Notwithstanding, the CBN has again assured Nigerians, that the current Naira rate would be stable, as it is inappropriate for the tail (i.e. the small parallel market) to wag the dog. Nevertheless, the CBN may have been in denial of the inflationary potential on the economy of the ultimately higher market prices for rice and 40 other items recently banned from official dollar purchase.

Don’t believe the lie: all men pray. There is no man on earth who does not pray; even atheists do. Put him in a particular space where he is confronted with his humanity and man will cry out for help in prayer. He might not know who is he is praying to, but he will ask for a deliverer. However, there is only one deliverer: God.

Forget wishing anybody Merry Christmas this year; you might as well also dispense with the Happy New Year greetings for 2016. At the risk of being called, once again, a prophet of doom, let me declare right now that given the trend of crude oil prices, Nigerians are headed for the bleakest Christmas in history, and we stand to start 2016 with the worst economic uncertainty in our history.

For instance, in a meeting he held on July 29 at Blair House in Washington DC with his classmates, members of the US War College class of 1980, the President told them that John Kerry, the American Secretary of State, “read the riot act” to him, Jonathan and Prof. Attahiru Jega, former chairman of INEC. According to Buhari, Kerry reminded them that the election must be free, fair and in line with the Nigerian constitution.

I used to wonder what people enjoy in the ‘dull’ game of Billiards until last Thursday when a friend persuaded me to accompany him to cheer his cousin who was into a tournament in a recreation center in our neighbourhood.

We (one of my groups of youths and I) took advantage of the last Muslim public holiday to organize a youth forum. Our topic was “Cohabitation and Courtship.” I have dwelt extensively on both issues in this column, so I will not bother you with the presentation. But after the talk, there were torrents of questions. The participants really poured out their hearts about various aspects of courtship and matrimony. I want to share one of their concerns: deceit during courtship. Even though geographical location, tribe and tongue may differ, the problems and challenges young adults face are uniform and universal—to a large extent.

Make money, ‘hammer’, be somebody. Anyhow! Under the rubric ‘deal ‘, ‘runs’ or ‘hustling’ , anything goes. Do it , just don’t get caught. Make money. If you are caught , settle or sort it. Only the cursed goes in for it and “that’s not your portion”. Mammonism.

As the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and current world oil leader the United States flex muscles, the world may be heading for a very long period of economic recession contrary to predictions that the downward spiral may abate in the last quarter of 2015.

Do you know about the third eye? It is a simple trick of looking at a picture or slide and seeing another hidden picture or configuration different from the obvious one. At a time, a lot of management or training courses featured it

Visiting the prisoners, orphanage and children’s hospice, are some of the many ways we can touch lives meaningfully and leave a legacy behind. Most people would have thrown very wild or flamboyant parties to mark their birthdays or anniversary but with the view to please God in addition to giving meaning to the lives of the down trodden, Nollywood stars joined Dr Chris Eke of Word and Spirit Assembly, Ijegun Lagos, as he marked his 40th birthday on Saturday with the Hearts of Gold Children’s Hospice and Kirikiri Maximum Prison inmates, Lagos.