THERE is no “good” time for a disease epidemic—certainly not a deadly hemorrhagic fever, such as Lassa. But the worst possible period is now, when we are so deeply mired in a social crisis.

ANY day and anytime,the question of the ‘Nigerian Condition‘ comes to mind. This is based on finding how Nigeria is where it is today among other nations of the world. Questions are often asked, and justifiably so, on why Nigeria is still a poor country in the midst of abundant human and material resources. Perhaps the answer lies within the complexity of the problems of the politics and economics of the country and the perception of the people (Philosophy).

NO matter how much we paint the situation, when a government becomes so weak and so incompetent that it can no longer protect its citizens; and when a nation becomes so corrupt and overtaken by criminality, then, the major indicators or symptoms of a failed state are registered.

LAST week, President Goodluck Jonathan told Reuters, in an interview, that the Nigerian government would dialogue with the Islamist organization, Boko Haram, “if they clearly identify themselves now and say this is the reason we are resisting, this is the reason we are confronting government or this is the reason we destroy some innocent people and their properties…then there will be a basis for dialogue”.

A VIOLENT storm appears to be brewing. We seem perched on a déjà vu: with 1966/1967 about to be re-enacted (somewhat). If the dark prognosis comes to pass, it will not be because northerners are killing southerners in the north as in 1966/67.

LAST week, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Governor of the Central Bank, ascribed the emergence of Boko Haram to poverty…and highlighted the fact that the funds that Northern states get from the Federation Account are paltry compared to the funds received by oil-producing states.

THE job of appointing public officers in Nigeria is by no means an easy task. More often than not what comes into consideration are factors other than merit. A situation Goodluck Jonathan might have found himself in the man he finally settled upon to replace Afiz Ringim as the Inspector General of Police.

AT the heat of the national resistance against President Jonathan’s decision to abruptly implement the decision to remove the subsidy on petroleum, a number of events took place which had the combined effect of raising the oldest question about the Nigerian state; as well as further damaging President Jonathan’s already limited capacity to offer an all-inclusive and purposeful leadership.

WHEN the above is the case, the problematique of constitutional government in Nigeria is civilian electoral government, not unconstitutional military rule. The puzzle for the rank and file of the Military as well as the generality of the Nigerian populace is why Military governments voluntarily withdraw from office only to return at will to office.

I CAN imagine that the question on everybody’s lips now is: is this the beginning of the end prophesied for Nigeria? Can Nigeria make it to 2015? If Boko Haram has infiltrated the government and the nation’s security agencies, as President Jonathan admitted, can the nation hold together?

Certainly one of the most frequently asked questions on the advocacy for the adoption of a ‘demonopolised’ foreign exchange market is how it will operate and the benefits of such a model. Therefore, let us first examine the validity of the advocacy and subsequently define its modus operandi.

AS soon as the news of the removal of former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim filtered into the Web, I got a ping from one Victor Otisi who lives in Cotonou, Benin Republic. He pronounced me a “prophet”. In one of my articles of last week Monday, I had said I would be surprised if Ringim was still in office by the time the write-up was printed.

An elderly ‘auntie’ was wringing her hands in anguish when she read in the papers that the Senate had passed the bill against same sex marriage. “Have our moral values degenerated to such depth that we have to pass a law on that? Are they saying that such a thing goes on in Nigeria?”

In this concluding part of her reaction to the issue of same sex marriage/relationship, Pastor(Mrs.)Ruth Nick-Essien, Founder/Presiding Pastor of Exodus Evangelical Ministry in Lagos, reveals how greed and poverty provide breeding grounds for gay practice. She also examines critically the threat posed on the continuity of the human race.
Hear her:

“Let me seize this opportunity to assure all Nigerians that I feel the pains that you all feel”. President Goodluck Jonathan’s address to the nation after subsidy removal. Permit me, Mr President of Nigeria, on behalf of my constituency, the “Area Boys of Nigeria”, to wish you a pleasant 2012 – if you deserve it.