NELSON MANDELA, WHY HE STOOD SO TALL.

Icheoku says of all the many things Nelson Mandela did right to deservedly earn the global encomiums being poured on him following his departure, the one thing that stands miles apart is his spirit of forgiveness. Like Jesus Christ he took pity on his traducers and said to them 'your transgressions are forgiven;' and with that he earned an indelible place in the annals of history. Did he forget what happened, no. Did he like every human-being wish he had taken revenge, Icheoku does not know the answer but suffice it to say that Mandela was very pragmatic and tactical in approaching the issue the way he did. Having calculated that his persecutors were still much entrenched within the then South Africa society and that their backers in the West were trigger-ready to respond to save them in case of any anarchy, he called a truce and strategically disarmed both of them in one fell swoop. Icheoku says the reconciliation was more a calculated strategic necessity than a genuine generosity from a magnanimous heart. However no one can begrudge Madiba's judgment and for being that wise under the circumstances of 1990 South Africa. 

One other lesson from the life of Mandela is that service always triumphs over wealth. He was not a multi millionaire yet world heads of states and governments are lobbying hard to be part of his final and last send-off BUT only ninety were so far shortlisted and approved to attend including four American presidents. He was not the richest African or African former head of government to amass most stupendous wealth, yet four American presidents are en-route Johannesburg to be part of history that will bid farewell to a man that indeed truly lived a fulfilled life. Madiba's life is a teachable lesson that the wealth one accumulated is not as important as the service one rendered to fellow mankind. Just ask yourself, how many once-lived gazillionaires are remembered today compared to men and women of moderate means and chaste, whose lives were tunneled to helping humanity's lot. Think of Jesus, think of Martin Luther King, think of Mahatma Gandhi, think of Mother Teresa and now Nelson Mandela - all these people shared one thing in common:- they refused to accept the evil status-quo and gave it their all to affect a different outcome and succeeded; and thus left the world a better place than they met it. 

So ask yourself today how you would want to be remembered. What kind of legacy do you want to live behind after you are gone? Will it be a person who tagged along just for the juicy life and in order to get along or one who answered or at least attempted to answer the call to change what could be made better. He was described by the United States of America as a giant of humanity; by China as a towering figure born in the African continent and by Brazil as belonging in the pantheon of humanity. Nelson Mandela. like the elephant to the six blind men of Hindu, was so many things to so many people; but above all he was a MAN, a real one indeed.

Remember that Mandela also first freed himself before he was freed by his oppressors and then later re-freed himself one more time. First to effectively mount the freedom campaign for South Africans, Mandela prepared for only two possible outcomes - death or prison; and to do this he divested himself of all his earthly possessions including his wife and children. Once freed from slavery to material possessions, Mandela was finally ready to trek the long treacherous road to and for freedom. Like Jesus said that it will be difficult for a rich man to make the kingdom, it is also always difficult for a man of butter and bread to do the heavy lifting that is fighting for freedom. The threatened always employs every tactics known to man to break resolves including drying the wells that water the fortunes of the vanguard as well as coming full throttle after his wife and children. Mandela was fully aware of this, so he helped make the job easier for the apartheid oppressors by telling them that he didn't care anymore. He was later freed after twenty seven horrendous years stay in a six by six prison cell and then he returned the favor by freeing himself of bitterness and anger by forgiving those who wished him ill. 

Also another lesson learnt from Mandela is that being different is okay because if you blend in then you become invisible and nobody will remember you; as you become an ordinary footnote to be mentioned as an aside instead of the topic or headline for daily discussion. Mandela also thought the world that being principled is a virtue and that you do not have to always agree and be agreeable just for the simple convenience of being acceptable by the society. Finally that one can become the lone hollering wolf in the wildness of a society of compromised lot and let posterity be the judge. Mandela refused to be a company-yes-man and also refused to sellout on his people and for this reason, his people are celebrating the ever fulfilled full life he lived. He stood up for his people and today his people are once again standing up for him as his feet yielded its last strength and cannot sustain his weight any longer and forever. Icheoku wishes that world leaders particularly those within the African continent can imbibe 'Mandelism' in their approach to governance so that they can transmute and become leaders and not just presidents and heads of state. Icheoku prays the lessons of his life will not be lost on present day political leaders or interred with his now transformed body. What a charismatic and enigmatic man that walked this earth. Adieu Madiba.

