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Beyond Duplication: Building Stronger Institutions

By Fred Nwaozor Nigeria’s law-enforcement institutions remain central to the protection of lives, property, public resources and the rule of law. However, concerns about overlapping mandates, institutional weaknesses, inadequate coordination and the cost of maintaining numerous agencies performing closely related functions have continued to generate debate. Strengthening these institutions should therefore go beyond increasing personnel or procuring equipment. It should involve structural reforms that improve effectiveness, accountability and public confidence. One important area for reform is the rationalisation of agencies with substantially overlapping responsibilities. The existence of several institutions dealing with corruption, financial crimes, economic offences and related misconduct can create duplication, jurisdictional confusion and unnecessary administrative expenditure. A carefully designed merger of related agencies could pr...

The Power of Punctuation Marks

RostrumNews
When you write, be mindful of how you punctuate your wording. Read through each line to x-ray the individual meanings.

A punctuation mark can make or mar your writing sense. Adding a certain punctuation to a clause, or forgetting to add, could make your entire sentence or speech meaningful or meaningless, as the case may be.

For instance, when you write:
-- Sir, Dan was in the office yesterday.
-- Sir Dan was in the office yesterday.

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The two sentences above aren't the same, hence do not make same sense. By forgetting to add/remove the "coma" could instantly change the intended meaning of the highlighted clause.

Though the above instance is targeted to written words, same measure is applicable to spoken words. When speaking, or expressing yourself via oral speech, you're expected to present your words in accordance with the punctuations contained in the entire sentence or address. Failure to adhere to this would alter the actual meaning of your presentation, thereby 'frustrating' your audience.

Hence, formal/public writers and speakers of any language in existence are expected to invariably remain cautious of punctuation marks while delivering their speeches, whether written or spoken, respectively.

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Fred Nwaozor
6:10:2025