I have tried, what would you say about me?

I agree with most of your submissions. However, i would not place Simon Kolawole as number One. I think his closeness to Segun Adeniyi has an effect on some of his write ups. I hold the same opinion of him but i think he gets too carried away and whips up unnecessary sentiments sometimes (i.e ThisDay on Sunday 13-09-2009 "Do Yorubas hate Arik?", just like Abati. They are both intelligent and have sound knowledge of countemporary issues but they tend to pontificate more often than necessary. I am a fan of ThisDay because of Simon anyway.

Luke Onyekayekah always sounds too technical. He writes mostly on UN MGDPs i.e affordable water, global warming etc. Edwin Madunagu is quintessential, a friend of none and higly independent minded but glorifies the ruthless Leninists at times. He possesses an unrivalled dialetical ability, and not given to trivialities. Another Guardian writer, Banji Adisa should have made your list. He is also interesting.

Azu Punch is still powerful but i think his designation takes most of his time now. Casmir too is very good,  doesn't mince words. Joseph Adeyeye is budding and very interesting. He doesn't assume too much. Yomi Odunuga was just writing Abuja notes then i think.

The Duro Onabules, Dimgba Igwe, Mike Awoyinfa, Femi Adeshina are sometimes limited by their employers, I suppose.

Dele Momodu with all due respect because as an Undergraduate then at Ife, he was our role model. But now, i think what he does most times is to write about the countries he has visited, the cuisines he had been priviledged to consume etc. I also think his Ovation Magazine helps promote the get-rich quick syndrome, a precursor to corruption , drug trafficking, money laundering etc. in Nigeria.

Mohammed Haruna is truly intelligent but with the likes of Jega, you would think Daily Trust was founded just to antagonize OBJ just like Tinubu's The Nation can't be taken too serious, some of the writers are sectional and lopsided in their thinking.

I know Prof. GbadegesinThe Nation, he is my namesake, a former lecturer at OAU. His junior brother was my lecturer too. He's an Harvard Professor of African Studies. But you can't help noticing the Afenifere agenda and anti-PDP sentiments in his write-ups.

Jarus:

Very excellent analysis there, pcicero! I always feel at home discussing with like-analytical-minds.

Thank you, I'm flattered.

What I actually admire about Simon is his simple and straight forward analysis. Add sense of humour and detribalized nature to that and you will have a quintessential Simon Kolawole. He is still a junior columnist compared to veterans like Duro Onabule, Edwin Madunagu, Reuben Abati, Haruna Mohammed, Kola Animashaun but his analyses of issues are usually thought provoking. In fairness to him, I don't think his closeness to Segun Adeniyi has deterred him from baring his mind on the Yar'adua administration.

Well said.


Yes, Luke Onyekayekah was the guy I tried recalling his surname in my first analysis. He is too technical. You are very observant. You also spoke my mind in all the qualities of Edwin Madunagu you mentioned from not discussing trivialities to his leninist bend. I hardly read both of them because the issues they discuss hardly interest me. Most times, I just glance through first and last paragraphs of their columns, but I think I read Edwin more. I read Banji Adisa too but can't decipher his mind. But like other Guardian columnists, he also sounds too serious and technical and sometimes boring.

I think Luke Onyekakeyah is good for research stuffs.

I reason with you, Azu's 'dip in form' may not be unconnected to his recent elevation that sees him running all the Punch titles. I believe he's just struggling with time to write now. His piece in 2006 after the series of air mishaps, titled BLOOD IN THE SKIES and another masterpiece titled DARE TO TAKE ON YOUR LEGISLATOR, written sometime around 2006 too, remain the best I have read from him. The guy is too much.
Joseph Adeyeye is still upcoming let's wait and see whether he will stand teh test of time. He comes to NL, I know.
You're spot on on Casmir too.

I love them so much.

I agree with you. These guys just have to do the bidding of Kalu or at least the editor will 'edit' their writings.
Good to know you are also a 'Great Ife'. I was a core Awoite and the most consistent columnist with 'Economic Insight', the Press outfit of my department from 2003-2006. Dele is also Great Ife. I share same opinion with you on him.
Which set were you in Ife?

I left Ife in 2002. I was in SRC (Arts Constituency) and Transport Committee of the Student Union. I stayed in Awo Hall (Block 5,6 and7) all through. Was a close friend of Burkina. I wrote briefly for Voice of Awoites when one of my classmates was the Hall Secretary (2001-2002).


Much as the paper is struggling to be truly national, Daily Trust truly appears to be a Northern newspaper but Its reportage of Abuja news is the best. It is the paper that keeps me updated about what si happening in Abuja. I also have a 'crush' for Sokoto since I served there a couple of years ago, and DT serves me news from my third home(Kwara is my first home, Lagos second and Sokoto third).
Jega is very brilliant and good with words. Haruna is also a wordsmith, but more senior and experienced, having been in the business of journalism for about three decades. I don't however think Jega is that lopsided. It is Haruna that fits that description more. Haruna is an unrepentant defender of the north. There was a time he and Dare Olatunji exchanged diatribes over June 12 issues in their respective columns. It was an interesting challenge and I followed their war of columns for weeks then.