JONATHAN EXPLODES, CALLS BUHARI AND TINUBU TINY MEN?

Icheoku says surprisingly the often perceived cold, very calculating and silent demeanor of President Jonathan might afterall be masking a steely resolve inside and underneath the presented surface. Icheoku, although not a huge fan, has always wondered why the president does not blow hot and use the powers of his office to OBJ all those critics of his, many of whose criticism often lack foundational basis and are mostly agenda-driven, unfounded, unwarranted, unreasonable and irrational. Icheoku was forced severally in the past to ascribe the president's near-docile attitude in the face of very virulent attacks by certain Nigerians as bothering on timidity; but you wonder how a timid man could possibly have warmed his way right into Aso Rock? Icheoku says it takes a very calculating and deft operator to wriggle his way through and secure a presidency of a any country, including that of Nigeria. Therefore President Jonathan is by no means a timid person and has now shown that he is not intimidated by anyone including Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu presently yoked together in their common unholy marriage pursuant to an Islamic agenda in Nigeria. 

Peradventure, the president's often passive attitude may be a ruse employed to deceive his detractors while providing him a cover for his lion's heart. Now the president has stepped forward to let it be known that he is not afraid of battling anyone including his mentor Baba Iyabo as well as the former military dictator Buhari and his newly found BFF Bola Tinubu. Just listen to the president dismissively consign Buhari and Tinubu into the garbage bin of political irrelevance as little men that should rather be ignored than engaged. In short the president called Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu mere barking Chihuahuas that should be ignored and not acknowledged even by swathing. In the words of the president, "If you listen to those of us who are politicians, from all the political parties, the way we talk, some of us see as if Nigeria is a personal bedroom they have control over. If you read the papers, listen to the radio and television, some of us even see ourselves as if we are tin gods. We intimidate, we threaten, we show hate in our communication. These are not the virtues of great men. They are certainly the vices of tiny men."

Icheoku says the message has been formally communicated by the president and Nigerians now have a fuller understanding that all the fire-spitting antics hitherto employed by Bola Tinubu and Muhammadu Buhari were meant to intimidate, threaten and indeed show their hateful nature. Nigerians know which politician has been threatening thunder and brimstone ever since he was three times summarily rejected at the polls by Nigerians and the his co-traveller who has been traversing the land in search of national political relevance and throwing bombs along the way. Icheoku says with this remark, Jonathan has formally put Nigerians on notice that he is not perturbed nor intimidated by the Bola Tinubu and Muhammadu Buhari gang-ups and pretensions within the Nigerian political landscape. Needless to add that the president also called Buhari out for what he is, using his real name - A DICTATOR; and reminded Buhari how he railroaded a lot of Nigerians into prison without cause. The president also used such words as "repressive and oppressive" to truly describe Buhari's first missionary (Islamic) journey into power. The president also dismissed Bola Tinubu as simply "EXTREMELY NOTORIOUS"; stating further that Tinubu is nothing more than a paper weight basking in his notoriety to seek political relevance. 

On a hindsight, Icheoku says it must be because the president considers the duo of Buhari and Tinubu as trivial nuisance that founded his lack of action in going full throttle on them in the fashion of Olusegun Obasanjo who drove all his opposition out and under. Why waste valuable time responding to two men who does not have any credibility left with Nigerians, the president must have concluded. Way to go Jonathan, Icheoku is impressed and millions of other decent Nigerians are too. We are all fired-up and waiting for the fireworks to really begin. Mr President, show them pepper, win that 2015 for the SOUTHERN NIGERIAN GLORY.

NELSON MANDELA, HIS SUN FINALLY SETS AT 95.

