GOOD CATHOLIC: A POLITICAL POPE GIVES ABSOLUTION TO A POLITICAL CATHOLIC.

ICHEOKU says as Fela Anikulapo Kuti of blessed memory would say, "Religion na(is) politics." It was true then when he said and sang it as a song and it is even much truer today with a Pope in the Vatican who actively plays politics of convenience; and who chooses which American president to like and which one to hate. Just look at how dearly he held President Joe Biden and gleamed meeting him, compared to his growling frown when President Donald John Trump similarly met with him. If according to the doctrine of the church, thou shall not judge but love everyone equally, why was he openly happy to see Joe Biden but not President Trump. 

The same pope that is supposedly a Christ ambassador on earth has maintained eerie silence while President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has been purging Christians in Nigeria, particularly those of them in Southeast and Middle Belt of Nigeria, majority of who are active Catholics. But despite the State sponsored and orchestrated killings and others sanctioned by the State, which have claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent Christians lives in Nigeria, the pope has largely maintained his silence and have never spoken out vociferously against the systematic ethnic and religious cleansing going on in Nigeria; neither has the pope ever called out or condemned President Muhammadu Buhari for masterminding the pogrom against Christians in Nigeria. 

The latest of the atrocities in Nigeria is the refusal of the Nigerian government to declare well established and well known terrorists, currently being passed off as "bandits" as domestic terrorist, because according to the government, it is not yet time to so declare them because the government is observing "due process" to ensure that those bandits who have murdered over 100,000 Nigerians get their "due process" before being named for what they really are. But the same Nigerian government did not give IPOB "due process" before declaring them "terrorists" just within few months of their voicing out the need for fairness and equity in Nigeria. Has the pope said a word, nope.

Even the poverty ravaging parts of the world, particularly christians and Catholics could be partly assuaged if the Catholic Church could divest itself of some priceless holdings and use the proceed to provide palliatives to starving humanity. But no, it is only to play double talk, hide and seek as it benefits Vatican and at the expense of the congregants. Now instead of reserving judgment for the United States council of Catholic bishops on their planned censor of President Joe Biden, the same pope just cut off their legs by peremptorily "beatifying" President Joe Biden, anointing him a "good catholic" and you ask yourself based on what? Is he a good catholic because he is now president or a good catholic because he keeps a portrait of the pope behind his desk in the Oval Office. 

As catholics we were taught in catechism that sins offend God and that there are "big" sins and "small" sins; that the biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah happened because homosexuality is a sin before God. We were also taught that killing is one of the big sins. But here is a president who is pro homosexuality, who does not mind if over 300,000 babies are killed each year under the guise of "women's right to choose, it is their body, their choice" nonsensical. Here is a president who have told countless lies and issued series of misstatements which as catholics we were told are both sins. We were also told that receiving the holy communion under a state of sin is double sin. 

But all these not withstanding, the pope was ready and in fact actually gave Joe Biden a clean bill of catholicism; and it is now all clear for him to take holy communion despite not being a good poster man representation of what catholicism teaches. Then we are told not to judge as judgment is for God to make. If this is the new operating standard procedure for the Catholic Church, then why don't everybody forget about living an upright life and wait for God to decide on the judgment day. Why all the effort being put in evangelism when a fully grown man who despite identifying as catholic snubs the tenets of catholicism. 

This piece is not an attack on the pope nor the president; but that catholicism and being in good standing of the church be properly reclassified in order to avoid misleading and confusing double standards. It was the same way a divorced Kennedy and John Kerry were allowed to remarry when the church teaches that divorce is against the law of God. It is sad that this particular pope is not guided by the doctrine of foundational catholicism, but have been tweaking it as suits his agenda to transform the church into a woke culture accepted place of everything is ok all things goes bazaar. Why and how he became pope still baffles some ardent catholics and catholic watchers alike. 

ICHEOKU is not saying that Joe Biden should be ex-communicated from the catholic church, but to declare him fully absolved of every anti catholicism behavior and stand on issues; and then went on to determine him as "good catholic" is where the confusion set in. If Joe Biden with all his anti catholic baggage is an epitome of catholicism, who then is the example of how not to be a catholic. One writer surmised a "good catholic" as a catholic who is having a personal relationship with God and living the faith in a vibrant way; who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, the moral law and the precepts of the Church which Jesus built on Peter. Continuing, he wrote that good catholic is one who is "good" in the eyes of God", begging the question, did the pope look into God's eyes to know what God was seeing in President Joe Biden before declaring him a good catholic. 

ICHEOKU says is just confused, people are confused and catholics are confused as to who then is a bad catholic if Joe Biden is a good catholic. Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence Rhode Island said in a letter to the pope imploring him to confront President Joe Biden on his stand on the abortion issue, which he said was an embarrassment for the church and a scandal to the world. The bishop followed it up, after the pope's convenient silence and calculated decision not to raise the issue with Joe Biden, that the church has lost its prophetic voice and no longer has a "John the Baptist" with the audacity to confront Herods of our day. 

What a brave and courageous bishop and hopefully Vatican will not excommunicate him for voicing out so strong an opinion or treat him like the army high ups treated Lieutenant Stuart Sheller. It is probably nearing the finish line for the catholic church, the reason parishioners and congregants are deserting the church at such high numbers that too many church pews now sit empty during mass. People are constantly becoming fed up with what Mahatma Gandhi described as practice what you preach in his famous dialogue, 'I have read your bible, it contains so many good things, but you people do not practice what your Jesus taught and preached; and of course lived and died for.' It is not a good tiding coming out of Rome. It is increasingly discouraging to be a catholic in today's Pope Francis supervisory papacy.

INSURGENCY, SECESSIONISM AND BANDITRY THREATEN NIGERIA - THE ECONOMIST.

Little more than six decades ago, as Nigeria was nearing independence, even those who were soon to govern Africa’s largest country had their doubts about whether it would hold together. British colonists had drawn a border around land that was home to more than 250 ethnic groups. Obafemi Awolowo, a politician of that era, evoked Metternich, fretting that “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression.” 

The early years of independence seemed to prove him right. Coup followed coup. Ethnic pogroms helped spark a civil war that cost 1m lives, as the south-eastern region calling itself Biafra tried to break away and was ruthlessly crushed. Military rule was the norm until 1999. Despite this inauspicious start, Nigeria is now a powerhouse. Home to one in six sub-Saharan Africans, it is the continent’s most boisterous democracy. Its economy, the largest, generates a quarter of Africa’s gdp. Nollywood makes more titles than any other country’s film industry bar Bollywood. Three of Three of sub-Saharan Africa’s four fintech “unicorns” (startups valued at more than $1bn) are Nigerian. 

Why, then, do most young Nigerians want to emigrate? One reason is that they are scared. Jihadists are carving out a caliphate in the north-east; gangs of kidnappers are terrorising the north-west; the fire of Biafran secessionism has been rekindled in the oil-rich south-east. The violence threatens not just Nigeria’s 200m people, but also the stability of the entire region that surrounds them. 

Readers who do not follow Nigeria closely may ask: what’s new? Nigeria has been corrupt and turbulent for decades. What has changed of late, though, is that jihadism, organised crime and political violence have grown so intense and widespread that most of the country is sliding towards ungovernability. In the first nine months of 2021 almost 8,000 people were directly killed in various conflicts. Hundreds of thousands more have perished because of hunger and disease caused by fighting. More than 2m have fled their homes. 

The jihadist threat in the north-east has metastasised. A few years ago, an area the size of Belgium was controlled by Boko Haram, a group of zealots notorious for enslaving young girls. Now, Boko Haram is being supplanted by an affiliate of Islamic State that is equally brutal but more competent, and so a bigger danger to Nigeria. In the south-east, demagogues are stirring up ethnic grievances and feeding the delusion that one group, the Igbos, can walk off with all the country’s oil, the source of about half of government revenues. President Muhammadu Buhari has hinted that Biafran separatism will be dealt with as ruthlessly now as it was half a century ago. 

Meanwhile, across wide swathes of Nigeria, a collapse in security and state authority has allowed criminal gangs to run wild. In the first nine months of this year some 2,200 people were kidnapped for ransom, more than double the roughly 1,000 abducted in 2020. Perhaps a million children are missing school for fear that they will be snatched. 

Two factors help explain Nigeria’s increasing instability: a sick economy and a bumbling government. Slow growth and two recessions have made Nigerians poorer, on average, each year since oil prices fell in 2015. Before covid-19, fully 40% of them were below Nigeria’s extremely low poverty line of about $1 a day. If Nigeria’s 36 states were stand-alone countries, more than one-third would be categorised by the World Bank as “low-income” (less than $1,045 a head). Poverty combined with stagnation tends to increase the risk of civil conflict. 

Economic troubles are compounded by a government that is inept and heavy-handed. Mr Buhari, who was elected in 2015, turned an oil shock into a recession by propping up the naira and barring many imports in the hope this would spur domestic production. Instead he sent annual food inflation soaring above 20%. He has failed to curb corruption, which breeds resentment. Many Nigerians are furious that they see so little benefit from the country’s billions of petrodollars, much of which their rulers have squandered or stolen. Many politicians blame rival ethnic or religious groups, claiming they have taken more than their fair share. This wins votes, but makes Nigeria a tinderbox. 

When violence erupts, the government does nothing or cracks heads almost indiscriminately. Nigeria’s army is mighty on paper. But many of its soldiers are “ghosts” who exist only on the payroll, and much of its equipment is stolen and sold to insurgents. The army is also stretched thin, having been deployed to all of Nigeria’s states. The police are understaffed, demoralized and poorly trained. Many supplement their low pay by robbing the public they have sworn to protect. 

To stop the slide towards lawlessness, Nigeria’s government should make its own forces obey the law. Soldiers and police who murder or torture should be prosecuted. That no one has been held accountable for the slaughter of perhaps 15 peaceful demonstrators against police abuses in Lagos last year is a scandal. The secret police should stop ignoring court orders to release people who are being held illegally. This would not just be morally right, but also practical: young men who see or experience state brutality are more likely to join extremist groups. 

Second, Nigeria needs to beef up its police. Niger state, for instance, has just 4,000 officers to protect 24m people. Local cops would be better at stopping kidnappings and solving crimes than the current federal force, which is often sent charging from one trouble spot to another. Money could come from cutting wasteful spending by the armed forces on jet fighters, which are not much use for guarding schools. Britain and America, which help train Nigeria’s army, could also train detectives. Better policing could let the army withdraw from areas where it is pouring fuel on secessionist fires. 

The biggest barrier to restoring security is not a lack of ideas, nor of resources. It is the complacency of Nigeria’s cosseted political elite—safe in their guarded compounds and the well-defended capital. Without urgent action, Nigeria may slip into a downward spiral from which it will struggle to emerge. 

FACEBOOK REBRANDED: NOW JUST A SUBSIDIARY OF META.

ICHEOKU says like many other companies in the past, Mark Zuckerberg have decided to subsume his flagship company Facebook under a newly formed umbrella company The Meta; which will now be the parent company of Facebook, WhatsUp, Snap and any other companies owned by Mark Zuckerberg. 

Google did similar thing a few years ago when it supplanted Google under Alphabet; but despite the change, people still know and recognize the company as Google. It is one thing in a name, as a good name always sticks with the people and not easily amenable to replacement. People will continue to still refer to Mark Zuckerberg's flagship company Facebook as Facebook, regardless of the reorganization that just took place. 

ICHEOKU says welcome Meta and hopefully Facebook will continue to do its thing, regardless of the attacks from everywhere trying to bring it down. However, they need to repopulate their community to make it more inclusive and stop the selective sanction of opinions which they consider non conformist. Make Facebook less Woke Again.

JUSTICE FOR HALYNA HUTCHINS: INDICT HER KILLER.

HALYNA HUTCHINS LIVE MATTERS.

SANTE FE DISTRICT ATTORNEY: WILL SHE SUCCUMB TO WOKE CULTURE PRESSURE?

ICHEOKU says "I didn't know the gun contained live bullets" is not a defense to killing a person. A gun in the hand of a person is presumed loaded and pointing it at another person is an assault on its own; and then pulling the trigger consummates the crime of battery. If the person struck by the fired bullet or projectile dies, then we are looking at the degree of homicide involved. There was no reason for Alec Baldwin to point the gun at Halyna Hutchins who was not acting in the movie; yet he pointed the gun at her, squeezed the trigger and fired off the shot which killed her. If there is any explanation at all for the acts preceding her death, it still does not and will not excuse killing her. That she was killed on a movie set is also not an excuse, as in make believe fantasy production, make believe plastic guns should have been used instead of the real deal. 

There were three activities involved in this incident: he was handed a gun; he pointed the gun and he fired the gun. He was handed a gun but he was never told to point the gun at Halyna Hutchins nor to pull the trigger, firing off the projectile with which he killed her. The two subsequent actions following being handed a gun were entirely Alec Baldwin's and he is absolutely responsible for them. At minimum, he should be held accountable for his own portion  of the actions that ultimately led the death of Halyna Hutchins. But the poor excuse of "I didn't know the gun contained live bullets" is akin to a driver of a vehicle who just ran over and killed a pedestrian on a crosswalk, claiming that the vehicle was given to him by a third party. 

So, all the defenders and apologists of Alec Baldwin should fully appraise themselves of these vital factual issues triggered in this case; and understand that it is what Alec Baldwin did, and on his own volition, that is under the microscope here and not what an armorer did. The armorer only handed him a gun but what Alec Baldwin decided to do with the gun was entirely his own act. We should therefore be discussing his level of contribution to the death of Halyna Hutchins and not that someone handed him a gun and said "cold gun" is an excuse. If he did not point the gun at Halyna Hutchins or pulled the trigger, Halyna Hutchins would not have died, whether or not the gun was handed to him and irrespective of it being loaded. 

