I was at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Baruwa, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos, on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the instance of the Priest-in-Charge, Rev. Fr. Theodore Martinos, to give a talk to kick start the parish’s Family Reconciliation Week. The talk was a cocktail of Conflict Resolution, Marital Communication and Forgiveness, three topics we have treated in this column.

In Enugu State,the unbridled activities of Fulani Herdsmen have inflicted pain,displaced individuals and communities even as there is growing perception of active connivance with the police which accounts for the lackluster disposition police adopts whenever there is an incident.

The Ogun State chapter of the medical association went on a warning strike during the week. In doing so, it followed the footsteps of its Osun State cousin which has been at logger heads with its state for over a year now and has been on strike for about half as long. At a point, the entire Western zone threatened to join in solidarity to enforce a class interest irrespective—or in anticipation of the expected repercussions. Much of the Fashola years as Governor of Lagos State was bedevilled with doctors’ strikes over one thing or the other. As we speak, one or two state chapters of the association in the South-Eastern Zone are either downing tools or have downed tools. The South-South too has had its own share. In fact, it seems to me that there is no time during the year that at least one chapter of the medical association is not on strike. Although this issue pre-dates the democratic era, it seems to be getting worse by the year. I’d like the leadership of the national body to correct me if I am wrong, but I have not read of a medical body anywhere in the world that downs tools as often as Nigerian doctors do.

Apart from its designation as “oil-rich,” recent reports indicate that Rivers State in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region may have also acquired an inglorious tag of Rivers of blood as unknown persons have turned parts of the state to killing fields, snuffing out lives of unsuspecting residents and employing an eccentric style of beheading their victims.

What madness possesses pensioner in his 70s to start a second family when all his other children are full adults? Christopher, a fairly successful publisher was in his early 70s when he met his third wife, Clair who was then in her late 30s. By the time he was 76, they’d gone ahead to have two lovely children—a boy and a girl. According to Chris, “Besides the occasional blip, raising a child, no matter your age, is a huge pleasure. Feeding a baby its bottle is one of the great joys of life for a father, and one of the few things one ever does that is unquestionably useful.