Saturday, April 30, 2016
WOLE SOYINKA, THE DILEMMA OF A SAINT - REMI OYEYEMI
In the days leading to the nomination of retired General Mohammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), many Nigerians had a lot of misgivings about his candidacy based upon the records of the lanky looking born again politician. General Buhari is so described because he once toppled a democratically elected government in December 1983. It could be debated whether the overthrow is deserved or not, but that is what the record shows. The post nomination of retired General Buhari as the flag bearer of the APC witnessed never before told corralling of all and sundry to his corner.
All the supposedly independent watchdog groups who ought to have remained neutral were in the corner of the APC and the then candidate Buhari. Revisionists took over to confuse the memories of those who lived through the tragedy of Buhari’s first coming in 1984/1985. Sons were made to denounce their fathers and daughters were forced to reject their mothers to be able to support candidate Buhari. Friends denied each other to be able to support Buhari. Wives fought their husbands to a standstill while husbands threatened their wives with second wives or divorce just to get on Buhari train.
Even, some scions of eminently persecuted politicians during the Buhari’s first coming deodorized the experiences of their fathers in jail and raked up excuses to be able to support the candidacy of Buhari. Many men of principle were forced to compromise their principles. Those who had misgivings were caged in to abandon their good sense of judgments. Those who hesitated were lured with lucre. Cautions were thrown to the curb. Myths were manufactured to inflate the image of candidate Buhari. In that electoral war, truth, reason and caution became casualties.
One of the victims of this sordid experience was our dearly beloved Kongi, Professor Wole Soyinka. Professor Soyinka has always represented the voice of the voiceless in Nigeria. He has always been the voice of reason. He has consistently for more than five decades represent the voice of wisdom. He has incorrigibly stood for reason in the midst of confusion. He had brought clarity when things became foggy. He advocated for fairness when it was lacking. He championed the course of justice when only very few had the courage to do so. He was one of the original Three Musketeers that comprised late Tai Solarin and Gani Fawehinmi. For his beliefs, Professor Soyinka went to jail just like these other moral icons of our society.
The NADECO struggle against the General Sanni Abacha junta and June 12 battles caused the path of Professor Soyinka to cross that of some politicians. Some of these politicians were sincere fighters for democracy. Some of them were opportunists looking for ways to take advantage of the situation. But Kongi was friendly to all. It was a friendship that was later to be cemented by the Presidency of Anambra State born Olusegun Obasanjo-Onyejekwe who went about like a bull in the china shop breaking everything in sight. There were public face offs between Kongi and Obasanjo – Onyejekwe.
While the face – off lasted, some opportunist politicians who wanted to be seen as populist took sides with Kongi and gained his confidence. They courted him and brought him into their fold using him to legitimize themselves while they committed egregious crimes against the people. The fact that they were opposing Obasanjo – Onyejekwe deprived these opportunistic politicians the necessary klieg light to interrogate their stewardship. Even, the devil, if he had come around to fight Obasanjo – Onyejekwe at that point in time would have found some followers.
But in the course of his friendship with the politicians, Professor Soyinka has been a little careless. He has brought into his relationship with them, TRUST, a commodity that politicians don’t value. As a result of his trusting his politician friends, he had allowed himself to be embarrassed on few occasions. He had allowed himself to be muddled in and with the mud by his politician friends. He had allowed them to stain his white garment of honour on several occasions. He had allowed them to put dents in the hard earned armour of his reputation. We do not need to go over the instances when this had occurred.
But the most damaging in his relationship with his politician friends was his endorsement of the candidacy of Buhari. On the day of that endorsement, it was clear that Kongi was not himself. He appeared bereaved. He was tepid, hesitant and halfhearted. He seemed forlorn, jaded and sad. He was not his bright and electrifying self. Even, his statement on this occasion elucidated the fact that this was not our own WS. He was someone else on that day. He was chilly, cold and cool. He was frigid, frosty and icy. His facial construct was distant, apathetic and solitary.
It was clear that Professor Soyinka was filled with a sort of premonition that he was making a serious mistake by endorsing Buhari. His attitude conveyed the impression that he was coerced. His reluctance to endorse was more than palpable. It was clear that someone had probably threatened him that he either endorse or else? It was evident that the constitution of Kongi was in active rebellion against that act of endorsement. His spirit was certainly in revolt and revulsion. Professor Soyinka was engaged in a seditious act against his own conscience. He was in mutiny against his own well considered personal counseling. It was an insurgency against everything that was WS.
This dilemma would be better understood when juxtaposed against the background of Kongi’s earlier positions on candidate Buhari. It was like Kongi was made to lick up his vomits. Professor Soyinka had excoriated Buhari on human rights abuses during his first coming. He had expressed anger that Buhari was yet to be held accountable for his several sins. He had spoke about History as a guide to making judgment about the future. He had been vehement in opposing Buhari candidacy the first three times insisting that he (Buhari) be held accountable for his transgressions against Nigerians and Nigeria.
Professor Soyinka had been very public and unapologetic about his stance on Buhari. He was convinced that Buhari was almost satanic if not luciferic. Anytime any issue relating to Buhari was raised, he instantaneously gets into a combative mood, becomes adversarial and antagonistic. He left anyone and everyone with no doubt that he detested Buhari, not as a person but for what he did to Nigeria and Nigerians during the dark years of 1984 and 1985. He was in always in his right elements every time he had to look back and review the psychological attack engaged in by Buhari against the dignity and self respect of Nigerians during his first coming.
