I am not enamoured of the National Assembly in general and the Senate in particular. I think they are a bunch of greedy, over fed and over pampered individuals. In moments of exuberance and vain glory, they call themselves the people’s representatives. Maybe they are right in a way because they somewhat represent the basest of the instincts of the Nigerian people.

The Vanguard Newspapers held its annual Personality of the Year awards last Friday at the Eko Hotel. It was a big, glitzy affair. Maybe it had more of the ‘big’ than of the ‘glitz’ because at a point, you had a feeling that the hall was too small for the guests streaming in.

I missed my interview with President Sadat of Egypt by a whisker in 1978. About two days before the appointed time, his handlers got in touch to say the interview could no longer hold because a crew from the BBC had just turned up for the same purpose. My plea that mine should be rescheduled was explained away by their fear of over exposure.

A petrol station is not the place to spend Easter. But that was what happened to millions of Nigerians last week. For many, the entire Easter weekend was devoted to the search of the elusive liquid gold. So it was at Christmas. So it was at New Year. It is beginning to look like the leadership is determined to deny the rest of us the simple pleasures of the festive seasons having taken most other pleasures and conveniences from us. In the midst of all this, the man whose duty it is to ensure we have sufficient fuel for our needs said most undiplomatically that he was not a magician and that our woes would continue a while longer. We had adequate fuel most of last year and the year before. Were his predecessors practicing sorcery or magic?

Easter, a very important day in the Christian calendar, means different things to different people depending on age, religion and location. For the young, it is a time of revelry. First, it marks a break from the monotony and drudgery of school. It is also a time to connect with friends irrespective of their religious persuasions. For the average child, it is a time to have a new set of church clothes and participate in at least a couple of the many activities around Easter. For the deeply religious, Easter is a time to re-affirm their faith in loving God who died for the sins of the world and rose to intercede for His beloved.