On the fictionally derived blackmail that Nigerians voted for “change” and not for “anti-corruption”, an irritating clamour has arisen from a rabble of interest groups for President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore corruption and concentrate rather on delivering “change”! Instructively, many of these loudmouths simply cannot bring themselves to acknowledge Buhari as a hero and embrace him as President.

I think it has to do with his own upbringing. He did not find life easy growing up, so he is always saying he does not want children to experience such hardship and that is why he tries to give them basic education so that they can be somebody in life. The governor is from a humble background, he was not born with a silver spoon”.

“I urge you to go all out and make history. We are all praying for you; Nigerians are praying for you and I know that you are praying for yourselves too. You must give a very good account of yourselves. You must not let yourselves and the country down because I know that God will do it for you; He is always behind you and He hears your prayers because of your commitment and behavior.

The police in Ondo State, yesterday, asked  the Akungba community against paying alleged N20million ransom demanded by the kidnappers of the regent of the town, Princess Oluwatoyin Omosowon, and her aides.

Tension built up in Enugu State, yesterday, over the delay in the appointment of key government officers by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, seven days into his administration.

The primary election for the two major aspirants to the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hons. Yakubu Dogara, from Bauchi State, and Femi Gbajabiamila, from Lagos State, organised by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, ended in confusion.
Gbajabiamila emerged the party’s consensus candidates in a process that saw Dogara and his group staging a walk out.

“The fact that this has happened in Nigeria in the manner in which it has – particularly if we take Nigeria as one of the leading countries on this continent which must lead by example – this is a very perfect example. It is encouraging to us. We are very happy,” Zuma said in an interview with a national TV.

NOTHING compares to a presidential inaugural speech, whether in America where its first President George Washington delivered the first on 6 April, 226 years ago, in New York City, America’s first capital, or our domestic adoption of it as we swear in our Presidents. The best part of an inaugural speech, in the hands of the politician, is that he can explore the fact that the law does not require the speech, so there are no limits to what it may rule in, or what it may rule out.

What we have here in Sokoto is not a complete ‘change’ as we have at the centre and some other states. It is a continuity in ‘change’. The administration here which just came to an end was headed by Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, who is a very strong member of the APC and, therefore, the APC is in government in Sokoto State and we intend to, first and foremost, continue with the projects of the administration and, of course, initiate new ones that will better the lives of the people.

For the second time in four days, Lagos was the scene of tanker fire yesterday. The latest fire razed 34 houses and 70 shops in Idimu in Idimu-Egbe LCDA when a tanker carrying 33,000 litres of fuel spilled its content after falling, and exploding. No life was lost in the incident that occurred around midnight.

The Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria 1999 provides for a National Assembly made up of 2 bodies, the Senate and the House of Representatives to make laws for the good governance of the nation. It also creates a House of Assembly in each state of the federation for the same purpose. Each of these bodies is expected to make laws through a process that is virtually universal. First, is the proposal stage of identifying the need for a bill to make a law.

Nigerian society has actually transformed President Muhammadu Buhari, a ‘converted democrat’, setting aside the memorable military bloody reign of terror; still displaying that military orientation with a resounding powerful, very concise, heavily loaded Mission Statement in 1,863-1,916 words. He avowed to serve as the President of all, irrespective of political, ethnicity, or religious affiliations, detached from being categorized as a religious zealot, Buhari philosophically stated, Friday, May 29, 2015, 1:39:34 pm, “Having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians. I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.”

The inauguration speech of a new President is unique in a number of ways and for a number of reasons. It is the first after a campaign and thus provides the newly-elected President an opportunity to articulate, in a bipartisan (non-partisan) manner, his vision of development for the nation. It is one speech regarded as being from the heart of the man-of-the-moment, knowing that the speech-maker is no longer under the debilitating pressure represented by political hustings.

Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, spoke on the driving philosophy of multi-nationalism on the occasion to mark the celebration of ECOWAS at 40. The occasion was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Extracts from the address by Akinyemi at the occasion.

Goals from Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Neymar gave Barcelona a 3-1 victory over Juventus and secured the Spanish side’s fifth Champions League title on Saturday.