PRESIDENT OBAMA, BUILD ON WHAT WORKS AND FIX WHAT DOESN'T!

President Barack Obama addressed the United States Congress on his planned Health-Care Reform. Icheoku says, please call your Congressman today and urge him or her to support the President's health-care reform initiative! Now the President's speech:-

"Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, and the American people: When I spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month. Credit was frozen. And our financial system was on the verge of collapse.

As any American who is still looking for work or a way to pay their bills will tell you, we are by no means out of the woods. A full and vibrant recovery is many months away. And I will not let up until those Americans who seek jobs can find them; until those businesses that seek capital and credit can thrive; until all responsible homeowners can stay in their homes. That is our ultimate goal. But thanks to the bold and decisive action we have taken since January, I can stand here with confidence and say that we have pulled this economy back from the brink. I want to thank the members of this body for your efforts and your support in these last several months, and especially those who have taken the difficult votes that have put us on a path to recovery. I also want to thank the American people for their patience and resolve during this trying time for our nation. But we did not come here just to clean up crises. We came to build a future. So tonight, I return to speak to all of you about an issue that is central to that future — and that is the issue of health care. I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. It has now been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for health care reform. And ever since, nearly every president and Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, has attempted to meet this challenge in some way. A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943. Sixty-five years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session.

Our collective failure to meet this challenge — year after year, decade after decade — has led us to a breaking point. Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans. Some can't get insurance on the job. Others are self-employed, and can't afford it, since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer. Many other Americans who are willing and able to pay are still denied insurance due to previous illnesses or conditions that insurance companies decide are too risky or expensive to cover. We are the only advanced democracy on Earth — the only wealthy nation — that allows such hardships for millions of its people. There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage. In just a two year period, one in every three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point. And every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage. In other words, it can happen to anyone.

But the problem that plagues the health care system is not just a problem of the uninsured. Those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today. More and more Americans worry that if you move, lose your job, or change your job, you'll lose your health insurance too. More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won't pay the full cost of care. It happens every day. One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it. Another woman from Texas was about to get a double mastectomy when her insurance company canceled her policy because she forgot to declare a case of acne. By the time she had her insurance reinstated, her breast cancer more than doubled in size. That is heartbreaking, it is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America. Then there's the problem of rising costs. We spend one-and-a-half times more per person on health care than any other country, but we aren't any healthier for it. This is one of the reasons that insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages. It's why so many employers — especially small businesses — are forcing their employees to pay more for insurance, or are dropping their coverage entirely. It's why so many aspiring entrepreneurs cannot afford to open a business in the first place, and why American businesses that compete internationally — like our automakers — are at a huge disadvantage. And it's why those of us with health insurance are also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it — about $1000 per year that pays for somebody else's emergency room and charitable care.

Finally, our health care system is placing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers. When health care costs grow at the rate they have, it puts greater pressure on programs like Medicare and Medicaid. If we do nothing to slow these skyrocketing costs, we will eventually be spending more on Medicare and Medicaid than every other government program combined. Put simply, our health care problem is our deficit problem. Nothing else even comes close. These are the facts. Nobody disputes them. We know we must reform this system. The question is how. There are those on the left who believe that the only way to fix the system is through a single-payer system like Canada's, where we would severely restrict the private insurance market and have the government provide coverage for everyone. On the right, there are those who argue that we should end the employer-based system and leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own. I have to say that there are arguments to be made for both approaches. But either one would represent a radical shift that would disrupt the health care most people currently have. Since health care represents one-sixth of our economy, I believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't, rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch. And that is precisely what those of you in Congress have tried to do over the past several months. During that time, we have seen Washington at its best and its worst.

We have seen many in this chamber work tirelessly for the better part of this year to offer thoughtful ideas about how to achieve reform. Of the five committees asked to develop bills, four have completed their work, and the Senate Finance Committee announced today that it will move forward next week. That has never happened before. Our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses; hospitals, seniors' groups and even drug companies — many of whom opposed reform in the past. And there is agreement in this chamber on about 80 percent of what needs to be done, putting us closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been. But what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government. Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics. Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.

Well the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care. The plan I'm announcing tonight would meet three basic goals: It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don't. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government. It's a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge — not just government and insurance companies, but employers and individuals. And it's a plan that incorporates ideas from Senators and Congressmen; from Democrats and Republicans — and yes, from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election. Here are the details that every American needs to know about this plan: First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.

What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies — because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives. That's what Americans who have health insurance can expect from this plan — more security and stability.

Now, if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who don't currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage. We will do this by creating a new insurance exchange — a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. Insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It's how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it's time to give every American the same opportunity that we've given ourselves. For those individuals and small businesses who still cannot afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we will provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need. And all insurance companies that want access to this new marketplace will have to abide by the consumer protections I already mentioned. This exchange will take effect in four years, which will give us time to do it right. In the meantime, for those Americans who can't get insurance today because they have pre-existing medical conditions, we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill. This was a good idea when Senator John McCain proposed it in the campaign, it's a good idea now, and we should embrace it.

Now, even if we provide these affordable options, there may be those — particularly the young and healthy — who still want to take the risk and go without coverage. There may still be companies that refuse to do right by their workers. The problem is, such irresponsible behavior costs all the rest of us money. If there are affordable options and people still don't sign up for health insurance, it means we pay for those people's expensive emergency room visits. If some businesses don't provide workers health care, it forces the rest of us to pick up the tab when their workers get sick, and gives those businesses an unfair advantage over their competitors. And unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek — especially requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions — just can't be achieved.

What's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95 percent of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements. But we cannot have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system by avoiding responsibility to themselves or their employees. Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part. While there remain some significant details to be ironed out, I believe a broad consensus exists for the aspects of the plan I just outlined: consumer protections for those with insurance, an exchange that allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, and a requirement that people who can afford insurance get insurance. And I have no doubt that these reforms would greatly benefit Americans from all walks of life, as well as the economy as a whole. Still, given all the misinformation that's been spread over the past few months, I realize that many Americans have grown nervous about reform. So tonight I'd like to address some of the key controversies that are still out there.

Some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple. There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false — the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up — under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place. My health care proposal has also been attacked by some who oppose reform as a "government takeover" of the entire health care system. As proof, critics point to a provision in our plan that allows the uninsured and small businesses to choose a publicly sponsored insurance option, administered by the government just like Medicaid or Medicare.

So let me set the record straight. My guiding principle is, and always has been, that consumers do better when there is choice and competition. Unfortunately, in 34 states, 75 percent of the insurance market is controlled by five or fewer companies. In Alabama, almost 90 percent is controlled by just one company. Without competition, the price of insurance goes up and the quality goes down. And it makes it easier for insurance companies to treat their customers badly — by cherry-picking the healthiest individuals and trying to drop the sickest; by overcharging small businesses who have no leverage; and by jacking up rates. Insurance executives don't do this because they are bad people. They do it because it's profitable. As one former insurance executive testified before Congress, insurance companies are not only encouraged to find reasons to drop the seriously ill; they are rewarded for it. All of this is in service of meeting what this former executive called "Wall Street's relentless profit expectations."

Now, I have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business. They provide a legitimate service, and employ a lot of our friends and neighbors. I just want to hold them accountable. The insurance reforms that I've already mentioned would do just that. But an additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. Let me be clear — it would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it, and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance. In fact, based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, we believe that less than 5 percent of Americans would sign up. Despite all this, the insurance companies and their allies don't like this idea. They argue that these private companies can't fairly compete with the government. And they'd be right if taxpayers were subsidizing this public insurance option. But they won't be. I have insisted that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits, excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers. It would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.

It's worth noting that a strong majority of Americans still favor a public insurance option of the sort I've proposed tonight. But its impact shouldn't be exaggerated — by the left, the right, or the media. It is only one part of my plan, and should not be used as a handy excuse for the usual Washington ideological battles. To my progressive friends, I would remind you that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage affordable for those without it. The public option is only a means to that end — and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. And to my Republican friends, I say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of health care, we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have. For example, some have suggested that that the public option go into effect only in those markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies. Others propose a co-op or another nonprofit entity to administer the plan. These are all constructive ideas worth exploring. But I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. And I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need. Finally, let me discuss an issue that is a great concern to me, to members of this chamber, and to the public — and that is how we pay for this plan.

Here's what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future. Period. And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize. Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for — from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy. I will not make that same mistake with health care. Second, we've estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system — a system that is currently full of waste and abuse. Right now, too much of the hard-earned savings and tax dollars we spend on health care doesn't make us healthier. That's not my judgment — it's the judgment of medical professionals across this country. And this is also true when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid. In fact, I want to speak directly to America's seniors for a moment, because Medicare is another issue that's been subjected to demagoguery and distortion during the course of this debate.

More than four decades ago, this nation stood up for the principle that after a lifetime of hard work, our seniors should not be left to struggle with a pile of medical bills in their later years. That is how Medicare was born. And it remains a sacred trust that must be passed down from one generation to the next. That is why not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan. The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, as well as unwarranted subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies — subsidies that do everything to pad their profits and nothing to improve your care. And we will also create an independent commission of doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead. These steps will ensure that you — America's seniors — get the benefits you've been promised. They will ensure that Medicare is there for future generations. And we can use some of the savings to fill the gap in coverage that forces too many seniors to pay thousands of dollars a year out of their own pocket for prescription drugs. That's what this plan will do for you. So don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut — especially since some of the same folks who are spreading these tall tales have fought against Medicare in the past, and just this year supported a budget that would have essentially turned Medicare into a privatized voucher program. That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare.

Now, because Medicare is such a big part of the health care system, making the program more efficient can help usher in changes in the way we deliver health care that can reduce costs for everybody. We have long known that some places, like the Intermountain Healthcare in Utah or the Geisinger Health System in rural Pennsylvania, offer high-quality care at costs below average. The commission can help encourage the adoption of these common sense best practices by doctors and medical professionals throughout the system — everything from reducing hospital infection rates to encouraging better coordination between teams of doctors. Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan. Much of the rest would be paid for with revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies that stand to benefit from tens of millions of new customers. This reform will charge insurance companies a fee for their most expensive policies, which will encourage them to provide greater value for the money — an idea which has the support of Democratic and Republican experts. And according to these same experts, this modest change could help hold down the cost of health care for all of us in the long-run.

Finally, many in this chamber — particularly on the Republican side of the aisle — have long insisted that reforming our medical malpractice laws can help bring down the cost of health care. I don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I have talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs. So I am proposing that we move forward on a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine. I know that the Bush Administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these issues. It's a good idea, and I am directing my Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today. Add it all up, and the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over ten years — less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration. Most of these costs will be paid for with money already being spent — but spent badly — in the existing health care system. The plan will not add to our deficit. The middle-class will realize greater security, not higher taxes. And if we are able to slow the growth of health care costs by just one-tenth of one percent each year, it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term. This is the plan I'm proposing. It's a plan that incorporates ideas from many of the people in this room tonight — Democrats and Republicans. And I will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen. My door is always open.

But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it. I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now. Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it most. And more will die as a result. We know these things to be true. That is why we cannot fail. Because there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed — the ones who suffer silently, and the ones who shared their stories with us at town hall meetings, in e-mails, and in letters. I received one of those letters a few days ago. It was from our beloved friend and colleague, Ted Kennedy. He had written it back in May, shortly after he was told that his illness was terminal. He asked that it be delivered upon his death.

In it, he spoke about what a happy time his last months were, thanks to the love and support of family and friends, his wife, Vicki, and his children, who are here tonight . And he expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform — "that great unfinished business of our society," he called it — would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that "it concerns more than material things." "What we face," he wrote, "is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country." I've thought about that phrase quite a bit in recent days — the character of our country. One of the unique and wonderful things about America has always been our self-reliance, our rugged individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government. And figuring out the appropriate size and role of government has always been a source of rigorous and sometimes angry debate. For some of Ted Kennedy's critics, his brand of liberalism represented an affront to American liberty. In their mind, his passion for universal health care was nothing more than a passion for big government.

But those of us who knew Teddy and worked with him here — people of both parties — know that what drove him was something more. His friend, Orrin Hatch, knows that. They worked together to provide children with health insurance. His friend John McCain knows that. They worked together on a Patient's Bill of Rights. His friend Chuck Grassley knows that. They worked together to provide health care to children with disabilities. On issues like these, Ted Kennedy's passion was born not of some rigid ideology, but of his own experience. It was the experience of having two children stricken with cancer. He never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick; and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent — there is something that could make you better, but I just can't afford it. That large heartedness — that concern and regard for the plight of others — is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people's shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand. A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play; and an acknowledgement that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise. This has always been the history of our progress. In 1933, when over half of our seniors could not support themselves and millions had seen their savings wiped away, there were those who argued that Social Security would lead to socialism. But the men and women of Congress stood fast, and we are all the better for it. In 1965, when some argued that Medicare represented a government takeover of health care, members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, did not back down. They joined together so that all of us could enter our golden years with some basic peace of mind.

You see, our predecessors understood that government could not, and should not, solve every problem. They understood that there are instances when the gains in security from government action are not worth the added constraints on our freedom. But they also understood that the danger of too much government is matched by the perils of too little; that without the leavening hand of wise policy, markets can crash, monopolies can stifle competition, and the vulnerable can be exploited. And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom; and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter — that at that point we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.

