MANY times I have hinted at what I call the ambivalence of Nigerians about corruption. Indeed, what I mean is that we are all hypocritical about our concern over corruption.

SOME years back, I think around 1985-86, while we were working in the African Guardian, I noticed that for some weeks, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, (the intifada poet!) had been waltzing in and out of the office, without anyone knowing precisely what he was onto. One day I asked him pointedly what he doing loitering about for. He said, as breezily as only Maxim could conjure, “Oga Pini, am doing a story on Fela!”

NOWADAYS, the temptation is to preoccupy oneself with the mating habit of porcupines than to follow the typical Nigerian debate. As I said here last week, every issue spawns a polyglot of pseudo-experts and professional public affairs pundits, all climbing, clobbering and falling over one another to arrest our attention.

“I boarded a Dana Airline on my way back from Abuja. First, the flight was delayed for about two hours. Passengers were frustrated. Thank God I had my laptop with me to do some work whilst waiting at the stuffy departure room. When eventually we boarded I discovered to my great surprise that the plane was a very old one.

THE Democracy Day observed last week offered many Nigerians another opportunity for a promiscuous criticism of the system. Well, what a better way to celebrate democracy than to exercise our freedom of speech? I am reminded of what an actor once said: “opinion is like an a….h; everybody has got one!”

A WEEK ago, I read a story in a newspaper that I found very interesting. Nigerian traders in Ghana were appealing to the Federal Government to intervene on their behalf over Ghana’s refusal for them to sell generators in Ghana.

A FEW years ago when I interviewed Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari for the Chinua Achebe Foundation dialogue series, I discovered a man millions of Nigerians never knew.

LAST year or so, the Federal Government did the wise thing to send many so-called security agencies packing from the nation’s ports.

THERE is this story about an era in the forties when an epidemic hit my village. People were dying in great numbers. Medical science was very rudimentary and people were simply bewildered.

IT is not yet one year since President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as president, yet the nation is being dragged into a vulgar fight over who succeeds him in 2015! That is the nature of Nigerian politics that is very disgusting.