Professor Femi Odekunle, an expert in criminology, was an aide to Lt. General Oladipo Diya as Chief of General Staff (CGS) under the Sani Abacha regime and one of those held for the 1997 alleged coup against the then Nigerian leader. Odekunle is currently a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption set up by President Muhammadu Buhari and headed by Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN). In this interview, he speaks on the mandate of the committee with particular reference to the $2.1billion arms purchase case against former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, among others.

This has been largely misunderstood by the people. I think that we have met the deadline. This is because the understanding of our December deadline was that by the end of December 31, we would have reclaimed from Boko Haram the areas that were in their control, and we would have decimated their capacities and that they will not have a unified force. I want to say that, to a large extent, we have met that deadline. I have also said that meeting the deadline will not be the same as that there will no longer be any attack on the soft targets, or it will mean the end of suicide bombing or any surprise attack from the insurgents.

Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, in this interview, speaks on the efforts to recover the nation’s funds looted under the previous administration, saying Nigerians must own the ongoing war against corruption to make it effective.

In this interview, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Army, Colonel Sani Usman, explains the circumstances that led to the bloody confrontation between members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, led by Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and the Nigeria Army, penultimate Saturday. Not the first of its kind, but the activities of the IMN and the handling of the matter by the army personnel have, this time, generated a lot of attention

Sheik Ibraheem Zakzaky, 62, the ever turbaned, tough looking leader of the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, is an Islamic scholar and a tempestuous preacher. He speaks straight to the powers-that-be and has survived many jail terms in the hands of military governments in the ‘80s and ‘90s for sedition. Never hiding his hatred for Israel and the United States, he lost three sons and 35 followers after a pro-Palestinian protest with the military on July 25, 2014 in Zaria, Kaduna State turned bloody. And penultimate Saturday night, gunfire and occasional explosions kept residents of Gyelesu area of Zaria nervously awake in their homes.

Chief Ben Apugo was a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former ruling party at the centre.

In this interview, Apugo speaks on why he, alongside Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Governor Nyako of Adamawa State, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, quit the PDP. He also speaks on the fate of the APC in the South-East and the pro-Biafra quest by some Igbo elements, among other issues.

Prof. Adeyemi Aderibigbe, perhaps the oldest of the Princes from Giesi Ruling House of Ile – Ife was chair of the family screening committee which sifted chaff from the wheat, to present the eligible princes to the 16 kingmakers and Ifa divinity, for the choice of Ooni. He had contested for the stool in 1980 when it became vacant upon the translation of the much revered Sir Adesoji Aderemi, who was Ooni for 50 years.

And when Adams Oshiomhole came in 2007 not because we was from Edo South, because we looked at all the major aspirants then, but they were all from Edo South, but when he came in at the last minute we decided to give him our platform because with the experience he had gathered at the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), that will put him in a good stead to be able to deliver the populist agenda in the state. So, Edo State people have never, never bothered ourselves about tribes or religion before we decided. In the same 2007, when Adams Oshiomhole was contesting, we had Hon. Arigbe – Osula, a populist young man who won the House of Representatives seat for Oredo Federal Constituency on the platform of the ANPP at a time when the PDP was like an octopus in the state.

Ben Osuji is the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Idimu Division. About 7 am, on a particular day, last week, he, with some of his men, were strategically stationed around Isheri-Idimu in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, controlling vehicular movement and, at the same time, curtailing the now common traffic robbery in the state. Sunday Vanguard, shortly after leaving the road for his office, spoke with him about his experience on the road.

We are bringing eight speakers who are anointed men of God. Remember we don’t have the same callings and measures of anointing. Solomon was anointed in wisdom, creativity and imagination. He was anointed to generate and create wealth. Elijah was anointed to bring down the power of God and do the seemingly impossible. He was a man who could compel God to cancel His programme in Heaven and come down to this world to do his bidding. Elisha could heal various sicknesses and also demonstrate the miracle of judgment.

Mr. Folorunso Oginni is a former Lagos Zonal Chairman, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). He speaks on the worsening fuel scarcity in the country and the need for government to stop importation of refined petroleum products.

My background was very interesting because we had freedom, we had love, and we were taught strong values – love your neighbor as you love, a strong teaching from the Bible. I had a Christian upbringing. We were very good Christians and I was from a poor home, we are from a home where it was even difficult to eat rice at Christmas. I prayed to God Almighty that if he blessed me and made me great that I would share rice to the less privileged and that is the story behind the rice I share every Christmas to Edo people and my staff in Abuja.

Igwe Alex Nwokedi, Press Secretary to the Head of State during the military regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is the sitting Uthokoneze and paramount ruler of Achalla Kingdom, Anambra State. The 79-year-old former Chairman, Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers and erstwhile Chairman, Eastern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Forum, spoke to Sunday Vanguard on the calls for Biafra and threat of secession by Afenifere among other things.

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), otherwise known as chemical weapons, are unconventional ammunition feared world-wide because they can be easily produced by terrorists, but have devastating effects. Saddam Hussein, the late Iraqi dictator, used them against a section of his people, killing hundreds of thousands of Kurds opposed to him and it was one of the reasons the United States led a coalition of the world powers to oust his regime during the ‘Gulf War’. Over time, WMD have been used by terrorists across the world.

You can use any means by which you are going to win. The APC sees Amaechi as one of its own, irrespective of the stains, dirt, allegations and moral burden that he may carry. On the other hand, the PDP is not against Amaechi because he is allegedly corrupt but because he worked against their party and poses an existential danger to the survival of the party.