GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: FOR WHO THE BELL TOLLS NEXT.

Just five people shy of Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting incident that claimed 26 lives, the Uvalde Texas Robb elementary school mass shooting at 21 victims, now ranks among the highest grossing gun carnage in America. It is sad that such frequent blood spilling has tragically become part of our culture as a society. May the souls of the killed now rest.

25th AMENDMENT: ITS NOW ALL CRICKET.

Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi once questioned former President Donald John Trump's fitness to remain in office due to what she claimed was his declining mental capacity. Does anyone know what Madam Speaker presently thinks about the incontrovertible case which America is now saddled with? Just curious!

WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?

The West should convert frozen Russian assets, both state's and oligarchs' owned, into a full seizure and set them aside for the future rebuilding of Ukraine. Like the Marshal Plan, call it the Putin Plan.

A HERO IS BORN.

I am staying put. I will not run away and abandon my people. The fight is here in Ukraine. What I need are weapons and ammunitions, not a ride out of town like former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani - President Volodymyr Zelensky.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

"There is too much hate in America because there is too much anger in America." - Trevor Noah.

WORD!

A life without challenges is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that has problems, confronts problems, solves problems and then learns from problems. - Tunde Fashola.

NOW, YOU KNOW.

When fishing for love, bait with your heart and not your brain, because you cannot rationalize love. - Mark Twain.

JUST THE FACT.

In our country, you can shoot and kill a nigger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings - Dave Chappelle

DO YOU?.

“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk for it." - Stuart Scheller.

HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.

Never get in bed with a woman whose problems are worse than yours. - Chicago PD.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

'The best way to keep peace is to be ready to destroy evil. If you Pearl Harbor me, I Nagasaki you.' - Ted Nugent.

OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

Empathy is at the heart of who we are as human beings. - Cardinal Matthew Kukah.

WORDS ON MARBLE.

"Birth is agony. Life is hard. Death is cruel." - Japanese pithy.

REPENT OR PERISH - POPE.

Homosexuality is a sin. It is not ordained by God, therefore same sex marriage cannot be blessed by the church - Pope Francis.

CANCEL CULTURE IS CORROSIVE.


FOR SAKE OF COUNTRY.


MAGA LIVES ON: NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

TWITTER IS BORING WITHOUT HIS TWEETS. #RestorePresidentTrump'sTwitterHandle.


WORD.

"If you cannot speak the truth when it matters, then nothing else you says matters.” - Tucker Carlson.

#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.

"To all the women who testified, we may have different truth, but I have a great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all of the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country. You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood. I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue. We are going through this #MeToo movement crisis right now in this country." - Harvey Weinstein.


RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.

"If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War, if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I’m proud to be called a radical.” - Ron Vernie Dellums.


WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. Memories precipitated by love is the only true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. The most expensive bed in the world is the sick bed. You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - SJ

EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.

"The threat of evil is ever present. We can contain it as long as we stay vigilant, but it can never truly be destroyed. - Lorraine Warren (Annabelle, the movie)


ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?

“I’m not that interested in material things. As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.” - Nicolas Berggruem, the homeless billionaire.

Monday, July 21, 2008

UMARU YARADUA: JUST ANOTHER SHEHU SHAGARI WITHOUT AN UMARU DIKKO!


