A week after Islamic terrorists murdered 12 employees of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the victims’ colleagues defiantly featured a provocative cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed on the magazine’s front cover.

How interesting would it be if there is a final debate between President Ebele Jonathan and his challenger, General Muhammed Buhari on the topic of Security. The venue should be SAMBISA FOREST with Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and Rotimi Amaechi as Moderators.

THE raging certificate scandal of General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a big show of shame. It is making Nigeria a laughing stock out there. It shows that our laws are not supreme. The law is made for some people, while some people are not only above it but also ride it like an ass.

CLEARLY, the Mbaka episode is multi-dimensional and it is getting messier by the day. It has reached a point where President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife cannot remain mute for too long, lest they will continue to be misunderstood. The theatricals are still unfolding.
Act I: Scene I – Dame Patience Jonathan visits the Catholic Adoration Centre in Enugu, a church headed by Revd Father Ejike Mbaka. Madam is pleasantly received and Father Mbaka eulogises her husband to the high heavens. So impressed was Dame that she dropped N5 million in the offering bag. And this was marvelous in the sight of Mbaka.

Some have described Charlie Hebdo’s work as “Muslim Baiting” i.e. going out of one’s way to anger the Muslim community and to portray Islam as backward and intolerant.

ONE can say that the general feeling among Nigerians, even without the benefit of a survey or an opinion poll, is that the February elections will be violent. Those who say this or think this way are not without their reasons. History tells us so. Our recent political experience confirms it. Even now, the fault lines are already manifesting. There have been violent skirmishes among supporters of the leading political parties in different parts of the country. Campaign posters have been torn. Party offices have been invaded, houses have been burnt and lives have been lost.

Nigerians want change. They desire fundamental changes to the way things are currently in their lives at the visceral level. The trouble is that Nigerians themselves don’t seem to have decided or even determined what kind of change they wish for themselves. Change for what and to what? Here is a very basic question: what do Nigerians actually mean by “change?” What does the “change” they seek look like?

THERE is a harrowing story told by Adekoya Boladale, which needs to be brought to the attention of Nigerians, especially the people of the South-West. In the middle of the night of 4th January, 1984, heavily armed men of the Strike Force of the Nigerian army invaded the Lagos home of Chief Olu Awotesu, the Minister of State for Agriculture. This military operation had one design, to put the minister under arrest.

MITT Romney has become a spectacle in U.S. politics. Twice he has made a bid for the coveted position of presidency, and twice have voters blocked his route to the White House. After the last attempt, Romney and his wife swore that running for the presidency was no longer on their political agenda. But of late, Romney has been crisscrossing the United States, waving the banner that indicates that he is once more serious about getting into the presidential race. Generally, American presidential elections do not bestow favours on previous losers in the same race. One of the exceptions was Richard Nixon who lost to J.F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential polls, but bounced back to become the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. He had to bow out in shame over the infamous Watergate scandal which showed that he had subverted the integrity of the presidency.

“In the medium to long-term, addressing truly economic transformation becomes imperative. “—Tella