NIGERIA, MIRED DOWN IN TRIBALISM!

One of my favorite Nigeria media commentator, Simon Kolawole, editor of Nigeria's Thisday Newspapers wrote this analytical piece on the problem of ethnicity and tribalism in Nigeria titled "Nigeria Fails Us… Yet Again". Icheokudotcom loved it and with due deference to Mr. Kolawole, hereby republishes same.

"Let’s be frank: how much protection do the ordinary people of Nigeria enjoy from their government? The raison d’être for government, we were taught in elementary political science, is to prevent anarchy, to secure life and property. In a state that has not failed or that is not at war, government must have the monopoly of violence. Citizens must be able to live anywhere in their country without fear. Citizens should have confidence in the government’s ability to secure their lives and property. It’s that simple.The latest Jos riots, in which hundreds were mercilessly killed, once again brought this fact to the fore: nobody cares about us in this country. Our rulers think they are in power just for themselves alone. They do not joke with their own comfort – as you can see in their bullet-proof, state-of-the-art, multi-million naira convoys with the full compliment of security operatives because of insecurity in the land; frequent medical trips abroad because of our unhealthy hospitals; ivy league schools for their children in America and Europe because of our illiterate teachers; so on, so forth.

From my base in Lagos State, I could guess there was going to be trouble in Jos North. No council poll had held there since 1999 because of the explosive nature of the local politics. There have been frequent clashes between the “settler” Hausa/Fulani community and the “indigenous” Beroms. The tension is permanently there and you don’t need any security report to know that bloodshed was a possible outcome. Thousands have died in clashes there in the last 10 years. What other indication do you need? That no adequate security arrangement was made for the election beats my imagination; perhaps Nigeria’s security apparatus was too busy executing the seven-point (or is it four-point) agenda against Mallam Nuhu Ribadu that they forgot their primary responsibility was to protect Nigerians. Instead, they were busy fighting the fight of an ex-governor and his co-looters on the rampage. That is the basic tragedy of Nigeria: if the task is to protect treasury looters, our security agencies and exponents of rule of law would do it perfectly, with dedication, with vigour. But if it is to protect the lives and property of Nigerians, they just can’t be bothered. What a country! I covered the 2003 general election in Plateau State. I toured Jos North while voting was in progress. What I saw and learnt was scary. The atmosphere was polluted with tension. I took time to make enquiries. I realised that a weapon of mass destruction had been firmly planted in Jos North for decades. I was told the Hausa/Fulani are seen by the “indigenous” Berom as “settlers” who are trying to dominate their “hosts” in the “typical expansionist agenda” of the Northern “oligarchy”. To the Beroms, therefore, the “agenda” had to be stopped. Their attitude is: “How can these Hausas come and lord it over us in our own land?” On the other hand, the Hausa/Fulani are said to be of the opinion that you cannot be calling them “settlers” in a land they have lived for perhaps hundreds of years. They see themselves as authentic “indigenes” – they have even coined a word to describe their ethnicity: “Jasarawa”. They too had decided to take their destiny into their hands by mobilising politically to assert themselves. Their own attitude is: “Where else is our home? This place belongs to us.” In summary, therefore, we had a potential Armageddon in our hands in Jos but pretended it was not there.

In fact, riots in 2001 and 2004 had led to the slaughtering of thousands and a declaration of a state of emergency and suspension of the governor by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. But you cannot resolve a conflict by a decree. You can actually worsen it when you ignore the real problems and the undercurrents. People don’t just wake up one day and start butchering their neighbours if there had not been a latent factor. Conflicts, in my own understanding, are better resolved through a process of reconciliation, mediation, negotiation and a mutually agreed way forward. People have asked me: how can an ordinary council election become a religious war? How can a political matter become ethnic? In truth, it is the other way round: an ethno-religious problem became a political conflict. It was Hausa/Fulani vs Berom, automatically Muslim vs Christian and, intriguingly, ANPP vs PDP.

My worry is not about Jos North only. I am worried about every state in Nigeria where there are minorities who for years have been living in the shadows of the “majorities” and are trying to assert themselves. I worry as much about the “indigenous” Christians in Zamfara and Kano States as much as I worry about “indigenous” Muslims in Enugu and Imo States. I fret about Ekitis in Kwara State as much as I worry about Aworis in Lagos. We are sitting on potentially serious conflicts, burying our heads in the sand (like ostrich) and pretending everything is fine. Why can’t a Muslim Fulani be chairman of Jos North? Why can’t a Christian be a commissioner in Kano State? Why can’t an Ijaw be governor of Delta State? Why can’t an Emeka Enechi, “the Lion of Gboko”, be governor of Benue State? Why can’t an Uzo Chuku be governor of Kebbi State? Why on earth should somebody who has lived all his/her life in a place still be treated as a “settler”? Why do we neglect the basic constitutional provision of citizenship and instead be talking about “indigeneship”? Why do we ask of “state of origin” rather than “state of residence” even in official documents? How come there are no concrete steps being taken to eliminate this institutionalised discrimination? Why are we so racist (tribalistic) in this country?

But God forbid that I give up on Nigeria. Instead, I have seen signs and indications that convince me more than ever before that this country can work. In Kano, for instance, I know there are “settlers” among the governor’s appointees. Lagos State has an Igbo commissioner. Former governors, Orji Uzo Kalu (Abia) and Donald Duke (Cross River), built mosques in Government House. An Igedeman was Benue State deputy governor for eight years, even though Igedes have only two councils. An Itsekiri is now governor of Delta State, although some are still bitter over that. All these may be taken as tokenism and symbolism, but that is exactly the point – we need these symbolic gestures to start with. We can then build on them.I know some people think the only way these problems can be addressed is through a sovereign national conference (SNC). Unfortunately, I am not one of the proponents of this. The whole idea has been poisoned with calls for the balkanisation of Nigeria. I do not see anything concrete coming out of it, apart from name-calling and bickering. I have discussed with the advocates of SNC several times and all I hear them say is how the North has marginalised the South and how they want to weaken the North. For me, you don’t go to the negotiating table with such an attitude and expect to get anything meaningful out of it. Respect begets respect. In the interim, I favour local problems being resolved locally, with the full support and participation of the Federal Government. I believe strongly in the power of negotiation and mutually-designed, mutually-agreed roadmap to peace. We can move on to SNC when we have taken care of the problems in our backyard. In Delta State, for instance, those who campaigned for a South-south president last year were the same people who said an Itsekiri should never be governor over Urhobos. That’s hypocritical and inconsistent. And that is why I think many of those canvassing SNC are too narrow-minded in their diagnoses and prescriptions.