ICHEOKU says is prepared to give him the benefit of doubt that he did not intend to kill her, but he killed her anyways. The absence of malice aforethought in what he did will only operate to reduce his culpability but not extinguish it nor exculpate him from all responsibility in her killing. Halyna Hutchins died because of Alec Baldwin's action, he killed her, period. Any other story being bandied out there regarding other surrounding circumstances of her death will only help to mitigate Alec Baldwin's jeopardy. Halyna Hutchins deserves justice; her death needs to be atoned for and only through the prosecution of her killer Alec Baldwin will she finally find some rest. 

Killing her was not an accident because it was a targeted shot. The pointing and pulling of trigger were deliberate or intended; and it is a reasonable believe that any person who a gun was pointed at and the trigger squeezed could die as a result. It would have been different if the gun was being held in a barrel-down position when it went off and the bullet ricocheted on the floor and struck her. It would have been different if the gun was holstered when it went off and the bullet stuck her. It would have been different if the gun was pointed elsewhere at a different target or direction and it misfired and flying shrapnel struck her. It would have been different if Alec Baldwin did not pull the trigger at all. But he actively carried out all the processes involved in firing a gun at a target, he pointed at it and he shot at it; and no one directed him to do so. 

Members of the filming crew were relaxing after lunch and have not resumed shooting any movie scene when Alec Baldwin decided to play John Wayne's styled Texas quick draw and shoot from the hip, while seated. At minimum Sante Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies should indict him with involuntary manslaughter and let the jury decide if his conduct were excusable. But to not prosecute him will be denying justice to his victims, both the dead and the survivor; and it will also add credence to the prevailing believe in America that American Justice System is only for the poor and the downtrodden. OJ Simpson got away with two murders, will Alec Baldwin also get away with an apparent involuntary manslaughter or even reckless endangerment. He pointed the gun and squeezed the trigger. But will she prosecute or will we see another 'Jussie Smollett type-free pass by Kim Foxx' due to pressure of woke culture political correctness?

COUP IN SUDAN AS AFRICA SLIDES BACK TO ITS INGLORIOUS PAST: IS NIGERIA NEXT?

ICHEOKU says the school of thought which postulates that Muhammadu Buhari will probably be the last president of an undivided Nigeria may likely have their wish come through, unless the military stages a coup before the end of 2022 and that way starve off the looming implosion of the country. With Sudanese government now fallen to a military coup, the scenario is now set for Nigeria military to be tempted, aware that military coups are once again cool in Africa and that foreign powers are no longer interested in intervening to stop them. No foreign country has intervened in the already four military coups successfully staged in Africa so far; and the likelihood that this policy position of no interference will change any time soon is practically non existent, at least not for now. 

With President Joe Biden's new foreign policy redirection away from nation building overseas, as well as the overall apathy of the United States of America in entanglements in other countries internal affairs matter, following their ugly experience of being chased out of Afghanistan by the Taliban, it will be difficult to see any military in Africa being stopped now should they decide to take over governance. Put in another words, it is apparently clear that there is now a newly declared open season for the military in Africa to get back in the saddle of power. They are once again at liberty to overthrow their government whenever they feel like it, knowing fully well that no outside power will challenge them. This is the reason the count is rising and it can only go one way - up.

First was Egypt where then General Sisi with the tacit support of Western countries overthrew the elected President Mohamed Morsi and took back power before transitioning to a civilian president. Then Mali happened and their colonial master France looked the other way when Colonel Assimi Goit took over power in Bamako. It is on record that the colonel was trained by the United States of America with necessary implication that America equally signed off on his putsch. Following so soon thereafter, the military in Guinea overthrew the elected President Alpha Conde and took over power. Some noises were initially made about it and the need for Guinea to return back to democratic governance, but Colonel Mamady Doumbouya is still calling the shots in Conakry unperturbed.

Now Sudan has joined the growing retinue of countries in Africa to have surrendered their democratic governance to the men and women in jackboots. Like other countries before it, nothing will happen to reverse what is currently the situation in Khartoum as Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Burhan will also consolidate his hold on power undisturbed and unperturbed. Unlike when President Donald John Trump was in power and countries around the world feared his unpredictability, many military leaders were apprehensive not knowing how he might react should they venture into power. But now, many of these countries and military leaders no longer have the same fear about President Joe Biden, the reason the number of military coups is suddenly skyrocketing in Africa.

So, the real question now is which country's station will the military intervention train barreling through Africa stop next? Judging from the way things are rapidly deteriorating in Nigeria, it is possible that Nigeria will host the next military intervention in Africa and when it does, it will trigger a domino effect in the rest of the countries, particularly those in the West African sub region. ICHEOKU says a military coup is likely to take place in Nigeria before the 2023 scheduled election: first, to prevent Nigeria from splintering into many ethnic regional groups and second, to ensure that power remains in the North. Many factors will lead to this military takeover in Nigeria and they are increasing in strength daily. 

As things stand presently, the natural group to produce the next president in Nigeria in 2023 are the Igbo people of Southeast Nigeria. But many forces are trying to sabotage it and prevent and deny them the opportunity of putting one of their own in Aso Rock in 2023. If these forces succeed, it might trigger a crisis of immense proportion which might lead to Nigeria falling apart and into pieces. It will help fully galvanize the Igbo people around IPOB for the final push to get out of Nigeria. The Yoruba Southwest is also trying to put Bola Tinubu in Aso Rock in 2023, despite having produced Olusegun Obasanjo as president for 8 years and also the now serving Vice President Yomi Osibanjo who would have served for 8 years by 2023. 

But Nigerians will resist it as an unfair attempt by Yoruba people at ethnic domination of others; but the Yoruba will stand their ground and push for a Yoruba president in 2023. The Hausa/Fulani North fearing a loss of power will then engineer a military coup for a Northern Army General to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari in a palace coup and take over power, in the name of stabilizing Nigeria with a promise to conduct a new election after drafting a new constitution. Such a bait of drafting a new constitution will be lapped up by the polity and he will use the opportunity to consolidate his hold on power. It is a game they play and every indication shows that the present government in Nigeria is headed that way unless reason prevails and an Igbo Southeast person is elected president in 2023. 

ICHEOKU says military coups in Africa are popular because democracy have not delivered the promised dividends, as many politicians turned out to be worse than the military, both in the level of their corruption and degree of incompetence In military regimes, very few generals dip their hands in the country's pie, unlike in democratic dispensation when thousands of politicians descend on the country's pie like ravenous vultures engaged in a feeding frenzy to bankrupt countries. It is more expensive to run a democratic government than it is a military government; and Africa is not rich enough to continue to carry on with the so much waste of resources involved in a democracy. It is the mistake Western countries make, thinking that democracy is a one-cap fits all good for every country ideal, but it is not, as Africa is not rich nor ripe enough for democracy. 

