IT did not start yesterday. It has been a long running battle between Ogogoro sellers in Benue State and the state government which has passed a law forbidding the selling of illicit gin alias Ogogoro in any part of Benue State.

The trial begins today of 24 year old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to blow up a packed airliner bound for the US on Christmas Day in 2009.

This year’s independence anniversary provides another opportunity to reflect on the state of the Nigerian polity, economy and society.

The registered opposition political parties in the country yesterday vowed to join forces with the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC and other progressive patriots to resist the proposed withdrawal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government. The parties which vehemently opposed the idea in a statement issued in Abuja, said they will do everything humanly possible “to protect the little benefits we drive from our God given Oil Resource.”

Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, said the Federal Government committed a serious error of judgment by cancelling the traditional parade and shifting activities marking the nation’s 51st independence anniversary from Eagle Square to the relatively-secured Presidential Villa, apparently following threats by MEND and Boko Haram.

WARRI-Presidential Committee on Amnesty, Abuja, weekend, opposed the claim by a group of former militants, under the aegis of Transformed Niger Delta Ex-Militants Forum, that about 12,000 ex-agitators, who passed through transformational training at Obubra Camp, Calabar, Cross River State, had not been paid their monthly stipend.

FORMER Super Eagles defender, Taribo West has given a recipe to the Super Eagles on how to undo the Syli Stars of Guinea in Abuja this weekend to pick the Group B sole ticket to next year’s Nations Cup.

THE Administrator of National Judicial Institute, NJI, Justice Umaru Eri, has tasked the magistracy to exercise restraint over what he called “indiscriminate remand of suspects in custody.”

Enyimba have promised to spank Wydad Casablanca at home to qualify for the final of this year’s CAF Champions League.

Anambra North Senator-elect, Senator Alphonsus Igbeke, has picked holes in the Senate leadership’s refusal to swear him in over alleged non-clearance.

IN the history of Nigeria since independence, the judiciary has never been exposed to the kind of public opprobrium it experienced at the twilight of the tenure of the immediate-past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu.

Power Holding Company, PHCN, has been ordered to pay N8.4million compensation to the family of a deceased pregnant woman who was electrocuted through alleged negligence by the company.

Two Female Cricketers from Nigeria, Ruth Ayannaike and Blessing Etim have been selected by the Nigeria Cricket Federation to attend an Elite Ladies Academy (the first in Africa) in Benoni, Johannesburg, South Africa, organized by ICC Africa Regional Office,ICC, scheduled for 14-17. October 2011.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has disclosed that the immunity clause in the nation’s constitution which shields the President and state governors from prosecution while in office was an aberration to the dictates of the rule of law and an obstacle in the war against corruption.

DELTA State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has called on Deltans to be patient as his administration was repositioning the state’s economy with a view to tackling youth unemployment and achieving a robust economy that will be less dependent on oil.