When the new acting Inspector General of Police, IGP, first ordered the numerous police check-points, nationwide, to be dismantled, few people believed him. To be candid, I never did; and for good reason. Every IGP since Babangida’s administration, had announced that those illegal and shameless toll gates be removed – without success.

On Wednesday (28/03/12) I heard it for the umpteenth time. It was the 4th Bola Tinubu Colloquium on the eve of the 60th birthday. Chief Emeka Anyaoku , a seasoned diplomat, said what some other Nigerians have said and what Nigerians are still saying. Even he put a fiat, and that is not also new: that to break up the country will not be entertained. And that is not to say that yours truly have not said that a number of times.

The kid-glove attitude to, and glamorisation of, high level corruption at the top echelons of business, politics, and other institutions of state by government implies that most public officials in Nigeria are corrupt, and that corruption is official in the country.

A friend of mine sent me an e-mail last week, and his question in his mail was both amusing and troubling. He asked me to confirm that “our children in America are planning to build a university in our village.” Of course, “our children in America” are planning no such thing.

If the current Senate President, Senator David Mark decides to contest the next Presidential election, he would surely be missed for his contributions to legislation in Nigeria, particularly his leadership of the National Assembly for two consecutive terms. This is thus a good junction to draw his attention to a subject which if reorganized under his watch can leave his name in gold.