They are there to give the "Lagos/ Ibadan" press are good run for their money. They always think that the likes of Punch, Guardian, ThisDay are bent towards the South. Had no choice than to read it while serving in Taraba.

So Gbadegesin was a former Ife lecturer. Good to know that.

Yes, he was in Philosophy with the likes of Dr Fashina, Moses Oke and co.

Finally, if you can't list your top 10, who will you give the prize to as Nigeria's best columnist in your opinion?


Still compiling
Cheers

mbulela:

jarus, Jarus!!
You and this your list.i suprise say you no put Segun Adeniyi

1. Ijeoma Nwaogugu - was my number one until she refused to apologise for her arrogance that was evident in a write up during the recent bank saga.
In spite of her refusal to apologise and my public stance not to read her again, i still hide my tails behind my legs and peep at her article.She is that good.


The list don finish.

aisha2:

I use to Love Simon Kolawole, would always stop on my way from church to buy thisday sunday even though i could read it online, felt i owed him that much. But Since this YarAdua Saga, He is neither here no there, his indept analysis is missing, he gives some shallow and Apologistic arguements. I have writeen to him to air my views
One columnist I am growing to respect is Funke Ebga-------, cant get the full and correct spelling, she writes for Sun, saturdays and sundays, sunday politics, saturday family, she strikes the right cord and she a smart

aisha2:

I use to Love Simon Kolawole, would always stop on my way from church to buy thisday sunday even though i could read it online, felt i owed him that much. But Since this YarAdua Saga, He is neither here no there, his indept analysis is missing, he gives some shallow and Apologistic arguements. I have writeen to him to air my views
One columnist I am growing to respect is Funke Ebga-------, cant get the full and correct spelling, she writes for Sun, saturdays and sundays, sunday politics, saturday family, she strikes the right cord and she a smart

Jarus:

Funke Egbemode

AjanleKoko:

Well, I only read BusinessDay, and no other newspaper. I think it's the best business paper out there. Stopped reading all those political newspapers a long time ago.
Although BD 'falls' my hand occasionally with some silly stories like 'And The Ministers Laughed', some nonsense front page material about how all the ministers were laughing when they should be working. That kind of nonsense belongs only in City People!

Anyway my best columnists in BD are Ogho Okiti, Prof. Ok. Jemie, and JK Randle. I like the 'old money' quality of Randle. Those men don't pour out the usual Nigerian vituperations, they write good prose, and entertain you with their experience and humour.
There's also an old interview series running, of Chinweizu. As you may have guessed. I am strongly anti-imperialist, and pro-Black.
Then of course I read the FT syndications.

I think most of those guys you mention suck. Azu right now has some issues with a former subordinate, Simon Kolawole just plays to the gallery, Reuben Abati is irrelevant, and Casmir is just whipping up sentiments, not really producing good writing. I remember someone ticking him off one time when he was gushing about Fashola's achievements, asking him how many Welsh politicians were praised so shamelessly in the papers  when he was at Cardiff. I kind of liked that.


In fact, have you guys every thought about the Nigerian media and the mindset of the people that read them?

Typical columnists write like this: Nigeria is bad bad bad, leaders are bad, country is bad, everything is bad, we are dead, Lord, help us!

Typical response to the columnist: Columnist, God bless you for writing this. In fact, your children's children are blessed for ever. In fact even, come and collect my two daughters for marriage. You are too brilliant, you are too smart. You are too correct. Nigeria is truly bad bad bad, leaders are bad bad bad, everything is bad, we are dead, God help us! Thank you for writing this, and keep writing stuff like this!

See why I only read BusinessDay?

AjanleKoko:

Well, I only read BusinessDay, and no other newspaper. I think it's the best business paper out there. Stopped reading all those political newspapers a long time ago.
Although BD 'falls' my hand occasionally with some silly stories like 'And The Ministers Laughed', front page material o! about how all the ministers were laughing when they should be working. That kind of nonsense belongs only in City People!

Anyway my best columnists in BD are Ogho Okiti, Prof. Ok. Jemie, and JK Randle. I like the 'old money' quality of Randle. Those men don't pour out the usual Nigerian vituperations, they write good prose, and entertain you with their experience and humour.
There's also an old interview series running, of Chinweizu. As you may have guessed. I am strongly anti-imperialist, and pro-Black.
Then of course I read the FT syndications.

I think most of those guys you mention suck. Azu right now has some issues with a former subordinate, Simon Kolawole just plays to the gallery, Reuben Abati is irrelevant, and Casmir is just whipping up sentiments, not really producing good writing. I remember someone ticking him off one time when he was gushing about Fashola's achievements, asking him how many Welsh politicians were praised so shamelessly in the papers when he was at Cardiff. I kind of liked that.


In fact, have you guys every thought about the Nigerian media and the mindset of the people that read them?

Typical columnists write like this: Nigeria is bad bad bad, leaders are bad, country is bad, everything is bad, we are dead, Lord, help us!

Typical response to the columnist: Columnist, God bless you for writing this. In fact, your children's children are blessed for ever. In fact even, come and collect my two daughters for marriage. You are too brilliant, you are too smart. You are too correct. Nigeria is truly bad bad bad, leaders are bad bad bad, everything is bad, we are dead, God help us! Thank you for writing this, and keep writing stuff like this!
See why I only read BusinessDay?

mbulela:

she comes across as a street wise lady.
very smart and can be witty.
she used to edit Independent and i think before that she was at Punch (Jarus, correct me if i am wrong on that last bit).

Jarus:

I also read BD. I like Dr. Ogho Okiti too, but my favourite is Opeyemi Agbaje.

AjanleKoko:

You go like am na. He writes soppy Nigerian political idealistic stuff

AjanleKoko:

Well, I only read BusinessDay, and no other newspaper. I think it's the best business paper out there. Stopped reading all those political newspapers a long time ago.
Although BD 'falls' my hand occasionally with some silly stories like 'And The Ministers Laughed', front page material o! about how all the ministers were laughing when they should be working. That kind of nonsense belongs only in City People!

Anyway my best columnists in BD are Ogho Okiti, Prof. Ok. Jemie, and JK Randle. I like the 'old money' quality of Randle. Those men don't pour out the usual Nigerian vituperations, they write good prose, and entertain you with their experience and humour.
There's also an old interview series running, of Chinweizu. As you may have guessed. I am strongly anti-imperialist, and pro-Black.
Then of course I read the FT syndications.

mbulela:

Is there no contradiction in the two sentences above?
As it concerns the first sentence, i am neither of both.
I am strongly pro-human, irrespective of skin colour.

Kabikala:

My romance with Nigerian columnists

I first became fascinated with newspapers and newsmagazines in my secondary school days when I would stay glued to very old editions of Drum and Spear magazines which were subscribed to by my uncle who lived just next door to us. Daily newspapers such as Times, Sketch, Tribune and Concord were also a delight to read as I became educated on the various tendencies of the politicians of the second republic in their attempt to win the people’s votes. In the process, I succeeded in broadening my horizon compared to my peers as I got to know the meaning of words like “Lilliputian”, ever before reading Gulliver’s Travels. What attracted me to a write-up then was its ability to communicate in a simple and sensible manner to a young mind like mine, and to make interesting reading. (The same reason I loved Cyprian Ekwensi much more than Chinua Achebe). Of course, my experience was shaped considerably by the limited variety of newspapers I had access to as my parents were not literate or buoyant enough to subscribe to newspapers. I had to always rely on my uncle’s supplies, which though not diverse, was regular.
The first column that caught my fancy then was by a writer named Wakabout who wrote for Lagos Weekend, a tabloid that was published every weekend and is usually filled with news of marriage divorces with all the salacious details which usually appealed to less-serious minded folks. I always looked forward to each edition and was really pained when they stopped publishing. I also discovered Sam Akpabot, a professor at the University of Ibadan who maintained a weekly column with the Daily Sketch of which I was a faithful devotee then. His column was actually focused on sports and he made it a point of duty to predict the results of matches to be played by the Green Eagles, as the Super Eagles were called then. He always had very beautiful explanations as to why his predictions did not come to pass; which is more the rule than the exception. And the commonest excuse was that the coach failed to listen to his advice on team selection and technical approach. His fortune-telling skill appears to be rooted on a combination of clairvoyance and knowledge of soccer, though always difficult to know which one formed the more tangible basis for his predictions. In the Nigerian Tribune, I liked reading Tai Solarin’s State of the Nation, Ayekooto by Bisi Onabanjo as well as Periscope.
The first time I read Ndaeyo Uko’s column in the Daily Times, I was so mesmerized and awed by his ability to process humor and satire in beautiful prose. He remained one of my all-time favorite columnists. I felt a sense of loss when his column was no longer featured in the paper as I learnt he left the country abroad for greener pastures.
I had a thing for Doyin Osagie-Okojie’s column titled Lipstick in Vanguard and that was my first experience with a female columnist. Chris Okojie (Doyin’s husband) ran a column titled Outraged on the inside back page of Vanguard newspaper and found an interactive way to discuss sports using combative language; this also piqued my interest. I did not know what happened to both of them as they also seemed to have melted into thin air. Perhaps, they also relocated abroad for a better life. Like Chris Okojie, Ade Ojeikere who was running a similar sports column in ThisDay some years back is a writer I admire for his expressiveness and passion. He recently got back to doing the same for the Nation newspapers.
The late 80s and early 90s witnessed the booming of soft-sell magazines like Prime People, Vintage People, TopLife, Hints, Hearts, Sweetheart and the likes. The next generation of writers I fell in love with were some of the writers in these magazines. I then began to appreciate writers who could bring out interesting perspectives from entertainment, fashion and life generally. Toni Kan who was writing for Hints then thrilled me to no end, but I also admired the writings of Helon Habila, Goke Jaiyesimi and Kayode Ajala. I first came across Reuben Abati through his column in Hints magazine then and he was also one of the writers I admire a lot. May Ellen Ezekiel’s MEE and You column in Classique magazine also thrilled me immensely, and to a lesser extent, RMD’s Adlib column. Among the group of celebrity journals like Fame, Global Excellence, Treasure, City People and Climax (what a name!), I grew to like the writings of Femi Akintunde Johnson (FAJ Live), Mayor Akinpelu, Dele Momodu (Pendulum) and Funke Egbemode.
The period of tyranny under the successive regimes of Buhari, Babangida and Abacha created a lot of psychological challenges for a young person like me seeing oppression face-to-face and being powerless to deal with them. I found succor in columnists who took on the government on behalf of the rest of us. I therefore started becoming less fascinated by style, and became more enamored by substance and abiding principles. It then became difficult for me to enjoy beautiful prose white-washing government’s tyrannical actions or worse still, avoiding having to address them. My search for crusaders drifted my focus to writers who squared it up with government by criticizing unpopular policies and actions of government officials. I was told of the quintessential style of Dele Giwa but could not appreciate him before he was killed as I was only a teenager by then. With the repeated assault on my psyche as a citizen by successive Nigerian governments through various oppressive actions, I gradually began to define my favorite columnists along three streams: those with substance and style, those with substance and less style, and those with style and little substance, a categorization I still use till the present moment.
The first group which represents those I can not do without include writers mainly from the Guardian newspaper stable such as Okey Ndibe (now in The Sun), Sonala Olumhense, Paul Nwabuikwu (before he joined government and disappeared from the radar), Peter Claver Oparah, Luke Onyeakakah, and Levi Obijiofor. Back page columnists in The Nation such as Idowu Akinlotan and Marijata as well as in ThisDay such as Eni-B and Yusuph Olaniyonu also appealed to me. As far as I am concerned, ThisDay’s Simon Kolawole is one of the greatest writers in Nigeria. With his brilliance and unique style, he could, using simple prose, passionately drive home a point. I quite appreciate the humanity in him and would never forget some of his forgivable temperamental outbursts when he described Anyim Pius Anyim as a “mass of protoplasm”, paraphrasing Chuba Okadigbo. Godwin Agbroko was another great columnist I cherished. I always loved Femi Osofisan’s articles the few times he manages to put one up. I liked Joe Igbokwe except on occasions when he was unable to shed his partisan inclination which always beclouds his perspectives on certain matters. Ishaq Moddibbo Kawu of New Nigerian is a grade one writer in my reckoning, and Mohammed Haruna less so.
In more recent times, online writers like Michael Egbejumi-David and Pius Adesanmi also thrilled me with their unique styles. I marveled at the latter’s description of Bode George’s trial as the “Gelefication of corruption”. Such wordsmiths! Mobolaji Aluko, another online writer, does not pretend to be a style-driven columnist, but I enjoy his analytical approach all the same. Aliyu Tilde also strikes a good cord with me. I also rate The Perceptor column in SaharaReporters very highly.
The second group included writers that are generally acknowledged as fine columnists but I have failed to appreciate, try as I might. It included writers like Adebayo Williams who used to write for Newswatch magazine and Edwin Madunagu who still maintains a weekly column with the Guardian. Ijeoma Nwagwuwu who tries to discuss economics on the back page of ThisDay also belongs in this group as is Odia Ofeimun. I am sure there are many more like these writers whose articles I must have come across at one time or the other (like the Newswatch trio) but they just could not strike a chord with me. Perhaps I am a lazy reader. Brilliant writers they apparently must be as acknowledged by others, I just couldn't understand them. Even with extraordinary efforts to digest their writings, I failed to be enticed by their over-intelligent analysis. I guess my IQ just couldn’t cope. These folks struck me by their ability to take government to task on their various policies and actions, or propounding new ideas, but I just could not process and synthesize their writings.
The third category is actually a burgeoning group as I keep adding more columnists from the first group to this group based on my observations that their motives were not always altruistic. I regard them as excellent writers whose writings must be enjoyed, but would not take a chance with assuming that these columnists actually believe all that they preach about. For example, I moved Segun Adeniyi into this category immediately he became Yar’Adua’s mouthpiece and I now tended to look at his past criticism of government actions as a strategy to get attention. I think the right word is Opportunism. Azubuike of the Punch is, in my reckoning, firmly ensconced in this group. Reuben Abati and Dele Momodu script beautiful articles, but I just have found it rather difficult to trust them. They are still hovering on the fringes as I am yet to decide whether they belong here or in the first group and I am actually bidding my time on them. Chidi Amuta of ThisDay relocated here a few weeks back when his devotion to IBB could no longer be disguised. Good writer he is, in my reckoning, but shallow on principles. There is another small category under this group and it includes writers who appeal to me with their peculiar styles but do not address political and governance issues primarily; Onoshe Nwabuikwu (Airtime in ThisDay and later in The Punch newspaper) and the Dear Bunmi problem-solving columnist in The Vanguard.
I will end this piece by going a little off-course. There was this guy in the newspaper industry that I really loved (only God knows where he is presently). Albert Ohams, though not a columnist, was a talented cartoonist with an unbeatable sense of humor. I will never forget one of his cartoons where he depicted an accused person in court being defended by a lawyer. I will try to recount the piece as best as I can.
The lawyer, while pleading his client’s case grabbed him and said,
“My Lord, it is totally unfathomable that this short and tiny man could be accused of defiling this 6 feet tall and very huge woman. Look at his stature, look at his height, even look at his organ, tiny and miniscule”, (the lawyer said, grabbing the man’s focal places).
The accused man whispered to the lawyer,
“Oga Lawyer, softly softly touch my thing o. If the thing wake up penren, we go lose this case o!”

