Columns
Katon Gyese Landlord: A Master of Denial (1)

Katon Gyese Landlord: A Master of Denial (1)
By: Balami Lazarus
I never knew that I would write an article with a title close to one of the works of Sidney Sheldon. “The Master of The Game” (1982) And here you are reading something similar. Jamie Mcgregor was a laborer-tenant to a rich, influential diamond miner who is known for his denial. Mcgregor later became a master of the game in the mining business and denied this case to some property owners.
The landlord-tenant Relationship has been the topic of discussion on the lips of most tenants in their places of residence or work in recent times. This has to do with the unhealthy relationship between landlords and tenants regarding the state and condition of their places of residence, where some landlords are refusing to take up their responsibilities for the maintenance and structural repairs of their properties.
My experience and practical knowledge in the real estate business have exposed me to both landlords and tenants. Equally, as a tenant-landlord who had lived in some parts of the Nigerian estate, I came into close contact with different shades of real property owners, which improved my understanding of some of them.
As a real estate broker and developer, I was able to relate with them one-on-one, which gave me an edge in the course of transactions and the management of their properties.
The character and attitudes of landlords who capitalize on Tenancy agreements that are most often written in their favor, fashioned like that of a master-servant relationship, create doubts in the agreement, stopping tenants from spending their dime on simple repairs or maintenance on the other.
For some, living as tenants is a smooth ride; for others, it is an unfortunate experience and a nightmare considering what they are passing through in the hands of their wbo, who are sadists, ingrates, and masters of denial, shying away from their part of the agreement relating to their properties.
Moreso, with such landlords, you dare not delay, even with good reasons, payment of their rent, whether monthly, quarterly, or yearly, because of their selfish quest to lord arrogantly over their tenants. In fact, I have seen landlords claim the fittings and fixtures of tenants as their own. And sadly, some even greedily add the 5 or 10% commission on the actual rent and take it all with a wolfish smile.
Denial is as old as history. It has been with men to this day. and, of course, a means of defense in litigation, as the case may be. My father, a kind man of blessed memories, once told us his children to always learn not to deny matters that they are sincerely and truthfully involved in, whether in actions or in words.
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I have imbibed this wisdom. However, he (my father) further said that you can only deny if you are misquoted, misjudged, or misinterpreted, but remember to raise a point of correction to straighten the record in line with the issues at hand. But this is not the case with a Katon Gyese property owner as master of blatant denial on matters pertaining to his property carried out by tenants in good faith as an attempt to care for, maintain, and improve the value of the property.
Well, those who knew me at close quarters will definitely tell you that I don’t deny my actions or what I said in words that came directly from my mouth. Consequently, anyone who might have dealt, transacted, or related with me knows that you cannot separate or severe me in any form from this character because that is my nature.
Therefore, my readers at this juncture should know that it is not yet ripe for me to mention names. But rest assured, I will after my findings of the Katon Gyese landlord denial saga, as I am known to do in my writings. I pray that if and only landlords realize the benefits of win-win affairs between them and their tenants in terms of maintaining their properties, they will forever appreciate their tenants.
Balami, a publisher and columnist. 08036779290
Katon Gyese Landlord: A Master of Denial (1)
Columns
Osama, For Good Governance and Social Justice Through the Radio

Osama, For Good Governance and Social Justice Through the Radio
By: Balami Lazarus
Osama. Does it ring a bell? Yes, it does on the Plateau. The Osama I am writing about is that individual who is known for his good works for humanity on the radio and outside the studio. Osama is a gentleman but is outspoken and has a mind of his own.
My Osama in this context is a personality, a brand, and a trademark. Osama is a broadcaster, radio presenter, and popular comedian on stage and in the entertainment industry in Jos-Plateau and beyond. Since the writing is sailing, I will later reveal the identity of who this young man is and why he is so passionate about good governance.
