Any patron of Bureau de Change may find that a difference of about N10 per dollar now exists between the official rates of N155 per dollar ex-Central Bank, and about N165/dollar in the open market. This is in place of the permitted 1 per cent markup officially allowed to commercial banks on dollar purchases ex-CBN.

When Christians cannot hear the voice of God, we become tethered to the bible. We insist God only speaks through the bible.

The nation-wide strike action embarked upon since last Tuesday by the National Association of Resident Doctors has expectedly made its painful impact on Nigerians. The doctors are angered among other things by the failure of government to observe the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) agreement reached between government and the doctors. Briefing the media during the week, the President of the Association Dr. Jibril Abdullahi explained that his Association had given government uptil September 30, 2013, to resolve the issues involved but that it failed to do so. He added that the Enugu State Government also failed to implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) for his members in the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital.

My father often tells my siblings and I, that “education is not an inheritance, any one can’t take away from you once you have it, “. I agree, but the sad reality is that in Nigeria the young are deliberately and systematically denied the opportunity to have an education. So between the poor leadership, to corrupt officials, Boko Haram insurgency, the abject poverty and the ASUU strike, the young are in dire situation.

In 2008, I wrote two articles titled “WHEN GENIUS FAILS”. The first was about the former Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Dr Ndidi Onyuike warning about the imminent collapse of the Stock Exchange that year. It happened as predicted. The second was related to the crisis in the banking sector even as Professor Soludo was pretending that all was well with the banks. Today, everybody knows better. Where are OCEANIC, INTERCONTINENTAL, BANK PHB etc today? This article also might have been titled “WHEN GENIUS FAILS -3” and it would have been appropriate because the Federal Minister of Finance is no longer the highly respected figure she was in 2003-2005. Her return is shaping out to be some sort of personal disaster for her for many reasons – mostly political.