Icheoku says what a man he was that walked the face of this earth, a real man indeed. He happened on the stage in South Africa when he was needed most and he stood up to be counted. He never wavered, he never flinched, he never shied away. To the clarion call of who shall free his people, he answered 'here, I am present, use me, send me and forth he went. Convinced in the rightness of the cause and abiding faith in a mission to free his people from the yokes and shackles of apartheid - a very inhumane, oppressive, discriminatory and repressive system of white supremacy government of the minority, he courageously stepped forward, never looked back and never floundered; and despite severe mental anguish and pains of grave bodily harm and injury inflicted on him in an attempt to intimidate him to turn tails, he soldiered on. His reward, a death-blow to apartheid and a free South Africa where the majority now rules.  His name, Nelson Rouhiahilia Mandela, whose demise the whole world especially South Africans mourn today, December 5, 2013. Nelson Mandela was 95 years and died at his home of old age related infirmities. Icheoku says our heart goes out to the people of South Africa who have lost their one and only true leader and a role model to the whole world. 

A member of the Xhosa speaking Thembu tribe, Nelson Rohihlahia Dalibhunga Mandela affectionately called Madiba was born in July 18, 1918 in Umtata. Transkei Region of South Africa. He was thrice married and twice divorced to wives Evelun Mase in 1944, Winnie Madikizela in 1958 and Graca Machel in 1998. He is survived by wife Graca and children.

Nelson Mandela had unflinching love for his people and this cost him dearly - a twenty seven years surcharge from his youthful life. He was focused as he was determined not to lose sight of the big prize - freedom for his people and refused to betray it. He refused to trade his peoples freedom for his personal freedom by refusing to renounce the struggle as a precondition for an early release from prison. For Mandela, the emancipation of his people was more important than his personal freedom and he sacrificed accordingly. Icheoku says if the word "selfless" has a twin, Nelson Mandela definitely fits that and put in another way, "selfless" could be Mandela's other middle name. Icheoku says possibly since Jesus, no man or woman has ever done what Nelson Madiba Mandela did for a people - sacrificed self for the greater glory and lived to celebrate it as their crowned leader  - president. From prison he went straight to the Presidential mansion as president, to God be the glory. 

Nelson Mandela lived like a real man when he looked his traducers in their eyes and said to them 'your cudgels cannot break my resolve' and they did not. They put him through hell, he survived. They cajoled him, he laughed. They punished him, he sang and finally when he had opportunity to take his pound of flesh, he forgave them. Icheoku says this is the type of man William Shakespeare had in mind when he vouchsafed in Julius Caesar through Mark Anthony about Brutus, that this is a man the stars would also attest to. Icheoku agrees and wishes that a Mandela could someday come out of Nigeria to lead the people out of the quagmire and rudderless-ness holding Nigeria down and under. Admitted Abiola's attempted walk on that route was aborted but Abiola was no Mandela as the latter survived the gulag for twenty seven years and later became president while Abiola died or was tea(ed) to death in prison barely four years into his forced sabbatical. Like the Northern Star, Icheoku vouches that Mandela was indeed a spectacular man of whose type there is none other in our firmament. 

Mandela took it severally in the chin, suffered for his people and did not yield to the merciless and concerted effort to break him down. Mandela refused the temptation to trade his personal freedom in exchange for abandoning the cause for a greater freedom for all his people and succeeded. Unlike the biblical Moses, Mandela led his people to the perimeters of the promised land and also entered therein alongside with them. Unlike Martin Luther King, Mandela died peacefully at very ripe old age, of his own accord and not through a violent conspirators' elimination in the hands of his traducers. In short, Madiba came, saw and conquered his whites apartheid oppressors, who only succeeded in making him the larger than life icon he was transformed into. They sent him to Robbin Island prison, a somewhat local political dwarf and he came out a lumbering ten foot global political giant and permanently transmuted into a heroic icon. Like Gandhi, he preached peace and forgiveness to his persecutors. Like Mother Teresa, he showered love and affection bountifully. Like all radicals, he did not and refused to accept what was as is and went on to affect a change; and under his weight of influence, the oppressive white minority apartheid system, like the Berlin Wall, came tumbling down and finally crumbled. Icheoku says a man this huge do not often walk this earth and this generation is fortunate and shall ever remain grateful that Mandela made his stage appearance with them in audience. Icheoku says Nelson Madiba Mandela did his time, left an indelible print on the sand of time and like all mortals, has now departed back to his maker. Hopefully his stage presence was also pleasing in God's eyes and that he earned enough saintly points to be rewarded with eternal life. Icheoku says if Nelson Mandela is a Catholic, he should be made a Saint - a Saint Madiba. 

