NIGERIA'S UNENDING ASSASSINATIONS, HALLMARK OF A FAILED STATE!
In another futile attempt to silence the media and prevent the world from knowing the extent of their brigandage, the political establishment top-heavies in Nigeria, have assassinated the assistant political editor of Lagos-Nigeria based Guardian newspaper! Mr. Bayo Ohu, whose lifeless body is pictured here right, was killed by hired hit-men early hours of yesterday's morning, in his home at Egbeda, a Lagos suburb. Reports reaching Icheoku.com said that the late Mr. Bayo Ohu allegedly was working on some story concerning certain politicians in Lagos state before he was brutally dispatched from this earth? What a country of killers Nigeria have become that will go to any extent to silence the good-men in order to keep their atrocities from seeing the day light? And this is the same country whose Minister of Information, Dora Akunyili was grinding axe with Sony Pictures because her country Nigeria, was in her own words, portrayed unkindly in the movie, "District 9"? Icheoku says, Madam Dora Akunyili should try and fix what is broken in Nigeria and she will see the same film-makers portray her country in a much better flattering light? It does not lie in the mouth to just proclaim the effort being made to fix the humpty-dumpty Nigeria; but Madam, should please show us the evidence on the ground that her message of re-branding is sinking in! It is indeed regrettable what is going on in Nigeria. This is another killing too many, and Icheoku asks, when will Nigeria become safe again for decent human-beings to freely inhabit the territory without fear of a sudden violent death in the hands of paid marauders? The death of Mr. Bayo Ohu is regrettable and since Icheoku does not have confidence that his killers will ever be found, we can only ask God to please forgive him his sins and receive his soul in his paradise. To his grieving family, our sympathies; and to his colleagues at the Guardian, take heart. His death once again, is a reminder to many observers of what Nigeria and Russia share together - killing off the fifth estate! The perils faced by journalists working in some nooks and crannies of this world? Bayo Ohu's death adds to the roaster of prominent journalists killed in Nigeria in circumstances suggestive of hired assassination to silence them and prevent a story from making it to the open or as a revenge for what had been previously written? We may recall that Dele Giwa, then Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine, was killed through Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida's parcel bomb on October 19, 1986; Godwin Agbroko, the Editorial Board Chairman of ThisDay newspaper, was gunned down on Oshodi-Mile Two Expressway Lagos during Olusegun Obasanjo's regime on December 24, 2006; and Abayomi Ogundeji, another member of the Editorial Board of ThisDay newspaper was killed during the present Umaru Yar'Adua government on August 17, 2008. Icheoku asks, when will these madness ever stop?
In another futile attempt to silence the media and prevent the world from knowing the extent of their brigandage, the political establishment top-heavies in Nigeria, have assassinated the assistant political editor of Lagos-Nigeria based Guardian newspaper! Mr. Bayo Ohu, whose lifeless body is pictured here right, was killed by hired hit-men early hours of yesterday's morning, in his home at Egbeda, a Lagos suburb. Reports reaching Icheoku.com said that the late Mr. Bayo Ohu allegedly was working on some story concerning certain politicians in Lagos state before he was brutally dispatched from this earth? What a country of killers Nigeria have become that will go to any extent to silence the good-men in order to keep their atrocities from seeing the day light? And this is the same country whose Minister of Information, Dora Akunyili was grinding axe with Sony Pictures because her country Nigeria, was in her own words, portrayed unkindly in the movie, "District 9"? Icheoku says, Madam Dora Akunyili should try and fix what is broken in Nigeria and she will see the same film-makers portray her country in a much better flattering light? It does not lie in the mouth to just proclaim the effort being made to fix the humpty-dumpty Nigeria; but Madam, should please show us the evidence on the ground that her message of re-branding is sinking in! It is indeed regrettable what is going on in Nigeria. This is another killing too many, and Icheoku asks, when will Nigeria become safe again for decent human-beings to freely inhabit the territory without fear of a sudden violent death in the hands of paid marauders? The death of Mr. Bayo Ohu is regrettable and since Icheoku does not have confidence that his killers will ever be found, we can only ask God to please forgive him his sins and receive his soul in his paradise. To his grieving family, our sympathies; and to his colleagues at the Guardian, take heart. His death once again, is a reminder to many observers of what Nigeria and Russia share together - killing off the fifth estate! The perils faced by journalists working in some nooks and crannies of this world? Bayo Ohu's death adds to the roaster of prominent journalists killed in Nigeria in circumstances suggestive of hired assassination to silence them and prevent a story from making it to the open or as a revenge for what had been previously written? We may recall that Dele Giwa, then Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine, was killed through Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida's parcel bomb on October 19, 1986; Godwin Agbroko, the Editorial Board Chairman of ThisDay newspaper, was gunned down on Oshodi-Mile Two Expressway Lagos during Olusegun Obasanjo's regime on December 24, 2006; and Abayomi Ogundeji, another member of the Editorial Board of ThisDay newspaper was killed during the present Umaru Yar'Adua government on August 17, 2008. Icheoku asks, when will these madness ever stop?
Nigeria 'offended' by sci-fi film
ReplyDeleteThe film depicts aliens living in a South African shanty town
Nigeria's government is asking cinemas to stop showing a science fiction film, District Nine, that it says denigrates the country's image.
Information Minister Dora Akunyili told the BBC's Network Africa programme that she had asked the makers of the film, Sony, for an apology.
She says the film portrays Nigerians as cannibals, criminals and prostitutes.
An actor from the film said that it was not just Nigerians who were portrayed as villains.
The Malawian actor, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, plays a gang leader with the nickname of Obasanjo, also the surname of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The film is about alien refugees who set up home in a South African shanty town called District Nine.
It is a loose allegory about apartheid and recent violence by South Africans against foreigners.
It's not like Nigerians do eat aliens
Actor Eugene Khumbanyiwa
Ms Akunyili said it clearly took aim at Nigerians.
"We feel very bad about this because the film clearly denigrated Nigeria's image by portraying us as if we are cannibals, we are criminals," she said.
"The name our former president was clearly spelt out as the head of the criminal gang and our ladies shown like prostitutes sleeping with extra-terrestrial beings."
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Soweto residents tell Jonah Fisher how the District 9 filmmakers hired them
'It's a story'
The information minister said she had ordered the Nigerian film and video censors' board to ask all cinemas to stop showing the film and to confiscate it.
"I have also formally written to Sony Pictures Entertainment, the company that produced this film, demanding an unconditional apology for this unwarranted attack on Nigeria's image," she added.
She also said she had asked them to review the film with a view to remove "all offending portions that injured our image as a nation".
Ms Akunyili said said Nigeria was now hitting back with a policy of "rebranding", after allowing the international community to define the country based on the behaviour of "[a] few criminals".
She said that Nigeria's Nollywood film industry was also being pressed to help portray Nigeria in a better light.
But Mr Khumbanyiwa said Nigerians in the cast did not seem worried by the portrayal of their country.
He suggested that the film, which depicts people wanting to eat aliens to gain the superhuman powers, should not be taken too literally.
"It's a story, you know," he said. "It's not like Nigerians do eat aliens. Aliens don't even exist in the first place."