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.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

ANGELINA JOLIE STILL A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, REGARDLESS?

Icheoku asks without breasts, uterus and fallopian tubes, all pre-emptively yielded to cancer, is it still correct to call Angelina Jolie a woman? Reproductive biology, may be not; but physiological biology, yes; as looking at her one still sees that amazing and dazzling symbol of feminism that makes her the cynosure of every hot-blooded male specie walking this planet earth. That she is beautiful is without a doubt and that she is also everything any man wants and desires to see in a woman - the suppleness of the female, a fact. 

Unfortunately, like all things that glitters are not gold, that very sexy and very attractive woman has now lost almost everything that indeed makes a woman thick, to preventing a possibly ravaging cancer, which killed her mother. Icheoku says provided the preemptive surgical interventions are result-orientated, the world including Icheoku would readily take an Angelina Jolie half woman and alive than one no longer with us, lost to cancer. A mother, a wife,  a friend, an ambassador and an amazing dare devil actress and movie director; what is life if not living it fully and without fear and this daughter of Eve is having a go at it. 

Icheoku also commends Brad Pitt for being strong and strongly standing by his woman at this time of grueling challenges; but with love everything is possible and the good Lord will see them through. Icheoku prays that Angie  sticks around for a long time to continue to put value in the lives of those many people she touches their lives daily in numerous ways including her mosaic family. All the best Angie and may what you have already sacrificed serve as a bulwark to the venomous monster. What a pleasant woman to behold and hear about her world wide and who is not deserving of any of these traumatic experiences.

BOLA TINUBU, THE MAN WHO MADE BUHARI PRESIDENT.

Icheoku says what a great political operative indeed this man is, that literally came from no where to sweep away a sitting incumbent president of Nigeria from power. For causing this political earthquake, unseating an incumbent, his first time out with a consolidated opposition party, Icheoku now crowns Ashiwaju hmed Bola Tinubu the newest president-maker of Nigeria. As he now joins Olusegun Obasanjo among the few known president-makers of Nigeria; from Icheoku to ABT, hearty congratulations.

Monday, March 30, 2015

GERMAN WINGS PLANE DELIBERATELY CRASHED, NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECT?

Icheoku says unfortunately for all those armed to the kilt and ready to go hunt them down, the man who brought down the German airline, Germanwings, was one of them and not the usual Arab or Muslim looking terrorist bomber. So query, what does the world now do faced with an enemy or threat which defiles all known profile of those usually associated with such dastardly acts of terror? An astonished and askance world woke up days later following the plane crash, to learn that the Germanwings airline crash was not an accident afterall; but was a deliberate act of sabotage by the very same person charged with its legal custody and who was duty-bound to safely fly those passengers therein boarded to their destination and this person is White. A case of a surgeon deliberately killing his patient on an operating room, one would say? Possessed by whatever demonic spirit that was afflicting him, co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, intentionally plunged the airplane he was flying unto the mountain-side, killing everyone on board and completely obliterating the Airbus 320 jet plane. 

Icheoku says luckily for all those Arabs and Arab-looking pilots in the employ of Germanwings, Andreas Lubitz is as white as it comes and so they were spared from assured profiling and reiteratory attacks. It shows that there are bad people among every race and color; and that one does not necessarily have to be an Arab or a Muslim to be a terrorist or be possessed of a heart to do evil. But whether Andreas Lubitz is even an ISIS sympathizer or an Islamic convert, no one knows nor will ever know. But funny enough, his actions are now being explained away as caused by possible reason of insanity and a troubled mind? Icheoku queries, if so, why did they not fish him out before he committed such heinous murder of innocent people who placed their lives on his duty of care to safely fly them to their destination. Icheoku however disagree with all those trying to explain away what this white terrorist pilot did as a result of mental and psychological problem, since they do not give such same break and excuse when Arabs or Muslims are involved; but normally brand them terrorists and react accordingly. 

Icheoku insist that it should not only be when white people are involved in acts of terror, that excuses of mental incapacity are invoked. A terrorist is a terrorist regardless of shade of skin color as Adolf Hitler was a terrorist; Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist; Jeffrey Dhumer was a terrorist and a host of other white skinned bad people who terrorized their victims. So Icheoku calls on the West to accept that terrorism is not color blind or religion specific and that there are evil people among every race and religion. So these horrible people should be specifically isolated, identified and destroyed; instead of railroading an entire people or religion as bad while giving some break to others. Thus, the people who are usually marked out, would understand that they are not being particularly targeted for who and what they are; but that an honest attempt is being made to identify and isolate the bad eggs among them. Icheoku is emphatic that Andreas Lubitz is a terrorist pilot, all the excuses of mental and psychological illness being bandied around, notwithstanding. 

But hey, what happened has happened; as anything now would be merely Monday-night quarter-backing. But going forward, Icheoku says the designers of passenger airplanes, might consider putting a urinary right inside the cockpit or an access door inside the cockpit that will not warrant a pilot or co-pilot having to leave the cockpit leading to the time and opportunity which availed this co-pilot to intentionally wreck this havoc. Admitted that what is purposed to happen would always find a way of happening, but at least an added overlay of precaution could at least stall or forestall such evil from ever coming to fruition. What an unfortunate terrorist act this was as those passengers were terrorized by the pilot to fear for their lives as the plane plummeted to the mountain side and their fear turned into an irremediable  nightmare. Icheoku says rest in peace Germanwings Flight 9525 passengers and crew, who were enroute from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when their evil terrorist pilot crashed them unto the French Alps.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

LEE KUAN YEW, A LEADER DIES AND A GRATEFUL NATION MOURNS!

"It takes a long time to make a nation out of a multi cultural and multi ethnic society" -  Lee Kuan Yew; and he went fort to put his money where his mouth is -  clobbered a motley, disparate peoples, into citizens of a thriving first world country, the Island nation of Singapore. Today the man who is revered as the founder and father of Singapore is no more and his grateful nation is still in deep mourning, mourning for the man who placed them among the comity of civilized and well functioning first world countries. Lee Kuan Yew, aged 91 years, who died in a Singapore hospital surrounded by his family few days ago, was finally laid to rest today.  He would be greatly missed by the people he engineered a functioning country and society out of, as well as the entire world who knew him as the man who put Singapore on the world map. Adieu LKY.

The challenge of building Singapore was entrusted into his lap, a daunting task indeed. But instead of shying away, he meticulously went to work and engineered a first world country from it and practically from nothing. He articulated what needs to be done, he created a road map to get it done and then with a motivated citizenry, he got it done. The result, today the Island city nation, which had nothing at inception, is a well-oiled functioning country, with a well secured and anchored economic hub which is the envy of so many countries in the world. Singapore has near to zero crimes with the second lowest crime rates in the world;  is super clean, is very business friendly; has nearly a flawless functioning society; and someone made these possible and that someone is no more, the reason the nation is thrown into mourning for that someone's loss.

Icheoku says if indeed there is heaven where meritorious persons are rewarded according to their deeds while they sojourned here on earth, surely Lee Kuan Yew would be readily recommended by his people for a prominent seat therein. Lee Kuan Yew came, Lee Kuan Yew saw and Lee Kuan Yew conquered for his people of Singapore and they are grateful that Lee Kuan Yew happened on their society, turning it into a society worth dying for. Like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King as well as other leaders of nations and personalities who rose up to the challenge to do the needful when duty called and while they lasted but are now gone, Lee Kuan Yew has now joined that pantheon of such great men. His people of Singapore are in deep shock and sincerely mourning the loss of their shining star and the man whose image represented everything good about Singapore.

Unfortunately, Nigeria is not yet blessed with such people as above as none of Nigeria's leaders would be so missed when eventually they are gone. Not Olusegun Obasanjo, who most Nigerians will celebrate his departure whenever he kicks the bucket; not Sani Abacha whose death Nigerians prayed was not soon enough in coming; not Ibrahim Babangida whose happenstance on the Nigeria political landscape left so much to be desired including the annulment of the freest election of June 12; and of course not Muhammad Buhari who is yet to apologize for those three innocent Nigerians he murdered. No Nigerian leader thus far has displayed the audacity of courage and vision needed to pursue great things which make great leaders out of great nations. So because of this incapacity, they will not be so missed nor so mourned at their departure since they failed to lead Nigeria to greatness. Except for regional leaders like Obafemi Awolowo and Odimegwu Ojukwu, who both provided that type of leadership to their Yoruba and Igbo people of Biafra and may be Ahmadu Bello for his Northern people, no Nigerian leader ever had what it takes to join this class of leaders. Anyway, Icheoku condoles with the people of Singapore on their loss and says rest in peace LKY, Adieu!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

GEJ ALL THE WAY TILL 2019


TODAY IS THE DAY TO VOTE GEJ, SO GO VOTE FOR JONATHAN. MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA WITH A REELECTED PRESIDENT JONATHAN AND MAY GOD EQUALLY DELETE BUHARI FROM EVERY VOTER'S MIND WHILE INSIDE THE VOTING BOOTH IJN, AMEN!

Friday, March 27, 2015

NIGERIA DECIDES 2015, VOTE AND VOTE WISELY!











Icheoku says what a great news indeed it is for democracy development in Nigeria that finally, the government facilitated enabling environment for opposition parties to thrive has produced a good result. It is a good thing for Nigerians to be proud of that finally a viable opposition party is putting a strong showing in this election 2015. Icheoku says both developments are very good for the future of Nigeria and the growth of its democracy, because it will force any government in power to perform well, knowing that Nigerians finally now have real choices at elections. Icheoku says congratulations to President Goodluck Jonathan and his PDP as well as the facilitators of the APC, Nigeria's current strongest opposition party, for making this remarkable development possible. 

That being said, Saturday's Federal election and April's State election must be used to further prove to the entire world that their favorable assessment of a Nigeria's thriving democracy is real and not a ruse. Therefore Nigerians especially gladiators in both parties and their supporters must eschew election violence of any kind; and in the spirit of sportsmanship, accept the result of the election in good faith and together continue to nurture democracy in Nigeria. So as you vote for your preferred candidate, remember that there will be more elections in the future of Nigeria and that if your candidate did not win this time, there will be always a next time for a do-over, so don't sweat it. 

That Icheoku has a preferred candidate in this election is without doubt and Icheoku hereby urge those still voting or leaning Buhari to seriously reconsider their decision. Political divisions not withstanding, Nigerians must look at the big picture and vote for what is in the best interest of Nigeria. Icheoku insists that Buhari is not such best interest, particularly his very advanced age seriously considered. But Buhari voters factored in, Icheoku is still very confident that President Goodluck Jonathan will emerge victorious in this election. Icheoku projected this outcome several months ago and is hereby reiterating that when the polls close on Saturday, the announced result will be a reelected President Goodluck Jonathan. Admitted the APC put up a good fight going into the election but Nigeria is still largely a primordial society where allegiances are still largely dictated by other sundry interests which are heavily weighted in favor of the incumbent President Jonathan. Therefore the social media driven propaganda of a "change-denudation" in the pipeline will not materialize; but will fizzle out and merely freeze over before ever making it to the other end of the pipe as a gushing reality. That the APC chose for its candidate a personality, so heavily damaged politically, did not help their cause either. Many askance Nigerians will vote against this slight on them by the APC indifference to their concerns about Buhari and will vote against Muhammadu Buhari in protest of his draconian first time around. The winner will be President Jonathan, who, many undecided voters would chose as the lesser of the two-evil option. 

However, appealing to those Buhari voters one final time, Icheoku says, admitted that even suicide bombers are always convinced on the rightness of their cause and course of action, and knowing too, that does not make it right or justified, your voting Buhari could still use a change of mind. So instead of being herded by your hearts into the Buhari barn, pause for a moment to listen to the wise counseling of your brain concerning the mortal mistake you are about to make and for which you will eventually cry 'if only I had listened to the warning - caveat emptor.' Before pulling the trigger for Muhammadu Buhari, ask yourself, is Buhari the best APC could have fielded, their change mantra considered. Please do not simply because you want to spite your face, cut off your nose. President Jonathan may not have impressed you enough to easily earn your votes for a second term; President Jonathan may not have wowed you enough to be considered deserving of your votes this second time; President Jonathan may in your eyes and judgment be timid, unappealing, uninspiring, uncharismatic, too reserved and too gentlemanly; but is a 72 year grandpa a replacement option you would comfortably and satisfactorily sign off on? 

Icheoku urges these voters to please consider the ramifications of their voting Buhari and instead vote to give Jonathan a second chance opportunity to improve and consolidate. Icheoku accepts that President Jonathan's first term was not necessarily an "A" performance-presidency, but logic and clear thought is in favor of giving him a second chance to improve on all the gains of his first term and then make rightful amends where needed. Also to those fence sitters, those undecided voters who are still straddling the fence on who to vote for, Icheoku urges you to break for President Jonathan. Please voting cliffhangers, vote wisely and vote smartly; vote to not change the horse midstream because continuity and consolidation are keys to success and Nigeria is already primed to succeed and should not be disrupted.

As with most first term presidencies the world over, it is usually an internship during which the incumbent learns on the job; and then use the gained knowledge to perform better during second term when they are no longer under undue pressure of trying to please all their campaign benefactors. Such second-termers are usually driven by only their legacy and they strive hardest to leave lasting legacies on the landscape. Icheoku knows this for a fact as chronicled presidencies throughout the world shows the same pattern and President Jonathan's second term will not be an oddball exception. Experimenting de novo with a 72 year old grandpa in today's world is not an option; not when Nigerians have an incumbent who has finished learning on the job and is now ready to fully put his knowledge to optimally work for Nigerians. But hey, cast your vote as only you and your conscience can agree to live with; but Icheoku prays you do so with your thinking hat on and not a sleeve-attached ephemeral emotive sanctimony. Also remember there should be no violence whatsoever in this election, both candidates are just candidates and not Nigeria; so protect your country and fellow country men and women, say no to violence. On March 28, VOTE like you understood what issues are at stake in this election, VOTE GEJ. Happy voting day Nigerians. Salute!

Thursday, March 26, 2015

VOTING BUHARI, SHAME ON YOU !!!

