Dear Dad,

May I apologise for the long delay in getting back to you all this while. I do. Half of it is NITEL, the infamously inefficient and corruption-ridden telecoms public utility which takes your money without a blink, and denies you service without blinking! In today's digital world, it is called ISP or Internet Service Provider. Sad. For all its sins, it is now sold in the Obasanjo Administration's queer privatization programme. Just few months ago.No cheers.

The other half is mine. When the epileptic service came, I usually rushed to post "something" on one of the other sites, taking you and mom for granted! You know how these things are: we just keep saying, "oh, my folks wouldn't mind", "of course they'll understand", "what touches us ourselves most are to be last served" a la Shakespeare! Please forgive, and kindly tell mom my tale. Give her my assurances, my love. I'll write her latest next week...bumper memos!

Nigeria rests on NITEL for the Internet. Even the other so-called private operators still rely on NITEL. You can then imagine the outrage of Nigerians when they were told that the president owns 200 million shares in Transcorp, the government-midwifed mega company inspired by Chief Obasanjo himself!! People were scandalised. Parliament is now looking into the matter.

Apart from making up for time and info lost, I promise to become deferentially active on my notes and memos to you and mom, not least because there is so much to share and compare. I promise. Well...em....NITEL permitting!

By the way, our female national team, the Super Falcons, soared to victory this evening with a lone goal defeat of the Lionesses of Ghana, to clinch the Gold Medal of the African Women Football Competition, for the FIFTH time! This feat is unprecedented. They would lead Africa's representatives to the FIFA Women's World Cup. Hail the Falcons, all hail Nigeria!

We rejoice tonight. And you should join us because the competition was hosted by Nigeria upon the inability of Gabon to fulfill her hosting rights, with matches played at Warri (your favourite city where you lived and translated, and my birth-place) and Oleh (your native Isoko Land) in our own Delta State. Some truly cheering news from Nigeria's traumatized Niger Delta region!

Yes, we rejoice.