What was true then remains true today. I understand how difficult this health care debate has been. I know that many in this country are deeply skeptical that government is looking out for them. I understand that the politically safe move would be to kick the can further down the road — to defer reform one more year, or one more election, or one more term. But that's not what the moment calls for. That's not what we came here to do. We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it's hard. I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility, and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history's test. Because that is who we are. That is our calling. That is our character. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

Icheoku urges you to help the President build on what works while fixing what is broken of America's health care system with a reasonable responsive reform!

ALI BONGO, THE NEW PRESIDENT OF GABON?

As for President Nikolas Sarkozy and his French people, it does not matter what the wishes of the Gabonese people are; as he sends his country's congratulatory message to the newly "elected" President Ali Ben Bongo of Gabon?

Like every other European colonial master of yore, Africa in the eyes of the French is just another source of raw materials to service their continent; so why bother who rules them? So, provided they are allowed unfettered access to the abundant natural resources therein, it does not matter really who the local despot controlling the daily affairs and misfortunes of Africans, is? Icheoku says, it is because of this business as usual premise, that Paris have hurriedly signed off on and sent an official seal of approval for Ali Ben Bongo to become the new lord of manor in Gabon.

That the opposition is crying foul is immaterial, as it fell on deaf Parisian ears; so also was the disregard for the expressed Bongo-fatigue of Gabonese! Icheoku says, it is the same French people who put and propped up the late President Omar Bongo in power for over forty two years that are now signing up his son? This is in total disregard that this will institutionalised dynas­tic-rule in the oil-rich nation, and despite the fact that Gabonese never felt any better in the hands of the father-president Bongo's 42 years despotic rule; during which period, he practically converted the country's fortune into his private family's assets whereas the majority of 1.4million Gabonese live in abject poverty? So which side is the French on? Also a formidable opposition made up of a former prime minister as well as other six cabinet ministers failed to persuade the French's support; because in their calculation, the devil they know is better than the new saints coveting the keys to Libreville.

Ali Ben Bongo, eldest son of and a former defence minister in his late father's cabinet, was declared president last Thurs­day, September 4, 2009. He allegedly won with 41.7 percent votes while two opposition candidates garnered 25.8 and 25.2 per­cent of the vote respec­tively. Icheoku asks, how can he then govern with less majority votes, than the opposition and instead of engineering a run-off election, the French government preferred to support an electoral fraud by recognising an aberration? Rightly called by one of the opposition candidate for what it is, “It’s not just a pos­si­bil­ity of fraud. Its fraud pure and sim­ple.” Icheoku adds, the French by rushing to recognise Ali Ben Bongo are now accessory to the fraud of an election which took place in Gabon! Hopefully Ali Ben Bongo will be unable to govern amidst such lack of a clear mandate, lack of transparency and legitimacy occasioned by wide­spread voter irreg­u­lar­i­ties.

Africa, what a cursed continent that must rise up in a second revolutionary war of independence, in order to free herself from both the neo-colonialist Europe and her Africna stooges - the new internal colonialists; being sustained by the former colonial masters for their very selfish reasons. Icheoku says, what an unfortunate day for the people of Gabon to be once again put under another internal colonialism and enslavement, this time of a baby-despot Ali Ben Bongo, under the watchful eyes of Élysée Palace! So it ain't so, Gabonese!

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S BACK TO SCHOOL SPEECH!

Below, please find the full text of the "Back-to-School" speech delivered by President Barack Obama to students returning to school after the long summer holidays. Also judge for yourself, whether the speech is anything incendiary as some right-wing fringed lunatics have made it appear. Happy trails:-

"Hello everyone. How's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning. I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday — at 4:30 in the morning.

Now, I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster." So, I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year. Now, I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility. I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you and pushing you to learn. I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track and get your homework done and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world, and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer — maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper — but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor — maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine — but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team. And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we, as a nation, can meet our greatest challenges in the future. You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new-energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy. We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that — if you quit on school — you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now, I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was 2 years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in. So, I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our first lady, Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right. But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life — what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home — that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying. Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, Calif., who's fought brain cancer since he was 3. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer — hundreds of extra hours — to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall. And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Ill. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college. Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education — and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things. But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try. That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. J.K. Rowling's first "Harry Potter" book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you — you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust — a parent, grandparent or teacher, a coach or counselor — and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals. And even when you're struggling — even when you're discouraged and you feel like other people have given up on you — don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other. So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in 20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So, I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down. Don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Now you have read the speech so judge for yourself how bad it really is; that some racist-tinged Americans cried foul and even denied their children the opportunity to partake in the president's pep-talk? Icheoku says, until Americans decide to walk the talk on racial equality, it is going to remain same old same old; with some people not ever wanting to hear or even see "that one" remain in "their" White House, irrespective of how meaningful his actions and well -intended his intentions!

Wherein the speech is the socialist-indoctrination that the far right-wingers cried foul about? Where is the brain-washing that made some right wingers decry that the speech is to convert their children into "community organisers" that Icheoku asks, if community organising gets you into the White House, why not? Where in this speech which you just read was the divisive partisan attack the right wing Americans alleged President Obama planned? The heavens have not fallen except that we are now seeing the real America CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS do not show you; an American where one is still judged by the color of his skin and not the content of his character or his proven ability!

Anyway, it does not matter any longer as the ceiling has been broken and the history books forever altered, as a "nigger" has occupied the White House and no amount of denial will wish that fact away. Those racists Americans can only wait for the next four years to vote otherwise; but happily enough these people crying blue murder never voted for Barack Obama in the first place. They were the wildebeests who would have voted for a dead white pig than for an articulate intelligent person of color! This is the reality of America and wishing otherwise is a wishful thinking; but we have survived the darkest days and it can only be brighter thence! I saw a woman who was shedding crocodile tears on a television newscast because her child would have been "forced" to watch that speech? and you wonder if this woman was not acting the usual script as nothing elicited the tears being shed? But who knows what moves these people to so hate and not tolerate another human-being just because of skin pigmentation? Anyway, America shall overcome, someday but the road ahead is steep and arduous and long!

Conservative right-wing activists blasted the speech as socialist. Loony racist parents called for boycotts. Some school administrators struggled over whether to let their students hear it at the pain of being fired or voted out of office. So Icheoku asks, what is wrong with a president towing the path of former presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan in urging American students to work hard, stay in school and follow their dreams? Nothing, just that in their mind's eyes, the incumbent president does not fit the template of such presidents that would give such an inspirational speech? Even a person who you expect should know better, Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, said that he is "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology." And you wonder how a fit and proper person leading a political party could make such a buffonery of a statement; admitted he later made a beltated u-turn but never apologised for his initial racist outburst? Another republican operative Alexa Marrero, an aide to Republican Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, said, "Parents, teachers and local school leaders were not wrong to look with suspicion on a federally developed curriculum to accompany this speech." What led to the suspicion if not a warped jaundiced eyes with which white Americans look at anything colored - always asking why? What is the motive here? So America, you now know who the real enemies of American children are - the conservative racist right wingers especially of the republican party!