Icheoku asks on what basis would you justify such vagrant betrayal? Why reward and edify him with your vote? A man who did not show mercy to Nigerians and you want to show him empathy? A  man who murdered some three innocent Nigerians in cold blood and you are going to give him an all clear okay for good behavior; except you are a partaker of murder and an accomplice? A man who disgraced eminent Nigerian citizens including revered traditional rulers and you are doffing your hat for him? A man who drastically abridged all freedoms including freedom of speech, movement and even drinking alcoholic beverages and you want to say this type of behavior meets your standard of good behavior? Icheoku asks why reward a denigrate and degenerative despot, who in a more civilized climes would be wallowing in the cold concrete slabs of a maximum security confinement, with your vote? 

Are you telling Icheoku that all Muhammadu Buhari's infra dignities have magically been washed away and that he is now a new man, a born-again? Buhari is your corruption tsar, yet he surrounded himself with every Nigerian corruption personified imaginable? Buhari is not corrupt, yet he borrowed 27 million Naira for his presidential form under rosy terms and conditions shrouded in secrecy; and his wife donated 135 million Naira shortly thereafter? Please before you pull that trigger of your vote, think again; think through your judgment as a vote for Buhari is a vote approving people behaving badly. It is empowering bad behavior including coup plotting, as it will be interpreted as a sign of approval. 

Finally, even if you don't like President Jonathan, still vote against Buhari because you are conscionable and civilized enough to know that such a tyrant does not deserve a pat on the back with a Nigeria's presidency. Remember Jonestown Gyuana and don't drink the Buhari cool-aid because it is laced with cyanide. Icheoku knows that some Nigerians do not like Jonathan, but they HATE Buhari with passion; so you can still cast a protest vote against Buhari like these other Nigerians who would be settling for the  lesser of the two evil option. With your votes, add impetus to this and say fie Buhari! On MARCH 28, VOTE GEJ.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

GEJ ALL THE WAY TILL 2019, SO VOTE GEJ.

On MARCH 28, VOTE wisely and smartly, VOTE GEJ!

APC IS OUT OF GAS AND RUNNING ON EMPTY?

Icheoku says except for the fumes of their propaganda, the Bola Tinubu owned and controlled APC (Activists Political Charlatans) is running on empty and will sputter to a bitter halt on March 28, 2015 when their presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari would be trounced and roundly defeated by President Goodluck Jonathan. Icheoku says Nigerians please do not buy into the snake-oil that is Muhammad Buhari, which Nigeria's Western detractors have packaged and deceitfully trying to offload on Nigeria. On MARCH 28, VOTE to reject another colonialism by proxy of grandpa Buhari; VOTE to tell these Oyinbo people to take a hike on a desolate highway to wherever, VOTE GEJ.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

ASHRAF GHANI THANKS AMERICA, FINALLY AN APPRECIATIVE PRESIDENT IN KABUL?

314291-1019f6d4-4ac6-11e4-8cfd-20f19adab3b7"You stood shoulder to shoulder with us, and I'd like to say thank you. I would also like to thank the American taxpayer for his and her hard-earned dollars that has enabled us." - Ashram Ghani, Afghanistan President. 
Icheoku says finally at last an urbane and well-mannered president is in charge in Kabul. A man who knows that the Americans are there principally for the interest of Afghanis and that their sacrifice in blood and treasure is for their benefit. Unlike the other crackhead former President Kazai, who was used to running his mouth in disparagement of the Americans as if the Americans were there securing Americans lives and way of life and not those of Afghanis. But hey, the reason there is difference in people and their exposures. Icheoku says this President Ghani has by this singular act of showing and expressing gratitude, enamored himself in our hearts and we wont mind that our taxes are being used in securing his people and country. A civilized gentleman is the newly elected president of Afghanistan, Ashram Ghani Ahmadzai. 

OBAMA THROWS BUHARI UNDER THE BUS, CALLS NIGERIA GREAT!


Icheoku says anyone who follows America's manner of speaking very closely, would clearly understand that the White House seem to have finally given President Jonathan the okay, all clear, green light to win the rescheduled presidential election of March 28, 2015. Sources has it that damaging security report on Muhammadu Buhari's revealed his close association with Boko Haram/ISIS; and this has left the Americans with no choice but to shove him aside in their permutation of who should be the next president of Nigeria, as they would rather have someone in Aso Rock who has demonstrated his willingness and commitment to fighting terrorism than bank on an unproven quantum, who is sympathetic to Boko Haram and now ISIS Islamic causes. The coded messages in the video are quite clear for those trained eyes and ears, who understands telegraphs when sent. Listen closely to what the president said and how he said it, with emphasis on certain words; and then decipher what is coded in the message.

First, the president called Nigeria great; and said that the world is proud of the progress made so far by Nigeria since their return to democratic governance. The purport of this statement is for Nigeria to stay the course and not change the horse midstream; because the international community as well as the financial world want a steady fiscal and political policies in Nigeria to shore up their confidence in the security of their investments and projects undertaken and being undertaken. No one is ever comfortable with fluidly  environment as obtains in banana republics and Obama wants Nigerians to assure the world that they are more stable than that. Therefore the president wants Nigerians to consolidate the gains of the past years and not to start experimenting with new, untested and unproven quantum, de novo. This is the reason he reminded Nigerians that they are now the strongest and biggest economy in Africa and should endeavor to sustain it.

Second, the president emphasized that violence and extremism has no place in any democratic dispensation; and then you wonder who this jab was meant for except the very man who has become the face of political mayhem in Nigeria. A man who is associated with all political violence in Nigeria including the killing of over 800 innocent Nigerians during the 2011 election as well as about twenty-five youth (NYSC) corpers. The president also delved into the past history of Nigeria to remind Nigerians that the military is since long gone in Nigeria; and therefore they should not vote for anyone who will remind them of that their ugly past that is best forgotten, when they were forced to live in a very large concentration slave camp inside Nigeria. So the purport here is for Nigerians not to vote for a violent extremist and a military coup plotter.

Third, President Obama went further to urge Nigerians to reject voices of violence and those calling for destruction of lives and properties just because of election or because Nigerians rejected them before and would reject them once again come March 28, 2015. Obviously Nigerians understand the person of interest here and the reason why this telegraph was sent out. APC's Muhammadu Buhari has promised the shedding of "the blood of baboons and dogs", and equally threatened to make Nigeria bloodier this time than he made it in 2011. The other guy on the other hand has severally pledged that no Nigerian blood is worth shedding for any political office including the presidency. So for those who heard President Obama loud an clear, the message is that Americans don't want a murderer in Aso Rock.

Fourth, the president said that Boko Haram must be defeated. Nigerians know who among the two principal candidates has the back of Boko Haram covered and the one who is kicking their butt decisively. Boko Haram has become particularly of great concern to the Americans because they have joined forces with ISIS, the other terrorist group America is battling in the Middle East. The Americans will not want to be drawn into another large scale military operations against another terrorist group in Northern Nigeria or Africa with an expanded Boko Haram and ISIS alliance. So President Obama is telling Nigeria to stick with the guy who has shown his will and determination to wipe out the scourge from the face of the earth rather than risk someone whom security report has shown is very sympathetic to Boko Haram and ISIS Islamic causes. 

