SINCE January 31, 2016, the atmosphere of several communities of Ndokwa East, Delta State located in the West Bank of River Niger, has been distinctly uncomfortable. This was the day Fulani herdsmen, fully armed with their AK 47 riffles moved in swiftly with their cattle into the farm lands of Abala and Utchi communities including their satellite communities that are in the thick rain forest.

WHEN Robert Kaplan penned the highly popularised article in 1994, “The coming anarchy”, his gift of clairvoyance was vehemently criticised by various African scholars and politicians who believed strongly in the spirit of Africanism.

THE first time Wole Soyinka misdirected himself, it had to do with his “cautious endorsement” of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential candidacy. He offered a platter of reasons for the stunning faux pas, of course. But, post-election, his out of sync reading of Nigerian politics has been patently exposed.

THE news was first received with disbelief; “Grazing Reserve: FG imports grass from Brazil- Ogbeh”, Nigerian Times March 3, 2016. Even my big brother Franklin Okotie – Vanguard Asaba- commented on my facebook page that we should stop the joke. But, reading through the body of the story, it was sure real.

The choice of Chief Audu innocent Ogbeh as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to many Nigerians was astep in the right direction.

BY 2019 PDP would have governed Delta state for 20 unbroken years! This is a long time in power by a political party. Delta state is not the only state in this category. Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa state, Ebonyi, and Cross River states have this special record. By this token Delta state PDP with its long rule furnished all the governors, majority of the legislators, both federal and state and it has controlled majority of the local government councils.

RECENTLY, President Buhari opined in far away Nairobi, Kenya that Nigeria will not devalue the Naira. No doubt, the president is well intentioned and means well. It is in the “interest” of the masses who have been battered by the prevailing economic circumstance.

EMERGING projections point to the fact that the purveyors of the desperate craze to lure the people of Edo State into the vortex of neo-colonial subservience and allegiance to an Aliko Dangote who, through the sitting Governor of the state is bent on foisting a surrogate on Edo State.

As a young boy growing up in 1980s Nigeria, I knew Black women as lovely women who exuded charm and breeding in their dressing, their demeanor and in their mannerisms. In fact, the epitome of loveliness was Nigeria’s then First Lady, Maryam Babangida.

Several months ago, the nation was engrossed in a lot of political activities where political gladiators were busy selling their promises to the electorates. While, few really intended to keep their words of assurances, many candidates mount the podium at various rallies to juice the minds of the voters in a ‘ziggy’ manner in order to solicit for as many thumbs as possible at the polls.

THERE is a lot of trepidation in the nation since July 2015. Those who would normally speak up against wrong moves or decisions by government are more careful for many reasons; Some kept quiet because all it takes is for someone to craft a petition against any one perceived to be anti-government, to either the police, EFCC or the DSS alleging one thing or the other, and the vultures will be released to swoop and make a mess of that victim.

This is the fifth in a six-part series that hopes to steer the current exchange rate debate away from uninformed analysis to one focused on facts, taken from economic theory, history, and evidence from Nigeria and other countries that have undergone periods of currency crisis. It is our hope that Mr. President will read these pieces and reconsider his stance on the Naira and the broader question of economic growth

Let me join in welcoming everyone to this august Lecture being given as part of the activities for launching the Endowment Fund for instituting the Oba Sikiru Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance in the Department of Political Science at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. I confess that when I got a phone call from Kabiyesi some time in August last year, I was very curious to know what I have done to deserve such a call since more often than not it was I who usually call Kabiyesi on one issue or the other. I was even more curious as Kabiyesi spelt out the purpose of the call. This was to put me on notice that I should be prepared to deliver a public lecture on the occasion of the launching of the Endownment Fund for instituting a professorial Chair at Olabisi Onabanjo University in his honour. As a loyal subject of Kabiyesi, I did not think I had any option but to say “Yes, Sir”. Later communication then indicated the topic of the lecture I was meant to deliver. This topic is: Issues and Challenges of Governance in Nigeria

The ongoing protest by the Nigerian Labour Union, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) over the disengagement of some of its members in Ikeja Electric, is taking a negative dimension which is capable of plunging the whole network into darkness and crippling socio-economic activities in the areas covered by the electricity distribution company.

Desperation to win elections in Nigeria is not in decline one bit. After the gracefulness of accepting defeat without a whimper by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan last year, one thought that politicians would take a cue and begin to take it easy with trying to win elections by all means, the do or die syndrome.