DEBATES have not abated about the 1 October bombings that rocked Nigeria ‘s 50th independence anniversary. The debates about what happened, and what should have happened, and all that should have been done to avert the blasts are all with hindsight.

IMAGINE this! You are an indigent student. Most students are usually not buoyant, but there are some whose cases are different. They are indigent enough that everyone knows their case, no matter how courageously they manage it.

WE had all looked forward to a great golden jubilee celebration. We had put the issues that rankle us aside for awhile. Nigerians were in the streets in the national colours celebrating in the belief that there was something to mark in 50 years of Nigeria.

WE had all looked forward to a great golden jubilee celebration. We had put the issues that rankle us aside for awhile. Nigerians were in the streets in the national colours celebrating in the belief that there was something to mark in 50 years of Nigerian.

THERE is something to celebrate in the fact that we got this far. For a country that went into war only six years after its independence, we rejoice that it pushed all that aside to stay together for another 44 years.

DICTATORSHIP often rears its ugly head in highly disguised manners. When we are under the illusion that we are in a democracy, it is easy to ignore the traces of authoritarian rule that creep into our affairs.

WE are days away from the 50th anniversary of Nigeria. It is time to talk about our heroes. In these parts, heroes are politicians, no matter their ideologies or lack of them, no matter their selfishness that has held the country back.

Those who argued about the injustice of people improperly elected assuming offices, benefitting from the spoils of the office until a court annuls the election, had expected that elections held four months to the handover date would provide enough time to dispose of cases at the tribunals.

WHY has the manner of Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa’s death become a hot issue 44 years after his demise? Can something be achieved by having a correct version of the account of his death? Would it be important to know how Nigeria ’s first Prime Minister died?

WITH all the noise about the Federal Government’s posture on corruption, there is no doubt that some forms of corruptions are tolerable while others have to be dealt with decisively. Those who claim that the fight against corruption is selective would have a point if we take football as an example.

SEVERAL indicators had foretold the inability of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to compile a fresh voters’register of about 70 million people in two weeks, but the Commission had insisted that it was equal to the task.

POLITICIANS are suddenly awake. The ‘smartest beings’ in existence think it is time to say a few words to the Nigerian people. Power belongs to the people and it is time to wrest it from them democratically. The rituals of declarations, politicking and winning elections centre on politicians and their interests.

DEATH of two top security officials in two cities within two days may be a cause of concerns to the authorities but the approach to investigating them seems to suggest the killers may never be found, and their motive would remain a riddle.

ONE thing is guaranteed about the 2011 elections – like ones before them, they will be controversial. As if that guarantee should not be challenging enough for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, it has dabbled into the tenure of some governors which did not begin with others on 29 May 2007.

LAST year, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo drew attention to the enormous powers Governors held because State Houses of Assembly were not strong enough to control them. He said governors had become emperors.