They point to the big brother role Nigeria has played, and still plays, in the West African sub-region and in the African continent as a whole. One can concede all that and still maintain, correctly in my view, that although the country might be beautiful abroad, she is ugly at home. Even so, Nigeria’s standing in Africa, and in the world generally, has nosedived since the 1990s. For instance, the irritating subordinate status accorded Nigeria during the burial of Nelson Mandela is a telling demonstration that things have fallen apart with respect to her rating by other African countries.

Call it calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it; or what you like. But, the Ibibios, who constitute more than sixty five per cent of Akwa Ibom State, have regrouped under former Governor Victor Attah and they have jettisoned zoning. The next governor of Akwa Ibom State will be an Ibibio. Part of the reason for their change of mind on zoning is contained in the allegations quoted above.

The older I get the more I appreciate the wisdom of calm detachment and the beauty of silence. In Christianity, there is a potent fear of little foxes, seemingly innocent faults and weaknesses that could send one to hell and cost one to lose the salvation we all treasure. Lately I have been working on curbing my impulsiveness. When I look at myself and check for little foxes, I easily identify my impulsive nature as fox number one.

Ordinarily, I shouldn’t be the one writing about the outgoing governor of Anambra state being an indigene of the state and a stakeholder. But on the other hand, I think I’m in the best position to write as the ‘son of the soil’.

President Ebele Jonathan is easily recognizable, by virtue of his surname, as a Christian. He is also apparently the church-going variety with an appreciably increasing frequency in his public appearance in churches over the past two years, or so.