FRANCIS ARINZE, VICTIM OF A RACIST VATICAN?

Icheoku knows that he was in serious contention for the papacy at the last collegiate of cardinals, but unbeknownst to him and several of his well-wishers, the catholic church cardinals were not yet ready for a black pope? Yes they are not ready for a nigger pope? The catholic church is not just ready for a tar-pope! Icheoku affirms that religion is politics and churches are mere political parties and/or platforms to influence opinions. In the United States of America, the Catholic church openly campaigned against President-elect Barack Obama; and since their thumping at the polls, have had some of their priests demanding that all their parishioners who voted for Barack Obama should atone for their sins of such voting. They asked that they go to confessionals and some of them went to the extent of asking such parishioners to abstain from receiving the "holy" communion until further notice!

Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigerian almost became the first black Pope out of Africa just three years ago, but was probably frustrated by a gang of racist cardinals who could not entertain the idea of a black pope leading the catholic church. Now the 76 year old Cardinal has been "forced" to tender his resignation (retirement) to the Vatican, indicating his preference to leave the Vatican and return to his ancestry home in Nigeria to live out the rest of his life. The Cardinal probably became so disillusioned at the manner in which his candidacy for the papacy was treated, that he now wants to retire at such a young age considering the average age of cardinals and papal insiders.

A Cardinal since 1985, when the former pope died, he was strongly favoured to be the next pope until the current Pope Ratzinger (left) was thrown up as the new pope. A human first, the cardinal naturally may have felt betrayed at the outcome of the last papal selection that he has now decided to return to his people in Nigeria, instead of remaining in Vatican, still a stranger after so many years of service there. For whatever reason/s this relatively "young" cardinal is leaving the Vatican, Icheoku does not know for certain but says it is very unusual for cardinals to retire at such a young age, Vatican standard! We can only wish him the best of luck as he transverses the last rungs of his golden years. Good luck and God bless, Cardinal Francis Arinze!

BLAGOJEVICH PUTS OBAMA'S SENATE SEAT ON eBAY!

President-elect Barack Obama's vacated senate seat is for sale, so says the governor of Illinois! The governor of the state of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich (pictured right) was arrested this morning for trying to sell or trade the Illinois Senate seat vacated by the president-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder - the eBay style! He wanted a pay before he can play and was caught on tape saying just that - his home phone having been bugged as well as wire-tap.

Luckily, federal prosecutors led by America's Nuhu Ribadu, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the investigation into allegations that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) tried to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama found no evidence that Obama did anything wrong or inappropriate.

The 76-page FBI affidavit contends that governor was intercepted on wiretaps last month conspiring to shake people down, and it alleges he even considered appointing himself if he wasn't offered anything of value. Blagojevich was arrested on Tuesday December 9th, 2008 early morning, in his pyjamas sleep-wear, on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by Obama to the highest bidder. An FBI affidavit says the 51-year-old Democrat was intercepted on wiretaps conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife.

Icheoku says whether this is a pattern in Illinois or a function of the reputed Chicago corrupt politics is yet to be determined, but Governor Rod Blagojevich joins the annals, as the fourth governor of Illinois who have fallen short of glory and gone to prison for corrupt practices. Governor Otto Kerner, a Democrat who was governor from 1961 to 1968, served less than a year of a three-year sentence after his 1973 conviction on bribery, tax evasion and other counts. He was convicted of arranging favorable horse racing dates as governor in return for getting horse racing association stock at reduced prices. Kerner died in 1976. Governor Dan Walker, a Democrat who was governor from 1973 to 1977, served 1 1/2 years of a seven-year sentence after pleading guilty in 1987 to bank fraud, misapplication of funds and perjury. The charges were not related to his service as governor. Governor George Ryan, a Republican who was governor from 1999 to 2003, was convicted of corruption in 2006 for steering state contracts and leases to political insiders while he was Illinois secretary of state and then governor. He is serving a 6 1/2-year prison term. Now it is Governor Rod Blagojevich who is on the block for a possible long prison term. It is not party-restricted as both Democrats and Republicans governors have been imprisoned.

Icheoku says the moral lesson of Governor Rod Blagojevich arrest is that corruption in America has consequences - you do the crime, you do the time! Unlike in some countries where criminal state officials hold sway and their anti-corruption czars are made the victims of a state sanctioned official corruption. In Nigeria, Nuhu Ribadu is being hounded for daring to confront some highly placed corrupt government officials who are deemed untouchable; but in America, Patrick Fitzgerald is meritoriously putting handcuffs on a sitting governor, immunity or no immunity, for official state corruption. Nigeria's Nuhu Ribadu's problems started after he braved it to put handcuffs on a corrupt former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori. In a highly corrupt society like Nigeria, such audacity as roping in a corrupt government official is considered sacrilege and today, Nuhu Ribadu is at the receiving end of the Nigerian brand of justice for over-stepping his bounds. America, this is the way to go for a country with a future and we must also mention that a former governor of the state of Louisiana is serving 400 years in prison for corruption. Long live the rule of law, and may God continue to bless America!

