“Yes, all ministries are equal in status, but do not be fooled, some are more strategic and, if you like, ‘juicier’ than others. Consider the top dozen: Justice, Defence, Finance, Interior, Works/Power, Petroleum, Transportation, Education, Agriculture, Communication, Health and FCT. Not one of these did the President allow an Igboman..”

This is the season of weddings. Youths engaged for marriage want to celebrate Christmas in their new homes. Others are aiming at the New Year. So, it’s not just a season of festivities, it is also a season of a new beginning for many.

We are at the mercy of the politicians who rule us as masters rule slaves. They do not have any consideration for our needs and desires. They do not care to honour even their word to us. They care less still for the pride of the nation, or her progress. They hold us in utter contempt. But should they not hold us in some kind of esteem, no matter how little—some respect, some regard at least? After all, we put them there, didn’t we? It was our votes that helped to elect them into the Houses of Assembly, the House of Representatives, or the Senate.

“Igbo enweeze” ( Igbos have no kings) pays tribute not to disunity but to the independent mindedness of Igbos and their republican spirit. Igbos rightly believed that when the community ruled itself then arbitrariness and inequality that kings epitomized would not afflict them. ‘Igbo enweeze’ therefore is the enthronement of not just consensus and equity but also industry and meritocracy. Monarchy and feudalistic structures , despite all the historical sophistication ascribed to them , enthrone not mediocrity but also servitude. But the political docility that has beset Igboland now is startling.

“Youth” has become the Esau of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. “Sports” has usurped its pre-eminent position. “Youth” is an orphan, nobody to pursue its case. But hawks and doves are hovering all over, “protecting” the interest of sports. Some are sincere; others are just there for selfish reasons. Unless the minister is purpose-driven, they will confuse him. He will never be able to carry everybody along because there are various contending cliques. That is why some well-known sports personalities keep away from the politics around the “sports minister.”