The Creativity Site

By Abraham Salawu Behind every student struggling academically is a story that may not be visible on their report card. While poor examination results are often attributed to laziness, lack of seriousness or inadequate preparation, the actual problems affecting students' academic performance can be much deeper. In many classrooms, some students struggle to concentrate, understand lessons, complete assignments or retain what their teachers have taught. Others appear physically present during lessons but are mentally disconnected from the learning process. For some, the problem is excessive engagement with mobile phones and social media. For others, it is the influence of friends, an unfavourable learning environment, emotional difficulties, hunger or pressure from home. Academic performance is not determined by intelligence alone. It is also influenced by psychological, social, environmental and family-related factors. To understand these challenges beyond academic records and exami...

  By Samuel Ashiwel We share the same flag, the same anthem, and the same map. But we do not share the same Nigeria. One Nigeria is for those who own the state. The other Nigeria is for those who endure the state. And between these two Nigerias lies a gap no budget can fix, because the gap is not in money. It is in the mind. The Two Nigerias Inside One Country There are not two political parties in Nigeria. There are two cultures. The culture of the poor masses and the culture of those in power. And in between them, the confused culture of the elite masses who are not in power but desperately want to look like those in power. The poor masses wake up to survive the day. Their culture is built around endurance. How to find transport. How to pay for light that never comes. How to explain to their children why the school has no teacher. Their language is manage. Their prayer is God abeg. Those in power wake up to preserve their tomorrow. Their culture is built around entitlement. How t...

  By Samuel Ashiwel They do not want you rich. A rich man cannot be controlled with a bag of rice. They do not want you poor enough to revolt either. They want you exactly where you are — managing, begging, surviving — because a man who is busy surviving will never have time to question why he is suffering. The Business Model Poverty in Nigeria is not an accident. It is a business model. Look at the pattern. Every election cycle, the same people who refused to build factories suddenly remember how to share sewing machines. The same people who refused to fund schools suddenly share exercise books with their faces printed on them. The same people who killed the hospitals suddenly pay hospital bills for cameras. This is not generosity. This is maintenance. They are maintaining the poverty that keeps them relevant. A leader who builds industries will create workers who can pay their own rent. Workers who pay their own rent do not need to kneel for stipends. And a citizen who does not k...

  By Samuel Ashiwel They do not need guns to rule us anymore. They have discovered something cheaper and more effective than bullets. They have taught us to be afraid of ourselves. And a man who is afraid of his own shadow will never fight the man who stole his house. Fear As A System Of Governance Power does not always arrive with sirens. Sometimes it arrives as a whisper in your ear that tells you to mind your business. In Nigeria, fear is no longer an emotion. It is an institution. It is budgeted for. It is deployed like police vans during elections. The wicked do not rule because they are stronger than us. They rule because they have convinced us that challenging them will cost us everything. Look around you and you will see the architecture of fear standing tall. The civil servant who sees money meant for drugs disappearing into private pockets. He knows it is wrong. He wants to speak. But he remembers that his colleague who spoke last year was transferred to a place where no ...

By Samuel Ashiwel Corruption did not break into Nigeria like an armed robber. We invited it in like a house help. We gave it food, we gave it a name, we gave it a chair. At first it only stole a little sugar from the kitchen. Today it owns the house, and we are the tenants begging for a place to sleep. That is the tragedy of this country. We did not wake up to find a corrupt system. We raised it from infancy, excused its childhood thefts, and celebrated its adulthood. HOW A NATION LEARNED TO STEAL FROM ITSELF The mistake we make is to think corruption started at the top. It did not. It started at the bottom, where nobody was watching. It started in 1962 when a primary school headmaster asked for one shilling extra to release a testimonial and parents called him wise. It started when a produce officer in the Western Region stamped a cocoa bag as Grade One when it was Grade Three, because the farmer was his cousin. It started when we told a young girl that if she wants to pass, she shoul...

  By Victor Olubiye Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas head the list of winners at the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony held at the London Palladium in England on Monday night, October 26. Kane claimed the Men's Ballon d'Or, while Putellas won the women's top prize, highlighting an evening that celebrated individual excellence, coaching achievements and team performances in men's and women's football. The ceremony also saw Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Vicky López recognised in the young player categories, while Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona received the men's and women's club awards, respectively. Kane's victory marked a major milestone for English football, with the Bayern Munich striker becoming the first Englishman to win the men's award since Michael Owen in 2001. The England captain also collected the men's goalscoring award, further underlining his impact during the 2025/2026 season. Putellas, meanwhile, added a third Women's Ballon d...

  By Samuel Ashiwel To understand the depth of our present decay, you must remember the height of our past. We were not always like this. This country once placed honour above wealth. In the Western Region of the early 1960s, Chief Obafemi Awolowo ran what was arguably the most accountable government in our history. It was not a rich government. It was a disciplined government. Every penny of the marketing board revenue was debated and tracked. Free education was not a miracle of charity, it was a product of planning and sacrifice. In that era, a public officer caught diverting one pound did not need to be jailed by a court. The public verdict of shame ended him. Shame was a heavier chain than any prison wall. In the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, wielded near absolute power, yet he cultivated a reputation for personal austerity. The story that endures in the North is not of palaces he built, but of how he lived simply and died with little personal property to his...

  By Victor Olubiye As the cost of meeting basic needs continues to put pressure on Nigerian households, parents, teachers and students are finding different ways to cope with financial difficulties. For some families, providing food, paying school fees and meeting other household expenses has become increasingly challenging. Yet, beyond the struggles, some Nigerians are advocating budgeting, additional sources of income, contentment and community support as practical ways to navigate difficult times. In this interview with The Creativity Site, Mrs Awe Dupe Adebola, a mother of three and school proprietress, shares her experiences of the economic situation, the importance of teaching children financial responsibility and why love and generosity remain essential in difficult times. The Creativity Site: How has the current economic situation affected your ability to provide for your family? Mrs Awe Dupe Adebola: The more we work, the less we get. Expenses are higher than income. We ...

  By Victor Olubiye Awosina Kehinde Johnson, popularly known as DokTur Awo, has emerged President of the Federation of Ijesa Students’ Union (FISU), following an election in which he contested unopposed. The election, held on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Ilesa Grammar School, Ilesa, Osun State, saw DokTur Awo secure 59 votes, while two votes were declared void by the 2026 FISU Electoral Chairman. His emergence marks a new chapter in the leadership of the federation, which represents students across the six local government areas of Ijesaland. DokTur Awo, a student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, hails from Okun Compound, Imesi-Ile, in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State. Before his emergence as FISU President, he served as President of the Obokun Students’ Union (OBSU) from 2025 to 2026 and President of the Imesi-Ile National Students’ Union (INSU) from 2023 to 2025. His leadership experience also includes serving as FISU National Electoral Secretary in 2024, Direc...

  They do not need to snatch every ballot box to stay in power. They only need to keep you hungry, broke, and politically blind. In Nigeria today, poverty is not a failure of government. Poverty is the strategy of government. Illiteracy is not an accident. It is the tool. This is the unspoken secret of Nigeria's corridor of power. Political actors have discovered that the easiest citizen to rule is the one who is too poor to say no and too illiterate to ask questions. And for years, they have manufactured that citizen in millions. The deliberate manufacture of poverty A politician who wants to be worshipped must first create a worshiper who has no choice. The formula is simple and wicked. For four years, deny the people jobs, good roads, stable electricity, and functional hospitals. Let small businesses collapse under multiple taxation and harsh policies. Let graduates roam the streets for years after NYSC. Let the price of food swallow the minimum wage. Then, a few months to elect...

  By Victor Olubiye Nigerians have been advised to remain alert to possible symptoms of Ebola following the confirmation of an imported case in the Federal Capital Territory, with health authorities intensifying efforts to identify and monitor people who may have been exposed to the virus. The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare confirmed the case on October 20, 2026, after laboratory tests identified Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in a woman who had recently travelled to Nigeria from Uganda. According to the World Health Organisation, the patient developed symptoms on October 7, four days after arriving in Nigeria, and sought medical attention at a private health facility in Abuja on October 11. Laboratory confirmation was received on October 20. The patient was placed in isolation and was receiving medical care, while health authorities began investigating her travel and exposure history. The WHO said 44 contacts had been identified and were being monitored as part of e...