Finally, the president emphasized that the security, prosperity and human rights of Nigerians are of optimum importance and that Nigerians should be wary of this as they choose their leader on March 28, 2015. Icheoku says Nigerians are aware of the quantum of freedom they are enjoying under the current peace-loving guy from Otuoke. Many Nigerians also remember the gulag that was Nigeria under the other guy from Daura, during his first coming, which saw to so many journalists being imprisoned without any cause, mass incarceration without trial and the killing of three innocent Nigerians who did not commit any death penalty offense. And because the Americans have given up on the possibility of Nigeria breaking up in 2015, as they had projected, President Obama reminded Nigerians or rather borrowed genocidal Gowon's war time slogan - "that keeping Nigeria one is a task that must be done"; except that  Icheoku could care less either way.

Anyway, it was one heck of a good address to the Nigerian people; at least Nigeria, for once, got some good reportage from the Americans and in a very long time. Icheoku hopes the message telegraphed was received by the very discerning Nigerian people, who as expected, will act as advised. Icheoku says any Nigerian expecting the Americans to come out and categorically tell them to dump Muhammadu Buhari must be a novitiate; but the decoded message is quite clear enough and it shows that the White House would be more comfortable dealing with an Aso Rock, whose occupant is named President Goodluck Jonathan. So on March 28, 2015, tell the Americans that you are not too dumb to decipher the message sent; tell the world that Nigeria is not a banana republic with revolving door and fluidly fiscal and economic policies; emphasis that Nigeria will sustain the progress of the past years as well as defend their hard worn democracy; toot that Nigerians will protect their human rights and the freedom of these past years and will not risk any violations. VOTE GEJ.

ELECTION 2015, LAWLESSNESS WILL BE PUNISHED - US/UK.

"Nigeria’s more than 70 million voters will soon go to the polls to choose their country’s leader for the next four years.  Whether the victor is incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan or opposition challenger General Muhammadu Buhari is entirely for Nigerians to decide.  Around the globe, Nigeria’s friends will be united in hoping that the vote will be peaceful, transparent, and fair and that – win or lose – all sides will respect the outcome.

There are good reasons why the international spotlight is firmly fixed on Nigeria during this critical period and why we have come together to support an open and credible electoral process.  Nigeria is Africa’s largest democracy and what happens there will have an impact well beyond its borders.  A successful election, free from violence and with wide participation, accurate vote counting, and responsible leadership from the candidates would inspire the region and spur future progress and prosperity.  It would also be a historic show of support by Nigerians for democratic values and an equally firm rejection of the brutal terrorist group, Boko Haram, and others who advocate or perpetrate violence.
As friends and democratic partners of Nigeria, we urge that the voting for president and parliament go forward as scheduled on March 28; there should be no further delay of this crucial vote.  We are heartened by the fact that Nigerians from across the political spectrum appear to recognize the necessity of inaugurating a new president by the constitutionally mandated deadline of May 29.
Obviously, we share Nigerians’ concerns about violence, both related to elections and more generally.  In 2011, more than 800 people died in post-election clashes, and a recent survey shows that half of Nigerians are concerned about political intimidation this time around.  The good news is that President Jonathan and General Buhari have repeatedly and publicly stressed their commitment to nonviolence before, during, and after Election Day.  Both candidates have affirmed their intent to act solely through legal channels in pursuing any concerns that might arise regarding the fairness of the vote.  It is imperative that they – and their backers – live up to this pledge.  Elections should be decided at the ballot box and, if necessary, in the courts; not through efforts to coerce others.  Respect for the constitutional process and the independence of Nigeria’s Independent National Election Commission, INEC, is the right approach, and the only one that offers a sustainable way to address Nigeria’s many challenges.
The countries we represent, the United States and the United Kingdom, strongly support the pledges articulated by the Nigerian candidates.  The elections must be decided in accordance with the rule of law.  It follows that any person who incites violence at any stage in the electoral process, or who seeks power through unconstitutional means, should be held accountable and should understand that the consequences will be severe, both domestically and internationally.
After an election, it is natural to focus attention on the winner, but in any democracy, the unsuccessful candidates also have critical roles to play.  No one expects any political leader to retreat from firmly-held policy positions or beliefs, but a losing candidate owes it to his or her country to acknowledge defeat as soon as the popular verdict is clear, to urge supporters to accept the outcome, and to advocate unity in the face of national threats.  That is the kind of leadership Nigeria needs.
A free, fair and peaceful presidential election does not guarantee a successful democracy, but it is nevertheless an essential ingredient – especially now in Nigeria.  This is a country rich in resources and blessed by a creative and dynamic population.  Its leaders can be extremely effective as evidenced by their swift action to prevent Ebola from establishing a foothold in their nation – thus saving thousands of lives. Overall economic growth rates are healthy and parts of the country are doing well.  And yet, Nigeria has been held back by local tensions, a wide disparity between rich and poor, the lack of an adequate safety net for the disadvantaged, shortages of electricity, a rigid bureaucracy, and widespread corruption.  These challenges have made the country vulnerable to internal conflict including the kidnappings, murders, and other atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram.  Nigeria’s next government will need the support of all its citizens to address these challenges, and its unity will make it easier, on the security side, for regional neighbors and the larger international community to provide necessary help.
We urge all eligible Nigerians to vote, to resist those who attempt to incite violence, and to come together as one country to defend against terrorist threats and to build the shared prosperity and enduring freedom all Nigerian citizens deserve." 
Signed:US Secretary of State John Kerry and UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. 

Monday, March 23, 2015

BUHARI FOR PRESIDENT, ONLY IN A STRANGELY STUNTED NIGERIAN SOCIETY?

Icheoku says so many of us were still bed-wetting way back in the seventies when Olusegun Obasanjo first stepped unto power and forty long years later, the same Olusegun Obasanjo is still a factor in Nigeria's power equation? Bamangar Tukur was governor of now defunct Gongola State in the seventies and forty years later, the same grandpa is still holding forte in Nigeria as chairman of Nigeria Railway Corporation? Edwin Clark was a minister way back in the sixties and almost fifty years later, the same man is still having a say on how Nigeria is governed? Ditto Alex Ekwueme, Samuel Ogbomudia, Jim Nwobodo, Ebenezar Babatope, Balarabe Musa and so many other dinosaurs of Nigerian political landscape, who have refused to yield the space and move away to make way for the new generation to try their luck?  Now Nigerians are once again being burdened with another one of this very old breed personality named Muhammadu Buhari. 


