WEDNESDAY, 23 July, marked 100 days since the abduction of 279 female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. The circumstances of the 14 April abduction were graphic portrayals of the failure of government and leadership at different levels.

THE Ramadan has ended. Its demands of abstinence from food and water are some of the easily remembered aspects of the month-long observation, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.

NEXT month, the National Automotive Council, NAC, would be 21 years old. Its mandate in Act 84 of 25 August 1993 is to ensure the survival, growth and development of Nigeria’s automotive industry using local human and material resources.

OUR governments are immensely proud of their attitude towards Nigeria’s future. This attitude is not entirely surprising since governments are completely interested only in the present as it affects them and their cronies. Governments never see the future beyond the next elections.

ANY things are instructive about the way our country runs. The most recent concerns about the Federal Government’s intention to borrow $1 billion for its war against insurgents, is the pedestal for calls to probe the expenditure on security. Some want the probes to range as far as 1999.

WHY would anyone celebrate the impeachment of Murtala Hamman-Yero Nyako as governor of Adamawa State?

AN erroneous belief that relevance of oil approximates to the life span of Nigeria’s oil reserves partially fuels the laxity with which the authorities treat diversification of the economy. Concerns over dependence of the economy on oil raged more than three decades ago. Now, Nigeria’s dependence on oil is total, yet the matter is discussed as one of several issues beleaguering Nigeria.

THE successful extradition of suspected Nyanya motor park bomb mastermind, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche restates the importance of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The dispatch with which the extradition processes was concluded was remarkable.

ELECTIONS present the best opportunities for candidates to say the worst things about their opponents. Threats and counter threats appear to be the only selling points of most candidates. We heard threats as contestants jostled for space in the governorship election in Ekiti last month.

NIGERIANS read for profit. Not for most Nigerians the studious attitude with which people read books and newspapers in countries. The difference is not in the literacy level, as some are wont to suggest. Nigerians, except for a few, consider reading an unprofitable venture.

IT appears some Nigerians would only be satisfied if each family gets a State. Even then, husband and wife may not agree on who becomes the governor of their State. Things are that ridiculous.

CHANGES at the Central Bank of Nigeria since Godwin Emefiele resumed as Governor have sent signals that he intends to accomplish his vision of “the model Central Bank delivering price and financial system stability and promoting sustainable economic development”’.

THREE years ago, Romanian witches, who have long thirsted for government recognition, got the type of deal they never imagined – the law asked them to pay tax.

IT is ironical the cantonment in Abuja where a blast killed and injured people in a 2010 pre-New Year revel is named Mogadishu after the capital of Somalia, which has had no central government since General Mahammad Siad Barre was over thrown in 1991. Scores of secessions saw to disintegration of a territory Ethiopians, French, British, Italians and Russians fancied at several points in its history. Barre’s dictatorship lasted 22 years.

BASIC as electricity is to modern living; there is a basic misunderstanding about reflecting this importance in the lives of Nigerians. The people are unimpressed about government trumpeted gains in managing the challenges of electricity supply.