WE have maintained, perhaps with monotonous regularity, that in time of increased problems, it is simply natural for people to look in every direction for possible solutions. Yes, of a truth, there is hardly anyone who would not be perturbed by the very sad events of the bomb blasts that greeted our celebrations of the 50th anniversary of our nation’s independence in Abuja on October 1, 2010.

THIS column is today dedicated to the down-trodden masses; the Low Income Group, otherwise known as the LIGs; for their total dedication to the success of the on-going registration of voters.

YES, what we have we hold. This is also in consonance with the time-tested Biblical injunction that we should always confess positive because the power of the tongue is so strong that therein resides the prospect to swim or sink in life. But there is also the need to remain truthful at all times. If in March 2011, we are still voting at the 2007 elections, then, there is cause for worry.

A FEW days to the primary selection process of the PDP, the two main contenders for the presidential slot fought dirty. They danced stark naked in the market place. We do not intend to recapitulate what were said and done, for fear of being caught in the web of that man who was having his bath in the open and in broad daylight, when a naked mad man snatched away his towel.

WHEN will our hearts stop bleeding for Africa? Where is the big pot that is calling the kettle black? The other day, a friend of ours in Ivory Coast overheard Laurent Gbagbo complaining to another friend in Gold Coast that he was already planning to step aside peacefully when he suddenly noticed that the loudest voices on his plight were from the Oil Coast and they were a lot guiltier than him.

IT is also a good democratic concept that Government should spread whatever it has evenly. As much as possible, development must be spread evenly across the nation. Poverty also gets an even spread among the people. And Government must introduce sanctions for all those who deviate from the norm.

THERE is something that nobody, even the greatest iconoclast, can take away from this National Assembly – the sheer courage to venture into an area of its responsibility that was hitherto regarded as sacrosanct.

WE have come a long way in all things, including the attempt to checkmate that big monster called corruption. The joke is told of how a machine that catches thieves was invented outside these coasts. That machine was dispatched to us to help catch those big thieves around.

THERE are vital indicators that every occupation in this country ends up at the National Assembly. In our English language class, years ago, a student proclaimed: “When he slapped me, I saw a thousand stars”.

APPARENTLY, ours is a chicken republic in which the chicken is greater than the republic. We have discovered one good thing about the land, though in whatever you do, you have a choice.

HOW many people saw the German war monger who was trapped, fighting in one of those thick forests in Japan during the Second World War, which ended in 1945?

WHETHER in politics or in business, or in any other field of human endeavour for that matter, consensus building demands a lot of compromise, horse-trading and the spirit of give and take.

THERE is a general observation among our clubs and associations. When celebrating their anniversaries, they would buy a bag of rice, a bag of toilet tissues and 10 yam tubers, all costing some N10,000, as gift items meant for an orphanage.

AS far back as August 1600, William Shakespeare, in one of his best comedies, As You Like It, had reasoned clearly: “Sweet are the uses of adversity, which like the toad, ugly and venomous; wears yet a precious jewel on its head…”.

THIS writer belongs to the first generation of educated people in his family. In retrospect, it is now clear that we did not encourage our old father enough to do what he was already doing very well.