Many Africans share this view, the reason African people still pour out on the streets in large numbers each time there is a military coup to celebrate these military "messiahs" who takeover their corrupt and incompetent governments. Nigerians for example, are giddily waiting for the day they will hear a martial music on radio to pour out on the streets celebrating a military officer who eventually saved them from the current government, a government that will easily pass as the worst, ugliest, most despotic, ruthless and incompetent government to ever the saddle the seat of power in Nigeria. The level of insecurity, food scarcity, collapsed education, hospitals, depression, suicides, shortages of everything, repression and oppression, as well as ridiculously high cost of governance, have removed the shine in democracy in Nigeria; ditto in so many other African countries. 

This is why the military strikes in Africa and this is why they are always welcomed by the people with great jubilation. Democracy have not brought to Africans its tall promises and the people lack more things during a democratic government than they do in a military dictatorship. Practically everything collapses in a democracy, with clueless and thieving politicians, whose only motive of seeking power is to amass enormous wealth for their families and unborn generations. The level of brigandage and banditry are such that they literary steal every fund meant for developmental needs including funds for hospitals, education, economy and security, leaving the people wondering why and what for, if such are what democracy brings.  Africa is not yet ripe nor ready for democracy and a military with some human kindness will always be preferred any day to the band of rogues masquerading as politicians in Africa. So, with Sudan now in the bag, which country falls next? It is sad but true. 

ALEC BALDWIN: ARREST AND CHARGE HIM NOW FOR KILLING HALYNA HUTCHINS.

ICHEOKU says every day another story comes out as the effort to absolve Alec Baldwin continues. Why was he "practicing removing a revolver from its holster and aiming it towards the camera?" Why was the part, "aiming a revolver towards the camera", written into the script; and assuming it was, why was Halyna Hutchins shot and not the camera that was being aimed at. 

Even if we are to concede for the heck of argument, that Alec Baldwin was a poor marksman and missed the camera he was aiming towards, why then was director Souza who was standing behind Halyna and looking over her shoulder struck on his own shoulder by the same bullet which pierced through her?  

The narrative is rather clumsy as the incident suggests that several bullets were fired by Alec Baldwin and not just the one bullet which killed Halyna. She was shot on her midsection because we were told that she "grabbed her mid section", not her chest and not her shoulder; stumbled backwards and was then helped to the ground. So how did "aiming towards the camera" end up becoming shooting one person on the shoulder and the other person, Halyna, on her stomach; and they have not told us just yet whether the camera was also shot as well. The two victims were standing up, the reason one was looking over the shoulder of the other and they had different points of gun shot wounds.

If according to the story, people on the movie set are not checked for concealed personal weapons and "the only thing checked are the firearms to avoid live ammunition being in them", how then did live ammunition end up being in that gun. Is it that the gun was not checked as required due to someone's negligence or that someone subsequently, intentionally sabotaged it by feeding live ammunition into them. If, where is the surveillance video of the movie set that captured the act, especially in these days where everything is often captured on video and a movie set is not an exception, to show exactly what transpired. 

A matter made more suspicious because the shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins happened immediately "they came back from lunch and a creeping shadow prompted the camera to be moved to a different angle". Which "creeping shadow", a ghost from the past of Rust or Santa Fe? How convenient the coincidence that this particular "creeping shadow" appeared at that very particular exact time of her being shot and prevented her actual shooting from being captured live on camera. Who do these people take us as, numbskulls who cannot stitch two reasonings together? 

Further, if the assistant armourer or handler of ammunitions on the movie set was previously "fired" for a similar misconduct in another movie set, why was he allowed to continue handling guns and ammunitions on movie sets; and why on Rust movie set where guns were being used? Where was his supervisor when the handoff was made, especially in view of the story which claimed that the supervisor was the one who actually "set the three guns on the cart" where a scene was being rehearsed. You allow a person with a past record of doing something tricky, unsupervised, on a movie set. Interesting. 

Then a new "explanation" that "Baldwin was explaining how he was going to draw his gun and where his arm would be positioned, when the gun discharged". This is certainly different from the earlier version of the story that Baldwin was "practicing how to draw his revolver from his holster and aiming it towards the camera". So, which version of the story do they want us to take as correct: that a loaded gun with live ammunitions in the hand of Alec Baldwin "discharged" on its own without the trigger being pulled by him; or that he was practicing how to draw the gun from his holster and aiming it at the camera and then pulled the trigger. If the former, was the trigger of the gun dusted for his finger print to confirm that the "zombie" gun went off on its own without Alec Baldwin's prompting? 

The main thing which borders ICHEOKU in the whole incident was why Alec Baldwin pointed the gun at Halyna Hutchins in the first place, regardless of whatever the prevailing circumstances at that particular time the bullets left the barrel of the gun might have been. Was there an incident between them prior to her being killed that enraged Alec Baldwin so much that he decided to do something bad at her? What was Alec Baldwin's state of mind when he killed Halyna Hutchins, was he under the influence of either drugs or alcohol or other intoxicants including barbiturates; or was he terribly mad at something which impacted his reason and rendered his action, involuntary. 

For full disclosure, although ICHEOKU is not a fan of Alec Baldwin, but the need for transparency in this mater is what is driving this effort rather than partisanship. The different accounts of what happened and the convenient coincidences which they are now peddling add to the strong pall of suspicion over her killing; this needs to be cleared. If at the end of the forensic investigation he is found not to have done anything wrong and is completely exonerated, Halyna Hutchins would rest in peace, knowing fully well that her life mattered enough to warrant a full investigation about how it was taken. 

But to just explain away her loss with all these jumbled stories will not serve her right. She deserves better; she deserves justice; somebody unlawfully took her life and that person is Alec Baldwin. At least, her family and loved ones deserve to know the truth about how their beloved Halyna was taken away from them. Whether the armorer or the handoff fella who yelled "cold gun" or the movie producer or director will be also charged is left for the local prosecutors to determine. Although they will also make the final determination on whether to charge Alec Baldwin, but the people need to know the how and the why Halyna was killed; why her, especially since she was not acting any role in the movie.

ICHEOKU says is confident that Alec Baldwin bears some degree of responsibility in the killing of Halyna Hutchins and that charging him in her death is the right and proper thing to do. He pointed and fired the gun at her, and on a part of her body that will be fatal and killed her as a result. He did not shoot her on her hand or leg or her camera since we are told that he "was aiming the gun towards the camera." Something is fishy about her killing and law enforcement agents in Santa Fe New Mexico need to unravel it. They should not because of who Alec Baldwin is, allow a guilty man to walk free. He should not be another OJ Simpson as the people deserve better. DO IT FOR HALYNA HUTCHINS, her live matters.

ALEC BALDWIN: MARK GERAGOS CALLS IT, INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER AT LEAST.

ICHEOKU says the leftist liberal media is protecting him; trying so hard to shield him from prosecution because he attacks their most hated "villain" President Donald John Trump, who he makes mockery of on Saturday Night Live. So, they have refused to see any circumstances under which he could be adjudged guilty or at least held responsible for killing Halyna Hutchins, insisting that Alec Baldwin was merely handed a gun and the armourer said to him, "cold gun". 

So, what if he was handed the gun, did they also ask him to point the gun at and shoot a camerawoman (cinematographer), who was not acting in the movie, but merely recording or filming it. It is so infuriating listening to all the gobbledegook being churned out by the liberal media in defense of the cartoonish character of President Donald John Trump. It is the same way they are shielding President Joe Biden from his obvious degradation unlike what they did to Trump.

Whatever Alec Baldwin's preexisting state of mind and feelings towards Ms Halyna Hutchins might have been, his culpability in her killing inured the moment he trained the gun at her and pulled the trigger. Movie set or no movie set, the onus of the presumption that a gun is loaded is on him. You don't point a gun at a person unless you intend to shoot that person and he has to also explain why he pointed the gun at her. He pulled the trigger and fired off the shot that killed her, still his making. And lastly, he did not check to ensure that the vicinity of his "shot-fired" was clear and free of the presence of other possible victims. 

All the circumstances considered, the excuse or attempt at offering an out for Alec Baldwin falls flat as he somewhat intended the outcome which he achieved. But the best way to resolve all the current "accidental discharge" debacle is for Alec Baldwin to release the clip of the shooting incident so that we all can see exactly what happened. We are told that he fired the gun while filming a shooting scene and that he did not intend to kill Halyman Hutkins, that her shooting was accidental. So, which part of it was "accidental", the pointing of the gun at her or the pulling of the trigger and killing her. 

Why was she at the business end of the gun assuming we are to believe that in fact, Alec Baldwin was acting a scene when he fired the gun. He should release the clip so that everyone can see the sequencing of the camera, light and action shooting scene and then decide how "accidental" her killing indeed was. Halyna Hutkins was not an actress nor part of the acting crew of for Alec Baldwin to have been filming a scene with her that involved firing a gun at her. yet she was at the receiving end of his pointed gun and you ask yourself, why? 

There is more to the story which is not currently being shared; and any attempt at hiding or suppressing any evidence will be futile. Somebody's daughter, somebody's wife, somebody' mother, somebody's aunt and somebody's relative was killed and somebody was responsible for killing her. The far left liberal media hounded Dick Cheney for a hunting accident in which the person shot survived; but now they are trying to protect by preempting the prosecution of Alec Baldwin who in fact killed a human being named Halyna Hutchins. 

The only time the killing of another person is excused is in self defense and Alec Baldwin was not defending himself from a lady who was only "armed" with her camera, with which she was recoding the movie Rust. If he did not intend to kill her, his culpability will be reduced. If killing her was by accident, his culpability will be reduced, as Mark Geragos rightly pointed out to involuntary manslaughter. But the joke is on anybody trying to spin Alec Baldwin out of prosecution because Alec Baldwin did something. 

Somebody died as a result and no taking of human life ever goes unpunished except as pointed above. Alec Baldwin should therefore be arrested immediately and charged for causing the death of Haylna Hutchins. It is also possible that he was under the influence of something and did not have his faculties in tact when he took the gun, pointed it at Haylna Hutchins, discharged it, causing her death. She deserves her day in court and the prosecutor or District Attorney in Santa Fe should grant her her wish and hold Alec Baldwin accountable. If the court or jury eventually finds him not guilty, we can live with that, too. #ArrestAndChargeHimNow.

PETE BUTTIGIEG'S MISPLACED PRIORITIES: SIMPLY SELFISH AND SELF CENTERED.

ICHEOKU says Pete Buttigieg placed his personal interest above the country's interest. Like Emperor Nero who played the fiddle while Rome burnt, the Transportation Secretary placed bonding with twin babies, conceived and carried to full term by other people, above the wellbeing of the American people. The nation's supply chain is broken and the man in charge of it, instead of making the expected personal sacrifice to have it restored immediately, went on "maternity or paternity" leave to "bond" with his adopted twins. Why did he not consider hiring some nannies and returned to work immediately to fix the broken supply chain. 

Part of his work description as the Transportation Secretary of the United States of America is to ensure a continuity in the supply chain of goods in America. It is yet another evidence that liberals place personal "feelings" far and above the bolts and nuts issues which make America, America. The nation cannot survive if it continues on this trajectory of misplaced priorities, where selfishness is prioritized over selflessness. Pete Buttigieg should go back to work and if he has already, then fix the gaddam supply chain; if it means hiring temporary truck drivers from Mexico, so be it. 

Just an aside: what if the woman who gave Pete Buttigieg those two babies had aborted them or had removed her uterus or denounced her vagina? But why did he not even adopt black babies instead of white babies or at least, make it one of each, one white baby and one black baby. But as a leftist liberal, they always preach one thing and do the other. It is also instructive that he did not marry a black husband either; speaking of accepting other people who do not look like us. He could have shown an example, mixing things up by embracing racial diversity. It is not as if he would have been chastised and pilloried for having black babies since he did not sire them; but he deliberately chose not to have black babies in his household because for him opposites do not attract. 

Anyway, let him just restore the broken supply chain and thereafter, he can go back, take as many number of days off as he wants and that will be long enough to help him complete the "bonding with his twins". #BringBackOurSupplyChain.

ALEC BALDWIN GUILTY OF SOMETHING: GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE DO.

ICHEOKU says it does not make sense that the President Donald John Trump impersonator did not intend to shoot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when he shot her dead at his Rust film set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He picked up the gun, pointed it at her direction, aimed it at her and then squeezed the trigger, letting off the hot leads that flew towards her and penetrated her body, killing her instantly. 

Somebody died as a result of Alec Baldwin's action of firing a loaded gun. All that is left now is to decide the level of his culpability, but he cannot walk away Scott-free from every responsibility; at least, he is guilty of reckless endangerment. He broke all the safety rules of gun handling by not treating the gun as loaded; pointing it at a person when he did not intend to discharge it and pulled the trigger without checking the vicinity for the presence of other possible victims.

He may have been playing with the gun or was mistaken as to the true nature of the bullets inside the gun, whether they were live or blank bullets; but the fact that he aimed and pointed the gun at the victim, imposes some level of responsibility on him. He acted in reckless indifference to human life and complete disregard for the safety of others not to cause harm to them. He should not have pointed and aimed the gun at people or alternatively, aimed it elsewhere. Why did he point the gun at her and then followed it up by pulling the trigger.  

It is a given that Alec Baldwin is weird and somehow stranger than normal. He attacked someone in a New York cafe and have had several other run-ins with cameramen and journalists. He attacked paparazzis and have also been involved in many fisticuffs in the past. He has also used profanities and used racial and homophobic slurs; and also berated his daughter. His rashness and mercurial temper is well known, so it is possible that he was having one of such his angry episode of ravaging fits when he trust the gun forward and pulled the trigger, causing the death of Halyna Hutchins. 

He may not have intended to fire the gun and kill her; and possibly did not even know that the gun was loaded when he was handed the gun, but the end result was the death of a young woman and somebody is responsible for causing her death and that somebody is Alec Baldwin. He is responsible for his actions and he owed Haylna Hutchins the duty of care not to harm or kill her; and also to ensure that the gun did not contain live bullets. So, he can be as remorseful as he wants to be, he failed in his responsibility and should have thought about the consequences of his action before letting the bullets fly out of the barrel of the gun.

