My father, Abul-Lateef Adisa Animasaun, worked for Chief Okupe for some years until he decided to go on his own. He handled cash and credit for the man that Nigerians knew wide and wide as Agbonmagbe. He was also known as Agbonmagbe Bank.

Agbonmagbe ran a good bank that the Western Regional Government bought it off him and then it became the Wema Bank. Till the end of the time of Chief Okupe, the chief and my father were good friends. My father would seek advice from him. My father died many years ago at 82.

I felt sad when I read on the internet that a young lady in her 20s attempted to take her life because her boyfriend left her a note saying that he was ending their relationship because he no longer found her attractive.

The political campaign season is upon us. That four-year cycle that pumps up adrenaline, and is the bull-pulpit equivalent of the thriller in Manila allows us to see not only much political theatre but also real blood on the sand. In this republic, as we strive to make it, to borrow the terms of another clime, a kinder and gentler society, the powerful animus of self-interested and deeply entrenched private hatreds will come to fore and indeed clash with the public interest.

There is a loose cannon rattling around the corridors of Aso Rock. They call him Mohammed Abba-Aji, but we know what we would like to call him.

Adekunle Salami has, in his column, asked that the huge money they took to Sudan be refunded.
His grudge was that they knew it would be a wasted journey but they still embarked on it.

THE second edition of the AIT Football Awards will hold on Tuesday March 8 in Port Harcourt. The awards are small beginnings that point a direction for us, if only we are willing to recognise the fact that football (and sports) requires different approaches for the attainment of the results we eagerly expect.

After series of articles by many Nigerian patriots and having listened patiently to many commentators on the country‘s problems and after I have analyzed carefully the solutions profered by experts, I am back with a vengeance. The problem the present position or the predicament of our country, named Nigeria by a sweet damsel of a British administrator called Flora Shaw is defying solution.

THESE are trying and dizzy times. They are breathless seasons when nothing seems certain. By my last count, there have been uprisings in 19 countries in the last two months. These are times that demand sacrifice, and millions of people step forward to put their lives on the line.

Sorry for my 4-week absence from the pages of this newspaper. I had to take a break because of var ious pressures, i n c l u d i n g a v e r y unpleasant bout of typhoid. You will no doubt notice that this Sweet And Sour space has been r e d e s i g n e d a n d effectively re-launched. Please let us know whether you like the new look.

IN local parlance, they say, “Monkey no fine, him mama like am”. I get along with my Director of Transportation; the one other people call their driver. This is a man who refused to go beyond Primary Three of his days. He is full of wisdom, though. When we are alone, particularly on a long journey, I ignore his grammar and accept his perfect sense. We discuss everything, from politics to religion; and, indeed, from agriculture to zoning.

THE ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wanted to turn Chief Olabode George’s return from prison to a great political opportunity. They chose to portray it as the “heroic triumph” of the former Deputy National Chairman of the Party over his travails.

Everything about him was modestly tailored. He was never given to flamboyance all through his private and social life, and – to observing folks who were privileged to keep him company – he was quite sensitive to the media glow that others would gladly pay to frolic in.

THE celebrations are still on in the five states where by virtue of Justice Adamu Bello’s judgement elongating the governor’s tenure, the state executives would stay in power longer than their electoral mandate. But for the Nigerian people, this is a period of mourning for the new Nigeria they have fought so tenaciously to enthrone.

IN this piece I will focus on Government in Africa. In a subsequent piece I will address the implications of the disquisition on government for governance in Africa.

Going by the headline of this piece, what I am about to write is no more news.
I am convinced that perhaps there is nothing I am going to say here that our very intelligent readers have not heard or read and this influenced my earlier decision to dwell extensively on the just concluded Orange African Nations Championship.