YESTERDAY Monday, 29th September 2014 was another day of pomp and pageantry at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, as President Goodluck Jonathan presented the 2014 edition of National Honours to no fewer than 304 recipients.

THE normal trend is that Nigeria lags behind in most indices of development and topping the charts when it comes to indicators of backwardness. For instance, in the Africa ranking of attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), whereas Egypt is first, Tunisia second, Ghana fifth, Nigeria is 47th, competing with countries like Niger (46th, Somalia (51) and Congo (52 and last).

NEWS of the chains of victories recorded by the Nigerian armed forces against the Boko Haram Islamist insurgents in the North East is not only a thing of delight, it is also a source of great relief.

FOLLOWING the sudden upsurge of the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents in the Nigerian North east, with the mighty Nigerian Armed Forces appearing to wilt in the face of the affront to our territorial integrity, many Nigerians wondered why the surge of support from the advanced countries and friends of Nigeria did not produce any positive result.

THE collapse of the six-storey building within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Ikotun Egbe, Lagos, is a symptom of a disturbing trend in Nigeria where religious bodies carry on as if they are above the law.

WHILE opening the current session of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, made comments which some interpreted as meaning that Nigeria is not even contemplating holding the 2015 general elections.

AS schools are officially scheduled to resume nationwide today, we hasten to draw attention to an obnoxious policy that, if not immediately addressed, could do irreparable harm not only to the educational system but to the knowledge industry as a whole.

WHEN the Australian negotiator, Dr Stephen Davis, alleged that an unnamed top official of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was among the sponsors of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria many people took his words with a pinch of salt as he had also named a former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, and former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.

ONE of the low points in the war against the Boko Haram terrorists in the north east was the mutiny of some army personnel on parade in Maiduguri on May 14th 2014.

HAVE Nigerians accepted mass failures in secondary school examinations? Mass failures no longer produce shocks or the sort of debates predicated on concerns about a fractured future. The West Africa Examination Council, WAEC, has released its 2014 May/June 2014 Senior Secondary Schools Certificate Examination, SSCE, results.   The 31.28 per cent pass in five subjects or […]

DURING the 2014 emblem launching for the Armed Forces Remembrance Day activities, President Goodluck Jonathan requested the military authorities to submit a programme for enhanced welfare of retired armed forces personnel.

THE abduction of more than 250 schoolgirls from a boarding secondary school in Chibok, a town in insurgency-embattled Borno State in April 2014 triggered a worldwide outrage and calls for their immediate release. Thus was born the #Bring Back Our Girls hashtag campaign, which has been going on both in Nigeria and other parts of the world.

IT came as cheering news when the Minister of Environment, Mrs Laurentia Mallam, announced the Federal Government’s N19 billion funding for the control of erosion under the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP).

THE initial announcement by the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau that all schools nationwide should resume on October 13th 2014 over the Ebola Viral Disease outbreak had sparked off a wave of reactions, with stakeholders in the private schools sector coming out heavily against it.

THE recent decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) to increase the number of polling units across the country was conveyed as an attempt to ease the voting procedure. It was aimed to shorten the queue of voters during accreditation and voting on election days.