Bolekaja (meaning “come down, let’s fight”), Kabu-kabu, etc. Just as these names imply, they’re not the coolest specie on the face of the planet. Tr...

16TH May,2007 Sharon dear , I acknowledge the receipt of your mails, the contents were explicit, i mean clearly understood. However, i apologize for my delay in replying, it was owing to unavoidable circumstances which i could not easily surmount. Well, you're reading a quite comprehensive one from me now. Frankly speaking, i must say that i admire your manner of approach towards everything. In recent times, i noticed your outstanding thoughtfulness, and i appreciate that. May be am fine or not. You'd asked me blandly in your mail to give you a 'lowdown' of happenings in 9aija. Sharon, presently we're awaiting the verdicts of the electoral tribunals and also the preparations are in top gear towards the May 29 swearing-in ceremony for Yar'Adua (the product of sham they called elections). Unfortunately, this is the tragedy of Nigeria's democracy. Those to whom we entrust our fate do not belive in rules and procedures, due process is strange to them,they lac...

Love is like a juice Some bitter, some sweet Is it true that ribs can tell the kick of a beast from a lover's fist Bruised bones record it well The sudden shock, the hard impact Thin swollen lids Sore eyes spoke not of lost romance, but of hurt Hate is often confused Its limits are in zones beyond itself And sadists will not learn that love by nature extracts a pain unequalled on the rack Heavens hath no pleasures like a woman loved Hell, also ,hath no fury like a woman scorned.

THE PRIEST WHO LOST HIS COCK A priest lost his cock and didn't know where to find it. So at the sermon next day, he asked, "Has anybody got the cock? All the men stood up. "No! no! no! "I mean has anybody seen the cock? " All the women folk stood up. "No! no! no! "I mean has anybody seen my cock? " All the nuns stood up. You can imagine the confusion that ensued.....

Seriously speaking, i hate to sermonize but there're things i see or hear and i begin to wonder if the world is coming to a close or if it's just in an inconvenient down-side up! There're so many disturbing questions that need serious answers: Why would a woman with 5 children suddenly wake up one morning and decide she married the wrong man? Why would she abandon her children to a terrible fate with a hardly present father in a survival-of-the-fittest environment? What sort of anger or provocation would make a man beat his wife to pulp or even inflict deep cuts only to turn around and rush her to the hospital for treatment? Why would a young man take his own life because his contemporaries are cruising on jeeps and he's not ? Why would he not be patient yet determined, pragmatic yet optimistic? Why would a teenanged girl engage in prostitution? Why would she say there's no other alternative open to her while alternatives abound? Why would parents expose their under...

EMPLOYERS UNFAIR TREATMENT OF UNEMPLOYED GRADUATES It's obvious there're no labour laws in Nigeria's constitution that protects the interest f the teeming population of unemployed graduates. It's so disheartening that employers of labour have taken undue advantage of this situation as manifested even in their recruitment exercises in recent times. Why is it that all adverts in the print media on employment favour only graduates who have many years of experience? What about fresh graduates from universities and polytechnics or those who have not been so fortunate to possess any work experience even years after graduation? Does it mean that this group of people are not suitable for employment? As far as am concerned, it's not fair to demand for experienced graduates each time there're vacacies for employment. This ugly trend has unarguably contributed to the sharp rise in the population of unemployed Nigerian graduates. And consequently,it has also led to the emer...

I think the conceptual vision of politics is to democratically serve as a vehicle for service delivery, good governance, moral & social values, which are characteristically imbued with optimum capacity to promote the whollistic human developments. To discourage dictatorial tendencies, unitarism & oligarchy in governance ; there is a constitutional provision which allows for checks & balances through multiparty system. Isn't it? But, in the Nigerian context, the players of politics are so barbaric by calling political opponents all sorts of unprintable names, engaging in character assassinations,mudslinging of personalities & treating of opponents as social lepers as to reap their wild ambition of tenancity in office. Whereas, opponents should be treated like soul mates in politics. Politics has democratic values if all the participants employ the wisdom to embrace, engage, share, accept, listen, learn & understand the feelings of others + their views. Even, in ...