NIGERIANS criticise the government because they love Nigeria. Patriotism is not love for one’s government; it is love for one’s country. Theodore Roosevelt said in 1908 that “patriotism …does not mean to stand by the country or any public official save to the degree in which he himself stands by the country.

UNEMPLOYMENT is not new to Nigerians. They have grown used to reading about the general failure of the state called Nigeria and by extension, have come to understand the futility of trying to redirect the tragic trajectory of their own existence. We have heard gory stories of “700,000 applicants jostle for 5,000 positions in the Customs”, let alone the Nigeria Police Force.

GODSWILL Obot Akpabio, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State is fast becoming a proverbial golden fish that has no hiding place.

IN France, President Nicholas Sarkozy has taken over the leadership of European affairs through the EU. His command performance role in the NATO bombing of Ghaddaffi’s Libya and his offer of assistance to help Nigeria overcome her security challenges over Boko Haram are all seen in Paris as an attempt to shore up his dwindling poll rating for the presidential battle coming up next year.

THE furore over the President’s single tenure has by now subsided and appropriately this is an auspicious opportunity to look at the subject more objectively after the hazy dust has simmered down.