So, to now get him to endorse Buhari was a seismic shift. It was clearly an embarrassment he could not avoid. He was being loyal to his politician friends who have no shame; no respect for integrity; no qualms about lying; no scruples whatsoever; and above all no conscience. Yet, the values that have come to define our own WS include integrity, moral high ground, respect for truth, a life guided by conscience and principle. They are the values that have sold him to not just Nigerians but to the world. They are the kernels of what make our own WS thick. His Nobel prize for Literature only serves to further elucidate and attest to his originality, authenticity and integrity, as an academic and as a conscience of the nation.
In the last year since President Buhari has been in the office, Professor Soyinka had been silent. He had been quiet, mostly. But few days ago, he had to say something about the menace of the Fulani herdsmen. He disclosed that his home had been invaded by them and called on Buhari to do something about the terrors being perpetuated by his Fulani kinsmen. Some are suggesting that Kongi has found his voice. Other are not so sure yet. Some believe that Kongi is mindful of his politician friends and would not want to offend them.
That our own WS has called out President Buhari on his inaction on the menace of the Fulani herdsmen and the trail of tragedy they are leaving across Nigeria is very interesting. It is very interesting because his politician friends mainly in the Southwest are silent and cold towards the plight of their peoples. His APC friends were quiet while people were burnt alive in Ketu, Lagos. They have nothing to say to the countless farmers in their domain who have been murdered and or have their farms destroyed by the Fulani herdsmen.
Since the fortunes of Nigerians turned sour under the Presidency of Buhari, every concerned citizen was waiting to hear from Professor Soyinka. The civil groups have been nowhere to be found either. Barrister Femi Falana has been lost to the politicians. The voiceless have become more voiceless. The poor people have been abandoned. The people they voted for have shown they do not care about them. All the governors are nowhere to be found. The Asiwaju has refused to be in the front of the struggle.
But will Soyinka find his voice again? Will he be able to resolve the dilemma of his loyalty? Is he going to remain loyal to his dishonest politician friends and continue to keep quiet on Buhari’s travesty of an administration? Or will he revert back to being the conscience of the nation and the voice of the voiceless? Will he be able to remove the stains on his sainthood? Does he still have the will and the energy? Time will tell. “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.” – John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961
Friday, April 29, 2016
INDIANA END THE CONSPIRACY, HELP PUSH TRUMP ACROSS THE FINISH LINE. VOTE FOR TRUMP.
Icheoku says the State of Indiana has a pivotal role to play in the ongoing Republican Party presidential primaries. The Hoosier State can end all the gang ups and conspiracies to stop Donald Trump by simply voting for Donald Trump and thus make history as the state that ensured Donald Trump irrevocably secures the presidential nomination. Icheoku says Indiana, make history, on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP and together lets make America great again. Go Trump; Vote Trump.
GRAZING RIGHTS CANNOT TROUNCE RIGHTS TO LIFE - AJIMOBI.
“This is the time to call a spade a spade. Those clamouring for creation of grazing zones across the country should have a rethink. It is against the Land Use Act; it is against the law of natural justice to seize people’s land to cater for someone’s cattle.
Grazing zones could be created for those who are traditional cattle rearers in their areas. I’m not against that, but you cannot come here and tell me you want to occupy our land for grazing zones. The land exists in our respective states and as such, the rightful owners should decide what to do with them.
Anybody outside this zone willing to rear cattle here will need to approach the state to buy the land and we offer what is available with rules. There is no free land for grazing zones. We need to take this firm position. It won’t happen.” - Governor Ajimobi of Oyo State.
Icheoku agrees with Governor Ajimobi and says the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If it were them, they will not tolerate such disruption of life and activities in their respective states. The Hausa/Fulanis of Nigeria are forcing down the throats of other Nigerians what they will not take themselves.
Icheoku agrees with Governor Ajimobi and says the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If it were them, they will not tolerate such disruption of life and activities in their respective states. The Hausa/Fulanis of Nigeria are forcing down the throats of other Nigerians what they will not take themselves.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
THE FULANI CATTLE REARER, THAT YOU MAY KNOW THEM - YUSUF MAITAMA SULE.
"The philosophy of the herdsman, you may have observed and may have seen is that the Fulani herdsman is always in front of his cows, leading them. He is not behind them driving them from behind. He is in front leading his cattle. The Fulani herdsman hangs a stick over his shoulders. That stick is not for beating them. It is for guarding his cattle. That Fulani herdsman can make his cattle do everything he wants them to do. While he is leading them in front, if he stops anywhere, they all would stop. If he should jump into the water, they all would jump into the water. If he starts running, all of them would run after him. He names all of his cattle. If he calls any one of his cattle by their name, they would come to him. It would leave the herd and come to him.
“In those days when there was the cattle tax, the Jangali, and if the tax man came to count the cattle in his herds, if he did not want his cattle to be counted, he would whistle or make a tune and the cows would all disperse into the forest.
“After the tax man had gone, he would make another whistle and they would all come back to him. During the rainstorm, the herdsman would take shelter under the tree and these animals would come and chase him away from under the tree and bring him to the open and make a circle around him, protecting him. “They would not want him to sit under the tree for the fear that thunder may fall and crush their leader. Now, why do these cows behave like that? Why are they so obedient to their leader? The herdsman has sacrificed his life for his cattle, he has sacrificed his leisure for his cattle; he has sacrificed his health for his cattle”.
“For the herdsman never leaves his cattle. He would sleep with the cows in the forest. If any one of them sleeps in the middle of the night, he would go out and get his herbs and leaves and treat this cow. If in the middle of the night he hears the cry of a leopard trying to take away a single calf, he would rather die than allow that wild animal to take away his calf.”
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
FULANI CATTLE REARING TERRORISTS, WE WILL MATCH FORCE FOR FORCE - ARCHBISHOP CHUKWUMA.
“What happened in Nimbo community of Uzo-Uwani cannot be tolerated and so we are calling on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the Hausa Fulani’s in the East because these are now Boko Haram in Igboland which cannot be tolerated.
“The lives being lost over the menace of Fulani herdsmen can no longer be tolerated; so we are condemning this act and saying that enough is enough! Failure to stop this menace in the South East will result to our mobilizing our youths, including MASSOB, and other Biafra agitators to go after the Fulani’s in the South East.
“We are going to ban the movement of cows from the North to the South East; we will ban and we will make sure that no Fulani person operates here with his cow. Mr. President must do something about this; we will not allow this to escalate in the East and as a church leader, on behalf of other leaders, I am saying that we will match force for force. I will declare serious war against the Fulani in Igboland.” - Archbishop of Enugu Anglican Diocese, Most Reverend Chukwuma.
ICHEOkU says this Archbishop speaks for ICHEOKU as well as millions of other right-thinking Ndigbo who will not hesitate to take up arms to forcefully stop this madness. Fire for fire is the answer and no nation survives two civil wars. ENOUGH.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
TED CRUZ AND JOHN KASICH TAG TEAM FROM HELL, TOO LITTLE TOO LATE.
Icheoku when every thing so far thrown at Donald Trump to derail or stop the Trump Movement has failed, the Republican establishment and their preferred minions, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, are now being used as the last kitchen sink for 'a now or never' helluva wrench. Icheoku says too little too late as the train has since left the station and trying to make it stop now or bring it back to station is an effort in futility.
A case of dogs in the manger, knowing fully well that the door to the nomination has been securely shut at their faces, now they want to stop another from getting in and taking his trophy? Anyway they are colluding in vain as Donald Trump is God's anointed one this 2016 to lead America out of its current depression in everything and everywhere; and like the good Lord said, "touch not my anointed." Icheoku agrees with Donald Trump that John Katich and Ted Cruz are simply pathetic, thinking that their latest lame alliance stands a chance in hell of triggering an earthquake that will convulse the Trump Movement. Anyway desperate times calls for desperate measures and these desperadoes are so full of it. Now a Lyin' Ted and a Colluding Kasich are partners in conspiracy.
Icheoku says like with every other past efforts by the establishment to hold unto power by stopping Trump, this latest effort to use a tag team of two losers will also fail and woefully too. Donald Trump is a chosen one, THE ONE, and no weapons of the enemies fashioned against him shall prosper. Icheoku once again call on all right-thinking Americans to read the handwriting on the wall and ask why all these attempts to stop The Donald; what is the beef. But the answer is as clear as daylight - his promise to make America great again and build that wall and have Mexico pay for it is roiling feathers of all those haters who prefer to maintain the status-quo. Power fights back and now power is really fighting back and shamelessly so. Go Donald and together lets help you make America great again. VOTE TRUMP.
Monday, April 25, 2016
CHARLES KOCH ENDORSES HILLARY CLINTON?
Icheoku says not at all surprised that this endorsement of Hillary Clinton is coming from one of the Koch brothers. By so doing, Charles Koch has affirmed that the Hillary Clinton who is now campaigning, is different from the Hillary Clinton that delivers speeches behind closed doors to Wall Street donors. According to Charles Koch, her actions will certainly be different from her campaign rhetorics; and thus made her purchasable and deliverable to special interest groups. In his own words, Charles Koch said "we have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric." Icheoku says another evidence that Hillary Clinton is in bed with special interests including the Koch Brothers.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
DONALD TRUMP, HOW IT ALL BEGAN - HABERMAN AND BURN
Donald Trump arrived at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April 2011, reveling in the moment as he mingled with the political luminaries who gathered at the Washington Hilton. He made his way to his seat beside his host, Lally Weymouth, the journalist and socialite daughter of Katharine Graham, longtime publisher of The Washington Post. A short while later, the humiliation started.
The annual dinner features a lighthearted speech from the president; that year, President Obama chose Mr. Trump, then flirting with his own presidential bid, as a punch line. He lampooned Mr. Trump’s gaudy taste in décor. He ridiculed his fixation on false rumors that the president had been born in Kenya. He belittled his reality show, “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Mr. Trump at first offered a drawn smile, then a game wave of the hand. But as the president’s mocking of him continued and people at other tables craned their necks to gauge his reaction, Mr. Trump hunched forward with a frozen grimace. After the dinner ended, Mr. Trump quickly left, appearing bruised. He was “incredibly gracious and engaged on the way in,” recalled Marcus Brauchli, then the executive editor of The Washington Post, but departed “with maximum efficiency.”
