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.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

FARIDA FIRED!

The eagerly awaited, much anticipated and long overdue relief from duty of the Nigeria Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairwoman, Farida Waziri, is finally here. It would appear that finally, the over-deliberative Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan has come around full circle and summoned  enough courage to let the EFCC-madam go. 

Icheoku expected the hamstrung chairwoman to have resigned long time ago, but she fell victim to the Nigerian cultural shackle which does not permit the emergence of brave public servants of conscience, who could stand on principles but just tagged along just to get along. She took it both front and back, honestly thinking to persuade a society that was not listening, that somehow magically her commission would do their job; and was in this suspended state of euphoria until her unceremonious kicking to the gutter. How could anyone worthy of his or her weight in law enforcement operate under such a stringent condition where she was  constantly scornfully derided and ridiculed as a toothless bulldog? Under her soft-touch, touchy-feelly EFCC, so many high profile corruption cases including the corruption charges against former speaker Oladimeji Bankole just stalled without more. Anyway, good riddance and hopefully her successor Ibrahim Lamorde will be courageous enough to do what is required to turn in results. Icheoku hereby calls on Aso Rock to without delay confirm Mr Ibrahim Lamorde as a permanent chairman as that would make him a more dedicated and committed hands-on chairman, without creating a situation where he will be thinking "whats the point," since soon they will also relieve him of the post as they did before. 

However the symbolic changing of guard at the EFCC alone will not cut it or do the magic, as what the commission is facing is a contemptuous society which is so neck-deep corruption and fights bullishly to be left alone and undisturbed in their debauchery. Icheoku says, how about a committed judiciary to help put away these corrupt officials being indicted every day by the EFCC without any one of them ever going to prison? How about special legislation to fast-track some of these corruption proceedings through the courts? How about special courts and tribunal being created to deal with EFCC generated corruption cases only? How about procedural law being specifically tempered and tailored to deal with EFCC corruption trials only? How about the Nigeria Bar Association making commitment to help EFCC deal with these prosecutions without unnecessary delays on technicalities used as a clever ploy to frustrate prosecutions? How about judges handling EFCC corruption cases being made to take special oath not to compromise themselves and security agencies put on their trail to ensure they upheld their commitment? 

Icheoku says Madam Farida Waziri did not fail EFCC or Nigeria; but was simply frustrated out from doing her job by a society which did not want her to succeed in the first place because they loath her commission. In the former EFCC madam Farida Waziri's own words, "the best a law enforcement agency can do is to properly investigate cases and file charges; the frustrations faced by law enforcement agencies within the tedious common law process must be avoided." So there is really not much such a conscript agency can do in the circumstance and the Nigeria Chief Judge was heard to say that plea bargain would be abolished? Also an agency without full authority to decide its prosecutable cases and the best possible choices faced under unique circumstances, but is amendable to the wishes of the Attorney General, is to say the least, encumbered. 

On a lighter note, how about President Goodluck Jonathan just firing himself for not being at par with the duties of his office or is it just only Farida Waziri who could not do her job - wiping the corruption slate clean and had to be replaced? It is all political and seemingly an attack of a soft target - the womanhood, firing a woman corruption czar, otherwise why just her? This reminds Icheoku of the shoving off of the other previous Madam NAFDAC and later Information Mommy Dora Akunyili, who is considered a rabble-rouser and simply too much of a headache to be left around the corridors of Aso Rock? The headline of United States' Washington Post newspaper which reported of the EFCC chairwoman's sack was quite instructive on President Jonathan's ironical position. It wrote "President of graft-prone Nigeria suddenly fires head of anti-corruption agency." 

What a pun at the president, who could not or have failed to tame graft in his country, yet is firing an innocent woman who was doing her best to confront a ferocious glacier of highly corrupt and powerful people of Nigeria, who it appears finally had their way as they did her in? Icheoku says if according to President Jonathan's spokesman, "the removal of the chairwoman is part of President Jonathan's determination to revitalize the fight against corruption," how about removing IGP Ringim to revitalize the police force and some other security agencies to revitalize the fight against Boko Haram and other terrorists? If actually President Goodluck Jonathan was serious with giving his commission needed teeth, he would have begged Muhammadu Buhari to fill the position. Best of luck Ibrahim Lamorde and hopefully Aso Rock will make your occupation of the chair permanent.

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