Is it fate playing a game of Russian roulette again with Nigeria that within our lifetime two exact presidents who share the same traits are foist upon Nigeria to rule them? Their shared similarities are so glaringly apparent and legion that it could easily pass for a tragic Roman classic. These Presidents Shehu Shagari and Umaru Yar'Adua are metaphorical speaking, just two Siamese twins littered on the same day by the same mother. The foreboding is not a sweet melody - what it holds for Nigeria is not bright judging from the Shagari experience of 1979 to 1983. Also where both men came from and how they became presidents of Nigeria is all too concerted to be merely an accident of happenstance. It does not bode well for Nigerians and it is scary indeed. It does not look nice and smacks of an ill-wind that will blow no one any good. Over 365 days into office and counting, yet Umaru Yar'Adua is yet to figure out what it takes to govern Nigeria. That is what happens when an unprepared student goes to an examination - he fails; but Icheoku will like to be proved wrong by Umaru Yar'Adua.
Former President Shehu Shagari and incumbent "President" Umaru Yar'Adua are both from the Northwestern part of Nigeria, of formerly Sokoto Caliphate later balkanized into Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi States. Both of them were handed power on a platter without winning 12 2/3 of the States as in the case of Shehu Shagari in 1979 election and in the case of Umaru Yar'Adua without any credible election whatsoever in May 2007. Both of them were anointed by the same man - the Babalawo of Otta Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo and given power without questions asked and answered. Both of these presidents are known weaklings - in the case of Shehu Shagari, Umaru Dikko took notice early enough and hijacked the presidency, constituting himself into the de-facto president of Nigeria while that government lasted; with the questionable rice contract scandals which led to his being forced inside a Lagos bound crate at Gatwick Airport but for the Scotland Yard. Then at least there was an apparent hijacker of governance but with Umaru Yar'Adua no one knows who calls the shots.
This apparent lack of a clear hijacker of the present government makes it extremely difficult to know who the go to-man is and in whom the power really lies; especially whenever Umaru Yar'Adua takes up his usual residency at his life-saver of a German hospital. The apparent grinding to a near halt of Nigeria under the present government has bequeathed on President Umaru YarAdua the unflattering nickname of "Mr. Slow-man". President Shehu Shagari and President Umaru Yar'Adua are both aloof Presidents and regarding the business of governance, they both seem very nonchalant and do not particularly seem interested in their job at the presidency. They both appear to be mere prop-ups of some other third party interest who has a lot to benefit with their stage-presence as "inactive, dormant Presidents of Nigeria. President Shehu Shagari and President Umaru Yar'Adua are both very humble men; somewhat too humble for the office of Nigerian Presidency that they both come across as timid men. Have you ever seen or watched any of these men at any international meet with other world dignitaries and see them practically genuflect and bow for other leaders. Both men it appears do not have independent mindedness and look very much like push-around Presidents. They lack guts! They look like deer in a headlight! They look lost in the maze of Nigeria shark-infested waters of politics! They look like marooned person on an isolated island somewhere in the pacific! They appear like they are afraid of something sinister! They look too fragile and does not in any way aspire anybody! They mental state of anxiety compares to a beached whale! Would resignation have been a preferred option?
What will Nigeria get in return for this reincarnated President Shehu Shagari of a President Umaru YarAdua? Nothing spectacular! The hand-writing on the wall reads that Nigerians will be shortchanged again as usual; and peradventure another General Muhammadu Buhari will be lurking somewhere in the shadows, to emerge one December 31st down the road to announce "Fellow Nigerians" with a marshal music in the background. However in as much as Icheoku is an ardent democracy advocacy, supporting and activism portal, the magnitude of docility of the present Nigeria's President Umaru YarAdua's government is such that needs to be prodded! If left in the present doldrums and it continues on its current trajectory for another year, Nigeria may come to a full screeching halt. Nothing seems to have gotten track ever since President Umaru YarAdua's misadventure unto the presidency and there is no light on the horizon to suggest that a change of course is in the offing. Only a true democracy and free elections will save Nigerians from this type of a foist, unprepared leader, who is not ready to be president on day one! They were so many other credible, well prepared and ready to be president candidates that attempted to run but the medicine man of Otta preferred a not well disposed and enthused President Umaru YarAdua for Nigerians! Now Nigerians are asking President Umaru Yar'Adua and demanding to know if the president has any policy-direction, template or blueprint for Nigeria? Icheoku will like to ask, does Mr. President plan to take Nigeria anywhere within the near future or is this present state of anomie the paradigm of his presidency? Will "Mr Slow-man" be the epitaph of his presidency? Will Umaru Yar'Adua be known as a mere reincarnation of President Shehu Shagari or what? Only time will tell but all indicators presently point at that conclusion. Prove Nigerians wrong, President Umaru Yar'Adua! Engage the gears of your presidency to a drive position and move Nigeria forward!

1 comment:

  1. Okogie carpets Yar’Adus’s govt
    Written by Chidi Nkwopara
    Tuesday, 19 August 2008
    OWERRI— THE Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has expressed worries over the state of affairs in the country after over one year of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s assumption of power.

    “After one full year in office, the country’s education sector is still wobbling, public power supply has remained comatose, while the condition of federal roads is getting worse by the day,” he said in an interview in Owerri.

    While saying that he did “not know what Mr. President is doing”, the Archbishop however reasoned that “he began nicely but has sadly transferred to the slow lane”, adding that “he should be able to do something by now.”

    On appointments by the President, he said “The President should ensure that appointments reflect the federal character. He should remember at all times that there are very keen observers that are watching him closely”, the cleric said.

    Cardinal Okogie hailed the spirit behind the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

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