Dr Bukola Saraki, the immediate past governor of Kwara State, and the senator representing Kwara Central in the Senate, recently spoke with journalists in Ilorin, on the state of the nation. State Correspondent, DEMOLA AKINYEMI, was there. Here are excerpts from the parley.

Having led Heartland of Owerri FC to a tremendous and memorable victory in the 2011 Federation Cup, the first in 18 years, technical adviser Lodewjk De Kruif has not stopped appreciating the amount of talented players Nigeria has, which has caused him to share his view on how the country can be a top football power house in the near future.

Hon. (Comrade) Joseph Iranola Akinlaja is a member of Federal House of Representatives, representing Ondo East/West Federal Constituency. Before he delved into active politics he was a labour leader of note. He rose to the position of deputy national president of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Secretary General of Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG. After that, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD an affiliate of NUPENG) made him their Grand Patron/Technical Consultant. He is currently national deputy chairman of Labour Party and deputy chairman House Committee on Women Affairs, and member of other key committees

A PDP chieftain in Lagos State, Barrister Owolabi Salis, has emphasized the need for maturity and the cultivation of refined expression in the manner critics address the president.

Police in Niger State have shot dead a suspected armed robber while two other colleagues were arrested along Mokwa-Tegina Road.

Four others who sustained injuries during a shootout with the police are said to be at large

Last week, it was about the riddle of political stability and economic prosperity.
Today, and as this administration, which came to power on the crest of massive goodwill, continues its push for the removal of the subsidy on petrol, the riddle is about the chicken and the egg.

At the Abuja stadium, I observed pin drop silence at least within the first few minutes when it dawned on Nigerians that our flag will not be flying at the 2012 Nations Cup for the first time in 25 years; apart from 1996 when we willfully opted out. That is the realism of football.

There is an African saying that it is a stubborn fly that accompanies the corpse to the grave. This best captures the death of Libya’s leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi who met his end in his home town of Sirte, killed like a rat.

Ironically, Gaddafi had, for eight months, denounced the rebels that took up arms to resist his 42-year old dictatorship as “rats” but in the end he was smoked out of a tunnel by Libya’s revolution cry fighters backed by NATO airstrikes.

By Ben Efe Nigeria’s sprint star, Blessing Okagbare has been told to leave El Paso Texas for the fast lanes of Los Angeles. Sportswear giants NIKE wants Okagbare to join other elite athletes in its endorsement roaster who are to train under renown American coach John Smith. Okagbare who is due to earn a Bachelors […]

Former African 400m champion, Innocent Egbunike is struggling to purge his mind of doubts about his appointment as head coach of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria