I'M WITH HER: MADEMOISELLE LE PEN FOR PRESIDENT

ICHEOKU says there is a female leader in Germany, another one in Britain; so lets get the French one. That way the three major countries across the pond would be on the same gendered leadership platform. Lets empower another woman, elect Mademoiselle Marine Le Pen president of France. She is exactly what the doctor ordered for a France in dire straits and in need of quick recovery from extreme Islamists terrorism. ICHEOKU says make France great again, Vote Le Pen. Help the French recover their homeland, Vote Le Pen. I am ICHEOKU and I approve of this message.

MARINE LE PEN, EXACTLY WHO FRANCE NEEDS RIGHT NOW

ICHEOKU says there is simply no comparison as the difference is clear and the choice so obvious. In this election, who will lead France and give France the leadership it deserves is not controvertible. Mademoiselle Marine Le Pen is the one and only her can indeed free France from the ravaging Islamist extremism. 

Make France free again and help to ensure leisurely living for locals, tourists and visitors alike, elect the only candidate who is prepared to lead from the front and on day one. VOTE to elect Mademoiselle Marine Le Pen for president and watch France bounce back again to live and into a country which is finally rid of the pestilence Islamist terrorists. She is a nationalist and patriot whose love for France and the French people is beyond any second guessing and together with motivated French people will make France great again. I am ICHEOKU and I approve this message and urge you to consider the many things at stake and cast your vote to save France from a determined foe of Islamist terrorists. 

LIKE NIKE, JUST DO IT, VOTE LE PEN FOR PRESIDENT.

ICHEOKU says she is ready to lead and ready to provide France with the leadership it deserves. VOTE LE PEN for president. ICHEOKU says the French must vote to take their country back as nobody can love France more than the French people and they must not stand aloof in pity party while their country is forever lost to Islamist terrorism. People want to feel safe and be safe again in France, walking the palisades of France without hysteria or apprehensive that they can be blown up any moment. Only one candidate can effectively take the fight to those urchins who are fermenting this maddening mayhem. Mademoiselle Marine Le Pen is the one and she will restore France to its old glory and help make France great again. VOTE LE PEN for president and lets have a Madame President Le Pen in Champs Elysee Palace. 

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, BREAKING THE LAW.

ICHEOKU says time to take this down now that the president has allowed the courts to grant the accused bail and set him free on bail. 

Icheoku says regrettably his Vice President Osibanjo, a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is fidgeting around, while the president is wrecking havoc to Nigeria's hard fought democracy. Icheoku says by flagrantly disobeying court's orders, the president is doing grave damage to the very foundation on which every democracy is based. Osibanjo, Icheoku says defend your honor as a servant of the law and tell your boss that he has no choice in the matter of releasing detainees who have been granted bail.

NNAMDI KANU, A PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE

ICHEOKU says it is time to take this down now that the government have complied to a court order on the bail of the accused person Nnamdi Kanu.

ICHEOKU says the more they hold him, the bigger, the better and the larger he becomes; and more resolved on his quest for an independent homeland of Biafra. A thinking government of Nigeria would let him go and just monitor his activities if they have the time. Icheoku calls on President Muhammadu Buhari and his advisers to let Nnamdi Kanu go, moreso now that two courts of competent jurisdictions have granted him bail, one unconditionally.

MADEMOISELLE LE PEN OU MONSIEUR MACRON: VOTE LE PEN.

ICHEOKU says let France empower another woman and help add France to the list of countries across the pond who has bridged the gender gap. Let the French add their country to the list of three top countries of Britain, Germany and France that is effectively under the control of women. This is the right thing to do and this is the only meaningful way to actually let women know that their time has indeed come. The French people should therefore vote right and vote to become a top partner of the United States of America under President Donald John Trump. Any other thing would be interpreted as anti-change and anti any meaningful participation in the President Donald John Trump led new world order. 

President Trump is a change candidate and would be more favorably disposed to a France under the leadership of a change president too who he can indeed relate with and happily too. Emmanuel Macron is not that person; he is too youthful and his political philosophy is not in alignment with President Trump's declared new world order and he wont get along smoothly and seamlessly with the current White House. ICHEOKU says whether the French people would like to have a president who is beloved and readily welcomed in the White House is one thing and whether they will make use of this great opportunity and make this good chess move is another. But whatever they decide to do, they must not let their exuberance overwhelm them into empowering a boy-president who would only be extended diplomatic niceties instead of real camaraderie. The Obama smiling days are over and in the current serious world, only serious players will earn their rightful place as the world changed on November 8, 2016 and France must understand this as they go to the polls in the runoff election.

