The federal system of government adopted by Nigeria is a popular option considering the large number of countries which utilize it world-wide. Whereas, most countries which rely on the system operate government at two levels-federal and state, Nigeria made history in 1976 when the military government experimented with a third tier level within the federal system.

There are so many things that often appear irrational about the Nigerian people. One of them concerns the saying that “wealth can induce madness”. How can someone suddenly develop traces of madness simply because he has much money? The unending story of Rivers State, an entity which regularly picks up the highest federal allocation in the country has made me to begin to appreciate the saying and to imagine that in truth money makes some mad, just as others madly pursue it.

A one-time governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu is at this point probably a few metres away from Lugard House Lokoja, the official abode of the state governor. Having won the party primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to become its flag bearer in the forthcoming governorship election in the state, it is more likely than not that he will eventually win the race.

Last week Saturday, I was greatly entertained by a drama piece I watched as a guest of my Bauchi State born colleague, Comrade Yakubu. The play, an exciting satire was about enemies who are fond of publicly professing friendship.

Timi and I served as technical experts on elections with the Independent Elections Commission of Liberia to organize the first post civil war election in that country in 1997. Some 5 days ago, he called me to commend last week’s article in this column, titled, “Who should the police tear gas?” Tim was delighted that i openly commended Mrs. Amina Zakari, the Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for her policy decision not to defend in court an election marred by malpractices done by her officials.