AREWA political artistes have been singing songs of captivity lately and not a few ears would have been tingling especially among the greedy lot whose misplaced expectations have led to this quandary. But thank goodness for Col. Dangiwa Umar of that region who sings redemption songs.

PRIOR to last week’s presidential primaries debate, the first of six for Democrats in this presidential election cycle, the American political scene was dominated by this single question: Will vice president Joe Bide run for office?

Incidentally, if you ask any of its supporters what it is designed to achieve, the answer will be, “to curb corruption”. But will it? If historical experience in Nigeria is to be our guide, the correct answer will have to be “very doubtful”. Let me quickly explain the reasons. While conducting the research which resulted in the book PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED, what was most striking to me was how much corruption was accounted for by transactions and activities which are not reflected in the balances in the bank accounts of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.

THERE are many reasons to fear criminals. There are many reasons for which, when they are caught (especially by a mob) the urge to deprive them of their most prized possession – their lives – can be so overwhelming. The fragile foundations of the nation’s unity and stability were visibly shaken when one of our most respected living elder statesmen, Chief Olu Falae, was kidnapped by “Fulani herdsmen”.

The pace of governance under President Mohamed Buhari has been decried in some quarters as being slow in providing clear signals of a realistic, regenerative economic blueprint; some other Nigerians, however, conversely endorse Buhari’s more complimentary self branding of being slow and steady. Nevertheless, in the absence of any formal declaration of an economic strategy, it may still be possible to deduce government’s mindset on some critical challenges, through snippets from statements made by Senior government officials.