Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin needs no introduction. The President of Women Arise for Change Initiative and also of Campaign for Democracy, she is an activist who has unarguably made her mark within and outside Nigeria.
Vista Woman had a chat with her at an event organised recently by the International Federation of Women Lawyers- FIDA, in commemoration of the Day of the African Child which is marked yearly on June 16. There she bemoaned the sorry-state of Nigerian women and children, and also expressed her optimism over the possibility of a better life.

There are those who might feel, perhaps to a justifiable extent, that the stance of President Goodluck Jonathan to state affairs does not appear manly enough. They feel that he seems to be rather laid-back and somewhat subdued on some of the occasions that he might have appeared more vibrant and assertive. They wonder why he gives the impression of what Americans would casually characterize as a “wimp”.

YES, I know that there is no excuse for the terror and mayhem that Boko Haram is inflicting on law-abiding citizens. Yes, I too was appalled when the car bomber invaded Police Headquarters and killed himself and several others.

It is a pity that weeks after the presidential election, the election which was generally agreed to be fair and free; Nigerians would still be under the feeling of uncertainties about the structure and composition of the federal cabinet and also the security of life and property of the individual. Unfortunately, if feelers are reliable, President Jonathan might disappoint his numerous admirers as to his ability and that of his ruling party (PDP) to forge a new Nigeria.

We should appropriate some things as national assets. Among them is the social responsibility agenda of some of key organisations in our environment. On my mind today is Mobil Athletics Championships that the oil company has sponsored for decades and which it said it had finally decided to stop.

ON Friday, June 10 former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Malam Nasir el Rufai, wrote an article on the back page of Thisday newspapers with the title: “Jonathan’s Tough Choices”. If the headline of this article suggested an objective analysis, criticism and suggestions on the best way forward, the body did not reflect it.

HAVE you ever been embarrassed beyond measure? Don’t ever pray for it. That is exactly what happens when you invite say 500 people to a party and only about 50 reluctantly turn up.

AS most Nigerian newspapers reported last Friday, Nigeria crossed the Rubicon on Thursday, with the first ‘suicide bombing’ [I have doubts it really was!] in our national history!

In defining the demons of boxing in this column last week, I was only scratching the surface of a crucial universal issue that is either never given consideration, or totally neglected at the appropriate moment.

THERE is one thing the latest Boko Haram attack at the Louis Edet House last week has made clear: That the terrorist group means business and is prepared to take on the Nigerian state head-on. For those who don’t know, Louis Edet House is the national headquarters of the Nigeria Police, the principal police department in the country, named for the first indigenous Inspector General of Police, Sir Louis Edet.