France cannot afford to be a minor partner or player in any future relationship with Trump's America by voting in a boy president who, like Canadian Justin Trudeau, would not be accorded France's deserving place in the perking order of the new world order under President Donald John Trump. Russia has their Tsar Vladimir Putinya, China has their Xi Jinping, Germany has their Matron Chancellor Angela Merkel; Britain has their Margret Thatcher 2.0 Theresa May and of course America has their President Donald Trump. These are all fully grown adults, some of who are old enough to be fathers and mothers to Emmanuel Macron. So why would a politically adept calculating France want to have a boy president and not a fully grown woman with stature and gravitas manning the affairs of their state and fully representing them among the comity of nations. Madam Marine Le Pen is that woman and Mademoiselle Le Pen will do a great job making France great again, so elect Le Pen. 

Madame Marine Le Pen is the answer to France problems and she has the necessary gravitas and presence to represent France and represent France effectively. In this times of trouble, only a steady hand on the tiller of state is what will help France get rid of all the Islamists death merchants who are wasting French lives one venue at a time. How many French lives must be lost to these beasts terror before the French said enough, not any more. ICHEOKU says only a committed patriot and nationalist who thinks France first will do the needful to free France of the pestilence of Islamist terrorists. For the good of France it is better to elect a president who has direct access to the White House and who will be in the good books and hearing distance of America. It is good too for France that Hollande is not technically left behind in Champ Elysee as they cannot afford to have another highly charged testosterone-filed male riding scooter incognito in the middle of the night sneaking into a paramour house. 

At 39, Emmanuel Macron is simply too young to give France the type of effective leadership it requires at this time of great challenges bothering on security and safety of the French people.  ICHEOKU is convinced that the French people do not want to end up with an Obama 2.0 or Trudeau 2.0 running their affairs; and no true blood French would have such  as a bargain for inducement. Simply put, Mademoiselle Marine Le Pen will be a bridge over troubled waters that is France today, a country which has lost its innocence as no one knows where the next lurking Islamist terrorist might strike again. ICHEOKU says French people cannot continue to live in this climate of fear and uncertainty and it is about time the problem is solved. Mademoiselle Le Pen will do a wonderful job restoring safety and security in France and she will also make France great again. Vote Le Pen. Viva Le Pen. Oui, elect French first president who is not ashamed of her femininity and who is proudly female and yes, Madam Le Pen is eminently qualified to lead and represent France. ICHEOKU says lets be ready to welcome Mademoiselle President Marine Le Pen into Champs Elysee.

TOM BRADY COWERS TO AN OVERBEARING WIFE, ABANDONS FRIEND.

ICHEOKU says with a friend like Tom Brady no one, not President Donald John Trump, needs an enemy. A friend in need is a friend in deed and Tom Brady turned out to be neither, not as far as President Donald John Trump is concerned. What manner of a man would after all the support the president gave him just dismiss the president in this manner? 

A president who stood by him during the Deflate-Gate scandal, publicly defended him at every given opportunity, publicly declared him the best quarterback God ever made and during the last Super Bowl championship, was rooting for Tom Brady and his team even when they were losing in the first three quarters of the game. What manner of man would so cavalierly dismiss such a quantum show of affection and throw away such an important friendship just because his wife said so, compelled him and made him to. What other thing could she possibly make him do and you wonder what manner of a man would tolerate such a public humiliation from his supposed wife. Not one ICHEOKU knows or would associate with as such men are what Arnold Schwarzenegger calls girlie men and such men are dangerous and unreliable and cannot be trusted because they would betray you for a woman. 

ICHEOKU says where is his conviction and where is his fidelity to a friend, who cared and loved him so much and was a loyal chief cheerleader for him and his team throughout. What manner of man would not remember a friend who got his back when it mattered most and on a whiff, could so carelessly dishonor him, not caring about the hurt feeling which his action would and did in fact cause, boycotting a president who pride himself in calling him a friend. What a sissy man would make excuses of a family illness and parents' anniversary on the same very day that his team was scheduled to pay a visit to the White House, knowing that his presence or lack thereof will speak volume. 

Also the scheduled visit was made ahead of time and an honest and trustworthy Tom Brady would have had enough time to make necessary accommodation to be in that visit but he choose not to. But assuming he must be with his family on that same day, why did he not sneak in just one hour to be in the White House and then catch a private jet to wherever the heck his parents' anniversary was going on. But simply put, he was too cowardly to stand up to his wife and convince her on the imperative of his attending the White House reception. 

There is no amount of explanation from Tom Brady that would excuse what he did. It is betrayal of trust and it is a betrayal of friendship and as far as ICHEOKU is concerned, he is but a cheap woman-wrapper who has no balls or even the power of conviction over his wife and make her see the implication of her order that he not join the Patriot team to the White House. Who actually is marrying who and wearing the pants suit in the house of Tom Brady if he could not lead his team to the White House to present a hard won Super Bowl trophy. 

ICHEOKU says does this Tom Brady has any morals and sense of fidelity governing his affairs and conduct; and whatever happened to his reciprocity of love and affection. What if the wife divorces him tomorrow as many American women would do in a heartbeat when they fall out of love with you. Is she worth losing such a dear friend as President Donald John Trump and what other thing could she possibly compel him to do just to prove that she is the big dog in the house and the one calling all the shots? 

