AS we count down to the May 24 first national convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Party should explain itself more to the Nigerian electorate. The recently published manifesto of the APC has not managed to project the Party as a credible alternative to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Of course, we saw the handwriting on the wall before the inauguration. It was obvious that there would be more questions than answers. One would have been surprised had things happened differently. In fact, one cannot say for sure that President Jonathan had not anticipated this.

THE sudden decision to merge the PDP and the APC has caught everyone by surprise. When the announcement first came up last night, I thought it was a big joke. But then I saw it on BBC and CNN and quickly had a rethink. When I also heard it announced by Reuters, I concluded that what we are experiencing in Nigeria is nothing short of a miracle. Just when you think they are going to drag the country into the ditch, Nigerian politicians pull back from the brink and come up with the most unexpected solutions.

AT the infamous Nigerian centenary celebration in the nation’s capital, the now famous speech of the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, stole the show at the International Conference Centre, ICC), Abuja, venue of the Centenary lecture. Mostly, the value of the speech was in its condemnation of the senseless killings of Nigerian citizens in northern Nigeria.

THE history of crude oil production in Nigeria informs us that the Shell Oil Company was the first to discover oil in commercial quantity in Nigeria.