My very dear childhood friends, Datta, Kio and Kaine Amachree, recently lost their wonderful mother, Otunba Benedicta Olunike Oluwole. She was born in 1936 in Kaduna and was one of five children of the late Chief Ben A.F. Oluwole – a relative of the Balogun of Ijebu-Remo and member of the Latawa Sagamu royal family – and Mrs Marian Taiwo Oluwole (nee Odupele).

I’ve just chanced upon an article that was written in The Will, an online publication, on January 11.

It stated that the PDP’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Abdulahi Jalo, “has tasked former President Goodluck Jonathan to speak out on the controversial $2.1bn meant for the purchase of arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgency during his tenure but which was allegedly shared by some influential politicians.”

I’ve spent the past three months in London. And while I was away, I regularly received phone calls from friends and relatives who are based in various Nigerian states. Some of these friends and relatives are staunch PDP sympathisers who voted for ex-President Jonathan during last year’s election, while others are staunch APC sympathisers who voted for President Buhari

THE National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, was photographed in handcuffs earlier on this week, when he was conveyed from Kuje prison to the Federal High Court in Abuja…where his lawyer requested bail on his behalf.

Last week, I wrote about the many Nigerian VIPs who do not manage success graciously, change for the worse the minute they cease to be ordinary citizens and start treating old friends (and blood relatives as well, in some cases) very shabbily, even when these folks who knew them before they became VIPs have helped them a lot in the past and are therefore owed considerable goodwill and courtesy.

Last year, I was approached by a young man who was looking for a job. When I checked out his CV and references and heard his intelligent answers to the difficult questions I asked him, I concluded that he had a good character and sophisticated brain…and would be very useful to anyone who hired him.

I used to write for Vanguard when I was a twentysomething youngster. In those days, my weekly column was known as “Londonline” and mostly focused on UK issues.

Then, having taken a LONG break from Vanguard while I was growing up, I returned to my beloved Uncle Sam Amuka’s team in 2007 as a middle-aged woman. And it was decided that my column should be renamed “Sweet And Sour”.

DURING this season of goodwill, let those of us who are luckier than most remember the millions in Nigeria and across the globe who will suffer or die during this festive season and won’t enjoy special meals or receive nice Christmas gifts.

Two weeks ago, I a) praised the accessible, conscientious elected councillors and civil servants who run the well-organised and enlightened British local government area I stay in when I’m in London…and b) complained about the many shortcomings of their Nigerian counterparts.

The school term had just ended and they were excitedly heading towards their homes to take deserved breaks from academic work and celebrate Christmas.