THE current state of the country’s healthcare system can be said to be quite worrisome, judging by the health indicators and statistics that are abysmal. In fact, Nigeria’s health indicators have stagnated or even deteriorated during the past decade.

IRETO Road is a street in Sapele, famed timber capital of Nigeria. It is probably the safest neighborhood in the town and got its name from one Ireto, now late, the founder of Ireto Hotel now called Richards Continental Hotel, still one of the best hotels in Sapele. Ireto Road is a monument to underdevelopment, is flooded in the rainy season, a dust strip in the Harmattan, and perennially a road to hell for pedestrians and drivers alike.

THE abhorrent and bloodcurdling assailment on the highly respected Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness Alhaji Ado Bayero – 13th Fulani emir since the Fulani War of Usman dan Fodio, and the longest-serving emir in the emirate’s history – perhaps signal of an emerging blitz on the emirates, partly because of their disinclination to the heightened threat of Boko Haram.

IT never ceases to amaze me to what length Nigerians would go in their unbridled quest for relevance.

There are 11 electricity distribution companies in Nigeria and the public comes into contact with the electric power sector through these distribution companies. We have great expectations with respect to the performance of these distribution companies during 2013.

FOR Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and reality of tomorrow. Many years ago, Dickson suffered from bad governance and lamented in particular, the underdevelopment of Bayelsans and the Ijaw nation as a whole.

EVERY time Obasanjo says something, he reminds me of the American comedy series “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” hosted by Bill Cosby. In the show, Bill Cosby asks the kids questions, hoping that they will give unexpected and bizarre answers. Just like any of these kids, Obasanjo’s utterances are sometimes downright bizarre and eccentric.

I DEPLORE hackneyed terms otherwise the title of this article should have read “Celebrating a true icon.” But the word icon has been so trivialised and abused that its true worth has been diminished or lost in the classical sense.

This paper by J.O. Basorun and G. Fadairo examines the activities of Ekiti state government in housing the poor in Ado-Ekiti within the framework of the policies on housing reform in Nigeria

THOSE who have been keeping tabs on Governor Sullivan Chime’s administration since he assumed office as governor of the old Eastern Region Enugu state in 2007 could easily testify that unlike his predecessor, he does not seek undue media attention.

IN its commendable strive to discharge its social responsibility, Vanguard Newspaper in conjunction with the Nigeria Police recently organised a National Summit on Security Challenges in Nigeria at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

On December 31, 2012, while the world was enraptured with the prospect of ushering in the New Year, someone in Kogi state, Nigeria was busy scooping the brains out of his four-month-old son whom he had just murdered. Earlier in October of the same year, the nation was shaken by the gruesome murder of four promising undergraduates who were beaten to death and set ablaze over a minor disagreement. And just as I was contemplating this piece, news filtered in again – a man has set his pregnant sister-in-law ablaze for pouring water on his dog!

It is true that the State of Osun has experienced tremendous changes that earned the state recognition nationally and internationally first as the best manager of the education ministry through the collaborative efforts of the governor Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola and his amiable deputy governor, Otunba Grace Titilayo Tomori – who double as the Commissioner for Education in the state.

We have always said what we have on (the) ground (the Presidential Amnesty Programme) is successful.

We really don’t understand you fellow shareholders, including those of you in hallowed chambers. Contrary to your insinuations, we are no rivals, hatchet-men or attack dogs.