That evening of public abasement, rather than sending Mr. Trump away, accelerated his ferocious efforts to gain stature within the political world. And it captured the degree to which Mr. Trump’s campaign is driven by a deep yearning sometimes obscured by his bluster and bragging: a desire to be taken seriously. That desire has played out over the last several years within a Republican Party that placated and indulged him, and accepted his money and support, seemingly not grasping how fervently determined he was to become a major force in American politics. In the process, the party bestowed upon Mr. Trump the kind of legitimacy that he craved, which has helped him pursue a credible bid for the presidency.
“Everybody has a little regret there, and everybody read it wrong,” said David Keene, a former chairman of the American Conservative Union, an activist group Mr. Trump cultivated. Of Mr. Trump’s rise, Mr. Keene said, “It’s almost comical, except it’s liable to end up with him as the nominee.” Repeatedly underestimated as a court jester or silly showman, Mr. Trump muscled his way into the Republican elite by force of will. He badgered a skittish Mitt Romney into accepting his endorsement on national television, and became a celebrity fixture at conservative gatherings. He abandoned his tightfisted inclinations and cut five- and six-figure checks in a bid for clout as a political donor. He courted conservative media leaders as deftly as he had the New York tabloids.
At every stage, members of the Republican establishment wagered that they could go along with Mr. Trump just enough to keep him quiet or make him go away. But what party leaders viewed as generous ceremonial gestures or ego stroking of Mr. Trump — speaking spots at gatherings, meetings with prospective candidates and appearances alongside Republican heavyweights — he used to elevate his position and, eventually, to establish himself as a formidable figure for 2016. In an interview on Friday, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he had encountered many who doubted or dismissed him as a political force before now. “I realized that unless I actually ran, I wouldn’t be taken seriously,” he said. But he denied having been troubled by Mr. Obama’s derision. “I loved that dinner,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “I can handle criticism.
That evening of public abasement, rather than sending Mr. Trump away, accelerated his ferocious efforts to gain stature within the political world. And it captured the degree to which Mr. Trump’s campaign is driven by a deep yearning sometimes obscured by his bluster and bragging: a desire to be taken seriously. That desire has played out over the last several years within a Republican Party that placated and indulged him, and accepted his money and support, seemingly not grasping how fervently determined he was to become a major force in American politics. In the process, the party bestowed upon Mr. Trump the kind of legitimacy that he craved, which has helped him pursue a credible bid for the presidency.
“Everybody has a little regret there, and everybody read it wrong,” said David Keene, a former chairman of the American Conservative Union, an activist group Mr. Trump cultivated. Of Mr. Trump’s rise, Mr. Keene said, “It’s almost comical, except it’s liable to end up with him as the nominee.” Repeatedly underestimated as a court jester or silly showman, Mr. Trump muscled his way into the Republican elite by force of will. He badgered a skittish Mitt Romney into accepting his endorsement on national television, and became a celebrity fixture at conservative gatherings. He abandoned his tightfisted inclinations and cut five- and six-figure checks in a bid for clout as a political donor. He courted conservative media leaders as deftly as he had the New York tabloids.
At every stage, members of the Republican establishment wagered that they could go along with Mr. Trump just enough to keep him quiet or make him go away. But what party leaders viewed as generous ceremonial gestures or ego stroking of Mr. Trump — speaking spots at gatherings, meetings with prospective candidates and appearances alongside Republican heavyweights — he used to elevate his position and, eventually, to establish himself as a formidable figure for 2016. In an interview on Friday, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he had encountered many who doubted or dismissed him as a political force before now. “I realized that unless I actually ran, I wouldn’t be taken seriously,” he said. But he denied having been troubled by Mr. Obama’s derision. “I loved that dinner,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “I can handle criticism.
Over the next few months, Mr. Trump met quietly with Republican pollsters who tested a political message and gauged his image across the country, according to people briefed on his efforts, some of whom would speak about them only on the condition of anonymity. One pollster, Kellyanne Conway, took a survey that showed Mr. Trump’s negative ratings were sky-high, but advised him there was still an opening for him to run. Another, John McLaughlin, who had been recommended to Mr. Trump by the former Clinton adviser Dick Morris, drew up a memo that described how Mr. Trump could run as a counterpoint to Mr. Obama in 2012, and outshine Mr. Romney with his relentless antagonism of the president.
Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, wrote a column on his website envisioning a Trump candidacy steamrolling to the nomination, powered by wall-to-wall media attention. After all that preparation, Mr. Trump rejected two efforts to “draft” him set up by close advisers. If his interest in politics was growing, he was not yet prepared to abandon his career as a reality television host: In mid-May, Mr. Trump announced that he would not run and canceled a planned speech to a major Republican fund-raising dinner in Iowa.
Having stepped back from a campaign of his own, Mr. Trump sought relevance through Mr. Romney’s. Again, Mr. Trump’s determination to seize a role for himself collided with the skepticism of those he approached: While he saw himself as an important spokesman on economic issues and a credible champion for the party, the Romney campaign viewed him as an unpredictable attention-seeker with no real political foundation. Still, given his expansive media platform — in addition to his reality-show franchise, Mr. Trump was a frequent guest on Fox News — and a fortune that he could theoretically bestow upon a campaign, Mr. Trump was drawing presidential candidates seeking his support to his Fifth Avenue high-rise. In September 2011, Mr. Romney made the trip, entering and exiting discreetly, with no cameras on hand to capture the event.
The decision to court Mr. Trump, former Romney aides said in interviews, stemmed partly from the desire to use him for fund-raising help, but also from the conviction that it would be more dangerous to shun such an expert provocateur than to build a relationship with him and try to contain him. The test of that strategy came in January 2012, before the make-or-break Florida primary, when Mr. Trump reached out to say he wanted to endorse Mr. Romney at a Trump property in the state. Wary of such a spectacle in a crucial state, Mr. Romney’s aides began a concerted effort to relegate Mr. Trump’s endorsement to a sideshow.
The Romney campaign conducted polling in four states that showed Mr. Trump unpopular everywhere but Nevada, and suggested to Mr. Trump that they hold an endorsement event there, far away from Florida voters. On the day he was to deliver the endorsement in Las Vegas, according to Mr. Romney’s advisers, Mr. Trump met with Romney aides and said he hoped to hold a joint news conference with Mr. Romney, raising for the campaign the terrifying possibility that Mr. Romney might end up on camera responding to reporters’ questions next to a man who had spent months questioning whether the president was an American citizen.
In an appeal to Mr. Trump’s vanity, the Romney campaign stressed that his endorsement was so vital — with such potential to ripple in the media — that it would be a mistake to dilute the impact with a question-and-answer session. “The self-professed genius was just stupid enough to buy our ruse,” said Ryan Williams, a former spokesman for the Romney campaign. While they agreed to hold the event in a Trump hotel, the campaign put up blue curtains around the ballroom when the endorsement took place, so that Mr. Romney did not appear to be standing “in a burlesque house or one of Saddam’s palaces,” Mr. Williams said. On stage, as the cameras captured the moment, Mr. Romney seemed almost bewildered. “There are some things that you just can’t imagine happening in your life,” he told reporters as he took the podium, taking in his surroundings. “This is one of them.”
Mr. Trump insisted in the interview that the Romney campaign had strenuously lobbied for his support, and described his own endorsement as the biggest of that year. “What they’re saying is not true,” he said. But if Mr. Trump expected a major role in the Romney campaign, he was mistaken. While Mr. Trump hosted fund-raising events for Mr. Romney, the two men never hit the campaign trail together. The campaign allowed Mr. Trump to record automated phone calls for Mr. Romney, but drew the line at his demand for a prominent speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. (Mr. Trump recorded a video to be played on the first day of the convention, but the whole day’s events were canceled because of bad weather.)
Stuart Stevens, a senior strategist for Mr. Romney, believed that Mr. Trump had been strictly corralled. “He wanted to campaign with Mitt,” Mr. Stevens wrote in an email. “Nope. Killed. Wanted to speak at the convention. Nope. Killed.” Still, to Mr. Romney’s opponent that year, the accommodation of Mr. Trump looked egregious. Mr. Obama, in a speech on Friday, said Republicans had long treated Mr. Trump’s provocations as “a hoot” — just as long as they were directed at the president.
Only a handful of people close to Mr. Trump understood the depth of his interest in the presidency, and the earnestness with which he eyed the 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump had struck up a friendship in 2009 with David N. Bossie, the president of the conservative group Citizens United, who met Mr. Trump through the casino magnate Steve Wynn. Mr. Trump conferred with Mr. Bossie during the 2012 election and, as 2016 approached, sought his advice on setting up a campaign structure. Mr. Bossie made recommendations for staff members to hire, and Mr. Trump embraced them. Mr. Trump also carefully cultivated relationships with conservative media outlets, reaching out to talk radio personalities and right-wing websites like Breitbart.com.
By then, Mr. Trump had won a degree of acceptance as a Republican donor. Advised by Mr. Stone, one of his longest-serving counselors, he had abandoned his long-held practice of giving modest sums to both parties, and opened his checkbook for Republicans with unprecedented enthusiasm. Mr. Trump began a relationship with Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, who was trying to rescue the party from debt. He gave substantial donations to "Super PACS" supporting Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. In 2014, he cut a quarter-million dollar check to the Republican Governors Association, in response to a personal entreaty from the group’s chairman — Chris Christie. Still, Mr. Trump’s intentions seemed opaque.
In January 2015, Mr. Trump met for breakfast in Des Moines with Newt and Callista Gingrich. Having traveled to Iowa to speak at a conservative event, Mr. Trump peppered Mr. Gingrich with questions about the experience of running for president, asking about how a campaign is set up, what it is like to run and what it would cost. Mr. Gingrich said he had seen Mr. Trump until then as “a guy who is getting publicity, playing a game with the birther stuff and enjoying the limelight.” In Iowa, a different reality dawned. “That’s the first time I thought, you know, he is really thinking about running,” Mr. Gingrich said.
On June 16, 2015, after theatrically descending on the escalator at Trump Tower, Mr. Trump announced his candidacy for president, hitting the precise themes he had laid out in the Conservative Political Action Conference speech five years earlier. “We are going to make our country great again,” Mr. Trump declared. “I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.” Still, rival campaigns and many in the news media did not regard him seriously, predicting that he would quickly withdraw from the race and return to his reality show. Pundits seemed unaware of the spade work he had done throughout that spring, taking a half dozen trips to early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and using forums hosted by Mr. Bossie’s group to road test a potential campaign.
Even as he jumped to an early lead, opponents suggested that he was riding his celebrity name recognition and would quickly fade. It was only late in the fall, when Mr. Trump sustained a position of dominance in the race — delivering a familiar, nationalist message about immigration controls and trade protectionism — that his Republican rivals began to treat him as a mortal threat. Mr. Trump, by then, had gained the kind of status he had long been denied, and seemed more and more gleeful as he took in the significance of what he had achieved. “A lot of people have laughed at me over the years,” he said in a speech days before the New Hampshire primary. “Now, they’re not laughing so much.”
Saturday, April 23, 2016
NIGERIA'S HERDSMEN AND FARMERS, LOCKED IN A DEADLY FORGOTTEN CONFLICT - CONOR GAFFEY
The Jihadi group Boko Haram are usually characterized as the biggest threat to Nigeria's state security and even as one of the world's deadliest militant groups.
But in the first four months of 2016, Boko Haram have actually been responsible for less deaths—208 to be precise—than other sectarian groups in Nigeria combined, which have accounted for 438 deaths so far, according to the Council on Foreign Relations’ Nigeria Security Tracker. A huge chunk of these are down to an ongoing conflict between predominantly Fulani herdsmen and settled farming communities, which is costing the Nigerian economy billions of dollars per year as well as hundreds—if not thousands—of lives.
The Fulani —also known as the Fula or Peul—constitute a mostly Muslim people scattered throughout West Africa but concentrated in certain places, such as northern Nigeria. Fulanis are primarily nomadic cattle herders who follow their livestock along migratory patterns. This wandering lifestyle has brought them into conflict with settled farming communities in Nigeria, who have accused the Fulani of cattle rustling, kidnapping and murder.
Clashes between mostly Fulani herdsmen and settled communities have been concentrated in north central Nigeria, particularly the states of Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Nassarawa. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered an inquiry into clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Benue at the end of February, which reportedly resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands being displaced. As well as the obvious security threat, the low-level battles are draining Nigeria’s economy of resources and potential funds. A series of reports published in July 2015 by global humanitarian agency Mercy Corps found that the four problem states stood to gain up to $13.7 billion annually in total macroeconomic benefits if the conflict between herdsmen and farmers was reduced to near-zero. And the benefits are not just limited to state-level—Nigerian households affected by the ongoing clashes could expect their incomes to increase by between 64 and 210 percent were the conflicts to be resolved.
Nigeria’s Middle Belt—where the four problem states are located—is an area of ethnic and religious diversity, where the majority Muslim north meets the largely Christian south. On top of this, the Fulani have historical rivalries with other ethnic groups in Nigeria, particularly the Hausa. Led by the religious reformer Usman dan Fodio, a Fulani army fought a four-year jihad in the predominantly Hausa states of what is now northern Nigeria, eventually triumphing and establishing the Sokoto caliphate. The caliphate was one of the most prominent African empires in the 19th century and was only abolished by the British in 1903.
Because of this fraught geography and history, the herdsmen-farmer conflict is often characterized as ethnic or religious in nature. But this is a mischaracterization, according to Lisa Inks, one of the authors of the Mercy Corps reports. “We definitely believe that the conflicts are caused primarily by competition for scarce resources,” says Inks, citing land and water as the two major conflict drivers. According to Inks, solutions lie in supporting both parties by the establishment of grazing reserves for livestock, increasing funding for communities affected by the clashes and improving security at conflict hotspots.
The security implications of marauding, armed Fulani herdsmen are significant for Nigeria, already struggling to contain the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast , revived militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta and substantial pro-Biafran protests in the southeast. If taken together, casualties attributed to Fulani herdsmen in 2014 totaled 1,229, according to the Institute for Economics & Peace Global Terrorism Index 2015. It is problematic, however, to group Fulani herdsmen together into a single unit and classify them as a terrorist movement, according to Leena Koni Hoffman, Nigeria expert and associate fellow at Chatham House. Fulani herdsmen cannot be considered a terrorist group akin to Boko Haram or the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), says Hoffman, because of “the absence of a core ideology around the violence.”
Despite the lack of an ideological basis, links between the organized militants of Boko Haram and the roaming Fulani herdsmen have been suggested before. According to Hoffman, collaboration between herdsmen and Boko Haram is unlikely in terms of formal affiliation but could take place in different types of “criminal activity,” such as cattle rustling. “There could be a link between groups who are exploiting the context of insecurity and instability [in Nigeria] to strengthen their position,” says Hoffman.
Whether such links exist or not, the herdsmen-farmers conflict is clearly damaging Buhari’s vision of a unified Nigeria and sucking potential resources and revenues out of the country. “The farmer-herdsmen conflict is not even the most high-profile conflict in Nigeria,” says Inks, “[But] even this ongoing, relatively low-level intercommunal conflict is costing the country billions.”
Friday, April 22, 2016
PRINCE DEAD AT 57, RIP.
Icheoku says Prince Rogers Nelson, the consummate musician and iconic idol known as Prince, is dead. He was 57 years old and died from complication of drug overdose and flu-like symptoms which some sources hinted might be "HIV/AIDS" related? Some sources also said he possibly had a premonition or inkling of his impending death as he had last Saturday told his fans to "wait a few more days before you waste any prayers" for his recovery from his relapsed illness.
A mega star extraordinary and as of his own right, his stellar career spanned over forty years dating back to 1978. Among his many songs which saw him sell over one hundred million records, win several awards including seven Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Icheoku likes 'When doves cry', Purple Rain and 1999" most.
With Michael Jackson gone, James Brown gone, Whitney Houston gone, David Bowie gone, Glenn Frey gone and now Prince also gone too, to join them; imagine the kind of parties angels in heaven will now be exposed to. He was iconic and his music gets any party going and there is no parking on the dance floor when Prince is performing or his song is being played by DJs. The world has again lost another music idol and Prince will be greatly missed. Icheoku says adieu Mr Purple Rain and thank you for entertaining those of us who grew up listening to your music. Say hi to all those other greats departed, so long.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
NEVER GIVE UP ON LOVE - LEIGH CRANIAL.
It was an instant attraction when this flight attendant and pilot met at a Chennai beachside restaurant. After a long-distance love affair around the world, the rest became history. When they were children living on opposite sides of the world, Christine “Tin” Miguel and Matt Mandino had something in common: they were afraid of flying.
Growing up as one of six children in the Philippines, Tin would hold her sister’s hand in a tight grip whenever they flew. In the US, Matt was so nervous about boarding a plane that his parents had to drag him to the airport. “I was afraid of heights too,” Matt laughed.
As they got older though, both were seized with a sense of wanderlust. Their desire to see the world outweighed their initial fears, and eventually, they not only conquered their fear of flying, but they made it their careers. Tin became a flight attendant and Matt, a commercial pilot.
It was because of their jobs in aviation that they both found themselves at a restaurant on the beach near Chennai, India, in June of 2012. Matt was living there, working for Indian airline Jet Airways. Tin, who was based in Saudi Arabia, had a layover in Chennai and had decided to spend the day at the beach with a colleague. They headed to lunch at Santana restaurant (178, Fisherman's Colony, Othavadi Street; +91-944-429-0832,) overlooking the water.
“We were the only ones in the restaurant when Matt and his friend walked in,” Tin recalled. “I thought he was cute and, for some reason, felt like I’d known him a long time.”
Matt was also instantly attracted. “Her smile was so pretty and comforting. I went up to her and asked what she was eating. She said ‘calamari’, and I actually reached down and grabbed some off her plate because I’d had a couple of beers. Usually I’m not that outgoing,” he said. “[My friend and I] asked what they did for a living and they said they were flight attendants, and we’re like, ‘we’re pilots!’”
“And I rolled my eyes,” Tin laughed. “He gave me his card and he said he’d be happy to show me around the next time I was in India. I sent him an email a few days later, and we started writing back and forth. I was scheduled to be back on my birthday in September.”
On their first date, Matt drove to pick her up from her hotel. “He was so late,” Tin remembered. “Later I found out [it] was because he had driven all over town looking for flowers. He asked if he could fly to my next destination to see me again, and soon after that, he asked me to be his girlfriend.”
They got to know one another while travelling, meeting as often as possible and heading off on adventures across India. Then, in 2013, Matt moved to Hawaii.
Tin remembers the day she was helping Matt pack for his move. “I was thinking, ‘I care about him so much, but it’s Hawaii, which is on the other side of the world. It will take 48 hours to travel just to see him, and it’s expensive,’” she said. “I thought that, if nothing happened, at least we’d had a great time. But of course I was hoping we would end up together.”
That day, Matt presented Tin with a family heirloom – a sapphire promise ring – and asked her to come to Hawaii on a fiancé visa. “It's the same ring that his dad gave to his mom,” Tin said. “His mom and I both have September birthdays and sapphire is our birth stone. From that point on, I realized he was willing to make it work.”
“I asked if she would mind moving, and she said ‘I’ll live wherever you want, even if we have to live in a cardboard box,’” Matt remembered.
I always think there will be opportunities and jobs everywhere,” Tin said, “But each person is unique. There’s only one Matt. We don't know where we'll be based next, but it doesn't matter as long as we are together.”
Unfortunately, it would still be months of paperwork before they could be reunited for good. “Just to gather the requirements was a process,” Tin said. “While Matt was working in Hawaii, I was still living in Saudi Arabia, so he invented a game called ‘Follow Tin’ where he would fly on his free time to see me wherever I was scheduled.” The couple met in cities like Geneva, Milan and Barcelona. “Our layovers were often only 36 hours so it was really special,” Matt said. “We made a lot out of the short time we had together.”
Finally, in July 2014, Matt and Tin were married in Hawaii. “I just wanted the marriage, I didn't need a wedding,” said Tin about the simple courthouse ceremony. “We decided to save our money for other things.”
The couple now lives by the beach in Bali, content to finally be under the same roof for good. Reflecting on their years spent in a long-distance relationship, Tin said that there are some positive aspects to being apart. “It makes you more passionate. You really think about what you want and ask ‘is this worth the time and the energy?’… If you love each other, you don’t give up.”
