NIGERIA, THE STATE OF AFFAIRS IS VERY BLEAK!

The Nigeria newspaper, Leadership, on December 15th, 2008, wrote a comment on the state of affairs in Nigeria titled "FRONT PAGE COMMENT: State Of The Nation". Icheoku finds the commentary very interesting hence our editorial decision to republish same here for you, our world-wide audience; it pointedly, zeroed down on what ground-zero really looks like in present day Nigeria. Happy reading!

"The state of the Nigerian nation is not good. Not even Thomas Hobbes' state of nature – "laborious, nasty, brutish and short" – is enough to describe life in Nigeria these days. The cause is known but the solution, though appearing simple, has surprisingly become far-fetched, thanks to the conspiracy of a small elite class. It has been said that no one has the right to govern a people without their consent. But in Nigeria, even that has been upturned. All the institutions of government appear to have failed and the generality of Nigerians no longer have confidence in the ability of the Nigerian state to protect them anymore. The steady bloodletting of innocent people in the Niger Delta, the recent avoidable mayhem that claimed hundreds of lives in Jos a fortnight ago, and the devastation of families by armed robbers every minute of the day are only a few examples of the inchoate failure of the Nigerian state.

The state of the nation today confirms that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is not the leader to lead us out of the doldrums. Across the nation, there are crises of frightening proportions. There is no electric power anymore: mosquitoes, heat and armed robbers have made nights dreadful for most of the urban poor. Small businesses are dying because there is no power supply. Despite the enormous funds called "security votes", which are regularly shared by local, state and federal governments, there is no security of life and property. The education system has collapsed. Federal budgets are not being implemented and jobs are almost nonexistent, even as schools continue to churn out millions of uneducated school leavers and graduates each year. Cities, including the Federal Capital Territory, lack clean water. The health of many a Nigerian is constantly imperilled by lack of potable water and fake drugs. Health institutions have moved from being "mere consulting clinics" to glorified mortuaries. Bad roads are causing accidents and killing travelers on a daily basis. And while every country in the world is fashioning out a bail-out plan for their individual economies, our president does not seem to be aware of what is happening around the world. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has collapsed and it has stayed collapsed because of a non-challant leadership.

The man who promised, more than 18 months ago, to be a "servant-leader" is neither serving nor leading. It is taking him and the nation so long to appoint ministers. Few persons understand the current administration's "seven-point agenda", the policy thrust that has consumed billions of naira in media advertisements but little in actual implementation. Yar'Adua's campaign promise to declare an emergency in the power sector is yet to be fulfilled. At present, the entire nation of about 150 million people consumes less than 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Yet, to get out of the power mess and get businesses moving, Nigeria requires upwards of 100,000 megawatts. Because the refineries are not working, 100% of the country's fuel needs is imported. Any wonder that Nigeria is rich while Nigerians are poor? Oil has served no useful purpose, except that it has fed the few who are benefiting from corruption. For too long, corruption in high places has been allowed to ruin the nation. Democracy has finally been buried by the collective conspiracy of a number of crooked persons in the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government. See how certain judgements emanating from the courts have foreclosed any hope that elections held on the Nigerian soil will ever be free, fair or credible again. To defeat election riggers in court, a petitioner would need to assemble all the voters in his constituency and name them one by one in order to prove his case beyond reasonable doubts. The alternative is to assemble a private army intimidating enough to force INEC and the government not to tamper with actual election results.

To become prosperous here, one no longer has to work hard even if he has a job. It's either he knows someone who can help him "win" an election or belongs to a criminal gang. Like everyone else, therefore, the generation born during and after Nigeria's independence in 1960, whose future is being ruined by entrenched political corruption, are no longer at ease. Pushed to the wall on all fronts, they seek survival by taking to crime. Where are Nigeria's leaders? Where are the guardian angels of the nation? Have they given up? All we need to do to know how severe the nation's situation has become is compare Nigeria with countries like Ghana. Yes, we need to be scared for the future of our nation and all those we are going to leave behind. Little wonder that several Nigerians who can afford it are already thinking of alternative countries.

As 2008 comes to a close, there is no better time to soberly reflect on the state of our nation. Nigeria is not working. The world has already left us behind. Opportunities have been lost and the price of crude, the nation's mainstay is likely to further plummet. We cannot afford to continue in this mess, living like a nation without leaders. People of character and goodwill must congregate and regroup to beat a new path for the only country we have. 2009 must be different".

CHINA, COMPLAIN AND BE DECLARED MENTAL!

If you open your mouth to complain, you are declared mad as one who have over-stepped his/her trained stoic acceptance of what is, as is! . In the Chinese city of Xintai, Shandong province, one automatically become a certified lunatic fit for housing in a state's mental institution if one opens his/her mouth to complain about how things are going wrong in the society. At such institutions, the so-declared loony is debriefed, re-programmed and forcibly medicated until such a time as the state determines that such a person is no longer a threat to the way things has always been! What a life for the citizens of Xintai?

Authorities in Xintai, a municipal region in eastern Shandong province China, had so far forced at least 18 people with grievances, ranging from police brutality to property disputes, into a local mental hospital according to reports. Sun Fawu, a 57-year-old retired miner from Dagouqiao village in Xintai, was force-fed drugs and injections during a more than 20-day stay at the Xintai Mental Health Hospital in October. He had campaigned for years to get compensation for spoiled farm land and housing stemming from coal mining near his village. Sun was released only after he signed a document saying he was mentally ill and "would not petition again". Lao Shi, an 84-year-old retiree from Tianbao township, was sent directly to hospital in 2006 after travelling to Beijing to complain about a local property dispute. The former public servant counted 18 petitioners in over two years there, a list corroborated by Wu Yuzhu, the hospital's director. The hospital also has its misgivings," Wu told the paper, saying that it was under pressure to take petitioners, some of whom would arrive escorted by police.

Checking petitioners into the hospital was in part a matter of hard-boiled economics, a local official said, given that cash-strapped local governments could ill-afford to chase petitioners to Beijing and other places. According to Chen Jianfa, assistant to the head of Quangou township in Xintai, "every time we have to send three or five people to Beijing, and pay their food and accommodation, it's not a matter of pennies; hence it is better to prevent their Beijing trip by confining them in a mental institution. If a petitioner slips through to Beijing, the head of both the local branch of the Communist Party and government get punished for the lapse.

Icheoku says, thanks to freedom of speech as guaranteed in the constitution otherwise so many of us would have been institutionalized by now. But to the Chinese authorities, how long are you going to keep the emotions of your 1.6billion citizens bottled up? Every human emotion need some venting of steam otherwise one day it will result to a forceful explosion leading to revolution. You cannot beat someone and at the same time demand that, that person do not cry. It amounts to approbating and re-probating and it brings out the worst vermin in any mankind. So Chinese authorities, allow your citizens to breathe some air of freedom to avoid the inevitable clash of citizens with their government in the near future; baring an immediate change of attitude. How can a rational citizen be declared a lunatic just because of a demand for some rights? Only in China is the answer found in Xintai, province of Shandong!

China: Complain About the Government; Get Institutionalized

MUGABE, PLEASE YOUR TIME IS UP!

President Robert Mugabe, Icheoku calls on you to please go to your well deserved and earned retirement in order to live out your golden years in peace. You worked very hard for the independence of Zimbabwe and tried your best as their seat-tight president since 1980, but now is the time to pass on the baton. Icheoku says please do not let the Americans, the British and the French use you as a sacrificial offal for their gods, by giving them the reason to invade Zimbabwe. Do not give them a reason to parachute their marines into Zimbabwe in the middle of the night while you are fast asleep and as you know, the petty military force of Zimbabwe will not stand in the way of the corrosive military machine of the west. It will not be worth the cost to you and your rag-tag military. As you also very well know, they will always eventually win regardless of the toll on their men and treasury. Look at Iraq and advise yourself accordingly or how else do you want to be remembered?

Cholera or no cholera, Robert Mugabe, you should just leave, having outlived your usefulness as president of the Zimbabwe people. Robert Mugabe, you should now make that difficult for African-leaders' transition from a head of state to an elder statesman and father of Zimbabwe with good pension; and advise the new generation-leaders from outside the government. If you want, some security guarantees could be hatched to avoid your being sent to the Hague on war crimes charges against the Zimbabwe people upon your exit from power. This is a natural cause of action should the west risk their men and treasury to invade Zimbabwe and Icheoku does not think that you, Robert Mugabe would wish that fate on your worst enemy, talk-less of yourself. Charles Taylor of Liberia is today being processed through the court in the Hague because he failed to yield at the first demand his office in Monrovia; eventually he was removed and is now being tried for war crimes. On a final note, Icheoku calls on Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to yield power today and save Zimbabwe the thunder from the skies which is very imminent, judging from the increased octave of rhetoric from Washington, London and Paris! Why engage in a battle you cannot win, Robert Mugabe, more-so at such your very old Methuselah-like age of eighty plus?

