In 1984, when Buhari presented his first budget as the military Head of State, the price of crude oil was sliding downwards from an unprecedented $38 per barrel towards $15 per barrel. In December 2015 as he presents his third annual budget, the nation is once again facing a grim situation. As Buhari announced to the National Assembly and the global community, “By June 2014, oil prices averaged $112 per barrel. But, as at today, the price is under $39 per barrel.” With the budget based on $38 per barrel as the price of crude oil for 2016, the margin of error is very thin indeed. There ends the similarity.

Everybody has got their phobias. For some, it is fear of water and for others it may be fire or even the dark. The legendary Gaul tribe historically were renowned for their fearlessness but they had the mortal fear of the heavens falling down on them. For our top rap star, Mr Incredible Abaga, his fear has to do with the so-called light-skinned girls.

Odion Ighalo scored his 13th goal of the season as Watford drew with Chelsea 2-2 at Stamford Bridge and John Obi Mikel was quick to praise Ighalo scoring form.

The immediate past Minister of National Planning Commission, Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, on Saturday took a swipe at the Chairman of the Presidential anti-corruption committee, Professor Itse Sagay and Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed over their recent attack on former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Building on cloud computing to provide Big Data services, the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, members have approved the first ITU standard on Big Data.

Kingsley Sokari has praised Enyimba boss Felix Anyansi-Agwu for making his move to Tunisia to go through just as he looks forward to today’s showdown against Esperance, who he would have joined earlier this year. Sokari made a winning debut for new club CS Sfaxien last Wednesday after a day’s delay in the coming through of his transfer papers.

I’d like to begin Joyful Homes , this week, in an usual way by asking a simple question: What is the state of your mind? Are you still expectant?

The history of Iwo in Osun State will be incomplete without looking at her antecedents. The tradition of the town attests to the fact that Iwo originated from Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yorubaland. Its kingship has also been traced to Ife.

The effectiveness of a national security organization is determined by the accuracy of its reports. By the time the FBI breaks into any premises, it had gathered sufficient and reliable information to violate the fundamental rights of the occupants. Scotland Yard would never arrest first, on spurious charges, and later run around for evidence. That is standard operating procedure in any democracy.

The Nigerian military is fast becoming a ready topic for this column. I have no apology for it because if I couldn’t early in life summon enough courage to enlist in any of its forces, as a journalist, i ought to be able to write about the institution when necessary.

The Social Media Director of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Adeyanji Adedeji, has urged politicians elected on the platform of the PDP to always stand by the position of the party.

My father had thrown down the gauntlet and told me that he will no longer come to the UK to visit me until I come home. Home, meaning Nigeria. He does have a point. I haven’t been home for over 27 years. My son is 26 and my daughter is twelve and they are pretty savvy as to their culture and their identity but nothing will compare to first-hand knowledge of their homeland. Why did it take me so long? The call of home was never loud enough for me to respond to, so people come and go and then on their return they come with good and bad stories. None of the stories ever coloured my opinion of my home land. Well, I can very much make up my mind and I am immersed in the goings on in Nigeria. I write about it every week.

You can liken the year to the oneon crutches. In the first quarter of 2015, it all appeared as if the year was moving slowly. This was in spite of the historic general elections coming up. Like a never ending wait, the year created so much anxiety, tensions and a lot of ballyhoo.
2015 is ending like no other year.

As Nigeria inches towards full deregulation of the oil sector, the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), FRANCIS JOHNSON, says its members are fully in support of the planned deregulation of the sector by the Federal Government. But he is quick to warn that the action should not result in handing over the common wealth of Nigeria to a few shylock businessmen out to further exploit Nigerians.

Samuel Eto’o has guaranteed that Brazil and Barcelona superstar Neymar will become the world’s best player after Barca teammate Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo relinquish the title.