I have been mandated by the Government and good people of Akwa Ibom State to ask that the Federation Cup, in the true spirit and character of the Cup be handed to Akwa United FC.

BISHOP Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese has almost been buried in a pile of criticism. This followed his comments as a spokesperson of the National Peace Committee, on the war against corruption. If the cerebral Bishop has erred, I plead he be forgiven. After all, to err is human, to forgive is divine. Having known the Bishop for several years, I want to testify that he has no inheritance in the House of Jonathan.

The Senate by announcing its plan to probe the Federal Governments since 1999 till 2015 has not only demonstrated its independence from the Executive branch, as should be the case, under the principle of separation of powers, it is embarking on a patriotic mission. The reason is simple.

On the other hand, President Muhammadu Buhari must find a way to immunise himself from the toxic sugary insipidities of praise-singers and search within himself for the intellectual and moral stamina required for actualising the most important components of his campaign promises. Of course, the President must be commended for frankly admitting that his advanced age would limit his performance, even as some of his supporters and aides were pretending that age does not matter in a demanding position such as the presidency of a fractious, democratically immature, and economically underdeveloped country like ours, by making tendentious allusions to Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe of the United States, South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively.

Timi and I served as technical experts on elections with the Independent Elections Commission of Liberia to organize the first post civil war election in that country in 1997. Some 5 days ago, he called me to commend last week’s article in this column, titled, “Who should the police tear gas?” Tim was delighted that i openly commended Mrs. Amina Zakari, the Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for her policy decision not to defend in court an election marred by malpractices done by her officials.