FOR brightening the dour face of Nigeria, for bringing joy to millions of Nigerians all over the world and raising their confidence level, the Super Eagles and their handlers deserve anything and everything that is being offered them.

THE charade around the conduct and fate of an Assistant Director in the Federal Civil Service who exercises responsibility as Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdurrasheed Maina appears set to continue.

THE Constitution of this country has established the prime value of the currency of Nigerian citizenry, and our politics instead of being the cultivation of the appreciation of Nigerian citizenry, has been and continues to be a process of a structured depreciation of the value of citizenry.

TWO things made me happy more than the winning of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations by the Super Eagles in South Africa. One was the relationship between Keshi and the Super Eagles players.

THE Constitution of this country has established the prime value of the currency of Nigerian citizenry, and our politics instead of being the cultivation of the appreciation of Nigerian citizenry, has been and continues to be a process of a structured depreciation of the value of citizenry.

Yesterday, we spoke about the glorious victory now sweeping through the land and the need to put all that is happening to us in perspective.

“The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria is set to take possession of properties belonging to the Chairman, Bi-Courtney Group of Companies, Dr Wale Babalakin, over a N13.4bn debt…But, for “clerical errors”, one of the properties in Lagos would have been taken over on Friday”. PUNCH, Monday, February 11, 2013, p 30.

During the Nations Cup, the call of duty did not permit me to maintain my column. The General Coordinator at the Nations Cup, or what is simply regarded as GC, runs the tournament at the venues.

Our governments have spent billions of naira over time to promote a positive image for Nigerians everywhere. Regrettably, the popular perception of the Nigerian character remains that of greed, self-interest and other such ingenious criminal escapades. The promoted brand of “Good People, Great Nation” never really took off, and it has become clear that neither catchy slogans nor sexy packaging can change public perception of what is intrinsically a bad product!

SOMETIMES it is difficult not to be ashamed to be a Nigerian. The stories that come out of our country these days portray how hard it is to imagine the workings of evil minds. Penultimate weekend, this year’s vaccination against the polio virus was launched across the nation. It went well in most parts of the country except in two states of Northern Nigeria – Kano and Yobe.

The modern Christian church, with its mega-pastors and highfalutin cathedrals, is nothing but a counterfeit of the true church of Christ

The world was reeling from the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI had announced that he would step down at the end of the month. It was a seismic announcement where I was and there all manners of conspiratory theory abound among which is; he is going to make a confession or was there an inside job in the Vatican?

For years, Reuben Abati, the President’s Senior Special Adviser on Media, was the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the paper which was the self-proclaimed “Flagship” of the print media. As such, it was generally expected that he would embody the spirit of that paper; he was, at least we believe, expected to have a conscience and to uphold the truth at all times. And for a long time, most people reading the Guardian, thought he fulfilled the two conditions.

Our respective cups will never be full when it comes to finding meaning to our sometimes black and white existence. Sometimes coming into contact with a truth that challenges status quo can be a bit of a burden especially when your life is a journey of growth.

The issue of the moment in our clime is obviously the coming together of opposition political parties to wrestle power from the dominant ruling party- the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The activities of the opposition in this respect have been many and perhaps exceedingly loud.