TUESDAY May 24, 2011 would forever remain indelible in the memory of the people of Oko Ovwore-Amukpe Okpe community in Delta State following an early morning NNPC pipeline fire explosion reminiscent of the Atigwo-Jesse explosion of October 17, 1998 incident that claimed thousands of lives and visited unimaginable suffering and hardship to many families till date.

Two years ago, the Joint Task Force, JTF in the Niger Delta invaded the oil rich Gbaramatu Kingdom of Warri South West Local Government Council of Delta state, hometown of repentant militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, a.k.a Tompolo, after a fracas between members of JTF and some of the then militants in the area, leaving a scare that lives in the minds of the inhabitants.

A fresh scarcity of kerosene is here and consumers are not smiling, already under pressure from an economy that seems to be in a free fall.

Fadahunsi, a retired Chief Executive Officer of the defunct Lagos Executive Development Board, LEDB, loves spaces; a fondness he developed as a kid in his native Ila, Ilesa (present day Osun State).

Residents of Ikorodu, who commute to and from Lagos for their daily bread are not finding the trips funny these days.
Although a mere 20 kilometre or twenty minute journey, getting out of or getting into the town from Ketu is full of stress. Traffic gridlock has become a routine, endless man hours are lost, and business appointment blown away.

Every evening, before sunset, the entire Kaduna State is locked up: residents are forced indoors until the state is unlocked by its keepers at dawn. That is the huge price the residents now pay for the third week running for the indiscretion of some miscreants. But the authorities say the sacrifice is worth it.

Though Kabeer Adisa Adeniyi is still in his 40s but, about 30,000 Nigerians have benefited from skill acquisition programme and HIV/AIDS campaign initiated by Guidance Community Development Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that he heads. The organisation reaches out to orphans and vulnerable children and gives free-interest rate soft loan scheme to young small scale business owners. He is our role model this week.

Ugo Fidel Onwuraokoye is the founder of Tamar Rescue Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that reaches out to young girls teaching them how to avoid sexual abuse and rape.

Rivers in the Lagos area of the country are under intense pressure due to various kinds of human activities. The most noticeable one is the indiscriminate extraction of construction grade sand by mining operators.

For a little over four years — 1979 — 1983 — the late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin served as governor of the old Ondo State.