Therefore he should and ought to be held accountable, if not for murder or manslaughter, for some other less included offense such as unlawful endangerment and/or assault. Halyna Hutchins is someone's daughter, sister, aunt, mother and wife, and Alec Baldwin has deprived these people her continuous love and affection. Their loved one was lost by reckless and/or negligent misuse of a firearm of Alec Baldwin. At 63 years he is old enough to know not to kid around with a gun and it does not matter whether or not he knew the gun was loaded. The responsibility of handling a firearm is strict and only he alone is responsible for discharging it and killing Halyna Hutchins.

A diligent and well trained gun handler or user should have first checked the chamber of the gun to see if the gun was loaded and cleared it before playing with it. If it was handed to him, he should have asked questions and rechecked it himself before firing it. But Alec Baldwin belongs to the woke culture nut jobs who are anti NRA and the Second Amendment, and was not properly trained as a certified gun handler and went on to kill another man's daughter. It is not right as Halyna Hutchins did not deserve to be killed just like that, on her job, leaving her husband a widower and her children motherless; not by Alec Baldwin and not by any other person. 

Alec Baldwin did the crime and he should do the time. It is not a defense to homicide that the gun was handed to him by another in a movie set as he could have used a fake gun. Such can only mitigate the degree of homicide but cannot completely excuse it. While he lacked the intent to kill her, he had the intent to pull the trigger and this could be read as an implied or transferred intent to commit an act of wanton disregard for human life. Therefore he should be arrested immediately without any further delay and charged for causing the death of Halyna Hutchins; and let the court decide if what he did amounts to an excusable homicide, whether accidental or otherwise, or a reckless endangerment. 

If convicted, depending on the sentencing guidelines of New Mexico, he will most likely still be in prison when President Donald John Trump regains the White House in 2024; and you wonder who will then play his role mimicking the former president on Saturday Night Live. It is obvious too that a wrongful death action will be headed his way as well, as the bereaved family of Haylna Hutchins deserves to be compensated for her wrongful death. It is sad that such a rising Hollywood cinematographer had to loss her life in the hands of Alec Baldwin. May her soul now rest and to the grieving family, the fortitude to bear her sudden but otherwise avoidable death. To Alec Baldwin, it counts to many of his infra-digs and MAGA-nation got no sympathy for him. #LockHimUp.

ADMIRAL LEVINE: ANOTHER FIRST FOR THE AMERICAN WOMEN FOLKS, HURRAY!

ICHEOKU says first they told us that Caitlyn Jenner was the "Woman of the Year" and now that Admiral Levine has become the "First Woman Four Star General", ever. Very soon, they will also probably crown Pete Buttigieg the first and best "Nursing Mother of the Year" for bonding with two un-aborted babies from other people's cells, while our nation is suffering from a broken supply chain. Speaking of placing self over the country. 

How about Admiral Michelle Howard or is she no longer a four star general and in fact, the first female to make that rank in the Navy. She became an admiral long before the advent of this now newly designated "first female" admiral, a transgendered male, Richard Levine. Does her gender not count towards this recognition or is the replacement agenda now in such a full swing that even a real woman has to be replaced? It must be unsettling and very insulting to these real women who had worked their butts off to achieve what they achieved in life, seeing these political correctness-manufactured women take the place of pride of their womanhood. It is not fair and it is not right. 

Bruce Jenner now Caitlyn Jenner and Richard Levine now Rachel Levine are both biological males and you wonder what biological females really think about men continuously encroaching on their gender space, displacing and replacing them. Why are women allowing this travesty or is it not worth fighting for? Why are they tolerating this continuing invasion and incursion into their space by men, when women do not get the same privilege to disturb the groove of men. It is an attack on the female gender as each gender's space should and ought to be respected and things rightfully theirs, reserved for them and given to them. Meanwhile, no woman has ever been named the "Man of the Year" or the "First male Admiral", so why are these men being named to female rightful positions and it is ok by women? 

Anyway, blame the woke culture invasion which is continuously eroding our values as a people, imposing some idiotic classifications or rather reclassifications of genders in an effort to blend gender and make us a genderless society. Why is the woke attack only on women or at least, appears to be so; and why not also on men too? Why is woke culture taking undue advantage of women, taking things rightfully theirs and giving them to men and not vice versa; or is woke culture anti women and built around depriving and exploiting women and raising hell at the expense of real women. 

Why are women even allowing this continuing attacks on their gender  or have they lost the will to fight and win their battles. Women should put their feet down and maintain that all things female must be left for females. Enough of the attacks on females. We should all be guided by the biblical verse of Matthew 22:21 as fairness is a precursor to every peaceful co-existence. Lets be kind to one another and learn to respect each other's space, as it makes a mockery of womanhood to improvise for females when real females are abundantly available. 

Why settle for fake women when there are original and genuine women; and will men tolerate a similar displacement were the table to turn. So, no, Levine is not the first woman admiral; a first transgender admiral, may be. Enough of the confusion as we are messing up with our children's minds, wondering what is going on with having two husbands, two daddies, two mommies and now the latest addition, a male first woman first four star general. Congratulations General Levine.

 JE SUIS MAZI NNAMDI KANU

MNK GOES TO COURT TODAY: SHOW HIM SOME LOVE AND SOLIDARITY, JE SUIS MNK.

ICHEOKU says we are all Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Je suis MNK. Biafra Lives Matters. Stand with the IPOB leader. Appreciate him for all his wondrous sacrifices. We shall overcome. Keep hope alive. 

May ChukwuOkikeAbiama protect his own and keep the leader and the led alive and well IJN. May AmadiOha fight his battles for him and also fight all those levying war against the Biafran people. It is well. 

Just curious, will he now submit to the jurisdictional authority of the "Zoological Republic of Nigger Area" or enter a protest plea that he is a sovereign citizen of Biafra not amenable to Nigerian court. Anyway, foreigners are prosecutable in any country whose laws they transgressed. So, not even his British citizenship can exclude the Nigeria forum. The Iranian/British citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is still doing time in Tehran prison despite all the protestations of 10 Downing Street. 

May the almighty chaperon through the current ordeal. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a great man and his willingness to carry the cross of his current tribulations shows that his love for his people is abidingly boundless. Remember him in your prayers. #BiafransLivesMatters.

A HOMELAND FOR BIAFRANS: IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?

BLM

COVID-19 DEATHS AFTER VACCINATION: THE NEED TO EXAMINE VACCINES EFFICACY.

ICHEOKU says the effort being made by the far left liberal media and their minions to muzzle anyone who questions the efficacy of current vaccines in our stables, in the fight against the coronavirus disease aka COVID-9, should be discouraged and discontinued, in view of the many people who are still dying post vaccination. If the vaccines are working as expected and as vaccines of yore have worked, this many people will not still be dying after getting their vaccination. Too many people have already died and many more will still die, people who were fully vaccinated and it is unacceptable. But instead of banding together, asking relevant questions that will help us see a way out of the coronavirus woods and help starve off these deaths, we are at each other's throats, choking off the living daylight out of each other. 