What is still the allure of power for a man of such very advanced old age if not the African power-curse? A man who achieved independence for his country Zimbabwe should now be celebrated like Nelson Mandela of South Africa and not still be active in world politics which now favors strongly, the invasion of Zimbabwe. Very arrogantly, Robert Mugabe the other day, said that there is no more cholera in Zimbabwe necessitating an invasion; but unbeknownst to him, that is only one of the many reasons requiring his removal from office. Robert Mugabe is a hold-over president who refused to respect the result of an election in Zimbabwe which elected the opposition and yield power. Also Robert Mugabe has trampled on the human rights of Zimbabwe people and such injustice calls for intervention. Robert Mugabe pissed off some western countries by revoking some land ownerships in Zimbabwe to their chagrin, so you see that it is just not cholera but a myriad of issues that only your exit from power will assuage the impending intervention. So today, Icheoku calls on you, Robert Mugabe to choose wisely and yield the office as only that will save your sorry ass!

OPTION A 4, IBB'S GIFT TO NIGERIA!

Hurray! some men of wisdom have finally acknowledged, that Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida's wondrous gift to the Nigerian electoral process Option A4, was the panacea for the ever crowded Nigeria political arena problems. The former Chief Justice Mohammed Uwais pictured here right, chaired Electoral Reform Committee just recommended exactly what the evil-genius doctor IBB ordered! Option A4, the modified open ballot system which involves a series of party caucuses and voting, progressing from council to state and national levels was accredited with producing Nigeria's first freest and fairest election in 1993. It is now being touted as the best guarantee for future polls that would, once and for all, stop embedded rigging of elections in Nigeria. Icheoku says that the committee would have taken a step further to acknowledge the author of Option A4, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, smiling here left in the picture!

The committee also advocated for taking away of the appointment of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman from Aso Rock and handing it over to the National Judicial Council (NJC) which is presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria. Such appointment of the INEC Chairman should be confirmed by the Senate and that he/she should not be removed from office except by a two-thirds majority of the Senate. The committee wants funding for the INEC to be by first line charge not subject to the whims and caprices of Aso Rock. This would remove the control of the INEC from the President who could use his powers to fund it to serve his personal political motive. Another recommendation is the creation of an Electoral Offences Commission (EOC), headed by a retired Judge, which will prosecute electoral offenders in the manner financial crime is prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Also recommended is that results of elections be immediately announced at the polling booths soon after casting and counting of ballots.

Nigerians were unanimous in expressing their concern on the deficiencies and lack of independence of the electoral commissions at both the federal and state levels," Uwais had told him. "Accordingly, we are drawing detailed recommendations to address the focal issues of the composition, the administrative autonomy and funding of the electoral commissions." With the conclusion of the work of the ERC the hope looks bright for free and fair elections, and a transparent Electoral Commission.

Icheoku says that these recommendations were well thought-through and is in tandem with majority of opinions in Nigeria which Icheoku correctly articulated in some of our previous commentaries herein. All that is needed now is the strength of character to issue a white paper on the recommendations; but regrettably, if the recommendations follows a known trend in Nigeria, it might never see the daylight again. Peradventure, Umaru Yar'Adua may want to prove his mettle and Icheoku challenges him to accept and implement the Justice Uwais recommendations as they will truly bring to an end, the trauma which elections has since become in Nigeria.

See also an article/comment titled: the evil genius has spoken !

DALAI LAMA'S AIRCONDITIONER BREAKS DOWN IN NIGERIA!

The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, Tenzi Gyatso 73, was in Nigeria recently for the very first time. He went to Nigeria on a private visit to deliver the keynote address on the 10th Anyiam Osigwe Foundation celebration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Dalai Lama, the 14th in the Tibetan dynasty, a 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner while answering questions said among other things, that he was very skeptical about claims of spiritual healing powers. The Dalai Lama also condemned human attachment to anything whether family, spouse, children, friend, person, wealth, money, or substances as an obstacle to peace of mind. According to the spiritual leader, attachment is a trap and human beings are advised to imitate the monks and be detached. It is the Dalai Lama's viewpoint that once we do not have too much attachment in life, we will be contented and contentment is the key to peace of mind. Contentment for him is some kind of personal check, but it doesn’t mean we should no longer have desire. Without desire, life is meaningless as desire for good, desire for more service to others, desire for more benefit to others is very healthy. Such makes life more meaningful as without desire, one becomes a robot with no further progress in life. A genuine desire, with reasons, with logic is a proper desire to have.

However it was not all honky dory while in Nigeria as the air-conditioner in his hotel room failed in a baking summer-like Nigerian heat with very high humidity. Whether it was as a result of power failure or mechanical fault, Icheoku is yet to conclusively determine that; but it sure does not look good for the image of Nigeria. It mattered most because it left the spiritual temporal of Tibet "roasting" in Africa's intense summer heat. In his own very words, "the hotel is very good, but the first night, the air conditioning in the bedroom failed, and it was very very hot".

Icheoku asks how dare the air-conditioner fail on such a world citizen as the Dalai Lama, leaving such a lasting negative impression about Nigeria in his head. Admitted he will not voice it out, being the astute "politician" he is, but the indelible mark that it was "very very hot" will forever remain with him as well as his other accompanying aides. Probably the hotel which hosted the Dalai Lama did not have a hotel engineer on site to fix whatever was wrong with the air-conditioner or better still replace it with a new one? Or if it was power failure, what happened to their stand-by generator otherwise the power would have come back-on so soon after the failure that the Dalai lama would not have noticed the heat!

Marketing is everything and first impression really do matter, please do not tell me otherwise! The problem with Nigerians is that they really do not care a hoot about people's impression of them, otherwise, the gear would have since been engaged in an over-drive to fix a lot that is wrong with both the country and her citizens. Imagine the PR disaster that air-conditioner failed in a hotel room hosting the spiritual leader of Tibet, a world citizen? Take or leave it, Icheoku says this is a major black-eye on Nigeria and if it was a result of power failure, it sure brings back to the front banner, the intractable power problem in Nigeria. Can Umaru Yar'Adua, now that the Supreme court has finally legitimized his presidency, declare immediately his long awaited and anticipated power-emergency in Nigeria so that such shameful disaster as power failure on a world-citizen does not happen again, ever in Nigeria. It is the right thing to do and if that is the only thing attributable to his term in office, so be it as he would have left a lasting legacy indeed. If it is the hotel's fault that they cannot quickly rectify a broken air-condtioner in a little turn-around operation, then they do not deserve to play host to anybody talk-less of a world-class citizen, like the Dalai Lama. What does it take to take out a broke unit and put another working one therein? If it is central, then his room would not have specifically broken down. Better still why did the hotel not relocate the Dalai Lama to another room with a working air-conditioner so soon after to avoid this "very very hot public relation disaster? To the Dalai Lama and crew, Icheoku deeply apologise, on behalf of the Anyiam Osigwe Foundation, the hotel management and Nigeria for this "very very hot" environment you found yourself in a Nigerian hotel room. It is regrettable as it is unfortunate indeed!

Just an addendum for your upkeep titled Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self; Respect for others ; Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules very well so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you have never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

NIGERIA SUPREME COURT SAYS, YAR'ADUA IS LEGITIMATE?

It was a lost chance to save democracy, so said Abubakar Atiku. Renowned human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi assessed it that Yar’Adua has lost moral right to govern Nigeria. Muhmmadu Buhari summarized it as a great disappointment and a miscarriage of justice. Stating that "by this judgment, the Nigeria Supreme court have forced a giant camel to pass through the eye of a needle. That the international community will be shocked and scandalised that an election, which they themselves held as deeply flawed, a fact conceded on several occasions by the President himself, had been upheld by the Nigerian judiciary. Continuing, Buhari said that this judgment is overtly perverse because it was agreed by all parties in chambers in the lower court that depositions would be accepted without oral testimony and now that the Supreme court turning around to conclude that there was no evidence is squalid in the extreme." Tam David-West apprised it that Nigeria now has a bifurcated presidency with the legal part of the presidency resting in Yar'Adua while the moral component lies with Buhari. Icheoku says that the Supreme court of Nigeria led by Justice Idri Legbo Kutigi, pictured here above, lacked the courage to right an apparent wrong.

A wrong which the entire world observed was perpetrated upon Nigerians in the 2007 election by Olusegun Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu led INEC. Believing that the Thailand Constitutional court would have provided these men at Nigeria's Supreme court with the moral compass and impetus needed to give the much anticipated and awaited befitting verdict, Icheoku has waited excitedly for today's verdict, annulling the 2007 charade of Olusegun Obasanjo, but surprise, surprise our weekend is now doused! The underlying muted reasoning of the Supreme court to keep the peace of the graveyard in Nigeria is not sufficient to assuage the disappointment felt by the whole world; a world which has been waiting in heightened anticipation for this verdict to right all the wrongs of the 2007 selections called "elections". Further the argument that the PDP would have won anyway, despite the wrongful conduct of the election, because the opposition is not well organised is not a tenable argument either; and assuming it is probable, Icheoku has a beef with their margin of winning and the spread in states. Olusegun Obasanjo ran a failed government and for his party to have returned to power with such a very high percentage of votes and states-spread, is an aberration; and this the Supreme court failed to address with their decision today. How could the PDP win in Adamamawa, home state of Atiku? It is a complete balderdash, a bull-crap!

As was wisely articulated by Atiku, the Supreme court's verdict was not a personal loss to him but a collective loss to all Nigerians who were prevented from freely choosing their leaders in that 2007 election. Wondering aloud, Atiku queried how the Supreme Court could uphold the election even when the beneficiary, Yar'Adua, himself, had admitted that the exercise was characterized by "irregularities and flaws." Yaradua immediately after his election, while attending the G-8 meeting in Germany, had told the entire world that his election was'nt free and fair; but now the Supreme Court says otherwise. Icheoku asks, can the Nigerian Supreme court be more catholic than the pope? In other words, why did the Supreme court of Nigeria decide to cry more than the bereaved? The disappointed were the millions of Nigerians who had looked forward to the Supreme Court as the final arbiter to salvage Nigeria's faltering democracy, which was shamelessly mutilated through the scandalous conduct of the 2007 elections by Maurice Iwu's INEC under the supervision of Olusegun Obasanjo. Nigeria's democracy is the real loser because of increased apprehension that desperate politicians would become more brazen, emboldened by the verdict to continue rigging future elections with increasing audacity.

In a split decision of four to three Justices of the Supreme Court, decided not to upset the apple-cart but choose to leave Umaru Yar'Adua as the "president" of Nigeria. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Idris Legbo Kutigi, Justices Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu, Niki Tobi and Dahiru Musdapher gave Yar'adua a lifeline while Justices George Adeshola Oguntade, Aloma Mariam Mukthar and Walter Samuel Onnoghen followed their conscience that there was admission even by Umaru Yar'Adua that there was substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2007. To Justice Tobi's argument that because Nigeria is a vast country made up of so many diversities in terms of tribes, cultures, sociology, anthropology and many political parties there must always be irregularities, Icheoku says that Nigeria cannot be more diverse than India, yet India does not experience as much irregularities as was witnessed in Nigeria 2007 elections. The argument that sensitized Icheoku so much was Oguntade's "an invalid ballot paper cannot yield a valid vote", strict interpretation of Section 45(1) of the elections Act, 2007 which substantially affected the result of the election. The implication of such purposeful oversight was that each of the candidates at the election scored zero as no valid votes were recorded for any of them.

