At c.N3.5trn, Nigeria’s annual post-harvest losses are over 9 times higher than Agric budget for 2024.

Our first insight was at Benue State, where a staff of the Agric Ministry said:"If you go to my Local Goverment, you will begin to Cry."

So, we drove to the Local Government.

In Ikyobo Village, a farmer (Atsaga) owns over 10k orange trees on 215 hectares of land.

But the big oranges have become a burden, rotting away and falling off. He now PAYS labourers to strip the trees bare so new ones can sprout.

No offtakers.
No mordern storage facilities.

1. Observing Eid in Ibadan after a long, long while today brought back memories of Alhaji Suara Busari Haruna, the late Chief Imam of Ibadanland. I also remember now perhaps the most dramatic Eid Prayer Ibadan has seen since '99.

It was at the height of Adedibu Vs. Ladoja tango. 2. Chieftaincy/religious affairs are central to politics of Ibadan. The Agodi Eid is, thus, one of those places politicians test their popularity (or obscurity). The big guns are invested in performative theatrics of Eid: Adeojo. Lam. Ladoja. Adedibu. Arisekola. Raji Rasaki...

1. In the way that news flowed back in the (pre-Twitter) day, the death of a celebrity could remain unknown to many for days.

But Gbenga Adeboye died and the news shook the foundation of Lagos/Yorubaland almost, almost immediately.

That was 19 years ago. 2. Before May 30th 2003, he had died before dying. Two or so years earlier, he was pronounced dead. But he "resurrected", and, afterwards, sauntered into the studio to record 'Aye Toto', by far his most dreadful, enchanting ouvre ever.

#Alaafin: Death is A Unifier

1.Sometime in July 2010, the Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi Atanda Adeyemi and former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala were locked in a mortal kombat. The unifying subject? Death.

#Thread 2.Alaafin Adeyemi alleged that Akala connived with the Commanding Officer of the Special Anti-robbery Squad SCID, Oyo, to terminate his life in his palace on the pretext that they were investigating a murder case. Alao-Akala and the Police denied the claim.

Sunday #igboho - a conflict entrepreneur - would not abandon a 'struggle' with money-spinning potential just like that. Anyone familiar with his antecedent as political mercenary would know this. His attacks on #Ooni aside, that he has jumped from Ibarapaland to Ogun ...state, with paparazzi in tow, is a confirmation of the anyhow-ness that drives his 'activism'. Those familiar with his perennial, if laughable, interventions in Islamic jurisprudence and his 'struggle for the emancipation of the Yoruba race', would not be surprised.

I am listening to Saidi Osupa’s new album, PERMUTATION, and I am worried about the very little recognition the artiste often gets for his brilliance/artistry. In the light of the frenzy generated by that @burnaboy-K1 duet, I reckon now that the issue isn’t wholly about Osupa. 2. It’s partly about Fuji as an indigenous African art.
Frankly, poverty of ambition is perhaps Fuji’s greatest albatross and it's evident not only in the artistes but in every aspect of the (Fuji) ecosystem. I keep my thoughts on this for now, at least. Back to Osupa.

By tomorrow, December 16, it'll be exactly 9 years since the death of that Fuji god, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. Ayinde’s arts are all shades of beauty & wonder captured in irresistible rhythm. To my mind, it’s a shame that the accolades/recognition have been few and far between. 2. First off, it’s quite tempting to approach much of Ayinde Barrister’s arts as by-products of introspection. In his immensely popular album, REALITY, he painted a rather pitiful picture of the fratricidal forces he had to contend with, far far away from the klieglights.