I was taught the importance of good hand writing pretty early. We even had lessons and eventually, a subject on it in my primary school days. We were told that however brilliant you were, your handwriting could be the deciding factor between a good pass and an ordinary pass as an untidy or illegible writing could easily irritate and put a teacher off.

THE attacks are often vicious just as the death statistics have become even more alarming. From the remotest communities in southern Kaduna State to some other equally rural settlements in parts of Plateau, Benue, Kwara and Niger states, reports indicate that activities of herdsmen may have gone beyond herding and grazing their cattle.

When a man dies eulogies and tears are shed. Some of his enemies will contribute genuine tears from remorse , some friends will tear their dresses in affected grief. Some sympathy must belong to the one who has dropped from contention, death is a resignation. Sins are forgiven or forgotten, good deeds are confessed , professed, exaggerated.

Mike Enahoro seemed to treat a football gently when he was on the field. He would stroke it smoothly to bring it under control. He played the guitar the same way too. It was a personal skill, his personal style to apparently take things easy while achieving the desired end.

Writers are, according to Sir Philip Sidney and many other thinkers, the unacknowledged legislators of the society. I agree with them, because the sharp pen of the writer is capable of tearing into the rubrics of societal norms, mores and even laws. They can construct, reconstruct and also subtly obliterate beliefs and ways of life, generally.

The validity of the licence to establish a refinery or plant shall be for a period of two years after which it shall lapse.The licensing of 18 private refineries by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005 could not achieve any result as they eventually constituted themselves into the Association of Private Petroleum Refinery Owners of Nigeria.

So much has been written about the great one, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, since he passed on 19 days ago that it is impossible now to write about him without being repetitive. I, therefore, decided not to do a tribute, especially since I did not know him personally beyond occasionally seeing him at ceremonies.

A FEW weeks ago, I received a call from ex-International football star, Segun Odegbami. We had not spoken for a while, but it turned out to be a very long discussion. Odegbami informed me of an audacious bid to run for presidency of the international football body, FIFA! It appeared such a daunting proposition and one would have thought that he was joking but clearly he was not!

ONE theme that runs across the entire spectrum of public administration is that leaders should say less than necessary because power cannot accrue to those who squander their treasure of words. Essentially, the more you speak, the more likely you are to make mistakes. And words are like the toothpaste – once you press it out of the tube, it cannot be put back. In the words of Cardinal de Retz (1613-1679), “It is even more damaging for a Minister to say foolish things than to do them”.

HOW did corruption become a way of life in Nigeria? This question should be of the utmost importance to the Presidency and of course to the future minister of information whose role, if not for the “job for the boys syndrome” should have remained combined with that of the minister of culture (and by extension tourism). Nigeria’s national orientation, our inability to unanimously condemn wrongdoing, is perhaps our country’s greatest problem.