THE month of May marks the anniversary of the declaration of independence by Eastern Nigerians from Nigeria, and called their new born nation, Biafra.

ZIMBABWE’s Solomon Madzore must be cooling off in a Zimbabwean detention camp right now. His crime – he called President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s President for life “a limping donkey who should be put out to pasture.” And even a court ruling to set him free was brushed aside by President Robert Mugabe who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980.

Addis Ababa, about 48hours ago: At about the time Asishana Okauru, Director General, DG, of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, was announcing Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi as the elected Chairman of the body, one of the aides to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan whispered to the President that Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State had been elected as Chairman of the same body. Minutes later, Jonathan, who also held a secret meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Addis Ababa (ostensibly over the multifarious political challenges besetting the former), was made to understand that the earlier information he got was not true in every material particular.

One can only wonder what was going through the mind of President Goodluck Jonathan since about three years on the saddle as the killing mainly by Islamic insurgents went from bad to worse.

Since President Johnathan’s administration emerged in 2011, his decision to declare a state of emergency in the three Northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe following series of attacks on these states by the Boko Haram sect could be said to have received a massive applause from Nigerians.