LAST week, I praised Ima Niboro, the President’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity, for his writing skills and eloquence. But I also complained about the fact that I and many other journalists have felt frustrated by his failure to respond to our polite requests for advice, information and official statements.

I DON’T know Mr. Ima Niboro, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity. But I know quite a bit about him. I’ve read his reactions to several current affairs issues in various publications and know many people who know him and know him to be a seasoned and talented member of my profession.

DURING a press conference that took place in Pretoria earlier on this week, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (retired), the former military administrator of Lagos State and our current High Commissioner to South Africa, told journalists that he could show them the results of a recent opinion poll that proves that most Nigerians are not bothered about zoning issues and are more interested in leaders who can deliver than in where they come from.

Whenever Nigerians talk about zoning in particular or politics in general, they talk as if they are totally wedded to the idea that a Southern President must have a Northern Vice-President; and vice versa. There is also a tendency to regard each geopolitical zone as a united interest group…AND a widespread assumption that it’s OK for every Head of State to have two four-year terms.

EARLIER on this week, Professor Attahiru Jega, the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), publicly reminded his 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the need to conduct themselves appropriately while they are preparing for the 2011 polls in various states.