What if Tom Brady had balls and demanded the wife let him go to the White House or the marriage is over; or must it always be a wife who would be loved by a husband and who must command obedience and never  the other way round. What is wrong if a wife truly loves her husband and their relationship not being merely an arrangement and a game show where the husband is subjected to all manners of subservient behavior and compelled to continuously please her, including by obeying very stupid demands. What would have happened had Tom Brady braved it to the White House; at worst she will walk away or divorce him, so? 

As for his overbearing and controlling wife, whose name ICHEOKU will not mention in this essay because she is not the one that betrayed a friend, ICHEOKU says, what she did is not only an insult on Tom Brady but a testament on the manner of person she really is. A controlling freak of nature who subjugates her husband and brings pubic shame to him. ICHEOKU says any woman who could go to such a length as to publicly humiliate her husband and tell the whole world that she is running every aspect of life in the Tom Brady home and in such impetuous way, is not a nice person to say the least. 

ICHEOKU says many a men would damn the consequences, go to the White House and be prepared to sign her divorce papers if it gets to that. Some men will after divorcing her, marry her best friend or even sister just to teach her a lesson and in some cases if her mother is relatively still youthful, make a play for her. Were the shoes to be on the other feet and the wife wanted to attend a Hillary Clinton's event and Tom Brady says not to attend, would she listen to him? Where is her respect and love for her husband not to deprive and deny him such a glaring opportunity to lead his victorious team to a White House in occupation of a president who publicly declared him a dear friend. 

Were ICHEOKU Tom Brady or was married to the wife, would rather move into another house upon returning from the White House, but not 1000 of her would have humiliates ICHEOKU so publicly and in such a manner. What a way not to marry a woman or rather, not to allow a woman to marry you. But Tom Brady messed up and by so doing have drawn the wrath of 33 million irredeemable deplorables as well as other Trump supporters who are raging mad at his disrespect of the president. What a jerk Tom Brady is and a castrated one for that matter, who has lost his testicles to a controlling freakish woman, who he calls a wife but who is indeed not a wifely material or a definition of a good wife, Pitiful. 

BILL O'REILLY TAKEN DOWN, AS HIS ACCUSERS WIN.

ICHEOKU says is not taking sides nor holding a brief for anyone, but in America, women will get you once they are determinedly honed in on project take you down. They will tell their stories movingly and most times people are moved into giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are indeed telling the truth; admitted that many a times, their version of the truth might either be exaggerated or heavily embellished or even an outright lie told to deceive and hoodwink. 

Many alpha males have fallen victim to this machination as women consider them threatening and then mark them for destruction and elimination; removal from their feminist society being an inconvenient obstacle on their way to total domination of the sphere. Whether former Fox News Bill O'Reilly is guilty of the charges leveled against him leading to his current tribulation and forced exit from Fox News, ICHEOKU does not know nor can affirmatively assert; but if precedents are any guide, possibly he was innocent of all the charges and merely a victim, who possibly made an innocent jocular banter complimenting a female, who took it wrongly as sexual harassment. Yes, it is America and in America women rule and dictate what is acceptable in their relationship with males; including what compliments are acceptable, if any. As far as the relationship between them and the males are concerned, they have to have both the beginning say as well as the final say, at the peril of the male who thinks otherwise or utters anything to the contrary. 

One of the accusations accusations against Bill O'Reilly is that he mouthed a "Hot Chocolate" at a black female employee at Fox News and you wonder what the harm or hurt here is, that a probably very good looking ebony female was complimented as being delightfully delicious or who does not like hot chocolate. Sometimes, even when you compliment females as being beautiful, they complain; you compliment their outfit as being nice and sexy, they complain; you compliment their figure as being exactly what nature ordered, they complain. Then conversely make the mistake of calling them fat or ugly or not enticing for any man to desire, and they will smack you and make a whole lot of trouble for you for not being sensitive and for being a pig and a dog and every other manner of thing not fit to co-habit this earth with them. It is a troubling situation indeed and sometimes even when they give you the common on and you respond, they turn around and accuse you of sexual harassment and of making the work place environment unbearable for them. 

ICHEOKU knows about this guy who his female colleague in the office was in the habit of flirting with and each time she is passing through his desk will stop to give this guy a shoulder rub. She will tell him complimentary things and sometimes even give him a peck. It happened continuously until this guy convinced himself that her overtures were a common on invitation to treat and he decided to express his interest. One day the guy went over to her desk and rubbed her shoulders and complimented her for her perfume and then left. A day later, their supervisor invited him to his office to say that the girl complained of his sexual advancement to her and that she considers same harassment and creating an unsettling work place environment. The guy was given an option to resign or face prosecution and that was how the guy lost his nearly six figure job. 