I conclude thus: one, the Jos North killings served us enough notice but we ignored it, perhaps because of the “state of emergency” declared on Ribadu and some sections of the media; two, there is “Jos North” in virtually every corner of Nigeria and if we don’t act on time, there is real Armageddon ahead; three, we must consciously take measures to entrench citizenship and discard “indigeneship”; and four, we need symbolic gestures to accommodate minorities in our midst, at least to start with. Finally, the Jos North killings have once again shown that this country, Nigeria, has failed woefully in its basic function: protecting the lives and property of its citizens. Warlords were on the loose killing innocent people, while we were busy mobilising state energy against Ribadu. What a country. What a shame".

The author can be reached via his Email: simonkolawole@thisdayonline.com

OJ SIMPSON, A POUND OF FLESH?

Portia successfully argued that Shylock can get his pound of flesh in adherence to a contract stipulation, but that the contract must be strictly construed in order not to over-reward Shylock. According to Portia, what the contract says is a pound of flesh, period! No more no less! In essence, Shylock must figure out how to harvest his entitled pound of flesh devoid of any drop of blood. William Shakespeare in Shylock, that is! This is what Icheoku calls, classical lawyering and an example of an erudite attorney who deserves every bit of her charged and chargeable retainer.

Regrettably this was not to be in the OJ Simpson case as they took not only their pound of OJ's flesh but also extracted several pints of that crimson red substance called blood. This is in utter disregard to just a pound of flesh but no drop of blood as provided for by the letters of OJ's contract with the American judiciary. OJ did not get a fair trial in this case as not only did he not commit the offense charged but the sentence is excessive. OJ Simpson allegedly killed his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson and her paramour Ron Goldman, he was put through the legal process and was found not guilty by a duly constituted and empanelled jury of his peers. However a vocal section of the American society thought otherwise and adjudged him guilty (mob action style) in their own court of public opinion and ever since, has been strategizing on how to carry out their guilty verdict. They finally found an alley in a judge Hatchet, Judge Jackie Glass (pictured above left) of Las Vegas Court and today December 5th, 2008, their wish was fulfilled as this Las Vegas court Judge Jackie Glass sent OJ Simpson away for the rest of his natural life and to their delight. A thirty-three (33) years prison sentence for a 61 year old OJ Simpson cannot be in any other way interpreted.

The Las Vegas Clark County District Attorney David Roger who prosecuted the case is here pictured right; while OJ defense attorney Yale Galanter is to the left.

As far as Icheoku is concerned, Orephtal James Simpson was prosecuted for an offense he did not commit and is being punished for an offense for which he was previously found not guilty. It is therefore our opinion that the sentence today, December 5th, 2008 is a mere vendetta - a reflection of a society that still sees everything in the prism of race.OJ ia not the only person to have ever beaten the legal system, - Phil Specter pulled a trigger killing his girlfriend before a limousine driver percipient witness, who had just dropped the victim and Specter off, before he heard gun shots and rushing back to see the lady victim in her final death-twitching. The jury was hung, he is white and nobody hears anything about it any longer. Robert Blake took his "baby-mama" out for her last dinner and thereafter killed her in the restaurant's parking lot. He was found not guilty, he is white and nobody hears anything about him or how he beat the rap any longer. OJ Simpson is black and he dared to "kill" two white folks hence he must be hung, despite that he was found not guilty of the charges. If only Johnny Cochran was still alive!

The basis of all the trumped charges should be the intent of OJ Simpson when he went into that hotel room. Luckily he was on record, demanding to be given his damn fu***ing thing' and you ask yourself, can one steal what belongs to him? Assuming you answer in the affirmative, of some possible scenarios/exceptions, then what was OJ's state of mind at entry of the hotel room? Icheoku strongly believes that OJ merely thought that he was demanding what rightfully belongs to him; devoid of any intention to deprive another of that other's thing. His action of self-help may have been wrongful, but to aggravate it to armed robbery defies every sensible logic. On the gun possession, any person with OJ's notoriety packs a gun for self-defence since his acquittal of the Nicole and Ron murders placed a big bulls-eye on his back ever since. Anyway these legal theories are now without merit, baring any higher court's intervention to rectify a patently misapplied justice; otherwise, OJ Simpson will be spending out his natural life in a confined supervised space, called the big house aka PRISON!

OJ Simpson is a man fatally flawed and whose obsession for white blond ladies led him to his present abode. After his Houdini escape from the jaws of the law following Nicole and Ron murders, many a reasonable man in OJ's shoes would have ran back to his ilks where he naturally belongs. No, not for OJ Simpson! Despite his experience, he was still too good to be seen around black-folks. He flushed their fanatical support during his trial for both murders down the toilet and another white blond, he chose as a girlfriend. The white-folks were livid that this "murderer" who murdered their blond and stud had the effrontery to be screwing another one of their own, once again! It was just too much to stomach, hence the plot to take him down went into high gears. OJ hung out with several white boys/men and some of them became the "victims" and witnesses in this case, used to send OJ out of circulation and for a very long time. OJ had money, prior-fame, new notoriety and good physique hence too good for a "sista" and would rather he is not identified with "niggers". However he has been thrown back to where he belongs which serves this Uncle Tom OJ Simpson right, for thinking that his fame and fortune could buy him a seat at the table of the white-community; but he was dead wrong, as a NIGGER he remained!

