Tomorrow, Saturday 10th December 2016, will mark the third attempt at concluding the Rivers State elections which started (and ended for most of the states of the Federation) in the March and April, 2015 general elections. But the case of Rivers State was different in that all the senators and all but one of the 13 members of the House of Representatives members were annulled at the electoral tribunals. Similarly, some of the House of Assembly seats were declared vacant.

It is pleasantly surprising to note the peace and calm which have followed the gubernatorial election in Ondo State over the past weekend in spite of the heat and vapour that characterised the electioneering activities. This follows in the pattern of a similar election which took place in neighbouring Edo State only two months ago.

THE Federal Government has, for a long time, demonstrated the scriptural allegory of “the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing”. Perhaps, it has to do with its ponderous, oversizeded nature, which has led many commentators to recommend a serious downsizing or devolution of powers to enable governance run smoothly and produce desirable results.

Every member of the Buhari administration who has spoken about the current recession has assured Nigerians that the recession will end “very soon”. Unfortunately, (typical of government in our climes) no one has defined the time frame meant by very soon – leaving the officials an escape route in the event that nothing happens for a year or more.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, (more popularly known worldwide as Fidel Castro) who ruled the Republic of Cuba for 47 years, was one of the most outstanding personalities of the 20th Century. On Friday, 25th of November 2016, he passed on at the ripe age of 90, ten years after handing over the mantle of leadership to his younger brother, Raul Castro.