Reports of South Africa overtaking Nigeria in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rating hardly came as a surprise. Though it indicated that both countries have recorded drops in GDP in the last one year, Nigeria’s case was a huge crash compared to South Africa’s.

ON 24 July 2014, for the first time ever, Nigeria interrupted the transmission of the wild polio virus, leading to its removal by the World Health Organisation (WHO) from the list of countries where the disease is endemic.

President Muhammadu Buhari seized the opportunity of the visit of the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Irina Bukova to Abuja last week, to draw attention to the urgent need to save Lake Chad from imminent extinction.

Minister for Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, created panic among football buffs in Nigeria when the Rio Olympic-bound U-23 soccer team on a training tour in Atlanta, USA, could not be airlifted to Rio until a few hours to their opening game against Japan. Team handler, Coach Samson Siasia, drew the Minister’s ire when he cried out over the cash-strapped team’s ordeal in camp.

The Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, stirred controversy when he told Nigerians that the Federal Government would import grass from Brazil for ranches and grazing reserves in Nigeria.

Findings from banks have indicated that the real sector is yet to find a compensatory ground after the recent hike in Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7), the nation’s slow progress in the practice of exclusive breastfeeding came into sharp focus.

Ongoing combined military and police action against pipeline vandals in the creeks of Arepo, Ogun State and parts of Ikorodu in Lagos State is another demonstration of the Federal Government’s determination to crack down on criminals wherever they congregate.

The protracted political battle over the 2015 governorship election in Taraba State appears to have bred a lingering politics of bitterness which has become a threat to the welfare of the most vulnerable in society, the Internally-Displaced Persons (IDP’s) in the state.

The directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the Pilgrims Travel Allowance (PTA) to be sold to intending pilgrims at N197 to $1 has, understandably drawn sharp criticisms, coming at a time that factories cannot get enough foreign exchange to import crucial inputs and parents are finding it difficult to pay the school bills of their children studying abroad due to the scarcity and high cost of foreign exchange.

The death of respected elder statesman, political leader and notable administrator, Olorogun Felix Ovudoroye Ibru, not surprisingly, elicited reactions from several quarters. Many Nigerians have been mourning his passage, describing it as a big loss to Delta State and the nation.

The Nigerian football community was in an ecstatic mood when the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) President, Gianni Infantino, visited Nigeria on Monday last week at the instance of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting for June 2016 revenue distribution was delightful on account of the huge surge in resources shared amongst the tiers of government. A total of N559 billion was shared as against N305 billion in the previous month.

We are heartened by indications that the dialogue initiated by the Federal Government with stakeholders in the Niger Delta with a view to ending the renewed militancy in the Niger Delta is yielding some frutiful results. This should encourage all sides to continue the search for peaceful solutions.

The forthcoming governorship election in Edo State promises to task the capacity and wits of all involved. A total of 19 political parties have been cleared to contest the 10th September, 2016 election that will produce a successor to the outgoing governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who has exhausted his maximum two terms of office.