RiverNaija

Oil is a curse. Natural gas, copper, and diamonds are also bad for a country’s health. Hence, an insight that is as powerful as it is counterintuitive: Poor but resource-rich countries tend to be underdeveloped not despite their hydrocarbon and mineral riches but because of their resource wealth. One way or another, oil — or gold or zinc — makes you poor. This fact is hard to believe, and exceptions such as Norway and the United States are often used to argue that oil and prosperity can indeed go together. The rarity of such exceptions, however, not only confirms the rule, but also serves to clarify what it takes to avoid the misery-inducing consequences of wealth based on natural resources: democracy, transparency, and effective public institutions that are responsive to citizens. These are important preconditions for the more technical aspects of the recipe, including the need to maintain macroeconomic stability, prudently manage public finances, invest part of the windfall abroad, ...

This world is like a big football stadium. A throng of people come either as spectators, players, or referees. At the stadium, contests are conducted and games are played. Some players play fair; some play foul. Some play wicked, some play well. Some play wise; some play foolish. All players came because of a game that had a time-limit. Whichever way we play, and how long we tarry, the game will end. This is the truth and nothing but the truth. Sometimes, humans need to sit back and think about this. Is life worth all the hassles and hustles? The answer should spell true, or deny it. This is nothing but the truth. Truth is immortal. Truth lives forever. You can suppress it but not eternally; you can deny but can’t avoid it.You can cage the truth if you want to; but you cannot break it even if you tried. Don’t think you are super-dominant when you suppress the truth; don’t sleep with both eyes closed when you repress it. Truth does not cry for justice; and it does not beg for help. Wh...

Struggle is a strenuous or determined effort to break through a brick wall of bruising situations in the face of difficult opposition. Nations struggle; so do businesses. Every human being gets a taste of life’s struggles. Some survive it, many are strangled by it. The life we live is a rollercoaster of happiness and sadness; pain and pleasure, and good and bad times. It is true that some struggles are necessary. They may be the best thing that can ever happen to us. But struggles aren’t prayed for; who wants them? They’re like living in a steaming hot pressure cooker, who salivates after them? I believe that liberation from God is often entombed in the womb of tribulation. I believe in much gain after much pain. I believe that a bundle of joy come from a bundle of hydra-headed struggles of life that men go through. I believe that joy comes in the morning after an enduring weeping that sweeps through the night. I believe in rising after falling, breaking through after a breakdown, lau...

" I caught up with my brother over the weekend. It was a disturbed man that I was talking to all through our time together. According to him,he's been having issues with his wife. He attributes the sudden change in her attitude to her brother( in Malaysia) who has made so much money and "spoiling" his siblings silly. According to him,the word of this his in-law is LAW in his household. He said that nothing he brings home is enough again. I told him that it could be just the regular husband and wife squabbles but his next words caught me off guard. He said "What about the children that she influences to become HOSTILE towards me each time we have issues?" According to him,the body language of their young son is like that of who just can't wait to grow up and FIGHT the father. This broke my heart because these are children that this man NEVER jokes with. We used to joke that he takes care of children more than a female! They have been married for close ...

One of the challenges of moving into a new country as a couple is learning how to navigate the different changes and the obstacles that may stand in your way as you gradually begin to adapt to your new lives in an unfamiliar environment. There is common knowledge that women are more likely to adapt to changes faster than men especially when children engage in the change because of their maternal instincts which stimulate their sense of curiosity to find diverse ways to help their children cope with changing situations. Change can be a huge benefit for your marriage and a fantastic opportunity for your family to form the needed connection but may be missing due to the hustle and bustle of your lives in the past.Even though a new environment may bring a less chaotic and better life but that can also bring its own challenges too. Therefore, you must all learn new ways of doing things and adapt to changing situations too. Ask for help One of the challenges facing many couples in their ...

Captain Ben Gbulie played a key role in Nigeria’s first military coup of January 1966. He is one of the few surviving officers who plotted that coup. He put in prison when the coup failed, went to war on the side of Biafra, survived a gun wound and ended up in prison again at the end of the war. He wrote a book on the war but today tells us more about the war and speaks from his Trans Ekulu residennce in inEnugu on Gowon, Ojukwu, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, his position on the new agitation for Biafra and more. It’s a weekend delight. Enjoy it. MY TRAINING My name is Ben Gbulie, I am from Nimo in Njikoka local government area of Amanbra state. I joined the Nigeria army in March 1960; I was one of the pioneer trainees at Nigeria Military Training College, NMTC, in Kaduna in 1960. By July 1960 we completed the course and by September 1960, just before independence, those of us who were selected to go abroad were already in England. I was there at Mons Officers cadet school at Aldershot preparin...

Last week’s article started with one of my favourite phrases on corruption: ‘ identifying problems of Nigeria without mentioning corruption is corruption itself’. This is because virtually every Nigerian is seen by foreigners with the optical prism of corruption. The precarious state of our economy is believed to be more closely tied to the high level of corruption than the high level of insecurity or a major by-product of the two coupled with a low level of productivity. Again, last week’s article was tied to corruption in the public sector but most parts were unintentionally devoted to corruption at the lower rung of the public sector, probably because corruption in high places is normally publicised through many media channels. Or, probably because some of those nefarious activities at those lower levels are taken for granted as immaterial. Why, for example, should the pilfering or vandalisation of public buses by drivers be considered corruption? Or, why should printing and issuan...