OLADIMEJI Saburi Bankole, already has history on his side as the youngest person, at 37, to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to that credential may be added the fact that he has had the most stormy reign while at it, yet he exhibits an inexhaustible capacity to weather more storms.

THE Federal Government’s drive to privatise and commercialise the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, through a massive unbundling into 18 firms has always been greeted with apprehension and threats of industrial disruption and social unrests by the workers of the public-owned company.

ONE of the most dangerous things about imagination is that one can stretch it limitlessly. Imagination abhors boundaries, what is required to extend it is the capacity of the individual to visualise the matter in contention.

ANYONE who has an idea of the types of weapons that were imported illegally through Apapa Wharf in Lagos last week, would be alarmed by the quantity as well as the sophistication of the collection. The security agencies investigating the intercepted weapons would also be concerned about the brazenness of the importers which raises questions.

MUCH criticism has attended the performance of the electoral tribunals throughout the country. The anger of those who lose is well noted, especially when they have to contend with wasted resources and their lost expectations pinned on cases, which sometimes look good enough for judges to grant them favourable verdicts.

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the largest and perhaps the best financed political party in Nigeria. Its members hyperbolically refer to it as the largest political party in Africa given its pervasive influence and spread.

THERE is no doubt that corruption is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigerian body politics. No institution, both public and private is spared this spectre that is yawning menacingly at our polity. Over the years, the nation’s rating in corruption perception index on international scale has dropped drastically.

LOANS are wonderful financial instruments, depending on who is borrowing, the lender, the purpose of the loans, and the sincerity of those who are proposing them.

PROFESSOR Aliyu Babatunde Fafunwa, former Minister of Education died at 87, yet the mourning of his passing on was like that one who departed too early.

ABA and Onitsha are cities in the South-East of Nigeria with an importance that sets them apart. They have never been regional or even state capitals, yet they tower above most of the “A” grade urban metropolises in Nigeria, most of which enjoy the status of political capitals.

FOR the fourth time in three years, electoral tribunals have ousted governors after lengthy judicial processes that have exposed the ineffectiveness of electoral tribunals in granting justice timely.

LADY justice, the symbol of the essence of the impartiality of justice, comes blinded-folded. She is not interested in the parties to disputes; her concerns are seeing justice dished out fairly to all. The blindfold denies her the opportunity of knowing whether litigants are high, low, rich, poor, strong or weak.

NIGERIANS are no longer surprised when Profes-sor Attahiru Jega, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, speaks about the possibility of the 2011 elections holding at a later date. What may still surprise some is that Jega, who arrived at the job highly recommended, is building strong alibis, in case things go awry.

THE successful rescue of all the 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months in Chile has resonated in celebrations throughout the country. The world joined Chileans in watching the agony of the men buried more than half a kilometre underground.

NOTHING would change about the way we do things until there are sanctions for officials who fail in their duties. The absence of accountability for positions they occupy secures officials from the implications of their decisions.