TWO phenomena are currently playing out and defining the Nigerian political space. This is the politics of defection and impeachment. Politicians are either defecting, that is changing party affiliations with the sole aim of positioning themselves, literally, for personal aggrandizement. Or they are being impeached from one position or another by erstwhile friends turned foes- also for the same selfish reasons of personal elevation.

THE outbreak of Ebola virus in parts of West Africa, including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, has rightly sent panic around the world. From Liberia it has found its way to Nigeria and is slowly spreading among health workers and others who had had direct and indirect contact with infected persons. The fear now is that it might continue its slow but steady spread if nothing or enough is done to stem it. Such a devastating killer should not be allowed to continue unchecked, especially since the mode of transmission could be as insidious as shaking hands with an infected person.

IT’S a very difficult thing to admit but it all looks now like murderous insurgency has become a routine part of existence in many parts of Northern Nigeria. And the new face of terror is female. But more of this later. What we should not forget is that there is a clear message the insurgents want Nigerians to understand by this precipitous steep in terror attacks.

MANY months before it finally came on Sunday July 13 many celebratory events had been lined up to mark the 80th birthday ceremony of the one famously called Kongi, after one of the more memorable characters of his highly fecund imagination, Wole Soyinka.

THE Nigerian Medical Association called out its members on yet another strike about two weeks ago. The NMA is, no doubt, one of the most strike-prone associations in the country.