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
TRUMP WINS BIG IN NEW YORK, THANK YOU NEW YORK FOR YOUR AFFIRMATION.
Icheoku says the people of New York have in no unmistakable way sent a message to the Republican National Committee that they have implicit confidence in their son who is running for the presidential nomination of the party. In a resounding vote of over 500,000, more than 60%, they voted Donald Trump the winner of the party's primaries. Icheoku says thank you New York and with such a message of affirmation, the rest of the country hears you once again that with Donald, America will be made great again. Also you gave Ted 'the vampire' Cruz the middle finger that anyone who is not down with New York values ought not to seek any blessings from New York. It is onward march thence to the White House and together we all shall help Donald Trump realize his dream of making America great again. Vote Trump and lets make America great again. Thank you New York.
Monday, April 18, 2016
NEW YORKERS, HELP TRUMP DEFEAT THE ESTABLISHMENT, VOTE FOR TRUMP.
Icheoku agrees that no one is perfect; but a time like this calls for a formidable force to successfully take on the entrenched forces who are not ready to yield up their power. We all can help achieve this and together, we can help him make it happen. New Yorkers, this one is for you and Donald Trump is one of your own; so send him on his way to the White House, vote for him. Any other vote, for any other person, is a vote in betrayal and a wasted vote. Although, like New York Post said, "Trump is now an imperfect messenger carrying a vital message. But he reflects the best of "New York values' and offers the best hopes for all Americans who rightly feel betrayed by the political class;" but this novitiate mistakes does not and should not take anything away from him. He will learn from his rookie missteps and with our collective help, make America great again. VOTE TRUMP.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
SUPER PREDATORS HAVE NO CONSCIENCE NOR EMPATHY - HILLARY CLINTON
I am Hillary Clinton and I said the above about black people. It led to the worst mass incarceration in America which destroyed so many black peoples lives and families. I have no regrets; I did not apologize for saying it earlier; I never wanted to apologize for it for this past 22 years and would not have apologized for it now if not that I am running for election. Why should I care about the most ruthless of our society. Icheoku says any black person voting Hillary Clinton is part of the problem, the Uncle and Auntie Toms of America who have drank of the Clinton's coolaid. Away with the Clintons, DO NOT VOTE FOR ANOTHER ONE NAMED HILLARY
Saturday, April 16, 2016
NEW YORK POST ENDORSES TRUMP AND SO DOES ICHEOKU.
Icheoku concurs with the opinion of New York Post Editorial Board endorsing Donald Trump as the best candidate in the running for the United States presidency. Here is their endorsement:-
"Donald Trump is a rookie candidate — a potential superstar of vast promise, but making rookie mistakes. The nominee Republicans need for the fall campaign is often hard to make out amid his improvisations and too-harsh replies to his critics.
New Yorkers vote Tuesday. What to do?
Here’s how we see it.
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
Should he win the nomination, we expect Trump to pivot — not just on the issues, but in his manner. The post-pivot Trump needs to be more presidential: better informed on policy, more self-disciplined and less thin-skinned.
Yet the promise is clearly there in the rookie who is, after all, leading the field as the finals near.
Trump has electrified the public, drawing millions of new voters to the polls and inspiring people who’d given up on ever again having a candidate who’d fight for them.
That’s the work of the Donald Trump we know — a New Yorker, born and bred.
A plain-talking entrepreneur with outer-borough, common-sense sensibilities.
Trump is a do-er. As a businessman, he’s created jobs for thousands. And he’s proven how a private-sector, can-do approach can rip through government red tape and get things done.
These last 10 months, he’s ripped through a different morass — the nation’s stale, insider-driven politics.
And he’s done it by appealing to the public’s anger at a government that’s eternally gridlocked when it comes to serving the people — but always able to deliver for the connected.
He’s slammed the system for being rigged — and he’s right.
To those fed up with the rule of lobbyists and an insular political class, to those who’ve seen their government ignore their needs — seen it continually degrade the quality not just of their economic lives, but of their plaace in society — Trump offers hope.
But then there are those rookie mistakes.
Start with policies that seem made on the fly.
No, pulling US troops out of Japan and South Korea — and pushing both countries to go nuclear to defend themselves — is not remotely a good idea. American commitments may need rethinking — but careful rethinking.
Yes, controlling the border is one of Washington’s fundamental duties — but “Build the Wall” is far too simplistic a policy for a nation of immigrants.
By all means, get the best trade deals for America — but remember that trade means cheaper goods for the less well-off, and challenge US industries to improve.
Trump’s language, too, has too often been amateurish, divisive — and downright coarse.
But what else to expect from someone who’s never been a professional politician and reflects common-man passions?
Indeed, his political incorrectness is one of his great attractions — it proves he’s not one of “them.” He’s challenging the victim culture that has turned into a victimizing culture.
In the general election, we’d expect Trump to stay true to his voters — while reaching out to those he hasn’t won yet.
Trump is now an imperfect messenger carrying a vital message. But he reflects the best of “New York values” — and offers the best hope for all Americans who rightly feel betrayed by the political class.
He has the potential — the skills, the know-how, the values — to live up to his campaign slogan: to make America great again.
For those reasons, The Post today endorses Donald Trump in the GOP primary.
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