IKEDI OHAKIM, WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU REALLY ON?

He was the biggest surprise of the 2007 Olusegun Obasanjo abracadabra of an "election" that took place in Nigeria, when from the blue sky he emerged victorious in the Imo State governorship race. Olusegun Obasanjo forswore Ararume of his own party the PDP, and instead threw up this man as the governor of Imo State, Nigeria. But who is Ikedi Ohakim? Icheoku really does not know much about this man except that he was the lucky beneficiary of the feud between Olusegun Obasanjo and Ifeanyi Ararume which catapulted him into the Imo State governor's house. Whether he is the new Dee Sam Mbakwe of the blessed memory, only time shall tell; but so far, his utterances has been rather very caustic and antagonistic of the Igbos, especially their industrious and enterprising youths. The Igbo breed who has been marginalised, killed, imprisoned, deprived and practically ostracised from Nigeria and the desperate attempts they make to survive is now being debased by this lucky bastard, Ikedi Ohakim.

First, Ikedi Ohakim said that the Igbo have no reason to still be complaining in Nigeria as things are now ok for them to thrive and excel? According to Ikedi, the Igbos of Nigeria has become a nation of whiners as their continued agitation to be treated fairly has no merit or foundation any longer. As far as Ikedi is concerned, by Olusegun Obasanjo making him the governor of Imo State has magically solved all the agitations of the Igbo of Nigeria? Now again, his utterance is that the Igbos are stranded all over the world in the Diaspora, wandering about like sheep without a shepard. But Ikedi Ohakim, you failed to address the root-cause of the problems militating against the Igbos since the firearm hostilities of the civil war ended; which is that the rest of the Nigerian society does not want the Igbos, but are merely tolerating their presence in Nigeria. The Igbos are denied jobs and killed at any given time and for any trivial reason be it religion, politics, tribal or even for a cartoon in a newspaper in far away Denmark? That the governments of some host states in Nigeria where the Igbos operate their tradings randomnly shut down those markets for no just cause, also escaped your warped mind. In short the odds are so heavily stacked against the Igbos in the polity called Nigeria and unfortunately, they are always outnumbered. As a governor, Icheoku asks, what have you done so far to ameliorate the situation? Have you picked up the telephone to call such state governors to find out why they close those markets with that frequency? Have you picked up the phone to call those northern governors to demand the protection of the Igbos in their state at the pain of a reprisal attack in your own state? How many times did you visit with such unfortuante Igbo victims of unprovoked attacks to commiserate with them over their loss? How many times have you gone on record to condemn the treatment being meted to the Igbos in Nigeria even at the pain of falling out with your mentors in Nigeria? How many jobs have you even created so far as governor of Imo State to help absorb the "wandering" Igbo youths, who despite their high qualifications are still living with their parents several years after graduating first class, just because the Nigerian establishment does not hire their kind? What do you want these jobless men and women of Igbo origin to do, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim?

Survival is the first law of nature so for the determined Igbo man and woman, anything therefore is a fair game that puts food on the table and clothes on the back. If it is drugs, 419, kidnapping, armed robbery, you just name that vice, oh well and dandy provided son of man does not die of starvation in such a country with bountiful resources! If the Nigerian government and their Hausa-Fulani oligarchs manipulators with the assistance of the Yoruba collaborators have decided to frustrate the Igbos out of jobs that pays livable wages in Nigeria and the Igbo youths are left with the only available option in the underground business, so be it! How can a people, so harshly discriminated against in a country supposedly theirs, be required otherwise? And while you are there silently bemoosed, slavishly dinning with the devils that have ganged up against the Igbo interest; you still have the impetus to question Igbo patriotism and Igbo ideals? It is not every Igbo abroad that is "stranded" or doing very well but at least they are better off than the over 69 million people in your Nigeria who lives below poverty line on less than $2 dollars a day. At least they are abroad, scrounging the streets and remitting some money to their families and friends for support and upkeep. Without the money being remmitted back to Nigeria by these "stranded" Igbos abroad, so many Igbo family would have gone belly-up, including in your Mbano clan. Or should Icheoku call names? What you should concern your petite self with is not the people abroad but how to improve the lives of those less unfortunate ones back home whose fortunes are not well endowed. But what is your history? Are you really a doer or just a plain talker? How did you get to cavort with Olusegun Obasanjo that he deemed you the fit and proper person to be rewarded with Imo State governorship? How did you make your money or were you a trust fund child? For all your bandied "patriotism", Icheoku has not seen or heard you demand forcefully that the River Niger bridge be constructed or that those mallams slaughtering the Igbos each time in the northern parts of Nigeria be prosecuted for their mayhem or that the Federal government of Nigeria go easy on the non-violent aggitating MASSOB? Mr. Ikedim Ohakim, which side of the divide are you really on?

