Federal Republic of Fiction @ 63

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

Nigeria is fiction. The country’s Constitution has been transferred to a new shelf in the library: the shelf containing fictional works. The latter-day patriots of Nigeria can cry all they want against me, but in this instance I only choose to stand solidly in solidarity with the words that Samuel Johnson uttered on the evening of April 7, 1775, to wit: “Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.”

There can never be a short supply of toadies and ill-assorted scoundrels defending the many fictions of the government of Nigeria in this new age when former activists and revolutionaries have turned into government spies and informants. 

A Chatham House Of Horror

 By Don Pedro Obaseki

Chatham House, while trying to repackage and market Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ended up de-marketing itself. While trying, albeit strenuously, to rebrand Tinubu, Chatham House ended up eroding its own brand persona. Its brand equity went bearish, like a bad stock cascading down the index on a bad day on the FTSE or the New York Stock Exchange.

*Tinubu

Tinubu’s handlers not only trashed Chatham House, but also ridiculed the Nigerian nation and her people before the global community. At best, Tinubu’s Chatham House odyssey was a public relations  disaster!

His legendary gaffes got amplified before a global audience that either watched the horrid display on television or via live streaming on the internet. Tinubu’s infamous, yet half-expected comedy of errors turned an otherwise revered platform into a “Chatham House of Horror” or(to bring the adjective closer to home), the “Chatham House of Commotion”.