In conclusion therefore, Icheoku affirms that the Nigeria Supreme court cannot be the only sighted entity in a blind world. They cannot be the only one in Jerusalem who has not heard that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead? The whole world cannot be wrong and the Nigerian Supreme court is the only one right! Something does not definitely smell right with the conclusion reached by this apex court, judging from what transpired under Olusegun Obasanjo and team Maurice Iwu in 2007 as witnessed by the whole world including the Honorable Justices. To conclusively adjudicate this matter, the Supreme court would have ordered a fresh election knowing fully well that Yaradua will still win it, because the opposition is weak and not well organized; and also judging from the outcome of such other ordered fresh elections in Cross River, Adamawa etc. Icheoku laments this missed opportunity to crown the Nigerian judiciary with the honored word COURAGEOUS! Icheoku notes that whereas Umaru Yar'Adua is saying that their doors are wide open to listen to any criticisms from any quarters yet he is arresting on-line bloggers, closing Channel Television and has also dragged Independent Newspapers to court? What a way to encourage dissenting voices, Umaru Yar'Adua's style? One only hopes and prays that this now Supreme court conferred-legitimacy will jolt the sleeping on duty, Mr. Slowman, the sloth back to life. Or hasn't he slept enough this past eighteen months in Aso Rock? Like Atiku, Icheoku accepts the verdict but like Buhari, the verdict is not agreeable to our common sense; hence we hereby formally declare our stand as the opposition e-media to Umaru Yar'Adua's presidency. From this date, December 12, 2008, in deference to the ruling of Supreme court, the Umaru Yar'Adua's presidency now becomes acceptable but not agreeable to Icheokudotcom!

GREECE, BURNING!

As Greece burns, the Greeks say in one loud thundering voice, "we cannot have this anymore"! It took just a single bullet bought by the Greek, fired through a gun bought with Greek tax-payers money, by a Greek policeman paid by the Greek to protect the Greek, that rather killed a Greek! The Greek rose in unison to denounce this atrocity and rightly so, telling their police, their government and the whole listening world that the Greek bullet, the Greek gun and the Greek police is to be used in defense of the Greek and not to mow them down! The result, the cradle of civilization is burning! But what would Socrates, Aristotle, Pluto etc have said or done? Would they have said to the Greeks, this is not the way to react or send across your displeasure or that this is not the civilized way to do such things? Most likely, they would have found the so far four-day national siege unacceptable and would rather, a more communicative way is deployed to send the message across to the powers that is.

Icheoku says, hell knows no fury like the Greeks, enraged at the fatal police-shooting of a Greek schoolboy, 15 year old named Alexis Grigoropoulos; (pictured left) who was shot on Saturday, December 6th, 2008. The late Grigoropoulos was among some youths who allegedly threw stones at a passing police car, following which one of the two officers alighted from the now stopped police vehicle to fire three times at the teenager, hitting him on the chest. Grigoropoulos was later confirmed dead in a nearby hospital. The officer accused of the shooting tried to lie his way out of the mayhem by claiming that he fired warning shots to scare off a gang of youths and that the bullet ricocheted off the pavement, but witnesses disavowed his tale as baloney, stating that the officer, deliberately took aim at the boy. The shooting of Alexandros Grigoropoulos was the much needed tinder which ignited the ever smouldering inferno caused by years of frustration over high youth unemployment, the rising cost of living, stalled pension reform and a widening gap between rich and poor.

The Greek police have since the arrested two officers involved in the fatal shooting of the teenager, who was shot and killed in the Athens district of Exarchia on Saturday. Officer Epaminondas Korkoneas, 37, who allegedly fired the shots, was detained on suspicion of homicide while his partner Officer Vassilis Saraliotis, 31, was arrested as an accessory to homicide. Exarchia is a bohemian neighbourhood near central Athens that is considered an anarchist stronghold and as such is rarely patrolled by uniformed police. In 1985 another 15-year-old pupil, Michalis Kaltezas, was shot by a police officer, triggering violent clashes with the police in Exarchia. Exarchia was also the scene of major student protests in 1973, which led to the fall of the country's military dictatorship in 1974.

Today they entered into the fourth day of rioting across Greece to protest this murder. Although the Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has vowed to bring the unrest under control, but he seems not to be succeeding do far. His threatening words that all the dangerous and unacceptable events that occurred because of the emotions that followed the tragic incident cannot and will not be tolerated any longer appear to have fallen on deaf Greek ears. From Athens to Salonika, Greece's second largest city, to Rhodes, to Patras, to Chania, to Crete, to Trikala and the Aristotelio University in northern Thessaloniki, Greek youths took over the streets to protest what they see as police high-handed and reckless killing of an unarmed 15 year old Greek. In Athens alone, firefighters were called to 24 banks, 35 stores, 24 cars, 12 homes and a district office of the ruling New Democracy party hit by a small bomb. Athens Polytechnic university was not spared either! Greek youths were yelling "Cops! Pigs! Murderers!" at the police.

