Abiola Speaks

Come to think of it, the incoming French President (although the decisive round of vote has been schedule to hold two weeks from now in which multiple polls had already shown that Macron will defeat the far-right National Front's Marine Le Pen with a large margin) is just 39 years old. His name is Emmanuel Macron. Events and stories like this would make you want to ask: what is wrong with Africa and the kind of politics we practice here. At times, I just conclude within me that the kind of political practice and culture will exhibit in this part of the world is for Africans by Africans. When will young people in Africa wake up and take their political destinies in their own hands? It is almost becoming an impossible task for young people to be presidents of African nations. Even in countries like Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa that boasts of youths whose interest in politics are evidenced across the continent; the bane of older presidential candidates in these countries has not...

Congratulations to Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a Federal High court in Abuja just granted him bail. The presiding Judge, Binta Nyako, gave the order to allow Mr. Kanu attend to his ailing health condition. It would be recalled that Kanu, alongside other three pro-Biafra agitators, has been facing trial for treasonable offences. Although, the conditions of the bail are kind of stringent; however, it should not be difficult for the indefatigable IPOB leader to meet them. Kanu is expected to provide three sureties. One of the sureties must be a senior and highly recognized Nigerian of Igbo descent. The second surety must be a highly recognized believer in Judaism. The third surety must be resident with landed property in Abuja. Also, the sureties are to deposit their international passports with the court till conclusion of trials. Kanu must not grant interview, must not be in a crowd exceeding 10 people, and must not hold rallies. Kanu'...

Before President Muhammadu Buhari came on board in 2015, the resolve of an average Nigerian like me was that for the first time since the return of democracy in 1999; Nigerians would have a president who would not toil with corruption or any corrupt official around him. So massively, Nigerians rallied around Mr. President and gave him the mandate. It was clearly sure then before he came on board that Nigeria was faced with so many problems; however, two particularly were begging for attention at the time. First is the issue of security. It was at the time when Boko Haram was having a filled day in the Northern part of the country and over 270 secondary school girls had been kidnaped in a town called Chibok in Borno State. 195 of those girls as at the time of putting this piece together are yet to be rescued. Second is the issue of corruption, which has made Nigeria a laughing stock in the international community. Corruption has been so much entrenched within the fabrics of Nigeria t...

Real estate investment is as old as man itself. There is virtually no activity that does not involve the use of land or any other thing that has to do with it, except in some very few exceptions. From corporate organizations, to a small shop owner who sells rice and beans in a corner shop, real estate is involved. RE comprises of three basic things. They are Land, Buildings and its appurtenances. In other words, Real Estate = Land + Building + Appurtenances. Land: All types of organisms including man are born, flourish, mature and at last meet their end on land. It produces all the necessities of life-food, clothing and shelter. Without land, nothing existing on earth can survive, even thier existence cannot be dreamt without land. Hence, land is a very useful resource in investment decisions. Understanding the impact of your real estate investment can significantly influence your locatonal decision. In real estate, location location location is everything. From the myriad of facto...

It is usually a sad story to hear of people who were once in a good and Godly relationships go their separate ways after a short period of time. A number of reasons usually have been put forward by the people involved in this quagmire. Quite a number of them have hinged the reason on distance. But my argument has always been this: why should distance be a threat to beautiful relationships - especially between opposite sex who once professes they loved each other? Although, certain inexcusable circumstances may warrant that one’s fiancée or fiancé relocate at some point or the other during the course of the relationship. Trying to answer this question led me to putting this piece together and to share what have worked for me in the past four years in my own relationship. First and foremost, distance does not only affect two people who are together in a maritally-intended relationship. Even friends that happened to be in different location at the same time have seen distance being a ba...

All governments in Nigeria since independence highlighted housing as a major priority. Unfortunately it has been 56 years of its independence, Nigeria is yet to develop a vibrant mortgage market and houses continue to be provided through the tortuous traditional method of buying land and building over some years, which could be an individual's entire life time. In many cases such buildings are left uncompleted or individuals have to deplete their entire life savings in order to build a home. One of the major housing policy initiatives was the Policy on Affordable Housing that was initiated in 1979 by the Shehu Shagari Administration. The policy though laudable was unable to meet the nation’s housing needs because it was based on the unsustainable tenet that houses will be provided by government (this remains the anomaly that we must resolve). The implementation of the 2002 housing policy reforms was a promising beginning, but a lot remains to be done. In a recent news report on ...

"Our nation is ripe with a multitude of successful people, who have achieved much for themselves with little impact on anyone else" - Fela Durotoye Nigeria is without any reservation, a strategic nation on earth. Let me use the next few lines to explain to you why I am so sure of this particular fact. Nigeria is among the first ten of the world’s most populous nation on earth. According to United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs estimates; Nigeria is ranked the 7th most populated country in the world with a population of 183,506,867 as at 7th March, 2015. Aside that, Nigeria is also the most populous county in the continent of Africa and also boasts of the largest economy, the position which South Africa had occupied before now. In terms of natural resources, especially crude oil; Nigeria boasts of 37.2billion barrel, ranking the country as the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11thlargest in the world, averaging 2.28 million barrels per day. In fac...