THERE is an old saying that every artist draws his own wages. The powers of an office are usually defined, especially in a democratic atmosphere governed by the rule of law. But that does not mean that everybody who occupies that office will exude the same amount or aura of power. The power of an office is often measured by the character of the person occupying it at a given time.

WE claim in the abstraction that people are born free, but they are everywhere in chains. Until recently, the woman’s place in Nigeria was in the kitchen. Women were bogusly labelled homemakers – only expected to go to church and pray for the family; come home and cook the meals; and stay at home to take care of the children.

All my pleadings that I was eight months pregnant fell on deaf ears, as they continued to beat me. I was dragged on the floor and eventually stripped naked. The incident attracted a sympathetic crowd, whose pleadings were ignored because the men insisted that I would follow them to the station,” she recalled.

The term “robber barons” was first used in the United States to describe 19th and early 20th century moguls who bought out their competition, created monopolies, rigged markets and aided government corruption in pursuit of money and power.

AS I watched Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, the recently retired Chief of Defence Staff, elaborate on the confession in his valedictory speech of 31 July that he, as the nation’s number one soldier, presided over a military “that lacked the relevant equipment and motivation to fight,” I searched for signs of shame and penitence. I saw none.