But until Abuja finds wakefulness and anger,  Benue may not know peace 

Rochas Okorocha is his own enemy. He preaches power  rotation and Igbo presidency in Abuja.  But at home, he wants to keep the Imo governorship in his family’s piggy bank.  He has built more roads than any other governor  in Imo state’s history.  But he is known  outside the state only for puerility and building  of statues. Okorocha  has energy and drive. But he lacks circumspection and sense of  optics.

Dapchi does not call for finger pointing and trading of blames. Dapchi demands clear eyed  sober reflection.  Dapchi is an unspeakable  calamity. One hundred and ten  teenage girls  snatched from their school by Boko Haram vultures. The nation, four years after Chibok, has failed disastrously to protect children in a school. It’s truly a national disgrace.  But we must understand the precariousness of our situation.  And we must channel our anger  and grief into rescuing the girls and into exterminating  the scourge.

We can excuse the police. The police have not had time to join the  fight against corruption. Or perhaps they have not had the guile to pretend to be involved.  We have seen the DSS. The way they took on the judges you would think that they would have emptied the country of corrupt senior  civil servants and compelled a few senior police officers into prudent early retirement. 

They put themselves there. They parade a Big God.   Yes He is big. But they do only small things.   They are never embarrassed. They cover their   ineffectiveness by     exaggerating their small mundane deeds.

I have  mourned and mourned. How has  Professor Isaac Adewole carried on with a straight face and a closed mouth? 

I have mourned and mourned. How has Professor Isaac Adewole carried on with a straight face and a closed mouth?

I have  mourned and mourned. How has  Professor Isaac Adewole carried on with a straight face and a closed mouth?

Olisa Metuh is, ordinarily,  a man of swagger.  May affliction not befall us.  He came into the court a few days ago strapped to  stretcher,  draped in  hospital white. And tongues started wagging. I wish him a speedy recovery. Some tongues threw  curses into the air for  anyone who would compel such a sick man to come to court in an ambulance.  Others  read it differently. They saw deception and mischief. And they took to laceration and ridicule. They  told of  remarkable acting ability and a potential Oscar award. The pictures, from every angle,were sensational, scandalous. The multiplicity of what they evoked revealed a society riven by ethnic, religious and partisan allegiances and stuck in  pervasive corruption  and emotionality.

The  army of salvation has been launched. The names are familiar. It would have been naive to have expected something different. The battle against  fire-spitting demons of corruption and ineptitude  perhaps cannot be left to holy novices. The names may not inspire  confidence. But we must be patient. The  Obasanjo letter may have left an impression of urgency and new ideas.  The Coalition looks like sour old wine in  a new bottle. But we must be patient.  A bunch of  Sauls of Tarsus could  become Pauls. But they must not disown their past.  Or whitewash their iniquities. They must show  visible contrition and  tangible atonements. So that their new claim to righteousness would have some meaning.