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  Awka, Anambra State (Concluded) Whenever I drive through any part of the road network of Anambra State, my heart is gladdened for the fact that I was, at the conception stage, part of the Anambra road revolution. After my courtesy visit to the then Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chris Ngige in his office, he invited me to his official residence at the Government Lodge. I remember very vividly that he requested I should suggest the area he should direct his developmental thrust at that initial stage. I told him that if he wanted to make a quick, visible and lasting impact on every aspect of the state’s economy, he should embark on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Anambra roads. “The condition of roads presently in Anambra State is horrible.” I said. “When the roads are good, farmers can conveniently convey their farm products to the various markets. Commercial activities would start thriving since people can easily transport their goods and services to their choice destinat
  Awka, Anambra State (Continued)   Realising the daunting challenges facing us in the discharge of our statutory functions of making public roads safer for all road users, especially, as posed by the many touts who operate under the banner of road transport workers associations and the likes, I started thinking about the ways to strengthen our inter agency relationship with the Police and other paramilitary agencies in Anambra State. “Think…Think out something. Be creative about it.”   I said to myself. “Yes, sports is usually an effective way of bringing groups together and building better relationships between them. But in this case, it must be such that can add value to the effective discharge of each of the agency’s statutory responsibilities. Combat sports. Unarmed combat sports. Apart from enhancing one’s mental and physical fitness, the vital skills of unarmed combat self-defence which boosts the individual’s self-confidence, are learned therefrom. I smiled to myself. That is
Awka, Anambra State   Bakassi Boys! Famed. Dreaded. The deadly scourge against mean spirited criminals. Tales of their exploits stretch beyond mere reality into the realms of mythology. The modus operandi of this crime busting boys and the feats ascribed to them were proclaimed aloft as being derived from supernatural sources.  When the umbrella group of Aba shoemakers resolved to restore the business integrity of their group, after a deadly breach of trust almost ruined the shoe manufacturing business in Aba, they never knew that they were embarking on a venture that would, to a very large extent, deal ruthlessly with the perpetrators and sponsors of violent crimes in the whole South East of Nigeria.  The famed feats of the Bakassi boys!—howling gales surging far ahead of their physical presence; striking fear into the hearts of even the most hardened of criminals. Soon, their physical tentacles could be felt everywhere—in all nooks and crannies of the East.  The merger of the Federal
  1 st Assassination Attempt (The Kaduna Golgotha) conclusion They were three men and a woman. I could see them approaching through the gate by the Sentry Post. One of the men in police uniform was carrying a riffle. The other two men were in mufti but one conspicuously displayed a hand gun, while the other had his weapon concealed, tucked in at the back of his trousers. Hajara, an officer under me in the Operations Department, was the woman. She led the way, pointing at my apartment as they marched with discernible urgency to the direction of the Senior Officers’ quarters. An electric wave of impulse, a kind of prompting, flashed through me. The malevolent vibrations spewing out of them were palpable. I could feel them. Instantly I knew that they came with the intent to cause harm. On instinct, I pulled my psychic wrap tightly around me, therefore, not only was I completely obscured from their sight, but also, their evil thoughts kept bouncing back at them. Hajara’s lips were m
  Kaduna the Golgotha (continued) . A swarm of Tsetse Flies There, hovering above, just below the ceiling, were two tsetse flies. Tightly they clung to each other. Am I seeing conjoined tsetse fly twins? Or has my office become a mating nest for these flies? I briefly thought. But the flies kept gliding above. Sometimes they drifted away, evading my watchful eyes. Then they would always suddenly reappear with a determined dive towards me, as if trying to land on my head. I instinctively grabbed a white folio-size cardboard sheet on my office table, thrust it forward with a side of the sheet facing the coupled pair of flies now resting on the wall behind my office table. With stealth, I stalked the uninvited pestilential guests, the spread out white card-board sheet between us. Invariably the pair did not notice my approach, since they are by nature insensitive to solid, white colour surfaces. With the white paper screen less than 10 cm from the blood sucking demon flies, I was pr