THERE is no doubt that the new found love between the Presidency and the National Assembly regarding the consistent efforts to amend the 2010 Electoral Act is geared towards rigging the 2011 presidential primaries in January.

THIS year I have written about two articles that chronicled the tragedies that befell our students. I still remember with nostalgia the gruesome murder of Grace Ushanga, the serving Corps member who was allegedly raped to death by the infamous religious sect, known as Boko Haram, the drowning to death of about 43 students from Kwara State who went to a neighbouring country in search of Education, the kidnapping of 15 school children {now released } at Aba, Abia State, the kidnapping of Corps members in Rivers State. Earlier, in 2006, the Ilafor family lost their three children in a Sosoliso plane crash.

THE emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the Northern consensus candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primaries has been attended by much controversy. It generated widespread comments from a cross section of the Nigerian pubic. Most of these comments were uncomplimentary, and sometimes, utterly detracting.

IT surely is stale news that at this moment Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan is just another Deltan, donning the vintage black hat and the swaggerstick of the cultural milieu. Indeed many a man would call him the ex-Governor.

ALL of these glaring shortfalls notwithstanding, there is much that still could and must be. And done properly this time, we will not need to spend another 50 years correcting the mistakes of the past.

ABOUT one hand a half years when Mr Temisan Omatseye emerged as the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) , the consensus in the maritime industry is that he has within that short period of time contributed immensely to the development of the sector and by extension the economy.

THEY may come from all works of life, including teachers and educators, sportsmen, broadcasters, scholars, artists, administrators, civil and public servants, religious leaders, traditional rulers and more.

THE constant closures of academic institutions over the last several decades, through arbitrary actions on the side of government as well as of students and academic unions incessantly going on strike, has not helped the situation any. Permanent institutional constructs must be put in place to overcome this endemic dislocation of the academic system.

FOLLOWING the recent announcement by Mr. Adetokunbo Kayode, the Minister of Defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that female candidates will now be admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy with effect from the 2011 academic session, many of those who read my book, ‘Thunder, Lightning & Storm’ have made contact to express ‘solidarity’ with me.

THE resilience of the Nigerian people, their ability to absorb so much and yet still keep going with little loss of confidence or even of their signature sense of humour, a quality which underpins their ability to survive under the most undesirable and challenging conditions, is something that Nigerians deserve to commend themselves for and celebrate.