I think it was expected, we were never going to be able to take an action of this nature without controversy, anger and misunderstanding. But I would like us also to look at the facts and also discuss the fiscal viability of the nation. Let me give you some statistics off-head; Nigeria is a country of 36 states, we are not a rich country, we are a poor country. I can tell you, from official statistics, that the poorest state in Nigeria is Jigawa State. In Jigawa State, 95% of the people are poor (living on less than $2 a day). In Kebbi, 89% are poor.

Chief Philip Asiodu, 77, has paid his dues as a very articulate Nigerian leader. He became Permanent Secretary at the age of 31. His retirement from service in 1975 when he was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy was believed to be mischievous and premature. In this interview with Saturday Vanguard, he picked holes in the then post-Gowon military regime. Excerpts:

“There is a spiritual heaven over every nation, over every individual and every one of us is guilty, now, when God is against you, the gates of heaven are closed.

While on official assignment to Nigeria from her former office, National Geographic, Pannaz Pahnam met her husband, a Lebanese whom she later married.But while trying to settle in Nigeria, she encountered some difficulties…Truly, in a big city like Lagos, only a foreigner knows what it is truly like to be lost. Pannaz tells her story.

In this interview with Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the leader of the Movement for the Survival of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, on the death of Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi and Eze Igbo Gburugburu of Igbo land, Uwazuruike, who practically relocated to the Enugu Casabianca House of Ojukwu since his death was announced, spoke painfully and emotionally about Ojukwu, his politics, vision, what he meant to his people and about the direction of Igbo struggle and leadership. The interview is as sizzling as it is emotional.

Sunday Vanguard met with Governor Adams Oshiomhole recently to find out how life has been as a widower. He lost his wife, Clara, December 8, last year.

Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George (CON), 66, who retired as a Commodore of the Nigerian Navy, has paid his dues as a player of politics in Nigeria, notwithstanding his ordeal in the hands of what many have described as political adversaries, which led to his incarceration over a matter that now has become an issue of litigation at the Supreme Court.

When the news of the death of Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu after a long-drawn illness in a London hospital hit the air waves, the first person that came to my mind was Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State. And the reason for this is obvious. Governor Obi had been with Ojukwu since his ill health began and should be in the know of some very private thoughts of the late elder statesman.

Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman is the Minister, National Planning Commission, Chairman of the Steering Committee on Vision 20:2020 and immediate past Minister of Finance.

Hon. Zakari Mohammed, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Publicity, says the morally correct thing government should do is to check the activities of those diverting subsidy and not pass the burden to Nigerians. On Boko Haram, he says we can not stop them by mounting road blocks.

Col. Paul OGBEBOR (Rtd) is a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State . A veteran of the Nigerian Civil war and second in command to Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade during the war, Ogbebor in this interview with GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE in Benin , he calls on former two-time governor of the defunct Mid-West and Bendel State , Dr. Samuel.O. Ogbemudia to quit politics now that the ovation is loudest. He also speaks on the planned removal of fuel subsidy and other national issues.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state celebrated his third year anniversary last Saturday in a grand style. It witnessed different Nigerian artistes. Edo people also used the occasion to watch an international friendly between the Super Eagles and the Bostwana national team. Amidst his anniversary events, Saturday Vanguard cornered the Labour leader turned Governor for this exclusive interview.

The Yoruba nation is in search of unity amid concerns that a section of the people that matter in the in quest to move the race forward is being left out