The misappropriation of resources provided by the government for weapons means the Nigerian military is unable to beat Boko Haram.

As long as we can establish the bona fides of the leadership of Boko Haram, we are prepared as a government to discuss with them how to get the girls back. But we have not established any evidence of a credible leadership.

I would like to thank President Goodluck Jonathan for his display of statesmanship in setting a precedent for us that has now made our people proud to be Nigerians wherever they are.

How is it that Nigeria's military, which has a good record across West Africa, cannot claim back to 14 out of 774 local governorates from Boko Haram? They have to ask for mercenaries from South Africa? How the mighty has fallen!

We are losing the democracy that we're trying to sell in the Mideast and everywhere else right here in our own nation.

As a U.S. Senator, I've tried my best to practice politics the way I think it's supposed to be practiced - always looking for common ground and truly enjoying the people I meet along the way.

I'm just sick of the way things are. We're in an age in which we can't live without accepting the logic of the market. Contemporary politics is all about short-term pragmatism. We have abandoned religion and philosophy... What we have left is the automatisation of doing what the market tells us.

In China, you just don't have the space for civil society and independent discourse and free media that you do in India. That's why India's success is so important as the world's largest democracy.