In your keynote address at the South East Economic Summit in Owerri, Imo State, titled "How Igbo economy died" you claimed, unsubstantiated though, that over 3000 Igbo youths are in prisons abroad, that 18 of them are on death row in Asia alone, that 15 Igbo youth are serving time in Jakarta, Indonesia, that 300 Igbo youths were arrested in different parts of Nigeria for cyber crimes in the last few months, etc. The question you should rather be addressing is why have the Igbo youths been put in such a straight-jacket in Nigeria that they are forced to go to the ends of the earth just to survive? How many decades does an Igbo graduate have to wait in Nigeria just to be given a meaningful job? This blogger knows of three highly educated and qualified Igbo youths who could not secure an entry position in the Nigeria Customs because according to the mallam heading the department, they are not allowed to employ the Igbos! Is it the Immigration or Foreign Affairs or even the oil companies that the Igbos are accommodated? Icheoku knows of an army captain of Igbo extraction who had to change his name to a Tiv name in order to get into the army and another who claimed Okene origin to get into the police and this is in a country where the Igbo has become an anathema. Someone else known to Icheoku, who works for one of the oil companies in Nigeria has to change his name to reflect the "employable areas" of Nigeria just to get a job? And you question the desperation of the Igbo youth? It was also an insult for you to open your mouth to accuse the Igbo youths back home in Nigeria, of "taking to anything that means less sweat and more money". This fallacy of your statement calls for your mouth to be soap-washed because it is very obvious who the most hardworking, hustling and enterprising group in Nigeria is? The Igbo youths are found in every nook and crany of Nigeria, from the remotest village in Birnin-Kebbi to all the major cities and towns in Nigeria hustling for survival as no one will employ them because of a standing tacit order of the powers that be in Nigeria. You should apologise for this guffaw, Mr. Ohakim!

Did you even ask yourself, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim, why opportunities for Igbo youths' self-actualization are fast dwindling or as Icheoku would rather put it, non-existent in Nigeria? It was very arrogant of you to state categorically that many of the Igbo youths who ventured abroad in search of opportunities have come to peril, when statistics shows that these group of people are the life-blood sustaining the Igbo nation since the end of the civil war with their remittances. Just in case you do not know, there is dignity in labour as riding Okadas is not a dishonorable business but an edifying work that pays the bills. Drugs and 419 are vices which a group of people that are not wanted in Nigeria have been pushed into, just for their survival. Learning a trade or skill has a limited market and the market is almost full. Mr. Ikedi Ohakim, for you to say that thousands of Igbo youths are stranded abroad but cannot come home because they have nothing to show for it and so continue to endure the nightmare of living in a foreign land where they are neither happy nor prospering is rather uncalled for? Or is this your reaction to the American Embassy denying you visa so soon after you were sworn in; possibly for a trip to go and show off your new found status as a token governor of Imo State courtesy of Olusegun Obasanjo? Those of you in Nigeria, what do you have to show for except your ill-gotten and mostly stolen from the public coffers, wealth? If Nigerians heed your advise and start stoning corrupt politicians who steal money, there will be no one left as you all have stolen public money in one form or another and have fallen short of the glory! It is a abnd of thieves that is running Nigeria, at least you all stole the election or who voted you people in? According to your assessment, almost 90 per cent of able-bodied and enterprising Igbo men and women live outside the South East and you wondered why? They have to survive elsewhere since the situation back south east is not encouraging and as to the natural disasters like gully erosion, flooding and oil and gas pollution that daily wreck havoc in the Igbo region, what measures have you taken to petition the federal government, or shout yourself hoarse on top of the mountain to draw attentionto the plight or use your allocation to tackle some of the problems as far as they can go?

Ikedi Ohakim mentioned that the South East cannot boast of one leader whose presence can make things happen at the Aso Villa because what most of the supposed leaders in the region go and do at the center of government is to beg for contracts and groveling for money. Icheoku asks, how much grovelling did you do before Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo agreed to allow you the governorship of Imo State? Also since you became the governor how much have you paid in secret bank accounts as gratificiation for those who put you in charge of Imo State? As a governor, you are more than qualified as a leader from the south east, so when you go to Aso Rock, what do you say to Umaru Yar'Adua? Do you bring up the urgent need to re-construct the River Niger bridge, the horrible roads, non-existent infrastructures, industries, the dormant Oji-River power station, etc that are militating against the South East? What do you discuss with Umaru Yar'Adua, Mr Ikedi Ohakim? As for your assertion that it will no longer be business as usual, Icheoku says talk is cheap and everyone is waiting to see how you transforms into the present day Dee Sam Onunaka Mbakwe of the blessed memory! Until then, please walk the walk as you talk the talk, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim!