GANI FAWEHINMI, THE LIGHT OF A NATION IN DARKNESS, IS GONE!

As Gani Fawehinmi finally succumbed to cancer of the lungs, without achieving a better Nigeria, which he labored for so many years, Icheoku asks, is it worthwhile to fight for a Nigeria which is impervious to correction and/or change? Was it worth the trouble to remain a rabble-rouser amidst a people who are deaf and dumb to cry for change and a better future for the country? Did Gani die in vain, since the ills of the society which he fought so gallantly against have only metastasized in recent past? These postulations, we throw up in our effort to find a realistic way to mourn the loss of a Nigerian-best, and the most vocal critic of various inept governments which Nigeria have been cursed with over the years! We are commiserating the passage of the sage, Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN!

Gani as he was admiringly called, died in the early hours of Saturday morning, September 5, 2009. He was 71 years! A good ripe old age in Nigerian context with their known very short life span, one may say; but not when the deceased was Gani Fawehinmi, who was so much loved by many and also despised by few others? His Nigerian doctors had misdiagnosed his cancer of the lungs for something else, which enabled it to progress ravenously and had taken such a toll on him, that when his London doctors finally figured out it was cancer that was ailing him; it was almost too late. However they managed to sustain him alive for two years, before finally sending him home recently to go prepare for the inevitability! In the words of one perturbed sympathiser, "That with all his means, our run down health-care system could not even diagnose Gani correctly until things got out of hands typifies the perilous state in which the masses Gani fought for all his life have found themselves after 40 years of Gani’s struggles and 49 years of Nigeria's independence?

Since his demise, so many obituaries have been said about him, some of which we shall now share with you:- He consistently confronted the menace of institutionalised injustice, wanton official corruption and excruciating poverty unleashed on hapless Nigerians by a tiny rapacious ruling elite. His legacy is of integrity, courage and consistency. The greatest tribute which can be paid to Gani is for all forces of social change and democracy to get organised to liberate the Nigerian people from the shackles of reactionary forces of internal colonialism." He was a social crusader, constitutional lawyer, publisher, political thinker, human rights activist and a force in the socio-political history of Nigeria. He will be remembered among other things, as a champion of the oppressed, a voice for the voiceless and the soul and spirit of democracy activism in Nigeria. He could be described as a unique man of honour, a man of courage, a man of the people, a man who truly obeyed the biblical injunction, even though he was a muslim, and loved his neighbour as himself. He was irrepressible friend of the subjected, rejected, dejected, suppressed, repressed, oppressed and dehumanized underclass everywhere in the world'; which world Icheoku would rather qualify as Nigeria. His struggles were complex and multi-dimensional. A lawyer of great repute, he left his footprints on Nigeria Law field with the publication of his authoritative Nigerian Weekly Law Reports which chronicled stare decisis of Nigeria Supreme Court. He also fought and won many landmark cases thus in many ways, helped to advance the country’s jurisprudence!

Continuing, he was the lion of Nigerian law, an indisputable colossus of humanism. He was a fearless and tireless tormentor of those who imposed themselves as rulers on the hapless people of Nigeria. His achievements in his chosen field are monumental, his impact as the conscience of the nation undeniable, his legacy for posterity unforgettable. Gani stood out in his own column throughout his journey of life; a journey that was characterised with fighting battles using the rule of law as a weapon of combat. He was not a customary soldier, but a civilian soldier, a legal luminary and courageous Nigerian who was driven by his passions, convictions and beliefs. He doggedly and unreservedly fought against oppression, repression, dictatorship, retrogression, imperialism, greed, avarice, bad governance and leadership in the country consistently and persistently for several decades. Gani was an icon, a role model, defender of the voiceless and a terror to all Nigerian despots. What indeed marked Gani out of the many was that he chose the course he would chart and pursued it notwithstanding all the odds on the way. That is why many now salute his courage. You may not agree with his method, you may hate his guts, but you cannot fault the fact that he is genuine, he is honest and he truly loves the people. He stood firm in opposition to those who conspire against the common good of Nigeria's commonwealth. One commentator out of UK emphasised that Gani cannot die as he lives forever in his works, stating that the greatness of a man is measured by what he lived and died for. The commentator also prayed that God will help Nigeria produce many Gani Fawehinmis? A Nigerian brand is gone.

Further, we never believed that people like Chief Gani Fawehinmi could really die. There, it is the mortality of our essence has come home to take away an icon of this country. Gani, the lion of the Nigerian human rights community has gone to join Senator Edward Kennedy, the lion of the US Senate - two great men who doggedly fought for the defenceless common people? Icheoku says, whether both men compare very well is left for students of history to analyse? By his death, Gani lost nothing , but the Nation of Nigeria has lost one of her best gifts? On the legal turf, he stood out, in his democratic struggle, especially against military rule, he had no rival and for quest for justice for the downtrodden citizens, it cost him money, pains and detention in the most bizarre conditions. The progressive forces in Nigeria have lost a formidable and reliable leader. He died an accomplished person. "He is the soul of our democracy and the conscience of our nation. He was an embodiment of principle and a symbol of conviction. Fawehinmi represented our hopes, dreams and future. He was integrity and selfless sacrifice personified. He was a light for the nation in darkness. He was a colossus, a tower and propeller of our dreams. Fawehinmi was not just a mortal. He was a spirit of change and he lives on." The most consistent Nigerians that ever lived. He sacrificed his entire lifetime fighting people who are ruling Nigeria oppressively. A defender of the defenseless and the voice of the voiceless. "We mourn today because God took Gani away without a replacement! We pray that God gives us an immediate replacement before the evil rulers of Africa consume us with hunger, frustration, disease and conflicts. The death of Fawehinmi as the death of an era and a challenge to those still alive!

Indeed, it is a mourning time for the country; but for Gani, it is a triumphant exit from the land of sinners. We will always look for a hero in our people. We have lost a gem. He can live to eternity, but you and I must take a challenge and look for an alternative. His death marked the physical end of a radical phenomenon that was a thorn in the flesh of irresponsible government leaders in Nigeria for over 40 years. The late activist lived a beautiful life dedicated to beliefs and actions in defence of the cause of the cheated, persecuted and oppressed people of Nigeria. Chief Gani Fawehinmi was a ‘one-man army’ who fought relentlessly for the enthronement of democratic rule in Nigeria and for the rule of law. He was a touch bearer who showed forth the light even in the dark days of military rule. He was a legal warrior. Gani Fawehinmi, irrepressible friend of the subjected, rejected, dejected, suppressed, repressed, oppressed and dehumanized underclass everywhere in the world is gone. We do not require a prophet to know that long after Gani must have departed from this world his works and times would continually inspire scholarly and revolutionary writings.

A maverick, philanthropist, benefactor of great repute, Gani had a sacrificial commitment to principles. According to some sources, he once performed the Chinese Tianamen Square feat when he laid down on the road at Yaba Lagos, during a protest against a military
 government, daring their armoured tank to crush him? Icheoku cannot confirm or deny this particular story but like all legends, some embellishments are always possible.

With him now gone, the rank of morally upright Nigerians who would shout on top of their lungs at the sight of evil is now further depleted. Who shall call to order the marauders of Nigeria PLC, now that Gani is gone? Who shall hold Babangida accountable for the murder of Dele Giwa now that Gani is gone? Now Nigeria is left with only Wole Soyinka as the last remaining true social crusader; with Tai Solarin, Beko, Fela and now Gani all travelled to the land beyond time, leaving Nigerians hapless in the face of the wolves masquerading as their ruling elites. Like a brood of chicken without the mother-hen, the hawks will now have a field-day as good Nigerians mourn the loss of one of a kind, Gani Fawehinmi! Gani who never quit nor tire in the course of pursuing justice in Nigeria. When during one of his chats with the media he was asked if he will ever quit activism; Gani replied, "Absolutely not. The question of retirement or quitting the struggle does not exist so far things remain the same. I will not quit until I see a better society.” Icheoku adds, unfortunately Gani died without retiring, quitting nor ever seeing a better Nigerian society which he fought tirelessly for, eliciting the question, was it worth the trouble?

Born in 1938, studied law at Holborn College of Law England in 1961-64, was called to the Nigerian bar on 15 January 1965 and later that year, established his practice at 108 Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba, Lagos. He litigated over 5,000 law suits during his lifetime and was arrested more than 36 times, beginning with his first detention in 1969 when he defended a less privileged Nigerian whose wife was defiled by a top government personnel; he was detained more than 15 times during this period. Gani died at Lister Medical Center, Ikeja. He will be buried at his home town in Ondo State, Nigeria's Yoruba Southwest region on Tuesday September 15 2009. Icheoku thought Gani Fawehinmi was a devout Muslim who must be buried so soon after death, so why wait for two weeks or was he a special kind of Muslim? Coincidentally also, his burial is slated on the same day MEND promised to resume hostilities with feudalistic Nigerian northern government? Icheoku asks, did the Fawehinmi family check with MEND or are they part of the group which thinks that MEND has been defanged by the amnesty and subsequent defections by some few turn-coats? Who knows what will happen in Ondo state come September 15, 2009 as the state is part of a broader Niger Delta region where the struggle for resource control and freedom is very virulent and heavily entrenched?

A Yoruba demagogue or traditionalist-muslim, Gani Fawehinmi fell to the temptation of polygamy; was married to two wives Ganiat Ibukun Fawehinmi, who has eight (8) children with him, and Abike Fawehinmi, with whom he had six (6) children! Icheoku says whether it was his Islamic upbringing or his African machismo that goaded him into taking an extra wife, the true reason has now died with the man, Gani. He was survived by his two wives and fourteen children; may his soul rest in peace! As ignorant as it may seem and is, one of Gani's wives, Ganiyat Fawehinmi, has accused former Nigerian military dictator, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida of 'creating the cancer that killed the late activist?' Icheoku says, only in Nigeria that people could believe a person is capable of "creating cancer" that killed a 71 year old man? It is not only ridiculous but is as much laughable! Who knows the level of educational attainment this wife of Gani herself achieved, which could have guarded against such thoughtless, baseless, unfounded and unscientific allegation? According to the said wife's allegation, how can cancer of the lungs kill Gani who have never smoked cigarettes? In answer, Icheoku says, Gani was not the first non-smoker to ever die of lung cancer, as it is not cigarettes alone that causes lung cancer; it is just one of a host of other causative agents. If we remember correctly, the wife of actor Christopher 'Superman' Reeve died of lung cancer and Dana Reeve never smoked her entire life?

According to an informed source, as cancer tore slowly but ferociously into his lungs, Gani Fawehinmi had one wish on his death bed, that he could write his memoirs. This is because of the way the labours of Nigeria’s past heroes were never documented for the benefit of future generations:- such as the late Alao Aka-Bashorun who fought for democracy and human rights and whom nobody seems to remember today, Wahab Goodluck, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Professor Ayodele Awojobi, Beko Ransome Kuti, Michael Imodu, Raji Abdllah and Tai Solarin just to mention a few of people who died without documenting their experiences in the struggle for justice in Nigeria. Fawehinmi was afraid that posterity might not remember him and his struggles as many 25-year-old Nigerians, today hardly know anything about those past icons who dedicated their whole lives to the cause of social justice in the country. With these lamentations of Gani Fawehinmi, now also a gone former activist, Icheoku asks, is it worthwhile, afterall, to fight for Nigeria when men who have tried it in the past, died without ever achieving their objective to see a better Nigeria? Moreso it would appear that the rot in the system is getting ulcerous and worst with each passing day? Also no one seem to remember these warriors of the yore, once the deluge of eulogy at their death have passed, sweeping away with them their memories so soon after their interment? What is the use, then?

Finally, like one mourner said, whether Gani will be remembered as a gadfly, an irritant, a conscience of the nation or a social crusader is for posterity to determine; however, one thing even his most uncharitable critic would admit is that he was a fighter with a cause, unwavering and committed to the core till his last breath! Adieu Gani!

STEVEN L. ANDERSON, A BIGOTED RACIST PASTOR, WANTS OBAMA DEAD!

And he is holding a baby and calling for another person to die? Who is he pastoring to and in the name of which God? I once read an article in an online publication where the contributor was asking what type of 'God' some Americans are worshipping; and wondering whether it is the same universal God of love, peace and mercy that some people worship in certain parts of the United States of America?

And here we go again with another supposed man of God, a pastor of the Faithful Word Baptist Church 2707 E. Southern Avenue, Tempe, Arizona; calling for death to strike the president? Icheoku asks, what manner of hatred is boiling underneath this man's dirty heart that he should publicly call for the death of the president; and he is supposed to be an imitation of Christ? Pastor Steven L Anderson's church according to investigation is a fundamentalist, Taliban-like, soul-winning, King James Bible-only church which it appears preaches hate and damnation to its perceived enemies, contrary to the forgiveness preached by Jesus Christ? Pastor Steven Anderson called on members of his church to 'pray' for the death of President Obama; and you ask what a nut case representing Jesus Christ at Tempe-Arizona.

Ironically one of his perceived President Barack Obama's offenses for which his God should strike him dead, was "all the warfare that our country has no business being involved in" which the president is waging? Icheoku says, really, and this man of God did not say a whiff when former President George W. Bush started those wars which President Obama is now merely trying to bring to an end? This selective anti-war attack makes Pastor Steven Anderson, a shit-less, bigoted, racist redneck who belongs to the disgruntled American minority who have not brought themselves around to the fact that a 'nigger' is in "their" White House?

Instead of coming out head-first to state the obvious reason for his hateful excoriation, he is hiding behind the pulpit to call for death to the President. The pastor has a problem with abortion but he is calling for the death of a full grown man and the president of the United States of America? This pastor has a problem with unwanted babies being brought to suffer in this world, yet when adults are being executed for various crimes, he hails it as being tough on crime? What a convoluted 'SOB' this devil incarnate is; and his forked set of canine teeth proves who he is really representing and worshipping - the DEVIL! It will be recalled that a member of his congregation, Chris Broughton, once showed up at an Obama event in Phoenix Arizona, carrying an AR-15 automatic rifle and a handgun in supposed answer to the call and warped obedience to his pastor that the president should die! What American -Taliban extremists, this pastor and his followers are?

Pastor Steven Anderson is a self-taught pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, and his church belongs to no denomination? He has no college degree but allegedly "has well over 100 chapters of the Bible committed to memory, including almost half of the New Testament." And you ask why does he not apply the teachings of the New Testament to his daily live?

His church theology includes: "We believe that the King James Bible is the word of God without error. We believe that the unsaved will spend eternity in torment in a literal hell. We believe only in the local church and not in a universal church. We believe that life begins at conception (fertilization) and reject all forms of abortion, including surgical abortion, "morning-after" pills, IVF (In Vitro Fertilization), birth control pills, and all other processes that end life after conception. We believe that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination which God punishes with the death penalty. We oppose worldliness, modernism, formalism, and liberalism. Icheoku says, a church which opposes modernism is for all intent and purpose, a Talibanized-church and needs reformation; and for not preaching repentance and forgiveness makes it not really not a church, strictly speaking but a congregation of extremists haters! Icheoku queries, if this Pastor Steven Anderson finds his operative bible texts solely from the old testament, does it therefore mean that he does not believe in Jesus Christ or that he died and resurrected for the sake of humanity as ensconced in the New Testament?

It will be recalled that due to such hate-filled preaching from the likes of this pastor Steve Anderson and some other racist talk-show hosts, that threats on the life of the president of the United States have now risen by as much as 400 percent since his inauguration! 400 percent death threats against President Barack Obama goes far beyond anything, according to sources, the Secret Service has ever seen with any other president.

Icheoku says, it is the color of the president's skin and nothing more that is fueling the skyrocketing of these racist death threats, period! America should collectively pray that nothing happens to the president as the upheaval and international opprobrium might be one hell of a helluva, which nobody ever bargained for. As for this racist bigot, Pastor Steven Anderson, please make amends and forgive yourself so that the bile in you do not explode; how would you feel when your little children grow up tomorrow to read about a hating racist father that brought them up in this world? Would you have the face to stand up to them and explain this inexplicable vitriolic on the person of an innocent President Barack Obama who is merely doing his best to fix what was broken ever before he got into the White House? You are praying for his wife to become a widow and his children to become fatherless, and you are a family man with children and a wife? Seriously speaking, understanding your type is very difficult that we may not even try and we reserve our judgment on you for the Almighty God, who is the best arbiter!

GANI FAWEHINMI IS NOT DEAD? - A TRIBUTE BY CHINEDU VINCENT AKUTA!

“For those who know him, no word is necessary; for those who do not know him, no word is sufficient” W.T. Horngren - an American Author.

For people who know Chief Gani Fawehinmi, no word is necessary, for those who do not know him, no word is sufficient enough to describe him. Ever since the poor health of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, I was praying and asking God to spare us this man of justice. When his illness became serious, a noticeable vacuum existed because none can perform his role. I consider my generation a lucky generation having lived to see his excellent works. Without doubt, you (Chief Gani Fawehinmi) inspired millions of Nigerians including my humble self. You showed Nigerians that we can pursue justice despite the odds. Nigeria and Nigerians have indeed lost a giant. You were like a jewel of inestimable value.

You were like a rock to Nigerians, no wonder why the Nigerian people whom you represented very well, gave you the title of Senior Advocate of the Masses. The International Bar Association did not forget you. The also honoured you. You cannot die because your legacies and ideas will live forever. According to late John F. Kennedy (former American President) “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on”. Your legacies are carved in stone and you will forever remain in the minds of Nigerians. The greatness of a man is measured by what he lived and died for. You lived your life for the oppressed Nigerians. You stood for them and fought their battles for them. We cannot forget you.

As a young man, I was amazed and inspired by the way you pursued the case of Dele Giwa’s death. I remembered how you presented the case of Dele Giwa’s death at the Oputa Panel. Am glad about the fact that many of us have decided to follow the path which you have shown us. That is the path of justice, equality, activism, and fair play. As a human right crusader, your achievements are outstanding. Your contribution to the Nigerian Bar speaks for itself. I am not a lawyer but I know that you wrote a lot of law books. These books are highly rated and sort after.

I will not forget to mention when on a television interview (Charley Boy Show), a former military head of state (General Ibrahim Babangida) said that, you Chief Gani Fawehinmi was the only Nigerian he respected. I watched the kind of respect you were given at the Oputa panel by Oputa himself. I was moved when on May 29th 2009 at the state of the Nigerian nation symposium held in London Metropolitan University, where Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (former Executive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) said that, he considers you (Gani Fawehinmi) as his brother much more than Atiku Abubakar (Former Vice President of Nigeria), who comes from his own village.

Gani Fawehinmi showed us the path of honour when he turned down the offer of a national award (Officer of the Federal Republic ) which president Yar Adua wanted to confer on him in 2008. Among his reasons were that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led government has betrayed the Nigerian people.

I will not forget your numerous charity projects all over the country. You are an exemplary philanthropist. I remember encouraging one of my cousins to apply for your scholarship scheme. Many Nigerians irrespective of tribes or religion benefited immensely from your scholarship scheme. I will not forget to mention the cases you handled free of charge (pro bono) for many Nigerians, of particular mention here was the cases of some expelled students whom you made sure they were reinstated. You were a source of hope to so many students’ union leaders through out the country. I am sure that without your efforts Nigeria would have been worst than it is today.