OJ Simpson was told point-blankly by a white-lady judge, a white prosecutor/s, a white defence counsel/attorney, a white jury, a white girlfriend, several white witnesses and some white "victims" that once a nigger, always a nigger and that a nigger's place is in the prison and thence they sent him. They threw the book at him and with a sledge hammer, they pulverised him into a sobbing shivering old fat. How is the white-obsessed mighty OJ Simpson fallen? His mightily-placed crest, that is! It is his fate that he writes his final epitaph in prison, having fallen off from grace to grass - from a once 'the peoples' darling Juice' to the now denigrate extra-ordinaire convicted armed robber and kidnapper! What a fatal flaw? They set a wide trap for him and he foolishly walked straight right into it. Icheoku has no sympathies for OJ as he brought the pot of burning coal upon himself. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. OJ did not learn anything from his previous criminal trial and as always, nothing is learnt from the second kick of the mule!

For the final epilogue, here are some facts that make this case too watery to even warrant a charge, talk-less of the grave sentence passed therein. Nobody steals his thing and in some exceptions where they exists, the intent to deprive another of that other's thing, was not present in OJ Simpson, in this case. The sentence was rather too punitive for what the world saw OJ on television, do or enroute to.

Some participants in the previous murder trial were present in court during his sentencing and from the interview they gave, it showed a group of gleeful men and women delighted that finally OJ has been put where he belongs! Commenting on the sentence, Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman's father said that his family were delighted with the sentence, stating that, "we are thrilled, and it's a bittersweet moment; it was satisfying seeing him in shackles like he belongs."

OJ Simpson's sentence brings with it a measure of satisfaction to those who believed he got away with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, more than a decade ago. Even the judge 'acknowledged' that implicitly, when she said several times that her sentence in the Las Vegas case had nothing to do with Simpson's 1995 acquittal in the slaying of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. According to Judge Jackie Glass, "I'm not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else," which statement, Icheoku says is simply inferring the obvious, which statement was brought about by a guilty conscience.

OJ Simpson's lawyer Yale Galanter said that OJ Simpson, his client, was a victim of payback for his acquittal in Los Angeles. According to him, "it really made us all aware that despite our best efforts, it's very difficult to separate the California case from the Nevada case".

That OJ Simpson was led away to prison immediately after the judge refused to permit him to go free on bail while he appeals the case/sentence is also evident of a determined desire by certain group to make him pay a prize for allegedly killing his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman; an offense for which he had earlier been found not guilty.

Lastly, this alleged armed robbery at the Palace Station Casino Hotel Las Vegas was secretly recorded and Icheoku wonders aloud when "armed robbery" operation became soap opera for secret cameras? If the alleged victims were made so afraid for their lives, why didn't they do more to protect themselves from their friend, OJ and the fact of their recording what was transpiring shows that they were not that apprehensive of any harm to themselves, convinced of the evidence being on tape. Some people planned the whole operations, set the video tape recorder and then set the bait for OJ to bite and he did. This shows that they know OJ very well. It all goes to show the leaking-basket case that has now put OJ Simpson behind bars for practically the rest of his life. Icheoku will like to re-echo OJ Simpson's sister's sentiment that the last of the case has not been heard! And there goes America!

Listen to O.J.'s sentencing

JAMES "GANDOLFINI" IBORI, THE NEW NIGERIAN MAFIA DON?

He demands respect and enforces same if need be. He was the former governor of Delta State and is reputed as the biggest single financier of Umaru Yar'Adua's presidency. He equally hand-picked his successor governor of Delta State, hence still calls all the shot in Delta State. His wealth is stupendous, having helped himself lavishly with the revenue allocation of his Niger Delta State of Delta to several millions of dollars, some critics even estimate it to be several billions. Love him or hate him, he acts and behaves like a man of power. He helped Umaru Yar'Adua to power; he installed the Inspector General of Police Mike Okilo in power as well as the Attorney General of the Federation of Nigeria, Mike Aodonkaa. This man is well protected and shielded from the laws of and in Nigeria. He is one of Nigeria's untouchable! He is a cool and smooth operator but do not let his quiet demeanour fool you, for behind that facade is a very cold-heart of steel which resolve, not even Lady Macbeth matches. His name is James Onanefe Ibori!

Icheoku calls him James "Gandolfini" Ibori after the other popular James Gandolfini of the Sopranos fame. Allegedly the former EFCC chairman Nuhu Ribadu over-reached himself when he arrested and jailed this Nigerian untouchable for alleged gross corruption. Now Nigerians know how serious Umaru Yar'Adua is with prosecuting his war against corruption while shielding the most brazen and daring corruption-personified in Nigeria at the expense of a former corruption-czar! James "Gandolfini' Ibori, it is on record, who threatened Nuhu Ribadu last December 2007 with four consequences for daring to lay hand on him for his corruption and today, two of them have come to pass. First he promised Nuhu Ribadu that he will remove him as the chairman of EFCC and it came to pass. Second, that Nuhu Ribadu will be demoted from his Assistant Inspector General of Police position and it came to pass. Third, that he, Nuhu Ribadu, will be dismissed from the police and fourth, that he, Nuhu Ribadu will be imprisoned. At present Ibori's hatchet men, the current Inspector General of Police Mike Okilo and Attorney General Aodonkaa are religiously prosecuting the war of their benefactor, James "Gandolfini" Ibori against his marked enemy, Nuhu Ribadu. Regrettably, they are succeeding and presently are on the verge of bringing the third and fourth promise to fruition but for the vanishing act of Nuhu Ribadu. Yet Nigerians have as a president a conniving, contriving, collaborating fox in the person of Umaru Yar'Adua who is complicit in this evil machination of James Ibori and crew. It is condemnable and should be condemned by all men with the slightest modicum of decency.

The Ibori hatchet-men has shamelessly found a willing tool in this their final putsch against Nuhu Ribadu, in the person of Ogbonnaya Onovo, the natural heir to the Inspector General of Police, but who was bypassed for Mike Okilo because James Ibori said so! They made him the presiding officer over the sham panel investigating Nuhu Ribadu's alleged intrasigencies. He is presiding over the trumped up charges of indiscipline, disregard for rules and regulations of the force and other serious acts of misconduct being levied against Nuhu Ribadu. Icheoku asks, why does the Igbo man always permit himself to be the unfortunate tool in the hands of Nigerian power players? Is it Professor Iwu of INEC who was used to truncate democracy in Nigeria by Olusegun Obasanjo or the now Ogbonnaya Onovo who is being used to nail Nuhu Ribadu? It is shameless the role the Igbo man usually plays in Nigeria PLC, - the executioner!

