THE senior special assistant to Governor Peter Obi ofAnambra State on media and publicity, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, has decried what he called playing to the gallery by some persons and organizations in the state all in the bid to undermine the noble activities of Obi. The aide was reacting to the recent security summit on Anambra.

THE King of Pop seemed driven and upbeat in the weeks, even hours, before his death as he rehearsed rigorously for a series of 50 concerts in London that were to begin a late-career comeback. Friends and colleagues said Friday that Jackson appeared in recent months to be rejuvenated by the prospect of performing again.

Dr. Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju who was the chairman of the Unilorin branch of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) at the time and one of the beneficiaries of the Supreme Court ruling says but for the understanding and support of their families and friends, some of them would have regretted their stance. He said in an online chat that the solidarity of the generality of Nigerians since their ordeal began had been enormous. Efforts were on, according to him, to get judgement for the remaining 44.

Fresh pressure is to be launched in the days ahead by the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, Henry Okah, for the Federal Government to “quickly do something” on his renal problems, his lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has said.

THE plot of land on which the great mansion stood occupied one side of a relatively small street. An imposing steel and concrete gate stood at the front of the extensive compound, but with it was a sorrowful absence of a fence. —chapter 1, page 1 of Placards, 1987.

LET us be quite upfront with truth: Some of the individuals who are the governors of Nigerian states today could not pass their basic West African Schools Certificate examinations even in more than one sitting; some could not pass the Joint Matriculation Exam when it was the gold standard for academic performance in Nigeria; as a result they did not have the kind of standard university education available to the more talented of their peers in Nigeria, many of who probably ended up in academia, the first call in those now seemingly halcyon years, for the best products of the then highly competitive Nigerian university system. Yes, indeed, the very best were immediately recruited and retained to teach in the Universities.

I READ a disturbing piece of news some two weeks ago and it has still failed to be spiked as stale. It affects our governors, chief executives of the 36 states of the federation. They are bosses of their states, cannot be touched while they are on that high horse as executive governors, as they would prefer to be known by and referred to. Only impeachment, resignation or death can remove them during their period of office. The proviso that they must perform the functions of that office to be entitled to that protection is ignored in our interpretation of their roles.

IF, as believers argue, Lucifer has the power to deceive people, it is possible that the evil one would deceive them into accepting as the will of God something which Lucifer himself actually intended. Most believers dogmatically maintain that God’s will is embodied in the scripture. But which one? Generally, people accept the book considered sacred in the society in which they were born, and out of that book they select the parts that suit their purposes, neglecting the others.

ENO has been a non-conformist all her life, so this eventful day, she waited patiently at the VIP lounge of the local airport, fuming at the unnecessary delay in her flight when she noticed this young chap in his late thirties saunter towards where she was. Eno is in her late fifties. Curiously, she glanced at the seemingly shy man as he perched on a seat next to her. The conversation was stilled at first until Eno let it drop that she had an engagement at the Port Harcourt branch of the motel she ran. “He instantly became interested in what I had to say and was chatting away as if he’d just discovered his tongue,” Eno recalled. “When we eventually boarded the plane, it was inevitable that we sat together.

I WOKE up to the ear piercing scream of a petrified actress and my 20 minute doze on a local flight from the nation’s capital back to Lagos was severed rather abruptly. Before I could get my bearing and fully wake up, my stomach churned as it seemed to drop in that sickening manner that feels like your intestines are falling out when a rollercoaster takes what seems like a death plunge towards the ground at break neck speed.