Mike Tyson was sent to prison because an aspiring model visited him in his hotel suite close to midnight in a see through lingerie; they had sex and she left only to later allege rape. Clarence Thomas nearly lost his Supreme Court judgeship to an accusation of sexual harassment of and by a female. Very recently, then candidate and now President Donald John Trump, was nearly forced out of his presidential campaign by a litany of accusations by females of various manners of unwanted sexual advances, some of them bothering on even rape. ICHEOKU says in the matter of Bill O'Reilly, he has lost his gig at Fox News due to similar allegations and accusations, but whether he did them or not, ICHEOKU does not know; but it sounds similar to what has become a common place occurrences in America where females sometimes make up stories just to take a man down. 

ICHEOKU says Bill O'Reilly made the mistake however by settling other previous similar allegations, which made people believe that he probably did it otherwise why settle. Bill O'Reilly's explanation that he did it to protect his family fell flat because if someone accuses a totally innocent person of some misconduct or crime, it behooves on the accused person to vehemently exonerate himself and not act in any manner that is suggestive of the possibility of the accusation being real. However, unlike so many other non rich and not so famous none white males, Bill O'Reilly secured the proverbial golden parachute of $25 million parting pay from Fox News. So in as much his face will no longer adorn the Network's evening program, he will still have a good life and possibly might follow in the path of Dan Rather and other former network faces in establishing an Internet based podcast. His audience from Fox News might follow him to wherever he decides to pitch his broadcast tent. 

ICHEOKU prays that men of America will learn their lesson from this that the women of America have become too sensitive and know how to shut their mouth around them. Just says nothing, see nothing and hear nothing about that female colleague of yours if you want to keep your job and not be accused of one harassment or the other. So long Bill but Fox News is the loser in this case as the Network seems to have lost its backbone and cannot stand firm and back their alpha male employees, faced with advertisers boycotts and threats of some crazy wild-eyed feminists females. Roger Ailes is gone; Bill O'Reilly is now also gone and you wonder who follows next in the attempt of some extremist anarchists to cut the Network to size by getting rid of the Network's retinue of alpha males who are not afraid to air their opinion and not given to political correctness. That the Network has steadily been beating other networks and stations and for several years now in viewership and ratings, also did not help matter in the drive by these invisible forces to equalize the playing field by silencing its ace anchors and now removing them one after the other. Sad.    

BOSTON MARATHON, ONE SIMPLY OUTSTANDING MARINE.

ICHEOKU says salute to courage. He is a member of the few, the proud, the marines. He lost his leg in Afghanistan fighting in defense of what we all hold dear; but it did not deter him from competing and finishing the Boston Marathon 2017. ICHEOKU says whoever this brave and courageous American is, on behalf of the men and women of America and a grateful nation at large, ICHEOKU says thank you for your sacrifice. The country is safe today because of men and women like you, whose selfless service has secured our freedom and safety. Thank you for your service and congratulation for completing the Boston Marathon.

J.LO HITCHES YET ANOTHER MAN: WHAT TYPE OF A ROLE MODEL IS SHE ANYWAY?

ICHEOKU says Alexander Rodriguez is the latest victim of the lecherous Jennifer Lopez, who seems not to ever satisfy her apertite for catch and release of men. Whether all those men are the ones walking away from her after fulfilling their hearts desires or it is Jenny from the Block that is doing the offloading of them, in her quest to see how many men she can seduce before she finally gets wrinkly, ICHEOKU has no conclusive evidence. 

But whatever be the case and however the revolving door around her turns, the relevant thing here is that Jenifer Lopez has moved on to yet another man, her man number twelve and he is the former New York Yankees outfielder Alexander Rodriguez aka A Rod. ICHEOKU says if man number 12 is now with Jenny, when will number 13 appear and displace him? It is a safe bet to make that any woman who has traveled through this many number of men within just the last two decades has possibly not yet reached her end-station in her conquest of men business. The possibility of her ending up yet with another man before too long is not a too far fetched conjecture. So what is it that drives Jennifer to and away from men or is it just an addiction she has to see how many men she can catch and release within her lifetime, especially now that she is still presentable. Is she trying to break a world record as the super star who broke the records on how many men they allowed into their lives during their life time.

ICHEOKU says what exactly do these men find in her that like a moth to the light, they are prepared to plunge into her only to be tossed aside within a few short period.  What is the magic potion that is making these many men line up, waiting for their turn to date Jenny from the Block?  What pleasure do they drive from being had and dumped, smothered and left holding only their memories of having dated that Latina woman with the big butts?  Icheoku is at a loss on the dangerous attraction men have of her and why any responsible man should want to just be a number in the many that have traveled through her gap. ICHEOKU is not being a moral avatar here or overtly judgmental; but truth be told, what value is still left of a woman whom so many men have gone through and openly; since there is no more uniqueness about her. What is that take home personal experience that one can treasure being with Jennifer Lopez or which man likes to know that the woman he is with has had about a dozen men travel through her and that he is merely eating a leftover. Simply put, Jennifer Lopez is not better than any street hustler, standing at the corner street and turning tricks; the only difference being that she might not be asking for payment in cash. 

