THE issue of zoning: to be or not to be, is now being taken away from the discussion or debate level. The two sides to the dispute: the South-South and the conservative section of the Northern political class, are now sabre-rattling. They are mobilising their instruments of intimidation with a view to coercing the nation to succumb to their respective demands.

Both men claim to be the Visitor to the university, and in that capacity, appointed two different Vice Chancellors for the same institution. While Akala sacked the incumbent VC, Professor Benjamin Adeleke five months before the expiration of his tenure and imposed his own VC, Oyinlola sacked the Governing Board And imposed the Deputy VC, Professor J O Ojediran , in practical terms, as sole administrator.

THE headlines were loud the past week that the North has decided to stick by its resolve that the presidency in 2011 be zoned to it. The question of whether the presidency should be zoned to the North has been both a contentious and polarising issue in the many weeks since Goodluck Jonathan became president following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

AS the colonies became able to assume the pacification function, they could also assert their independence from the home governments; this they could not do so long as revolts of African captives, organised escape by the same and defence of their freedom endangered the colony and its economy.

First ,the good news.I am writing this column on a Thursday night. Against all expectations, the Falconets have just qualified for the final of the FIFA U_20 Women World Cup and there is joy all around me. The girls are hailed, the failures of the Super Eagles are remembered just as some go back to the “bad luck “ of the last administration.

HAVE you noticed it too? I am referring to the alarming number of idle youth in every neighbourhood. As you drive to work in the morning and back at night, you will see armies of young people who have decided to trade on the streets rather than remain idle. Their ages range from six to 30 years, and sometimes above.

I was regarded as a disappointment to many of my media colleagues when I was Minister of Information because of what they thought was a betrayal on my part. I had championed the promulgation of the Nigerian Media Council Decree of 1989 which was one of the bodies, along with the National Broadcasting Commission, recommended in the Mass Communication Policy that I midwifed.

In the year 1987, after an exhaustive study, personally funded, I sent a detailed report to Babangida’s Minister of Transport (name withheld for personal reasons) pointing out that in a few years, motorcycles (okada or achaba) would become the major means of urban transport on account of SAP.

A light bulb moment is an experience that can be life challenging. It simply means you get a new perspective or an understanding that puts some fundamental pieces of the puzzle that is life together.

Unlike the commercialists or the traders or the manufacturers they plied their intangible commodities as best as they possibly could.
Among the commercialists Femi Otedola, Felix Ibru, tower above many. And among those who gave Nigeria the good name in technology was Prof. Bart O. Nnaji Professor Tam David-West (did he receive his award?) And there was Professor Mosobalaje Olaloye Oyawoye. Of course, (Baba Kekere) Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande was among the beacons. He shone in Journalism and in politics.