I do not know those who have been 80 years old but I know it’s been something to be 77years. When my daughter,Denrele asked me to put my thoughts on paper to mark my birthday, I do not know where to begin. It has been a very eventful journey- from my primary school in Abeokuta and Ibadan; from my school in Fiditi and the Abeokuta Grammar School to my professional colleges in London.

The much vaunted but inefficient fight against corruption has become the basis for which the executive branch under the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari has embarked on the most extensive power grab in the history of civil rule in Nigeria. Well, Nigerians made the first mistake in 1999, when they did not back their legislators in checkmating President Obasanjo’s attempts to muscle the National Assembly. But let me proceed from where the “Orbit” ended last week by making the following observations. The greatest threat against democracy and the survival of the rule of law in Nigeria is an indolent and a badly informed citizenship. Most Nigerians have never bothered to read the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This includes, many Nigerians who are literate enough to absorb the letters of the constitution, and understand it.

Minutes after I concluded this column last week, I turned to my daily devotional manual, Open Heavens, authored by the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, and the topic for the day was “ Dancing unto the Lord”. I said to myself, definitely, the Holy Spirit is in charge. I had just written about prayer to praise and, now, a respected man of God has ‘ Dancing unto the Lord’ as his topic for us. This gave me the confidence that some people will soon dance as their sorrows are about to be turned to unspeakable joy.

Take the current recrudescence of gitation for the establishment of Republic of Biafra in the South-east and some areas in the South-south more than four decades after the civil war ended. With the possible exception of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Ndigbo, the people who have contributed more than any other ethnic group to national development, have been treated as third class citizens by previous leaders especially in key federal appointments.

In the last few months, members of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been embroiled in squabbles to determine their true leadership. Is it former Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff? Some would say yes while many would say it is former Kaduna Governor, Ahmed Makarfi. Having failed to deal with the matter as a family affair, the factions have been in court and on a daily basis, they are getting different decisions which make it easy for each side to follow the judgment it prefers.