Garbs’ Gabs
01
Oct
Nigeria Reset (Week 40): Nigeria at 66 – Japa or Stay?
At an airport departure gate, a Nigerian parent can hold two prayers in the same heart: that a child succeeds abroad, and that the dist...
24
Sep
Nigeria Reset (Week 39): Health Insurance That Actually Works
Health Insurance That Actually Works_
For decades, the promise of formal health insurance in Nigeria has remained largely out of rea...
17
Sep
Nigeria Reset (Week 38): The Youth Bulge Is Not the Threat. Bad Policy Is:
Nigeria’s young people are often discussed as though they were a danger waiting to happen. Politicians warn about unemployed graduates,...
14
Sep
When Arrogance Masquerades as Intellect: The Political Incoherence of Datti Baba-Ahmed
_Few spectacles in contemporary Nigerian politics are as painfully comic as Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed attempting to clean up a pol...
10
Sep
Nigeria Reset (Week 37): Before the Silence Becomes Final
(World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10, 2026)
_The graduate smiles while his dreams run dry,_
_The mother says “fine” while sh...
30
Aug
A Nigerian Passport Renewal Should Not Require Proof of an Ancestral Village
For millions living in the diaspora, keeping a valid home-country passport is more than a travel convenience. It is a lifeline to famil...
27
Aug
Nigeria Reset, Week 35: Exam Fraud as National Character Formation
“_The child who is not taught will sell the house that was built.” This Yoruba proverb warns that a society which neglects the moral fo...
20
Aug
Nigeria Reset (Week 34): Teachers as the Real Infrastructure
_No education reform can outperform the people who deliver it. Nigeria must recruit teachers on merit, prepare them properly, support t...
03
Aug
Nigeria Reset (Week 36): A National Apprenticeship Revolution
“When a child washes his hands clean, he may sit and eat with elders.”
Translated from the Igbo proverb, “Nwata kwọọ aka, ọ soro okeny...
02
Jul
Nigeria Reset (Week 27): When Illness Becomes a Gamble: Why Nigeria Must Fix Primary Healthcare Before It Is Too Late
There is perhaps no clearer measure of a nation’s priorities than the health of its people. A country may boast impressive economic sta...
28
Jun
THE CONTINENTAL RIFT: Bafana Bafana Stumble in World Cup Clash as Africa Watches Without Sympathy
*TORONTO* The atmosphere inside the transit bar at Toronto Pearson International Airport was already thick with the restless energy of ...
25
Jun
Nigeria Reset (Week 26): When the Climate Becomes a Security Threat: Why Nigeria Must Treat Climate Adaptation as National Defence
The Igbo have a proverb: “A na-amata onye ga-agba oso tupu mmiri amalite izo” meaning “A wise person prepares to run before the rain be...
18
Jun
Nigeria Reset (Week 25): The Farmer–Middleman War
The Hausa have a proverb: “Ruwa ba ya tsami banza.” Water does not become sour without a reason. It is a simple saying, but it captures...
16
Jun
When Kings Become Prey: The Desecration of Nigeria’s Sacred Traditional Institutions
There is an old African saying that when a king walks through the marketplace, the people do not merely see a man; they see their histo...
12
Jun
June 12: Democracy, My Foot?
*An Imaginary Democracy Day Speech by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, June 12, 2026*
My people!
I greet everybody.
I say make una come ne...
11
Jun
Nigeria Reset (Week 24): Why Nigeria Can’t Keep Food Cheap
The Yoruba have a saying: “BĂ ebi bá kĂşrò nĂnĂş iṣẹ, isáşą buse.” Loosely translated, it means that once hunger is removed from poverty, p...
06
Jun
THE DUST, THE DRUMS, AND MY OVERHEATING IPHONE
Decades abroad will make you forget a lot of things, but it took one viral video of the Ilorin Durbar to remind me that winter is a sca...