Kabikala:

My romance with Nigerian columnists

I first became fascinated with newspapers and newsmagazines in my secondary school days when I would stay glued to very old editions of Drum and Spear magazines which were subscribed to by my uncle who lived just next door to us. Daily newspapers such as Times, Sketch, Tribune and Concord were also a delight to read as I became educated on the various tendencies of the politicians of the second republic in their attempt to win the people’s votes. In the process, I succeeded in broadening my horizon compared to my peers as I got to know the meaning of words like “Lilliputian”, ever before reading Gulliver’s Travels. What attracted me to a write-up then was its ability to communicate in a simple and sensible manner to a young mind like mine, and to make interesting reading. (The same reason I loved Cyprian Ekwensi much more than Chinua Achebe). Of course, my experience was shaped considerably by the limited variety of newspapers I had access to as my parents were not literate or buoyant enough to subscribe to newspapers. I had to always rely on my uncle’s supplies, which though not diverse, was regular.
The first column that caught my fancy then was by a writer named Wakabout who wrote for Lagos Weekend, a tabloid that was published every weekend and is usually filled with news of marriage divorces with all the salacious details which usually appealed to less-serious minded folks. I always looked forward to each edition and was really pained when they stopped publishing. I also discovered Sam Akpabot, a professor at the University of Ibadan who maintained a weekly column with the Daily Sketch of which I was a faithful devotee then.  His column was actually focused on sports and he made it a point of duty to predict the results of matches to be played by the Green Eagles, as the Super Eagles were called then. He always had very beautiful explanations as to why his predictions did not come to pass; which is more the rule than the exception. And the commonest excuse was that the coach failed to listen to his advice on team selection and technical approach. His fortune-telling skill appears to be rooted on a combination of clairvoyance and knowledge of soccer, though always difficult to know which one formed the more tangible basis for his predictions. In the Nigerian Tribune, I liked reading Tai Solarin’s State of the Nation, Ayekooto by Bisi Onabanjo as well as Periscope.
The first time I read Ndaeyo Uko’s column in the Daily Times, I was so mesmerized and awed by his ability to process humor and satire in beautiful prose. He remained one of my all-time favorite columnists. I felt a sense of loss when his column was no longer featured in the paper as I learnt he left the country abroad for greener pastures.
I had a thing for Doyin Osagie-Okojie’s column titled Lipstick in Vanguard and that was my first experience with a female columnist. Chris Okojie (Doyin’s husband) ran a column titled Outraged on the inside back page of Vanguard newspaper and found an interactive way to discuss sports using combative language; this also piqued my interest. I did not know what happened to both of them as they also seemed to have melted into thin air. Perhaps, they also relocated abroad for a better life. Like Chris Okojie, Ade Ojeikere who was running a similar sports column in ThisDay some years back is a writer I admire for his expressiveness and passion. He recently got back to doing the same for the Nation newspapers.
The late 80s and early 90s witnessed the booming of soft-sell magazines like Prime People, Vintage People, TopLife, Hints, Hearts, Sweetheart and the likes. The next generation of writers I fell in love with were some of the writers in these magazines. I then began to appreciate writers who could bring out interesting perspectives from entertainment, fashion and life generally. Toni Kan who was writing for Hints then thrilled me to no end, but I also admired the writings of Helon Habila, Goke Jaiyesimi and Kayode Ajala. I first came across Reuben Abati through his column in Hints magazine then and he was also one of the writers I admire a lot. May Ellen Ezekiel’s MEE and You column in Classique magazine also thrilled me immensely, and to a lesser extent, RMD’s Adlib column. Among the group of celebrity journals like Fame, Global Excellence, Treasure, City People and Climax (what a name!), I grew to like the writings of Femi Akintunde Johnson (FAJ Live), Mayor Akinpelu, Dele Momodu (Pendulum) and Funke Egbemode.
The period of tyranny under the successive regimes of Buhari, Babangida and Abacha created a lot of psychological challenges for a young person like me seeing oppression face-to-face and being powerless to deal with them. I found succor in columnists who took on the government on behalf of the rest of us.  I therefore started becoming less fascinated by style, and became more enamored by substance and abiding principles. It then became difficult for me to enjoy beautiful prose white-washing government’s tyrannical actions or worse still, avoiding having to address them. My search for crusaders drifted my focus to writers who squared it up with government by criticizing unpopular policies and actions of government officials. I was told of the quintessential style of Dele Giwa but could not appreciate him before he was killed as I was only a teenager by then. With the repeated assault on my psyche as a citizen by successive Nigerian governments through various oppressive actions, I gradually began to define my favorite columnists along three streams: those with substance and style, those with substance and less style, and those with style and little substance, a categorization I still use till the present moment.
The first group which represents those I can not do without include writers mainly from the Guardian newspaper stable such as Okey Ndibe (now in The Sun), Sonala Olumhense, Paul Nwabuikwu (before he joined government and disappeared from the radar), Peter Claver Oparah, Luke Onyeakakah, and Levi Obijiofor. Back page columnists in The Nation such as Idowu Akinlotan and Marijata as well as in ThisDay such as Eni-B and Yusuph Olaniyonu also appealed to me. As far as I am concerned, ThisDay’s Simon Kolawole is one of the greatest writers in Nigeria. With his brilliance and unique style, he could, using simple prose, passionately drive home a point. I quite appreciate the humanity in him and would never forget some of his forgivable temperamental outbursts when he described Anyim Pius Anyim as a “mass of protoplasm”, paraphrasing Chuba Okadigbo. Godwin Agbroko was another great columnist I cherished. I always loved Femi Osofisan’s articles the few times he manages to put one up. I liked Joe Igbokwe except on occasions when he was unable to shed his partisan inclination which always beclouds his perspectives on certain matters. Ishaq Moddibbo Kawu of New Nigerian is a grade one writer in my reckoning, and Mohammed Haruna less so.
In more recent times, online writers like Michael Egbejumi-David and Pius Adesanmi also thrilled me with their unique styles. I marveled at the latter’s description of Bode George’s trial as the “Gelefication of corruption”. Such wordsmiths! Mobolaji Aluko, another online writer, does not pretend to be a style-driven columnist, but I enjoy his analytical approach all the same. Aliyu Tilde also strikes a good cord with me. I also rate The Perceptor column in SaharaReporters very highly.
The second group included writers that are generally acknowledged as fine columnists but I have failed to appreciate, try as I might. It included writers like Adebayo Williams who used to write for Newswatch magazine and Edwin Madunagu who still maintains a weekly column with the Guardian. Ijeoma Nwagwuwu who tries to discuss economics on the back page of ThisDay also belongs in this group as is Odia Ofeimun. I am sure there are many more like these writers whose articles I must have come across at one time or the other (like the Newswatch trio) but they just could not strike a chord with me. Perhaps I am a lazy reader. Brilliant writers they apparently must be as acknowledged by others, I just couldn't understand them. Even with extraordinary efforts to digest their writings, I failed to be enticed by their over-intelligent analysis. I guess my IQ just couldn’t cope. These folks struck me by their ability to take government to task on their various policies and actions, or propounding new ideas, but I just could not process and synthesize their writings.
The third category is actually a burgeoning group as I keep adding more columnists from the first group to this group based on my observations that their motives were not always altruistic. I regard them as excellent writers whose writings must be enjoyed, but would not take a chance with assuming that these columnists actually believe all that they preach about. For example, I moved Segun Adeniyi into this category immediately he became Yar’Adua’s mouthpiece and I now tended to look at his past criticism of government actions as a strategy to get attention. I think the right word is Opportunism. Azubuike of the Punch is, in my reckoning, firmly ensconced in this group. Reuben Abati and Dele Momodu script beautiful articles, but I just have found it rather difficult to trust them. They are still hovering on the fringes as I am yet to decide whether they belong here or in the first group and I am actually bidding my time on them. Chidi Amuta of ThisDay relocated here a few weeks back when his devotion to IBB could no longer be disguised. Good writer he is, in my reckoning, but shallow on principles. There is another small category under this group and it includes writers who appeal to me with their peculiar styles but do not address political and governance issues primarily; Onoshe Nwabuikwu (Airtime in ThisDay and later in The Punch newspaper) and the Dear Bunmi problem-solving columnist in The Vanguard.
I will end this piece by going a little off-course. There was this guy in the newspaper industry that I really loved (only God knows where he is presently). Albert Ohams, though not a columnist, was a talented cartoonist with an unbeatable sense of humor. I will never forget one of his cartoons where he depicted an accused person in court being defended by a lawyer. I will try to recount the piece as best as I can.
The lawyer, while pleading his client’s case grabbed him and said,
“My Lord, it is totally unfathomable that this short and tiny man could be accused of defiling this 6 feet tall and very huge woman. Look at his stature, look at his height, even look at his organ, tiny and miniscule”, (the lawyer said, grabbing the man’s focal places).
The accused man whispered to the lawyer,
“Oga Lawyer, softly softly touch my thing o. If the thing wake up penren, we go lose this case o!”

