Pope Francis is Time Magazine’s 2013 Man of the Year. But to the vocal acolytes of the conservative creed in America, the man of God from Argentina is no more than another Fidel Castro dressed up in holy robes. Yes. Less than 24 hours after Time Magazine made the announcement, the far right quickly unleashed their tirade against the pope.

AS we celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, it is important to highlight what makes him so exemplary, especially on an African continent so bereft of good leadership. Why are there so few Nelson Mandelas in Africa?

IN my years of watching current affairs in Nigeria, particularly the role that former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has been playing in it, I have developed a profile of him that never fails to click each he makes his public outings. He has perfected the chicken approach to foraging.

We have regrettably remained loyal, as a country, to a culture of late budget approval and partial implementation annually. Indeed, since the beginning of our civil dispensation, no fiscal plan received legislative approval and presidential assent before December 31.

Now, you can’t touch: Mathew Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo, General and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, former President of the Republic, ex-this and that, felt the pull in his patriotic heartstrings last week, and he penned a most acerbic letter to his “acolyte” – President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. General Obasanjo is known to rise to the occasion with his letters. He wrote Shagari, he wrote Buhari; he wrote the famous letter urging Babangida to “put a human face to SAP;” heck, he wrote to himself! Now, he has written Jonathan.

Christians are brainwashed in churches not to think but to foolishly follow whatever our pastors tell us. We are hoodwinked into believing all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7). As a result, when we are shown contradictions in the bible, we resort to ungodly insults and claim those who identify them don’t have the Holy Spirit. But our God is a logical God.

The strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) since July 01, 2013 will probably go down in history as the best ever well-organized action of the union. Although the action lasted longer than many Nigerians envisaged, it is to the credit of ASUU that it was fully ready for business. The union had in fact made it clear that only a complete resolution of the issues at stake would bring the strike action to an end. Hence, it was also ready for any eventuality. Consequently, when the government introduced the ‘no work, no pay’ rule into the game, the union responded by resorting to providing other welfare strategies such as distributing food items, giving out soft loans and cash advances to members to cope with the effects of the policy.

“Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity”-Nelson Mandela.

Last Thursday, a bright light dimmed but will never be extinguished. That beacon of light will continue to light the way through the darkness for years to come.

I still remember the travails of late Professor J.A. Omotola, former VC University of Lagos, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the university became the primus inter pares among tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Despite mistakes here and there, Professor Omotola tried so hard to ensure massive positive transformation of UNILAG within the shortest possible time.

Femi Fani-Kayode and Tunde Fagbenle, without saying it, implicitly, believe that the Southwest will be better off on its own. To be candid; they have reasons for the optimism. The “Oduduwa Nation” (for lack of a better name), will be an oil producing nation – Ondo, Lagos and Ogun have oil. It has on the average the best collection of educated manpower and its educational institutions from primary to tertiary are the best nationwide. So, on the face of it, nothing stops it from becoming another Croatia or Pakistan. Nothing, that is, except guarantee of perpetual peace