Akinbode's BLOG on Faith, Politics, Science, Engineering, Education and Health

To my Peeps in Nigeria... I read with bewilderment comments by Taribo West that late Dodo Mayana ( Peter Rufai )'s family struggled to raise money to bury him. WHY? Where did all the money he made in Europe disappear to? Did he not invest some of the money? Did he not have a retirement plan? Peter Rufai had an illustrious career as a top goalkeeper in Europe. It was rumored that he even completed a degree while playing professional football. Peter Rufai played in Europe (Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands) for almost 20 years from 1986 until 2003. He even opened a goalkeeper school after retiring from active football in 2003. Where did all his money go? I can understand Taribo's outburst. It was not his first. Perhaps he is angry that they did not get as much as the current set of athletes. Or that what they were promised did not get to them on time or at all, as the current crop of athletes gets compensated in real time. Peter Rufai and Taribo West's era was ...

The revelation that African MAP has been misrepresented for centuries is beyond disturbing and a further confirmation to Africans, especially their leaders who run after Western leaders for help that no one has them on priority list if they don't prioritize themselves. Africa's land area will swallow continental US, Japan, Russia, mainland China, Europe and other countries... Africa is located between the equator, based on the roundness of the earth, Africa's map should actually look bigger than its actual size not smaller... This is mischievous on the part of those who drew the world map initially and those who have perpetuated this lie for centuries.... If they misrepresented Africa's map, what else has been shrunk to make Africa small?

Not long after the new Alaafin of Oyo was crowned, some jingoists started peddling him as the paramount ruler over all Yoruba , citing the mischievous documents from colonial era where Alaafin and all monarchs in Nigeria were placed under civilian governments in contrast to what you find in England, where the reigning monarch is the head of government. In the same ancient document, Alaafin was mischievously made a first class Oba above any other Oba in Yorubaland , completely ignoring history. This same issue was what created decade-long feud between Oba Adeyemi , the late Alaafin and late Oba Okunade Olubose Sijuade , the late Ooni of Ife .. That died down when Ojaja Adewusi became Oonirisa . Oba Adeyemi seemed to have sheathed his sword and embraced Oba Adewusi as equal... I warned when these jingoists started fanning this ember of discord as the new Alaafin was installed, calling him the Alaafin of Yorubaland instead of the Alaafin of Oyo. Alaafin's territory does not extend...

USAID has saved over 91 million lives during its existence. It is projected that cuts to USAID programming will lead to over 14 million people dying globally in the next 10 years. Those that are going to be mostly impacted are the low and middle-income countries in Africa , Central - South America , and South East Asia . There are a few rich countries that will lose support as well. For every $1 spent on aid globally before this cut, $0.40 (40%) came from the US. This made the US the global leader that has been looked upon by the rest of the world, post WWII . This has been a strong leverage for the US to influence nations without shooting bunker-busting bombs at them. The decision to cut USAID was partly political and in some way, necessary. The latter could have been done in a humane way, not suddenly, but in a way that reduces true waste and duplication of effort and not create shock. The latter is worse - the argument that US is wasting money overseas, and that it is helping th...

The world watches while almost two million people are starved to death deliberately, while they are shot like games /animals when they go look for food rationed intentionally... because some people want to displace them forcefully and take what is left of their land...we all know this is no more about 20 hostages left. They could have been released based on the January agreement ... but some people want to continue to use the excuse of the war to remain in power to escape justice for their corrupt acts and to prosecute their long-dreamed vision of Riviera ... Two state solution is dead... There could not have been a better time to perpetuate this evil. Terrorism was created because of bullying . It has been sustained because some nations/ people chose to bully others, forcefully impose themselves on them, take their possession, change their leaders through the back doors, create chaos intentionally to take their rare earth resources , and occupy their lands and make it their own. It ...

Today is " workers' day " in Nigeria . What may not be obvious to many is the level of decline in the purchasing power of this class of people in our country. Nigerian workers have seen a decline in their purchasing power, up to 90% in the last ten years under the current party that promised so much and delivered so little... What N100k will buy in 2015 is worth N1 million today. Check the price of petrol , egg, bread, rice, fish, tomatoes, garri , used car , cement , clothing , coke , beer , flight , etc, they have all gone up by almost 900%. During the same ten-year period, revenue accruing to the purse of the Federal government has increased because of increased IGR , and foreign exports; naira has also been devalued by as much as 90% since then, when you compare an exchange rate of N165 to $1 in 2015 to now N1600. Most Nigerians spend naira, not dollars. If revenue converted to naira has increased by almost 900% for the government, they should at least increase sa...

I just returned from a short visit to my native country, Nigeria . I went to visit my soon-to-be octogenarian mother and to attend to other personal issues. I continue to be amazed by the resilience of Nigerians and the sense of hope people have amid horrible situations. Here are a couple of observations: 1. Poverty has returned to the pre-millennia era. Post the fourth republic that ushered in the presidency of OBJ , the middle class had been decimated in Nigeria. Professors could not afford to buy “Tokunbo” cars let alone new ones, nor could they build a house of their own. I remember some of my professors wore car-tire sandals popular with farmers... The turn of the century ushered in prosperity through pragmatic leadership led by OBJ, despite all his flaws and greed. The last 10 years under the current party have reversed that trend... You can see hunger visible in the faces of the majority of Nigerians, and the middle class is gradually being eroded. People's purchasing pow...