OUR attention has been drawn to the recent NBS report postulating that Sokoto State is the poorest state in Nigeria. This is even further ridiculed with the assertion that it ‘retained’ its position.

THE name Pastor Power Ziakede Aginighan occupies a visible and positive place in the struggle of the Niger Delta. He has been an advocate of development and peace in the region. Some call him Odudu a nickname derived from his zeal and passion to transform his own corner of humanity. He is a peace broker, a bridge builder.

It was in good faith that Dr. Orji Kalu, the former governor, and the people of Abia State, threw their weight behind Governor T.A. Orji in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPA), having gained experience as a seasoned civil servant and Chief of Staff under the Orji Kalu administration. No one could have believed that a bureaucrat of that caliber could betray his people by failing to meet their yearnings and aspirations.

THE recent case of gang rape in India brings to the fore the highest level of cruelty, wickedness of man against humanity, violence against women as well as the failure of the State to protect its citizens from abuse and danger.

IT could be recall that Abia State was no go-area between 2009/2010 especially during Yuletide and New Year seasons. Going to the state then was a security risk due to kidnapping, assassination and other vices that scared people including indigenes away from returning to the state for such occasions. Even when such occasions became inevitable, it is mostly organised in secrecy to avoid the attention of the kidnappers that held sway in the state. Saying that the state was then under siege, is stating the obvious.

HONOURBLE Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives, is 47 today. To his country men and women however, it is not attaining the milestone that is of much concern to them, rather, it is the direction which the amiable lawmaker from Kebbe/Tambuwal federal constituency is leading the country that has continued to elicit positive reactions from people across all walks of life.

THE theoretical case for the emergence of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction has been eloquently established beyond any reasonable doubt. The economic case is persuasive; the legal case, which is a derivate of the constitutional principle of federal character, is incontrovertible; the political case is self-evident and the moral case is utterly compelling.

THIS piece is a reaction to an article entitled “ Why Anambra guber zoning may not hold” written by one Nebuwa Okudo and published on page 65 of Saturday SUN of December 22,2012.

IN the first part of my contribution, we looked at Nigeria’s oil revenue, 1970 to 2006, and summarised the revenue streams as follows:
“Gross oil revenue in the 29 years, from 1970 to 1999 3.0 “Gross oil revenue in the next 7 years (from 2000 to 2006) 20.8
Total 23.8 .

We saw that our cumulative oil revenue in the 29 years, from 1970 to 1999, was only N3 trillion; while a whopping N20.8 trillion was received in the next seven years, from 2000 to 2006!

ON assumption of office as the acting Inspector- General of Nigeria Police, Alhaji MD Abubakar said of the police he is to lead: “Our men are deployed to rich and influential individuals and corporate entities that we lack manpower to provide security for the common man; our investigation departments cannot equitably handle matters unless those involved have money to part with. Our police stations, state Criminal Investigation Departments and operation offices have become business centres and collection points for rendering returns from all kind of squads and teams set up for the benefit of superior officers.”

THE vanity and transience of our mortal struggles. I have just confirmed from my egbon in Abuja that the reported deaths of Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State,General Owoye Azazi and four others in a Naval Helicopter crash in Bayelsa State is indeed true.

AS the race for who occupies the seat as the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) heightens ahead of the election on January 8, 2013, it is becoming obvious by the day that the former (BOT) chairman and now chairman board Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Chief Tony Anenih is the right man for the job for numerous incontrovertible reasons no matter what some people might think. It could be recall that before the die-minute suspension of the election into the chairmanship of the board sometimes towards the end of last year to allow for greater participation of interested contenders for the plum seat, the odds had already favoured Anenih, a man seen by majority members of the board as a seasoned leader with vision.

IT is not in doubt that the clock is ticking away on the tenure of the incumbent governor of Anambra State of Nigeria and the end game is on. It is not a dream that Obi dreams to pick his successor and not a figment of anyone’s imagination that the voters in Anambra State, backed by the principle of democracy do not desire it so. It is not a piece of propaganda that Obi is pushing this personal view of his which he is entitled to with all the fibre in his muscles and all the armoury in his arsenal including ,trust me, Anambra State funds.

AS this year closes, one cannot but reflect more intensely that if Chief Festus Sam Okotie-Eboh were to still alive, he would have been one hundred years old, having been born in1912 which is one hundred years ago. He was assassinated in 1966 which was 46 years ago when he was only 54 years of age. By that age, the impact he had already made in the building of the nation had been monumental in each of the several sectors of his endeavours.

WHEN Mr. Mike Omeri took over the reins of leadership at the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on January 17, 2012, he made it very clear that one of his primary concerns or vision was “to transform the Agency along with its various units and organs into a proactive, knowledge based and activity driven organisation, able to rise up to evolving challenges in our national space”. Eleven months down the line, Nigerians continue to testify to the fact that the Agency under his watch has kept faith with this thrust.