ACTIVITIES marking Nigeria’s centenary climaxed a fortnight ago with an elaborate award ceremony in the country’s capital, Abuja. This was to honour Nigerians from diverse fields for what we were made to understand was their contribution to the development of the country.

NIGERIAN governments are known by the many wars they fight. Each Nigerian government is a kind of war council that chooses its own kind of war.

IS somebody surprised that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who was until Thursday, last week, Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank finally had to vacate his exalted office before the end of his five-year term? Are there Nigerians confused that his exit had such direct presidential link, as there was no ambiguity to the statement announcing his removal by presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati?

ONE would not know exactly when President Goodluck Jonathan came to the conclusion that he could no longer pretend that all is well with his government or the party that produced it, the PDP. But it appears he must have reached that point for quite some time now. He only dithered on when to act to start correcting things or simply wished that the cup of such decision would pass him by.

AMONG Nigeria’s ethnic regions and nationalities, the ecumenical spirit is arguably most at work in the Yoruba West. Unlike Eastern and Northern Nigeria that are respectively dominated by followers of Christianity and Islam, Western Nigeria presents a far more diverse and fluid picture of religion with Christians, Muslims and Ifa worshippers cohabiting and cooperating in relative harmony.

THE decision, a couple of weeks ago, by the APC to block passage of bills proposed by the PDP has naturally drawn diverse reactions from Nigerians. The reactions have been mostly as partisan as are reactions to the issue that led to the unprecedented decision of the APC in the first place, namely, the crisis in Rivers State that has been exacerbated by the involvement of the Commissioner of Police in the State, Mbu Joseph Mbu.

BEYOND the media image I know pretty little about the late Ghanaian-born BBC presenter, Komla Dumor.

THE National Executive Committee meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that led to the ouster of its beleaguered ex-chair, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, had all the gripping details of a tragic drama. The exit of Tukur was a tragic melodrama that underlined the superior voice of the majority over that of a very powerful but tiny minority.

CHIEF Olusegun Obasanjo’s December 2 open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan certainly did more damage to the President than either he or his supporters care to admit. Aside the fact that Jonathan’s response to his estranged benefactor’s letter lacked both the interest and passion generated by the initial letter, his reply appealed more to the zealotry of his own supporters than it addressed the substance of Obasanjo’s allegations.

NIGERIANS believe the worst about their leaders. No, that’s not how I meant to say that. Or rather let me state it in another way. Nigerians believe nothing by their rulers. They hear them quite all right. They listen to the many words that are spewed at them by paid publicists; words too many to make any sense. But they believe nothing they hear.