Militancy was a reaction to the problems of the Niger Delta. So, to deal with the consequence without addressing the core issues did not solve the problem.
My regret is that most of those recommendations have not been implemented.

Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmad can be described as one of Nigeria’s outstanding technocrats, who has had the rare privilege of serving at the top echelon of the nation’s political class, public service and the defence institution.

A public analyst,Barr. Jide Ologun in an interview with Saturday Vanguard speaks on Chibok girls and Boko Haram.

THE abduction of over two hundred school girls from Chibok by the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram and the response of the Federal government to their release has taken an international dimension.

It is the nature of the war that has been part of the problem. Our forces have fought wars outside the shores of this country and we have always excelled. What we need now is the intelligence from our people to volunteer intelligence and help our forces to root out these criminals. If Boko Haram were to stand on one side and our forces are to stand on another side, the war would not last 30 minutes. What we need is every layer of support from all Nigerians. There is no better trained armed force in Africa than Nigeria; I can tell you that confidently on record.

COMMISSIONER of Police in Ekiti State, Mr Felix Uyanna, is working round the clock to ensure that the June 21 governorship election in the state is conducted in a peaceful atmosphere

In this interview, he bares his mind on the conference, what Nigerians expect from it, state police, federalism, resource control, the role of traditional rulers, NYSC, among other issues.

Deborah Peter was 12 years old when gunmen from the Nigerian terrorist group burst into her home in northern Nigeria and shot dead her father, a Christian pastor, and her 14-year- old brother Caleb, and then forced her to lie with their corpses.

Although he is a Provincial Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, and the MD/CEO of Brunnel Nigeria Limited, if a man’s beginning determined his ending, he would have amounted to nothing. According to his personal testimony, the penury to which his widowed mother was thrown after the demise of his Area customary court judge father, left his future hanging in the balance.

How can a governor collect up to one billion naira (minimum is half a billion) monthly? It is scandalous and they don’t account for it; that is why it is so convenient for them; you cannot probe them. That should be expunged from the Constitution. The police is there to protect them, I don’t know what security vote they need. I don’t know who put that thing in the Constitution and they are capitalizing on it and just scooping up the entire money and taking home.

The first surprise in the encounter was that the representatives of the terror group spoke fluent English. The bigger surprise was when some of the insurgents revealed that they had university degrees. It is a prerequisite for new Boko Haram members to burn their university certificates or any paper identification that links them secular schools.

How could this happen in a state under emergency rule? Terrorists had four hours operation and carted away the girls without help from anybody after which they journeyed into the forest. Remember the principal was said to be there; and the next minute, they said she was at her daughter’s place. There is discrepancy about the number of the kidnapped students. At times you wonder if we have leaders.

This clearly shows that the northern leaders are not serious about the rescue of the girls. The Federal Government has not been able to rescue the girls despite the much acclaimed military might of Nigeria. Is it then wrong to seek help outside Nigeria?

Chief Audu Innocent Ogbeh, one-time Minister of Communications; former National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and now a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, is a politician and an administrator.
In this interview, he bares his mind on the present security challenge in the country, what President Goodluck Jonathan must do, the on- going National Conference, among other salient issues.

MIchael Opeyemi Bamidele, erstwhile Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State, Special Adviser to Governor Ahmed Tinubu and once a darling of the Asiwaju crowd is today on the other side, flying the kite of Labour Party in next month’s gubernatorial election.