04
Jun
Nigeria Reset (Week 23): Agriculture Without Romance
Every planting season in Nigeria comes with familiar speeches. Politicians declare that agriculture is the future. Conferences are orga...
30
May
The C- President: Should Nigeria Promote Tinubu to the Next Class?
As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marks three years in office, Nigeria finds itself debating two competing realities.
The government ar...
28
May
Nigeria Reset (Week 22): Food Inflation Is National Security
As Muslims across Nigeria and many parts of the world celebrate Eid al-Adha, the festival once again reminds society of the deep spirit...
12
May
Nigeria Reset (Week 20): Mini-Grids and the New Independence
Nigeria has spent years arguing about electricity as if the only solution is a perfect national grid that works everywhere, all at once...
05
May
Nigeria Reset (Week 19): Peter Obi and the Search for Nigeria’s Blue Ocean
There are moments in politics when the wisest decision is not to fight harder inside a crowded room, but to leave the room and build a ...
30
Apr
Nigeria Reset (Week 18): Xenophobia in South Africa and What Nigeria Must Do Differently
here is something painful and unsettling about watching Africans turn their anger against other Africans. In South Africa, xenophobia h...
23
Apr
Nigeria Reset (Week 17): Power (Electricity) Is Nigeria’s Master Problem
In Nigeria, the sound of progress is drowned out by the incessant roar of generators. From barber shops to hospitals, these machines se...
18
Apr
Rhythm, Resistance, and the Mind: A Psychiatrist Reflects on Fela
From a psychiatric perspective, the work of Fela Kuti invites an unusual kind of attention. It resists easy categorization. It is n...
16
Apr
Nigeria Reset (Week 16): Police Reform That Isn’t Poetry
Police reform is one of Nigeria’s most recycled phrases. It appears after every scandal, every viral video, every tragedy that forces t...
15
Apr
Eid Mubarak to fellow Nigerians
Ramadan stands as a sacred period in the Islamic calendar, honored by Muslims globally through fasting, prayer, contemplation, and comm...
15
Apr
Letter to the Nigerian
Dear Nigerian,
I hope this message finds you in good spirits. I want to take a moment to write you, not just as a fellow N...
15
Apr
NYSC: My Child Won’t Be Silenced!
In the heart of our nation’s youth, a profound struggle is unfolding, and it’s time we not only recognize it but also take decisive act...
15
Apr
The Narrative Arc: Crafting Compelling Stories for Effective Collaboration
In the context of collaboration, the narrative arc serves as a framework for creating compelling stories that connect individuals, fost...
09
Apr
Nigeria Reset (Week 15): Justice Delayed as a Business Model
In Nigeria, the slow pace of justice is often explained away as a structural problem, too many cases, too few judges, inadequate fundin...
08
Apr
Leadership Without Limits? Why Nigeria Must Confront the Question of Capacity to Govern
In the past three years, Nigeria has witnessed a pattern of political decision making that has left many citizens asking a difficult bu...
02
Apr
Nigeria Reset (Week 14): The Arms-and-Anger Pipeline
Nigeria is often told that violence is simply a security problem, as if it begins when a gun is raised and ends when a patrol arrives. ...
19
Feb
Nigeria Reset (Week8): Institutions vs Strongmen
Nigeria is a country that loves the idea of the saviour. In every season of disappointment, the search begins again. We are told that w...
14
Feb
Murtala Muhammed: Hero or Villain? The Asaba Question
History loves clean labels. Nations prefer their leaders either cast in bronze or banished to footnotes. But some legacies refuse to be...
12
Feb
Nigeria Reset (Week 7): The Cost of Incompetence
Nigeria debates inflation the way people debate weather. It is everywhere, it is painful, and it is easy to blame. But there is another...
08
Feb
Real-Time or Real Doubt: Nigeria’s Senate, IReV, and the Cost of Electoral Ambiguity
The latest quarrel over electronic transmission of election results is being marketed to Nigerians as a technical footnote: a mere disp...
