New Olu of Odoşęnlu Receives Staff of Office

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

As I was about to retire, my wife stressed the need to upgrade our country home at Odoşęnlu, Ijebu-Ode. It was clear that I would not settle in Geneva, New York or Nairobi as a number of my UN retiring colleagues tend to do. These choices for many UN retirees are easily explainable. Returning to home countries after socializing with an international oriented cosmopolitan group for decades tends to be traumatic. As a result, UN retirees tend to die off on an average of five years if they served till the very end. Of course, a few died a day after retirement as a result of accidents and some make it well beyond thirty years.

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New Olu of Odoşęnlu Receives Staff of Office

Operation Amotekun: Part One, Two and Three

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D.

I lived in Nairobi for 11 years working for the United Nations on peace for Somalia. It meant I went into Mogadishu where I had earlier lived for two years (before the UN’s evacuation), on as needed basis. I was part of the UN’s support of the unending peace dialogues and conferences.

As I am wanting to do in many aspects of my life and shocked by the situation in Mogadishu, I thought through, planned and concluded that if Nigeria were to implode, I would choose to live in Nairobi or Accra if I must become a refugee. I enjoyed and made friends from far and wide in the city. But I knew and know that refugees have little choices. It depends on which country and/or community is willing to accept them.

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Operation Amotekun Parts 1-3

Ọmọlúwàbí and Ojude-Oba

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D.

The Ijębu people of Nigeria took on and domesticated the Durbar concept over a hundred years ago. The historical background to Ojude-Oba (Durbar among Ijębus) was well articulated in a Facebook posting by Engineer Kayode Sote last year. There is no doubt that the current paramount King of the Ijębus Oba Sikiru Adetona, the Awujale of Ijębuland went far in modernising Ojude-Oba and made it a major annual carnival that is now on the cultural tourism circuit of Nigeria.

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Ọmọlúwàbí and Ojude Oba

My View on The Viral Video on Ibrahim Idris

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D.

The IG that I Knew was not an Imbecile
The viral video on Ibrahim Idris, the Nigerian Inspector-General of Police (IG), ostensibly portrayed as not being able to read a speech is of serious concern to Nigeria and beyond. The right question should be why we could entrust a major security apparatus to such a man. This video lends credence to the position coming out of the Nigerian Senate that Ibrahim Idris is not fit to hold such a high office. So, is the video a case of the Yoruba saying on causation/correlation to the effect that: “Aje ke l’ana, omo ku l’eni, tani ko mope Aje ana ni o pa omo je” (the Witch carried yesterday and a child died today, who does not know that the child was killed by the Witch)? Of course, I cannot conclude that the video came out of the Senate or those in support of the institution that is engaged in a power tussle with the IG.

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My View on The Viral Video on Ibrahim Idris