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Table of Contents Potentials or Promises Coat of Strength Coat of Power Coat of Prosperity Coat of Dignity Let’s write about Nigeria’s coat of arms. If properly valued, it represents Nigeria’s coat of many potentials: strength, power, fertility, and dignity. It is also an indelible agreement that if Nigerians resist the temptations of thievery, selfishness, and corrupt practices, and if they work hard, they are assured of a promise of peace, happiness, and prosperity. The coat of arms constantly reminds Nigerians of their potential, and the promises of a better future if they can, at least for once put their acts together, think like mature people, and exercise a little common sense in their daily activities. Nigeria’s coat of arms is for the undesirables a continuous coat of many potentials but for the remnants of a true Nigeria, it is a coat of many promises. Potentials or Promises Suppose Nigerians can put aside all childish political behaviours, kleptomanias, and all-me-first a

Table of Contents Nigeria’s Pledge The President’s Mandate Loyalty to the President or the Constitution? In recent years, the Nigerian polity has been bedeviled by one general term, ‘mandate.’ As years passed, the term mandate gained more ground and replaced the allegiance or any public or private declaration of loyalty to Nigeria, as a country. The contract the people signed with the country was gradually torn into bits by the politicians (or leaders) and by extension, the citizens, (and foreigners living in Nigeria). The current political and economic climate of Nigeria is the main reason for this article. The people have openly rejected Nigeria’s Pledge and have taken recourse to different political mandates of some politicians. The aim here is to bring to the fore the salient points of Nigeria’s Pledge against the mandate of the president. Nigeria’s Pledge The clear and concise words of Professor Felicia Adebola Adedoyin in 1976 describing the terms of the Nigerian oath of

Table of Contents The gods of our Time Cries from different Continents Your Freedom and God That was the cry of a teenager brooding and mourning the brutal massacres of women and children by armed men and women in their town. What does that mean? Well, it means that people are flaunting divine authority or moral law as if they are gods. It means that the objective rules or values have been thrown away, rejected, or ignored by many men and women. They can do whatever they want, and they often get away with it. There seems to be no ultimate accountability or judgment for their actions. They force their interpretation of freedom, purpose, and meaning of life on others. The gods of our Time Some might think that the teenager’s cry for help portends a scary or nihilistic view of the world. The teenager’s forlorn hope contends that there’s no God, hence, the chaos and anarchy in the world. In every corner of the earth, it appears that people have lost their sense of morality and compassi

Table of Contents The Myth of Sisyphus Misconceptions of Ownership Path to Togetherness, Tolerance, Understanding, Respect for Each other One thing with any myth is that it is conceived without proof and transmitted from one generation to another as a matter of convention. At times, it goes on to help shape or form a people’s mindset and can lead to different extreme beliefs and disputes. Palestinian and Israeli territorial narratives are becoming mythical to both insiders and outsiders, ingroups and outgroups, and many inimical political actors and neighbours who take advantage of Palestinian-Israeli little foibles to fan the flame of hatred, violence, and war. To the Palestinians and Israelis, it is not a myth; it is real. It is about survival; it is about their heritage. It is about true peace, harmony, and togetherness. What will bring peace in the Middle East, or peace between the Palestinians and Israelis? Many have asked. If Palestine or Israel does not exist or have no plac

Table of Contents Before the February 25, 2023, General Election During the Election – 2023 After the Election – 2023 The Verdicts – 2023 Moving Forward The insouciant and nonchalant comportment of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the face of angst that has inbuilt despair among Nigerians is the reason for writing about Nigeria’s February 25, 2023, presidential election, and the outcome. Yes, it’s seven months after the election was conducted by INEC and the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) verdicts in Abuja on September 6, 2023. Some argued that the entire election was marred with violence, rigging, and corrupt practices and some others argued that it was the freest election ever held in Nigeria, by Nigerians (not ‘Nigeriens’) and for Nigerians. After the results were announced and Mr Ahmed Bola Tinubu was declared winner, his opponents filed petitions alleging that it was a rigged system. In this writing, an attempt will be made to describe

Table of Contents What is a Tyranny? What is Commonsense? The gradation of tyrannies in Africa Tyranny of the Elites The Tyranny of Grifters The Tyranny of Ends Inoculation of Corruption or Inculcate Common Sense The political, economic, and social situations of Africa in general and Nigeria in particular have provoked my interest in writing about tyrannies and common sense. Africa has plentiful tyrannies but only scanty common sense. Their leaders have limited knowledge to process sense-perceptions, imaginations or even remember histories. The narrative is about a variety of tyrannical inclinations, reasonings, or duties as against what comes naturally like common sense. To start, I would like to give the dictionary definitions of tyranny and common sense so that you can figure out how common sense contrasts tyrannical inclinations or reasonings.    What is a Tyranny? Most dictionaries, such as Britannica, Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster consider tyranny as “any political