I am a student of politics. However, I hate politics. It is ungodly, it is false, and it is practiced with deceit. You cannot be a successful politician and, at the same time, be committed to the truth. Therefore, my interest in politics does not go beyond the academic. I write about politics primarily to expose the deceit of politicians. I could never be a politician. Neither can I ever be interested in occupying a political office.

In apparent response to the opposition’s admonition that the nation’s economy was “gradually grinding to a halt” last year, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, conversely painted a brighter economic picture, and sought to clarify popular misconceptions on the issue of our external reserves balance of about $45bn and the alleged discrepancies between the reported Excess Crude Account balances of the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reserves.

THE National Conference made far-reaching resolutions on Thursday, July 3rd 2014 when it approved the creation of eighteen additional states in the country. If this resolution is put in the constitution, Nigeria will become a federation of 54 states, with about 174 million people and landmass of 923,768 square kilometres.

I was convinced that last week was the best time to go watch the World Cup, so off I went to Brazil, with the intention of taking in the match against France and from there, who knows?

Nigeria lags behind all the countries – South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, to mention a few – which were either at the same level of development or were even behind us in 1960 mostly because we never learn from our mistakes. Every twenty or so years, we are faced with a major shift in economic policies based on new global realities or technology and we end up messing up the transition – at our own peril

As I write this, Hurricane Arthur lashes against the Cape Hateras, in the Outerbanks of North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast, where I’ve been vacationing with my family in the summer cottage of our friends, the Kladakis.
We are in the true eye of the hurricane. It is 2 am; the wind has gained strength, all is dark and silent; calm even; but for the eerie roar of the sea outside.

I pray that we all take time to be the best that we can be, be tolerant and extend peace and love to everyone we meet, that through these good deeds we indeed, show the true meaning of being a good Muslim.

In the UK, during the summer months fasting is a long affair that lasts up to 18 hours. We wake up very early and break our fast after nine in the evening.

Spontaneous reactions are occurrences most of us describe as unexpected and unplanned. Things we do without deliberate intent or forethought; explosions of sorts triggered by emotions on rampage. The beauty of hindsight is that we actually give ourselves enough time to think about how we should have reacted and then see a different turn of events to those we most likely come to sorely regret. One of the most notable features of older people is their unhurried gait and pace. They seem to have got the memo from heaven that everything and everyone can wait. Spontaneity and rash impulses get hammered out with time and at a particular age the wisdom of the elders is more a direct dividend of patience and energy deficiency. A truly mature and wise individual knows the value of an extended pause; they know just how important it is to buy some time before giving in to emotions; anger is a tonic only for the mad!!

Daily, if not every minute, people all over Nigeria are passing remarks reflecting their assessment of the performance of their elected officials. President Jonathan, who, unfortunately, is the first President to rule during the Age of Facebook and Twitter, had been known to lament that he is the most insulted President in the world today. He has my sympathies. But, I can assure GEJ that the lashes he is now receiving will be love pats compared to what his successors will experience in the future – if that is any consolation.

Last week, the Senate screened and approved four additional nominees as Ministers. On the occasion, Senate President David Mark admonished the nominees to assume office with a mindset to live above board. Since Ministers as leaders are expected to serve as role models by shunning all acts of impropriety, the admonition appears rational. But was I or any other citizen for that matter supposed to have faith in the said caution? Put differently, is it unlikely that David Mark himself, the author of the admonition may not have believed in it? Those who wish to see this viewpoint as cynical are free to do so but they cannot stop us from being skeptical about the possibility of any political office holder in Nigeria operating with any appreciable level of integrity. History does not seem to support a contrary view.