In 44 BC the respected Roman seer and soothsayer Spurinna warned the great Consul and ruler of the Roman Empire Julius Caesar about the “ides of March”. He counselled him not to go out on that day because he had perceived that something terrible would happen. According to the Roman calender the ides of March was the 15th of March.

IN September 2008, about nine years ago, this writer published an article title “If Yar’Adua Doesn’t Die!” (http://yashuaib.com/politics/if-president-yaradua-doesnt-die/) It was a response to strong insinuations in the media on the plight of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who was alive then but some commentators were already expressing views on expectations after his likely demise.

FOR quite a long time, it has become an irritating stance exhibited at both federal and state levels that issues related to the propagation and realistic promotion of our national creative themes have always been treated with unserious and insultive actions which, to the real disciples of creativity make them the forgotten part of our citizenry.

ACTING President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, may have left Rivers State on a regional visit to interact with stakeholders with a view to enthroning lasting peace and economic prosperity in the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large. Nonetheless, the incidental consequences of the visit looks fixedly on the shared agitation of the peoples of the State, and undoubtedly so.

I WAS hesitant to make this intervention for fear of having people question my motive. To situate the issue in a clear context, let me disclose from the outset that I recently had a privileged discussion with a prominent Nigerian during which he asked the question, by which this piece is titled. The question has continued to reverberate in my mind; and, whenever I see him, the question keeps assuming a fresh life, as if he has just posed it.