The first thing I did upon my appointment as Minister of Aviation on July 2, 2011, was to take a comprehensive assessment tour of all airports, all agencies and parastatals as well as their facilities and installations across the country. I found that safety and security-critical equipment and installations were obsolete, unserviceable or unavailable. Infrastructure all round-airport terminals were dilapidated and derelict.

Helen Onokpite, wife of the murdered Citizens Peoples Party (CPP) gubernatorial candidate in Delta State in 2011 election will not forget Saturday 26th November, 2011 easily. It was the day Chief Ogbe Onokpite was brutally murdered at Beeland International Hotel, along Orhuwhorun Road in Udu Local Government Area of Delta state by police men over unproven allegations of gun running, kidnapping and armed robbery. He was buried on Saturday 28th December, 2013 at his home town, Ugolo-Okpe community in Okpe Local Government Area of the state after two years of legal tussle between the family and the Nigerian Police which resulted in several rounds of autopsy on the corpse.

One year after the gruesome killing of a human rights activist and social crusader Late Chief Christopher Ejike Onah at the University town of Nsukka, the alleged killers are yet to be arraigned in court.

During his inauguration for a second term of office on February 24, 2013, the Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, promised to take governance closer to the people by posting greater achievements on all fronts. in his inaugural speech titled: ‘The Work Continues’, delivered extempore, Mimiko said: “Our major focus shall be on an aggressive drive at job creation for our teeming youths through innovative and durable programmes that will engender sustainable livelihood.

Residents of Ilupeju, Oloshan and Idi-Oro, Mushin, Lagos State are currently living in fear following the recent systematic killings of four residents of the area, while one other was left with severe injuries,between December 27, 2013 to January 2, 2014.

Matthew Iduoriyekemwen is the former Edo state representative in the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Iduoriyekemwen who also is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state spoke to Saturday Vanguard last Monday, regretting that the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan in moving the nation forward is not being recognised. The Benin- born politician who was one of the governorship aspirants of the PDP in Edo state in 2012, described the seeming opposition against the 2015 presidential ambition of Jonathan as unfair and declared that the President’s achievements will guarantee him second term in office. Excerpts:

The Divisional Police Officer [DPO],Asokoro Police Station, Mr Nnanna Amah, is in the news again. This time, he is being alleged to be involved in the harassment of the leader of the Nigerian Merchant Navy, Comrade Allen B. Edema, who has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, alleging attempts on his life, by the DPO.

Prominent Muslims bared their minds as they gathered at the Tafawa Balewa Square to offer prayers for the nation. The event which was organized by the Joint Muslim Forum was an assemblage of Muslim organisations in the region with prominent Muslim personalities in attendance. among who are Sheikh Ibrahim Garba Akinola, OON, the Chief Imam of Lagos state, Dr. Abdurrahman Ahmad of Ansar-Ud-Deen Islamic Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdullah Akinbode of Nasrullah-il-Fathi society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdurrahman Adamgba of Qareeb Islamic Society, Sheikh Imran Abdul Majeed Eleha, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, Secretary-General, Nigeria Council for Islamic Affairs, NCIA among others.

Bismillahi-Rahamani-Raheem. May the peace and blessings of Allah continue to abide with the noblest of Prophet in creation, (Muhammad ibn Abdullah) till eternity. Amin.

Although the six-month strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, was called off on December 16, 2013, academic activities have only just begun in earnest in universities across the country.