Even Mr. Thomas Gilchrist of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), who recently frowned at Nigeria’s lack of seriousness in checking official corruption, implicated James Ibori as the root-cause of Nuhu Ribadu's travails. In his words, the fight against corruption in Nigeria “faltered” because of “a campaign of calumny” against Ribadu after he decided to prosecute a “powerful” former governor.

Icheoku does not begrudge James "Gandolfini" Onanefe Ibori of his newly found power over Nuhu Ribadu or for looting his Delta State to the several millions as alleged. No, what we decry is the tacit complicity of Umaru Yar'Adua to this conspiracy of James Ibori and co to punish someone who attempted to stand up against official state corruption in Nigeria. What it shows is that Umaru Yar'Adua is not the harmless saint he pretends to be; no he is not the Angel Michael rule of law guy he exudes or Nigeria's Mother Theresa! No Umaru Yar'Adua is but a ruthless, calculating green snake in Nigeria's green grass. It is ominous and only his removal from office will save Nigeria. If only the Supreme court of Nigeria is listening or will develop enough courage to follow the example of the constitutional court in Thailand. Or better still, where is the Nigeria national assembly's articles of impeachment? Our hearts bleed for Nigeria, a country in comatose! There appears to be no succour on the horizon in this land of thieves presided over by pirates and now at the spell of a ruthless enforcer, Mafia Don James "Gandolfini" Onanefe Ibori!

UCHE NWACHIME, ENUGU STATE - NIGERIA HIGH CHIEF, MURDERED!

He was a son! He was a brother! He was a husband! He was a father! He was an uncle and above all he was a high chief, a royal father to so many people, the people of Obe, Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. He was their traditional ruler! He was abducted! He was probably tortured! He was slaughtered! To add insult to injury, the lifeless body of the dead Royal Father was found, dumped in a dumpster like an ordinary garbage! This gruesome act was carried out by a band of ruthless marauding beasts with no regard to the decency of life! To them, life is worthless and a human being, an ordinary dirt to be dumped in a refuse site. It all happened in Enugu State, Nigeria! Icheoku condemns this wanton act of gruesome murder in the strongest term possible!

His name, His Royal Highness Igwe Uche Nwachime! Igwe Uche Nwachime was killed in cold blood by some evil-men on Monday December 1st, 2008 in Enugu State, Nigeria. Igwe Uche Nwachime's body was discovered, following a search party organized to locate the missing high chief, at a dumpster (refuse dump-site) on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in Enugu State, Nigeria! Until his death, Igwe Uche Nwachime, was the proprietor of Mac Royal Hotel, Presidential Road, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria. The people of Obe mourns and so does Icheoku, for the crass lawlessness pervading Nigeria and now, particularly Enugu State. Igwe Uche Nwachime was a victim of a society on the brink of becoming a failed state where insecurity and lawlessness rule supreme!

It would appear that the season of kidnapping has arrived in Enugu State, Nigeria! The proprietor of Grand Riveri Hotel, Enugu was kidnapped a week ago but was later released alive, after the payment of N5 million ransom. Mr. Paul Edemobi, the proprietor of Paul and Grace Foundation and the younger brother of the Nigeria's Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Dora Akunyili, was also kidnapped in Enugu on Monday, December 1st, 2008 from his 10B Savage Crescent, GRA Enugu. His captors are demanding N30 million ransom for his release.

Icheoku hereby call on the governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime to immediately reign-in these marauding beasts, fermenting terror in Enugu State. Icheoku says, these incessant abductions, torture and murders is unacceptable and demands a ruthless response from the authorites in Enugu State! These deviants have laid complete siege in Enugu State and gradually enveloping the entire state in an insecurity and paralysis fog and should be stopped forthwith! No one feels safe in Enugu State, anymore! A very drastic, take no-prisoner action is what is required of a visionary government, to check-mate this horrendous acts before it turns into an all-out anarchy. If this menace is left unchecked, it could spill over, spreading like a harmattan-fire, leading to copy-cat criminal misbehaviour that might make Enugu State hellishly unlivable. This is particularly so during this Yuletide season, with so many Enugu State indigenes returning home from all across the world, to celebrate the season with their families and friends in Enugu State. Icheoku says, enough of this insecurity madness in Enugu State, Governor Chime!

THAILAND, CONGRATULATIONS!

Icheoku says, congratulations to the people of Thailand for a successful peoples action! At last, your rejected government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is no more! Kudos to your grand meeting of the mind and firmness of purpose; together your wish and desire have materialised. Be assured that every real democrat the world over, is very happy for you and may you find in your next leader, a person deserving of your trust and confidence.

At Icheoku, we believe that a government is owned by the people and not the other way round, which explains our felicitations for what you were able to accomplish today, December 2nd, 2008 with the forced resignation of the discredited Prime Minister (pictured left) Somchai Wongsawat's government.

Your week-long blockade and seige of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International airport, was a project well orchestrated and worthy of all the effort put therein. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PDA) of Thailand showed to the world the effectiveness of a mass action and how to topple an unpopular government by the people that installed it. The over 350,000 stranded passengers brought the much needed attention to your quest and the fall of the government today, marks a new beginning for the people of Thailand. Your court of justice, the military and your police all played their patriotic roles by not allowing themselves to be tools of oppression in the hands of the government which mandate, you had since withdrawn. The court especially became the agent of speedy change by disbanding the governing party of the ousted Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, banning him from politics in the process. The nine-judge constitutional court found the People Power Party (PPP), the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party guilty of vote-buying in the last general election, in 2007.

Icheoku says it was the same year 2007 that the Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria equally stole the election in Nigeria and imposed a sickly frail man Umaru Yar'Adua on the country as their president from his hospital sick bed in Germany. But Nigerians are still waiting, anxiously praying and hoping that their Supreme Court will muster enough courage like the Thai Constitutional Court to sack Umaru Yar'Adua and possibly disband the rogue and arrogant PDP, banning their leaders from politics for at least five years.

The court's ruling in Thailand, following several months of PAD-led protests that crippled the political process in that country, shows that a meaningful goal-directed opposition can effect a change in the politics of a country, whose elections were as corrupt as Nigeria. If only Nigerians can wake up and smell the coffee! The name of the country is Thai-land, meaning the land of Thai people and not Somchai Wongsawat-land, hence it does not belong to the rejected Prime Minister but the Thai people! The lessons of the successful removal of the Wongsawat led Thai government is two-fold: that mass action works and that the government is owned by the people and not the other way. Hopefully, Nigerians will take note of the non-violent revolution that just took place in Thailand!

The Thai army was ordered to quell the peoples protest but refused! The Thai police was also ordered to kill the protesters but refused leading to the removal of the police chief! It shows that the security forces of Thailand is there to protect the Thai people and not to become a tool of oppression and mayhem in the hands of the government as obtains in Nigeria! Remember the Odi and Zaki-Ibiam massacres of Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo's very repressive government when the military was ordered to kill thousands of innocent Nigerian protesters? .

The Thai people's revolution is a testament on who really owns the land - the people and not the government! In Nigeria the despots in power own the land and the Nigerian people are mere guests that can easily be dispatched at the whims of the men of power in collusion with the equally highly corrupt and blood-thirsty security agents! So, Nigerian security officials have you seen that an illegal order can be refused or disobeyed and that the protesters you are usually sent to annihilate are fellow Nigerians whom you are sworn to protect and not to kill.

The Thailand People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), is a motley collection of businessmen, elites, middle-class, academics, opposition party members and royalists that were united by their common hatred of the former leader Thaksin Shinawatra. Is there any way in hell Nigerians can become as united for their common hatred of the despicable Olusegun Obasanjo and the very insulting manner in which he imposed Umaru Yar'Adua on Nigerians, to coalesce and install a desirable government in Nigeria? Remember, the Thai people viewed the now ousted government, "elected" in December 2007, as an illegitimate Thaksin proxy! Icheoku says, this is exactly on all fours with the Nigerian situation since Umaru Yar'Adua is equally viewed as the illegitimate Olusegun Obasanjo proxy! Also could the Nigerian Supreme Court be as courageous as the Thai's constitutional court and throw away the handicapped Umaru Yar'Adua? Only time shall tell.

It is equally note-worthy that the PAD co-leader Chamlong Srimuang, is a retired major-general who is championing the common interest of the Thai people. This is unlike in Nigeria where retired military leaders are the root-cause of most of all the troubles facing Nigerians. It gets even better to note that this retired major general led the 1992 "people power" protest against a military-led government.

Thai Army chief Anupong Paochinda, a member of the military council that ousted Thaksin, insisted the army would not get involved, perhaps mindful of unrest in 1992, when soldiers opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrators, killing dozens. He added that politics must be resolved by political means! Icheoku asks, does this Thai army chief position resonate with the Nigerian military authorities to provide them with the much needed position in case of any future but unlikely non violent protest by the Nigerian people against the illegitimate Umaru Yar'Adua led PDP government?

Once again, Icheoku says, congratulations for a job well done, Thailand!

RIVER NIGER, NIGERIA SIGNS CONTRACT FOR DREDGING BUT NON FOR BRIDGE?

River Niger, that is! Because while the dredged river will allow for cargo ships and boats to reach some northern states such as Niger state, the neglected bridge will impact the commerce of the Igbo area of Nigeria. Yet an Igbo woman is the titular Minister of transportation but without the needed clout to effect any Nigeria state policy?

The Nigeria government on December 1st, 2008 signed a N34.8 billion naira contract for the dredging of the River Niger along its lower 572km stretch from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State. Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Deziani Allison-Madueke, who signed the agreement on behalf of the government, said the project was divided into five sections and awarded to five different contracting firms to ensure that they were completed within the stipulated time. The duration of the completion of the project is one year while a two year maintenance agreement has also been signed between the government and the contractors. The dredging will allow for hauling of heavy tonnage of goods along the river course to the northern part of the country.

Icheokudotcom says that what is happening to the Igbo area of Nigeria now calls for a mass action. How is it that a bridge over the same River Niger which has been in contemplation all these years cannot be equally awarded with the same zeal and passion as this inland dredging of the same river? If the Biafran war is not yet over in the psyche of the Nigerian authorities, let them say so, that the Igbo will know their true position in Nigeria. It is indeed very shameful that this blatant discrimination and crass nepotism is taking place in the 21st century Nigeria where a vital bridge of commerce is being neglected because of hatred for the people who principally inhabit the area of the country which the bridge will mainly serve!

Icheokudotcom says, ENOUGH of this bullshit by the Hausa-Fulani Oligarchs in Nigeria! Or whose country is Nigeria, anyway?

NIGERIA ABUSES, CHEVRON NOT GUILTY!

A federal jury has cleared Chevron Corporation of responsibility for any human rights abuses during a violent protest on the company's oil platform in Nigeria a decade ago, when Nigeria security forces used weapons allegedly supplied by Chevron to ruthlessly clear a held-up platform, of protesters thereon, killing and maiming many in the process.
Some human rights groups had on behalf of the victims, sued the San Ramon, California - based company under a centuries-old law allowing foreigners to file lawsuits in United States courts for alleged international law violations. The victim-plaintiffs, some Niger Delta villagers, who were injured during the protest, had sued the company ten years ago following the mayhem.

However jurors in San Francisco, California on December 1st, 2008 disagreed with the plaintiffs, but instead backed Chevron's claims that the Nigerian government was solely responsible for the violent response. Chevron said its workers were also victims as they were held hostage for days and that protesters were rioting and threatening troops.

Icheokudotcom says that this decision flies in the face of a long established Chevron and Shell's itinerant support for repressing protests in their oil-exploration and exploitation areas of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. For this San Francisco jurors to simply pass a vote of confidence on Chevron, by clearing it of these abuses, despite the glaring evidence to the contrary, goes to show how little Nigerians are viewed and valued in the eyes of the world. Even little Ecuador and Bolivia got more honorable consideration in their cases against Chevron. At least, these jurors would have shown cause, even if not monetary, but to caution Chevron to be more humane in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.

ABUJA CARNIVAL, AN ABUSE OF INNOCENT GIRLS!

Icheokudotcom condemns in an unequivocal term the abuse of innocent young girls for the sexual proclivities of these Abuja carnival organizers and watchers. This is because a country, Nigeria, which will not tolerate the hosting and staging of a Miss World beauty pageant on grounds that it is anti - their religious viewpoints and beliefs, will readily acquiesce to the display of nude girls just for a mere festival? What a double-standard of speaking in a bifurcated manner? Which of these, the bikini-cladding or bare-breast damsels, do the mullahs of Nigeria consider to be more offensive ?

The four day event Abuja Cultural Carnival of 23rd of November, 2008 themed as 'the promotion and celebration of humanity, dignity and identity of Nigerians as a people ready to live together in the undivided acceptance of Abuja as their capital city' was nearly marred by a display of explicit girls by Kogi State. In a speech, Dr Ahmed Yerima, Director-General Abuja Carnival Committee, said Kogi was disqualified from all the contests for parading naked girls!

NIGERIA OFFICIALS STOLE OVER $100 BILLION DOLLARS, USD!

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has disclosed that corrupt office holders in Nigeria have over the years, embezzled the sum of $100billion from the nation's coffers which is more than double the Country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and three to four times the Nigeria foreign debt.

This disclosure was made yesterday, by the organisation's Senior Project Coordinator, Dr. Oliver Stolphe, in a paper presented on 'Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Nigeria and beyond'. He was speaking at a workshop organised for Journalists on 'Reporting Corruption' by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in conjunction with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). Stolphe who pointed out that the cost of corruption exceeds by far the damage caused by any other single crime, explained that corruption is a very severe obstacle to doing business in Nigeria given that it rates high on 71 per cent while Crime and insecurity rates highest at 75 per cent.

On how Nigeria businesses experience corruption with particular reference to bribes, the paper revealed that out of 2203 businesses interviewed, majority (76.7 per cent) indicated that they did not know what the bribe have been paid for, while 10 per cent said it was paid for better treatment, 4.6% for access to information and 4 per cent to speed up the process. "The effect of the bribe is not just limited to its cost. They result in the inefficiency of the government, damages to legitimacy. Each dollar bribe results in 1.7 per cent damage", he said.

A communiqué at the end off the event spelt out the need for journalists to run full anti-corruption crusades and imbibe self-regulation in reporting crime; further, the communiqué called on stakeholders to expedite the passage of the freedom of information bill and at the same time, include creation of special courts for trying corrupt officers.

NIGERIA, THE UNENDING HUMAN SLAUGHTER!

The Hausa-Fulani terrorists of Nigeria have struck again, this time in the Plateau State city of Jos where their fanatical lunacy have claimed the lives of more than four (400) innocent Nigerians particularly of the disinterested Igbo origin. You may call it whatever you want, either political or religious riots, but at Icheokudotcom, we call it what it is - TERRORISM!

India's interior minister and their national security adviser have since resigned their offices following the Mumbai massacre but the authorities in Nigeria is yet to take full responsibility for the hell let loose in Jos by asking for the heads of their interior minister as well as other persons entrusted with safe-guarding the lives and properties of these dead and displaced Nigerians. Icheokudotcom says this lack of responsibility is the bane of Nigeria and the single reason for this kind of repeat-tragedies bedeviling this African nation. Somebody has to take the fall for the next guy to buckle up.

These crazed-out Hausa-Fulani mobs in addition to the several lives they untimely dispatched to the world beyond, also burned homes, shops, cars, vehicles, mosques and churches. As always, these urchins find one excuse or another to let out this their nefarious penchant for violating the sanctity of human lives - this time it was a disputed local government council elections that was used as a cover-up?

According to our findings, this latest mayhem was provoked after rumours spread that the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate backed by Hausas had lost the race! Icheokudotcom says the implication of this Hausa-Fulani maniacal machination is that it must always be them, otherwise people have to be slaughtered like thanksgiving turkeys?

For additonal reading, click the link:-

Jos Crisis: Opposition Asks Jang to Resign

JOSEPH ILLO, JUST ANOTHER REDNECK IN CASSOCK!

"If you are one of the 54 percent of Catholics who voted for President-elect Barack Obama, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion. Don't risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously". With these words, the Reverend Father Joseph Illo, of St. Joseph's Catholic Church Modesto California has entered Icheokudotcom's list of disgruntled racist rednecks who are still gnashing their teeth that a non-white is going to occupy "their" White-house! What a shameless faggot who could not see anything wrong with his fellow practitioners raping and molesting alter-boys but is now venting his bigotry under the guise of attacking a woman's right to choose.

Icheokudotcom says to the more than 15,000 members of the St. Joseph's parish, to tell this hateful Reverend Father Joseph Illo to stuff his wafers in his you know where!

The good news however is that his bishop, The Most Rev. Stephen Blaire, bishop of Stockton Diocese, disagrees with Illo; stating that Catholics should not feel compelled to disclose how they voted to their priest. According to this bishop Blaire, Catholics carefully weighed many issues, other than abortion before they settled on candidate Obama, and therefore were not in need of any confession.

Icheokudotcom says, the way to go Bishop and you may also consider confining this race-baiting redneck priest of yours to the monastery or out of circulation, lest he might attract resentment and anger for your church. Fifty plus million Americans feel insulted by this type of rabid racist rantings, implying that we did not have our heads together while voting for change and hope. Otherwise why would this albino priest of yours, single out such an intangential aside as being sufficient enough in his warped mind, to warrant a confessional? President-elect Barack Obama only advocated for a sensible meeting of grounds between the nay-sayers and yeah-sayers of the abortion-divide, when he called for attacking the root-cause of unwanted pregnancies! His reasoning is that if there is no unwanted pregnancy there will be no need for any abortion? How about that, Mr. Reverend Father Joseph Illo?

For more of the story, please click http://www.modbee.com/local/story/515762.html

NIGERIA, A CURSED LEADERSHIP!

The President, Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has described Nigeria’s leadership as a curse on the citizenry.

