Ruyi's World of Books & Stories

By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D. Twitter:  @farooqkperogi The novel coronavirus is not only devastating humankind, it is also disrupting the settled certainties and spiritual verities of religious fanatics for whom atavistic and superstitious frames of reference are the only ways to make sense of the world around them. I’ll start from fringe members of my own religious community. When the new coronavirus first emerged in China, a lunatic fringe of the Nigerian Muslim community celebrated it and said it was Allah’s punishment against China for mistreating its Muslim minority population. They said the clearest indication that it was divine pestilence to avenge the persecution of Chinese Muslims could be seen in the fact that all Chinese people were compelled to cover their whole bodies in ways that were reminiscent of the sartorial choices Allah enjoined Muslims, especially Muslim women, to make, which China denies its Muslim minority. I recall telling a religious crackpot who...

By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D. Twitter:  @farooqkperogi I was one of seven professors who facilitated a leadership training in my university here in Georgia for local government chairmen from a major Nigerian southwestern state. In the course of the training, I adverted to a January 13, 2018 column I wrote about how power literally damages the brains of people who wield it and causes them to be dissociated from reality. A few of the chairmen at the training initially said they “rejected” what I said “in Jesus’ name.” But the more I expounded the research on the psychology of power, the less resistant they became. In the light of the interest it excited among these local power wielders, I thought I’d share a revised version of the column for the benefit of other people in power.   On Nov. 20, 2014, Buhari, Amaechi, Oyegun and other APC honchos protested in Abuja against the increased insecurity and killings in the country. Insecurity and killings are worse on...

By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D. Twitter: @farooqkperogi As a scholar and teacher of journalism, I am troubled by an emerging character of Nigeria’s diasporan and homeland digital-native news formation, which had functioned as alternative outlets for the sort of critical journalism that the homeland legacy news media have abandoned.  They start by attracting attention to themselves through what seems like uncompromisingly adversarial journalism against venality in government. But just when they succeed in persuading people to invest faith in their journalistic integrity, they cash out and become indistinguishable from, and sometimes worse than, the compromised homeland legacy media they were thought to be an alternative to. It started from Elendu Reports, the first successful diasporan citizen media outfit, which, after sensationally unmasking high-profile corruption in the high reaches of government in Nigeria in 2005, turned around to furtively serve as “media consult...

President Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in for a second four year term on Wednesday May 29, 2019. Under normal circumstances, there should be proof that you have done enough to earn or merit such privilege. A man should not be given any mandate to rule because of his political affiliation, tribe, ethnic or religion. For a president that has done little or nothing in the last four years, the reactions from the people should be loud enough to retire him. With what is on ground or the current situation of Nigeria, Buhari does not deserve a second term. One wonders why he still has the mandate to lead majority of Nigerians who are sad, demoralized and depressed from his years of misrule. There have been more cases of mediocrity than excellence since 2015. Except he makes the right decisions and see Nigeria from a broader perspective, we are only going to reinforce failure. Under Buhari’s rule, crime rate has increased. Kidnapping, banditry and killings of innocent Nigerians ...

LeBron James calls President Trump a ‘Bum’ and thinks Obama was the ‘best ever.’ His fans listen to him because he has a talent for basketball and buying huge mansions. The letter writer below, a sports journalist, tells the truth, the truth that applies to most celebrities on the left. It's a GREAT Letter to Lebron from former Houston news reporter Hal Lundgren. January, 2019 Mr. Lebron James The Los Angeles Lakers  2275 E. Mariposa Ave.  El Segundo, CA 90245 Dear Mr. James: No one in my circles discusses French Modernist artists. That comforts me. Such a conversation would expose me as an illiterate on French Modernism, just as I am an illiterate on cooking and many other things. When I know nothing on a subject, my mouth stays closed. That's at least one difference in us. You are an economics illiterate. You prove it often. The dishonest ‘reporters’ who cover you want to be your buddy. They won't embarrass you by being honest journalists and treat your...