AS agenda for an election, the President’s manifesto, ‘Agenda for Transformation’ made fantastic reading with its picture of a government that wants to change Nigeria by transferring it to the path of enduring greatness. Great promises create great expectations.

THE sense of helplessness grows each time the bombs explode in any location the attackers choose. They do not seem to be short of choices. If the purpose is high casualty rates, Boko Haram must be achieving it with the reported death of more than 200 in Kano on Friday. Among the dead was a Channels Television reporter.

AT moments of high national tension, we have unintended ways of dousing it with high voltage drama that diminishes the import of issues. One such drama is on-going at the House of Representatives Committee investigating management of the oil subsidy.

LAGOS State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, short of going to court, has done all he can by condemning the flooding of Lagos streets with soldiers. The disruptive effects of soldiers, in presumably peacetime, appearing with combat gears and performing police duties denote panic or excessive force.

NORMALCY is creeping back to some aspects of national life, but the effects of the nationwide strike over fuel are telling. Maybe for weeks, they would be felt and the national economic losses are too obvious to ignore. Strikes have their down side of shutting people down even psychologically. People are trying to get their […]

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.

THE times we are going through have many uncertainties dogging them. These are no ordinary times. At no time in our lives – in peacetime – have so many security people been deployed on internal operations, in so many parts of the country, at the same time.

AN end to the strike is long over due. It has taken this long to reach an agreement because government under-estimated the anger in the land, which it must have realised runs deeper than the increase in fuel price. Government needed to deal with that anger quickly instead of the various excuses that it is making about the increase.

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 askingA them again because there have been no answers.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has his unique ways of expressing challenges Nigeria faces. If we believe him, he will leave us wallowing in the hopelessness of situations.