WITH the November 16 2013 governorship election about 103 days away, Anambra State political atmosphere has become turbo-charged.

Tuesday, July 30th 2013 will go down in the political history of Nigeria as the day three political parties – Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) succeeded in their merger bid as the All People’s Congress (APC) was announced registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Also, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha’s faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is part of the new political party.

FOR the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the assumption of office by their newly-elected President, Hassan Rowhani, is a great opportunity to rejoin the mainstream of world politics, economy and society.

THE nation was shocked when, earlier last week, it was reported that the Benin Airport was closed down. Hundreds of air travellers going and coming from all parts of the world were subjected to an embarrassing, inconveniencing and humiliating thwarting of their travel plans without any prior notice. They met an airport that was under lock and key, with no one around to explain why.

A LOT of dust has been raised by the decision of the Lagos State Government (LASG) to remove indigent Nigerians from the streets of the economic capital of the nation and repatriate them to their perceived states of origin.

Following the declaration of state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States in May 2013, a section of patriotic youth in the Maiduguri metropolis organised themselves into a vigilante known as “Civilian JTF”.

THE federal government has responded with near adequate conviction, the pressure by Western countries to impose the perverted culture of legalising homosexual lifestyles in Nigeria.

FORTY-SIX years ago, the counter coup to the first coup of that January claimed the lives of Gen Thomas Johnson Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi and his host Lt-Col Francis Adekunle Fajuyi. Ironsi was in Ibadan as part of his reconciliation tour, after the first coup that killed mostly prominent Northern politicians and army officers.

IT is obvious the Nigerian economy is in a precarious situation. It is really nothing new. The only thing that could be new is the momentum of oil theft, which combining with corruption, is drying up resources available to governments.

AFTER all the efforts to get the Freedom of Information Act, FoIA, it is frustrating to most parties that the media are not using the Act to improve public access to information. It is easy to blame the media journalists for not being enterprising. Many have taken that curious position, without recognising defects in the FoIA.

NIGERIAN football made the headlines worldwide for all the wrong reasons in the few weeks – a 146-goal score from two matches shattered all known records.

ON Sunday 14 August 2013, President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan braved all odds and arrived in Abuja for the African Union Summit on HIV/AIDS, an important event to assess the ten-year initiative of the AU to tackle the epidemic. Nigeria, as a signatory to the International Court of Justice, ICC, was expected to arrest Al Bashir.

OUR Senate is in the caves. We have a duty to save it, from itself, and for Nigerians. How can the Senate in the 21st century be proposing that Nigerian girls can be married at an indeterminate age? The Senate is shamelessly broadcasting its determination to insert the profane provision into the Constitution.

THE Bureau of Public Procurement has announced the debarment of 10 contractors. It may be the first in moves to sanitise the procurement process which is bedevilled by complications that negate transparency. The main objective of the cleansing is to curb alleged corrupt practices.

THE United Nations declaration of 18 July – birthday of the global icon Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela – as Mandela Day will be marked with sobriety as the 95-year-old former South African president spends his sixth straight week in hospital.