But the situation in Nigeria is peculiar in so many ways. This is why the eminent persons’ group, the National Peace Committee, NPC, headed by former military ruler, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has found relevance at the outsets of major elections.

AMIDST serious expressions of doubt over its ability to conduct free and fair polls next year, it is reassuring that the Professor Mahmood Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has continued to be generally upbeat in its preparations towards the historic exercise.

BY now, the message ought to be clear to those who have ears: illegal migration to Europe through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea is almost a certified death sentence. But unfortunately, in spite of the gruesome experiences of those who tried it and were lucky to return alive to tell their stories, more young men and women are still embarking on that journey to Golgotha.

WHEN George Herbert Walker Bush campaigned in 1987 and later became the 41st President of the United States, he was regularly referred to in the media as a “wimp”, which a dictionary defines as “a weak person who lacks confidence, courage, etc”.

After condoling with the families whose loved ones were killed in the anti-terror war, he made it clear that there was no alternative to the defeat of Boko Haram, and that the Federal Government is prepared to improve the welfare of the military and provide them with modern armaments.