IT is customary for columists to be especially reflective about the past, present and future at this significant annual turning point when old years are about to give way to new years. And I thought that it would be interesting to look back at some of the observations I made at the tail ends of 2010 and 2011…with a view to discovering whether anything has changed for the better or worse.

BY sentient instruments is meant instruments which refuse to be deployed in the achievement of evil, sinful and inhuman purposes. These would be instruments such as knives, clubs, base ball bats, guns, 747s and nuclear weapons which are sentient to recognise when they are being used to stab innocent bystanders, to bash people on unoffending heads, to smash weakening knee caps, to shoot unwary toddlers and to blast into smithereens entire cities to show that it could be done.

HOUSING administration has always been a major problem in Nigeria. It was in 1984. I had just been appointed Chairman, Board of Directors, Bendel Development and Property Authority (BDPA). The books were in bad shape and there were many defaulters around. Many who bought the Authority’s houses were heavily in default in their repayment.

THE most iconic image last week might have been lost to most of our compatriots; what with the tragic chopper accident which claimed the lives of leading politico-security officials of the Nigerian state, in Bayelsa state. As we commiserate with the families of the deceased, the accident underlined further, the sorry pass that we arrived at as a nation.

YOU wish to Allah the Merciful that what you heard about the request for an additional N9 billion for the construction of a brand new mansion for the Vice President is not true, that you had just woken up from a nightmare when you heard lying voices in the dark seeking to “heat up” your head and “the polity” (apologies to President Jonathan’s spokesmen).