The thoughts of Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto as expressed in a keynote address at the conference held under the theme, The Muslim Agenda for Nigeria: Challenges of Development and Good Governance. The conference took place at Fountain University, Osogbo and organised by Islamic Welfare Foundation.

It was at about 6am, Tuesday, October 13, 2015 that my friend, Chief Torch O. Taire, sadly, passed onto the great beyond. It has been so unsettling that I could not write a word to his name until I was recently persuaded by a mutual friend, Mr Peter Arigbe, to do so. I, therefore, took cognisance of the import of the situation and the need to share my thoughts and feelings about this great man of our time that had come to represent different things to different people.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olajide Idris, has raised the alarm that over three million people are at risk of contacting kidney diseases in the world today. He said that the disease is caused by the indulgence in harmful foods and unhealthy life style.

ONE of the things that frighten a lot of us is dying before our time. To achieve our dream of longevity, experts advice we lead a relatively healthy lifestyle, exercise daily, drink in moderation, eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, and – most important of all- shun fatty foods including butter and dairy products to reduce the risk of heart disease. Unfortunately, all that’s turned out to be a huge waste of time! The truth is, we shall probably die at exactly the same age as our mums and dads, and we will have wasted decades on a virtuous eating plan, based on a lie!

He is full of compassion for distressed fellow human beings. This motivated the establishment of an NGO which, according to him, helped to secure the release of no fewer than 270 detainees from prison. Ndukwe Gordian, a retired. Master Warrant Officer in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and founder of Foundation for the Empowerment of Detainees, speaks on how the police actions keep innocent people behind bars, and how his NGO works to ensure their release.

“But I think there is also a clear understanding that any such action is damaging for both sides, and unwelcome. The ball is in Russia’s court now,” he wrote in a note.

Protests rocked Kogi State, yesterday, following a report that a candidate had been picked by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Saturday’s governorship supplementary election outside Kogi East, dominated by Igala people where the Prince Abubakar Audu, the late candidate of the party, hailed from.

The Lord often asks seemingly difficult questions with answers that turn out to be simple. So let me ask you one question that is not likely to come up in the average bible class. What is the greatest thing Adam can give Eve?

“It follows that having found that the purported nomination of the 1st Respondent never took place, he was therefore in law not sponsored by the 2nd Respondent, he never participated in the Taraba state Governorship election held on the 11th and 25th day(sic) of April 2015. Accordingly, all the votes purportedly cast for the 1st Respondent on the 11th and 25 day of April 2015 are wasted votes. [underlining mine]. Judgment of the Taraba State Election Tribunal, November 7, 2015, in Abuja.

His background as a financial expert does not give room for pretences. Figures don’t lie, people say. In the same vein, Kashim Shettima, second term governor of Borno State, does not politicize issues because of the exigencies of the time; no, he would say it the way it is, especially if it will achieve the desired result. He was once criticized for his blunt assessment of the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram during the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan, but the nation soon realized that there was no better way he could have said it if he was to get the Federal Government to act. A spade is a spade, and that was what Shettima called it.

The Paris attacks made many people face the facts: the double standard that apparently exists when expressing outrage in the wanton terrorist activities that have become common place around the globe. It seems that some lives are more important than others and now the rest of the world knows it.

Six months into President Mohammed Buhari’s administration, Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the new government going by the All Progressive Congress (APC) campaign promise to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians”.

A survey by United States (US) based Guttmacher Institute and Ipas Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that focuses on female reproductive rights, showed that, in spite of Nigeria’s highly restrictive abortion law, the estimated abortion rate was 33abortions per 1, 000 women aged 15-49 in 2012 and it has increased in 2015.The report said not less than 1. 2 million induced abortions take place in various parts of Nigeria annually. The report, presented in Abuja, showed that the South-South region is in the lead, while the South West is at the bottom of the ladder. North East is in the second position.

Dele Momodu writes a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to as a matter of urgency fix Nigeria saying that Nigerians are lamenting that the change he promised is fast becoming a mirage and that Buhari’s style and methodology appear too slow.

You said the Niger Delta wants self-determination and yet you said you want compensation. Can you be fighting for freedom and asking for compensation at the same time?

I don’t see the difficulty in what we asking for. Nigeria is being governed according to the 1999 Constitution and whatever we are doing, within the law, is based on that Constitution. What we are demanding for, which the same Constitution guarantees, is our right to demand for those things. In terms of the compensation for the destruction of our livelihood, the Nigerian government, in partnership with oil companies, is responsible.