“We need to forget Ichie Obodo for now. Don’t be surprised that his views will shift again tomorrow. You know how unsteady he can be. Let’s focus on Udoka’s wife . . . is it not when a person is alive that he or she can have an opinion?” Ikuku said.

This week, we begin the serialisation of “Esprit de Corps,” the second story from Ogaga Ifowodo’s work-in-progress entitled The Hostage. We began the series with “The Treasonable Parrot,” his fiction debut featured in the AGNI Portfolio of African Fiction, edited by E. C. Osondu and William Pierce, published in volume 72 of the magazine in 2010. Ifowodo, a lawyer, is an award-winning poet, columnist and activist. At the heart of the work-in-progress is the title story, a novella. The stories are set in Nigeria’s recent history of dictatorship as experienced by characters privately and in unsavoury social encounters caused by the relentless logic of the radical curtailment of freedom. Keep a date with Saturday Vanguard!

We conclude the serialisation of short fiction by Ogaga Ifowodo, the award-winning poet, columnist and activist. The stories to be featured are from his work-in-progress entitled The Hostage, beginning with the story “The Treasonable Parrot,” his fiction debut featured in the AGNI Portfolio of African Fiction, edited by E. C. Osondu and William Pierce, published in volume 72 of the magazine in 2010. At the heart of the collection is the title story, a novella. As the general caption of this special serialisation suggests, the stories are set in Nigeria’s recent history of dictatorship as experienced by charactersprivately and in unsavoury social encounters caused by the relentless logic of the radical curtailment of freedom. Book your copy in advance!

Starting today we will begin the serialisation of short fiction by Ogaga Ifowodo, the award-winning poet, columnist and activist. The stories to be featured are from his work-in-progress entitled The Hostage, beginning with the story “The Treasonable Parrot,” his fiction debut featured in the AGNI Portfolio of African Fiction, edited by E. C. Osondu and William Pierce, published in volume 72 of the magazine in 2010. At the heart of the collection is the title story, a novella. As the general caption of this special serialisation suggests, the stories are set in Nigeria’s recent history of dictatorship as experienced by characters privately and in unsavoury social encounters caused by the relentless logic of the radical curtailment of freedom. Book your copy in advance!

The depth and breadth of his seminal works in this area put him in a class of his own. It is manifestly so evident that A.V. Dicey, Wheare, De Smith, Laurence Tribe, Hodd and many other emerging Constitutional Law Scholars did not impact the subject in such a way and manner as Nwabueze did. Simply put, he is a genius.

The Federal Government yesterday confirmed the death of the first Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, victim in the country and a Liberian, one Mr. Patrick Sawyer.

My father played various leadership roles in the institutions that he featured in. He played leadership roles in Okere-Urhobo, in Warri, the Urhobo nation, the Western Region, Midwest/Bendel State and the Nigerian nation.

In answer, our own Minister of Finance turned to the pressmen and said we inherited this from the colonial government of this country, and added that we could do nothing about it.

His routine at Urhobo College Effurun was folklore among his students for several years and even those who never met him at school were regaled with the stories of the man. Professor David Okpako was one of those who studied under my father, a few years after the school was founded. Professor Okpako recalls in an article published in the Urhobo Historical Society’s waado.org:

Chief Daniel Okumagba, who lived from 1922 to 2000, was widely acknowledged as a man of truth, courage and discipline. From 1960, when he won election to represent Warri East Constituency at the Western Region House of Assembly in Ibadan, Chief Daniel Okumagba played major roles in Nigeria’s national development.

Most of the passages of the Qur’an that talk about death emphasise its inevitability (Surah 3: 185). This is why in Surah 15:99, death is referred to as alyaqin (that which is certain). The Scripture further teaches that death is not the end of man’s life but a gateway to another form of life. In consequence of this, Surah 89:27–30 issues the divine command to the righteous soul thus: “O (thou) soul in (complete) rest and satisfaction, come back thou to thy Lord well pleased and well pleasing unto Him enter thou among my devotees, enter thou my heaven.”

ISLAM teaches the doctrine of tawhid, i.e. the oneness of God to be worshipped and obeyed (Hasan, 2012:82). The existence of God is unambiguously declared by the Qur’an in many Surahs including the following:

THE Qur’an is the holy of Islam. The scripture is believed by the Muslims to be the final revelation from God to Mankind (Al-Mallah, 2008:96). It is believed to contain words of God and consequently, it serves as an expression of divine will. According to Charis Waddy (1982:14), if the Qur’an has to be compared with anything in Christianity, it must be compared with Christ Himself.

However, we had to realize that Uli Ihiala was the most important part of Biafra at that time. So, I invited Akinrinade to my Uyo HQ to discuss the “Pincer Strategy” after which Akinrinade and I went to discuss with Ayo Ariyo in Calabar; but Ariyo was no more interested.

Briefing over, Col. Obasanjo was ready to go as commander of 3MCDO, but his very first move was a disaster. In complete disregard of our advice, he planned an attack from the same problematic Sector 1 under Lt. Col. Godwin Ally. The target was again Ohoba, a town 25 miles south of Owerri where Adekunle’s conventional war tactics had resulted in heavy casualties earlier on.