FOR more than a decade of his political odyssey in the struggle for Nigeria’s presidency, people of various political background stayed the course, not so much for his famed integrity but in the belief that President Muhammadu Buhari has the political will and grit to fundamentally shake up the country’s outlook, liberate it from conventional thinking and decisively transform the dominant mindset, which has sustained a precarious and unproductive trajectories of our post-colonial history.

THE German playwright, Bertolt Brecht, notably declared: “Unhappy the land in need of heroes.” And too much emphasis cannot be laid on the role of heroes in shaping the destiny of nations. Like Aeneas whom Virgil credits with founding the Roman nation The Aeneid, and Christopher Columbus credited with the discovery of America, and José Marti regarded as a founding father of the Cuban nation, and Kemal Ataturk recognised as the father of modern Turkey, heroes, in history and legend, have been known to play critical roles in establishing, shaping and reshaping nations, and infusing their peoples with pride as the offspring or descendants of remarkable ancestors or living men – and women. And any land without them should truly feel improvised, as Brecht suggests.

“Our programmes are structured to ensure that a pregnant woman does not die due to her inability to access quality services during pregnancy and childbirth, that a child is not lost from preventable diseases, that communities are not overburdened with endemic diseases, and that community linkages are harnessed and promoted.” – Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State.

IN the next few days, President Muhammadu Buhari, will commission NNS UNITY, the newly acquired Offshore Patrol Craft, OPV, from China.

A group saddled with advocacy for Advancement, Development and sustenance of Democracy in Nigeria, Wailing Wailers, has, Tuesday, asked the Federal Government, the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, and Telecommunication companies to abort the planned increment of tariff on data services in the country.