South Africa no longer surprises us. In the heat of the on-going attempt at ripping us off massively, Jacob Zuma, the country’s President blandly pays us a visit. He was once his country’s representative here. So what else is new? His predecessor in office also preceded him here. It was not entirely coincidental, because Nigeria was one of their closest allies against apartheid when the policy of “apartness” barred the black people from the inalienable rights of humanity—freedom as a human being, and equality as citizens of the same country.

I TOOK Donald Trump for a joker when he declared his intention to run for the American Presidency. I assumed the Apprentice was bored making deals, and wanted time out to engage in publicity stunts. I thought he would spice up the Republican primaries, but that not even he, would take himself serious. In any case if he were to, I assumed the American populace would get tired of his antics, shove him aside and get on with the serious business of looking for a new president.

THE news broke at the weekend, of the tragic death of Nigeria’s Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, James Ocholi, wife and a son, on the Kaduna Highway. The frightening destruction of their SUV vehicle went viral online at the weekend, as Nigerians came to terms with the loss of a prominent citizen, on a day when several other citizens would have been killed on our national network of roads unsung, and in a ritual pattern that has become a part of our lives in Nigeria.

ONE permanent feature that has remained with most Nigerian workers is the pay-day ordeal. Except the few who get something by the side, for most workers, the pay-day – supposedly the day of reward for the worker’s efforts in the past one month – instead of being his happiest day turns out the saddest.

IT was described in official circles as a visit to deepen trade relations between Nigeria and South Africa. Nigeria’s largely unutilised Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geffrey Onyema, said the state visit of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa was also meant to calm the tension that “may exist at another level”. After all,