EARLY this week, the All Progressives Congress, APC’s Policy, Research and Strategy Directorate, announced a 2-Day Policy Dialogue on the Implementation of the Agenda for Change, on the eve of the inauguration of the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency, by May 29th, 2015.

YOU must have heard about the publication of the official portraits of the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) and his Deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (should we say PYO?). Talking about portraits, have you heard what some evil-minded people did to those of President Goodluck Jonathan in Kano and some other parts of the North? Even before the man is out of office, some office rats removed his portraits, and no one seems to have raised their voices against such an ignoble and unpatriotic act that could promote politics of bitterness among Nigerians.

THERE is a political philosophy that was popularised by Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the 28th President of the United States of America, “To the victor belongs the spoil of office”. Besides, people talk of the winner-takes-all syndrome. What is not clear to many is why, for instance, Muhammadu Buhari, our President-elect, cannot, in the face of all these assertions, proceed to fill his entire cabinet and other openings in government with people from his home State of Katsina.

PETROLEUM now seems more available in more parts of the country after four weeks of contrived scarcity. During these four weeks, Nigerians have almost literally been through hell and back. In the first two weeks of the scarcity, when things looked very dire, resourceful Nigerians still managed to be on the road.

OF COURSE, we have no such office as Governor of Nigeria, the closest to that being in the anachronism of Governor-General of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria during the benighted days of British colonialism, a post first occupied by His Imperial Political Alchemist, Lord Frederick Lugard. But on 14 January, 86 clear days before the governorship elections, I referred to Akinwunmi Ambode as the next Governor of Nigeria.

THE Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, recently unveiled a policy document: “the progressive agenda to combat income inequality”, a sort of road map to “make sure the voice of every American is heard­­—not just those at the very top” and to “uplift working people and help working parents, and champion a tax system that rewards work instead of just wealth”.

I WRITE this as someone who does not know President Jonathan personally. I have never met the man. Neither have I ever spoken to him electronically. All I know about him is what I read in the papers, or what I have seen of him on television. Nevertheless, he has been my president for the last five years.

Bush and Iraqi war? This suggestion brings back memories of the first and second U.S. wars in Iraq. Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush, the father and son duo of presidents of the United States at different times, launched blistering and expensive wars in Iraq.

A FORTNIGHT ago, I was in Lagos and with my travelling companions, we were heading for Ibadan. We were low on fuel, but the fuel stations were mini theatres of war. As we passed them, we could see low intensive combats going on. There was of course the option of the black market. But it was selling for N210 per litre in comparison with the official N87. The other problem is that at this parallel market, you could be sold adulterated fuel. We concluded that Ibadan was a saner place to buy fuel.

Clearly, however, the retired General certainly does not need an early confrontation with the public or indeed Labour who will as usual insist that subsidy should only be removed after sufficient local refineries can meet domestic consumption! In the event however, that refineries (depending on size) have between 18-36 months gestation, this may suggest that subsidy may not be wished away very soon!