You fought all the military governments in Nigeria using the instrumentality of the law. You understood the law and the law understood you. Am sure all the military leaders sent you to jail. You were detained and jailed for more than 30 times. On a particular instance Gashua prison became the choice of the military junta in an attempt to break your spirit (apologies if I spelled Gashua wrongly). You proved them wrong. You came out stronger. You became a torn in the flesh of all military leaders. In fact the fear of Chief Gani Fawehinmi became the beginning of wisdom for those ex military leaders. You became a rallying point for resistance against military and civilian dictatorships. You were fearless and forever bold. You were the people’s hero.

You were also a symbol of democracy having won the case against Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision not to register more parties. You freed the Nigerian political terrain by this singular landmark judgment. Your National Conscience Party epitomized the aspirations of Nigerian people. I thank my God for being a member of this party (NCP). When you contested the 2003 election as the presidential candidate of National Conscience Party, Nigerians wanted you, but the establishments were not comfortable that you were a candidate for that election. You remain the best leader that never occupied the seat at Aso Rock Villa. Had you won the election to become the president of Nigeria , may be our oppressors would either be in exile or behind bars.

Your death on Saturday 5th September 2009 has left a vacuum too big to be filled. None can ever fit into your shoes. Be that as it may, what died was the body. However the spirit, ideas, and legacies will continue to live. That is why I said you have not died, when I title this attribute to you. I will take solace in the fact that you have shown us the light and we will find the way. The struggle to better Nigeria , which you were the champion, will still continue by virtue of the ideas you left behind.

I owe my activism to Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Am also sure that millions of Nigerians owe theirs to this wonderful Nigerian who has inspired many of us. We will celebrate your wonderful life and achievements. May your soul rest in peace and may God help us to produce many Gani Fawehinmi’s in our country. May God bless Nigeria .

Chinedu Vincent Akuta is an activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK

GANI FAWEHINMI, NIGERIA'S FOREMOST ANTI-CORRUPTION CRUSADER IS DEAD!

It is with deep sense of loss that Icheoku announces the death of Nigeria's Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN. Gani as he was fondly called, died early hours of this morning. He was 71years old.

By his death, Nigeria has lost her most vocal anti-corruption watchdog; now the crazed-out highly corrupt officials will have a free range, as no one will be there to shout from the roof-tops and drag them to court! Nigeria have lost one of a kind, the only man who did not have a price-tag in Nigeria! Gani, Icheoku says, rest in peace! Full story will follow later.

MICHAEL JACKSON, FINALLY RETURNS TO DUST?

From dust you were made and unto dust you shall return! And so it was that a little over two months of waiting for the miracle of 'resurrection' to take place, the Jackson family finally gave up and parted ways with their most prized child-star, turned mega super star, Michael Jackson! His remains, that is!

MJ was laid to rest in his gold coffin at Forest Lawn, Glendale marble mausoleum! His family's preferred method, entombment? Icheoku proclaims, we now have a 'Pharaoh Jackson!'

One thing stood out during the finally goodbyes, - the absence of scriptures, as none was read during the parting of ways ceremony? And you wonder, how the heavens will know that MJ's body has finally come home and for MJ to go claim his shipment?

Michael was seen off to his final resting place by a motorcade of 31 cars, including some Rolls-Royce and Cadillacs, with the hearse bearing Jackson's body bringing up the rear? It is equally instructive that the burial party was stung by the 'African-time syndrome' bug which caused over one hour thirty minutes delay of ceremony? Icheoku says, maybe the Jackson brothers constant visit to Lagos-Nigeria has infected them with the legendary African-time virus? Or put in another way, may be they were too emotional to part ways with their baby brother, and letting go of MJ finally and forever, at last, was a thought they were not ready to yet entertain with absolute certainty?

Again, Oprah Winfrey was a no-show; the second time, having been absent at the public funeral? This leads one to ask, what could the family-feud between the Jackson clan and that of Oprah to result in such a public display; or was it mere rivalry gone too far between two wealthy and famous African American families parading two world mega super-stars? As for Icheoku, MJ was bigger and larger than Oprah; admitted she may be sitting on more money than she really knows what to do with? To Lady O, Icheoku says, you do not fight or quarrel with the dead; and if you could attend Eunice Kennedy Shriver's funeral, why not Michael Jackson's? Even if you were not invited, you could have still gone as a public figure coming to bid another public figure farewell? But a twice no-show, really sends a wrong message of someone being too strung out on whatever the matter might be, that she ignored a Michael Jackson's funeral and burial?

It will be recalled that the King of Pop died of drug over-dose on June 25, 2009; at his home in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. He was 50 and was preparing for his "This is It" tour before Dr. Conrad Murray, his personal physician, gave him the fatal cocktail of sedatives including propofol that led him to the mausoleum at Glendale.

Icheoku says, MJ, now rest in peace, free from all the pains which led you to drugs, caused your addiction and eventual death! So Long Mikey!

BIBLICAL HELL, COMES ALIVE?

Our editorial team are not presently available to bring to you, our Thursday's take on world developments; they travelled out on some assignments. We shall however be back on Friday, September 4, 2009 to continue sharing with you, our perspective on world's political and societal developments.

Until then, Icheoku asks you, to imagine this picture of the Southern California wildfire as a true likeliness of what the biblical hell would look like; and ask yourself, if you want to be a guest in such a glowing-orange suite? So, take a look at the man in the mirror and change your bad ways today, now that you still can! See you on Friday, Salute!

GADDAFI, CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS OF ANTI-DEMOCRACY DESPOTISM?

As the strongman of Libya celebrates his 40 years of despotic stranglehold on the people of Libya, Icheoku says, such a tyrant deserves not be celebrated! He is such anti-democratic influence in Africa, that he ought to be shunned by the entire democratic world and not in anyway, be acknowledged on this day.

Col Muammar Gaddaffi is a pariah and should so remain! He should be completely ignored, all the oil fields beneath the sand-dunes of Libya notwithstanding? But unfortunately the world does not work that way, as it appears to consider oil-economic interest superior to leveling the playing field for everyone including Libyans! A people whose thirst for freedom and democracy is just like any other free peoples of this earth; but who have been completely subjugated and zombified by the hench-men, thugs and goons of Muammar Gaddafi; into a people who can only chorus their love and affection of their dear leader - their worst nemesis?

How can just one man, unabashedly, maintain a one-man dictatorship over Libya all these years, and the Western preachers and propagators of democracy worldwide, choose to over-look the sacrilege in Tripoli; and are comfortable, cavorting with him? A man who late President Ronald Reagan appositely, once described as the 'mad dog of the Arab world'? What has changed so radically that this man is now being courted by practically everyone, from the Italians to the French to the Russians to the Brits, who recently released a convicted terrorist Megrahi as a quid prop quo for doing business with Tripoli? Only America is still dragging its feet with reason, despite the overtures of the former Bush administration to Libya? Icheoku finds it very troubling that while the rest of Africa is being cajoled to democratise or to respect the wishes of their electorates as expressed through the ballot, no one is seriously mentioning Libya as falling within the pack that need to change their way?