Icheoku says it is one heck of an eyesore and a testament of a stunted growth of a society that this bred of tired but not retired odd fellows and archival politicians, are still holding sway and wielding so much power in Nigeria, so many several decades after their first debut on the Nigerian political firmament.  It therefore should be a cause for serious great concern to every Nigerian, who is positively vested in the future of the country, that these people still dictate what goes on, up and down in the country after five decades of independence. Admitted that as bona fide citizens of the country that they reserve the right like any other Nigerian to participate in the politics of the country; but a thriving polity would have since told them thank you, enough, not anymore; as we need to try new hands while continually training other future leaders of the country. 
But unfortunately, a society under the spell of perpetual dependency; a captive society with deranged psyche which has been additional traumatized by repeated military dictatorships and very uncaring leaderships, found itself always genuflecting and trembling before these "council of elders" and at the pain of being branded "disrespectful" to elders? Icheoku queries when shall our people ever be finally freed of some of these apparent hold-backs, some of which have seen nineteen century solution being applied to twenty first century problems? Therefore, given that these old breeds have refused to yield the floor or even die off, the question then becomes, when would the opportunity ever finally present itself for those Nigerians who were young when these guys first came to power, but who are gradually getting old themselves, to take over the mantle of leadership and infuse some new ideas into the staled way of doing things by these political Methuselahs? How then can the young ever grow in Nigeria when the old has refused to yield space? 
So anyone still wondering why Nigeria has remained the ever all motion and no movement, revolving door to nowhere, it has been since independence, should wonder no further but take a look at the man the APC is trying to force upon Nigeria as president in this new millennium 2015. A man who first ruled Nigeria in the eighties when Ronald Reagan held forte in the United States; Margret Thatcher ruled Britain; Soviet Union was still in existence; Nelson Mandela was still locked away to rot in Robben Island prison; Czechoslovakia was still one country; Yugoslavia was still intact and under the firm grip of Father Tito and of course President Obama was still hustling on the streets of Hawaii? This is the man now being pushed by some Nigerians with the help of their foreign sponsors to again mount the saddle of leadership in Nigeria;  a matter made worse because some Nigerians are even seriously considering that proposition? Icheoku says any Nigerian who does not see anything wrong with this picture is possibly part of the problem afflicting Nigeria. It suggests that the school of political pupillage in Nigeria has never graduated any person all these past three decades plus since 1983; and then query, what future awaits a country so patently deprived of grooming its future leaders? 
Icheoku asks, are these entrenched political dinosaurs never ashamed that President Barack Obama of the United States of America not too long ago just turned fifty years old? Are these people not ashamed that in the United Kingdom,  a man who they know when he was in diapers, David Cameron, is leading that country? Are these elders not ashamed that in Mexico, President Enrique Pena Nieto was born in 1966 when Edwin Clark was already a serving minister in Nigeria? When these people travel to meet these youthful leaders of other more progressive countries, how do they feel about their own deprived youths at home and generally being protocoled? Icheoku says these people are bleeding Nigeria and very heavily too and it is about time they retire or are retired for good. Their stale ideas and archaic way of doing things no longer works nor has any value-added place in this new millennium. It is about time the app-generation is allowed access to power so that they can introduce virtual knowledge to problem solving in order to keep moving the country forward. These stone-aged politicians' stale understanding of micro-economics and other basic intricacies of governance is no longer what drives the modern world and they all need to be retired and NOW. 
These people are bereft of fresh ideas that effortlessly turn the wheel of international camaraderie and cooperation between nations. Internally, the result is nearly the same as they expect everyone to bow and genuflect to their grandpa and should respectfully not air an opinion or become a contrarian just because 'grandpa' has already ruled on it and so should it be? Query, when was the last time 'grandpa'  googled or researched what is the latest new trend in Singapore or Malaysia or any other countries; and what are other countries of the world doing to reposition themselves and then emulate their template. When was the last time 'grandpa' secured a golf-playing retreat with a United States president or Japanese Prime Minister so that he can smooch them into looking the way of Nigeria with their foreign assistance programs? Does grandpa understand the language of modern foreign relations well enough that what he needs for Nigeria from these foreign leaders, he knows how to speak it and get result? Unfortunately, their processors are not such that a reboot or patch could easily fix, rather it needs a complete and total replacement. This is the fork in the road with the current madness driving the clamor by some Nigerians for a Buhari presidency and you ask yourself which planet did these Nigerians inhabit? 
But a culture that still defers to this sort of controlling anomaly is yet to deem it fit to tell these council of elders that their rightful place is their retirement country homes but not the seat of power. These elders should be minded to move away from seat of power or forced to do so; to make way for the young and restless, who are more energetic, to competitively take on their global colleagues from other countries and make Nigeria sizzle.  So, as you go into the voting booth on March 28, ask yourself are you going to remain part of the problem or would you rather become part of the solution. Would you vote to sustain this riveting control or would you vote to permanently sever it and retire these band of elders willy-nilly? Your hatred for Jonathan or unsatisfactoriness with his performance so far should not be your only deciding factor as you make your decision to vote. Think about the statement you would be making by voting for a 72 years old Muhammadu Buhari, that Nigeria is a stunted society populated by very strange people, who prefer gulag to freedom; and who rewards unrepentant murderers with positions of authority including their country's presidency?  So vote wisely and circumspectly not to help sustain this aberration; vote to permanently retire these disused permanent fixtures from the Nigerian power scene; vote for the more youthful man, VOTE GEJ.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

ELECTION 2015, NOT JUST ABOUT JONATHAN?

Icheoku says regardless of your previous passivity to elections in Nigeria, including being generally apolitical, this Election2015 is totally  different and should get you started and firing on all cylinders. So much are at stake in this election 2015 as it is an election like no other Nigerians have ever witnessed. Forces of darkness that have held Nigeria down for too long are desperately fighting a battle of their life not to be completely and totally dislodged and forever banished into irrelevancy. They are fighting like an animal cornered and would rather see Nigeria dragged back to Hades than give up so easily. But the fight is both the Lord's and millions of Nigerians who have had enough and are determined now more than ever to permanently get rid of these parasites from ever holding Nigeria down again. 

Therefore every Nigerian with still some sanity left in him or her must help in this fight to forever stop this cabal from maintaining their stranglehold on Nigeria; and to ensure   the establishment of a permanent level-playing field for all. The concluded National Conference is a right step in this direction and its recommendations, if fully implemented, will go a long way in redressing the anomalies of the past many decades. It will ensure a Nigeria that is more fairly reorganized and where every Nigerian is equally treated. So while in the voting booth this election 2015, as you contemplate before you vote, ask yourself whether this effort is worthy your championship? Thereafter, vote to have the recommendations of the National Conference implemented as it will ensure the enthronement of equality, equity and fairness in Nigeria. The APC is against the National Conference, they repeatedly made that much known to Nigerians; so expecting them to implement its report is a wishful thinking. Therefore if Nigerians want to see the recommendations of the National Conference implemented, they must vote the party that constituted it and which has promised to implement it to the last letter. President Jonathan and the PDP midwifed the National Conference and the report therefrom is their baby and they will implement it with optimal TLC (tender loving care).

Icheoku says every Nigerian must in this election 2015, fight like they have a skin in the game and to protect their interest in the estate called Nigeria accordingly. Nigerians must fight like they mean it and indeed really fight to ensure that what is right is entrenched and that no one would continually bully or intimidate others around merely because of the part of the Nigeria's estate they come from. As a correlation, this right of every Nigerian not to be intimidated in Nigeria includes the right of the present occupant of Aso Rock not to be intimidated out of Aso Rock; and disregarding what APC's racist foreign sponsors might otherwise wish or desire as a preferred outcome for Nigeria. This election 2015 is a fight to defend every Nigerian's interest, including those yet unborn, those dependents and those whomsoever they care for. Icheoku alerts that a lot of things are dependent on the outcome of this election and therefore implores every Nigerian that they are obligated to ensure a positive outcome for President Jonathan.

Muhammadu Buhari belongs to the past and should not be tolerated in the driver's seat of present day Nigeria moving forward. Muhammadu Buhari participated in a counter-coup in the 60s (1966); Muhammadu Buhari was in government as governor and petroleum minister in the 70s (1970 -1977); Muhammadu Buhari staged another coup and was head of State in the 80s (1983 - 1985); Muhammadu Buhari was in government in the 90s (chairman PTF) and again the same Muhammadu Buhari wants to return to government in this 2000s (2015)? Just one person, in a country of over 170 million people, in a period stretching over four decades, participating in governance, yet he is not tired neither does he want to yield the floor to a much younger generation? Regrettably too, Muhammadu Buhari did not leave much of an imprint on the sand of time during the period he strode the estate of governance in Nigeria that is worth mentioning. Recall that it is this same Muhammadu Buhari that was the then military governor of the Northeast Nigeria region, the same impoverished Boko Haram infested region of Nigeria; which goes to show that he did not do much to improve their lot while he served as their governor.

So in this election 2015, Nigerians should vote not just because they love Jonathan but to vehemently reject the fraudulent anomaly called Muhammadu Buhari, who is now masquerading as a corruption tsar. A man who claimed that he was too poor that he had to borrow the 27 million Naira required to pay for his presidential declaration of intent and nomination fees, yet his wife donated 135 million Naira to a charity event shortly soon after? The problem with some Nigerians is that they are indeed too gullible to be seriously buying into this orchestrated roadshow called Muhammadu Buhari and his vow to fight corruption? Icheoku decries that Muhammadu Buhari cannot fight corruption, not when he is surrounded and keeps company with very corrupt individuals, is currently enjoying the fruits of corruption and corrupt proceeds are heavily deployed in paying for and funding his election campaign. 

Who is Muhammadu Buhari deceiving or rather who is he going to first arrest and prosecute for corruption, when not Bola Tinubu, Rotimi Amaechi and all those APC governors who could not afford to pay salaries of their civil servants but are channeling states resources into the presidential campaign fund of Muhammadu Buhari? Like an Igbo adage which says that "he who eats the scrotum of the lamb is owing hydrocele big time", Muhammadu Buhari is now so heavily indebted to corruption slumlords in Nigeria that he must pony up substantially to them if he ever "wins". Icheoku berates that with Muhammadu Buhari, it is now a case of see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil  about and concerning corrupt men and women around him, who he now associates with and who are funding his presidential campaign. Yet he says he wants to fight corruption and wants Nigerians to believe him and vote for him because of this, when his current body language and the company he now keeps suggest otherwise? Nigerians, please tell Muhammadu Buhari to give you a break, a very fat, big break for that matter that he is corruption-free and will vigorously fight corruption in Nigeria!

In this election 2015, there is no place for any sitting on the fence or staying aloof undecided or unperturbed. No, every Nigerian that calls Nigeria home, country or even a place of some interest where to visit periodically, has something to say in this election. With their votes, those voting must  loudly and clearly say that moving back to time long past is not an option they can exercise in this election. Those not voting must unequivocally state their position and what voting wisely is all about and encourage those voting to vote right. Otherwise how could any Nigerian stand by and watch the reprehensible quota system once again triumph over merit? How can any decent Nigerian standby and watch a man who  disproportionately benefited from quota system through his army career, now once again, be similarly rewarded with an unmerited presidency of Nigeria? 

If as APC would like Nigerians to believe that Nigeria deserves a change and that APC is the party of change, why did they not begin the charity from home? Why did the APC not show or lead by good example? Why did the APC not start the change by not presenting a very old man Muhammadu Buhari as their presidential candidate, when they have so many much younger and more youthful candidates than 72 year old Muhammadu Buhari they would have presented as their presidential candidate? Or is his a case of the biblical painted sepulcher our Lord warned us about; otherwise why the APC's current attempt to pour an old wine in a new wine-skin believing it will impact its chemistry, aided by their propaganda?

What answer would any Nigerian who is voting for Muhammadu Buhari give to their children when asked, what then is the value of education if an uneducated or semi-illiterate grandpa is allowed to even run, talkless of winning Nigeria's presidency? This election 2015 is about all those who believe in improving themselves educationally and who or whose parents have spent a lot in that direction. This election 2015 is about all the youths of Nigeria who look at United States of America, United Kingdom, Mexico and even Namibia and see their mates providing leadership in those countries; and turning back to look at their own country, couldn't fathom why not them too? This election 2015 is about all those wise Nigerians who have come to the conclusion that a leopard does not change its spots and neither does the cobra de-fang itself and will then vote to reaffirm that. 

This election  is about all those Nigerians who hate to see injustice done to a man, simply because he came from the minority Niger Delta. Injustice to one is injustice to all; so if a Yoruba man Olusegun Obasanjo did his own full eight years time in the presidency, why not an Ijaw man Jonathan? This election 2015 is about all those Nigerians who believe that there is already a noticeable improvement in Nigeria with regards to infrastructures, growing economy, fight against Boko Haram, general freedom, as well as other new things and ideas that are daily being tested and tried; and who believe that there should be no curve ball thrown to disrupt it at this time. This election 2015 is about all those Nigerians who know that their own very grandfather and great grandfather has no much energy left in them to direct affairs of their families, talkless of that of a nation of over 170 million disparate people? 

This election is about all those Nigerians who cannot stand idly-by and watch an aberration of a blind-man Muhammadu Buhari leading sighted people of Nigeria? This election 2015 is about all those Nigerians who detest the reprehensible quota system and its sacrifice of merit in all national affairs? This election 2015 is about all those Nigerians who indeed truly believe in a united Nigeria, where every Nigerian is equal and are treated equally under the constitution and not as AREWA may otherwise determine or sharia-nize? This election 2015 is about Nigerians who desire to see progressive change in a tangible, meaningful way and not such as is propagandized in a 72 year old grandfather, who was recycled from the previous millennium? This election 2015 is about all those patriotic Nigerians who do not like the current meddling by some racist foreign powers in a purely internal affairs of Nigeria. These people do not like black people and dislike the recent successes recorded in Nigeria and are now hell-bent and eager to derail it by scheming to impose on Nigeria a government of mediocrity led by a mediocre. 

This election 2015 is about all those patriotic Nigerians who are horn-mad that America refused to help Nigeria in their fight against Boko Haram terrorists; refused to sell Nigeria weapons and even went to the extent of pressuring other countries not to sell weapons to Nigeria. Icheoku says only an enemy or a friend who is worse than an enemy, the type MKO Abiola admonished that with a friend like IBB no one needs an enemy, would stand by and watch terrorist ravaging a people and fail or refused to do something to help. So Nigerians, ask yourselves, what interest does the same people now have in trying to influence a Muhammadu Buhari's return to the presidency in Nigeria? It cannot be anything but sinister, motivated by ill-will to pull Nigeria back, down and under. 

Ask yourself Nigerians if the way things have been in Nigeria is okay by you; otherwise do something about it by voting to secure and consolidate the current far-reaching grounds being broken everywhere by the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Entrenched power never yields so easily without a fight and they are now fighting their last battle to remain relevant and in control in Nigeria. But with your votes Nigerians, you can help President Jonathan continue his current revolutionary reforms to make Nigeria a better society. With your votes, just do your part to stop and reject this attempt by these evil forces to roll back the gains of the past few years and their effort to push Nigeria back to the nineteen eighties. You have the power to do something about it and by voting wisely and for someone who at least can process information intelligently, your job would have been three fifths done. Icheoku says had APC given Nigerians an option that they can live with, may be; but not a 72 year old despot, who has the blood of three innocent Nigerians in his hand. 

