CAN a university commence as a “DevelopmentUniversity” and from the onset, create a niche of social responsibility within the community of its location? And can such devotion to development be central to the university’s academic experience such that year-in, year-out, the community service experience can impact on the social existence of the community?

MOSCOW’S response to President Obama’s advocacy of America’s exceptionalism was swift and blunt. President Vladimir Putin put it this way: “It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation.” Since then, a number of Americans have castigated President Putin for daring to challenge what so many of their compatriots have always accepted and believe to be an incontrovertible, universal truth.

IT’S by no means certain many Nigerians saw the bottle breaking event that took place in Kano last week as a form of the kind of intolerance the terror insurgents that have taken over many parts of Northern Nigeria are notorious for. But, however, insidious it may seem, what happened in Kano is but a variant of religious intolerance.

ON September 21, the Ghanaian poet, writer, scholar and diplomat, Kofi Awoonor, was murdered along with many others in a terrorist attack launched by religious fanatics of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab Islamic fundamentalist sect purportedly acting on God’s behalf. For over a month now, I have intended some form of reflection in this column.

There is evidence around that President Goodluck Jonathan is toughing up his mien. He is not heeding the caution that you stop digging when you are in a deep hole. This can be explained by a number of possible reasons. One is poor appreciation of the circumstances in which he takes decisions.