THIS is certainly not the best of times for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Assailed by fractious and bitter parallel primaries and struck by a gale of defection of notable stakeholders, across the states, to rival political parties, the PDP hierarchy has an onerous task at hand. It must mend fences, patch cracks and fissures on its walls, if it hoped to regain its apex height as the dominant political party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday rolled out over 100,000 Direct Data Capturing Machines across the country to kick-start the registration of eligible voters that would be involved in the series of elections scheduled for this April.

Human beings in contemporary societies, like no other period in history, are so preoccupied with the rat race for material comfort that they tend to forget those simple things that make human life humane.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, yesterday, formally flagged off the voter registration with the registration of President Goodluck Jonathan and members of his family at Otuoke in the Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa State amidst tight security.

At the dawn of the 21st century, Nigeria, only recently restored to democratic rule, had a promising economic outlook for the ensuing decade. After several years of sanctions stemming from the political misadventures of the Abacha regime, the international business community was ready to welcome her 150 million plus market back into the global economy.