Nigeria cannot afford to continue to wallow in this perpetual one step forward, two steps backward, all motion and no movement, they have been doing these past decades. Such that each time they are trying to figure things out and begin to make some progress, something always comes from the blues to intervene and checkmate it. This election 2015, Nigerians must say enough of these interruptions to Nigeria's affairs. The ongoing progressive march forward must not be interrupted, not this time and never again. Vote to reject Muhammadu Buhari and his foreign sponsors who want to abort the progress of the past few years. This election 2015, please vote to ensure continuity; please vote to reject foreign meddling in Nigeria's purely internal affairs matter; please vote wisely to end recidivist rule; please vote smartly; please vote for generational shift and the permanent institution of new breed in governance; please vote for a generation that has something to protect and not one that is nearly becoming extinct as a result of age related attrition. On MARCH 28, VOTE GEJ.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

BOKO HARAM'S "LEGITMATE GRIEVANCES", WHAT WAS OBASANJO THINKING?

Icheoku says suddenly the same man who severely and severally vilified President Jonathan for not being tough enough and not going hard on Boko Haram, sullen at the recent successes recorded by the government against the terrorist urchins, has now started singing a different tune? The Ota Deity said Boko Haram has "legitimate grievances" and now wants the government to negotiate with the terrorist group? Icheoku asks, negotiate what with which terrorist group that is almost completely vanquished? Would the government negotiate with the ghosts or spirits or dead bodies of Boko Haram terrorists and agree to concede to them the swaths of territories in Northeast Nigeria to serve as their Islamic caliphate? Or rather has Muhammadu Buhari finally agreed and accepted Boko Haram's nomination of him to serve as their go-between in any negotiation with the government? So please Olusegun Obasanjo, what is it that you want Nigerians to know about this latest kite you are flying over Nigeria in the matter of Boko Haram?

Icheoku asks what is there to negotiate with Boko Haram after being roundly routed and almost defeated by a new improved and better equipped brave fighting men and women of the Nigerian armed forces? Icheoku admonishes that there is nothing to negotiate and urges the government not to accede to this Olusegun Obasanjo's latest inglorious arm-twisting. The government must not again agree to negotiate with these faceless creeps, who rejected all past overtures made in that direction; and instead, have kept terror alive in Nigeria and for such a long time. Instead of commending and congratulating the government for a job well done so far and for improvising for the denied military weaponry by the West, Olusegun Obasanjo is rather busily pontificating a nonsensical proposition? Icheoku asks which manner of a patriot would, at this stage of an overwhelming Nigerian military exploits over Boko Haram, be asking the government to start negotiating with those bloody bastards? A motley of buzzards, who have previously snubbed and reneged on every past peace overture extended to them by the government and now, Olusegun Obasanjo is telling the government to do what? 

When Icheoku expected Olusegun Obasanjo to have pressured his Western collaborators into selling Nigeria weapons and help in the fight against the insurgency, he kept mum; only to now resurface to vomit this unthinkable proposition?  Why is it now that the government is succeeding against Boko Haram and against all detractors odds, that Olusegun Obasanjo is giving his pin-head unsolicited opinion? Why is it now that the government have secured the much needed but denied weapons from other source and is successfully steamrolling over Boko Haram lunatics that Olusegun Obasanjo is offering his two cent opinion? Even when the United States deliberately refused to help Nigeria with much needed weapons and logistics, to the extent that it further pressured other countries to back down on their plans to assist Nigeria with military supplies, not a word of condemnation or solicitation issued from Olusegun Obasanjo. But now that the problem of weapons supply has been solved and the brave Nigerian military are doing brilliantly well in battles against these munchkins, it is time for Olusegun Obasanjo to open his mouth to offer this unsolicited advise? 

So what would make Olusegun Obasanjo to now begin to sing this new refrain that the government should negotiate with Boko Haram or that Boko Haram has "legitimate grievances" that need be looked into by the government?  Icheoku has always maintained that the Boko Haram crisis was purposely foist on the Jonathan administration to deny him peaceful governance of Nigeria by some foreign conspirators acting in concert with their Nigerian  collaborators, including Olusegun Obasanjo. Their mantra has always been that terrorists anywhere are terrorists everywhere and should be resisted by international effort led by America. Whether it is Al Queida, ISIS or Abu Sayaff; it has been a joint world effort with America even begging some impacted countries to please stand up and fight with promise of free weapons and logistics. So Icheoku queries  why is it that when the same genre of terrorists are killing and maiming Nigerians, burning churches and schools, kidnapping school girls as well as committing wanton rape and other gross human rights violations, that the same world led by America, found it okay to stand by and do nothing to help Nigeria overcome the challenge? Why did the Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria not treated as Boko Hram terrorist everywhere, deserving of a world concerted effort to annihilate them? Is it a case of the lives of Nigerians don't matter like every other Joe and Jane black person inhabiting this world? 

Can someone please explain to Icheoku this hypocrisy of the West that terrorists anywhere are terrorists everywhere which should be jointly, collaboratively and completely wiped out. But when it came to Boko Haram terrorists' infestation  of  Northeastern Nigeria, it became a mere regional problem of Nigeria and not a problem for the world to jointly fight off? Certain things in this world does not make any rational common sense; admitted it might make some skewed socio-economic, agenda-driven, sense of some sort which is contrived to permanently keep some people down and out in the cold and forever begging for mere handouts. As a result any gains or suspected gains being made by such a people towards improving their lives or geared towards taking their destiny in their hands, are quickly checkmated, suppressed and smashed. 

After many  decades of faltering without any meaningfully directed forward movement, Nigeria was finally beginning to register some sparks of getting its acts together and now they must be stopped. Boko Haram was cleverly, clandestinely created as a weapon of choice to sabotage this effort; and to make sure it wrecked maximum damage on Nigeria, they refused to sell Nigeria weapons to confront it. However, Nigeria dodged their curve-ball, became more creative with sourcing weapons from other sources and the effort has paid off big time.  A now well equipped, well supplied and highly motivated Nigerian military rose to the challenge and against all odds, are proving themselves worthy in every battle field.  Needless to add that the Nigerian military's  successes went against the prediction of the same West that boasted that defeating Boko Haram would be nearly impossible, if ever; that Boko Haram is so well equipped, so well trained and so well financed that it will be impossible for the "rag-tag" Nigerian military to defeat them; and that it would be only a matter of time before Boko Haram completely ran over the entire Nigeria. But to their greatest chagrin and disdain, the courageous Nigerian military told the West and to their face, we don't think so; not in our backyard and bravely rose up to the occasion and today have taken back 15 out of 16 previously Boko Haram occupied communities. 

What a feat of no mean magnitude by the Nigerian military; yet the West has not recovered much territories from nor defeated ISIS, despite their hi-tec advanced weaponry and sophisticated military. In their rush to write-off the Nigerian military as "rag-tag", they forgot how the same Nigerian military bravely did their dirty work liberating Liberia and Senegal, on their behalf, from long internecine civil wars; fought in Darfur; the Congo as well as other peacekeeping foreign missions throughout the world. But suddenly the same Africa's finest are now 'rag-tagged', murderous and kill-joys and you wonder what kind of love these people indeed really have for Nigeria as well as the entire black race. Like with their earlier useless prediction that Nigeria will break up in 2015, they have once again been proved wrong that Boko Haram can be defeated? Ashamed, they are now exploring other ways to still remain relevant in the matter of Boko Haram and Nigeria. 

