It is Christmas again! It is my favourite time of the year – when the languid air smells of good fare: the sharing of goodwill; the visit of friends and family; the return of migrants from various corners of the earth; the salute to the belly by all forms of gormandizing acts – the sheer sense of completion of another cycle of life and of the seasons. All these amplify the significance of this time of the year.

Christmas is here again, an indication of the cyclic nature of time.
The fever has gripped all the nooks and crannies of the globe. In the major cities of Nigeria, Santa Claus’s cheery face is emblazoned at shop entrances and windows.

THIS has been quite an engaging year. It is one I am tempted to call the Year Of The Miners in appreciation of the Chilean miners who emerged after been buried seven hundred metres in the earth’s bowels. Their rescue was a miracle enacted by human ingenuity and the blessing of The Almighty.

I HAVE gradually become extremely disillusioned about certain aspects of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s regime. As I’ve said a couple of times in this column, he has too many unimpressive aides and ministers…and has not been sufficiently dynamic or inspirational since he took over from his late former boss, Yar’Adua.

In my previous article where I examined the problems of ‘Question‘ in the context of ethnic politics in Nigeria, I came to the conclusion that the ‘Ibo Question‘ is being addressed through placement of Ibos in strategic positions on merit. For example, a new Chief of Army Staff has been appointed and an Ibo Inspector-General of Police has just retired.

TEN years is an awfully long time for any man to plunge neck-deep into the murky waters of professional boxing and remain therein, and by which period preliminary layers of the dreaded scar tissues that is the boxers traditional curse have become considerably manifest.

THERE is something that nobody, even the greatest iconoclast, can take away from this National Assembly – the sheer courage to venture into an area of its responsibility that was hitherto regarded as sacrosanct.

AT the beginning of 1990, things were pretty bad for the country; it was reeling under directionless military dictatorship. Some Nigerians like Tanko Yakassai, Uche Chukwumerije, R B K Okafor, Frederick Fasehun, Beko Ransome-Kuti and Mahmud Waziri were convinced that something needed to be done fast to save the country from the rapacious military and possible disintegration.

ACCORDING to the December 5 NEXT on Sunday, President Goodluck Jonathan approved the sale of the official residences of the presiding officers of the National Assembly.

A LOT of what would make the 2011 elections successful is being hinged on the personal integrity of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega.

Democracy is popularly defined as a system of government designed by the people for the people. The adoption of this style as best practice of governance by several nation states is supported by the far reaching economic and social progress made by those countries with strong democratic principles and structures.

A small story. Tuesday I was in the office of the NFF Deputy Secretary General Technical, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme with Chief Onigbinde, and Chairman Christian Chukwu when a colleague ( Journalist ) walked in.

Hi Readers! Nanny and I are having the time of our lives here in Jos, savouring the peace and quiet. Life is more slow-paced than in Lagos.

Christmas is at hand, the period when money is on the mind of most people and the spirit of consumerism reigns supreme. Of course, money is important. The Bible has a realistic perspective about money. Ecclesiastes 10:19 says, ‘money is the answer for everything’.

Nothing is all evil. Previous military governments gave us two decrees, which in retrospect, we might wish had been incorporated into our 1999 constitution. The second was the Failed Bank Decree of the Abacha administration. Although I was placed in detention four times during that regime, I will forever pray for Abacha for at least temporarily sanitizing the banking sector.