What else is there in Jennifer Lopez that would make a man want to dive in to see and find out; not after several men have been there before and you wonder what actually drives these adventurers into the cave of Jennifer Lopez. With such high traffic of men through her straits, what is left there for such an overused woman who, were she a car, would have been due for the junk scrap yard. Like a rug in a walkway, Jennifer Lopez, considering all the men that have traversed her, is technically speaking, a spent and used or rather, disused person. Her epitaph will possibly read, "Here lies Jennifer Lopez, a woman who was traversed by so many men." What a role model indeed she is to the millions of young and impressionable ladies who see her and look up to her as their heroine. ICHEOKU also wonders whether Jennifer Lopez would like to see her daughter having this many men traveling through her gates or is she so selfish not to even blink that her dalliances might be shaming her family especially her mother, a devout catholic. Anyway, is it Jenny and she is from the Block; admitted nothing is edifying nor dignifying about her sharing her body with this many number of different men and so publicly. 

EGYPT PALM SUNDAY TERRORIST ATTACK: KILLED IN THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP.

ICHEOKU says Islamist terrorists have struck again. This time in Egypt, on Palm Sunday and at two churches respectively - one in Alexandria and the other in a Nile Delta town Tanta. When the dust finally settled, 44 people are dead and 100 others wounded and the toll might still rise depending on how the wounded respond to treatment. 

Unfortunately no one has any solution on how to best corral back these miscreant terrorists and prevent their recurring mayhem. The only meaningful reasonable thing in the circumstance is eternal vigilance as it has become a virus that will live with the world forever or at least a long time to come. They kill indiscriminately just to make a point and you wonder why would any sane person kill in the name of whatever "God" they profess to worship. ICHEOKU says it does not make sense and defies every logic that people would kill for God. May the soul of all those Egyptians dead rest in peace. Very unfortunate.

NEIL GORSUCH IS ASSOCIATE SUPREME COURT JUDGE, DEAL WITH IT.

ICHEOKU says all finally said and done, give it up for the steely backbone of Senate majority leader McConnell for shepherding the nomination of Neil Gorsuch through to the finish line as he is confirmed associate judge of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. He delivered on his promise to have Gorsuch confirmed and for this, McConnell is hereby congratulated for a job well done and a promise kept. It is good to be tough and resolved on one's conviction, especially when informed on reason and good grounds. 

The slot at the Supreme Court was for conservatives to fill, being a slot left vacant with the death of Anthony Scalia; so it falls flat the argument made by Democrats and other liberals alike that President Obama was denied a chance at nominating and filling the vacancy. Good enough Mitch McConnell stood firm and refused to move on Judge Garland's nomination and rode out Obama's presidency. ICHEOKU says the trouble with the Democrats is that they are still horn mad angry at the Republicans for stalling on Judge Garland and at President Donald Trump for routing their Queen Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election. So regardless of who was nominated, as long as it was by President Trump and supported by the Republicans, the Democrats would still have filibustered and not supported the nominee. 

The Democrats complaint was more of an angry agitation rather than any rational reasoning based objection to a judge who is eminently qualified erudite judge and who have previously passed through similar confirmation process as then Appellate Judge nominee. So, what has Judge Gorsuch done since his appellate court days to now override his previous confirmation, if not for silly partisan retaliatory politics of you did not confirm our own judge Garland and so, we will not confirm your own Judge Gorsuch, puerile antic of the Democrats. Good enough they found their match in Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and the rest as they say is now history. Query, if not Judge Gorsuch, who else could the Democrats possibly have confirmed, nobody. Thankfully, McConnell has some backbone and did not cower nor yield grounds and Gorsuch is now the Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. 

ICHEOKU says the Democrats need to be taught a lesson for their obfuscations and for trying to derail the nomination of this fair minded Judge Gorsuch who is not extreme by any definition of that word. So the next time an opportunity presents itself to fill a gap in the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump should consider nominating an ultra conservative far right wing Judge and have the Republican majority nuclear option him into the Supreme Court and let the Dems jump off if they want. ICHEOKU says when would all these petty partisanship bickering end and how can the country truly move forward with each party always holding to their position without yielding any grounds whatsoever. What happened to the spirit of camaraderie of 'give and take', where things are negotiated out and not the current gridlock stance of 'either my way or the highway.' ICHEOKU thought the Democrats would have shown some love and not objected to Judge Gorsuch, but they did not or rather refused to deal and the same revolving door continues to spin. 

Judge Neil Gorsuch, 49 years old, was confirmed by 54 to 45 votes to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. ICHEOKU wishes him all the best in his new endeavor at the apex court of the land. Congratulations Judge.

SYRIAN'S ASSAD NOW A FAIR TARGET, LIED ABOUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS.

ICHEOKU says President Bashar al-Assad lied when he told the world that he has destroyed all the chemical weapons in his country's military arsenal. A promise he made following his crossing of former President Barack Obama's redline on chemical weapons and in order to avoid a retaliatory action from America. But to the dismay of a surprised world, he once again gassed his people, women, little children and beautiful God's babies, all of which died very agonizing suffocating deaths. 

