The Creativity Site

  By Abraham Salawu A student who once occupied the first position in class may suddenly find himself struggling to secure a place among the top ten. Another who was known for reading ahead of examinations may gradually develop an attitude of indifference towards books. In some cases, students who once demonstrated exceptional academic potential eventually become uninterested in their studies. What happened? Did they suddenly become less intelligent, or did something change along the way? The reality is that academic decline does not always happen overnight. Sometimes, it begins with small changes in attitude, behaviour, relationships and personal circumstances that gradually affect a student's commitment to learning. Education is a journey that requires consistency, discipline, encouragement and determination. However, several factors can interrupt that journey, even for students who were previously hardworking and academically successful. Here are five factors that can contribute...

  By Abraham Salawu  Many students engage in certain behaviours without realising the negative effects these habits can have on their academic development, communication skills and relationships with teachers. While some of these actions may appear harmless or entertaining, allowing them to become regular habits can gradually affect a student's growth, confidence and attitude towards learning. Here are four major behaviours students should pay closer attention to: 1. Excessive Mixing of Languages (Code-Switching) Moving between Yoruba and English during conversations is common among students, particularly in informal settings. However, students who constantly mix both languages may struggle to develop fluency and confidence in formal English communication English remains an important language of instruction in many Nigerian schools, and students are expected to communicate effectively in it, particularly during examinations, interviews, presentations and other formal engagemen...

Iyiola Samuel Pka Pastor Pikin   By Victor Olubiye The 2025 Higher National Diploma (HND) graduating set of the Mass Communication Department, Osun State Polytechnic (OSPOLY), Iree, has been thrown into mourning following the death of another former student, bringing the number of reported deaths within the set to four in four months. The latest deceased, identified as Iyiola Samuel, popularly known as Pastor Pikin (P.K.A), reportedly died on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. His death comes amid a series of heartbreaking losses recorded among members of the graduating set since August. According to a WhatsApp account shared by an individual familiar with the incident, Samuel sustained severe burns after reportedly playing with a lighter without realising that petrol was on his body. The account stated that the petrol caught fire, leaving him with burn injuries. Attempts were reportedly made to secure medical attention, but the ongoing hospital strike was said to have complicated efforts...

  By Samuel Ashiwel Nigeria is not broken by accident. Nigeria is broken by design, by decision, and by daily compromise. We like to point at one man in Abuja and say, he is the problem. We like to point at one governor and say, if he goes, we will be free. That is convenient. It is also a lie we tell ourselves to avoid looking in the mirror. The damage in this country has three authors: the leaders who loot, the system that protects them, and the citizens who excuse it. Remove one, and the other two will rebuild the damage again. 1. The Damage From Leadership Our leadership problem is not lack of intelligence. It is lack of conscience. We have leaders who know what to do, but refuse to do it because doing it will not benefit them. A leader knows the hospital has no drugs, but he approves money for a new gate to Government House because the gate can be commissioned on camera. A leader knows the road to the market is killing traders, but he patches it two weeks to election because a...

  By Samuel Ashiwel Nobody put a gun to our heads. Nobody dragged us to the polling units. We walked there ourselves, in our best clothes, under the hot sun, singing, dancing, and smiling. And with our own hands, we voted for the same chains we have been crying to break for several years. This is the story Nigeria does not want to hear, because it is not about the leaders alone. It is about us, and about the trap we keep falling into, even when we think we have escaped it. We love to say the leaders failed us. We say it in buses. We say it in churches. We say it on radio. We say it in angry tweets at midnight. But if we are honest, if we truly sit down and look in the mirror without flinching, the painful question is this. Who gave them the key to the treasury? Who gave them the power to fail us? We did. History did not happen to Nigeria. Nigeria happened to history. We watched it happen, and in many cases, we helped it happen. Go back. The story is always the same, only the dates ...

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...