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.

Friday, February 19, 2010

NIGER MILITARY CALLS JONATHAN'S BLUFF, TOPPLES GOVERNMENT!

Less than 48 hours after Nigeria's Acting President and Chairman of ECOWAS, Jonathan Goodluck declared that it is finished for military adventurists in government in ECOWAS West Africa countries, the military in Niger dared him and toppled the government of President Mamadou Tandja in Niamey! Whether this declaration will be a simple bluster or an action-backed promise lies in the womb of time as Icheoku and the world wait to see what happens next?
Jonathan Goodluck while addressing the 37th Summit of ECOWAS heads of states and governments in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, condemned 'the undemocratic efforts by some elements at carrying out illegal political changes in the sub-region; warning that henceforth, the West African sub-region would no longer tolerate any acts of political mis-adventure by such adventurist juntas? But unbeknowst to Jonathan and other delegates gathered, while he spoke and warned, the adventurists in uniform in neighboring Niger were rehearsing the final stages of their coup which eventually toppled the government of Mamadou Tadja 48 hours later. Icheoku asks, what does Jonathan plan to do now about this political misadventure in Niger or will he wait and watch as his "stern warning" is flouted with impunity in Niamey? It is a popular rule of the thumb that if you must shoot, shoot, don't talk; and if you point the gun be prepared to fire the hammer, otherwise your words will lose its weight and people will take you less seriously.
But what options are, seriously speaking, available to Jonathan's ECOWAS in view of the now unfolding political misadventure of the military in Niger Republic - condemn them; boycott them; sanction them or invade them to restore democracy in Niger? Icheoku says, whatever action Jonathan Goodluck and his ECOWAS decide to take, must be very bold and decisive; and meant to derive home the point that his warning against illegal political adventurism must be taken seriously and not to be flaunted; and that it is really time-over for military adventurism in ECOWAS West Africa countries. Anything short is a no brainier and will be unproductive. Therefore, Icheoku recommends that ECOWAS forces immediately invade Niamey to restore democracy there. Nothing short of an outright invasion will send the required sufficient message meant to serve as a deterrent, since sanctions and boycott or suspension have not worked elsewhere they were applied like in Guinea, Madagascar and Tandja's Niger? Jonathan should give the junta in Niamey 48 hours to quit and follow it up with contingents of soldiers flown into Niamey with express mandate to confront any anti-democratic forces therein, wrestle power from those usurpers and restore democracy.
Admitted that former President Mamadou Tandja invited the military putsch, when he drank the power cool-aid which many African leaders usually drink while in office and refuse to yield power, when he unilaterally elongated his term in office against Niger's constitutional provisions; but the political establishment would have been allowed to resolve it instead? In other words, it is this constitutional illegality of former President Mamadou Tandja that provoked the coup; but we are not sure whether the fact that an illegality of a military coup which confronted an illegality of a budding civilian dictatorship cancels out the illegality? Is such double negatives enough to legitimize the coup and make it acceptable, since it could be argued that the Niger Republic military was only fighting in defense of the democracy in Niger Republic? The right question needing an immediate answer is, would the coup have taken place were it not for the greed and attempted power-grab of former President Tandja, who embarked on an illegality of making himself a life president like the rest of other African despicable 'perpetual' leaders including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Moummar Ghaddafi?
So, the middle of the road solution to Niamey's political limbo would be for the military to leave together with former president Tandja; and allow the speaker of the House of Representative or the Chief Justice to be sworn in as interim president, with express mandate to conduct a fresh election within a reasonable short time. Former President Mamadou Tandja should in addition to his removal from office be banned from politics for life, for attempting to hijack democracy and destroy Niger Republic. The former government in Niger Republic without President Mamadou Tandja, should be restored immediately; and the Squadron Leader Salou Djibo led Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy commended for their patriotic duties but asked to return to the barracks forthwith. Elections can be conducted within the next six months by an interim government in order to allow democracy to continue to flourish; but any attempt to tolerate the coupists no matter for how short a period of time will spell doom for democracy in ECOWAS West Africa countries, as it will encourage other waiting-in-the-wing adventurists in other countries to follow suit. The message to the Niger Republic military adventurists should be thanks, but no, thanks! Olusegun Obasanjo bravely once stopped a military coup in Fernadapoo and Principe when he escorted their deposed president back to the country and restored his government. So Jonathan, now is the time to prove that you are a good student of Obasanjo's political bravado?
Regrettably, those soldiers in Niger Republic did not learn any lesson from their Nigerian counterparts on how to patiently wait out the political establishment, to resolve whatever "tense political situation" that existed, which they created? At least they had a president who is well and functioning, but Nigeria's own president abandoned his office for over 78 days without any formal notice of his whereabout, yet the rebranded and now well disciplined Nigerian military waited patiently until the politicians resolved to empower the vice president as Acting President; thereby taking out the fire from the furnace of an over-heated polity. On a hindsight, Icheoku says, may be the military in Niger would have killed President Mamadou Tandja for his inordinate ambition to truncate democracy arbitrarily, instead of capturing him and impliedly allowing him another shot at someday in the future of screwing up democracy again in Niger. Just finish the animal off and send a strong message that such clever-by-half elongation of office as Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo once contemplated with his third term bid, will be resisted and punished drastically.
Finally, as the world awaits the responsive action of ECOWAS to the development in Niamey, Icheoku asks, when the newly constituted Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy will restore democracy in Niger? If not, will Acting President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck of Nigeria going to put his word where his mouth is by denying the military adventures the bounties of their coup or just chicken out on grounds that Niger is a suspended member of ECOWAS and therefore cannot benefit from his new mantra? Just let us know Mister ECOWAS chairman whether you are going to invade Niger to restore democracy there or ginger sanction or whatever you intend to do; but remember that your address at ECOWAS 37th Summit is seating in judgment of you at this time.

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