Just before I got down to writing this, I heard a news report that Adamu Waziri, the Minister in charge of Police Affairs, had advised 139 police officers demoted alongside Malam Nuhu Ribadu to apply to have their demotion reverted.

BOTH the old rulers and the rulers-in-waiting ruled the same society, the colonial province of Nigeria. On September 2, 1957 Tafawa Balewa became the first Prime Minister of the British Colony, Nigeria. After the 1959 Independence elections he became on October 1, 1960, the first transitional Prime Minister voted for in colonial Nigeria and to be Prime Minister of an independent Nigeria. The federal election in 1964 was the first organised by the Federal Government of an independent Nigeria.

The Nigerian case is in sharp contrast to the UK response; for example, there is no attempt to curtail the heavy overheads and operational expenses of government at any level. Indeed, quarterly allowances for members of the House of Reps are being considered for upward review from N27.2m per quarter to N42m (see ThisDay, 24/5/2010, pg 1 – re: Jumbo Pay) Abuja Airport Road is being ‘expanded’ with over N250bn, while the airport runway itself will be upgraded with almost N50bn after a downward review from about N60bn. Meanwhile, education and health enjoy less budget allocations than the Abuja runway and Airport Road!

Hi Readers! One important lesson that I’ve learnt recently is that you shouldn’t attempt to raise another person’s child. Actually, it isn’t a new lesson, as it’s always been my parents’ policy, but it has only just sunk in.

If I read you right, you said Jonathan has a way out if only he has the courage to make that choice…What is that way out? What is that choice he has to make before he goes far wrong, you owe the president and the nation the duty of stating the way forward. I say this because your views are always accurate! Austin Oti Obilor”

I knew that one day the question of political parties would be addressed, but I least expected that it would come via a route that is undemocratic- the pronouncement by legislative fiat that Two (or Five) Political Parties should emerge and bang, they appeared! In fact, the number is not the point or the issue. That the number can be decreed by a lawmaking body is.

Many of them have no principles. They are what, in Ibadan, the people call Amala and Gbegiri politicians. Anything goes for them – as long as they win. Unfortunately many of them are winning. They use any combination and manner of methods. They rig, they bribe, they maim and kill. They say the end justifies the means.

A robot is wired to function in a manner that is time and energy efficient. Its sole purpose is to make life easier for the owner. When it is assigned a task, it gets it done to the best of its ability and once done, it moves on to the next task or conserve its energy till the next time it is called upon.

There are assessment and evaluation issues at stake. But of great concern to me is the relationship between universities and the production of the labour force. Why private universities? What is the great need? Nigerian universities produce a great number of graduates annually who are mostly unemployed. Private universities simply max out Nigeria’s unemployment statistics by churning out more into the labour market.

Jonathan’s predecessor, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, frankly acknowledged that the elections that brought them to power were flawed. Therefore, the President is morally obliged to support electoral reforms that would eliminate the flaws. It is unfortunate that he has to work in concert with a National Assembly overwhelmingly dominated by crude Machiavellians actuated by instincts of primitive accumulation and political survivalism.