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 ...