BELGIUM is by contemporary standards, a blessed country. An international capital; it is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the International Trade Unions Confederation (ITUC) and the European Union (EU). In fact, it is assuming the presidency of the EU on July 1. Historically, it was a colonial power with the Congo as its most prized possession.

He knows the laws he is contributing in making in the National Assembly are secular ones; so how does he teach the Zamfara child how to obey laws when he himself will not? Again, we have the challenge of men who are bent on dragging us back to the era of anarchy. I wonder how our senators can claim to be Distinguished if they agree to sit in the same chambers with people like Yerima.

OUR contemporary civil society movement grew from the late 1980s. In 1988, concerned by the near absence of the movement, the Nigeria Medical Association(NMA), the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA) and the Nigeria Union Of Journalists(NUJ) decided to raise consciousness by holding a joint national commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The “victorious” Israelis seized the ships and detained the occupants. When news of the crime first broke, Israel had claimed that its intention in invading the ships with heavily armed soldiers attacking from sea and air, was peaceful but that the activists in the ships had shot at the soldiers and attacked them with weapons, so the Israeli commandos action was in self-defence! But after seizing the ships, Israel was unable to provide a single gun or ammunition to back up its fairy tale.

Sir, how do the senators and the Reps that cannot do without police escort neglect the Force and expect miracle from an officer that is not well paid, with no promotion. Check out the rate policemen are killed daily by armed robbers and you will know we are supposed to be taken care of”.

ISRAELI President, Shimon Peres is expectedly denying romance with Apartheid South Africa under which his country agreed to sell the latter nuclear weapons. Like a thief caught in the act, Peres’ denials are weak.

NIGERIA is a unitary system with a federal constitution. That is why the race to control the centre, and thereby, the country’s resources is so intense that the political elites are ready to employ any means necessary to get to power or cling to it even on their death bed. Lots of calculations and progressions are made not for the country or good governance, but how to attain and retain power.

By Owei Lakemfa Here are readers reaction to Lakemfa columns as published by Vanguard Newspaper(hard copy) on Friday21 May,2010. Tata : THERE is a flaw in your argument…because while you can say NAFTA, and EU…there is no functioning single African market also confirmed by your reference to the Francophone nations…thus, any benefit would be illusory..I […]

GREECE for many of us is far away from our shores. Except for the Europeans, the rest of us do not belong to the European Union (EU), the club Greece belongs .

TODAY, the official days of mourning are over for President Umaru Yar’Adua. Most of his life, he did not court controversy. But in sickness, especially in the last six months of his life, some members of his immediate family, his aides and hangers on clothed him in the full regalia of controversy.

WE had to destroy the town in order to save it.” That was the United States Air Force officer’s response to the American destruction of the Vietnamese town of Ben Tre, in the Mekong Delta city with 35,000 inhabitants. Save it from who?

I agree the Professor was a disaster and a major problem, but I did not want our case to be like a man fleeing from a snake only to confront a lion. I did not want a repeat of our national tragedy when we chased away General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida and his regime that periodically shed blood under different guises like executing alleged coup plotters, only to end up with a much more vicious General Sani Abacha who elevated murder to state policy.

THERE were attacks from last week at the border areas of southern and northern Sudan, Africa’s largest country. The clashes were between the south-based Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) and Arab marauders from Darfur (the Janjawid) aided by the northern army (SAF) Raids by the latter group are not new. In fact, their murderous raids against the people of Darfur which resulted in about 400,000 killed and 2.5 million displaced, has been classified by the international community as genocide.

THE ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) according to its then leader, President Olusegun Obasanjo had a garrison commander in Ibadan, Lamidi Adedibu who must be obeyed by the party members and leaders in the state without question. Last week, one of the party’s ideological gurus and current Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, made similar reference and justification for the military-style antecedents, culture and ideological foundations of the party

MOST Kenyans like many Africans might not know about Iceland or where to locate it on the map. I do not know if there would be a handful of Kenyans who would have heard of the jaw breaking name, Eyjafjalljokull volcano.