SEVERAL things are incredible about the series of armed robberies on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. None of them would justify the authorities ceding a section of the highway to marauders, who make a point, whenever they choose, of reminding the public it is their uncontested territory.

SUPPOSE Syria was Libya, would the United States have waited for the death of more than 10,000 people since January 2011, before feeble attempts to apply pressure on the Bashar al Assad regime that is slaughtering Syrians, most of them unarmed civilians?

A SENATE Committee’s rejection of the accounts of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as “illegal and unacceptable” will cost the public millions of Naira, but it is a strong point about obeying the Constitution, a matter more important than mere economics.

LAST week, I said that President Jonathan should avoid caving in to demands for a Sovereign National Conference, SNC, largely because I believe that a massive talking shop at which religious and ethnic grievances are aired will generate more heat than light and possibly lead to the complete collapse of Nigeria.

WHAT follows is a tale of three cities where a culture of lawlessness is being promoted, they are not the only ones.

WHEN the heavy rains descend upon us later this year, nobody can say he or she was not warned enough. On February 13th 2012, Mother Nature herself fired a warning shot through a powerful flash storm that devastated parts of Lagos within a matter of minutes as workers, traders and school pupils hit the roads for the day’s activities.

WE are too poor to know what poverty means. We are poorer than most accepted statistical tools capture. How does one represent poverty of the mind, the greatest obstacle to the growth?

MONDAY February 13, leaders and governors of states in the South-West geo-political zone comprising Lagos, Ogun Oyo, Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti states gathered in the zone’s capital, Ibadan, to strategise for a roadmap into the future.

IT is with total delight and appreciation that we note the increasing capacity of our law enforcement agencies to come to terms with the unusual terrorist challenges posed to the nation by the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in various parts of northern Nigeria.

THE University of Benin is unique in several ways. From its setting in the cultural milieu that borrows extensively from the ancient Benin Kingdom to its location that makes it a melting point for the various ethnic nationalities that surround the city, it has famed itself as a centre of academic endeavours with strong alumni to show for its efforts.

IS there a prize for policemen who gun down unarmed civilians? What motivates the police to shoot unarmed, peaceful protesters? These questions are not new. We are asking them again because there have been no answers.

CONTEMPT of court is a serious offence if seen from the prism of its capabilities to weaken the judiciary and minimise its abilities to deliver justice to all parties without fear or favour.

CONCERNS about the future of Nigeria are growing. Many groups have rekindled the demand for conference or summit to re-shape the country. Most of the attention has been on the 1999 Constitution, which begins with a fallacy.

SECURITY people get away with anything under the pretence that they have more information than the public. Where this ploy fails, they become vicious, searching for soft targets on which to vent their anger.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan remains a surprise. He was not different on Friday when he broke his long silence on the disputation between him and Bayelsa State Governor Chief Timipre Sylva. It was all about a hotel, an un-built hotel.