The president said it is the responsibility of Nigerians to change “a leadership which recycles tired brains and bones, recycles empty promises, recycles thieves in public offices and is generally out of tune with the global trends of nationhood and leadership.”

Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin in a keynote address entitled, “Arise O Compatriots” said that the major problem with the Nigerian state was that it was big on rhetoric but small on realities. Continuing, she observed that there was an ever present curious willingness by succeeding administrations to restrict emerging nationalists to regional spaces, thereby curtailing nationalism in the process. According to this egg-head, the current state could not call on compatriots across the nation as it lacks the essentials to do so. The political leadership is a picture of doom, it does not inspire confidence in anyone except in the few beneficiaries of culture of instituted looting in Nigeria. Dr. Okei-Odumakin called on Nigerians to rise up as citizens who desire to create a new leadership; as the longer these discredited tired men and women are allowed to remain in power, the farther the beacon of civilisation dims in Nigeria for Nigerians! Concluding she said that Nigerians must create a new leadership, a new nation which competes with its peers - a nation where the people own ownership!

Icheokudotcom says, what a well spoken and articulated speech! However the elite middle-class of Nigerians ought to join to bring about the desired change in leadership which Nigeria desperately needs. In Pakistan, the lawyers were able to bring down President Musharraf from power because they had bigger clout which attracted formidable attention to their cause. So when is the Nigerian middle class answering this call?

TUNDE BAKARE, A CLERGY ASKS UMARU YARADUA TO RESIGN!

Nigeria's Umaru Yar'Adua is very sick and so should quit his office as the "illegitimate" president of Nigeria, so advised a clergy man, Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos-Nigeria. Pastor Bakare said that Umaru Yar'Adua should thereafter go take take care of his failing health, stating that a sick "president" cannot provide healing to an ailing nation.

The man of God prayed God to swiftly intervene in the matter of Umaru Yar'Adua, through the Nigerian Supreme Court, that they may over-rule his purported election and throw him out of office immediately. This way, Umaru Yar'Adua's nuisance of a president can be washed away in order for a dynamic leader to be enthroned in Nigeria for a purposeful leadership of the country.

Pastor Bakare who spoke at the end of a three-day apostolic conference hosted by Realm of Glory International Church, said that the president has made his health the number one priority at the expense of the entire Nigeria nation. According to Pastor Bakare, Umaru Yar'Adua has not helped himself - there's too much hide and seek in his administration. Right now we don't even know what is wrong with our 'president' other than he's sick and receiving treatment. Nobody can say what's wrong. The same thing has applied to the way he operates within government. There's now oath of secrecy to ban anybody from saying anything. And he came in as a servant-leader but now has become an overlord asking us to beg from him instead of him accounting to us. It is now very difficult to analyze the Umaru Yar'Adua's situation in order to award marks. It does not appear that even his purported seven-points agenda was conceived by him. I am seeing the disposition of a man who was begged to become President, who prior to being forced to become president, had already prepared himself to go back to the classroom before Olusegun Obasanjo sold us the idea and we swallowed it hook, line and sinker. I've told him over and over again; a sick 'president' cannot bring healing to a dying nation."

The cleric further pointed out that becoming a Nigerian President is neither a birthright nor hereditary to a certain part of the country, adding that being a President requires a lot of energy, a lot of thinking, a lot of capabilities, not only from your team but yourself primarily. You have to be on top of your game. Umaru Yar'Adua's failing health does not permit such abilities and hence he should resign the office of the presidency immediately. Umaru Yar'Adua can simply say to Nigerians gentlemen and women, my health cannot permit me to continue with the rigours of the office of the presidency so I will step down for the Vice President and if you do not want him, then the Senate President can hold forth until elections are called to fill my position.

Icheokudotcom commends the bravery of this one honest Nigerian in speaking out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. God bless his heart! If only there are a few other good men and women like Pastor Tunde Bakare remaining in Nigeria, the distraction of a very sick man, Umaru Yar'Adua would have since been a thing of the past. Unfortunately, Nigeria is populated by a bunch of very hungry knee-jerk plebeians whose brains are permanently tied to their stomachs - they only speak through the emptiness or fullness of their stomach, hence anybody is good and tolerable that butters their bread. We at Icheokudotcom has been calling without ceasing on this mallam from Kastina State to go back to where he comes from and continue his fight to stay alive from there; and not to be so selfish as to continue to hold Nigeria, hostage to his failing health.

For speaking out in the face of the pervading criminal public silence and acquiescence in Nigeria regarding the very sick Umaru Yar'Adua, and adding your strong voice to a thing which time has since become due - that Umaru Yar'Adua should resign his office, Icheokudotcom, hereby proclaims you, Pastor Tunde Bakare, a true patriotic and honest Nigerian, who pangs at the stagnation of Nigeria by the crippling health of Umaru Yar'Adua! It shall be well with you and henceforth, consider us your portal - we are fans to all descent men and women. Men and women of your integrity is what is missing in Nigeria. Let us say 'AMEN' to your prayer that the Nigerian Supreme court will soon save the day for Nigerians!

THE SEASON OF GIVING IS HERE, REASONS TO GIVE!

As you carve up that turkey signaling the onset of holidays and the beginning of season of giving, ask yourself, are you going to be a giver or taker this time around? Before you decide which side of the isle you will elect, please pause and ponder the following benefits:-

Giving makes one happier:- being charitable really is good for you. Research has shown that one of the benefits of generosity is that we get a psychological lift from helping others. According to a Knox College psychology Professor Timothy Kasser, people who focus on generosity are happier and healthier than those mired in selfish, self-centered gloating materialism.

Giving is not exclusive of writing checks but can be in the form of offering your time for another's use and behest, counselling or lending a helping hand or skills to a good cause. This type of act takes us out of our navel-gazing routine and connects us to something grander and greater than ourselves. This perspective allows us to see just how precious our helping hand can be to others.

Giving, it pays to be good:- besides really helping others, study has shown that one of the nice side-effect of being generous is that it boosts your own standing -it pays to be good!

Giving makes you richer:- research has shown that people who are known givers or behaving charitably towards others or the society at large, are often recommended for leadership positions in their communities or professional lives.