The fights for human rights, social justice, and good governance have been the cries and topic of discourse of so many Nigerians, especially good governance. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights activists are the leaders in these struggles, whereby their roles cannot be overemphasized. The quantum of spoken words, public lectures/enlightenment programs, workshops, seminars, etc., has not brought many changes in our systems because there was little or no action by you and me as Nigerians.
I remembered when I was very active in the struggle for human rights and social justice. As Deputy Secretary General (DSG) of Democratic Alternative (DA), we were much concerned with democratic alternative processes and social justice with a whiff of good governance, and this has been the case for some NGOs, as I know.
I came to understand from my experiences that, as a country, we have good public-oriented programs, but our major challenges are implementation and follow-up that come with too many talks but no individual action or collective responsibility because many Nigerians are fearful, and this has made me a one-man advocate/crusader for human rights and social justice. Like the subject of this work.
Now back to the subject. Osama is a brand package, fearless advocate, and mouthpiece for good governance on the Plateau through Town Hall, a popular radio program aired by JFM 101.9 FM. Jos is widely listened to. He was born as Ehis Akugnonu. But Osama has overtaken his certified name. Therefore, my continued use of Osama is justified in this work because I realized that many times your other name (also known as) tends to dominate and overshadow your real name.
Osama is redefining the fight for good governance by personal efforts through follow-up and speaking on them, putting the government on their feet to improve and do better. ‘I am for good governance, and I will continue to speak on this matter.’ He is purposefully driven by his passion for good quality and better systems to have an enabling environment where the systems are working for progress and development.
Balami, a publisher/columnist 08036779290
Osama, For Good Governance and Social Justice Through the Radio
Columns
In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying Ignoring Red Flags and The Panacea (2)

In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying Ignoring Red Flags and The Panacea (2)
By: Balami Lazarus
I saw it coming. As a writer, my works and I have been verbally attacked several times. I raised an eyebrow at how some readers react by using bad language on issues, opinions, and views. Well, that is their way of expression when they are displeased, but I feel it is grotty.
And here is the conclusion of the “controversial piece,” as one caller puts it. For me, there is nothing controversial about this discourse but the truth of the grotesque happenings in married homes. And the way out, as I earlier wrote, is divorce.
Recently there has been an inflation of brutal murders in marriages; those killed are mostly women and children, and fewer men. What justification does one have to continue in a marriage where there are threats, violence, and unhappiness generated by the presence of either the husband or the wife? And unknowingly one becomes prey hunted by an in-house predator.
Sharks areamong the most intelligent aquatic animals. Their sense of smell is very sharp; they can smell and detect blood or any red object in water from a far distance and come for it at near the speed of light. Therefore, women’s body chemistry is like that of sharks; they sense and notice things easily. But what is wrong with many of them in marriage that they are unable to detect landmines or red flags early in their marriages? Where there is a threat to life with the intention to hurt, harm, and/or cause grievous injury or death, that is when they realize they are living in gross bondage if they are lucky to come out of it alive.
As students at Pluto College Sharam in Kanke-Plateau State, we were told and made to understand as boys to treat our girl students with love and care and be there for them when the need arises. That was one of the lessons that came from the late Dr. Sumaila Ndayako (Rector), as he was known and called. As boys, we dared not humiliate, insult, or threaten them in any way; rather, we were to take them as our sisters by extension. This has taught me to respect and care for the opposite sex.
Moreover, my association, membership, and experience with some human rights organizations have enlightened me with rights, liberties, and freedom garnished by respect for individual differences, rights and privileges, consent, and action. With this knowledge put together, I consider marriage never a do-or-die affair but a privilege with consent to be a husband to a woman who also has rights/consent to be a wife and live in matrimony. Why then humiliation, abuses, and domestic violence?
I have observed in my experience as a married man that if you take away some women from their husbands, they will die, and vice versa. Despite the domestic violence and abuses inflicted on either party, he/she is willing and prefers to die in such gothic marriage situations because one among them has a deep spiritual attachment to the marriage. This is common in Christendom, where “till death do us part.” My question here is, what kind of death? Intentional, accidental, or natural? This created injunction clause does not hold water in life-threatening marriages.
