By  Richard Tosanwumi THE exercise of the surrender of weapons by the Niger Delta freedom fighters or militants, depending on the side of the divide to which one belongs, as part of the amnesty granted to them by President Umaru Yar’Adua has come and gone. It was adjudged very successful by a cross-section of Nigerians. […]

IT was sometime in late August this year. The place was London. The people – a diverse group of prominent Nigerians which included a sprinkling of professionals and businessmen – were engaged in what Nigerians do so well: Discussing and disagreeing about current issues in the country.

THIS is not the best of times for those of us in opposition in Kwara politics. And since Kwara is a territory conquered by one family, there had been heavy traffic of erstwhile comrades at arms towards the ruling dynasty.

THE petitioners’ witnesses on the other hand had testified that the respondents did not resign their appointments at all or as prescribed by law. Orji (the governor) having not appeared at the tribunal at all nor called any witness to testify on this point was held to have failed to deny the allegation which the Tribunal then had no difficulty to find and hold to have been proved by the petitioners. In holding that the governor and his deputy did not resign their appointments in the public service of Abia State as required, the tribunal did not lose sight of the documents

FEW people gave it much of a chance. At best, Yar’Adua’s amnesty plan for Niger Delta militants appeared like one of those gimmicks successive Nigerian governments dish out at regular intervals to bamboozle or hoodwink Nigerians while governments do everything but govern. The Niger Delta war had raged for years.

The practice of appointing spokesmen for the Senate can be traced back to the very first Senate of the fourth republic. In appointing spokesmen the various leaderships have with the notable exception of the Adolphus Wabara Senate picked from among their kitchen cabinets.

THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported last week a decline in the inflation and interest rates, which analysts attributed to the current banking reforms and the relative stability in the prices of crude oil which they believed may have returned Nigeria to the path of economic stability.

THE war of the primaries of the 2010 gubernatorial elections in Anambra State has been fought and won and lost. The intrigues that came with it were as interesting as they were remarkable.

IF you were at the Palexpo Hall in the beautiful city of Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday, October 8, 2009, you would feel three times a Nigerian. You would feel in a sense that you tower over the rest of humanity. In fact, you would feel proudly Nigerian.

IT is always good that information passed on to the public by top government officials should be factual, sincere and with the right motives, since the masses rely on government pronouncements. Many utterances, reeking of truths, half-truths, and outright falsehoods (borne out of politics), have been made about the issue of how the struggle for the abrogation of the obnoxious onshore-offshore oil-dichotomy was carried out and the ‘war’ eventually won. Crude oil drilled in the waters is referred to as “offshore” and the one on land as “onshore”.