WITH peremptory magistracy and awesome gallantry our founding fathers fought for the political independence of our glorious country, Nigeria. They were like the Roman hero Horatius, who fought with Spartan intrepidity in defending Rome from the Etruscan invaders. Horatius asked like our founding fathers: “And how can a man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods”?

AS Nigerians rolled out the drums and cymbals in celebration of the nation’s 54th Independence anniversary on October 1, 2014, expectations are rife that analysts will put several public officials on the spotlight on account of their stewardship.

THAT “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government is the take-off point of Nigeria’s Federal Constitution section 14(c).”
But how this injunction is fulfilled by elected public officers, leaves much to be desired. Millions of Nigerians strongly believe that the political class has betrayed the people. That is the plank of this analysis of Chief Clement Tudonemem Ofuani’s appeal to the people of Delta State in his campaign slogan anchored on “the people first.”

SINCE the civilians took over government in 1999, we have had eight Inspector Generals of Police till date. They are Musiliu Smith (1999-2002), Mustapha Adebayo Balogun (March 2002- January 2005), Sunday Ehindero (2005-2007), Mike Mbama Okiro (2007-2009), Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo (2009-2010), Hafiz Ringim (January 2010- 2012), Muhammed D. Abubakar(2012-2014) and Mr. Suleiman Abba 2014- till date. A keen observer will note that in some cases, some Inspector Generals of Police even introduced new uniforms during their tenure.

AS Ebonyi State marks her 18th anniversary of statehood, I congratulate all “Ebonyians” on this unique occasion. I urge all to reflect on the giant strides made by our able Governor Chief Martin Elechi in his bid to transform the state; keeping alive the dream of the founding fathers, I salute his patriotic and focused leadership qualities.

HOW time flies. It is seven years since I passed out of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC. As usual mixed feelings enveloped my thoughts. I wanted a career in the banking sector or civil service or in a blue-chip company.

It has been said times uncountable that politicians all over the world are the same. Not because most of them now dress in impressive designer clothes or shoes and try to act as Hollywood stars. No. It is said politicians, no matter which country they are from, have same characteristics. They do sweet talks and make promises. Most times these promises are rather “too tall” to be realisable.

Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder! We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say ‘stay the course.”–Lee Iacocca

THE planners and controllers of the Nigerian economy will proudly tell anyone who cares to listen that the Nigerian economy is the preferred destination of investors from different parts of the world.This is in spite of the fact, that we are a nation in war.

SINCE its creation on August 27, 1991, Delta State has been striving to come to terms with the ideals of government which are located in the welfare and security of the people. Primarily, politics is all about socio-economic transformation through power and of its manifold relation to, and implications for all other aspects of society.