07
Feb
”This One is For Fela”
Nearly three decades after his passing, Fela Kuti again takes over social media, having been posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievemen...
06
Feb
Nigeria Reset (Week 6): The Local Government Lie: Why The Grassroots Can’t Deliver
Nigeria loves the phrase “grassroots development.” Politicians say it the way people say “God willing” or “In sha Allah” as a comfort l...
29
Jan
Nigeria Reset (Week5): Federalism That Works
Nigeria’s federalism is a strange creature. On paper, it is a federation. In daily life, it often behaves like a centralized system tha...
22
Jan
Nigeria Reset (Week4): The New Nigerian Social Contract
Nigeria is running on an old bargain that no longer holds. The state expects compliance, patience, and payment. Citizens expect securit...
16
Jan
A.B. Ahmed: The Satirist, the Standards, and the City That Stayed His Home
By His Younger Brother
Ottawa, January 16, 2026
A pen that never bowed to gold,
A voice that named the truth, then h...
15
Jan
Nigeria Reset (Week3): From Tribe to Transaction: Nigeria’s Next Democratic Upgrade
Nigeria has mastered the ritual of election season. The posters rise, the slogans multiply, the air fills with prophecy and warning. Th...
08
Jan
Nigeria Reset (Week2): The Politics of Pain: When Suffering Becomes Strategy
On a Monday morning in Nigeria, pain doesn’t arrive with fanf...
01
Jan
Nigeria Reset (Week1): Nigeria Is Not Poor, It Is Leaking
Nigeria is not impoverished like a barren wasteland; rather, it resembles a bucket riddled with holes. Despite t...
25
Dec
The Dangers of Sensationalism: Channels TV and the Maiduguri Mosque Bombing
As a Nigerian in the diaspora, I watch our country from a distance with a mix of pride and pain. Pride because Nigerians remain stubbor...
14
Dec
Two Africas in one auditorium: Lumumba’s moral imagination vs the “Machine” frame
Happy 50th Anniversary University of Ilorin. Since the celebration, I have listened to forwarded Prof Lumumba’s speech severally and ea...
22
Nov
The Ten Rules of “Tinubulitics”
To understand contemporary Nigerian politics, it is no longer enough to ask who Bola Ahmed Tinubu is. The more useful question is: what...
14
Nov
Power Struggles and Vulnerability in Nigeria’s Fragile Democracy
The recent altercation between the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, and military personnel protecting the propert...
03
Nov
Nigeria, Religious Freedom, and What Actually Helps
Whenever the U.S. tags Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC), the headlines hit hard and anxiety spreads fast. But before ...
01
Oct
From Independence Day to Nigeria Day: Embracing Our True Freedom
As we approach the end of the day that marks Nigeria's so-called Independence Day, it is imperative to reflect on the meaning...
01
Oct
Nigeria at 65: Resilience and Reflection
On October 1, 2025, Nigeria stood poised to celebrate her 65th Independence Day, embodying the essence of a seasoned elder, weathered y...
22
Sep
The Wrongly Condemned Martyr of September 22
Thirty-six years ago, a man departed this world on the exact date he was born, sixty years earlier. Not many people leave this life on ...
14
Sep
The Hidden Toll: Occupational Hazards in Forensic Psychiatry and the Impact of Trauma
https://youtu.be/cexcbtul8Ao?si=o5l-9N__nCPYmHvs
Th video clip above offers insight into the occupational hazards faced by...
01
Sep
Patriotism Earned, Not Forced
According to various sources, on October 26, 2020, in the small town of Massalata, Niger, 27-year-old American missionary Philip Walton...
01
Sep
Patriotism Earned, Not Forced
According to various sources, on October 26, 2020, in the small town of Massalata, Niger, 27-year-old American m...
29
Aug
Rekindle the Flame
Inspired by this poignant song "Vanishing Family Bonds" by Nishi Malhotra, I find myself reflecting on the fragil...
