In spite of the persisting gloomy indices portraying Nigeria as a country still mired in backwardness, the year 2013 was full of silver linings on the dark clouds of the nation’s firmament. Our economy was given a healthy rating by many reputable international agencies, though it was generally agreed that little of it is being felt by the people on the streets.

Dr. Dan Mou retired as a Director in Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs. While in service, he served as Special Adviser to three National Security Advisers in the Presidency, In this interview with Vanguard,, the erudite scholar examines the legacies and challenges of the post Mandela era.

In a few hours, residents of Lagos will join the rest of the world to usher in year 2014. This is with hope that the New Year will be better than the outgoing year, 2013, which was full of mixed grills for the Governor Babatunde Fashola-led administration and the over 21 million residents of the state.

In the interest of peace, stability and national security, it would, perhaps, be interesting to have a throwback to the United States of America’s July 11, 1804, when a former Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and a sitting Vice President, Aaron Burr, engaged in a gun duel to settle their political differences. Just as former President Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo wrote an open letter to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan accusing him of sundry charges, so did Hamilton launch assault on Burr through a letter, defaming the latter; manipulated the House of Representatives to vote Thomas Jefferson as president over Burr.

There are many accounts of this event of July 11, 1804, some 209 years ago. But some basic facts remain incontrovertible: That Aaron Burr, a sitting American vice president, challenged Alexander Hamilton, a former Secretary of the Treasury, to a gun duel which claimed the life of the latter.

Education has remained the pillar of social, economic, technological, scientific and industrial advancement of nations that accord it priority and adequate funding in the scheme of things. But in Nigeria, the education sector is usually treated with disdain, lack of proper financial appropriation which in turn translated into dilapidated infrastructure, ill-motivated personnel, poor incentives, unconducive environment both for teaching and learning.

Yobe state is one of the states recorded as being backward in education and the administration of Alh. Ibrahim Gaidam is doing its best to uplift the standard of education in the state.

FOR Three years, the roofs of two-storey blocks meant to take twelve classrooms each at the Pin Margaret Secondary School in Calabar South have been abandoned by the contractor. All he could do with the millions of naira given to him was to erect the structures and place some wood on the roof which have been persistently battered by rain leaving as eyesore.

Private schools are springing up in droves in Yenagoa the Bayelsa State capital. While some of these schools do not have standard playground to enable the pupils actualise their potentials in the areaof sports, they however have magnificent structures most of which are attracting parents.

UMUAHIA-LIKE most other states in the country, Abia state is not immune from the rot in the education sector which occurred as a result of long neglect in the past. But the present administration has begun to address some the problems of the sector.