What gets you going? Although it may seem to be an easy and simple question, the answer is rather intricate as it entails many nuances and it varies person to person. Knowing the answer can determine your ultimate success.

SINCE Independence, most Nigerian politicians and government appointees have been woeful disappointments who have been either unwilling or unable to perform adequately.

I have decided to draw your attention to the issues between Stephen Keshi, the Super Eagles coach and his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation. I do so for the interest of our football especially the 2014 World Cup campaign.

IT is certainly one of the biggest stories of the week. The embattled National Chairman of the ruling PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, took time away from the desperate battle he is fighting for survival, within the party, to rally the troops. Not the best of times at the head of the party, and more often than not, putting out the fires lit by political enemies, the chairman was for once receiving a friendly delegation of a Southwest caucus of the PDP.

Nigeria is a country haunted by ghosts. By our President’s insinuated definition, a ghost in this sense is a faceless terrorist outfit targeting our security forces and institutions. It sneaks around selectively murdering Nigerians and kidnapping foreigners over some real or asinine grievances.

RECENTLY, this Column ran a series titled “Which Way, Nigeria?” These series were not, and cannot be, concluded because with each passing day, the question is gaining deeper currency.

EVEN before the offer of amnesty was made, it was rejected out of hand. In words dripping with scorn and disdain for constitutions and the rule of law, two leaders of the terrorist group Jamâ’a Ahl al-sunnah li-da’wa wa al-jihâd (Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad), better known as Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden), spat in Jonathan’s eye.

IN its holistic appraisal of corruption in Nigeria, from the individual through family and up to different larger sectors of society, the ICPC Report conservatively estimates that between $4 billion to $8 billion is stolen from the national treasury yearly and goes on to cite the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index for 2011 which ranked Nigeria 143 among 183 countries.

IF we understand how we became a country we would approach issues of insecurity quite differently.

FOR any Nigerian enthusiastic about our groping our way back unto the road to industrialisation, the two pieces of news I read recently must be heart-warming. Last week, a company in Lagos, African Foundries Limited claimed that it would begin to export steel products on 27 April 2013.