Icheoku commends the Greek authorities for deploying minimal force in fighting this Greek riots, mainly using tear-gas and batons. Unlike in some other countries where the weapon of choice to quell mere citizen protest is usually AK47 firing live-ammunition to kill her citizens. Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria once, almost killed off entire communities of Odi and Zaki Ibiam for daring to protest? Icheoku calls on the protesting Greek youth to now, down their tools as their message, that the police paid to protect should not be the agent of killing, has been heard by the world and possibly their government in Athens. Protests of this nature is an acceptable manner of getting a message across, although Icheoku would have preferred they were less destructive, just like the most recent Thailand example. Non-violent protest is the more civilized, modern way of sending messages of discontent out and Icheoku believes that this would have been the preferred choice of those Greek's great minds of yore!

DAVID MARK, A THIEF?

What a Robin Hood! He stole with one hand and now, with the other is giving back, part of what used to belong to Nigeria, to his community of Oturkpo, Benue State, Nigeria. He just handed over a multimillion Naira complex to the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) to serve as a study centre in Otukpo, Benue State. The Complex include an information and computer technology center, a laboratory centre, lecture theatres, an auditorium, staff rooms and some recreational facilities. The Project manager of the center Ojay Iyanya, stated that to date, Sixty(60) million Naira has been spent on the center which was solely financed by the President of the Senate, David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark!

Icheoku says, this makes the Nigerian Senate President, David Mark, a criminal, a fraudster, a looter and a thief? Where did he get the money from? Were Nigeria to be a corruption-free, civilized society, this midget of Oturkpo would be in prison for the massive fraud he perpetrated as a Minister of Communication in Nigeria, during the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida reign of terror. He made stupendous wealth then, which he spread around in several banks and investments overseas, with three of the accounts allegedly at the Northern Bank, Isle of Man and another one at the Allied Irish Bank, Jersey with several others yet to be tracked down. These four named accounts at one time were joint repository of six (6) million British Pounds Sterling belonging to David Mark!

It was during his time as Communications Minister that this criminal, who now heads the Nigerian Senate, brazenly dipped his itchy fingers and hands into the Nigeria pie, big time. David Mark brokered a non-executed seventy-seven ($77) million dollar “telecommunications" contract on behalf of Nigeria Telecommunication company (NITEL) and also procured a refurbished aircraft for NITEL at an outlandishly over-inflated price. It was with part of "profits" he made from these deals, that David Mark bought the £5.9 pounds 18-hole St. Margaret’s Golf Course & Club in Dublin Ireland, just a five- minute away drive from the Dublin International Airport. Several other pay to play deals in NITEL flourished very well under David Mark leadership; and the last twelve ($12) million dollars SIEMENS bribery scandal involving yet another senator, Jubril Aminu, gives an insight into the type of cash-cow NITEL was, which David Mark milked dry but is now dead! David Mark also bought a private house worth £2.5 million pounds Sterling on Kingston upon the Thames River in London. Virtually all of David Mark's children of very polygamous marriage life-style attend schools in Europe; yet he is a Christan judging by his name, for whom the one man one wife injunction does not make sense, just like Olusegun Obasanjo? David Mark met and married one of his wives in Ghana while on the run from Sani Abacha's henchmen for the massive looting he committed at NITEL. It is on record that David Mark remained on his self-imposed, massive theft-induced exile from 1993 until 1998 when Sani Abacha died. Till date, David Mark still maintains massive investments in Ghana, the Caribbean, USA, Europe as well as additional hefty bank accounts in Switzerland, Cayman Islands and Jersey. And this is the caliber of man shamelessly leading the Nigerian Senate?

David Mark is now playing Father Christmas by donating a learning center at Oturkpo, Benue State, Nigeria! From where did he get the money, since it is on record that while growing up that his family was dirt-poor? Icheoku remembers vividly according to the accounts, that at one time before being cajoled into joining the military, his father could hardly afford to pay for his regular school fees, which automatically removes him from the genre of a trust-fund kid? As a military officer, how much was his emolument? And today, as a "Senator" and a "Senate President", how much is his take-home pay? Only one thing explains the unexplainable, David Mark is very corrupt!

