WHEN the price of a bag of cement pointed to the direction of N15.00 in 1985, this writer addressed what looked like a world press conference, which touched principally on the outrage. I was the Chairman of the then Bendel Development and Property Authority (BDPA) and as the guest speaker of that year’s annual dinner of the Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Bendel State Chapter, my stand was that, that “bagged dust” had no right to go beyond N5.00 per bag. It was the first time I hit the major headlines in most Nigerian newspapers.

THERE has been a solemnity about the city of Kaduna since the story broke of the tragic death of Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa at the weekend. In death, Nigerians have been united in appreciation of the human decency of the late governor. I never had the privilege to meet the man, but when I broke the story to Kabir Mato, he paused for a while and then said: “we have lost a gentleman; a decent gentleman”!

THE awesome power of the Almighty was visible on Saturday last week when the plane which was flying the Governor of Kaduna State and former National Security Adviser, among others, crashed, and all lives in it were lost. The nation was also reminded of the deep submission to the powers of God by President Goodluck Jonathan in the manner his pictures were splashed all over the media and social network sites kneeling, as he did in 2010, before Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

THE seriousness and the power of any country can be gleaned from the quality of the roads it builds for itself. You can never be in doubt of America as the most powerful nation on earth or of South Africa as the strongest economy in Africa, once you leave their airports and hit their road! Driving on the roads of these two countries, for example, you immediately come face to face with nations that love themselves; nations that have respect for their citizens; nations that are sincere with themselves; nations that do not cheat themselves and nations that want to be taken seriously among serious nations. Have you heard of any scandal associated with South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup? No, you won’t!

PROF. Akinyemi’s treatment of nationality as the unit of Nigerian federalist statecraft is his strategic framework as affirmed in the following: “Nigeria, made up of 250-300/350 nationalities (depending on which 1 study one consults) of disparate population sizes, was obviously a candidate for federalism”.