For this assignment of setting the tone for Sokoto ANEC 2019, let me begin with what should really be the endnote.  It is a quote from The Senior Director for Research and Analysis at Freedom House in Washington DC, Sarah Repucci (founded in 1941 to conduct research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights) on the nexus between press freedom, good governance and democratic dividends. 

DESPITE chaos orchestrated by radical protesters in the past six months that have paralyzed the iconic city of Hong Kong, residents of the special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China had their chance to vote in district elections. Notwithstanding the wolf cry of radical protesters and their foreign handlers, the unique way of life of the Hong Kong residents enshrined in the basic law or charter, that weaned off the territory from hundred years of British colonial rule as it re-united with her motherland continue to subsist.

SOME compatriots say we wouldn’t know the real man we have as our president until the chickens come home to roost in 2023.

Back in 2010, rumors went abound that in a secluded place in Ibadan, the biggest city in Africa, children were being killed because their parents or the community at large considered this children as evil, mainly because they are twins or because they are born with physical or mental disabilities.

In times past when education was a luxury afforded only by the rich, communities and towns observe their children from early days, finding those who are remarkable, who at last, will through the financial contribution of the kindred and clans, be sent to school.