CHIEF Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, is concerned about the quality of judgments delivered in courts across the country. She finds a relationship between the judgments and flagging public confidence in the judiciary.

THE furore over the state pardon granted DSP Alamieyeseigha, the first elected governor of Bayelsa State, confirms the people’s right to make their opinions known, especially in a democracy.

IN fairness to Senate President David Bonaventure Alechenu Mark he had listed “capital punishment for offences” in his message of hope at the beginning of 2013. His concern then was terrorist attacks that had dominated security issues since 2010.

THE furores in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over its governors’ conducts and the possibilities of no primaries for the 2015 elections are part of the politics of convenience that the party has been playing exceptionally well since 1999.

NELSON Mandela Rolihlahla Mandela, much loved 94-year-old icon of the anti-apartheid struggle is in the news again over his health.

HIGH cost of governments has remained an issue with the blames located mainly in the billions spent in maintaining the 468-member National Assembly. The debates should be more extensively to include other areas of government wastes, at all levels.

MUCH has been made about the discovery of improvised explosive devices, bombs, and guns in an abandoned Lagos building belonging to the Bayelsa State Government that the impression could be created that the ownership of the building was more important that the import of the discovery.

CHRISTIANS will mark today as Good Friday, in remembrance of the selfless sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross to redeem mankind. The culmination would be Easter, which would be celebrated on Sunday.

DURING 2010 Bauchi attack, there were complaints about a break down of intelligence. Residents insisted that it was worse. There seemed to have been outright ignoring of petitions people filed with the security agencies about Boko Haram. Not much seems to have changed as clinical execution of recent jail breaks testified.

Arsons, bombings, killings, prison breaks, kidnappings have become routine; hardly a day passes without killings in parts of the country. Damaturu, Gombe, Maiduguri, Mubi, Potiskum, Yola, have held headlines for bombings. The incidents spread to Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Niger, Sokoto States, joining the perennial killings in Plateau State. The most embarrassing of the incidents remain the bombing of the nation’s 50th independence anniversary in Abuja and the targeting of elite military and other security offices.

ONE of the biggest on going frauds in Nigeria is the budget – federal, state, and local governments. Millions of Nigerians pine away over late passage of the budget, but with the budget neither speed nor lack of it profits the larger public.

THIEVES have taken over parts of Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara States. The police and governments of those States have conceded that part of the country to marauders and they have no shame in confessing there is no solution to a situation that shows that plays up the insecurity in the country.

WHAT do we do when robbery suspects question society’s morality? Garba Sani, 24, a private guard accused of robbery, and Okwudili Godwin, 30, said to have received the stolen goods, gave reporters a treatise on the commonness of crimes in the society even at the highest levels.“

OTUOKE, village of President Goodluck Jonathan is in the news for the second time, in less than a year. The issue remains the same: a church.

NIGERIANS cannot forget the 2012 floods. According to official figures, 360 people lost their lives with more than two million rendered homeless. Some displaced people are still in camps in Delta, Kogi, and Lagos States.

AHEAD of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting which holds Wednesdays, the public occasionally learns of the key issues to be discussed. An issue considered pressing was the Federal Government’s intention to borrow N251 billion to finance deficits in the infrastructure budget.

OUR airports are exposed to enough security breaches that last week’s armed robbery at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, and the attendant reaction, should surprise only a few. Past attacks met with similar reactions.

AT 20, Nigeria’s home video industry, Nollywood, has assumed enough importance to receive presidential attention. Way before it turned 20; Nollywood had defined Nigeria internationally, through its daily offerings that are seen all over the word.

MANY may be wondering what governments do. They have every right to do so following various failings of governments, including basics like paying salaries they prescribed for their own workers.

SUMMITS, whether in politics or topography, are the peak. When our governments organise summits to tackle issues we expect that they would produce results that will effect changes in the lives of Nigerians.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan recently paid a belated visit to Borno and Yobe States; parts terrorists have seized for more than two years. These States have been their bases from which they farm out terror.

FORMER Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, remains an imitable curiosity. His critics would dismiss his comments on the paucity of leaders in Nigeria and Africa. He is right in stating that leadership was a challenge.

WHAT does the Federal Government have against mining of gold and other solid minerals?

THE Presidential Amnesty Programme has to start taking responsibility for its short-comings. At the moment, it thinks that others are to blame for lapses in its activities, some of which bring the programme to disrepute.

IT is important the Federal Government knows its assets, at home and abroad. It is equally important that efforts in that direction attain the level of seriousness that matches the importance of the assignment.

AFRO musician Fela sang “water e no get enemy”, eulogising the importance of water, but accessing water can produce enemies, and its availability cannot be taken for granted.

TODAY marks the end of the reign of Pope Benedict XVI as the head of the Catholic Church, in a manner like no other. We are witnessing the end of an epoch which last took place 598 years ago – a living Pope is acceding his office.