Kabikala:

My romance with Nigerian columnists

I first became fascinated with newspapers and newsmagazines in my secondary school days when I would stay glued to very old editions of Drum and Spear magazines which were subscribed to by my uncle who lived just next door to us. Daily newspapers such as Times, Sketch, Tribune and Concord were also a delight to read as I became educated on the various tendencies of the politicians of the second republic in their attempt to win the people’s votes. In the process, I succeeded in broadening my horizon compared to my peers as I got to know the meaning of words like “Lilliputian”, ever before reading Gulliver’s Travels. What attracted me to a write-up then was its ability to communicate in a simple and sensible manner to a young mind like mine, and to make interesting reading. (The same reason I loved Cyprian Ekwensi much more than Chinua Achebe). Of course, my experience was shaped considerably by the limited variety of newspapers I had access to as my parents were not literate or buoyant enough to subscribe to newspapers. I had to always rely on my uncle’s supplies, which though not diverse, was regular.
The first column that caught my fancy then was by a writer named Wakabout who wrote for Lagos Weekend, a tabloid that was published every weekend and is usually filled with news of marriage divorces with all the salacious details which usually appealed to less-serious minded folks. I always looked forward to each edition and was really pained when they stopped publishing. I also discovered Sam Akpabot, a professor at the University of Ibadan who maintained a weekly column with the Daily Sketch of which I was a faithful devotee then. His column was actually focused on sports and he made it a point of duty to predict the results of matches to be played by the Green Eagles, as the Super Eagles were called then. He always had very beautiful explanations as to why his predictions did not come to pass; which is more the rule than the exception. And the commonest excuse was that the coach failed to listen to his advice on team selection and technical approach. His fortune-telling skill appears to be rooted on a combination of clairvoyance and knowledge of soccer, though always difficult to know which one formed the more tangible basis for his predictions. In the Nigerian Tribune, I liked reading Tai Solarin’s State of the Nation, Ayekooto by Bisi Onabanjo as well as Periscope.
The first time I read Ndaeyo Uko’s column in the Daily Times, I was so mesmerized and awed by his ability to process humor and satire in beautiful prose. He remained one of my all-time favorite columnists. I felt a sense of loss when his column was no longer featured in the paper as I learnt he left the country abroad for greener pastures.
I had a thing for Doyin Osagie-Okojie’s column titled Lipstick in Vanguard and that was my first experience with a female columnist. Chris Okojie (Doyin’s husband) ran a column titled Outraged on the inside back page of Vanguard newspaper and found an interactive way to discuss sports using combative language; this also piqued my interest. I did not know what happened to both of them as they also seemed to have melted into thin air. Perhaps, they also relocated abroad for a better life. Like Chris Okojie, Ade Ojeikere who was running a similar sports column in ThisDay some years back is a writer I admire for his expressiveness and passion. He recently got back to doing the same for the Nation newspapers.
The late 80s and early 90s witnessed the booming of soft-sell magazines like Prime People, Vintage People, TopLife, Hints, Hearts, Sweetheart and the likes. The next generation of writers I fell in love with were some of the writers in these magazines. I then began to appreciate writers who could bring out interesting perspectives from entertainment, fashion and life generally. Toni Kan who was writing for Hints then thrilled me to no end, but I also admired the writings of Helon Habila, Goke Jaiyesimi and Kayode Ajala. I first came across Reuben Abati through his column in Hints magazine then and he was also one of the writers I admire a lot. May Ellen Ezekiel’s MEE and You column in Classique magazine also thrilled me immensely, and to a lesser extent, RMD’s Adlib column. Among the group of celebrity journals like Fame, Global Excellence, Treasure, City People and Climax (what a name!), I grew to like the writings of Femi Akintunde Johnson (FAJ Live), Mayor Akinpelu, Dele Momodu (Pendulum) and Funke Egbemode.
The period of tyranny under the successive regimes of Buhari, Babangida and Abacha created a lot of psychological challenges for a young person like me seeing oppression face-to-face and being powerless to deal with them. I found succor in columnists who took on the government on behalf of the rest of us. I therefore started becoming less fascinated by style, and became more enamored by substance and abiding principles. It then became difficult for me to enjoy beautiful prose white-washing government’s tyrannical actions or worse still, avoiding having to address them. My search for crusaders drifted my focus to writers who squared it up with government by criticizing unpopular policies and actions of government officials. I was told of the quintessential style of Dele Giwa but could not appreciate him before he was killed as I was only a teenager by then. With the repeated assault on my psyche as a citizen by successive Nigerian governments through various oppressive actions, I gradually began to define my favorite columnists along three streams: those with substance and style, those with substance and less style, and those with style and little substance, a categorization I still use till the present moment.
