WE salute the Nigerian spirit – the spirit of enterprise. It is the spirit that rewards excellence and punishes indolence. We have seen the Nigerian team in a football match with another country on our home ground. In the beginning, Nigerians applauded their team to the high heavens but as soon as the Nigerian team fell into goal deficit, Nigerians switched their support to the visiting team and at the very height of their disappointment, they even started hurling stones at the Nigerian players.

ORDINARILY, the appointment of an emir should not draw comments from me. But the emir of Kano is not just another traditional ruler. Kano is touted as the second largest population centre in Nigeria after Lagos, though official figures insist it is the most populous state

Last Friday, Alhaji Ado Bayero, the Emir of Kano died at the age of 83. He had reigned for 51 years, and with his death, a most significant chapter in the history of leadership, sourced from the traditions of the Sokoto Jihad, closed.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has many political enemies. The irony of the President’s situation is that many of his very vocal supporters are among his most ardent enemies.

Three weeks ago, in the first part on this subject, we indicated that we should look at the sort of life that would be possible for residents of our communities over the next 100 years.

I WATCHED the Super Eagles take a 2-1 beating in the hands of Jurgen Klinsman’s U.S.A. team,in the company of some Kenyans and a young Nigerian friend on a visit from Columbus, Ohio. Watching the Super Eagles with Kenyans is almost as good as watching the match in Lagos or Abuja. Kenyans always amaze me with their knowledge of Nigerian star footballers, from the golden days of Rashid Yekini down to the modern era.

OF all the cities in Northern Nigeria, Kano is perhaps the most important. Although it used to be subject to the Sokoto Caliphate, in many respects it has since become a far more important city in Nigeria than Sokoto. Kano was the administrative capital of the entire Northern Nigeria under British colonial rule.

Saturday, I happened on the Nigeria match on AIT.
My family was asleep. Silence all around me as the Eagles took to the offensive. Needed to share this rejuvenation with someone. Yes, I said to myself, this, was our World Cup team.

THE Abia State Government has decided to reabsorb most of the non-indigenes it disengaged from its civil service about three years ago. When it took the decision to “back load” or “transfer” the services of the workers to their states of origin in 2011, there was a great uproar, especially in the social and traditional media, with the Governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji being called names.

Edward Gibbon, perhaps the greatest historian the world has ever known left us with the great epic THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. So, he is as qualified as anybody to summarise for us what history is all about. His comments about register of follies, if taken with another view of history, which says history repeats itself, will help us to understand where Nigeria stands today with respect to automobiles assembled in Nigeria.