The real truth was, President Jonathan was lured to Oyo State to attend the 60th birthday anniversary of the Governor of Oyo state. Akala stood proudly between a former and an incumbent president and the result was a photograph to frame for life by the Governor. It is quite possible that it finally dawned on the President of Nigeria that he was wasting precious national time on frivolity of the worst kind at a time the nation still did not have a budget for 2010 and he has not given the nation an idea of how he intends to lead.

In the Warri area of the country, it is common to here inhabitants say ‘Wafi no dey carry last’, meaning Warri and its habitants cannot be found on the last rung of the ladder when it comes to goals pursuit and attainment. Whether it is always rightly applied or not is a matter for debate .

There appears to be little sense of urgency driving the political advance to 2011. I am beginning to be afraid that we will miss the mark unless we accelerate our pace of work towards conducting a credible, free and fair election that will meet international standards, and ensure local satisfaction. We have only eight months to go before the election in February at the latest, and the only positive thing we have on ground is the appointment of INEC’s chairman with his commissioners.

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.

WHEN I first moved to Abuja a decade ago, having spent all of my formative years in the UK, I was a naive Oyinbo Girl. I totally trusted everyone who approached me for friendship.