The various constitutional conferences that shaped Nigeria from 1950-1958 were simply icing on the cake. At the convention of the nations in San Francisco in 1945 at the end of World War II leading towards the convention of the United Nations, Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain tried to steer the discussion towards agreeing that the Atlantic charter did not cover the colonies who were standing upon the argument that the charter guarantees freedom for all peoples.

Another thing about time, to me, is that behind, or below that blank canvass are dynamic laws, giant mirrors not just reflecting, for all to behold, everything we think and say and do, but huge transmitters of the reward and punishment for everything we put into its bowels. There is, therefore, this constant teasing awareness that it is what you put into time that grows you, your family, your nationality group, your race, even mankind. So, by everything you do as an individual or in groups, you invest in what can grow you or retard your growth. How true it is, therefore, that man is the architect of his fortune and misfortune.

A VERY long time ago, there used to be a television series called the invisible man. In a science experiment a man had experienced some sort of chemical reaction that made him invisible. With the help of a government agency and his scientist friends and wife, a mask of synthetic resin was made to form a face, neck and hands and any other part of his appearance so he could live as normal a life as possible till a cure was found.

AT the national secretariat of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), one can access documents detailing the history of the union’s activities, particularly with regard to its attempts through strike actions to compel unwilling governments to enhance the welfare packages of lecturers and improve the funding for university education.

The Senate is not satisfied with the budget performance, and neither is the minister himself satisfied with the budget performance because in some places the performance is as low as 15 per cent, in some places 27, and in some places 30 something —Senator Ayogu Eze, chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, November 4, 2009.

Is it still possible to look a Nigerian in the face and not think of corruption? Apart from the criminal suspicion with which Nigerians are perceived in most parts of the world, we appear to have added another ugly face of corruption to our putrid image abroad.

I am so glad that you all agree with me that this season calls for serious celebration. As you begin to light and
decorate your house, you must also not fail to light up someone’s life. Spread some love. Be in a sharing and giving mood.

There were speculations that the verdict of the Court of Appeal on the matter of the Anambra State Governorship case involving Dr. Andy Uba, could create a state of anarchy in the State, if it was not properly handled. Legal tussles of that kind are usually attended by conjectures, and rumours of one kind or the other.

LAST week, I quoted a friend who thinks that seduction is a “coping” or survival strategy within certain contexts and is absolutely convinced that predatory women who set out to seduce influential men deserve sympathy rather than condemnation.

It might, at times, be appropriate to question the rationale behind the great rush of some otherwise respected citizens into politics which is often described by many as a dirty game. It is puzzling to watch the number of candidates vying for elective political posts, whether that of President, State Governor or of Local Council or Chairman [often referred to as ‘The Chair‘].

Yet Mandela is simply a human being imbued with human frailties. His two marriages crashed before he found renewed love in the hands of Graca Machel, widow of the unforgetable African freedom fighter, Samora Machel. Quite humorous; when he knew his old age can no longer carry his punishing local and international schedules, he told the world: “Don’t call me, I’ll call you”.

We join millions of Nigerians in hailing your courageous and peace-encouraging decision to meet, last Saturday, with the MEND-appointed Aaron Team led by Admiral Okhai Mike Akhigbe, and comprising distinguished Nigerians like Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, retired military strategist, General Luke Kakadu Aprezi and Architect Denzil Amagbe Kentebe.

I want to start by congratulating the Nigeria Football Federation for Nigeria’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup, the first World Cup in Africa.

“I do not think that it is the ight thing for one to write one’s epitaph. So, I am afraid I would have to ask that I be excused from writing my epitaph…. what I want is that when it pleases God to send for me, well my contemporaries would be in the position to write whatever they like, pro, or contra, about me. But History will be my witness.’’

THIS two-part series is a response to Hon Gozie Agbakoba’s Bill in the House of Reps seeking to convert Nigerian citizens that have dwelt continuously in any part of Nigeria to indigenes with full benefits.