Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amechi has opened an important debate about Nigeria’s oil industry, and it is an important question. How much oil does Nigeria sell daily? How much of this actually reflects in Nigeria’s revenue accounts? This has been a mystery. Indeed Nigeria’s oil revenue account is one of the most secret of mysteries, made even more so by a most secretive administration whose executive authority is so wide-ranging that it can afford to play God on this matter.

However, and this is the crux of the matter, those responsible for running the universities on daily basis have, through financial rascality, misused available financial resources. Wastages and corruption in the system are legion. They include explosive increase in the purchase of official cars, frequent unnecessary trips by top management of universities many of whom are senior academics, huge allowances and gifts for members of university councils, lavish convocation ceremonies, overpriced contracts awarded to relatives, friends and cronies of VIPs in various campuses most of which are poorly executed, and so on.

Like people on sickbeds, Nigerians are once again getting ready to toss from side to side, without asking if the problem is with the beds or themselves. Pity.

Do we need a National Conference, sovereign or not? The answer is neither “yes” nor “no” for the simple reason that we have failed woefully as a nation to raise a set of politicians who would make any form of government work. We had tried three forms of government since independence – parliamentary, military and presidential. None of them had been able to develop this nation to its full potentials – not at the national, regional or state levels. None.

Who does not like the story of David killing Goliath with a sling and a stone? Who is not impressed with Elijah calling down fire from heaven to incinerate the prophets of Baal? But all that is old wine that should not be put in the new wine-bottles of Jesus Christ. David ostensibly offered to kill Goliath in order to become the king’s son-in-law. But Jesus says: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.” (Matthew 16:25). When the Zebedee brothers wanted Jesus to emulate Elijah, he rebuked them, maintaining the spirit in them is not the spirit of Elijah

There is no better time to applaud the spirit and stoic determination of Harrison Okene, the 29 year-old man who survived two-and-a-half days trapped 30m (98ft) deep in freezing seawater. Although the incident occurred in May 2013 , it has only been widely reported in the last couple of days and his survival has captured the imagination of experienced deep Sea divers and lay people alike