ICHEOKU queries which monster would wreck such a havoc on the very citizens he was elected to protect as president and whose safety and protection should be his number one priority. He has played the world for seven long years while slaughtering his people and destroying their country; it is about time the world said enough is enough and forcibly take him out if he cannot be taken alive to face war crimes prosecution at The Hague. Therefore Bashar al-Assad should be considered a fair game in any future strikes, barring his change of heart and model himself into a more humane president who would not so lackadaisically waste his own people's life and in such a callous devious manner. 

ICHEOKU says it is only someone who has not watched those little babies writhing in pain and laboriously gasping for breath that would not feel convulsed at the magnitude of ruthlessness of the Assad regime. ICHEOKU says time to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable is now, admitted it came a long time ago with his crossing of Obama's red-line without consequences whatsoever. It also shows that those whose time has come act in such a reckless cavalier manner as would suggest that they intentionally are speeding up their rendezvous with death. Here is a man who would have relaxed and allow the newly elected American President Trump to first help him crush ISIS and then renegotiate his presidency thereafter. But no, less than two weeks after America said that regime change in Damascus is no longer a priority, this unthinking Assad went ahead to commit the most egregious crimes against the humanity that call Syria their country, which they know will attract America's ire. Bashar a-Assad is evil and like all evils, he must be stopped now, killed if thats the only option, to help resolve the so many seemingly problem which he represents.

The ongoing slaughter in Syria has lasted for too long, seven long years without any end in sight; so it is about time the civilized world ended it and however they see fit. Hopefully today's tomahawk strikes on one of his military airbases is a significant right step in the right direction as the world led by America cannot continue to standby and watch hands akimbo as Assad ruthlessly deals with the lives of his country men and women and children and babies as he sees fit and as suits his maniacal fancy. But this time, Assad miscalculated and did not take into account that a new sheriff is in town and in the White House and his name is President Donald Trump. He also forgot that President Trump is very unpredictable, decisive and can swing the hammer of the awesome fearsome United States military at a moment's notice and without publicizing it in his usual stealth fashion. Now one of Assad's government military air base has been decimated and completely obliterated by the power of 50 (1000pounds each) Tomahawk cruise missile which rained down thereon and he did not have a whiff they were coming down. 

This is a man who lied that he had destroyed his stockpile of chemical weapons; failed to reciprocate the goodwill gesture of President Trump whose government had expressed the desire not to prioritize his removal from office and said so just two weeks ago. But in return, he once again gassed his people. ICHEOKU says next time, President Assad should himself be lighted up for a laser guided missile to make contact with him. What did he need to achieve gassing his people at this time he has the prospect of getting some reprieve from the new government in America. He blew it and with the wind goes that single best opportunity to make amends and govern in peace and in one piece. If Assad was smart, he would have mellowed down and encourage Americans in their decision to engage ISIS on the ground and have his country restored to normalcy. But no, leading to the question, what was he smoking. Bashar a-Assad, ICHEOKU says enough of your suicidal tendencies because America will come and get you if you make them. Stop the madness in Syria and stop killing your people, whether with barrel bombs or bullets or even Sarine gas. 

ASABA MASSACRE: KILLED FOR THEIR IDENTITY - OSITA OGBU

The biafran war may have come and gone but to the victims of the war, especially the people of Asaba, delta state, the pains and agonies as well as the scars left by the war have created a permanent box of memory inside of them. To them, October 7th, 1967 was a day they had continued to rue and will forever do so for generations to come. It was the day soldiers of Nigerian 2nd division under Murtala Muhammad, Ibrahim Taiwo and Ibrahim Haruna carried out one of the worst crimes against humanity in human history. 

The Nigerian troops had entered Asaba on the 4th day of October, 1967, in pursuit of Biafran soldiers who had earlier crossed Ore after taking Benin and dislodging Nigerian troops there. But because the Biafran soldiers had blown the Niger bridge to make it impossible for the Nigerian side to pursue them, Mortala Muhammad and his boys simply settled in Asaba where they started going from house to house killing people of the town who he accused of aiding the Biafran soldiers. 

On the 7th day, after the house to house killing had gone on for days, the leaders of the town, in a bid to convince the Nigerian troops of their loyalty and support, summoned their people to come out in the street. Hundreds of men, women and children had obeyed the summon and came out, mostly dressed in ceremonial white attire, singing, dancing and chanting "One Nigerian" to the hearing of Muritala and his boys. But the moment they got to the Ogbe-Osewa village square where the Nigerian troops were gathered, the soldiers separated the men and teenage boys of 12 years and above from the women. 

Orders were shouted. And the men and boys were pelted with bullets. At the end of the bullet festival, not less than 700 people of Asaba lay lifeless. There were dead bodies everywhere. Most of them were later buried in mass grave while the Nigerian troops still occupied the town afterwards, hunting down men and boys who escaped the Oct. 7th massacre and raping and forcefully 'marrying' off women and young girls. 

