When you cut off the head of a snake, the rest of the languid body of the snake will flip and flop, wobble and jolt, convulse and squirm in protest until it no longer has the strength to continue its protest of, perhaps, an unjust act! Such seizure-like state of a beheaded snake is where I see Nigeria today, without a president to direct its daily affairs. For nearly two months now, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has been away from Nigeria, attending to his illness inSaudi Arabia, and throughout this period Nigeria has been without a leader.

THE Benin Forum, an umbrella body of all Bini, led by the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, and former Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie, have condemned the sudden withdrawal of soldiers in the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Edo State and called on the Federal Government to reconsider the decision in the interest of the people.

NOT less than 1,500 internally displaced persons have taken refuge at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, regional academy in Jos, following another round of violent crisis that erupted in the Nasarawa Gwom district of Jos, Plateau State capital, weekend.

Stake-holders in the Niger Delta, yesterday, rejected the Federal Government Presi-dential Committee on Amnesty’s work plan for ex-militants in the region, saying a close scrutiny of the document showed that the money allocated to consul-tants was more than the one for the actual beneficiaries.

THE Supreme Court, yesterday, heard that the inability of the Council of State to ratify the draft agreement between the Federal Government and 27 states of the Federation is threatening the out-of-court settlement for the payment of monies totalling about N4.4 trillion deducted by the Federal Government from the Federation Account between 2004 and 2007.

THE Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, yesterday, announced that government has concluded negotiations with stakeholders in the oil and gas sector over the proposed deregulation of the downstream sector, and was only waiting for the “right time” to launch out.

THERE is clearly a great divide in the reading of Ambassador Lyman’s evaluation of Nigeria’s current relevance in the world. Of the many comments two are particularly personal. Olusegun Lawal’s my former student says “I’m disappointed”.

THINKING about the corner into which those who rule in the name of the people have painted themselves and the rest of us, I’m forced to ask if this is how we intend to carry on, which is the literal translation of the title of today’s discourse, rendered in pidgin.

By Kingsley Omonobi ABUJA—The Nigeria Police Force has effected a minor shake up in its hierarchy following the elevation of some new Assistant Inspectors General. Under the shake up, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu formerly in charge of Administration at Force headquarters ‘A’ department, has been deployed to Calabar as the new AIG Zone 6. The Zone […]

By Chinyere Amalu ABUJA— Former Chief Justice of the Federation, Alhaji Alfa Belgore yesterday expressed concern over the rate at which Nigerians are seeking medical attention abroad despite numerous colleges of medicine and university teaching hospitals in the country. According to Belgore, who was speaking at the Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, 1st Intellectual week […]