EDIFYING ELUCIDATIONS BY OKEY IKECHUKWU As I write, the Federal Republic of Nigeria stands in the season of locusts. The “season,” which has lasted for all of 20 years, took up a new burst of speed six years ago. Now it is at a deadly gallop, even ramping up more speed at incredibly sharp bends. Can a nation survive on the long term when distribution and consumption are the pillars of every government action? I think not. Thus, the Nigerian state of today lives like a locust. Locusts, by the way, are always a danger to every plant, every farmer and every habitat. They simply eat and eat. Their waste product is not known for great value as fertilizer, because a totally devastated environment does not have anything that can be fertilised. All you see is devastation in the trail of any self-respecting locust. Yes, it does not cultivate what it eats. It also does not water anything. It offers no supply of manure, no! It just eats, moving ever forward and consuming more; until there is nothing left to eat. Even as it is dying of hunger, having exhausted all viable food sources, it learns nothing. That is the profile and reputation of the Nigerian State today!