28
Aug
Rekindle the Flame
Inspired by this poignant song "Vanishing Family Bonds" by Nishi Malhotra, I find myself reflecting on the fragile threads that weave f...
19
Aug
Onome’s Journey: From Darkness to Hope
First and foremost, we all must salute Onome for his extraordinary courage. He stands not only as a survivor but also as an ambassador ...
10
Aug
Nigeria’s Deadly Indifference
The tragic death of Senator Ibrahim Musa Kontagora is not merely a misfortune; it is a glaring indictment of a system that has, over ti...
08
Aug
Flask, Fame, and Flight Delays: The K1 Airport Chronicles
In a land where celebrity status often reigns supreme, the K1 Airport Saga unfolded like a poorly scripted reality show, complete with ...
03
Aug
The Empowered African Woman Through Fela Kuti’s Lens
Fela Kuti, the legendary Nigerian musician and activist, had a unique ability to capture the essence of African life through his music....
02
Aug
Fela Kuti: The Voice of a Nation
Fela Kuti, the father of Afrobeat, was not only a revolutionary musician but also a powerful activist whose music reflected the socio-p...
14
Jul
Falling Standards in Nigeria: A Comedy of Errors and Consequences
Have you ever wondered how we arrive at the mysterious numbers that now pass as the minimum admissible scores for our esteemed tertiary...
13
Jul
Reflections on Leadership: The Complex Legacy of Late President Muhammadu Buhari
Late President Muhammadu Buhari, who passed away on July 13, 2025, left behind a complex legacy that evokes both commendation and criti...
13
Jul
Mortality and Final Wishes Inspired by BB King’s “One Kind Favor”
BB King's song "One Kind Favor" encapsulates the poignant themes of mortality, remembrance, and the deep-seated d...
22
Jun
The Cry of a Fulani Boy with a Lost Father
In fields once vibrant with the light of knowledge,
Our ancestors' wisdom now dims in the shadows.
Once revered for peace, we now...
10
Jun
A Taste of Caribou: Memories of the North
As the clock ticked towards 2 AM on Friday, April 5th, I found myself reflecting on the whirlwind of emotions tha...
09
Jun
Tinubu, the Political Maestro and His Comedic Symphony of Alliances
PBAT is like that one friend who always manages to be in the spotlight, whether you like it or not. He’s the guy ...
08
Jun
Risk, Response and Rights of Accident Victims in Nigeria
In a country where over 4 million people may be injured and as many as 200 000 potentially killed yearly as the r...
01
May
Ruling From Inside The Rock
https://youtu.be/-tFQva6dhP8?si=RX5WIR68ec-AB1JG
Hakeem’s departure from Aso Rock signals a tremor in Nigeria’s political ...
20
Apr
Trump, Trade Wars, and Afrobeats: A Satirical Take
As a Nigerian reading about the grand circus that is international trade, let me present my take on Trump’s trade war and its implicati...
19
Apr
Pride of the Lion: Tribute to homeland
We shall rise again.Go on, the indomitable Lion of Africa.My home....
17
Apr
Bought Police, Sold Sovereignty: Is This Corruption?
Ah, the joys of globalization! As if we weren’t already balancing our cuisines with a Chinese takeout while vibing to Afrobeats on our ...
14
Apr
Trust Erosion in Nigeria – From Private Life to Public Life
Trust refers to a belief or confidence in the reliability, integrity, and honesty of another person or entity. Tr...
14
Apr
The Narrative Arc: Crafting Compelling Stories for Effective Collaboration
In the context of collaboration, the narrative arc serves as a framework for creating compelling stories that con...
12
Apr
NBC’s Ban on Tell Your Papa: Gagging Nigerian Voices
In a troubling move that raises serious concerns about freedom of expression in Nigeria, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has...
12
Apr
NBC’s Ban on Tell Your Papa: Gagging Nigerian Voices
In a troubling move that raises serious concerns about freedom of expression in Nigeria, the National Broadcastin...
