Even at 50 years when we austensibly celebrated “maturity”as a country, it is now clearer than crystal that we are into the vicious circle of instability all over again. And it is instructive that this instability surfaced right on the day that we were celebrating 50 years of independence!!

“THE place: Lagos Racecourse. The dramatis personae: [The Governor-General] Sir James Robertson, representing Queen Elizabeth II of Britain and [the incoming Prime Minister] Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafewa Balewa, representing the 40 million people of Nigeria…And as the clock struck 12 midnight, [they] took their positions on the dais and watched the lowering of the Union Jack and the hoisting of the Nigerian flag…And so the people sang the National Anthem…And so the Independence of Nigeria was proclaimed…

THERE was a sense in which it seemed that some members of the Commonwealth did not want to see Indian host the Commonwealth Games that began with a magnificent opening ceremony last Sunday.

Power is steady and public services like rail, road and air transportation is continuously improving. The nation also runs a comprehensive social insurance policy such that no Briton suffers neglect in terms of health and poverty owing to unemployment.

ADMITTEDLY, when it comes to the spoken and written word, we choose liberal donors. We therefore do not intend to be very economical with our definitions.

Like all dastardly organized inhumanities, the willful injustice had its consequences. Asaba in October 7, found women and children separated from their condemned fathers and brothers.

Babangida’s camp was correct to have observed that more use should have been made of the security tip-offs which were received by government and even media people long before the tragedy. But the way they presented it to score political points smacked of low-ball tactics. Some issues must be above politics.

It came a little as a surprise, if for nothing but its loud echo of life under an odious dispensation, one governed by the ethic of unaccountable power- but it was all the same a little surprising to see media photographs of Igbo leaders locked out of the venue of a summit planned to hold at the Concorde Hotel in Owerri.

I understand that is what some misguided Ngwa politicians are dreaming of, a dream that will surely turn into a nightmare. Remember, in 2003, some Ngwa politicians started calling their clan “Ngwa Ethnic Nationality”, and were even insinuating, just like the Ikwerre, that they were no longer Igbos!

Very few Nigerians now believe the flowery promises that politicians make on their campaign trails, but most of us recognize the rapid transformation to opulent life styles of these self_proclaimed servants of the people! We know that the campaign zeal is akin to a personal investment with the assured prospect of a bountiful harvest!

The airline “s in flight magazine Msafiri caught my fancy and as I flipped, my eyes rested on an article entitled “KENYA GOLD_the country, the people”. The introduction to the piece will interest you.

If these occurrences were diseases induced by germs or viruses we would have raised a national alarm for them to be eradicated. Since August 15, 2010 when a loaded trailer sent 42 people to early graves, nothing less than 50 others have met the same fate courtesy of the monsters on wheels.

Hi Readers! Do know that feeling of deflation you have, when on rushing home to report to your mother a clever thing you’ve done, and you meet a blank stare from her, indicating that what you considered ‘being clever’ was actually an act of stupidity? That was how I felt when I got home and told nanny of my encounter with Belinda in the office in Ikeja.

It must be remarked that the overemphasis by Atiku and Babangida on the zoning arrangement of the PDP is disingenuous: it implies that both men are not sure of convincing the party that they are suitable for the job without relying on quota system. The zoning formula is expedient, given our chequered political history.

I doubt that we have done anything different at the end of the 50th year of our independence. The future beginning Oct 2 cannot work if we bring the past along.
Take as another example, the economy. The future will recognize the great mistake we made when we paid good money running into billions of dollars in settlement of debts of doubtful origin.