“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.”

A younger friend’s ‘factory’ was closed down last month by officers of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service. It took him over two weeks to get it reopened. What the service demanded from him would wipe out his entire profit for the year plus some. During those two hectic weeks, he lost a few kilos and a lot of sleep trying to see anybody and everybody that he thought could help.

At last the list of Minister to constitute the Federal Executive Council has been approved after a protracted period of screening by the upper legislative house. Good news, one may say, but there are still some uncertainties. Mr. President agreed that he has conformed to the constitution of the Federal Republic by appointing at least a Minister from each state of the federation but he also hinted that the constitution does not state that he must assign portfolios to all of them. This simply means that there are going to be Ministers without portfolios. We perceive that as a measure to cut cost, ministries will be reduced.

Last week screams rent the air at the NNPC Amphitheatre that bids were transparently opened for offshore processing arrangements and crude oil term contracts. Some petroleum resources managers whose overt or covert actions over the years that smirched the NNPC also smiled broadly with smirks. They took prime airtime displacing scheduled programmes on national television networks (some on live broadcasts) for those ceremonies. Opening of envelopes for tender was what we wasted funds to beam on television and radio to the world as our achievements in the industry.

THE world is at war. One without boundaries. With the terrorist taking centre stage, the universe is on the edge. The sane shake their heads while the unbalanced, tweet triumphant messages claiming authorship of additional innocent lives they have taken at random.