The country is so polarized between "pro vaxxers" and "anti vaxxers" that even the medical and scientific community is polarized too, between those scientists who want to resolve the coronavirus problem and those who are indifferent due largely in part to things they hear and see in the media which disparages their conviction, political and philosophical leaning. That Americans are divided is not in doubt and every day the chasm is steadily widening and it extends to all walks of life and endeavors. But the disagreement over the coronavirus pandemic and currently available vaccines is threatening to keep us permanently rooted in our respective foxholes and trenches where we are gradually bleeding out our unity as a result.

Homosexuals are divided from straights; liberals are divided from conservatives; feminists are divided from masculinists; Christians are divided from non believers; white people are divided from black people; other racial minorities are working tirelessly so hard to be loved by white people at the expense of black people who they are steadily being displaced and replaced; democrats are divided from republicans and their disagreements are bigger today than they were in many years past; those who believe in the "BIG LIE" are divided from those who believe in the "FAT LIE"; the pro vaccine crowd are divided from the anti vaccine crowd; and of course the gap between the rich and the poor has become wider than the Grand Canyon. 

The only thing still holding Americans together and in which many still see eye to eye are sports, McDonald's and the military, admitted the division is slowly creeping into the military, with a Chief of Joint Chief of Staffs who is not making matters any better with his desire to "understand white rage". Hopefully, his quest to understand "white rage" will not make too many white risk takers in the military to become so mad that they decide to throw in their rifles and uniforms and just walk away, rather than stay put and be grumbling, unmotivated by radical changes which will corrode the very essence of a one single spirit fighting army, not previously exposed to internal disharmony. With all the threats facing America, especially from China, American military could use less to no distractions at all, bothering on which race is raging. 

The problem is that America is gradually morphing into a one-idea, one-viewpoint, hegemony where everyone is minded and required to either conform or be disassociated from. People are no longer allowed to freely express their believes and/or opinions on issues, afraid that thought police might descend on them and make their lives miserable and unlivable. It used to be that everyone was entitled to their opinion and also free to express them, regardless of how idiotic or simplistic they might be. But not any more as templates now exists for practically everything as  people are required under the penalty of excommunication to conform or be damned. 

One example is the issue of the coronavirus disease, the available vaccines and the need for everyone to be vaccinated. Americans have been funneled into a tunnel of acceptance and any disagreement is met with a harsh reprimand. Nobody is allowed to hold any divergent opinion from what "science" told us about the coronavirus; and the same enforcers who are policing others, failed to also capture the fact that the same "science" told us so many different things throughout the course of the pandemic. Now, the same people are enforcing vaccine mandates and nobody is expected to raise any objection as well; and even in many cases where already vaccinated people are still dying, they expect people to believe that the dead are just "breakthrough" cases and it that it was expected. 

But how many of these "breakthrough" cases will there be before we arrive to the conclusion that possibly, the current vaccines are not good enough to provide us with the required protection from the disease. Instead, they have introduced "booster" shots as a shortcut to the problem and you wonder how many booster shots will be given to people before they finally accept that a better vaccine is what is needed to do the job. Is it possible that these current vaccines were rushed out and that they can be improved or even better ones found? These are possibilities but which we can never get to without freeing the space for contrarian views to inhere.

Nobody is questioning "science" nor needlessly want to engage in a debate of vaccine efficacy, but there should be a space in the conversation fora for people to air their fears, grievances and misgivings, both about the coronavirus disease and the available vaccines. People should not have to lose their jobs either because of doing this. But unfortunately, the freedom as we once knew it in America is gradually evaporating such that it is now either their way or the highway, no more accommodations for different thoughts, not any more. 

But were it a gender question or homosexuality or even religion, everyone will be asked to make necessary accommodations for others who are not like them; and that we should respect their choice to be free in the land of the free and home of the brave. If these other disparate classes of people can be free to do their own thing, which ICHEOKU does not begrudge them, why then the dichotomy in dealing with people who have some other opinion about vaccinations or even the coronavirus disease. The same blanket ban on differing opinions also applies to any questioning of the efficacy of the vaccine and whether effort should be rejigged at finding new vaccines that will in fact provide immunity against the virus. 

ICHEOKU says is not an anti vexer, have been vaccinated and encourages everyone out there to get vaccinated; but the rate at which vaccinated people are still dying is a cause for some serious concern. It should not be the case as many other vaccines in the past have worked just fine, so why not these coronavirus vaccines. ICHEOKU has never heard of any child who became crippled after receiving the polio vaccine, ditto smallpox, cholera, whooping cough etc. 

But any attempt to raise these issues is met with a forceful putdown as you are branded an anti science cuckoo. But allowing room for discussing respective concerns about the vaccines should be a good thing, not a bad thing, and should be encouraged not suppressed because in the process, we might discover something that was not done right with the current vaccines, which if tweaked, could lead us to a much improved and better vaccine that will actually inoculate us from the virus. 

It is inconclusive argument to make that the vaccines have saved many lives because we don't really know if that is actually the case. So many countries in the world with less than 0.1% of vaccinated population did not suffer nearly as badly as Americans suffered with loss of lives and infection rate. What do we attribute their lucky escape from the coronavirus disaster to, assuming vaccination saved our lives? It is akin to arguing that all of us would have since perished from the coronavirus disease if the vaccines were not developed; which is another argument in idiocy because not even the 1918 flu was able to kill everybody and there was no vaccine for it. 

We really don't know if the vaccines helped anybody survive the virus as many hospitalized unvaccinated people were still able to recover from the disease and long before the vaccines were ever brought on stream. So, how do we really know who was saved from dying from the coronavirus disease because of  vaccination. What if those who did not die would not have died regardless, because they have natural immunity against the virus or stronger resistance to infections general; after-all no virus ever kills everybody. 

As a people, we should come together, put our respective egos aside and begin to work as an army of one to reevaluate our approach to the coronavirus disease, find out why so many Americans have died from the disease, the worst casualty figure recorded in the world, more than China and India combined; how potent the current vaccines are and why vaccinated people are still dying from the disease. We should do ourselves this honor as a people in order to regain our preeminent position in the world and finally solve this problem which have lingered on for too long, nearly two years now. 

So many countries in the world have since fully opened up, some with nearly zero deaths; but in addition to over 700,000 deaths, over two thousand Americans are still dying from the disease today. Something is wrong with the picture and something went wrong somewhere and this is unlike America. This is where we should be concentrating our energies on rather than the divisive rhetorics which is tearing us apart; with one side trying to suppress and repress viewpoints which they don't agree with. May we all agree today to be better than we were yesterday and begin to see and appreciate the merits in each other's argument instead of shutting them down and branding them knuckleheads. 

