OPINION:Nigeria's Ass In The Lion’s Skin
Monday Lines OPINION:Nigeria's Ass In The Lion’s Skin By Lasisi Olagunju (Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 18 May, 2026). “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.” — Aristotle. The Ass in the Lion’s Skin is Aesop’s story of a donkey who finds a lion’s skin abandoned in the forest. He wears it and begins to terrify other animals who mistake him for a lion. Delighted by the fear he inspires, the ass grows bold and starts roaming everywhere with counterfeit majesty. But one day, unable to contain himself, he brays. The sound betrays him instantly. The animals discover that beneath the lion’s appearance stood only a donkey. Soon, he becomes food for the real majesties of the forest. Moral: appearances and shortcuts cannot substitute for substance. At the top of this page, Aristotle urges society to honour teachers, but he attaches a condition to that ho...