SATURDAY, July 9, 2011, the continent of Africa recorded another historic landmark, this time away from liberation from the shackles of colonialism to the birth of a new nation, South Sudan. South Sud an becomes Africa’s 54th nation and the world’s 193rd independent nation.

OUR paths crossed per chance, one coldwindy morning of December 1963 when we were barely nine years old and we remained intimate, until that fateful Tuesday the 26th of April, 2011 when Alhaji Abdullahi Yusufu Jega breathed his last in a Cairo hospital, leaving me to face the horrifying vacuum his departure has created. When we first met, young Abdullahi was living with an uncle in Gusau (the present capital of Zamfara State) but his family was based in Sokoto.

NIGERIA as a nation is blessed with both human and natural resources, yet women die everyday from the scourge of maternal mortality.

The open admission by theformer FCT Minister, Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i that he had no concrete proof that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was involved in corruption at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) is a very interesting revelation of how private vengeance became the official policy of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

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.