Icheoku says, Nigeria's problem is intractable and will remain so until Nigerians, as a people, stop celebrating criminality. David Mark is one such criminal who ordinarily should be cooling off in a prison somewhere, far removed from decent society; but being a Nigerian, he is not only a senator and a senate president but is openly laundering Nigerian looted money back to the country in the form of a sixty (60) million Naira learning center in Oturkpo, Benue State Nigeria! What a morbid philanthropist, David Mark is? Icheoku is not impressed with this assumed generosity and says, this will only encourage more looting by officials of state in Nigeria. These official-thieves will just have to wait it out, knowing that some day not too far in the future, they will be celebrated by a people who have no scruples for criminality in a land of anything goes! Icheoku says, shame on you David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark, for your theft at NITEL cannot be washed away by your bloody donation of a leaning center! Instead you should stuff it in your, you know where?

mark donates N60m Complex To NOUN

MAURICE IWU AND A NATION OF PRAISE-SINGERS, SHORT ON MEMORY!

It is incredible as it is nauseating that the man who truncated democracy in Nigeria is being feted and celebrated as if the proper thing to do in Nigeria is to honor criminality. Maurice Iwu that is, the Chairman of Nigeria's "Independent" National Electoral Commission(INEC) who Olusegun Obasanjo used to rubbish democracy in Nigeria was hosted by his electoral-beneficiaries in Imo State, Nigeria recently. The question really should be, why was this man celebrated when the whole world wrote the election he conducted in Nigeria off as the worst charade in any democracy anywhere in the world. Maurice Iwu was scored "F" across the board by election observers who witnessed his idea of an election which took place in 2007 Nigeria. Virtually all the elections he conducted were subject to court challenges with many of them being over-turned and even the presidential one is still before the Supreme Court of Nigeria. A nation of town-criers, Nigeria is and today they are singing the praises of this despicable son of a bitch, Maurice Iwu!

According to the Tunde Ogbeha chaired committee, the reception is in "recognition of the man’s effort in conducting the 2007 general elections. As the nation’s Chief Electoral Officer he faced serious problems, some of which were unprecedented in Nigerian politics. His tenacity ensured that Nigeria for the first time succeeded in transiting from one democratically elected government to another elected government. Prof. Iwu’s tenure as chairman of the electoral commission has also seen the introduction of various reforms in the electoral system, all aimed at jump-starting a troubled political system. For his dedicated service and tenacity and for being a major stabilising factor in Nigeria’s present day politics and government, the Committee invites all Nigerians to give honour to whom honour is due."

To this empty boastful citations, Icheoku says that Maurice Iwu was not the first person to organize a successful election in Nigeria as Humphery Nwosu holds that title. Furthermore, Maurice Iwu did not supervise any transition from one elected government to another but merely rubber-stamped Olusegun Obasanjo's hand-picked stooges, from the presidency to the local governments chairmen. Also no election was conducted in Nigeria under Maurice Iwu, but all the candidates for office were merely selected at the goodwill of Olusegun Obasanjo with those in opposition virtually wiped out of contention. As for the call for all Nigerians to honor whom honor is due, Icheoku says that only those Nigerians, beneficiaries of Olusegun Obasanjo dictatorship should bow before this very Maurice Iwu while the rest of the majority of Nigerians should patiently wait until a day of reckoning when Maurice Iwu will finally be disgraced out of relevance. As for the line-up of attendees, they owe their offices to Maurice Iwu since non of them was ever elected into the office they presently occupy nor could have won a fairly organized election into such an office. They have to go and slavishly genuflect before their master and mentor, Maurice Iwu, just to be in his good book for the next election cycle.

In conclusion, Icheoku says that Nigerians have seen the likes of these town-criers (otinkpus), who raise carnivals for whoever is in power only to walk over them when they are no longer in power. As for Maurice Iwu, he is a disappointment to educated folks, having fallen off the wagon and joined the rat-race that is a Nigerian with a price-tag! How can such a highly educated man be so condescending to Olusegun Obasanjo that he sold his candour with the shameless elections he conducted in Nigeria in 2007. Maurice Iwu should rather throw on some sack-clothes and dusted in ashes, mourn the decrepitude of candidates he imposed on Nigeria, including the very sick Umaru Yar'Adua, Mr. Slow-man, the sloth! What a legacy to leave for Nigeria courtesy of Maurice Iwu, yet he is being celebrated? What a nation of jesters at the king's court?

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!