MAMOUDOU Gassama, 22, left Mali, to seek a better life in Europe. For this, he was willing to stake his life. He undertook the perilous journey of travelling by road, boarding an unsafe boat across the Mediterranean Sea into Italy and arriving in France where he had an uncertain future. He was one of the tens of thousands who leave Africa on  the  suicidal journey to Europe, and was of course, just a number.

MY favourite judge, is 57-year old Justice Okon Effreti Abang of the Federal High Court. He is as tough a judge as they can come. He is a product of the University of Calabar, an institution reputed to produce tough persons, hence they are called Malabites (after the tough city of Malabo in Equitorial Guinea) while the ladies are called Malabress. Like me, he is from the Niger Delta; we are said to be tough people.

THE United States, US,  on May 21, rolled out sanctions against Iran, a move that may  return the world to the nuclear race. On May 8, 2018, against pleadings from its European allies, peace ambassadors and people of goodwill across the globe, President Donald Trump had unilaterally abrogated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.

THE spokesperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi and that of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party,  PDP,  Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, last week had a lively debate on television. Both were polite and civil, befitting the Gentlemen of the Press. The debates had little to do with principles, ideologies and programmes; perhaps because there are no fundamental differences. Rather, they   centred more on superficial differences such as, in the wake of the violent Ward Congresses of the APC, which party has a history of more violence? Was the invasion and destruction of the Rivers State courts a purely APC affair or was the opposition PDP also involved? There were also debates whether both parties were organically formed or established by different coalitions.

I AM in mourning, especially since the Monday, May 14, 2018 massacres when well trained soldiers and snippers deliberately picked out youths and  children,  and sent them to early graves.

FOLLOWING a codeine-propelled high drug addiction problem, the Federal Government in a swift reaction, banned the production and importation of codeine-containing cough syrup. The syrup usually taken by millions of youths who mix it with soft drinks,  alcohol or illegal drugs, leads to physical and mental reliance on the drug and can be fatal.

THE  United Arab Emirates’ on-going military invasion and occupation of the four islands and two islets that make up the Yemeni archipelago of Socotra is causing ripples in the world, but not so its intrusions into Africa.

THE  failed attempt on April 28, to recall Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye in which the ‘Recallists’ scored a miserable 5.3 per cent, is not my focus. My mind is on matters arising which  are likely to feature in the 2019 general elections.

AMERICAN President Donald Trump sat  on Monday, April 30 with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari who was on a state visit  and told him: “We  had very serious problems with Christians who are being murdered in Nigeria; We are going to be working on that problem very, very hard because we cannot allow that to happen.”

Even when we have constituencies, the Senate is a whole; it is the Senate of the Federal Republic, and the overall interest of the Senate and the country should prevail over a constituency suffering temporary lack of representation arising from the misdemeanor or criminal conduct of its elected representative