FIDEL Alejandro Castro Ruz took his final breath on November 26, 2016 taking along with him our beloved Fred Agbaje,Lagos-based activist Lawyer;and bringing closure to a long era.

Newly-elected Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State struck the right note in his maiden address to the people of Edo State when he declared that “there is more free lunch”. He has his reasons which the tables below will pertly explain. Contrary to what some consider an early rebuke of his immediate past predecessor, it was nothing more than a bow to reality. Facts remain the eternal enemies of illusions which still drive most of our politicians promising free everything under the sun.

There is a limit to which you can grow a business with personal savings; invariably, sustained growth and expansion require additional capital, which may be subscribed or borrowed. It is less risky, for example, to borrow, if loanable funds come with cheaper rates below 5%, especially where gestation is necessarily extended; besides, easier access to cheap funds generally stimulates businesses to create more job opportunities. Furthermore, material inputs, similarly financed with low interest loans, will also reduce production cost, and sustain consumer demand with affordable prices.

VIOLENCE rampages large parts of Nigeria and most of Africa. Generations are born into violence who grow from innocence to stoking its wild fires. A cross section of people including diplomats, intellectuals, journalists, retired generals and representatives of the Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector General of Police gathered in Abuja, seeking a solution.

THE Gestapo-like raids of the judges by operatives of the State Security Services,SSS, coming at the time a change of baton was about to take place in the Judiciary, as objectionable as it was, must have had its positive side, after all.