Morning Star Media

The second presidential debate, which took place on Tuesday, October 28, 1980, at the Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, was the defining moment for the United States of America’s presidential campaign of that year. The debate, watched by 80.6 million viewers, had two participants; President Jimmy Carter and his Republican Party challenger, Mr Ronald Reagan.  In his response to one of the 12 questions from the panelists, Reagan posed a question to Americans: ‘Are you better off today than you were four years ago?’ That question changed the campaign narrative because it allowed the voters to intentionally assess their government and see how the Carter presidency had affected their lives. Their verdict was damning, as Reagan went ahead to win the November 4 election, polling 43,899,248 votes, representing 50.8 per cent of the popular vote, and an Electoral College victory of 489 to 49.  The Reagan Question brings to the fore the essence of democracy. Democrac...

Mr Ayodele Ogundele, President of Hoteliers Association of Oyo State, has lauded Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, for providing the enabling environment that is turning the state into a 24-hour economy. Ogundele, who doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of Davies Hotel, Ibadan, disclosed this in an interview with The People’s Verdict.   According to him, apart from hotels that open for 24 hours, there are now stores that operate round the clock in Ibadan. He said, “Governor Makinde’s policies have been extremely beneficial. When he came, he started with electrification and lighting up the streets (the Light Up Oyo Project). There was a lot of talk about him just wasting money. But right now, we can see the benefits of it. Right now, Ibadan is operating on a nearly 24-hour economy. You go out at 1am, you can find somewhere to eat, you can find somewhere to drink, you can find somewhere to sleep and you feel safe. People leave their places of work, th...

Useful Abdullahi Ganduje kissed the canvas on Friday. Many more will go his way. His fall was the wish of his maker, the king: cold, calculating, ruthless. Ganduje said he resigned as APC National Chairman to take care of his failing health. APC governors, deities that they are, assisted him with a different reason. They held a meeting in Benin at the weekend and said the man's exit aligned with internal reforms and ongoing efforts to strengthen their party. "His Excellency, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s resignation is in tandem with the party’s continued evolution," the governors said. How could someone's sickness be part of a party’s reforms? If the voice of an elder does not sprout yams that are good for pounding, it will sprout yams good for planting (Ohùn àgbà, bí kò ta isu gígún, á ta èèbù). The president is the elder here; nothing he utters or orders goes unheeded. We have since learnt that Ganduje had to go because the president needed a clearer view...

In the March 16, 1975, edition of The New York Times, Colin Legum broke down the comment earlier attributed to the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon which read like this: “Nigeria has the money, our problem is how to spend it.” Gowon’s remark, back then, might have been interpreted in different ways, but I think it is not only apt about Nigerian situation but also philosophical. Collins had reported that Nigeria’s trade surplus rose from $1.5 billion in 1973 to $6 billion in 1974 and that while crude oil accounts for 92 per cent of her earnings, the country’s oil supply to the United States doubled the volume of Saudi Arabia. Back then, the leaders debated the options that could enable the country to spend its way out of the problem of “too much money.” These, according to Legum included the debates on the increase in the number of states from 12 to 20 or 24, adoption of the Udoji Commission Report, introduction of the free universal primary education for all school ...

Last Monday, as noiselessly as a phantom, President Bola Tinubu brought home his strange friend. While an Igbo proverb says the footsteps of a man cannot create a stampede, Alexander Zingman, the president’s Belarusian friend’s sloppy footsteps created more than a stampede. It was as though the great South African poet, Mazisi Kunene’s lines were being chanted to scare us. They reverberated round the length and breadth of Nigeria. “The madman has entered our house with violence/Defiling our sacred grounds/…Bending down our high priests with iron…” Kunene wrote. We could have kept silent at the appearance of the man who entered our own house. It should be the High Priest’s wahala that a stranger could bend him so shamelessly. After all, Yoruba say, a mother who gives birth to a demonic child (Omo òràn) has the sole burden of backing her imp.    In Abuja, at the official inauguration of 2000 tractors for distribution nationwide by his administration, Tinu...

As the new dawn breaks at Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan the appointment of  Ibraheem Oduola Lawal (Ph.D) FFAN holds a fresh era of transformative leadership and innovation. Dr. Ibraheem Oduola Lawal who assumed the mantel of leadership on September,2024 as the Provost of Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan is poised to soar the new heights of academic distinction and excellence. Now the Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan stands at the threshold of a new era of progress and development as Dr. Lawal brings visionary leadership and expertise to the helm. Federal College of Forestry Ibadan being the first established College of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) and in Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing drastic transformation in the aspect of academic activities, research, welfarism of both staff and students, infrastructure etc. which the entire College community were clamoring for.  In his less than a year in the office, the goal driven leader has t...