For instance, in a meeting he held on July 29 at Blair House in Washington DC with his classmates, members of the US War College class of 1980, the President told them that John Kerry, the American Secretary of State, “read the riot act” to him, Jonathan and Prof. Attahiru Jega, former chairman of INEC. According to Buhari, Kerry reminded them that the election must be free, fair and in line with the Nigerian constitution.

I used to wonder what people enjoy in the ‘dull’ game of Billiards until last Thursday when a friend persuaded me to accompany him to cheer his cousin who was into a tournament in a recreation center in our neighbourhood.

We (one of my groups of youths and I) took advantage of the last Muslim public holiday to organize a youth forum. Our topic was “Cohabitation and Courtship.” I have dwelt extensively on both issues in this column, so I will not bother you with the presentation. But after the talk, there were torrents of questions. The participants really poured out their hearts about various aspects of courtship and matrimony. I want to share one of their concerns: deceit during courtship. Even though geographical location, tribe and tongue may differ, the problems and challenges young adults face are uniform and universal—to a large extent.

Make money, ‘hammer’, be somebody. Anyhow! Under the rubric ‘deal ‘, ‘runs’ or ‘hustling’ , anything goes. Do it , just don’t get caught. Make money. If you are caught , settle or sort it. Only the cursed goes in for it and “that’s not your portion”. Mammonism.

As the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and current world oil leader the United States flex muscles, the world may be heading for a very long period of economic recession contrary to predictions that the downward spiral may abate in the last quarter of 2015.