IF the granting of amnesty to Niger Delta militants after the laying down of their lethal weapons could be described as a super political step by the President Yar‘Adua, the move, [if it is true] to give oil producing areas a 10 per cent share in the oil and gas Joint Venture is another bold action towards the final solution of the unnecessary Niger Delta imbroglio.

MANY critical observers of the social, political and economic scenery of this country could have been rightly described as disgruntled lots [especially those who daily criticise the present regime as being ineffective], but for their unexpected public endorsement by the President himself.

OF all the constitutions that Nigerians and Nigeria had operated, none has been so severally stricture as the 1999 constitution presumably because of its military background. Some see it as an imposition by the military to ensure the unity of the country through a powerful and wealthy central government in a federal environment.

CERTAINLY, the last two weeks belonged to our unassuming President Yar‘Adua and his able team in bringing amnesty to the warring militants of the embattled Niger Delta region.

THE Nigerian political system, it is noted, has been characterized by a powerful ruling party and a disappearing but badly organized and comparatively weakened opposition at the federal level.

THE apparent disintegra-tion of the opposition parties in the country has engaged the attention of commentators in the media recently.

THE apparent disintegration of the opposition parties in the country has engaged the attention of commentators in the media recently. With the demise of that dogged fighter for the poor and the oppressed, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) and the shameful movement of some governors from their parties (under which they were elected) into the ruling party, genuine fear is gripping the nation over the survival of democracy in Nigeria.

WITHIN the last decade, some strange words seem to have sneaked surreptitiously into the dictionary of social science or political philosophy.

THE recent happenings in the country have led to the resuscitation or rebirth of the old gimmicks by politicians or people under political or economic pressure to ascribe their woes to either ethnicity or some hidden agenda.

Top Executives of the Nigerian oil and gas industry have pledged their readiness to support the effective take off of the International Cancer Center, Abuja, ICCA, a nongovernmental initiative of the First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua.