AN issue that is generating so much interest now in Edo State is the Oba of Benin’s purported endorsement of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for a second term as the Governor of Edo State. While the ACN machinery and the Governor himself are going the whole length to drive the point home by articulating it in as many print and electronic media as they possibly could, the opposition, it seems, is waking up to check them in their strides.

EACH time political campaigns and elections visit Nigeria, the nation’s media are thrown into hyperactivity. The same is true of other democracies. What might be different is this country’s apparent inability or unwillingness to use the opportunity of extraordinary exposure to gauge the worth of its news organs.

“I have never seen anything remotely like this before” –Lt. Amelia Huffman, Minneapolis Police Dept.
“There was a very eerie silence right after the collapse. It was 5 to 10 minutes before I heard any sirens…” –Joe Costello
“I got out of my car and the first thing I heard was [were] the kids screaming on the bus. I called 911. I didn’t really know what else I could do.” –Flip Saunders

NOW the balloon has been deflated, the bubble has burst and I can see clearly now. All my veneers of euphemism and dream like visioning have been washed bare.

THE announcement of Senator Joy Ifeyinwa Emodi as the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters came as a relief and source of delight and satisfaction to the numerous well wishers and admirers of this outstanding politician.

Flooding is a global phenomenon that has continued to constitute a major threat to cities and indeed nations across the world. At present, over 7500 people have been displaced by flooding in China while cities such as California, Mississippi, Sydney, Ibadan, to mention just a few, have at different times, faced the menace of flooding .

TECHNICAL education holds the key to national development. Despite its contributions, the leaders of Nigeria have not given this aspect of education the attention it deserves. This is one of the reasons for this nation’s underdevelopment.

NATIONAL Judicial Council, NJC,is a legal institution saddled with great constitutional responsibilities in the country’s democratic setting for the preservation and dispensation of justice. It has discharged its responsibilities with great caution and impartiality since the return of democracy in 1999 and been commended greatly for doing so.

IT is instructive, for instance, that even in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist tragedy at New York’s World Trade Centre towers in which almost 3,000 people were killed, the US government did not ask Americans to avoid high-rise buildings or stay indoors at night.

ANY mention of Nigeria’s capital Abuja in other parts of the world usually evokes an instant feeling of nostalgia to the Nigerian, especially once the foreigner asks you about the famous Ladi Kwali – a woman of talent who brought the world’s attention to pottery -making.

BUT again as I said, Malam El-Rufai knows this as well as the fact that when he says there is no ‘social justice’ in the large amounts spent on our legislators, he forgot to add that while there is little the President can do by law to curb this, seeing as there is separation of powers in our constitution, President Jonathan nevertheless used his influence to get the National Assembly to reduce its budget by 30 per cent this year before he agreed to append his signature to the budget.

NIGERIA has since Independence been subjected to various forms of Government. We have tinkered with parliamentary, presidential and even a bit of diarchy under military President Ibrahim Babangida.

My readers may ask what I mean. Well let me put it this way. Malam El-Rufai is an extremely intelligent and knowledgeable man who knows how the government works and when such a person who has worked within and knows how the system operates writes to the public and cites facts and figures that tend to show only one side of the story and suppresses other facts and figures that show the other side of which he is well aware, there can only be one conclusion.

I FIND it difficult coming to terms with the motive of those who delight in faulting the anti-corruption war initiated and vigorously prosecuted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his tenure which lasted between 1999 and 2007.

Scarcity of kerosene, cooking gas used mostly by the masses is currently biting harder, the poor groaning while the big businesses in the petroleum industry are making brisk business. Though, kerosene had hardly sold for the N50 the official price, it had skyrocketed in the past weeks. It currently sells for about N80 a liter depending on the state and area. At a period it had even sold for about N300 a litre. This has had a multiplier effect on other household products like food stuff and steadily increased the cost of living.