Personality in Focus
Prof Akintoye Fully Committed to Yoruba Self-Determination
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By Kayode Emola YSDM Team
Over the last week, Sahara Reporters have released a number of media items alleging that Prof Banji Akintoye is “secretly” supporting the campaign for Tinubu’s presidency. This is not only untrue and libellous but disruptive and frankly dangerous. The Tinubu Support Group (TSG) must immediately cease associating the erudite Professor of History with the 2023 general elections.
The Yoruba people have, on numerous occasions over the last four years, stated their unequivocal desire to have a country of their own separated from Nigeria. We are on course to fulfil that mandate for the Yoruba people.
Neither Akintoye nor the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM) endorses Tinubu, nor any candidate, for any election in Nigeria. We have made our position clear from the start: we do not want anything to do with Nigeria. We will pursue our goal using all available legal instruments in international law.
In his message on Omoluka TV, Prof Akintoye refuted all rumours of his involvement with any group supporting politicians. He went on to describe the article by Sahara Reporters as a “shoddy piece of journalism.” Neither Prof Akintoye nor any self-determination group has endorsed any political party. This position remains, and will continue to remain, their stance at this time. In his own words, Prof Akintoye stated that, “all the southern politicians vying for political offices in the Federal level will fail in the coming national elections and will eventually return home.”
The Yoruba Self-determination Movement is a sophisticated movement seeking to liberate the Yoruba people from the shackles of Nigeria. Sahara Reporters should ensure that they do not continue to peddle lies and unfounded stories, bringing the high calling of journalists into disrepute.
Such detractors as are fabricating lies regarding Prof Akintoye and YSDM secretly endorsing the Elite Mobilisation Initiative to support Tinubu should desist with immediate effect.
Our message to the Yoruba people both at home and abroad, and to the Nigerian government, is clear. We want our own separate Yoruba country and we are not backing down. It is not our concern who becomes the president of Nigeria; our sole concern is for the welfare of the Yoruba people.
Veteran Nollywood actor, Pete Edochie has declared Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ as the greatest African book of all-time.
Speaking in a recent interview with TV3, Edochie explained that ‘Things Fall Apart’ is the greatest African book ever written because it tells the African story.
He stated that the book wouldn’t have been as popular as it is if it were telling the story of the colonisers.
He pointed out that many other African authors have also made efforts in telling African stories since ‘Things Fall Apart’ but none is as “strong” as it.
“The reason why ‘Things Fall Apart’ is the greatest book ever written on the African continent is because it is telling our own story.
“If it had been telling the story of the White man, it won’t be that popular. Many others have made efforts since then but not as strong as ‘Things Fall Apart’,” he said.
He urged African writers and creatives to focus on telling African stories, stressing that it would be their unique strength on the global stage.
The movie star, however, lamented that Africans were allowing their talents to be submerged by embracing foreign influences.
“We Africans permitted our talents to be submerged by overseas influences. I remember once upon a time I was being called Elvis Presley and John Wayne.
“I actually enjoyed answering those names but at some point I had to discard them and pick a name that’s culturally relevant to me. Then I went back to the root and started answering Uwadiegwu,” he added.
Source: DailyPost
Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature for her inventive writing and her engagement with the classical tradition. Her work brings together poetry, criticism, translation and narrative, expanding the forms through which contemporary literature can tell stories.
Born in Toronto in 1950, Carson trained as a classicist and has combined writing with university teaching and translation throughout her career. Her interest in the origins and meanings of words informs both her scholarship and her poetry. Ancient texts provide material for her explorations of desire, grief, identity and human relationships.
Her translations include If Not, Winter (2002), a rendering of Sappho’s surviving poetry that preserves the gaps between fragments. She has also translated plays by Sophocles and Euripides, bringing the language and conflicts of Greek tragedy into contemporary expression.
Carson’s writing gained increasing recognition during the 1990s. “The Glass Essay,” published in Glass, Irony, and God (1995), combines the experience of a relationship’s end with reflections on Emily Brontë, family life and solitude. Its movement between personal narrative and literary interpretation demonstrates her freedom in working across genres.
Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse (1998) remains among her most celebrated works. Drawing on fragments by the ancient Greek poet Stesichoros, Carson reimagines the winged red monster Geryon as a young person discovering photography, desire and heartbreak. The book places his experiences at the centre of a story traditionally associated with the exploits of Herakles.
Her later publications continue this experimentation. Float (2016) consists of twenty-two chapbooks that readers can approach in any order. Wrong Norma (2024) brings together varied prose pieces, extending her interest in the possibilities of short, loosely connected forms.
Carson has also collaborated with visual artists, choreographers and theatre and opera directors. These projects carry her writing into performance and establish connections between literature and other arts.
The award recognises a career devoted to close attention to language and continual experimentation with form. Through translation, poetry and collaboration, Carson has made classical literature an active part of contemporary writing.
Souce:Classic Books.
Abia State governor, Alex Otti, and Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, have expressed sadness over the death of Abia-born Squadron Leader Ahamefule Aham Man-Ugwueje, one of the pilots of the Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft, NAF 931, which crashed in Igbokoda, Ondo State, on Monday.
Governor Otti, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, described Squadron Leader Man-Ugwueje’s death and those of other military personnel aboard the Nigerian Air Force plane as painful and devastating.
“This accident is both painful and devastating, because it has brought untold sorrow and anguish to the victims’ families, their friends and loved ones, the Nigerian Air Force, and the nation at large.”
Governor Otti regretted that Squadron Leader Man-Ugwueje perished in the air disaster barely two weeks after he wedded his beloved wife, Flight Lieutenant Damilola Adekunle, in Abuja, a sad development he said has robbed the couple of the opportunity of spending their lives together as husband and wife.
The governor, on behalf of his family, the government and people of Abia State, commiserated with the families of the victims, the people of Umuahia where Squadron Leader Man-Ugwueje hailed from, the Nigerian Air Force and the Federal Government of Nigeria, and prays for the peaceful repose of their souls in God’s bosom.
In his own message, Senator Kalu commiserated with the Nigerian Air Force over the loss of the Air Force personnel and others in the Ondo plane crash.
The former governor of Abia State, while expressing sadness over the loss, extended his heartfelt sympathy to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, the entire Nigerian Air Force and the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident.Describing the incident as painful and heartbreaking, Kalu said the death of personnel who devoted themselves to the service of the country is a huge loss to the Nigerian Air Force and the nation.
“I extend my heartfelt sympathy to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, and the entire Nigerian Air Force over this painful loss.
“My thoughts and prayers are especially with the families who have lost their loved ones. Losing men and women who dedicated themselves to serving and protecting our country is indeed a tragedy for all Nigerians.
“At this difficult moment, I pray that God comforts their families, colleagues and loved ones, and gives them the strength to bear this irreparable loss.
“May the souls of the departed rest in peace,” Kalu said.
He urged the Nigerian Air Force to remain strong in the face of the tragedy, noting that the sacrifices of its personnel in the service of the country would always be remembered.
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