In the final year of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, hardly was anyone not fed up with his lackluster performance. When therefore the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) smartly designed the catchy phrase ‘change’ the wind blew us all in its favour. The few people who purportedly remained with the government of the day were its own appointees and other lucky gainers of the spoils of office. Every other person including many members of the then ruling party wanted change by all means. Thank God those who promised change are now in control of the nation. While expecting change from them, the rest of us who earnestly yearned for change must ourselves be ready for change and its implications because change by leaders cannot make appreciable impact without commensurate support by followers. Accordingly, our civil society groups must change their ways. Among such groups, media organs stand out as they aggressively agitated for change through editorials and reports and helped to effectively publicize the views of other people demanding change. Therefore, the media itself must not only change, it must lead the change process. It must do so by changing its own ways which in the past encouraged the poor performance of government. The media must change from serving personal and sectional interests to serving the over-all public good

The Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria 1999 provides for a National Assembly made up of 2 bodies, the Senate and the House of Representatives to make laws for the good governance of the nation. It also creates a House of Assembly in each state of the federation for the same purpose. Each of these bodies is expected to make laws through a process that is virtually universal. First, is the proposal stage of identifying the need for a bill to make a law.

Now that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has formally ended, it is time for us to show interest in how to handle the reckless injury-time appointments he made. Although a renowned legal luminary Prof Itse Sagay has already used the appropriate words to describe the appointments as ‘morally improper and politically immature’, the posture of some analysts that the appointments be dissolved would be simplistic if not more juvenile. This is because a look at the modus operandi of Jonathan’s government does not in any way suggest that his last minute appointments were worse than those made much earlier.

The Nigerian Governor’s Forum which has been in coma since its controversial chairmanship election in 2013 appears to have resurrected a few days ago with the election of Governor Yari of Zamfara State as its chairman. Similarly, Governor Shettima of Borno State is taking over the chairmanship of the Northern Governors’ Forum. While both governors and their admirers can rejoice over the subject, there is doubt if the developments matter to anyone else. Put differently, of what use is a governors’ forum in Nigeria’s circumstance? To start with, governors being the greatest oppressors in Nigeria do not need a union to protect them.

There is a world-wide consensus that Democracy is the best form of government. Accordingly, people in different countries strive not to slide into any other form of government especially dictatorship. If so, how come the avowed ideal system brings more curses than blessings in Nigeria? Why is it that the nation often faces economic doom whenever it has an acclaimed democratic government? In the second republic for instance, many analysts readily testified that the economic dilemma the nation found itself was heralded by the profligacy of the democratic government of President Shehu Shagari.