Remember too that truth can sometimes also come from imbeciles and that broken clock is twice correct each day. What we know is what we know; and if only we can put ourselves in the shoes of others, those we are trying to muzzle and keep off the discussion space and ask ourselves, can we accept what we are dishing out to them were the tables to turn. We all can do better and let us start today doing better by allowing open discussion and debate of the efficacy of the current vaccines which we have, that we may finally solve the coronavirus pandemic problem before one million Americans perishes as a result. A house divided cannot stand and our intolerance of each other is gravely shaking our foundations as a strong country. We can be better and we can do better, so lets give both a try. #FreeUpTheSpace.

DEATH OF GENERAL COLIN POWELL: COVID-19 AND THE VACCINE QUANDARY.

ICHEOKU says if any solace could come from the death of General Colin Luther Powell, it will be in its shinning much needed spotlight on the fact that thousands of Americans are still dying from the deadly coronavirus each day; and also the urgent need to find a vaccine that actually works. Having achieved their objective to use the coronavirus scourge to remove President Donald John Trump from the White House, the media, especially CNN, have pushed the coronavirus to the back burner. They no longer report the deaths from the coronavirus pandemic with such frenzy as they previously did. Meanwhile thousands of Americans are still dying from the disease such that more Americans have died from the coronavirus pandemic this year and since President Joe Biden took office than died from it last year when President Donald John Trump was in office. 

As a result, many American people have moved on with their lives, with some even completely forgetting that the coronavirus is still with us and still ravaging the people more than ever. The theory of, "if it wasn't in the news it did not happen" have set in, leading to the lull which has set in in the country about the coronavirus as CNN is no longer shouting the sky is falling down like Chicken Little and causing untoward panic in the land over it. With the reduced coverage, the generated hysteria in the polity have died down and everything have largely gone back to normalcy.  With it too, the effort at finding medicines and vaccines that will actually work against the virus have also somewhat been rested as well. Thousands of American people are continuously still dying from the disease including 2,000 people that just died yesterday but the news is not getting out to the people, at least not as it once used to.    

Colin Powell's death and the death of hundreds, if not thousands, of other American people who have died after getting their full vaccinations, shows that the vaccines which are currently available are not as efficacious as they should and ought to be. Otherwise, why are thousands of American people still dying from the virus, especially the several hundreds of fully vaccinated American people who have since succumbed to the killer virus. The vaccines are not providing the much needed inoculation from the coronavirus disease. Therefore efforts should be redoubled by the medical science community towards finding a vaccine which will in fact actually work or better still, improve the efficacy of the current vaccines which we have to enable the harbinger of death be put to a final end. 

ICHEOKU says has written on the issue of finding a better vaccine previously, as many vaccinated people are still dying from the disease, including those without any underlying factors. Although Colin Powell who was being treated for blood cancer myeloma, has had prostrate cancer and was at a very advanced old age, so making him more vulnerable and easily susceptible to dying from coronavirus. But his death from the virus despite being fully vaccinated, has once again trust to the fore-front the efficacy of the vaccines which we currently have. This should trigger everybody's curiosity, whether the vaccines we currently have and which we are being forced to inject into our bodies are even worth the trouble. If they are not working, why inject them? A supposedly protective shield which does not provide the much anticipated shield, a "product not fit for merchantability", is not worthy of its name and purpose? 

We have had other vaccines in the past including vaccines for polio, small pox, whooping cough, measles, influenza and so many other infections. These vaccines proved their weight in gold because once received, they provided full and complete immunity from their target diseases and for a life time, except for influenza which requires a yearly vaccination. If we have had these unquestionably effective vaccines for so long and were able to develop them many moons ago, why can't we develop today, with the technological and scientific advancement which we have now, a vaccine or vaccines which will actually be an effective and complete choke off of the coronavirus. What is the problem getting these vaccines and what is inhibiting medical sciences from discovering a silver bullet vaccine that will finally arrest the scourge and be done with it.

The problem seems to be market driven as pharmaceutical companies which are already making out like bandits, earning billions of dollars in profits from selling the current ineffective vaccines, have been disincentivized from taking their game one notch up. But for the acceptance of their current supplied vaccines, they would have still been inside laboratories conducting researches to find an effective vaccine and could have possibly found one by now. Their position probably is, why bother and why waste or spend additional billions of dollars in further research and development when they are already making huge profits from what they have already offered to the public. A case made worse because the government was so desperate to solve the coronavirus crisis and open back the economy that it embraced what the pharmaceutical companies offered them and are no longer pushing them to come up with a better product.

It is unfortunate that Colin Powell still died from the coronavirus disease despite getting his full vaccinations. But would he have gotten the vaccinations had he known that the coronavirus would still kill him, regardless of his good standing in his vaccination status? Ditto thousands of other Americans who have succumbed to the disease post getting all their vaccine shots. Will asking these questions now make ICHEOKU an anti-vaxxer or be seen as casting doubts on the efficacy of the vaccines or discouraging people from getting their shots? No, not in the least; as the intention here is to push a narrative that will persuade pharmaceutical companies to do more in order to get the people to the promise land, where a completely neutered coronavirus will have no accommodation  and will be permanently put behind us, in our rearview mirrors, for good.

That thousands of people are still dying each day from the coronavirus disease nearly two years after its debut in America is a scandal unto itself. America that is supposed to be the answer to every question and the solver of all problems the world over, but cannot seem to find a vaccine that will actually take care of the coronavirus disease, is somewhat very hard to understand. It would appear that we jumped up for joy and celebrated the coronavirus vaccines milestone rather too hastily and too early. Now, our relaxation has made it difficult to in fact actually solve the coronavirus problem as money that would have been spent on research and development towards finding a real vaccine that actually provides the desired immunity is now being spent buying vaccines that barely works. It is a confused mix.

It is about time a redirection of focus and attention is made back to the laboratory to do right for all those still suffering from the coronavirus disease and the thousands of people who will still perish from it. Let Colin Powell's death not be in vain and let him be among the last of the very few more people who will die from the coronavirus, especially after receiving their full vaccinations. The current vaccines were initially presented to the public as interim vaccines, stop gap measure vaccines, pending the final development of the actual main vaccines. But unfortunately, instead of putting more effort at attaining the promised final fully developed vaccines, the FDA and CDC were persuaded to approve the interim vaccines, first as a temporary vaccines and now as the permanent panacea for the coronavirus. They fell short, they are not effective and people are still dying as a result.

This changed reality was not the original set out objective or deal reached with the American people. This is why thousands of people are still dying from the coronavirus disease because pharmaceutical companies did not bring forth the awaited improved versions of their interim vaccines. They need to do it now in order to save many more American people from perishing in the coronavirus inferno. Colin Powell should not have died and neither the other thousands of American people who were fully vaccinated. Enough of the placing of market considerations and profits motives far and above providing real healthcare protection for the people. Let the people have real vaccines that actually work and which will in fact inoculate them from the coronavirus disease. Do it for Colin Powell as that will be the best way to honor him, a dear tribute to his lifetime of service to the country. Rest on General Powell.