Tayo's Files

The drama, the intrigues. That the LP has given the PDP a scare in Ondo State is a fact the ruling party hardly admits in the open. The party came into existence in Ondo State four months before the last general elections. It had existed at the national level; it used to be known as Party for Social Democrats (PSD). Its antecedents stem from a rich heritage of progressive and labour-based intervention in national politics. Its fortunes soared when it adopted Mimiko who resigned as the Housing Minister under President Olusegun Obasanjo. The formerly obscure party became the thorn in the flesh of the PDP in Ondo State. Its rise was an unprecedented occurrence in the political story of Ondo State and perhaps in Nigeria. At a well-attended rally in Akure on December 14, 2006, Mimiko emerged as the Party’s gubernatorial candidate for the State. Key PDP chieftains such as the former state chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Alli Olanusi, LP’s chairman in Ondo State, Dr. Olaiya Oni, Olatubora and man...

Of marriage and the need for validation Whenever I speak to girls and even married women, talking about marriage and the individual’s need for validation has always cropped up. This is so, I realised, because a lot of girls and women in our society feel lost or inadequate without marriage. For most of them, it does not matter what they may have achieved ordinarily: as long as they are not married, they are not yet validated. Then for the married, it does not matter what they may have missed, failed to do or even did below average: once they are married, they have paid their dues to the society. And, thank Goodness they are also able to produce children – male and female, mind you – all is well and they can be forgiven every one of their sins. I have also spoken to boys (not men, yet). Not quite surprising, discussing marriage usually never comes up because that is about the last thing on their minds. When most of them are still in the higher institutions, there is not much pressure on ...

tHe vErDiCt Nigerians are afraid the country would descend into chaos should Yaradua and Jonathan be sacked. Na lie, nothing will happen. Nigerians are afraid the combination of Buhari and Atiku portends evil for our country. Dat one too na lie......... I think this is why the tribunal upheld the yawaa elections of 2007. The danger in sacking Yaradua's government cannot be as great as the danger of June 12. If you want to get it right, then do it right the first time. How do we expect good governance from a man whose very election was flawed and fraught with corrupt practises? People are gloating and booing Buhari/Atiku and hailing Yaradua. How funny! The same people who were chased away by PDP thugs in conjunction with some policemen and soldiers and prevented from voting. The same Nigerians who were brutalized and shocked beyond words at the figures coming out from Iwu's INEC. I now believe something is wrong with this country. Now the head of that tribunal is about to bec...

Fact Or Rumour? I'm at total loss of idea if the story or...should i call it a rumour is anything to go by............as palpable tension induced by anxiety over the fate of militant leader, Henry Okah, enveloped the Niger Delta and indeed other parts of Nigeria on Tuesday. Okah was said to have died in Kaduna. The government are denying claims that he died during military interrogation, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said the man met his death in police custody. Presidential Spokesman, Segun Adeniyi, was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as saying that Okah was “ in safe custody .” Public Relations Officer of the One Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Col. Ganiyu Akinola, denied knowledge of the incident. Akinola, who also doubles as the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, said it was news to him that Okah was extradited from Angola to Kaduna, as there were no such records in the formation of the Army or any other securit...

MY FEARS It has been noticeable in governance in Nigeria over time that when the public acknowledges someone in office as doing well, those criminals in power are never happy. Many people that got into government to do good have often times left prematurely or are forced to join them. Hence the notable adage "If you cannot beat them, Join them". Ribadu has chosen not to join them and the people who have over time labelled themselves as sacred cows are jittery on every seat that they occupy. His exit is not ordinary. The currupt in power fears who will be next in his pursuit to get the society clean of currupt leaders. The gangup against him to proceed on study leave like we know in Nigeria is equivalent to saying you are fired. You are too much trouble and so they used this subtle means as an excuse to get rid of him. Now that a new man is chosen to lead the EFCC, I fear that those criminals would have chosen who they can dictate to. Invariably the bit of EFCC will no long...

The whole story of many big names and their sexual deviance tells us two things. As Geoffrey Chaucer asked rhetorically, "who is so foolish as a man in love?" The 2nd point is that our leaders are not bigger than the people they govern. That, sex and power intermingle is not ununusual. Women used it to prostrate men. Men deploy it to conquer women. If it is true in the alleged Obj case, who used it? Did one use it to get contracts, or did the other use it for animal satisfaction? But, if the story of Gbenga Obasanjo ( son of former president Olusegun Obasanjo) is true, it would have happened to a man who cannot be described as a hero. In that case, Obj’s narrative would have been a double jeopardy and double tragedy. As Einstein once said, "imagination is more important than knowledge." But, it is even more fascinating when the public thinks of the act as deviant; an old man in sexual lockdown with his son’s wife, or a man moaning with a minor or underage, or a pres...

Only in Nigeria I wonder the kind of people some Nigerians are. These people are the easiest people on earth to be pleased. This is why their looters are busy looting their tresury because they will be satisfied with sleeping muru anya. Imagine the kind of news coming out from the giant of africa's mouth. Igbinedion give 3 condition to return and answer 141 count charges against him, will construct meggawatt, firm to construct kaiji derm it, OBJ goes back to school. Imagine the nonsenses. The most annoying thing is some of these guys that do not have time to read news of the current events in nigeria will just wake up one morning and start talking nonsense. Ribadu is a god sent and all that bull **** of a story. People that do not even know that IBB is not in the army anymore will come back from their second job and start to talk rubbish here. When we talk about our beloved nation in waiting, myopic minds will start to question our integrity. Do you have any structure on ground t...

A DISHONOUR TO NIGERIA NATION. The people a country chooses to honour speaks volume about the values the govt. of that country holds on their list of preferences. Well, with a few distinguished exceptions, the national honours list released about a forthnight ago is a tribute not to superior achievement but to mere competence, to being in the right place - or holding the right job - at the right time, and most importantly to cronyism. Though the national honours list boasts of genuine heroes like Adebayo Faleti, a cultural icon & a veteran broadcaster who could only get OFR (Officer of the Order of the Niger) - the 6th highest national honour; for his numberless years of distinguished public service, it's crested by others like David Mark, a former soldier and the current senate president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose right to the seat he now occupies is being contested in the law courts. In addition, contrary to his promise, he has not made a public declaration o...