What else can Icheoku say in this obituary about a man whose mold was destroyed as soon as the creator finished making him. A very unique man indeed with a heart so large and filled with forgiveness; a man whose dignity and charisma made him bigger when he came out of prison than when he went in. A man whose disarming smile and charm offensiveness made his detractors and traducers clinch in agony and friends and admirers clinging to him more. But at last, like all mortals Nelson Mandela is no more, now gone to be with his ancestors in their maker's bosom; but surely the world knew that a man came through this way and in him that was Nelson Mandela.  He is forever immortalized and shall remain in the annals as the icon who looked at his persecutors and said "forgive them for they know not what they did." 

Peradventure the last icon of the world is gone and the world is now left short of one truly honest man with his departure, but Mandela was a man who gave it his all in order to free the all. He got the job done - South Africa is free and now have a majority rule democracy. Paraphrasing Winston Churchill, Icheoku says 'never in the history of South Africa was so much owed by so many to just one man' in the person of Nelson Mandela. Rest in peace Mandela and may the Almighty God reward all your efforts while you lived here on earth, especially in letting racist White people all over the world, particularly those in South Africa to know that we all are God's children. That we all bleed red blood and that we all have needs and wants and also treasure our respective dignities. That irrespective of the shades of our skin colors, whether or not we have different hues and the pigmentation of our skin comes varied, that we share the same humanity and should strive to get along together otherwise Rodney King's plea will go unheeded. Nelson Mandela, Icheoku says adieu great one and may the torch which you lit and passed on in South Africa never quenches. So long Madiba, go in peace.

ANAMBRA STATE IGBOS, THE HOUR HAS COME TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT.

Anambra State Igbos, Icheoku says "Ugo ebelugo na ngbagbu" (the eagle has perched for shooting) so you must fire without missing - straight right through the heart and shoot down this political adventurism into Igboland. You must nip this invasive incursion right in the bud before it spreads like a plague or wildfire throughout the land. Stand up to be counted to do right by and for Igbo people, knowing fully well that if you fall so would the rest of Igboland. If you are captured, there will not be any other bulwark left in defense of the rest of Igboland and these traducers will just simply roll over the rest of the territory. Please Anambra Igbos do not bring shame to Igbo people, do not sell our birthright to be full Nigerians by the pot of porridge that is Chris Ngige. It will be supremely shameful and a betrayal of no mean magnitude for the pride of Igboland to be handed over to the Yorubas for keeps just because Anambraians were baited by Chris Ngige. It is not done, it should not be done and it MUST NOT be done tomorrow or any other future time, otherwise history will judge you badly as the Igbo state that first betrayed the cause. In tomorrow's election, vote with pride to affirm that Igbos are not second fiddlers in Nigeria and that they have earned the right to be fully recognized as an integral part of the polity and that they are going to continue to remain same and relevant limb of Nigeria going forward. 

Tomorrow's election is not just an election per se but a lot is also at stake. Tomorrow's election is steeped in many symbolism among which is the place of Igboman in Nigeria politics going forward. It would also exfoliate and expose the sheer determination of the Igbo nation to continue to fight the good cause of maintaining their rightful berth in Nigeria and not allow others to subjugate and consume them politically and thereby confine them into political irrelevancy. It will also be a watershed to judge if Igbos have learnt anything on how to play politics and why it matters so much to have a voice in what affects them. Politics is a game based on several divergent interests, some of which goes from the mundane to the parochial and many atimes even defies informed logic and reason. It is not always about who is the most qualified otherwise George Bush would not have defeated Al Gore and John Kerry?  There is more to politics and this is the clarion call Icheoku is growing hoarse trying to send out to our brothers and sisters in Anambra State to read the handwriting on the wall and do the right thing. 