Icheoku has also been wondering how suddenly Boko Haram became stronger, got more weapons, more training and more fighting capabilities as well as logistics, finance and intelligence after the United States and other Western countries were allowed into Nigeria under the guise of helping Nigeria fight Boko Haram? While their presence in the country was tolerated, Boko Haram became more audacious, more vicious, had more free range and more Nigerians lost their lives to their terror. But as soon as they were told to pack up and leave and that their services are no longer needed and they left, Boko Haram is now nearly fading into history of a once happened terrorist group in Nigeria. Icheoku asks who therefore indeed was helping who in the Boko Haram struggle and which side indeed were all these Western countries on, which refused to sell Nigeria weapons? What a shame; and ashamed of their complicity and that Nigeria was able to accomplish so much without their help or weapons, they are now scheming to foist another madness on the country.  

As usual, they had found their hatchet man, Olusegun Obasanjo, willing to throw the feeler with his idiotic comment in Dubai that Nigeria should negotiate with a now dead and nearly completely wiped out Boko Haram terrorists? Icheoku says it is the same continuing ill-will against Nigeria that is fueling their fervent interest in the forthcoming Nigerian election. An election which they forgot is Nigeria's purely internal affairs matter where they are fighting hard to impose on Nigeria, a very toxic product, Muhammadu Buhari, whom they have cleverly packaged to become Nigeria's next president. A human rights violator of the highest order; a man who murdered three innocent Nigerians and under whom every freedom was completely emasculated in Nigeria; a man who in their own clime, would be doing a long multiple life prison sentences if not already put to death for his crimes against humanity; yet they turned blind eye to all his infractions and want him to become Nigeria's president? 

Icheoku says the good news is that Nigerians are a lot wiser today than they were in years gone by, and would not have nor stand by and watch any of these conspiracies come to fruition or bring harm to Nigeria. Icheoku asks where was the West when Sani Abacha was slaughtering Nigerians? Where was the West when Sani Abacha murdered Ken Saro Wiwa, Kudirat Abiola, Pa Rewane and other notable democrats in Nigeria? Where was the West when Babangida killed Dele Giwa and Mamman Vasta? Where was the West when Muhammadu Buhari murdered those three innocent Nigerians Bartholomew Owo, Bernard Ojuolpe and Segun Lawal? Where was the West when Muhammadu Buhari overthrew a democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari? Where was the West when Babangida annulled the freest and fairest MKO Abiola election? Instead they preferred to serve MKO Abiola a cyanide-laced cup of tea and watched the man who was then the symbol of democracy in Nigeria and whose right to have his mandate restored should have been backed up by the West, gasped and convulsed to death? Instead of defending his right to have his mandate restored they sacrificed him for the proverbial "common good?" This is the same West that is now trying to sell to Nigerians a Muhammadu Buhari for president and you ask yourself what a soiled, evil intention?

It is pathetic, pitiful, painful and hurtful that the West's unbridled hypocrisy often-times assumes the toga of a 'do-gooder, I love you more than yourself imbecilic idiocy. Icheoku says to hell with Olusegun Obasanjo and his latest negotiation gimmickry. But electing to be a devil's advocate for a moment, Icheoku asks Obasanjo what "legitimate grievances" do these marauding murderers have that should be addressed or worth looking into? Also did these "legitimate grievances" suddenly effervescent to the top during President Jonathan's government? If according to Olusegun Obasanjo's skewed analytics, "only 19% of the people in Northeast Nigeria are receiving education," was that President Jonathan's government's fault or rather that of the state governments of that region as well as parents of those urchins, who are just busily making babies without adequately caring for them? 

The almajiri menace of Northern Nigeria was not a creation of the present government but an existing sociological problem, created by a decadent society that only make babies without caring for them, which problem is beginning to affect the entire country. Further if lack of education is the problem, which type of education is Olusegun Obasanjo talking about? Is it the same Western education which Boko Haram branded as being very dangerous or madrassa Sharia indoctrination or what does Olusegun Obasanjo actually mean? If "lack of education brings disparity and marginalization and leads to their unemployment and bad living condition" as Olusegun Obasanjo postulated, did the situation start under President Jonathan's government? A president, who has done more than any other past president in Nigeria to help educate these almajiris by establishing "educate while wandering" sort of nomadic education for those cattle rearers. 

What indeed does Olusegun Obasanjo want the government to negotiate with Boko Haram over and about? Do these things to be negotiated include that "Western education is dangerous"; that "only Muslims should be presidents in Nigeria"; that "all women should not go to school but remain in purdah?"; that "women should not work but are good only for making babies?"; that "Christianity should be abolished in Nigeria";  that "all churches and other places of worship which are not mosques in Nigeria should be demolished"; that "the constitution of Nigeria should be replaced with the Koran and strict adherence to Sharia Islamic law based on Wahhabism be the new law of the land"; that "adulterers should be stoned to death"; that "petty criminals should have their hands chopped off for stealing eggs?"; that "women should not drive vehicles" or 'that drinking alcoholic beverages are prohibited?" Icheoku asks Obasanjo, wha and what and what does he want Nigeria to negotiate with these nihilistic animals? What are there to negotiate with these beasts of burden, who have been fermenting mindless bloodshed in the country and what are these their "legitimate grievances" that needs looking into by the government according to  Mr Olusegun Obasanjo?

Icheoku wants Olusegun Obasanjo to please line-item all the issues to be negotiated with these mongrels and then forward it to the government for consideration. However,  would these negotiations include the resurrecting of all those innocent Nigerians that Boko Haram took their lives prematurely? Would the negotiation include Boko Haram rebuilding all those churches, schools and markets places which they wantonly destroyed? Would the negotiation include throwing a red carpet reception party for those rabid jackals to welcome them back into the fold of snake Nigerians and thank them for their exploits; and possibly hold such welcome party inside Aso Rock too for crying out loud? What a pity and indeed a very pitiful development that this deranged deity from Ota spit this vomit from his mouth. A matter made worse because some people in Nigeria still listen to him and even take what oozes out of his mouth seriously, as being all that important? 

Icheoku says short of acknowledging him as demented, everything and anything Olusegun Obasanjo makes Icheoku wanna puke. Icheoku says the gloom and sadness of some of these Nigerians who do not wish the country well, including Olusegun Obasanjo,  over the current successes recorded against Boko Haram, is becoming increasingly apparent. It shows that their gang-up against President Jonathan is not altruistic, but contrived and orchestrated with every ulterior motive imaginable to damage, hurt and derail Nigeria's current forward movement. Olusegun Obasanjo is simply out of his mind for saying that Boko Haram has "legitimate grievances" and for calling on the government to negotiate with them. Icheoku says the government MUST not and SHOULD never cave in or yield to this new blackmail by Olusegun Obasanjo to pressure a let off the heat on Boko Haram. What a jerk, a double faced-Janus, a shriveling Boko sympathizer and double-agent 007, this Baba Iyabo is!