While we Nigerians are still struggling, in the 21st century, to provide ourselves with basic amenities like round-the-clock electricity and spectacularly failing to deal with simple challenges like running free and fair elections, other nations in Asia and the Western World are relentlessly moving onwards and upwards.

On September 8, 2016, at the launch of his “Change Begins With Me” initiative – a new public enlightenment campaign – President Buhari made a speech. unknown to Mr President, entire paragraphs in this important speech had been lifted by one of his aides from President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech.

Nigerians are famed for suffering and smiling. We’re also pretty good at laughing while we are suffering; and I’m sure that many of you would have heard the following absolutely hilarious jokes by now. But for those who haven’t, let me repeat them.

Last week on this page, I wrote a heartfelt tribute to my friend, Mr Babs Omotowa, the outgoing MD of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, which was established in

NLNG has also, under Omotowa, built and equipped engineering laboratories, costing $2 million apiece, in six universities – Ahmadu Bello, Ibadan, Uniport, Maiduguri, Ilorin and Nsukka). In other words, one in each geopolitical zone.

My dear sister and friend, Temi Harriman, a lawyer and politician, has just won a legal battle against a bunch of malicious men who decided, for reasons best known to themselves, to libel a lady who doesn’t deserve to be embarrassed.

We keep receiving conflicting and confusing information about the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, the militant group that has been waging war on the Nigerian Government and inflicting huge losses on the oil industry for the past few months.

LAST week, I published a sad letter I’d received from a Northern Christian from Borno State. He complained about myriad injustices that the Muslim majority had been inflicting on his people, whom he described as a silently suffering voiceless minority. And I, ever-eager to leap to the defence of the oppressed, sympathised.

We often simplistically refer to “The North” as if it is a monolithic unit. It is easy to forget that there are actually different Northerners and that a significant number are not Hausa-Fulanis or members of the Sunni Muslim majority.

Earlier on this week, the Right Honourable Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, addressed a National Stakeholders Summit on Petroleum Industry Reforms in Abuja. Here are some excerpts from his speech: