TWO years ago, more than 400 children died in Zamfara State from lead poisoning. The deaths continue as half-hearted measures governments took have warranted more deaths and guaranteed a wrecked future for those who survive.

CONTENDERS for disintegrating Nigeria are increasing. What is uncertain is along what lines they want a split of the country that was moulded 98 years ago.

SENATE President David Bonaventure Achelenu Mark has become famous for his candour. He speaks so explicitly about the Nigerian condition that he easily forgets his place in it. Nobody would have clearly affirmed that Nigeria had become a laughing stock than Senator Mark.

SPEECHES are guaranteed. Workers will march, if there is security. Everything else about May 1, Labour Day, is uncertain, a reflection of the hard times that abound and the unfortunate disinterest of the authorities in the well-being of the people.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is livid over comments of his National Security Adviser, General Andrew Owoeye Azazi, that decisions of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were responsible for the increase in violence.

NIGERIA’S 853-kilometre coastline is littered with a very large number of disused ships and all sorts of seagoing vessels floating or partially submerged.

IT must take some bravery for the Minister of Health Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu to announce than more than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population, 150.3 million (the population of ECOWAS countries without Nigeria), is at risk of malaria infection. The only emergency plan was use of more mosquito nets.

IMAGES of the Senate Committee on Aviation prancing around the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja to unearth the cause of a power failure that disrupted flights cut a pitiful sight of a nation making a virtue of its lack of direction.

WERE Nigeria to be a sprinter, she would be introduced on the starting block with all the accolades listing the possibilities her presence holds for the race. When the starting gun is fired, she would remain on the block while others engage into action.

SENTIMENTS will overtake reasons on decisions about which federal agencies will be spared in government’s bid to cut rising cost of its operations. People are more interested in which agencies remain, rather than the rationale for the exercise.

WHEN people say politics is the only serious business in Nigeria, they are stating the obvious. Oil and gas may be providing the resources that fuel the economy, but nobody talks about the sector with the futuristic focus Nigerian leaders bring to politics.

Everybody knew it was an uphill task, but it was worth a good try. By the time the clouds cleared on the heatedly contested position of President of the World Bank last Monday, April 16th 2012, America’s nominee, Jim Yong Kim, secured the nod of the 25-member Executive Board of Directors of the Bank to clinch the post.

President Goodluck Jonathan has signed the 2012 budget of Nigeria into law, promising that the Federal Government would pursue the implementation of the budget diligently.

IT seems that no year would pass without the healthcare professionals in the employ of the Lagos State Government going on strike for one reason or the other.

RECENTLY, two major public examinations bodies released results of the candidates that sat for their tests. They are the Joint Admissions & Matriculations Board (JAMB) and the National Examinations Council (NECO). JAMB released results for the Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examinations while NECO released results for the 2011 November/December Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE).