I COULDN’T contain my laughter as I watched an interview session on a local television station in Benin City, where a man said he was promised the ticket to become the next governor of Edo State.

THE goose and the gander are indeed lucky birds. So also are the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND and the Boko Haram insurgents; especially so for the Boko Haram insurgents who took up arms against their fatherland, but are being considered for forgiveness of sins because the Federal Government thinks it is the best way to go to have peace and unity in the land.

AN overwhelming majority of the people of Ebonyi State are in total support of the plan of their Governor, Chief Martin Elechi to access bond issue from the Capital Market in order to complete major legacy projects of his administration before leaving office.

I AM totally opposed to the dissolution of Nigeria. I am an avowed, unrepentant proponent of one Nigeria. Advocates of secession, sometimes, attribute Nigeria’s litany of problems to the country’s diversity and size, and thus, argue that the solution of these problems is in the breaking up of what has proven an unmanageable, blundering, bumbling behemoth.

IT is hard to understand exactly their mission, but the mindboggling massacres that bear their atrocious signatures have become widespread. The Boko Haram have sent thousands to their graves since they began a mindless insurgency in 2009.

ORDINARILY, the recent Bill on Amendment of Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law passed by Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly which received Governor Godswill Akpabio’s assent ought not to have hugged the headlines or even attract the media umbrage if the action was taken in another state other than Akwa Ibom. We say this taking into cognisance that similar laws have been passed by other states’ legislatures in the country, yet they did not attract media hysteria and opprobrium that the one done in Akwa Ibom is currently eliciting.

As Nigeria celebrates 15 years of uninterrupted democracy, observers say that the country’s telecommunications sector has certainly witnessed tremendous achievements during the period.

THE most respected Sultan of Sokoto; His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111, is also the President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. He fits into that office appropriately and deservingly too. The office of the Sultan of Sokoto, being the Head and ruler of the Caliphate, bestows on the occupant the privilege of “first among equals” within the world comity of Islamic brotherhood.

THE challenges of Nigeria’s leadership have been examined at various fora and they are many. Not a few people are of the opinion that if Nigeria can cross over the leadership challenge, the country will, in no time, take its rightful place as a giant, in the comity of nations.

ONLY some weeks ago, I wrote a piece on the gradual erosion of professionalism in Nollywood, the sight assaulting nude films and the booming ritual of cutting movies into four to six parts. I also stated in lucid terms that there was a long, curious silence and inactivity from the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), wondering if it had abdicated its critical monitoring responsibility.

I declared for the APC in June last year in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State well before the party was registered by INEC. I formally joined the party, amidst great fanfare, on 7th February 2014 in my hometown Ile-Ife and I registered my membership on that day. The registration was done outside the Ooni’s palace and it was done in the prescence of the media, numerous party leaders in the state, including Hon. Rotimi Makinde, who represents Ile-Ife at the Federal House, and all the other key leaders of the APC in the state and Ife-Ife including Chief Akantioke and Alhaji Soko Adewoyin the former Deputy Governor of Osun state.

WHEN I arrived in London from Nigeria in 1982, one of the major challenges I had to deal with was the feeling of isolation – not seeing people who look like you.

WITH no intention of trivialising the ongoing war against terror elements and their faceless backers, I can boldly affirm that we are just inches away from ending the ugly reign of Ababukar Shekau and his team of criminals.

HONESTLY and sincerely I never believed there is endemic corruption in developed countries, including the United States of America, especially in politics and corporate world, until I read thousands of comments after the execution of Iranian billionaire, Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, over N2.6bn bank fraud.

CHIEF Theodore Ahamuefule Orji assumed office as governor of Abia State in May 2007, just 17 years after the creation of the state from old Imo State, a period military administrators were in-charge of governance for eight-years, while their civilian counterpart held sway for nine years.