Perhaps, this year’s new yam festival in Obowu, one of the largest communities in Igbo heartland, was the grandest. The festival which began on August 16 with an intellectual feast ended on the 17th with the new yam cut and eaten by all in the large square.

AS Nigeria marks 53 years of independence next week, one question that has defied answer is what the actually number of Nigerians is. This question, as simple as it appears, has been difficult to answer in the last 150 years.

Like almost always, mum is the word. But the rage is on. The anger and the public outcry have reached a crescendo. Questions are flooding the streets. Whodunit? But no one, not even the Department of Security Service (DSS) which is obviously, centrally involved in the controversy could lend a more convincing voice. And the Army whose men provided military back-up from Guards Brigade, according to reports, is yet to officially tell their role in the development. The whole thing appears highly shrouded in secrecy. And the result is the festering hearsay in almost every quarter of the society.

IT is now 14 years since Nigeria bade final farewell to military dictatorship and embraced civilian democratic governance. The forthcoming general elections of 2015 will be the fifth general elections in Nigeria since our return to democracy.

It is now well established that democracy, along with its attendant normative values such as freedom, equality and respect for the rule of law and for due process are vital to the enduring development of nations.