Klint's

"Ku sauka ku sauka, maza " was what jolted me back to reality. It was the driver frantically asking everyone to alight the vehicle. Everyone alighted and watched the bus driver zoom off. That very moment I was faced with reality: I was in the middle of a religious/political crisis. A few days before, I had written the Post UTME exam at the university of Benin and was on my way back home to Kaduna together with my cousin when we heard about the bomb blast in Kaduna. Later, news reached us of the reprisal attacks in Kaduna. There was no way we could enter Kaduna that day so a stop at Abuja became our only available option. We stayed a few days in Abuja at my uncle's. It was there we caught wind that the curfew in kaduna had been lifted and so we set for kaduna the next day. I was excited that morning.I had thought that in about 2hours, I'd be with my family but little did I know what awaited me: It was to be the longest "2 hours" of my life. We left Abuja ...

Are we Christians? Really! Are we? Maybe you think I am not in any position to ask this question but I think my silence will hurt me more. I am Eke Martins, a follower of Christ, maybe not your usual kind of Christian,amongst all I am a Nigerian at least while we remain one nation,thus, I am still passionate about Nigeria. It is no longer news the ceaseless unbearable persecution of Christians by the northerners or Fulani herdsmen or boko haram  sect as the case may be. And I feel sad and maybe more angered than you are but in my less knowledge of the Bible I do know that somewhere in Mathew 5 the Bible calls persecuted Christians blessed and says theirs is the kingdom of God and I heard the priest today in his homily quote a saint "the blood of martyrs  is the seed of Christianity " The above needs no added sermon to explain it's meaning. In fact what needs explanation is why we have decided to make that scripture  no more than it letters as our act...

Finally, Adama Barrow, the new Gambian President arrived Gambia today to so much aplomb and jubilation by the Gambian people. Of course, it was worth it: After 20 years under the reign of the unpredictable Yahya Jammeh, every normal country would celebrate. That's actually besides the point. For 20 years, Yahya Jammeh was the lord and protector of the Gambian Realm and for that period, everything was practically done to suit his whims. He looted his country, killed his citizens and basically impoverished his people...he shut out the International Community from his Country. Then somehow, by way of a miracle, he subjected himself to an election that he didn't win which was strange; I'm not saying his loss was a surprise because really, it's hard to tell if he has indeed ever won an election...what was miraculous was the fact that he didn't interfere with the election process to his advantage which sadly is the norm among most sit tight African "Leaders...

Apologies to the leaders of the Bring Back Our Girls advocacy group for the return of the abducted Chibok Girls but I couldn't think of a more complete way to express my disappointment. At the peak of events leading to the Presidential Election of 2015, Nigerians were presented with the option of choosing between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Muhammadu Buhari who in his own words was a "Reformed Democrat" and a largely inept and ineffectual Goodluck Jonathan. Frankly, making a choice was torrid: Buhari had the antecedent of being an unrepentant oppressor of Civil Rights during his time as Military Head Of State while Jonathan had an unbeatable record of running the most corrupt Government in modern Nigerian History. Well, we couldn't help but make a choice and take a stand as the days of Lenre Peters were over. Ultimately, we chose to boot out the the Jonathan administration and we took sides with a Buhari who had come with a message of Change: frankly, the p...

When President Buhari took over the reins of power for the fi rst time after three attempts, last year, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy job! Regardless of some impossible expectations we had of him, we were willing to give him a chance! We knew the Country was in critical condition but we expected him to slowly and steadily sanitize the sleeping giant of Africa! We knew that he would be taking over from a President who was described as an ineffectual and clueless buffoon: a Government known for their ineptitude, incompetence and tolerance for thievery! We knew that there was a crisis in the international oil market and that as a result, there was a sharp drop in the revenue accruing to the country's coffers which in turn led to States borrowing to pay salaries. We knew that he was succeeding a Government known for it's notoriety for incompetence, corruption, irresponsibility and sheer waste! We Knew all these! And we were willing to give him time! We didn...

Aye! Another one: Another opportunity And we don't even hesitate to display our madness. As always, we've shown ourselves as a people with utter disregard and disrespect for the law and human dignity. The society we live in sickens me: a society that believes so much in oppressing the helpless at the expense of the powerful. A society that protects her rapists and oppressors but would suppress the helpless and the poor at every opportunity! Most frustratingly, a society with a short term memory: a society that is so quick to forgive and forget her woes. It's either we've all seen it or we will soon see it: the disgusting sight of a human being being burnt to death for "stealing" Garri or whatever. We can condemn it all we want but the truth is that deep down, we have this uncommon obsession with the idea of jungle justice. We are quick to condemn without giving room for the accused party to defend themselves but that is only one part of the story: th...