I, meanwhile, have been told that I can no longer buy sterling here and then transfer it to the UK, via my domiciliary account, to cover costs – rent, utilities, council tax and so on – that are linked to my London residence. I don’t expect you to weep for me at a time when the average Nigerian has more pressing concerns than esoteric foreign exchange regulations and can’t enjoy luxuries like international travel. But I’m human, so I’m weeping for myself!

MALAM Ahmed is one of the drivers in the Government House pool in Maiduguri. Whenever I visit the Borno state capital, he was almost always the driver that carried me around. Last Saturday afternoon, just after noon, Ahmed called from Maiduguri to inform me that the Borno state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha, had died in Yola, Adamawa state. I was stunned and immediately placed a call to Kashim Shettima, the Borno state governor.

This is the concluding part of this article. The second part was published in the penultimate Wednesday’s edition of Vanguard By Obi Nwakanma THERE is Dr. Alvan Azinna Ikoku III, who studied Medicine, and is an MD from the Harvard Medical School and also has a Ph.D in Comparative Literature from Columbia. He is currently […]

WHEN was the last time you read or heard Dr. Junaidu Mohammed making constructive points in the media? He calls himself the “convener” of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen (CNPAPB).

IN whichever direction we look, we see the Nigerian student short-changed. He is thoroughly repressed and at times, he becomes an endangered species. He can only cry out at a cost that is too high to pay – the moment he is labelled outright recalcitrant, he is doomed or he could flunk all the courses of those he raises his voice against. By the time he has 10 carry-overs, he is clearly at the verge of withdrawal.