THE power and significance of informal education cannot be discounted without the risk of losing the essence of human capital development. Before the growth of cities and towns, hamlets and villages were the human habitats in which inhabitants occupied themselves with the acquisition of needs of livelihood. These needs would reflect the nature of their cultural careers such as farming, trading, fishing, iron smithing, and general arts and crafts.

THE  beauty of democracy is allowing the people’s will to prevail. It is when freedom of speech is not hindered and everyone, irrespective of status in society, conforms  to the  rule of law.

Being an orphan is more commonly associated with a child who has lost one or both parents. A deeper meaning of the word however says that a person or a thing without a protective affiliation is equally an orphan. In this context therefore, Nigeria can be regarded as an orphan in my estimation.

IN February 2018, Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo described MTN as a classic example of the many success stories of Foreign Direct Investments, FDIs, in Nigeria. Prof. Osinbajo noted this much during the launch of a policy laboratory aimed at accelerating the intervention of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP. The ERGP initiative is catalyst for the required $35 billion to bridge Nigeria’s massive infrastructure gap over a six to seven year period. The deficit in Nigeria’s infrastructure is the main reason it was listed as the country with the largest number of poor people in the world. As the  pressure from a lack of resources in power, roads, education, healthcare and industrial capacity continue to erode the quality of life for an exploding population, our government officials – career civil servants and political appointees alike – play hard and fast with one of the most globally effective tried and tested mechanisms for bridging these gaps; public private partnerships, PPP, backed by foreign investment.

I have deliberately made this explanatory note long because I think it is necessary that people make up their minds based on the facts, given my central role in the event. I note that Sheikh Gumi has already told his own side of the story. I feel obliged to state my own side so that Nigerians can have a clearer picture of my own involvement. Sadly, I personally did not read President Obasanjo’s statement until two days later on the Internet since I was not physically in the hall.