Today, the war criminal, Muritala Mohammed is celebrated as a national hero even in death. Only in Nigeria! After the Asaba massacre, people living across the river were constantly threatened with the Asaba treatment should they help the Biafran soldiers in anyway. And because man's first rule is Self Preservation, some of them started cutting off ties with the Biafrans. Niger Delta leaders were told by Nigerians that the Igbos only wanted to dominate and enslave them just so they would take over their oil. And they swallowed this tale. 

After the war which Biafra lost, the Nigerian state came up with demomc policies to further humiliate and impoverish them. And even though Effiong, a non Igbo was Ojukwu's 2nd in command in Biafra which proves that Biafra was not for Igbos alone, Nigeria believed it was engineered by the Igbos. So the demonic after-war policies were targeted at the Igbos. Your only chance of escaping the devilish policies like seized properties, seized job, seized monies in the bank etc was to cut off every ties with the Igbos. 

In a bid to survive, some Igbos from across the river --Ikwere, Delta, etc-- started denying their Igbo ancestry. Towns and streets in Port Harcourt bearing Igbo names were renamed and the original Igbo names hugely corrupted. Full fledged Igbo men and women with Igbo culture, Igbo name, Igbo food, Igbo everything including language, would look you in the face and tell you, "Aburo m onye-Igbo" just for purpose of self preservation.  Some Niger Delta communities seized Igbo properties in a bid to prove their loyalty to Nigeria. And so, the seed of rancour, strife and enmity was sown between brothers and neighbours who are not enemies and have absolutely no reason to be enemies. 

The trend continued and was inculcated into children born after the war all through the period of 47 years and still counting. And because, the murderous Nigerian state removed history from school curriculum, the younger generation of some Igbos across the River who only heard their parents tell them they were not Igbos without knowing what informed the denial now strongly believe what they heard from their parents. And the fear of Igbo domination, enslavement and coveting their oil is still very much alive among many people in the Niger Delta even as I write this. 

The biggest tragedy of this whole thing is that some scions of the victims of the Asaba massacre are not angry with Nigeria for murdering their fathers and brothers and raping their mothers and sisters. Rather, they are angry with the Igbos whom they blame for everything. On the other hand, in the Niger Delta, the Fulani Oligarchs have always owned the oil there. They have hanged notable sons of the region and made the environment uninhabitable for the people. They live in opulence with monies from the Niger Delta oil while the Niger Delta people live in penury. But criminally funny enough, some Niger Delta people are more concerned with the fear that the Igbos might dominate and enslave them in future than they are about the fact that the Fulani Oligarchs are not just currently enslaving them but equally killing their sons and daughters and making it impossible for their future generations to have a place to call home. 

Some Igbos on their own are not even helping matters with their arrogance and the condescending tone with which they talk about these people. When a people have been given the impression that all you want is to dominate and enslave them and you go ahead to use lines like "all these small small minorities sef", "all these hausa/fulani slaves, who is begging you to join Biafra?" etc. You are not exactly showing wisdom. You don't have to beg anyone but you certainly need to apply tact, wisdom and diplomacy in everything you do. And you've got to take a crash course on how to build alliances. 

Meanwhile, both the Igbos of the 5 SouthEast States and their siblings from across the River and the Niger Delta people are victims, with a common oppressor; The Scions of Danfodio. But strangely, they are busy fighting amongst themselves rather than channelling all their anger towards their common oppressor. Apart from the artificial division and enmity created by Nigeria during and after the war, there has been no known record of any clash between the Igbos and their brethren and neighbors from across the rivers. 

Over 3 millions Igbos were killed by mostly hausa/fulani soldiers during the Biafran war. Hundreds more are still being killed and bathed with acid by the same people. Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 other Niger Delta Chiefs were hanged by the Hausa/Fulani. The oil wells there are virtually owned by the same Hausa/Fulani. Even the Asaba massacre was presided over by 3 Hausa/Fulani soldiers. I am now left wondering: Why are these common victims finding it so hard to realize that all their pains and sorrows plus petty differences and artificial division and enmity are created by one dark-hearted common enemy who seem well sophisticated in the art of using Divide and Rule to weaken his opponents before subjugating them?

APOSTLE SULEMAN AND HIS TORMENTOR an article by SONALA OLUMHENSE

There is a simple formula for serving God.  It was provided by Jesus Christ himself in the following words: “Follow me. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” he says in Luke 9:23. 

Christ is always very clear about the standards of the Cross.  In his template on how to pray, the “Our Father,” he is similarly eloquent.  It is a prayer indexed on forgiveness: his followers are to praise God, and then present their requests, including praying for forgiveness and protection from sin and evil. Notice, in particular, “lead us not into temptation.”  Christ knew the nature of man, and that he will always be challenged by temptation.  Five words that are both an appeal and a warning.  An appeal for strength when we are tempted; a warning not to underrate the challenge. 

The trouble with temptation is that it has unlimited form and remarkable persistence.  It returns again and again, perhaps wearing a fresh face or a different smile; an indifferent phraseology or a changed taste or color.  Or it may retain one irresistible form with which it tries to wear its subject down. But human beings often yield.  For which Christ urged mutual confession of sins, and repeated forgiveness “not just seven times, but seventy-seven times”, he told Peter.  Furthermore: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift." 

