PORT HARCOURT: Idama, in AkukuToru local government area of Rivers state is a major oil producing community in the Niger Delta. It is a host community to Chevron and an impact community to Shell. Sadly inspite of the huge oil resource generated from the community the area can hardly boast of appreciable government presence.

As usual, fun seekers converged at a drinking joint which also served as viewing centre in Umusigide Obollo Etiti community in Udenu Local government area of Enugu state, last Sunday, cheering and throwing banters, without the slightest inkling that danger lurked ahead.

Commercial motorcyclists popularly known as ‘Okada riders’ are back on Lagos roads and I know why. They are back without number plates, without headlamps, without helmets, without scruples, without regard for rules. Their glances are furtive, their ways menacing, they dart carelessly freely and stop abruptly. There is something clandestine about their re-emergence and they betray a suspicion that they will be around on the prohibited routes only for a short while.

The unfortunate gas explosion which hit Babson Gas Nigeria Limited, a gas outlet located beside Saint Thomas’ Anglican Church, Arakale area of Akure metropolis, last Saturday, may have come and gone, but owners of the over 42 shops razed in the raging inferno are still counting their losses, waiting endlessly for help to come their way.

With less than one week to Christmas, the major bus terminals in the country have become beehiveS of activities as people relocate to the hinterlands to celebrate the season with their loved ones. The irony is that some of those who embark on such travels, end up in the morgues as a result of motor accidents.