FATHERHOOD (2)

Fathers are meant to love, yet they are meant to be strong but according to Izogie, “love makes you weak”. In other words, to love and be strong is tough. It sounds more like a paradox but before you hasten to critique the contradiction, let me tell you who Izogie is. This is so that your judgement may be balanced. The Woman King is an African movie, rich in culture, perfectly scripted, excellently delivered. It is the story of the liberation of Dahomey people from the Oyo Empire by the women warriors, the Agojies. Jimmy Odukoya played one of the lead roles as Oba Ade, leading the Oyo Empire warriors. I must say his delivery was top notch. Nanisca was a woman warrior, a war general. She was assisted by Igozie to command the palace guards. You are probably wondering the correlation between The Woman King and fatherhood. Just a moment. Nawi, a 19 year old girl was about to be betrothed by her ‘father’ as a wife to a rich man who promised her physical abuse in good measure. Nawi would not have any of that. She revolted and her father, in anger, gifted her to the King.

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JUNE 12 AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION (2)

To students of history, June 12 represents many things in the annals of Nigeria’s history. Call it the good, the bad and the ugly, but reminiscing this journey, one can now say, and safely too, that with June 12, 1993, Nigeria failed forward. Oftentimes, it sounds right to forget the past and move forward, particularly when it is bad or ugly, but that relates more to the ideal. In reality, it is difficult to move forward without a good sense of history. I wrote an article on June 12 and the National Question in 2018, shortly before the 2019 general elections. That article was published by Punch Online on 21 June 2018. The issues I raised in the article are worth your time. It is here attached:

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