You have been at parties - birthday parties, naming parties, burying parties, exhuming parties, all sorts of parties where materials are given to those present in the open. What you do not see openly are the gathering of the left over and uneaten food by mainly women and children. You would also see in these parties drummers and praise singers looking for people to praise through songs. And there are the pathetic beggars on skateboards seeking arms. Talking of beggars on skateboards, how do we live with skate boarded beggars positioned in the very centre of the highway? These are the ordinary people for whom attending a political rally would be so welcome along with some spending money. Do we blame these destitute people for taking money from political parties to be at their rallies? Who will they vote for? The party that pays them most?

CAMPAIGNS and elections in Africa are violent because politicians have refused to show sportsmanship and caution in their activities. This was the view of a Ghanaian octogenarian and elder statesman, Mr. Kofi Atiemo Gyan, while reflecting on the state of affairs in Africa and Nigeria in particular.