IT would have looked like a scene from a movie. I knew it was not. I am neither an
actor, nor were the others with whom I drove into the dreaded Sambisa forest. I just wanted to have an idea of the den of the terrorists. I knew when to ask my escorts that I had seen enough.

THE only non-oil revenue source accruing to the federation account is Value Added Tax (VAT), which proportionate contribution was 26 per cent in 2009, 20 per cent in 2011 and 24.4 per cent in 2012. It must be stated that even the VAT for which northern states receive larger chunk because of the introduction of very elementary and unjustifiable indices for horizontal distribution of a revenue is sourced from mainly Lagos State in Southern Nigeria.

The atmosphere was tense. Residents of Olaniye Street and environs were busy trying to find a place to watch a match involving the Nigerian national team in the suburb of Iju- Ishaga in Akande Community Development Area, CDA, of Lagos State when the Dana ill-fatal air crash occurred in the densely populated area, killing 153 passengers on-board and 10 persons on ground.

Dr Bukola Saraki, two- time governor of Kwara State, was elected senator for Kwara Central to succeed his sister, Gbemisola Saraki-Fowora. He was also a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) until he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It was early morning invasion of the forest by a combined team of security personnel which included the army, the airforce, the navy, the police, the State Security Service (SSS) and the civil defence corps.