Governance and Protocol...01

If only They Knew What We Thought of Them

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. When a public office holder receives praises and accolades from an unexpected quarter for a performance that he himself knows to be lacklustre and uninspiring and undeserving of praises, he knows they are not being sincere, but he laps it up all the same.....and then waits for the bill! 

Number Crunching

It would not be too far-fetched to presume that Governors have an unwritten rule not to settle inherited debts during their tenures. They simply add a few noughts to it and pass it on to the next governor. Here’s how they go about it.

It is acceptable practice for the outgoing governor to make a lot of noise about the huge amount of cash he’s leaving in the treasury. However, in his handover note, he quietly and in small print, states what debt he was leaving, but not neglecting to print in bold, that the bulk of it was inherited from previous administrations.  In turn, the incoming governor mounts the rostrum and makes his own noise too about the huge amount of debt he is inheriting from the outgoing governor, but not before he has jacked it up significantly.

After the noisy quarrelling and wrangling in public, both parties agree to a ceasefire in secret at which they accept each other’s claims. After all, they are two of a kind. The incoming governor simply files the figures away until the end of his tenure when he too presents it to the incoming governor as inherited debt from previous administrations .....

The Morning After

Towards 2015 Elections: The Importance Of Political Rallies

We've all had occasions to repeat ourselves. Politicians repeat themselves for different reasons, for different effects. Some do, to emphasize a point...some do, for lack of what else to say....but here's another reason our politicians do it!

Towards 2015 Elections: Political Opportunism

Yet another cartoon on Public Affairs Analysts.....

When A Public Affairs Analyst Talks Like This On TV....

Once again, I’m on the case of the ubiquitous political or public affairs analysts /commentators or whatever else they call themselves.  Right now, they are strutting their stuff everywhere; on radio, TV and newspapers. I’m not surprised, because the 2015 general elections are around the corner and as hirelings go, they are available to do the bidding of the paymaster.

Towards 2015 Elections: The Gamble

Political Expediency...02

It's Just A PLANE Lie!

The “Plane” truth…..

The flavour of the month is the bizarre avowal of a suave man of the cloth that the tragic collapse of one of his buildings was caused by a plane that flew over it. While the rescue team and sympathisers bowed their heads in respect for the dead and the wounded, the man stood erect, his gaze skywards, looking to spot the offending plane to prove he was right. Of course the plane had long gone, but he stood transfixed with the hope of it coming back. He was on a different plane (level of thought) from everybody else’s, or if you like, he was on another PLANEt!

He must have believed in the superiority of the rationality of his own argument, because he kept his eyes riveted on the skies above his fiefdom, expecting a manifestation of his version of the event. But that didn’t come to pass. When nobody fell for his antics he resorted to intimidation and strong-arm tactics……

Why the sermon? A friend’s remark set it off. After reading this cartoon in the paper on Friday, he called and said in Yoruba, “Beni ti e ri! O ti le te’nu mo nkan ju!” (Typical! You don’t ever know when to let go!).“ I reminded him of how long it took the man in the eye of the storm to let go of his version of what happened to the building and how he tried to pull the wool over our eyes. Why should I let go? Why should anyone with conscience or a good sense of justice let go? Why should the family of the victims let go? Why should the authorities let go? Why should the public let go?

Why should I let go of my craft?  I hardly let go of any topic that allows me to use artistic license to explore or extend it. That’s my trademark!

Thy Country first

Nigeria is 54 today. Things haven’t really changed -not even my cartoons! Here’s an October 1 cartoon of mine published in the Guardian 29 years ago.  To bring it up to date, simply change 24+ to 53+ and 25 to 54. 

It's That Time Of The Year Again

"Things haven’t really changed, but I am more than confident that our tomorrow will be better than our yesterday and today. The caliber of distinguished Nigerians who made this year’s honours list is a testimony that Nigeria has got the human and material resources to excel tomorrow."