It was nothing short of war from the beginning, but we seemed reluctant to admit it to ourselves. Boko Haram must been laughing their heads off. They were obviously toying with us while we kept playing games with ourselves, and they joined us. They bombed and killed and committed all manner of mayhem on the people almost at will, until at last a state of emergency was imposed on the three States which had borne the brunt of the onslaught from the enemy. That was what, as far back as February this year, (on the 22nd, to be precise) prompted this page to come out with the comment reproduced hereunder:

This article is not on the Ebola fever about which much has been written. It is about a different kind of fever; the type that gripped the world (World Cup) about the time Ebola gripped West Africa. This is the season of soccer.

EARLIER on this week, the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, released a statement about Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in Nigeria.

The Minister said that, as of Wednesday, the total number of confirmed cases of EVD in Nigeria was 19 (15 in Lagos, four in Port Harcourt) and that the total number of deaths was seven (five in Lagos, two in Port Harcourt).

THE week that the Bureau of Statistics announced the healthy state of the Nigerian economy (with impressive growth rate of 6.3 per cent also carried the pleasing news of the recapture of Bama (in North-East of Nigeria) by the gallant security forces from the ravaging Boko Haram insurgents

THIS column is today taking time off from the murky waters of politics to bring you the profile of a purist; a true democrat of our time; and one man in whom there is hope that Nigeria is still possible – Chief (Dr.) John Odigie-Oyegun.

DR. STEPHEN DAVIS is an original case of loose cannon. He is both a muckraker and fisher in troubled waters; a man whose real mission to Nigeria can only be understood through proper investigation. He came dressed in the borrowed robes of “federal government negotiator” with Boko Haram.

IT was late afternoon on Saturday last week that I heard of the tragic killing of THE SUN newspaper columnist, Dimgba Igwe. I put through a call to THE SUN MD and President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Femi Adesina.

IF the disastrous collapse of the defences around the civilian populations in much of the north-east is not the tragedy it is, developments in and about Adamawa state will provide a fascinating subject for political discourse.

AT what point is it safe to declare a place and a people safe from the menace of a dangerous disease? When can a potential plague of devastating proportions be viewed as under effective control?

We need to admit the truth; Nigeria no longer has an army worth its salt. The Nigerian army of today is a pathetic shadow of its glorious past. This explains why it is proving grossly inadequate at checkmating a Boko Haram army of some 10,000 men. As a matter of fact, ranged against the insurgency in the North-East, the army is now staring abject defeat in the face.