LAST week must have been the lowest point in Senator Bukola Saraki’s political career. Quite literally speaking, he was dragged to the market square, denuded, and sprayed with opprobrium so thick that his traducers would hope never washes off.

The recent press release by the Directorate of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s secret police, to the effect that they discovered some fifty shallow graves, five of which they claimed had some Fulani natives buried in them, is most unfortunate to have come from an otherwise responsible security outfit.

Recent media agitations against the country’s Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, by some civil society groups and self acclaimed Nigerian human rights’ advocates for one reason or the other, attracted this writer’s interest.

THE separation of religion from statecraft is predicated on the time honoured principle of protecting the fundamental rights of the citizens to practise any religion of their choice without let or hindrance. The secular nature of a state is further strengthened on the score that no religion is adopted as state religion and the founding fathers of Nigeria were very much aware of this and so adopted this model in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

WITH a population of about 53 million people and a GDP of close to 350 billion US Dollars, South Africa is considered as a buoyant economy. Additionally, as an emerging economy with requisite technological know-how, South Africa will by all means represent a suitable partner with Nigeria in our quest for growth and national development