Solomon's Column

GRAND RAPIDS – A federal jury today(Tuesday) convicted two men charged in connection with a conspiracy to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. Adam Fox, of Wyoming, Michigan, and Barry Croft Jr., of Bear, Delaware, were found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap the governor and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property. Croft was additionally convicted of knowingly possessing an unregistered destructive device, specifically an improvised explosive wrapped in pennies for shrapnel. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Fox and Croft intended to kidnap Governor Whitmer from her vacation cottage near Elk Rapids, Michigan and use the destructive devices to facilitate their plot by harming and hindering the governor’s security detail and any responding law enforcement officers. “Today’s verdict confirms this plot was very real and very dangerous,” said former U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge for the W

Religious leaders must avoid scriptural misinformation and misinterpretation, most especially in the areas that discriminate, marginalize and hurt womanhood. Avoid painting the girl child as half a male counterpart as well as avoid Female Genital Mutilation(FGM). Develop the mental capacity of the girl child on par with their female counterparts. Female children should be allowed to choose a career of their choice based on their God-given talents. forms. Avoid minor weddings and other forms of abuse against the girl child. Every male orientation must change from perceiving women as objects of sex. The focus must be on gender equity to avoid partriachal domination through such a policy that will allow women effective participation in all spheres of life. Women must take the chance to lead and not live at the mercy of men(malevolence)but believe in themselves to achieve any feat. The Holy Quran states that they must not tread a path of being suspicious of promiscuity and they must be ab

The Lord has made effective leaders and teachers of people who never envisaged that they would,ouucpy leadership positions. Judges 6: 1-6 6 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of lMidian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and mthe caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and nthe Amalekites and othe people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them pand devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come qlike locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the peop

Everybody should do the right thing. First of all, every Nigerian of voting age should register and collect the Permanent Voters Card(PVC) and be ready to vote in the next elections. I have said it before, and I am still saying it again, if I have my way, it should be made compulsory for every Nigerian, 18 and above, to register and collect their PVCs and afterwards vote and show evidence they voted in elections before they can carry transactions in banks and gain admissions into schools. But when you don't have PVCS, you may not be allowed access to privileges you ought to have access to as an eligible citizen. This would encourage citizens to participate in our Democratic process actively, and it would make Nigerians take elections seriously. Our democracy would now have a positive outlook which would result in the emergence of competent and capable leaders. The lack of interest in elections and voter apathy would now be a thing of the past. In addition, the Government to e

The administration of criminal justice is the motivation for democracy to thrive in several countries of the world. However, in most states of Nigeria, the administration of justice seems to have been discarded as a result of the sharp practices by lawyers, Magistrates, Judges, those in the customary court and the entire support staff in the Judiciary. Frivolous suits by litigants with the full consent of their counsels in addition to forum shopping is now the trend. Indeed, it is worrisome to note that judgments are now for sale while Those-in-Power have taken advantage of this defect to manipulate the justice system, taking over landed properities of an unspecified number of helpless Nigerians. Without doubt the Judiciary and the legal profession urgently reuqire self-assessment and self-cleansing. Those in the Judiciary ought to stop engaging in unwholesome practices, just as efforts must be geared towards ridding the legal profession of bad eggs, in order to restore public