The mailbox of this page has been almost set ablaze by the passion conveyed in some of the messages that came to hand As usual, we can only deal with one or two because of space constraints.

This is an open invitation, asking you to relax for one week-end, away from, Attahiru Jega, Obasanjo, Bode George, The Tinubu Tribe, The Saraki Clan, and the Jonathan Ensemble. Come away from the cloying grip of politics, at least for a breather, and meditate on someone, something, or somewhere you love.

There is a loose cannon rattling around the corridors of Aso Rock. They call him Mohammed Abba-Aji, but we know what we would like to call him.

You would of course have recognized that as a loose paraphrase of the opening sentence of “The Communist Manifesto”, the classic declaration of the aims and objectives of a political movement which has become a model and a source of inspiration for all socialist efforts down the years. As you also probably know, it was published by Karl Marx, with the collaboration of Fredrick Engels in 1848 on behalf of the Communist League which was then a secret organization of Russian emigres in Europe.

Indeed, “these are times that try men’s souls”. Perhaps we can relax a bit, now that we are assured that the political parties have “declared their intention” to nominate some specific representatives, or “flag-bearers”, for the forthcoming elections. The nominees continued to be shuffled like a pack of cards in the hands of a master gambler. And that seems to be precisely what those who are in the position to call the shots have been … gamblers with human lives.