THE Lamido of Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha, is turning out to be quite an outstanding delegate to the ongoing National Conference. I can imagine, by now, his colleagues will stop their side-talks, whisperings and murmurings whenever the royal turban is given the microphone to speak.

Yes I did not. You may want to ask, “so what?” Exactly. For one reason or another, Columnists fail to write regularly. I try as much as possible to tell my bosses (Onochie and Tony) in advance, so that they can help me apologise to my readers.

In the aftermath of the announcement that Nigeria’s current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had risen to $510bn, the question on the street was simply, that of, whether or not food will become readily available on the table for the common man, and whether or not the teeming millions of Nigerian youths who are currently unemployed will quickly be provided with jobs.

I wrote the first part of this series on Sunday, March 30, 2014. On Monday, March 31, 2014, THISDAY published a lead story alleging that a Muslim-Muslim ticket was being planned by the All Progressive Congress, APC. According to the paper, General Buhari (rtd) is proposed to be the presidential candidate, while Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would be the Vice Presidential candidate. I smiled; because it was no news to me. First, I have been informed about the development a few days before. One of the two had visited someone in Abuja; and, he made the point that ‘ANYBODY CAN DEFEAT JONATHAN’ [capitals mine]. And on that basis, it was decided that A Muslim-Muslim ticket was safe – after all Christians voted overwhelmingly for the Abiola-Kingibe ticket. Christians, again, failed to protest, vigorously, the Buhari-Idiagbon military leadership – both of which were Muslim-Muslim teams. I had smiled when this was mentioned to me – because I expected it. Why? Let me explain. But, first, permit me to make two pertinent comments.

A woman brought an alabaster jar of very costly perfume and poured it all on Jesus. Jesus’ disciples were indignant, asking: “Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” (Matthew 26:8-9). But ultimately, perfume is meant to be used. Even if it is sold, the person who buys it would still “waste it” by using it.

Notwithstanding overemphasis on publications by the system, I give priority to good performance in the classroom, lecture theatre, and laboratories where students are expected to learn from their teachers.

Although, I am yet to meet anyone who has seen the ‘White Paper’ on the report of a panel headed by Steve Oronsaye, a former Head of Service of the Federation to rationalize government organizations, the media has disclosed the release of such a 105-page document. With proactive investigative journalism aided by our new law on freedom of information, why not get the details; I asked myself? I was honestly not excited about that because history teaches me that in Nigeria, an official document called ‘White Paper’ is by tradition a “stereotype”- something that takes the same pattern all the time.

It is likely there might be some ego massaging and chest thumping by those who believe they have ‘grown’ the economy; especially those in the kitchen cabinet who will grasp at any straw that shows the economy is on track.

On March 27, 2014, a house help, simply identified as David, killed and beheaded his former boss, a 65-year-old retired Chief Magistrate, Olufunmilayo Timeyin, at her residence in Ogun State.

Ordinarily, I have no cause to pay serious attention to the lyrics of some of the songs released by the young generation of Nigerians because of their tendency to be lurid.