This is a country that has been under a brute dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi since the past forty years and counting; culminating to his today's flag-off chest-beating of holding Libyans hostage for this long and too long - four long decades and counting? Icheoku asks WHY? From Berlusconi to Sarkozy, to Brown to Medvedev, everyone is in mad frenzy to woe and fall in love with Gaddafi; and you ask yourself 'is the black liquid gold now so treasured that it is worth more than the Libyan peoples' freedom?' Or possibly, could it be that these Western preachers of democracy have a hidden agenda with respective countries, far beyond what CNN tells the world or that which are disclosed? If Iraq's Saddam Hussein was hung to make way for democracy, why not then find a fitting noose for Gaddafi? Why the double standards of treating two despotic anti-democracy thugs? Put in another way, why engage a despotic Gaddafi who has not only preached against democracy, but had gone out of his way on several occasions to encourage other African leaders to graduate into sit-tight depots! Majority of the coups in Africa have the signature and backing of Gaddafi; and this is a man notorious for sabotaging any seemingly stabilizing government in Africa and who would rather his minions are put in place throughout every African country's capital so that his dream of being crowned the King of Kings of Africa with real political teeth may come to fruition, being easily fast-tracked by them? And you tell Icheoku, a man with such a burning ambition is sane?

Anyway, it is not our plan here to be-labour Muammar Gaddafi's nut case, but suffice it to say on the occasion of his 'forty-years of hostage-taking' in Tripoli, the world should look inwards and find a way to implant democracy in Libya but not to continue cuddling and courting this straggler of the Libyan desert; or in anyway glorify the dictatorship which he is practising in Tripoli. To ignore this warning and continue to romance Tripoli as is, will continue to encourage the likes of Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and to some extent the Olusegun Obasanjos of Nigeria to continually misread the handwriting on the wall, and say it is ok to be a sit-tight ruler? Omar Bongo was one such animal, with French encouragement and support until he passed on recently? Mobutu Sesesekuo had the same smooth ride? Egyptian Hosni Mubarak is still in office at 80 plus odd years and for over 30years and still receives red-carpet treatment in Washington DC? The man from the land of the Pharaohs is a poster boy for double standards in propagating democracy! Enough should be enough and let a level playing field be planned out for the entire Africa, that every leader there becomes a democrat; but to sing different tunes to different leaderships in Africa fuels the resentment of the West's led by America subjective foreign policy of democratisation! Muammar Gaddafi is not a democrat, he is anti-opinions and should be forced to change or forced out; better still Saddam Hussein's treatment may otherwise be very appropriate and befitting his despotism!

And now this man is growing in impetus and influence, aspiring one day to become the ruler of all Africa - the King of Kings and the Lord of the manor of Africa! He is also finding new friends and allys' and one of note is Venezuela's Hugo Chavez? The once colonel is now a general, and you ask yourself what a mockery of the uniform? Icheoku says, if Muammar Gaddafi believes that he is the answer to the Libyan question, what Libyans want and desire; and that he is loved by the people, why does he need to hide behind a double armour plated bullet-proof glass to protect him? From who then, Icheoku may add? Why a six day lavish celebration befitting an ubiquitous 'King of Kings of Africa', when so many Libyans go to bed each night without food in their stomach? What a scandalous self-adulatory fanfare, a trademark of crazed-out despots of Africa, who deserve to be led to the lamp-post; but are instead left to wallow in the vainglory of vanities, being the lord and master of their subjugated African country people? What will God or Allah or Yahweh not judge? And their place, the hottest molten magma of hell.

It will be recalled that Gaddafi took power on 1 September, 1969, as a young 27 year old colonel, after a coup against King Idris. Icheoku have zero tolerance for despots and sit-tight rulers; and so does not wish Muammar Gaddafi well on this occasion of his 40 years compelled leadership! Instead we ask him to democratise fast and get out of the way for Libya to truly evolve. A good Muslim does not behave like Gaddafi, who smokes, womanises and is cruel to his people. Which sane man will rather chose to be the only sighted man in his country when other men and women who possibly see better than he does, are forced under the pain of torture and sometimes death, into turning blind eye to all that is wrong with Gaddafi's regime? Icheoku says, it sucks to be a Gaddafi and shame on him for suffocating Libyans these past 40 years; as the all knowing, sole administrator and owner of Libya! What a psychotic jerk this desert dweller is! Away with Maummar Gaddafi, democratise Libya now!

CALIFORNIA INFERNO, A HELL ON EARTH?

It is burning again in California - southern California area of Los Angeles, that is!

In what seem to have become an annual ritual, wildfires are consuming swaths of southern California forests with vengance!So far so many homes have been destroyed, forcing thousands of resident to flee for their dear lives. Many wild animals including deers, bears and eagles have also been forcefully dislocated, as a result of the fury from hell scenario down there in southern California!

Only mother nature can save the day with the opening of the heavens, as the brave men and women firefighters can now only watch and pray as the inferno seem to have overwhelmed their capabilities. Such was the state of hopelessness that one impassioned observer said, 'anyone who has any insight into the good Lord upstairs, should please put in a word/request?' So bad is the situation that Icheoku says, in the fight between fire and firefighters for the soul of southern California tinder-dry forests, fire seem to have taken the upper hand? According to one observer, "It's burning everywhere in Southern California!" The fire has so far scorched 164 square miles of brush, destroyed 53 homes and forest cabins and taken the lives of two firefighters. The two firefighters died when their firefighting truck drove off the side of a canyon with flames surrounding them. Icheoku says, may the souls of firemen, Captain Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 35, of Palmdale rest in peace.

Pictured here left, is a deer heeding the proverbial advise, 'there is fire on the mountain, run, run run!'

In the words of one fire-victim, "It's the worst roller coaster of my life, and I hate roller coasters; one second I'm crying, one second I'm guilty, the next moment I'm angry, and then I just want to drink tequila and forget. From now on, I'm going to have to figure out a new philosophy: how to live without loving stuff?"

Icheoku says, what an irony of life that it took an unfortunate fire incident to impact this moral lesson on this guy? It is rather unfortunate that it has to take a devastating wildfire to open this victim's eye to what the preacher had all along said in the book of Ecclesiastes, that all is vanity? Could it be a case of some good coming out of a bad situation? Anyway, it depends on who you ask; but our sympathies go out to all the victims of the Southern California wildfire on steroids!