Living in a shark-jaws marriage, I always blamed women who had seen the red flags but refused to leave such marriages and the house-husband (husband). I further came to understand that patience and the pretext that all is well have caused damage to both spouses in terms of emotional and traumatic agonies and some to their graves.
Therefore, spouses that are trapped in this valley of death with its quagmire should know that marriage is a thing of choice. Likewise, divorce is permissible as a panacea for both to be alive to breathe freely.
Balami, a publisher/columnist, 0803677929
In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying Ignoring Red Flags and The Panacea (2)
Columns
In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying, Ignoring Red Flags, and The Panacea (1)

In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying, Ignoring Red Flags, and The Panacea (1)
By: Balami Lazarus
In the quite beautiful town of Zhimbutu, where men held sway, lording over their wives, some with brutality, few with love,
care and romance others in different ways. While some women are also lords over their husbands with impunity. Fear of getting married gripped young ladies seeing the ways their mothers were being treated and relegated to the background in the affairs of their homes as married women.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Kwanchinkwalo Xhosa is full of regrets, anger, and bitterness, where Mrs. Xhosa has been treated as an object in the marriage partnership. The red spots were obviously fermented with bubbles ready for brewing.
Similarly, some good number of marriage homes are full of regrets where love, peace, and understanding
and harmony are strangers rejected and kept in a labyrinth of doom where one of the parties is placed in a perpetual tan of unhappiness surrounded by fear in the thickness of smoke, a forced resident.
Long before, now as a young man, a legitimate product of marriage. I took marriage as a mere secular social contract of partnership bounded in love and understanding where two have agreed to live together as husband and wife in matrimony.
However, I have never taken marriage to be a do-or-die affair, which has been the stock of some persons, even when and if the two—husband and wife—can no longer live together, having exhausted reasonable avenues to no avail. Here I am.
for outright divorce as a panacea for the final dissolution of the marriage.
To this day, I have been asking myself, why did I even get married in the first place? For sex, procreation, companionship, norms, tradition, or obligation? While marriage to a larger extent has deprived me and many others of some air of freedom and liberties to do or not to do at any space of time, I suppose. Moreover, the enterprise called marriage has taken away the ‘who’ in many men and
women and made them something else. It has further forcefully taken the lives of many spouses who ignored the red flags and fear of divorce. And besides, many have taken upon themselves to live or die in an unhappy/venomous venture of marriage that is infested with ‘dysentery’ and ‘cholera,’ where death is lurking because husbands or wives lack the guts, will , ability, and/or capacity to invoke the dead-end solution.
Let me now punctuate the work with some questions: Were you forced into it? Was it under duress? Was it at gunpoint? I believed the answers were all no. What will then prevent an individual from liquidating his unprofitable marital interest in such an intense business called marriage to be free from wahala that may likely result in crime?
In such a situation, I advocate for divorce as the only and final panacea, which has a comfortable place as a clause in my dictionary of marriage. Divorce is rarely used in some quarters, no matter what. While my wife and I have sincerely agreed in the course of our marriage journey that at any point in time, with or without any reason/cause, either party can quietly and peacefully walk out of the marriage to avoid who knows what?
In the history of failed marriages and crime findings, it has been shown that one of the parties is forcing his/herself on the other spouse because one of them has a profound and compounded emotional or spiritual attachment to the marriage. The case of the late Mrs. Osinachi Nwachukwu (2023), the gospel singer, was a classical example. Patience and excessive spiritual attachment led to her being killed by her husband, one Mr. Nwachukwu. The same is also applicable to men who fall victim in the hands of their wives. This situation has created two prime suspected killers living in a marriage cocoon.
Balami, a publisher/columnist. 08036779290
In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying, Ignoring Red Flags, and The Panacea (1)
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