Laila St. Matthew-Daniel, a social activist, explains, in this interview, why all those implicated in the Ese Oruru saga should be prosecuted. She also says sentiment, religion and culture should never be used as excuses to abuse children. Excerpts:

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. Mr. Nzubechukwu William Eluagu, a visual artist and graduate of Fine Art (Sculpture) from the Yaba College of Technology, took waste recycling to another level with his final year project; an audacious 13.6 feet sculpture entitled, Your Destiny Is In Your Hands, made mostly from waste materials.

Chief Goody Uwazurike is the President of Aka Ikenga, the Igbo think tank and a delegate to the 2014 National Conference. In this interview , the legal luminary says the with the harsh economic situation on ground, the Buhari led government needs to sit up especially now that economy is somersaulting in different directions. Excerpts:

In this interview, a former Deputy President of the Senate and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senate Ibrahim Mantu, says the PDP lost the 2015 presidential election because it allowed impunity to grow within its ranks. Blaming former President Olusegun Obasanjo for starting the impunity in the former ruling party, Mantu also speaks on the anti corruption war of the APC- led government and the chances of the PDP in 2019. Excerpts.

Political leaders, royal fathers and academicians gathered on Wednesday, February 10 to listen to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who proffered solutions to the economic crisis facing the nation, particularly the dwindling revenue from crude oil at a lecture organized by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Edo State.

‘’Nigerians are very hard working people. If we are given an enabling environment we can do more and even better. Nigeria’s industry is faced with a lot of constraints which I believe if government can help tackle some of the challenges, we shall overcome. For instance, the issue of power is something government should look into because if electricity is available it will improve and boost the nation’s economy. So, as a manufacturer, I want government to do more especially in the provision of energy and pump money into technical institutions so that the youths can be empowered.’’

The military was very justified because looking at what was happening at that time, there were lots of crises all over the place, the situation in East, West and so on. Don’t forget that the first state of emergency ever declared in Nigeria was during democratic rule. I’m sure you know that there were lots of indiscipline in the democratic rule and civilians were going round saying to the military, do you want us to die before you do something? So the military did not just wake up and said give us power,

Air Vice Marshal Lucky Ochuko Ararile (retd) is the Ovie of Umiagwha Abraka Kingdom, Delta State. Before he retired from the military, he commanded many formations including the Operation Restore Hope for the Niger Delta. He was later appointed the Coordinator of the Amnesty Committee that midwifed the Amnesty Programme for ex-militants by former President Umar Yar’Adua. In this interview, the retired air force officer bares his mind on the $2.1bn arms deal involving a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), and some top military officers, among other national issues.

I think I was so busy trying to get over my grief. And I was particularly close to my father because I was the eldest child. At that time the Federal Government gave us scholarship but it was not easy. Things are even much more efficient now because in those days every holiday we couldn’t go on vacation like some children. From the time I come home, we will be putting papers for our scholarship together so that we can take them to the Cabinet Office, the papers will now move from desk to desk and we were doing it so that we will not be late for school. And I did it for myself and my younger siblings. So you can imagine what we went through. So honestly I didn’t have time to feel any bitterness or anger.

I was a teacher when the coup took place and Dimka and his partners were declared wanted. At that time, the radio kept announcing that whoever finds him should report to the police as some benefits will be given to the person. So, every 15 minutes or thereabout the radio continued to flare the information. Dimka had served as an officer here, (Afikpo) we came back from Biafra and met Dimka as an officer here, so Dimka was popular here. He was not somebody that could hide in Afikpo; he had a lot of friends; unfortunately, when he was declared a fugitive, it was easy for him to be spotted especially in Afikpo.

Our corporate strategy and the vision of the bank states that we want to build and transfer wealth across generations. The SMEs are part of that strategy. If you focus on the SMEs, it means you have to meet with entrepreneurs at the incubation stage of their business. And if you are to help them grow and become very big and successful, that means you will be able to transfer wealth from one generation to the other.

Prince Kazeem Afegbua, the new Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Edo State, on Friday, reacted to the seeming tension in the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2016 governorship election in the state. He also debunked the insinuation of a rift between his principal,Governor Adams Oshiomhole, and his deputy, Dr Pius Odubu, over the latter’s ambition to succeed his boss. He carpeted the state PDP over its tantrums against Oshiomhole, declaring that the PDP, after allegedly pauperising the people of Edo for ten years, will never smell the Osadebey Avenue Government House in the nearest future. He spoke on other national issues. Excerpts:

Pa Ayo Adebanjo’s participation in politics dates back to the First Republic when he was a member of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo-led Action Group (AG). In the Second Republic, Adebanjo remained with Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). Today, he is a staunch member of the Yoruba political group, Afenifere. In this interview, the Yoruba leader, in his late 80s, speaks on the state of the nation.

“I did not have to go borrowing. My husband helped me at the time. I started with about N1 million but that was for the decoration part. The cake part was a bit less because I did not buy everything at once. So people should not get scared because of the money involved, you can buy things bit by bit as you go on and before you know it, you would have acquired a lot more than you can imagine. “Initially for the cake, I don’t think I had more than N200,000.

My hard working parents. I was born in Ewohimi, Edo State, but my father relocated to Ijebu-Ode where he worked as a rubber plantation manager. He managed a group of people at a rubber plantation in Ijebu- Ode. This inspired me to be hard working. My widowed mother too summoned up courage when my father died and gave us (the children) needed support in her little way.