Holly molly, this is a classical text-book example of putting a square peg in a round hole, Nigeria style! Nigeria can never seem to get its act right? Imagine the indefatigable NAFDAC chairwoman, Iron Lady Professor (Dr) Dora Akunyili being deployed to a mere glorified back-room ministry of Information and Communication? For what purpose, Icheoku may ask? Of all the vital ministries in Nigeria, some of them in epileptic dyspnea, needing very urgent and intrusive emergency attention; and the re-invigoration of new blood, it was only the Information and Communications ministry that the Northern Oligarchs deemed a fit and proper cage to confine Dora Akunyili? Why did she even accept the position or will she die of starvation if she had said to President Umaru Yar'Adua, "thanks, but no, thanks?
The problem militating against Nigeria's rise to greatness is that mediocrities are always bestowed with the responsibility of running vital organs of the government which they are very much ill-equipped and ill-prepared to manage; while proven go-getters are usually relegated to inconsequential ministries because they came from the wrong geographical real-estate in Nigeria? Is anyone out there still wondering why the Nigeria-project has stalled all these years since her independence from Britain in 1960? Just take a cursory look at the ministerial assignments handed down today by President Umaru Yar'Adua of Nigeria and now tell Icheoku, which one of these mallams has any proven record of achievement to head their assigned ministry and a heavy-weight performer like Dora Akunyili is given an ordinary Information Ministry? Tomorrow, it is going to be the same result - a failed, comatose ministry on life-support and a Nigeria which still crawls since her birth. Icheoku concludes that Northern Nigeria is the bane of Nigeria! With the successful antecedent of Professor Dora Akuniyili at NAFDAC, many a Nigerian thought that she will be deployed to the proven ground-zero of Nigeria, the POWER ministry; to go and wake up the slumbering, comatose never-expect-power-always ministry. President Umaru Yar'Adua is a talker but not a doer as he always disappoints Nigerians whenever it is time for him to walk his talk or show Nigerians, his seriousness with all his postulations. Umaru Yar'Adua promised to fight corruption in Nigeria and the first thing he did was to fire the corruption czar, Nuhu Ribadu! Umaru Yar'Adua promised Nigerians the return of the rule of law and the shutting down of ChannelsTV, arresting of e-media bloggers and harassing Independent Newspaper shows his own jaundiced-definition of Umaru Yar'Adua's rule of law? If Umaru Yar'Adau was serious about power emergency, why did he not assign an Amazon-warrior like Professor Dora Akunyili the task of giving Nigerians the ever-elusive power-supply? But no, Umaru Yar'Adua under pressure from fake drugs and goods dealers, simply removed their nemesis from NAFDAC and instead demoted her to a mere back-yard ministry of Information and Communication. May be Umaru Yar'Adua was planning the same Nuhu Ribadu-treatment for Dora, but decided to be more diplomatic about it? What position in the hierarchy of importance, amidst the very urgent needs of Nigerians, does the Information and Communication ministry occupy, that such a talented go-getter as Dora Akunyili, with her much vaunted abilities and capabilities should be muzzled up in such a fill-the-gap ministry? This is a big waste of an invaluable human resource! It is a complete misplacement of an asset. Talk of a complete disregard for proven performance. Umaru Yar'Adua has once again, failed Nigerians and it is about time that Nigerians realize that this sick man from Katsina is merely taking them for a ride - a really, long roller-coaster ride!
Icheoku says that Northern Nigeria is continually and with impunity, acting as the lord of the manor in Nigeria. Once again they have added impetus to this assertion by usurping all the key-ministries in the President Umaru Yar'Adua newly re-constituted administration. It is also pertinent to note that the same Northern Nigeria holds the presidency (Umaru Yar'Adua), secretary of government (Mahmud Yayale Ahmed), national security adviser (Aliyu Mohammed), Chief Justice of Nigeria (Idris Legbo Kutigi), president Court of Appeal (Umaru Abdullahi), as well as the senate presidency (David Mark); and one wonders where the very essence of Nigeria's federal character has suddenly disappeared to? And for a complete routing of Nigeria by the North, the North has, in addition, appropriated these very important ministries - defence ministry (Shettima Mustapha); finance ministry (Muhktar Mansur); agriculture and water resources ministry (Abba Ruma); national planning commission (Shamsudeen Usman); transportation (Ibrahim Bio); science and technology (A.B. Zaku); works and housing (Hassan Lawal); Federal Capital Territory: FCT (Adamu Aliero); petroleum ministry (Rilwanu Lukman) and Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (Mike Aondoakaa). Icheoku now 
asks, what is then left but the crumbles, when all these vital federal government ministries, both in responsibilities and size of budget with attendant employment opportunities and contracts, are aggrandized by just one section out of the three main sections or tripod of Nigeria? This is one case where the silence should no longer be golden and the Oha-na-eze, Afenifere, Niger Delta groups should denounce this fascist north for their wanton disregard for the continued unity of Nigeria. The North is perpetually undermining the unity-fabric of Nigeria by their crass, abashed domination of Nigeria. They do not have even an oil well, yet one of their own has to keep a watchful-eye over the oil-revenue? Where are the people of the Niger Delta, who own the oil lands and appurtenant waters? No, they are damn too "inferior" to oversee the revenue coming from the bowels of their land? This time, the other component parts of Nigeria should speak up and demand for fairness, their continued silence will be interpreted as cowardice of a slave, fearful of his slave-masters! Enough of this bullshit going on in Nigeria! At least they (North) should have waited until their complete mummification and islamization of Nigeria into an Arewa Islamic Republic, before becoming so brazen! If the table were to turn, would they, the North, accept such tacit exclusion? It is simply speaking, an abominable greed of the North, by the North and for the North!
asks, what is then left but the crumbles, when all these vital federal government ministries, both in responsibilities and size of budget with attendant employment opportunities and contracts, are aggrandized by just one section out of the three main sections or tripod of Nigeria? This is one case where the silence should no longer be golden and the Oha-na-eze, Afenifere, Niger Delta groups should denounce this fascist north for their wanton disregard for the continued unity of Nigeria. The North is perpetually undermining the unity-fabric of Nigeria by their crass, abashed domination of Nigeria. They do not have even an oil well, yet one of their own has to keep a watchful-eye over the oil-revenue? Where are the people of the Niger Delta, who own the oil lands and appurtenant waters? No, they are damn too "inferior" to oversee the revenue coming from the bowels of their land? This time, the other component parts of Nigeria should speak up and demand for fairness, their continued silence will be interpreted as cowardice of a slave, fearful of his slave-masters! Enough of this bullshit going on in Nigeria! At least they (North) should have waited until their complete mummification and islamization of Nigeria into an Arewa Islamic Republic, before becoming so brazen! If the table were to turn, would they, the North, accept such tacit exclusion? It is simply speaking, an abominable greed of the North, by the North and for the North! 
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Christy 'Apena' Essien-Igbokwe , the wife of Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade and Nigeria's lady of songs is dead; she was 51years old. Although her family claimed that "brief Illness" killed her like so many Nigerians; Icheoku retorts that it was most likely AKwa Ibom voodoo and remote control that was used to arrest her. It is on record that she had fallen out with the governor of her native Akwa Ibiom State and have been having a relentless war for political turf with the governor? So who knows whether she was sacrificed to Ekpe cult or even Alusi-Okija as an offal; afterall African science is still very much alive and portent. May her soul rest in peace.
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