This time, Buhari’s prospects are better. Jonathan is widely perceived as ineffectual, and the clearest example, which has eclipsed his entire presidency, is his response to Boko Haram. Such a barbaric Islamist insurgency would challenge any government. But while Boko Haram bombed and butchered, Jonathan seemed frozen in a confused, tone-deaf inaction. Conflicting stories emerged of an ill-equipped army, of a corrupt military leadership, of northern elites sponsoring Boko Haram, and even of the government itself sponsoring Boko Haram.

AS Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka put it the other day, ‘this intervention has been provoked, not so much by the ambitions of General Buhari to return to power at the head of a democratic Nigeria, as by declarations of support from directions that leave one totally dumbfounded.’ Nothing best describes the upsurge of vociferous but futile calls for Nigerians to forcefully swallow hook, line and sinker the arrival of a long awaited messiah in Buhari

The words that have emanated from some of our politicians especially over the course of the months leading up to 2015 have been too desperate, and antagonistic, tending towards brinksmanship and giving the impression that they see politics as a zero sum game and not as a vehicle to offer service to the people.

EFFERVESCENT, vivacious, an almost hedonistic Commitment to pleasure, enjoyment. They make no apology for enjoyment and are open about it. At a Yoruba party, there is a sing-along ability – everybody seems to know the words, and the party goers are in full and fine voice, as they belt out song after song.

WRITING these days in the midst of passionate electioneering is becoming a challenge. There is no stand you take that will not generate reactions of bias in favour of one party or the other. It is a difficult position to be neutral. According to John Adams:”In politics, the middle way is none at all”.

THERE is anxiety in the land over this month’s general elections. To be sure, the presidential and national assembly elections will hold on February 14, 2015 while those of governors and state assemblies have been scheduled for February 28. Some of the fears though, especially about security and logistics challenges, have been allayed by recent pronouncements and disclosures from security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

THE Yoruba town of Ibadan is largest native market in Africa. The Yorubas engage in the business of planting and trading in Cocoa, Palm produce, timber, rubber, and kola nuts, apart from their normal food crops. They are good businessmen and women, some of whom dealt in timber, cocoa, kola nuts, trading from Lagos to Bathurst (now Banjul), in The Gambia, and South Congo; whist the Ijebus, Ijesha and the Oyo speaking Yorubas deal in general merchandise.

LET me commence this discourse with a citation from the divine scripture I am familiar with:

“O mankind! Lo! We have created you from (a pair) of male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, fully aware” [Quran:49:13].

Did I hear that APC promises a welfare system that will pay between N5,000 and N10,000 per month to the poorest 25 million Nigerians? Just this programme alone will cost between N1.5 and N3 trillion per annum. (Soludo wondered where the APC proposed to source the money from.)

A country with a very vibrant opposition is a blessed one. Man has not been able to master power the way it was purposed. Societies that have therefore succeeded in putting checks and balances to power excesses are the ones moving their democracy ahead. ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’, we have seen it in our parties and in government, that is why the APC’s current posture against the PDP in the coming election is a good development for Nigeria.

DEAR President Jonathan, let me begin this letter by telling you what you already know; by reminding you of what you are not expected to have forgotten: the year 2015 has been predicted to be, and is being widely seen as, the year of Nigeria’s unravelling. The year that Leviathan contraption knocked together by Frederick Lugard for the glory of the British Empire, will totter back to its separate aboriginal parts and drown an already overwhelmed Africa with another swarm of hapless refugees in an unspeakable maelstrom of the typical African misery.

THE Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states with such exactitude and society insists with much doggedness that, it is cardinally imperative for public office holders, professionals and officers at all levels to take an oath of office. This is to expurgate unpatriotic conduct and the underpinnings of corruption against the people, the state and the ethics of their calling etc. The oath of office is also to ensure that there is integrity, honesty and transparency in leadership.

God is a God of integrity. He can never lie. I tell people always that even if God tries to lie, he cannot lie. It is not His nature. The one that lies is Satan. The bible calls Satan the father of all liars (John 8:44).

Opinion polls commissioned by ANAP Foundation and conducted by NOI Polls (using Gallup methodology) show that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) and his main challenger, Major-General Mohammadu Buhari (Buhari) are currently running neck-to-neck in the 2015 Presidential race. The difference between them in terms of potential votes nation wide is statistically insignificant because it is dwarfed considerably by the much larger percentage of voters who remain “Undecided” – and so the race is truly too close to call

On Tuesday the 27th of January, in Lafia, Nasarawa state, President Jonathan said “we are building a country for a digital generation”. Let us ponder on that for a second. That statement rings true, as I cannot imagine any truly patriotic Nigerian that will want Nigeria to remain in an analogue state.