AGRICULTURE used to be the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. But as oil revenue increased, successive governments out of lack of leadership vision ignored this economic multiplier until President Goodluck Jonathan made it a top priority of his government. Happily government’s agricultural programmes have recorded appreciable gains that can easily ensure self-sufficiency in food production and possibly economic stability in the face of dwindling oil price.

AMONG the Yorubas,the clutch bag is an essential accessory on the male because that is where he carries the money he will use to spray celebrants and others at the party.

This time, Buhari’s prospects are better. Jonathan is widely perceived as ineffectual, and the clearest example, which has eclipsed his entire presidency, is his response to Boko Haram. Such a barbaric Islamist insurgency would challenge any government. But while Boko Haram bombed and butchered, Jonathan seemed frozen in a confused, tone-deaf inaction. Conflicting stories emerged of an ill-equipped army, of a corrupt military leadership, of northern elites sponsoring Boko Haram, and even of the government itself sponsoring Boko Haram.

AS Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka put it the other day, ‘this intervention has been provoked, not so much by the ambitions of General Buhari to return to power at the head of a democratic Nigeria, as by declarations of support from directions that leave one totally dumbfounded.’ Nothing best describes the upsurge of vociferous but futile calls for Nigerians to forcefully swallow hook, line and sinker the arrival of a long awaited messiah in Buhari

The words that have emanated from some of our politicians especially over the course of the months leading up to 2015 have been too desperate, and antagonistic, tending towards brinksmanship and giving the impression that they see politics as a zero sum game and not as a vehicle to offer service to the people.