From the rockies to the Hudson, to the Potomac, beyond the great sand spread of the Sahara, to the river Naija, the end is on its way ―Don Okolo Life as we know it could be coming to an end. That is not a figure of speech. I have consulted with the shamans and medicine men, from the world’s renowned rainforests, from the swamplands of the Pantanal, to the critter-burdened monsoon regions of the far...
If I were God. I would end it. If I were God, I would have the haters careening through the gates of hell proper…alive. ―Don Okolo I have had time, forty-something years and counting, to muse upon the fate of man the world over. And I have come to believe that a section of humanity would never rise from the quagmire of filth and disdain…from the vise-like grip the rest of the sultry smut have...
NOW COMES the stone face even the dream is scared to lodge; devoid of any sway to arouse interest amongst mankind Eyes stubbornly disruptive and unwilling to conjoin adjacent brows; on an oversize-head, decked with irreconcilable facial features NOW COMES this foul face even the Creator now questions; with unkind eyes so unsightly dazed the devil bowed to pray True, this dude, rude and crude, rules like a mindless bull; prowling furiously with...
“Evidence-based medicine should not be rejected or disregarded, especially if it produces potent results after treating COVID-19 patients successfully, as Dr. Immanuel did, regardless of whether the knowledge comes from the Northern or the Southern hemisphere,” —Dr. I. D. Onwudiwe For this article, I am inspired to write about Dr. Stella Immanuel’s much-touted video on her treatment of COVID-19 patients in her medical clinic in Houston, Texas. Absent of any extensive background in the science...
“The reality of acquiring political power is that those who seek it must go for it,” ―Ebuka Onyekwelu The support for Igbo Presidency recently received what can be described as a partial political boost when Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El Rufai in an interview, said that he had no ambition to vie for president after Buhari and that he taught power should not return to the north but instead go to South. While this may...
“We cannot, as Igbos, truly break away from this monster with her fangs wedged deeply into the functioning muscles in our body,” ―Don Okolo I understand the clamor, and I do understand the reasoning behind the push to carve out our own niche in a corner of the south and call it ours. Every single aspect of the maltreatment, and the vicious cruelty iced on the bedlam heaped on us, it seems that we have...
On July 29, Boko Haram operatives attacked a convoy with Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, near the town of Baga. According to media reports, the governor was unharmed, but there were casualties in his entourage. In the aftermath of the attack, the governor has been scathing in his criticism of the Nigerian army: “You people said there is no Boko Haram here, then who attacked us?” And, “You have been here for over one year now, there are 1,181...
“Those of us living in the trenches of this Heartbreak Alley are faced with one undeniable fact: More than ninety percent of Nigerians are corrupt.” ―Don Okolo Maybe there is a redeeming feature about arresting two men and summarily executing them for bribery. I thought a long prison sentence would have been enough. But the Chinese are a different breed; the court went through the rigors to find out that these two men accused of...
The Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) released a video of its execution-style murder of five aid workers in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno. The victims were employees of Action Against Hunger, a Nigerian affiliate of France’s Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and REACH International. Two others appear to have been Nigerian government employees, one a “security worker” and the other a displaced persons camp coordinator. Compared to the Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram, ISWA...
“Which among the G7 countries, Russia or multilateral institutions can mediate between the two belligerent parties? None.” —Olalekan A. Babatunde Recent happenings amid the coronavirus pandemic have seen a pattern of tit-for-tat diplomatic relations between the United States and China. The latest last week were the retaliatory moves by the two ordering the closure of consulates in each other’s countries. Though the first move used to be taken by the US and immediately retaliated by...
