One of the “bad” habits of professional economists is the tendency to quantify virtually everything. They develop metrics for assessing real human experiences in a manner that reveals certain truths which might be hidden from others. Like most Nigerians, it was clear to me, as a strong supporter of Buhari, long before the 2015 presidential elections that we might be electing a military-style disciplinarian.

Easter is not a Christian holiday. The word Easter is not even scriptural; it does not exist in true translations of the bible. Easter was smuggled into the King James Bible in Acts 12:4, where it was substituted for the original word; “Passover:” “When (Herod) had apprehended (Peter), he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.”

For the last couple of weeks, I have dedicated my page to the health and social issues of the nation and this week is the last of the series. I extended an invitation to the wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi because I heard good things about the health programme, ABC Health Care in Oyo State which she initiated in 2012.

Nigerian veteran broadcasters must have been amused by reports in the media last week that Government was making efforts to restructure the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and other publicly-funded media establishments to enhance their performance. According to the reports, the nation’s Information Minister, Lai Mohammed made a request to the Doha based Al Jazeera Television to collaborate with his ministry in the area of capacity building for journalists in public-owned media organizations, especially the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). It is not a new attempt. During the Obasanjo administration the BBC was similarly mobilized. But are ‘Structure’ and ‘Training’ the problems of the NTA?

The Gospels disagree on basic issues, such as the identities of those who accompanied Judas when he purportedly betrayed Jesus, the manner in which Jesus was arrested, the bearer of the cross and the inscription on it, the time Jesus was crucified, how Jesus died and his last comments, and on the events connected with his resurrection and ascension. For starters, Matthew and Mark claim that Judas, in the company of armed multitude from the chief priests and elders of the people, came to Gethsemane to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:47-48; Mark 14: 43-45). But in St. Luke’s version, an undifferentiated multitude was involved (Luke, 22: 47). Luke (22: 50-54) and John (18 :10-12) report that the ear of the high priest’s servant was chopped off before Jesus was arrested, but Matthew (26: 50-51) and Mark (14: 46-48) indicate that it happened after the arrest.