Julius, my brother, says he is justifiably upset with me for staying back in Abuja instead of returning to our home town-Benin City- after retiring from the Public Service. He imagines that if every Benin citizen in Diaspora declines to return home, our city may shortly become a ghost town.

I was a loving husband until I became a “born again” Christian. Then I discovered certain things written by Paul in the bible appointing me the head of my wife. I eagerly accepted the appointment. Jesus reveals that the worst kind of evil is the one which is presumed to have a religious sanction. I might be a murderer but in my heart-of-hearts I know it is wrong to kill.

She is an indefatigable woman! At age 65, Mrs.Christiana Fadekemi Brodie-Mends (nee Bailey) is still seriously engaging girls in Girls Brigade at the Cathedral Church of Christ in Lagos where she is the Captain. She’s of the opinion that in the early days when children were actively engaged in uniform societies, they were well-mannered than in this generation where they are left idle.

Last week I ended this series by stating that President Jonathan does not know those behind the Boko Haram threat; neither does the National Security Adviser, NSA. They don’t know, not because they are incompetent or lack the will, as some have asserted but because we are engaged in a guerilla war in which the opponents of government forces know the JTF and Police but the forces cannot readily identify the terrorists.

Nothing yet speaks more volubly and very pointedly about the crisis of late capitalism than the images out of London this past week, of off-duty English policemen joining in the street protests against the proposed austerity measures by the government of the United Kingdom.

If anyone had asked me what I was like as a child I would have answered that I was an almost model child. I would have told of how I was reserved and respectful and how I was so afraid of getting punished that I hardly ever got into trouble. I barely have any scars on my body and its a testament that I wasn’t rough or prone to fights.

We all have the means to bestow on others the most lavish gifts; love, joy, peace, hope, kindness, acceptance, encouragement, laughter, forgiveness, time. There is not enough money to buy them and not too little money to give them. The more you spend, the wealthier you become; yet nothing will cost you more than what you freely possess to give. -Eden Elliot

Obviously, in spite of the social system in a given country, particularly in advanced societies with welfare programmes for taking care of infants, parents are duty-bound to provide for their children until the latter can live on their own; likewise children are expected to help their parents and look after them in old age.

Sometimes you have one of those days when things get on top of you and you are at a loss what to do. You want to stop and say, am getting too old for this, but you know that as long as you are alive, you must work, get the dough, get going and make things work for you.

Ms. Arunma Oteh, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, put her pretty little foot into her dainty little mouth the moment she asserted that Herman Hembe, had requested her organization to contribute the sum of N39m towards the public hearing of the investigation of how the Nigerian Capital Market almost collapsed.

A DOCTOR I know once opined that persons who grow into adulthood with excessively bowed legs ought to sue their parents.

I have consistently advocated in this column for the adoption of common sense economic policies and sensible politics as necessary tools towards the eradication of poverty and the growth of wealth in our country. I have also been preaching the sermon of good management of the country‘s enormous economic resources for the eradication of poverty and the promotion of wealth and prosperity.

I’M on a bus in the United States at the moment, travelling from Washington to New York; and the ticket cost me next to nothing, but talk about value for money!

IN the beginning, the foundation level at the primary school was very difficult. If you failed very badly at the promotion examination, you were sometimes demoted. If you were in primary three, for instance, while the successful ones went to primary four, you were moved to primary two.

I WAS in total bewilderment last Friday evening when news broke of the tragic death of former national football star, RashidiYekini.