“Needless to tell you that Nigeria is not here. Although we are automatic qualifiers for the World Cup as host, this is a competition that has become our birthright in Africa only for coach Alphonsus Dike and his hapless squad to get us knocked out by Benin.

When people from the Niger Delta and other Nigerians raised their voices in protest, government sources were quoted by Vanguard of Thursday, July 23, 2009 as saying: “Those who do not want the project to be sited in the North should have a rethink because there is absolutely nothing they can do to change government’s decision”.

Hi readers! Even though I hadn’t shown any emotions when my aunt Adeline said that I needed to marry, and fast, I was amused. There she was, thinking that there was something amiss in my life because I’m not married, and there was her daughter, Bess, who would like to leave her alcoholic husband, but can’t! Of the two of us, who’s better off? I think I am. I’m living my life the way I want to and I’m satisfied with it.

What Chinua Achebe was describing as the fate of Nigeria was not pre-colonial or colonial or post-colonial politics but the transitional politics where all want to be the next post-colonial sovereigns.

There are also people who tell so many lies about their life that they eventually become a source of ridicule but my attitude has always been to believe anything I am told as long as it does not directly affect me adversely; I don’t have the energy to start sorting out stories that are at best irrelevant. I however get concerned that people often get left behind by other people’s expectations and live out a story that is not their own.