The first group which represents those I can not do without include writers mainly from the Guardian newspaper stable such as Okey Ndibe (now in The Sun), Sonala Olumhense, Paul Nwabuikwu (before he joined government and disappeared from the radar), Peter Claver Oparah, Luke Onyeakakah, and Levi Obijiofor. Back page columnists in The Nation such as Idowu Akinlotan and Marijata as well as in ThisDay such as Eni-B and Yusuph Olaniyonu also appealed to me. As far as I am concerned, ThisDay’s Simon Kolawole is one of the greatest writers in Nigeria. With his brilliance and unique style, he could, using simple prose, passionately drive home a point. I quite appreciate the humanity in him and would never forget some of his forgivable temperamental outbursts when he described Anyim Pius Anyim as a “mass of protoplasm”, paraphrasing Chuba Okadigbo. Godwin Agbroko was another great columnist I cherished. I always loved Femi Osofisan’s articles the few times he manages to put one up. I liked Joe Igbokwe except on occasions when he was unable to shed his partisan inclination which always beclouds his perspectives on certain matters. Ishaq Moddibbo Kawu of New Nigerian is a grade one writer in my reckoning, and Mohammed Haruna less so.
In more recent times, online writers like Michael Egbejumi-David and Pius Adesanmi also thrilled me with their unique styles. I marveled at the latter’s description of Bode George’s trial as the “Gelefication of corruption”. Such wordsmiths! Mobolaji Aluko, another online writer, does not pretend to be a style-driven columnist, but I enjoy his analytical approach all the same. Aliyu Tilde also strikes a good cord with me. I also rate The Perceptor column in SaharaReporters very highly.
The second group included writers that are generally acknowledged as fine columnists but I have failed to appreciate, try as I might. It included writers like Adebayo Williams who used to write for Newswatch magazine and Edwin Madunagu who still maintains a weekly column with the Guardian. Ijeoma Nwagwuwu who tries to discuss economics on the back page of ThisDay also belongs in this group as is Odia Ofeimun. I am sure there are many more like these writers whose articles I must have come across at one time or the other (like the Newswatch trio) but they just could not strike a chord with me. Perhaps I am a lazy reader. Brilliant writers they apparently must be as acknowledged by others, I just couldn't understand them. Even with extraordinary efforts to digest their writings, I failed to be enticed by their over-intelligent analysis. I guess my IQ just couldn’t cope. These folks struck me by their ability to take government to task on their various policies and actions, or propounding new ideas, but I just could not process and synthesize their writings.
The third category is actually a burgeoning group as I keep adding more columnists from the first group to this group based on my observations that their motives were not always altruistic. I regard them as excellent writers whose writings must be enjoyed, but would not take a chance with assuming that these columnists actually believe all that they preach about. For example, I moved Segun Adeniyi into this category immediately he became Yar’Adua’s mouthpiece and I now tended to look at his past criticism of government actions as a strategy to get attention. I think the right word is Opportunism. Azubuike of the Punch is, in my reckoning, firmly ensconced in this group. Reuben Abati and Dele Momodu script beautiful articles, but I just have found it rather difficult to trust them. They are still hovering on the fringes as I am yet to decide whether they belong here or in the first group and I am actually bidding my time on them. Chidi Amuta of ThisDay relocated here a few weeks back when his devotion to IBB could no longer be disguised. Good writer he is, in my reckoning, but shallow on principles. There is another small category under this group and it includes writers who appeal to me with their peculiar styles but do not address political and governance issues primarily; Onoshe Nwabuikwu (Airtime in ThisDay and later in The Punch newspaper) and the Dear Bunmi problem-solving columnist in The Vanguard.
I will end this piece by going a little off-course. There was this guy in the newspaper industry that I really loved (only God knows where he is presently). Albert Ohams, though not a columnist, was a talented cartoonist with an unbeatable sense of humor. I will never forget one of his cartoons where he depicted an accused person in court being defended by a lawyer. I will try to recount the piece as best as I can.
The lawyer, while pleading his client’s case grabbed him and said,
“My Lord, it is totally unfathomable that this short and tiny man could be accused of defiling this 6 feet tall and very huge woman. Look at his stature, look at his height, even look at his organ, tiny and miniscule”, (the lawyer said, grabbing the man’s focal places).
The accused man whispered to the lawyer,
“Oga Lawyer, softly softly touch my thing o. If the thing wake up penren, we go lose this case o!”

ola olabiy: my God! why have you all forgotten dare babarinsa of TELL magazine? king of style. he's my man in the 90's. was it epilogue or something?
and (sports)mumuni alao. they're many, dele momodu(then), kunle bakare, toni kan, rueben abati, wale olomu, tosan(motoring), desola bakare, kunle ajibade(thenews), and many others.