To say that this and other gestures of empathy and goodwill by the EU and other humanitarian bodies are welcome is putting it mildly. It is a huge relief, especially for a state whose government has bravely but with determination carried the grim burden of the carnage while spending much of its lean resources in caring for the displaced persons and rebuilding devastated communities.

THE World Bank recently released its 2018 economic growth forecasts for nations all over the world. Global Gross Domestic Product, GDP, is supposed to grow by 3.1 per cent during this year.

THE Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Anchor Borrowers’ Programme initiated on November 17, 2015 to boost the production of key agricultural commodities set off a major stampede in small-holder involvement in rice production in many states of the Federation.

THE death of two medical doctors and one nurse from Lassa fever in Ebonyi State once again highlights the need for decisive measures to strengthen the nation’s health system and proactively respond to disease outbreaks.

The value of human life, it seems, has been greatly diminished within the borders of the country. It is remarkable that this sickening glut of bloodletting is happening in a regime that came to power with the promise of instilling discipline and the rule of law on the polity and protecting the citizenry.

THE Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo-led Committee set up by the National Economic Council, NEC, to tackle the armed herdsmen menace in the country is the highest gesture by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in solving this national crisis.

THE report in Sunday Vanguard of December 24, 2017 about 60 per cent revenue loss to fraud in Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, should ring alarm bells in The Presidency, the National Assembly, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, the anti-graft agencies and the general populace, especially as no one has debunked it.

THE recent spate of violence across the country calls for serious concern from all genuine stakeholders in the Nigerian project.

IT is about time the government and people of Nigeria began to value more positively the men and women who wear the uniforms of the Nigerian Armed Forces and Police, standing ever ready to serve the nation unto death, if necessary.

THIS 2018 will be a year when governance takes the back seat to make way for political party conventions, congresses and campaigns. Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has already showed its enthusiasm for the intense politicking that lies ahead by proactively publishing the programmes and timelines for the impending general elections. Indeed, INEC has brought forward political activities.

FUEL scarcity, which makes life unbearable for Nigerians, has been a fixture of life in Nigeria since the country became  a crude oil exporter first, and then importer of refined products later. Interestingly, it was a phenomenon unheard of when the nation was not a leading producer of crude oil.

EVEN though the Federal Government wasted a lot of time before swinging into action when outrage over the sale of Nigerian migrants into slavery was exposed, we are encouraged by reports that up to 3,000 out of the estimated 5,000 stranded in Libya were brought home before the end of December 2017, going by the words of Ambassador Illiya Danladi Fachano, Nigeria’s Charge D’Affaires in Libya.

THE general attitude of perceived insensitivity of the Federal Government to the spate of attacks on farming communities by armed pastoralist invaders could exacerbate the threats to food security of the nation unless there is an urgent change  in attitude.

THE announcement by the Federal Government in November last year that it borrowed N9.18tn in just 10 months should send a shock wave throughout the land. That amount is more than the budget for 2017 and even exceeds the 2018 recently presented to the National Assembly.

COME Thursday, January 11, 2018, a historic event will take place in Enugu, the capital of the defunct Eastern Region. Tagged: “Handshake Across the Niger”, it will be the coming together of the Igbo and Yoruba leaders of thought in a bid to create a common platform of understanding, brotherhood and cooperation which will ultimately strengthen the unity of Nigeria and promote its rapid development.