15
Mar
NYSC: My Child Won’t Be Silenced!
In the heart of our nation’s youth, a profound struggle is unfolding, and it’s time we not only recognize it but ...
08
Mar
Happy International Women’s Day
A reverberating testimony to “our culture of corruption” - leading to a high maternal mortality rate, a high infa...
24
Feb
A Journey in Nation Destruction by IBB: 440 Pages of Lies and Tales of Sabotage”
IBB destroyed Nigeria. He killed mercilessly, stole mindlessly, manipulated and lies endlessly. This guy has no c...
22
Feb
Maradona and husband dribbles on 440 pages
In his autobiography, "A Journey in Service," IBB offers a comprehensive and introspective look into the life of ...
05
Jan
Nigeria’s Corruption Perception Index: A Masterclass in Malfeasance
Welcome to the captivating world of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), where Nigeria proudly wears its badge...
03
Jan
Exploiting Dishonesty to Highlight the Issue of Dishonesty: The Manipulation of Justice in Nigeria – A Case Study of Farotimi’s Arrest and Detention
The manipulation of justice in Nigeria is a pervasive issue that taints the very fabric of the legal system and r...
24
Dec
Christmas Caroling From Puerto Rico to Port Harcourt
As the festive season is upon us, the sound of Christmas carols rings out across the globe, weaving a tapestry of...
23
Dec
Declaring A War Against Stereotyping Nigerians as Cybercriminals: A Call to Action:
For many years, the global perspective on cybercrime has unjustly cast Nigerians as the main offenders. This harm...
17
Dec
“Lonely at the top” – The Solitude of Leadership:
This piece draws influence from Asskę’s song, with same title, reimagined as follows:
08
Dec
Silencing the Parrot: A Tale of Truth and Treachery
A Personal Journey: The Farce of Corruption at Abuja Airport
Ah, Ab...
08
Dec
A Personal Journey: The Farce of Corruption at Abuja Airport
Ah, Abuja Airport! Often hailed as the more civilized counterpart of Nigeria’s primary travel gateways (LOS), it promised a respite fro...
03
Dec
A trance stroll in New Bussa of my memory
Pull up a chair, fellow student, if you can find one not reserved for a politician who seem to have taken up perm...
15
Oct
Open Letter #2 to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Dear President Tinubu,
I hope this letter finds you in good health ...
14
Oct
Our Thief is Our Thief”:A Comedic Ode to Acceptance in Nigeria
In the colorful multi-tongued and bi-religion of Nigerian life, there’s a curious adage that rings true: “Our thi...
05
Sep
Dreams of Death: Shadows of Losses
(Caution: This may be too emotional for it was written in tears)
In...
01
Mar
Empowering the Nigerian for National Progress
Citizenship in any country goes beyond legal standing; it encompasses a complex array of rights, privileges, and ...
05
Feb
You cannot effectively represent us if you are not living among us
In politics, the primary responsibility of elected representatives is to serve the needs of the people they repre...
01
Feb
Rejuvenation and Resolve: Celebrating Black Narratives Amidst Transformative Times
(Being the transcript of a speech delivered by Prof AG Ahmed, MD, LLM, FRCPC on Feb 24, 2024 at an ABC’s event co...
23
Jan
Preserving Standalone Mental Health Facilities: Nurturing Research, Education, and Quality Care in Nigeria
Mental health is a significant concern in Nigeria, with a high prevalence of mental health disorders and limited ...
17
Jan
The Beauty of Contrast
(_A poem dedicated to life)
Hark! In existence, one must needs acqu...
17
Jan
Confessions of a Highlife Music Lover: A Passionate Affair with Nigeria’s Rhythmic Heritage
(Home sick with flu not COVID, I checked, writing becomes a companion)
13
Jan
The Quest: Unraveling the Difference Between Six and Half a Dozen
(A short story to cope with minus 33 degree Centigrade outside)
The...