Last week, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs, Senator Dahiru Kuta publicly asserted that civil service jobs in Nigeria now go to those who can bribe their way through. Senator Kuta named 3 federal bodies involved in the reprehensible act.

Many years to come, Nigerians would come across many things in honour of one of their predecessors -Andrew Owoye Azazi- a citizen who served in the Nigerian Army and like some others rose to the pinnacle of his career. If Nkpogu Road in Port Harcourt ends up a dualized road and not like some of our other roads where construction works go on without end, future Nigerians would wonder how it became Azazi Road.

On Friday December 28, 2012, the Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada was seriously injured in an auto crash. The accident reportedly occurred at Emi Woro village in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of the state when one of the tyres of the governor’s official car, unexpectedly burst in motion. Wada’s aide-de-camp (ADC), Idris Muhammed, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), lost his life in the crash.

Early in the year, this columnist and 5 of his friends set out to determine the best of our 36 Governors in year 2012. Each of us was to follow the activities of 6 Governors. The assignment ended a few days ago with a few complexities. First, we found a common public feeling that to describe any Governor as the best for the year would not be well received.

In a typical Nigerian State, whatever the Governor says is law. “His Excellency has said” is sufficient to get everyone from Deputy Governor to the lowest paid civil servant in the State to perform a particular act no matter how irrational the act may be. The same is true of the President at the national level. This aspect of sycophancy used to occur more among public officers who are anxious to either retain their positions or to attract more favours.