THE article published on page 20 of Thisday newspaper of Thursday May 3, 2012, whose title alluded to alleged racketeering in the FCTA Health Department makes interesting reading.

THERE is desperation in the political space of Edo State. Blackmail and intimidation have been freely deployed against public policy and legal obligation in order to gain what vested interests might have taken as electoral advantage.

IT is not common practice to roll our the drums for an administration that has spent just one year in the saddle, yet where so many phenomenal achievements have been recorded, there is always an exception to every rule – written and unwritten.

BEFORE the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs over three years ago by the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua on September 10, 2009, violence bordering on rebellion and militancy enveloped the region.

I WAS shocked beyond words when I read the statement by former Head of State, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari that “if what happened in 2011 (allegation of election rigging) should happen again in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood”.

IN the last 12-years, the NTDC has not added any value to Nigeria’s tourism development, marketing and promotion efforts, rather, the leadership has been a burden on the sector.

TOURISM industry stakeholders body, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria [FTAN], has expressed reservation on the recommendation of the Presidential Panel on Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, headed by former head of the Civil Service of the Federation Mr. Steve Oronsaye to scrap or merge the only public training tourism institution in Nigeria with another agency in the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation perceived to be barely delivering on its mandate.

SINCE 9/11, over ten years ago, terrorism has taken many dramatic changes. The modern global lifestyle has made it even easier for terrorist groups to learn and copy new methods and approaches to achieving their dastardly plans.

NEWS about events in Edo State have dominated the air waves and captured the front pages of newspapers in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, they have been, generally, news of negative happenings and fatalities, such as the accident involving the convoy of the State Governor, the murder of his Principal Private Secretary and the death of a number of people during the demonstrations on the security situation and against the purported conspiracy between INEC and the PDP to rig the forthcoming election in the State.

One of the wise sayings that never fails to intrigue me, is the tale about the tortoise, that was picked up by a superior force, he begged his captor to allow him a minute of freedom. When this was granted, the tortoise on being let down, went about unearthing and scattering the bushes around.