Section 7 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999, provides for the system of democratically elected local government councils making it mandatory for every state to ensure their existence under a law which provides for their establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions.Thus, the conduct of local government elections in Nigeria is the responsibility of the state government hence each state handles hers.

The year 2014 is about three weeks old. All over the world, both Christians and non-Christians are recovering from the excesses of Christmas and Near Year celebrations – excessive spending, eating, drinking and other ostentatious debaucheries that take a heavy toll on the health and finances of people.

The Jukuns probably serve best to illustrate the problems of small ethnic groups strung across several states. To the best of my knowledge, they can be found in Benue, Nassarawa, Taraba and parts of Cross River States – in the Katsina Ala area. And like the Fulani/Hausa, they have been involved in ethnic conflicts in every state. How will their representative(s) be chosen? And, in the event of a break-up of Nigeria, where will they go?

The remains of Sesan Ogunro, my friend and brother, was laid to rest last Friday. He would have been 62 on May 1. It is ironic that a man who took such a good care of his body— he neither drank nor smoked, took living bitters periodically to detox, exercised almost everyday, and took his medical check ups seriously— never lived to celebrate his 62nd birthday. That is a reflection of the short and brutish life in Nigeria.

The owl farted, and demanded that his kinsmen eulogise him for that. But they couldn’t, telling him that no man gets eulogised for doing evil. Indeed, a child that dances to the rhythm of surugada should know it is the dance of the spirits. It is only a fly that does not listen to advice that follows a corpse to the grave.

MY home state, Rivers, is currently in turmoil and has, for the past few months, been both a theatre of war and a theatre of the absurd.

THE reality of the Nigerian situation has remained an enigma as the Nigerian people themselves. It is a fact that the many nations that had inhabited a lovely and naturally endowed plain called Nigeria in the past one hundred years are yet to understand themselves to actually evolve as one nation.

DEAR President Goodluck Jonathan , I never thought I would join in the letter writing orgy that has seized all of Nigeria by the wrist! Certainly, not given the self-serving purposes of the Epistle of Saint Matthew of Otta to the people of Nigeria through you and the many replies to it.

CHIEF Olusegun Obasanjo’s December 2 open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan certainly did more damage to the President than either he or his supporters care to admit. Aside the fact that Jonathan’s response to his estranged benefactor’s letter lacked both the interest and passion generated by the initial letter, his reply appealed more to the zealotry of his own supporters than it addressed the substance of Obasanjo’s allegations.

IF you love the pleasure of smoking marijuana, then the new haven and place to be is a state called Colorado in the United States. And, here are some added incentives for you to go there: you can purchase an ounce of the drug at a time, several times over; you only have to be 21 years old or above to buy the stuff; you don’t even need to be a Colorado State resident to buy or smoke it.