Time was when a lawyer could predict the likely outcome of a case because of the facts, the law and the brilliance of the lawyers that handled the case. Today things have changed and nobody can be sure….Nowadays, politicians would text the outcome of the judgment to their party men before judgment is delivered and prepare their supporters ahead of time for celebration”. Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, in PUNCH, September 23, 2012, p 9 in an article titled Toying with corruption in the temple of justice.

A long time ago, I attended a concert for peace in Africa. International and local artistes were billed to perform. If memory serves me correctly, a lot of the American ones didn’t show up but quite a lot of the African ones did. My assessment of the concert was that it was abysmal; the arrangements were at best poor and the cheapest seats turned out to be the best as the VIP section was so far removed from the stage. One needed hearing aids and binoculars to hear the music or see the artistes. It started out late and most of us were understandably upset that the superstars we were promised didn’t come.

Given the very real probability that the critical, self-replicating, molecular Rubicon was crossed on the basis of natural mechanisms without any supernatural intervention, no serious scientist should doubt the validity of Doolittle’s argument that life on earth (at all levels in its evolution) developed in stages, each stage built on the stabilising, catalytic and replicative power of the stage before it.

TWo weeks ago, well- known Nigerians were buried in Abeokuta amidst tears and encomiums. They were natives of Abeokuta who had many things in common- very highly educated; urban and they served town and country.

Efeturi Abayomi is the founder of Rehoboth Ministry, an NGO dedicated to the less privileged widows in the society. Several years before her husband passed on, she had developed an unflinching passion for widows, touching and impacting their lives in different ways. Recently, we met her at an event organized to celebrate International Widows Day in Lagos where she was the Chief Guest speaker.