ALL Progressive Congress, the political party that was cobbled together from at least four other major parties, is the opposition answer to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, behemoth in a Nigeria where the idea of independent candidacy is yet to gain sound footing however desirable.

SPEAKING at last of her hitherto ultra-secret six-week “rest” in Germany, Mrs Patience Jonathan, not known for nuance or circumspection, made a direct comparison to the Biblical Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. “I am not Lazarus,” she said, then added “but my experience was similar to his.”

RECENTLY President Goodluck Jonathan told CNN’s British-Iranian anchor Christine Amampour that the power sector has witnessed a “tremendous improvement”. Many Nigerians scoffed at that.

SIMON Kolawole’s “A Lesson Or Two From Super Eagles” in ThisDay of Sunday February 17, makes the connection between politics and excellence. The Super Eagles, according to Kolawole, exemplified the relevance and wisdom of decision made on the merit of what is the case.

I have been reliably informed that the Nigeria Football Federation has concluded arrangements to hold a pre-season Match Commissioners seminar in Abuja this week. What this tells me is that the March 9 kick off date of the Premier league may be a reality after all.

BEING from AbiaState, I come from the Niger Delta. At least, that is what the legislation that established the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) says, though those from the “True Niger Delta” (Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and, to a lesser extent, Akwa Ibom) would laugh at those of us from Abia, Imo, Edo and OndoStates with the question: “How many oil wells do you have?”

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, one of the most efficient and least appreciated parastatals, in the country today, recently disclosed that “overall growth in real GDP in 2012 was 6.61 per cent, which is a decline from the 7.43 per cent recorded in 2011”. There are several inferences to be drawn from that statement alone. But, only two will be addressed here.

In apparent response to the Action Congress’ admonition that the nation’s economy was “gradually grinding to a halt”, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, unexpectedly painted a brighter economic picture, and sought to clarify popular misconceptions on the issues of our external reserves and the alleged discrepancies between reported reserves balances of the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Regrettably, however, the canvassed positive indices of GDP growth and claims of fiscal prudence are not corroborated by the ugly reality on ground.

Recently, Prof.(Mrs.)Pat Black,President, Soroptimist International of Great Britain & Ireland- SIGBI, paid a one-week to Nigeria. Soroptimist International is a worldwide organization for women in management and the professions, serving as a global voice for women and girls. SIGBI oversees all Soroptimists clubs in Common-wealth countries, including Nigeria.

When one of world’s foremost storytellers, Prof. Chinua Achebe, declined for the second time a national award conferred on him this time around by the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, most so-called eminent Nigerians failed to learn the simple but powerful lesson embedded in Achebe’s refusal to “join the bandwagon.”

A friend’s married daughter and her husband were shocked when their guard came to tell them when they returned from work, that the nanny to their two children had begged him to allow her smuggle a male relation, who she claimed had come from their village to look for a job, into her room in the Boys’ Quarters.

On Monday February 25, 2013, some students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi were killed by armed men suspected to be soldiers. The dead were some Nigerians including students who were on a public demonstration against continued lack of water in the town. No one knows how many people actually died.

The lady doth protest too much! So the president’s other half, Patience in her inestimable candid humility would like the Senate and the House of Reps to pass the budget of N4 billion earmarked for her “pet” project- The Ladies Mission House. This edifice she tells us will be left for the people of Nigeria and she in her words “will not carry the building with her when her tenure ends”.

Did the wicked pastors, bishops and general overseers who conspired to have Jesus crucified really know he is the Messiah?  Yes they did.  Would they in their right minds dare to kill the son of God?  Yes they would

Whatever made General Ibrahim Babangida to deprive Nigeria of the fruits of that golden venture into democracy, dealt a severe blow on the future of this nation.