THIRTY years ago, this month, health agencies in the US began monitoring unusual clusters of diseases that would later be identified as the first cases of AIDS.

THE provision of a functional educational system should be the highest priority of government. This is more important than even addressing the short fall in the power/energy sector as an adequately developed human capacity is the greatest asset any country or people can have.

CHIEF Peter Obih proved with ease in his Daily Sun interview of Thursday, May 19, 2011, that ignorance could indeed be blissful. As a cheerleader of Dr Chris Ngige’s fan club, his excitement over Ngige’s first ‘election victory ’in over 12 years of aspiration for public office is understandable. The expression, election victory, is used advisedly because the declaration of a candidate as winner by the INEC does not constitute the end of the election process.

THE 2011 budget has just been passed by the National Assembly nearly half way into the year. The delay in consideration and passage of the budget has been a source of worry across the country these past months because President Goodluck Jonathan had presented the 2011 Appropriation Bill of N4.2tn to a joint session of the National Assembly as far back as December 14, 2010.

SINCE Professor Dora Akunyili, the former Minister of Information and Communications lost her senatorial bid to the former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, there have been a litany of reactions.

AS the nation basks in the euphoria of the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan and states governors, it is mix feeling for the parents of “NYSC 10” – the ten National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, members who were butchered like animals by rioters in some Northern states of the country in the aftermath of the crisis which trailed the April 16, 2011 presidential election.

THE trunk (federal) roads in the South West on which I have travelled frequently since late 2004 are worse today than they were in October/November 2004. Electricity supply is more epileptic in Lagos State and Ondo State today than was the case in late 2004. (Those are the two states where I spent most of my time during the period).

DECADES before the assumption of office of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 6, 2010, the country was reputed for perennial scarcity of petroleum products especially petrol.

I HAVE not hitherto bothered to comment publicly on the apparent anguish in the South East or among South Easterners over the recent sharing of principal political offices or positions in the country. In the last few weeks, I have heard some of my fellow South Easterners utter all manner of vain, self-serving and even unprintable retorts on the subject-matter.

THE challenge would have been met square and there would have been better results as far as government performance was concerned. A recent World Bank report confirms unequivocally that corruption is responsible for instability, violence and underdevelopment and that a weak government or a government with weak institutions cannot fight corruption effectively.

THE events of the last fortnight, precisely of April 16, 2011 cannot pass unrecorded for history and posterity. I am one of those who will not take the risk of allowing that day to pass like any other day because it is not. I will thus proceed to put the Goodluck Jonathan victory in the presidential polls of April 16, 2011 in its proper perspective and in its proper historical context.

“We will endeavor to restore the glory of Imo State in national, continental and world sports competitions. Scholarships and other incentives shall be given to our contingents that excel exceptionally in sports activities, to inspire them and challenge the up-coming talents”, Rochas Okorocha wrote on his agenda for sports as stated in the Rochas Campaign Organization website page on his mission statement.

THE “Transformation Agenda” that I present in this Lecture comprises five “Fundamentals”, three “Transformation Result Areas” (TRAs) and some implementation issues. In Part One, I briefly discuss the five selected fundamentals: electoral legitimacy, peace and security, government policy stability, rule of law, and anti-corruption. Part Two is focused on the three TRAs: (i) rehabilitating education; (ii) fixing poor infrastructure; and (iii) achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They are briefly presented with emphasis on some specific actions that could ensure concrete results within the president’s four-year tenure.

As Nigerians, we were “celebrating” the dawn of a new era as ushered in by the recent elections commendably organized by Professor Attahiru Jega, when the nation suddenly became overwhelmed by the horror, carnage and violence that greeted the announcements of results of the Presidential elections in some Northern States.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo did not support Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential bid in order that the Igbo would be rewarded with the position of Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. All those commentators claiming that both Ohanaeze and President Jonathan have betrayed Ndigbo will do well to get their bearing right.