THE GATHERER

One 2003 morning in late summer, the press gathered outside an Illinois Court. Minutes later, a brown-haired man exited. He’d been granted six-figures in compensation. In 1979, he was sentenced to 50-years imprisonment for a rape that never happened. This was the first wrongful conviction overturned by DNA testing. His name was Gary Dotson . By that morning of Mr. Dotson’s compensation, DNA testing had exposed miscarriage of justice on a grand-scale in the United States’ criminal justice system. Combined, exonerated innocent persons had served about 1,100-years in jail.  Unending news headlines of perjury committed by state officials and false victims put the lie to United States’ mantra: a nation of laws, not of men. The public’s faith in their courts system was tainted. To restore public trust, the US criminal justice system launched an inquiry into wrongful convictions. Institutional and unconscious bias was identified, compensation paid, and DNA evidence made stand...

Motor accidents killed 103 children and 1,363 adults in Nigeria within the first three months of this year. That ’s according to Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) . Total motor deaths in 2016 were 5,053 from over eleven thousand road accidents. But no one seems to be suggesting we ban cars to militate against road accidents. Perhaps we understand that a present danger with transporting ourselves in automobiles quicker, efficiently and comfortably is an accident. Likewise, when we use other machines, say, operate forklifts, or fly in airplanes, we are aware of the associated risks but understand the benefits outweigh the risks. It’s the same with freedom of speech and its potential abuse: hate speech. It’s price we pay to live in a free society of equals where no one or idea is beyond criticism and reproach, even when done ignorantly. Indeed, no society is democratic where such freedom of thought, speech, and association are restricted. A quick survey of the world around us may e...

On an October evening in 2011, what many Lagosians had long suspected was confirmed. That besides their acting and musical careers, Yoruba entertainers smuggle narcotics out of Nigeria. It’s said that's majorly how they financed their lifestyles; singing or acting was a cover up. The artiste in the spotlight was multi-award winning Tunde Omidina, who plays vituperative character: Baba Suwe. He was detained at Murtitala Muhammad Airport (MMA) in Lagos enroute Paris. The news broke on Nigeria's Twittersphere to unsurprised comments — “we knew”. The Nigerian Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) paraded the actor in his white-brocade kaftan, looking disorientated. The agency claimed their scanner detected wrapped morsels in his bloated stomach. Mr. Omidina was led like a felon to a holding cell to do under observation the bowel movement we all do in private. Alas, narcotics he was supposed to have swallowed wasn’t there. Backtracking false claims is embarrassing and...

Another “bailout” released from central government to governors of the federating states of Nigeria: US$663m, or whatever N244bn balance of Paris-club refund translates to in USD today. This follows  N516bn (US$2.2bn at that time) earlier shared, which had followed a  treble of  “intervention funds”:  US$4bn in debt restructuring, and N90bn and N300bn .   Today, Nigeria’s debt stands at US$57bn. And it is set to increase by US$124m per week in more borrowing ( N2.35 trillion ) to fund the central government’s 2017 budget. Despite our mind-staggering debt figures, Nigeria ’ s states ’ and central government fall behind on basic salary obligation, let alone deliver much needed public services: water, housing, electricity, schools, hospitals, roads, hi-speed internet, hi-speed railways and security.  A government is driven by priorities of persons elected to lead the orchestra, who produce melody soothing ears of the voting public in hope that ...

Here , Remi Adekoya writes on analysis by French President, Emmanuel Macron, of Africa’s “real” problem being  “civilizational” [demography, democracy, and failing states]. In summary, he agrees: “That’s not racism; that’s reality.” He also makes good point that Africans must earn respect we demand through economic success as Asia has done, by facing these “real” problems rather than blame colonialism and slavery that had disadvantaged Africa. It is this ending remark that reminds us of question asked of self-described “complex thinker” Macron (the how? ),   which Remi leaves unaddressed: “Marshall Plan for Africa,” a similar economic development plan to that for Europe financed by United States after horror of Second World War. The U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall , had received immense criticism for his plan that at the time had seemed like rewarding the continent of Europe for bad behaviour. Twice in two decades Europeans had wasted over 80 million lives on th...

Repressed anger, eventually, finds an outlet. The ugly scenes of Black South Africans, periodically, mobbing their fellow Black Africans who have migrated to South Africa from elsewhere on the continent, and the rampaging of their businesses, is not disconnected from this phenomenon that psychologists have termed anger displacement.  White South Africans being the target of this raw anger, and that group of persons off-limit, Black South Africans, who have inherited legacies of apartheid: trauma, poverty and grievance, have taken to displacing their anger, which the 1995 ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ doused, at fellow Black Africans whom they identify as foreigners.    Nonetheless, the charge of xenophobia levelled at these South African mobs that disperse from the imijondolo to wreck havoc in cities like Johannesburg, with Nigerian migrants seemingly their convenient targets, is accurate. And this anti-Black migrants feeling isn't limited to the poor...