High standards that recognize the nature of human beings, but also provide practicable solutions.  Christ provided for the forgiveness of sin, but not for changing of the standards he laid down. I am speaking about the Word of God, not politics, particularly Nigerian-style politics.  I make this distinction because, as we all know, the pulpit and the political stomp are now sometimes indistinguishable. Politicians steal from the poor and give to pastors, who—fully aware the money is filthy—accept it and enlist in the politician’s front lawn.  The pastor joins in the politician’s false lifestyle to which the outsider is the poor believer, who continues to contribute to the church—as he should—in the faith that he is supporting the work of God. 

There is no question some rich pastors are genuine, or some genuine pastors rich; their mission and their pockets enriched beyond measure by their faith, and their faithfulness.  We’ll never be able to tell by the ordinary eye who is whom, except perhaps, through some knowledge of how they deploy their wealth in the service of their fellow man, especially strangers. But good pastor or bad, inspired or fake, even they will at some point come eyeball to eyeball with some form of temptation or another, including greed, lust, insensitivity, and arrogance. For some reason, during this Christian season of Lent, one rising Nigerian pastor has been accused of a few of those.  

Lent is a solemn 40-day observance characterized by prayer, fasting, and abstinence, in preparation for the resurrection of Christ at Easter.  Somehow, fate chose this season for Mr. Johnson Suleman, the General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, to battle allegations of lust and serial adultery. 

It began with one Stephanie Otobo, a Canada-based singer, alleging that between 2015 when they met and 2016, they slept together in three cities on three continents: Naples, New York and Lagos.  But when she became pregnant, the married Apostle Suleman, who had also promised to marry her invited her to Lagos, she alleged, where he personally and forcibly aborted the baby. 

Mr. Suleman has denied the story, but at least one other woman has made a similar allegation.  “I dated Apostle Suleman while I was a member in his church, he was my pastor, spiritual director and mentor aside being a boyfriend, from August 2013 to 2014 April,” one “Queen Esther, chambers,” told Premium Times. On March 9, the pastor asked Festus Keyamo, the widely-known lawyer whose chambers in Lagos is representing Ms. Otobo, to apologize publicly and pay him N1bn for alleged blackmail and injuries. He said Mr. Keyamo and his unidentified “paymasters” were plotting to kill or cause bodily harm to Ms. Otobo and blame him for perpetrating the act.  They were also plotting to “clone” his voice in a forthcoming video on the scandal, he alleged. 

Keyamo's Chambers warned Apostle Suleman the following day to focus on the facts, not conspiracy theories.  Stressing that their principal, who was in Abuja at the time had nothing to do with the case, it said, “Other unfortunate victims of this same self-proclaimed “Man of God” are also in touch with us now and are also itching to tell their story, with proofs. Another published story appeared to demonstrate that an expensive car belonging to actress Daniella Okeke was registered to the pastor. Last week, social media outlets were reporting that Mr. Suleman has sued Ms. Otobo and SaharaReporters—but curiously not Keyamo—for N1billion. 

What does Ms. Otobo, who is already being prosecuted by the police on such charges as blackmail, terrorism and intent to steal from Mr. Suleman, want?  A public apology to her and to his congregation, she said.  “I want him to publicly accept his sins, and beg for forgiveness from God.” That seems to be fair enough.  In fact, it seems to be what Mr. Suleiman or any pastor might have counseled in the circumstances.  But that would mean admitting guilt, a notion the pastor clearly abhors. 

The church’s website suggests Mr. Suleman’s birth was akin to that of Christ.  “...Few days after he was born, some Prophets came from Warri to Benin (the place of his birth) with a message [saying] God told them “a prophet who would minister in God's presence has been born...”  “God gave His choice servant, Apostle Johnson Suleman a divine mandate to: “wipe out tears, restore people to their destinies by the revelation of the word, manifestation of power and reality of the Holy Spirit.” There is evidence that Mr. Suleman is a gifted, generous pastor.  And is not difficult to see the dilemma his accusers have placed him.  But even if Ms. Otobo has lied against him, the challenge before him as a Christian is to forgive and pray for her, leaving vengeance to God.  Christ’s standards have not changed. 

If the pastor has sinned—and only Christ did not—Ms. Otobo is right: only through confessing his sin can he find forgiveness and that strength which only humility can bring.  Through fire is iron forged.  Christ does not regret a sinner because he sinned; he rejects only those who persist or who refuse to take responsibility.  Christ made it clear he did not come to save the perfect, but the sinful. And if Mr. Suleman sinned, he was not the first; he was a man before he became a pastor.  But it would be his choice to enlist with those who, having been given the special spiritual gift to which he lays claim, devalues it by assuming superiority to that gift, and suggesting he is impenetrable to sin. And we must never forget how fondly Christ sees himself in the little man: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Because that personal cross is a daily commitment.