“We will deal decisively with all sponsors of violence. I have given the security services clear directives in this regard. We will show that violence in any form will no longer be tolerated before, during and after the elections.”

Another vista was opened in the kidnap saga which the country has been contending with following a nocturnal abduction of three female students from their school recently.

Following the deep slide of crude oil prices from $140 per barrel in 2013 to the current trading just below $40 per barrel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made bold, proactive moves to protect the economy from spiralling into chaos.

The Nigerian Armed Forces have for some time been carrying out sustained military campaigns to subdue the Islamist monster called Boko Haram. This extremist terrorist organisation has visited Nigeria’s North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa with a savagery that defies logic and understanding.

Penultimate weekend, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, announced that Nigeria would increase crude oil production to meet local demand but not for the international market.

Recently, Senator Suleiman Nazif, who represents Bauchi North in the Senate, gave vent to his concern over the alarming proliferation of abandoned projects in Nigeria. Most of these projects have remained abandoned and outlived the various governments that initiated them.

FINALLY, former Interior Minister, Abba Moro, is answering to charges of abuse of procurement process and diversion of public funds preferred against him and four others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of Labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. Since those early years, the Day has assumed a new global dimension.

The saddening story of 14-year-old Miss Ese Oruru who has just been returned to her family after being abducted for nearly seven months is another sickening reflection of the society we live in.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its Article IV report on Nigeria released last recently said it will support the federal government’s ongoing efforts at promoting targeted and core infrastructure in the areas of power, integrated transport network and housing. It also gave it nod to government’s effort at reducing business costs through greater transparency and accountability, and applauds plans for massive employment of the youth and female populations.