Giving, it is simply a good karma:- to give is an indirect offering and an anticipatory receipt or acceptance of the future reward, since what goes around comes around. Study has shown that the chance that your generosity will come back to reward you later is about 99%.

Giving, it feels good to give:- the hand that giveth usually stays on top and somewhere in the recess of your soul, you feel good that you impacted someone else's life.

Giving is a religious obligation:- as commanded in the biblical book of Matthew 25 vs. 31 - 46, with the when I was hungry creed.

As to whom to give, Matthew 25 vs. 41 is highly instructive - you do not necessarily have to give back to who gave you, just to return a favor. Instead spread the giving - spread the wealth around. A gives to B, B gives to C, C gives to D and so on until the whole world is benefited. Icheokudotcom asks you to commit today to charity and you shall become truly happy and sleep off each time you place your head on your pillow. Generosity is the key to a restful mind! Stop faking it, just feel true happiness, start giving today!

A HANDS-FREE DEVICE FOR YOUR CELL-PHONES?

The United States of America state of California recently passed a hands-free while driving law. According to the new law no one will be permitted any longer to use a cell phone while driving unless he/she has a hands-free adapter.

This fella pictured right, went to a Shop to upgrade his phone with a hand-free adapter but the cost was $50 for the headset with a microphone. However the current economic meltdown made it impossible for him to afford a $50 hands-free device, as he was recently laid off from his job, so he consulted a friend of his who is in the cell phone business. Another genius, his friend, who came up with an affordable, readily-available alternative hands-free device.

Upon a trial run, the kit worked wonders, hence it is being recommended to the whole wide world users. More-so the kit is compatible with any mobile/cell phone and one size fits all. The cost, a mere $0.08 each, if bought in quantity, just in case of a sudden snap. The device has since been tried with Motorola, Sony Erickson's, Nokia units and it worked perfectly well. But on IPhone, please use caution! The guy using the device? Wondering his name? He is the Einstein of hands-free telephone device? He is Mr. Creative Ingenuity! Some laughter? Our job is then, done! Happy thanksgiving!

NUHU RIBADU, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND!

Icheokudotcom is revisiting this subject once again, principally because of the varying positions people have taken on the matter of Nuhu Ribadu, depending on which side of the isle they are - the pro and the anti Nuhu Ribadu. We are non-partisan since we have no dog in the fight between Nuhu Ribadu and Umaru Yar'Adua's government, but that the truth be told.

Nuhu Ribadu has become the talking point of all commentators and news analyst world-wide particularly in Nigeria because of the dehumanising treatment he has been receiving in the hands of the Nigerian authorities. Some of his critics said he deserved all that he got because he once mistook tinsels for gold and forgot that one day a king who does not know Joseph will rise and call for rendering of account. He is a lawyer, by training, who abused the legal process by rail-roading suspects without any justifiable cause or much regard to due process whatsoever. He was so efficient in carrying water for his master and mentor, monster Olusegun Obasanjo that he received accelerated promotions jumping his seniors and colleagues in the process - from assistant superintendent to Assistant Inspector General as a reward for a job well executed - haranguing opponents of Olusegun Obasanjo, out of peaceful existence. Like a hit-man, Nuhu Ribadu held sway and every knee trembled at his name's mention. However, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was oblivious of the the fleeting nature of power! That power was very ephemeral indeed, made no sense to his deafened-ears! In his take no prisoner style of his newly acquired authority, Nuhu forgot that the yesterday's terrorist-oppressor could become today's haunted and vanquished! This gives credit to the vanity of man!

Nuhu Ribadu is not the only pawn ever to be used by men of power in Nigeria. Akilu and Togun were used by Ibrahim Babangida! Mustapha was used by Sani Abacha! So many people have equally benefited for being "good-errand boys" to the men in power, including the current Inspector General of Police in Nigeria, Mike Okilo, who was promoted ahead of his superiors to be the IG of police in Nigeria. Who has not benefited from past despots? Umaru Yar'Adua was a product of the criminal machination of Olusegun Obasanjo who single-handedly imposed him on Nigerians without any proper election; yet he presides over Nigeria, sitting in judgment over the likes of Nuhu Ribadu, his co-beneficiary of Olusegun Obasanjo devilish magnanimity. Who made Umaru Yar'Adua a judge over Nuhu Ribadu when they are both guilty as charged of illegality?

Our commentary therefore is, if the Nigerian authorities want to redress all the wrongs of Olusegun Obasanjo, they should be comprehensive about it and not embark on a mere witch-hunting escapade against a particular individual called Nuhu Ribadu. What about conducting a fresh elections for the presidency which is presently being occupied by a very sick-man who never contested nor won any election in the first place? Yet still, they can tell the IG to go back to his former rank and make the rightful heir to the IG of police, Ogbonnaya Onovo, the new IG of police? You want to right the wrongs? What about holding Olusegun Obasanjo responsible for the massacres of Odi and Zaki-Ibiam? Also has the murderers of Attorney General Bola Ige been found? Talk about putting Nuhu Ribadu back to the rank where he rightfully belongs? What is good for the goose is also good for the gander!

This will be our last devotion to the mongrel Nuhu Ribadu since there is no love lost between him and Icheokudotcom. We witnessed him get drunk on power hence tasting a little bit of his portion ordinarily wouldn't have been a bad idea. Our position however is that justice must not only be done but must manifestly be seen to be done. Singling out Nuhu Ribadu as the only beneficiary of Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo "mala-benevolence" deserving to be punished, is not just fair. Nuhu Ribadu dutifully prostituted for his new rank of AIG by bending over backward without question for Olusegun Obasanjo; and should be left alone otherwise no "dutiful" ass-licker will ever emerge in Nigeria again. We believe that Umaru Yar'Adua has promoted some people un-meritoriously too and state that he will not like to see such promotion debased by a future incoming administration? On a final note, the Nigerian authorities should leave Nuhu Ribadu alone, believing that he as well as other Nigerians have learnt a lesson of the transient nature of power; in any event let there be a total reset of the Nigerian button from the presidency downwards! Salut!