Time was 2.30 pm when the commercial bus took off from Mile 12 to Oshodi on that sunny day. The passengers who were mostly traders were engrossed in sundry conversations when the conductor made an announcement in Yoruba: “Eni ba ni eti meji, ki o gbo o, moto yi o gba owo ati’jo o”( meaning: Whosoever has ears should listen. We do not collect old currency notes in this bus).

Residents of Oke-Afa, Isolo, are presently on a war path with armed robbers who they said have frequently launched attacks in the area, robbing them and also raping their women.

In what might appear as a curious coincidence, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has recently been featuring frequently in the news for the wrong reasons. At least for reasons other than that which informed it being set up by the Lagos State government. For instance a couple of weeks back two of its officials attached to the Iyana Ejigbo unit were involved in separate incidents that claimed the lives of a motorist and a motorcyclist.

It is widely believed that there is a time to be born and a time to die. The Chairman of Lagos University Teaching Hospital Medical Board, Dr Nurudeen Olowopopo obviously did not choose Sunday March 14, 2010 as a day to die but was found dead in his swimming pool.

CRUSADE against illegal bunkering operations in Rivers State, particularly the Ogoni axis of the state assumed an interesting dimension recently when about 813 illegal bunkers gave up the illicit activity.

Their wine and butter coloured uniform has become so well known that they are not easily mistaken at the various bus-stops and traffic-prone spots where they are deployed to ensure there is a free flow of traffic.

Being the first working day of the week, a trader Mrs. Rebecca Okafor was full of expectations. She was to follow her husband to the market to sell some farm produce, a business that has been the source of livelihood for the family for years. Unfortunately, an unforgettable incident put paid to her optimistic expectations and at the end of it all her husband was left almost bleeding to death.

WHEN the rain poured in torrents in most parts of Lagos State last Tuesday evening, many Lagosians sighed with relief. They relished the fact that it came with a refreshing coolness after they have had to endure a spell of unusually hot weather. But for most residents of Debo Bashorun Street, a stone throw from the popular Faseun Road, near Century Bus-stop, Okota, the last thing they wish for now is another rainfall.

Though many Nigerian house wives and food vendors may not have experienced famine at any time, but the prevailing difficulty in sourcing for the primary ingredients for providing needed meals for their variously families and customers may have left them wondering if that is presently the case in the country.

ALL that is not given is lost” is the guiding principle that seems to propel Sunshine For The Less- Privileged Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, NGO, that has taken it upon itself to cater, as much as it can, for the needy in Nigeria.

Their response seem to imply that their lives and survival depended on it. But unlike what obtains presently in Nigeria, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly surprisingly demonstrated the imperative of subjecting themselves to an HIV/AIDS test instead of shying away from it as many are wont. This they did during a one-day free HIV counseling and testing services organised by the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, LSACA which took place at the Assembly complex.

To say that Yooyo and Mbayongo council wards in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State are now ghost communities is an understatement. This is no thanks to the activities of a notorious armed group led by one Terwase Akwaza also known as ‘Ghana’ which recently unleashed terror on the communities.

I told my brother to quit this place but for five years all my pleas fell on deaf ears. I have a befitting accommodation in Mowe where I gave him three rooms but he ignored my advice, prefering to occupy two shops here with his four wives and 15 children.”

Muyiwa Oni was a petty trader in Lagos who operated a savings account with a new generation bank in Lagos. He was just a stone’s throw from the bank one day when he received an alert on his mobile phone that N150,000 had been withdrawn from his account with an ATM card.

It started as a round table discussion last Monday but it soon became a peaceful protest with many of those present brandishing placards and singing solidarity songs to express their grievances and press home their demand.