They were celebrated. The defectors. They brought euphoria.  After  Ali Modu Sheriff  and the journey through the valley of the shadow of death in the Supreme Court, the fanfare was understandable.

The signs are good. We  have  chosen the long, tortuous, treacherous path. But we will get there. We have  stumbled and strayed.  We could loiter in the wilderness for a century. But we will grope our way to milk, honey and order.

President Buhari took law to a gathering of lawyers. And he came clutching what looked like  a supreme court decision. When did  the president develop appetite for legal gymnastics?  And he is now striving to be a contortionist. Igbos know that a frog doesn’t make dashes in the afternoon in vain.

The civil war left  many chronic wounds. But Igbos have survived and thrived. Igbos may have been hampered  by  national structural defects and systemic injustices. But they have  flourished and have the economic heft to surmount subsisting inequities.

The APC  has come  alive. It barks endlessly these days. That is some  consolation for many of its disillusioned supporters.  They can begin to hope again. That  this enthusiasm and energy would yield a strong party  with  firm democratic traditions.