When Tani Adewumi arrived in the US with his parents who fled the excruciating conditions of their poorly-managed, Boko Haram-ravaged country, Nigeria, he had no inkling of a life-changing dramatic turnaround that would transform his family. Days after their arrival in the US, Tani’s parents, Kayode and Oluwatoyin Adewumi faced a precarious condition, if they knew where their next meal would come from, they did not know where they would lay their heads on. They were poor, they were homeless until the City of New York (NYC) provided them a homeless shelter where Tani’s journey to stardom began. Right there in the homeless shelter, Tani was enrolled in school where he kept the right company of friends who enjoyed playing the chess game. 8 year-old Tani later emerged winner of the New York State chess championship for his age group. Thereafter, his story went viral. “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men” says the scripture (Proverbs 18:16). Tani’s sto...
The Aare Ona Kakanfo! The Untold Story of How MKO Abiola Was Nearly Prevented From Becoming the Generalissimo Where were you in 1987? That was the year Oba Yesufu Oloyede Asanike, Olubadan of Ibadan made history. Olubadan installed Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola as the Bashorun of Ibadan. It was a prestigious title befitting of a distinguished personality in the mould of MKO Abiola. That was the title of the legendary Bashorun Oluyole who was the paramount chief of Ibadan in 1850. It was also the title of Bashorun Ogunmola who reigned between 1865 and 1867. It was therefore historic that exactly 120 years after the death of Ogunmola, MKO Abiola became the fourth person to be conferred with the prestigious title. It was indeed a befitting honour for someone who had amassed chieftaincy titles from almost every town in Nigeria. As of the time of his installation in 1987, MKO Abiola was reputed to have over 150 chieftaincy titles. He was the Bobajiro of Ode-Remo. He was the B...
Dele Momodu Fellow Nigerians, on June 12, 2023, Nigeria would have suffered, for 30 ugly years, for the calamitous mistake of annulling our best Presidential election result ever. For the benefit of those who were not yet born, or too young to understand and appreciate the magnitude of the disaster that hit Nigeria since that saga, let me offer a quick explanation of the premise for my conclusion that this was the freest, fairest, and indeed, the best election Nigeria has ever had and that we continue to suffer the consequences of that election being annulled. On June 12, 1993, there was a Presidential contest between Chief Moshood Abiola and Alhaji Bashir Tofa (who passed on incidentally and sadly just a few days ago, so both protagonists are sadly now deceased). The election produced a clear winner in Chief Abiola, and this has recently been validated by the Buhari administration. However, for no clear and unjustifiable reasons, the military regime of General Ibrahim Baba...
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