Following her big international breakthrough with the adoption of her directorial debut ‘Lionheart’ by Netflix,

Former Nigeria international Jonathan Akpoborie has heavily criticised Super Eagles left-back Brian Idowu, arguing that the defender isn’t good enough to start for the national side.

I read Millers poem on Perseverance when I was compiling the book of quotations in August 1967 according to my notes at the time. It was a difficult time for me and I came close to giving up on life. Providentially, this poem came up in a book and courage returned. It is the perfect opening for this piece on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, GCON, former Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. His emergence as the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party actually started in 2006 at a breakfast meeting with leading columnists of the day in his residence at Ikoyi. Lagos. Some have passed on; many more are in voluntary or involuntary retirement. To the best of my knowledge, only few of us remain in active “service” since that meeting.

In the middle 80s, the then Military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, faced with the challenge of communicating and convincing the Nigerian public of the benefits of his economic policies which were tied to the IMF dictates, appointed an acquitted journalist, Prince Tony Momoh, his Information Minister.

Atiku Abubakar  has the PDP ticket  He stole the show. The margin of victory shut some mouths and left others agape. It  left no room for  further contests. In the parlance of the NPN politicians of the old, it was a ‘moon slide’ victory. Those who had called the shots in PDP in the last few months were left to lick their wounds. Some of them ran away before the convention ended. Others sat, visibly punch-drunk  and swallowed everything. Atiku abubakar has work to do.