You could be driving down the waterfront close of your estate, you pull over to the side to make a call and then the next thing, you are kidnapped; whisked away to an unknown location and a ransom of 10million naira is demanded to set you free!

THIS is not a defence of Chinua Achebe. He does not need one. No amount of abuse can dent his global standing. Ban or burn all his books, as someone suggested, he would only feel sorry for you, not angry.

THE Guardian, Tuesday, June 19, 2012 carried the following story headlined: “police unveil new strategy against terror”. Vanguard, Tuesday, June 26, 2012 headlined its own story on the Police thusly.

“I must practice moderation and say that peace is better than the finest war in the world”, Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, 1762-1796. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 183).

Sometimes, when certain things occur and people react in a certain way, I wonder if it’s peculiar to us as Nigerians, or if it’s just basic human nature period. Four students lose their lives; and that is just one incidence, one drop in the recent flood of such events; in the most gruesome way conceivable…

Whenever I am on board an airline flying out of the country, I love to watch the in-flight entertainment. My favorites are thrillers and romantic comedies. A friend on board the same flight with me to the Uk recommended that I watch the documentary on The renowned reggae star, Bob Marley. I am not really a fan of reggae music; not that I hated it but my curiosity was piqued and I decided to give it a try.

IF there is nothing to say, there are some people who would say, one should shut up. But, for writers, when there is nothing to say, is when they are at their best in saying nothing new.

THE nation is currently wallowing in two types of floods and we are wondering how we got there.

STABILITY operations, domestic and foreign, therefore, constitute the routine tasks of the security forces.

I wept for Nigeria when the excerpts of Chinua Achebe’s MEMOIRS, were published in Nigeria. I instinctively knew that the season of media and social lynch-mobs had started. It is one of the inevitable, but unintended consequences of that book. Wounds which were gradually healing might once again be re-opened depending on how we handle the intellectual bomb handed to us. It is my strong belief that we should defuse it; for, if we fail, the results will be disastrous beyond our wildest nightmares.