WILLIAM JEFFERSON, NIGERIA ATIKU-LINKED USA CONGRESSMAN, OUSTED!

The United States of America Congress-man linked with a one time Nigeria's vice president Abubakar Atiku in a corruption scandal, is no more a congressman. Mr. William Jefferson was ousted today, December 6, 2008 from the United States 2nd congressional seat he hitherto occupied from the State of Louisiana. It was this congressman who gave impetus to the term cold-cash when a whopping ninety (90) thousand dollars USD was found stuffed among meat products in his deep freezer, frozen in time until the atmosphere is conducive for its use. However he had a congressional immunity and his prosecution was delayed. Nemesis finally caught up with him with the loss of his congressional seat, so, may be the long arm of the law will finally catch up with him equally with his prosecution and eventual imprisonment if found guilty; although he will find it tough explaining the source of the frozen ninety thousand dollars in his deep freezer.

Nigeria's Abubarkar Atiku, a former vice president under Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly had some business transactions with this congressman during which some gratifications changed hands. Who knows what will become of the investigation, now that both men have lost their immunity cover - Abubakar Atiku is no longer Nigeria's vice president and William Jefferson has been ousted from his congressional seat and by a little known quantum, a Vietnamese-American named, Anh Cao, a Republican. According to news report reaching Icheokudotcom, Democratic Party Representative William Jefferson has been defeated tonight by a little known Republican for re-election to the United States House of Representatives. Voters in Louisiana ousted the indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson on Saturday, December 6th, 2008 and instead elected the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress, Attorney Anh Cao, 41 years old (left)

It would have been William Jefferson's tenth term in congress representing Louisiana's 2nd district but Republicans' aggressive push to take the seat from the 61-year-old "corrupt" incumbent Jefferson paid off big time. They won it. The national GOP ran campaign advertisement citing Jefferson’s indictment for corruption and apparently they paid off.

Icheoku says that the once congressman William Jefferson will now have plenty of time to fight the corruption charges facing him when his trial eventually begins; although no trial date has been set, yet. It is a big embarrassment for the Democratic Party who should have kicked this corrupt congressman out of congress when this scandal first broke. Also for a Vietnamese-American to be elected in a congressional district with majority of black residents shows that America has changed for the better. Icheoku says congratulations to this another first, Anh Cao! First they elected President-elect Barack Obama, a black in a white-majority country and now an Asian in a black majority district. Although it was a black-eye for the Democrats losing a seat in a majority-black district to the Republicans, as this congressman could not even ride the co-tail of Barack Obama's political wave to victory! This shows that corruption is a serious matter in the United States of America and Icheoku prays that Nigeria takes note!

MUMBAI, INDIA'S 9/11 OR THEIR OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING?

Icheoku remembers very vividly the reaction of the United States security agencies after the Oklahoma city bombing in April 19, 1995. Immediately, the United States authorities pointed accusing fingers to the Middle East as the probable source of the terrorism that killed one hundred and sixty (168) Americans in Oklahoma City. A natural reaction when attacked is to start from a known enemy paradigm and then do the weeding out. But unbeknownst to the Americans the terrorist that brought down the Alfred P. Murray building in downtown Oklahoma city was an American, living in America; and a former patriot who once adorned the military uniform.

It took several days before the identity of Timothy McVeigh became known as the terrorist that initially misled America's security details on a wild goose chase to the Middle East. Peradventure, India may be towing the same part by reacting naturally to a sworn enemy, Pakistan, as the source of the attack in Mumbai. Primary investigations so far has revealed that some Indians were accessories before the fact of the Mumbai incident, having provided some cell phones used to coordinate the Mumbai operation. India must therefore expand the horizon of their present investigation into the Mumbai nightmare instead of the tunnel-vision assertion that it is Pakistan's fault. They should spread their dragnet and tentacles for a more thorough goal-oriented investigation that will yield the desired fruit - unravel the murderers behind the Mumbai terrorist act. India should not confine their search for the terrorists backers just by looking over their shoulders at Pakistan, no, they should try to see if there are some of their own Timothy McVeighs hiding somewhere in the Indian vast landscape amidst an exploding population which can easily provide a safe hiding place for anyone.

While wishing India luck with their search for those behind what happened in Mumbai, Icheoku prays they find the real culprits of the Mumbai-terrorism instead of starting their own version of the Iraqi war, based on a faulty intelligence of a possibly non-existent Pakistani-backed terrorism. Icheoku uses this opportunity also to extend our heart-felt sympathy to the people and government of India for this Mumbai madness and pray for the repose of the souls of the many, from world-over, who lost their lives in the attack. Goodluck Indian and speedy rebound for the city of Mumbai!

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!