Politics is among other things emotive and sentimental and is not necessarily governed by ration that many times things like religion, color of skin, region, race, tribe and language or even physical looks of the candidate for office play a very dominant role in influencing the outcome of elections. It is the same all over the world and Icheoku does not expect the result of Anambra State governorship election to be determined any differently.This present generation of Anambra Igbos must not lose the fight which Zik fought till his grave yard was ready, which Ojukwu held fort the battle line until he transited, which every gone true Igboman and woman held very sacred and which every presently living Igbo person should hold dear - the fight of superiority of tribe going on between Yorubas and Igbos of Nigeria. No hard feelings just that a lot of EGO is at stake and the Yorubas MUST NOT be allowed to win and take home the trophy. 

There is more to politics than the presumed ability of a particular candidate to get things done. Icheoku emphasis that it will be psychologically very  traumatising and catastrophic for policies of an Igbo government of Anambra State, affecting Igbo people, to be formulated and decided at Idu Agaran Palace in Lagos, Yorubaland. Icheoku does not know about you but says it will completely SUCK indeed to have this happen and pleads for an awakening before it is turns too dark to make amends. Anyone still in doubt why the outcome of tomorrow's election matters, should re-watch the movie 'Devil's Advocate' and see the consequences of having a mentor who is simply too powerful for the mentored. Lagos State Governor Fashola's servitude to Bola Tinubu is a clear indicator of what an Anambra State's Chris Ngige would be to Bola Tinubu and which Anambra State Igboman or woman wants their governor to be bowing to a Yorubaman Bola Tinubu's dictates? That a hefty price will be paid by Ngige for the gift of being made governor is quite obvious and which Anambra State Igbo wants this? Furthermore, it is a truism that like every politician who sweet-coats their campaign promises, that Chris Ngige will not do all that he says he will do for Anambra State first because talk is cheap, the resources might not be available and also party politics might make his Yoruba masters who are desirous of keeping Igbos in check not allow him to carry them through. 

Please Anambra State Igbos, Icheoku begs you not to wait to find out if this will be true because it would then be too late. Prevention is better than cure, so close that gate on Bola Tinubu before braving the rain to pursue the thieving Bola Tinubu out of your fatherland. Unlike Nike, Icheoku says 'JUST DON'T DO IT.' On November 16, tomorrow, tell Bola Tinubu to take a hike; tell Bola Tinubu that Igbos do not trust him; tell the Yorubas to remain in their neck of the wood of Nigeria; tell the Bola Tinubu APC to respect the legacy of Zik, Ojukwu and all other Igbo  loving sons and daughters who strove over the many years gone by to keep Igbo peoples' head above the water in Nigerian politics; tell Bola Tinubu that boundaries matters and that he gotta respect the Igbo's; tell Bola Tinubu that to each his own and that Igbos tend to keep Anambra State safe from his greedy covetous quest; simply stated, tell Bola Tinubu 'NOT THIS TIME.' When you wake up and it is a tomorrow come, VOTE with the understanding that every politics is local and making sure that Anambra State is not handed over to Bola Tinubu or an Igbo state to the Yorubas. Icheoku reiterates that we do not hate them, but we are competitors and we do not have to be the ones to lose. DO NOT VOTE FOR NGIGE.

ROB FORD, THE CRACKING MAYOR OF TORONTO.

Icheoku says it is really making a mountain out of a molehill the melee generated up there in Toronto Canada just because a man was caught "crack-down". So what if the Mayor smoked crack and what if he smoked something else? As far as Icheoku is concerned the brouhaha over the smoking of crack by the Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, is principally because he smoked a street cheap drug meant for the ghetto dwellers of North America and not the privileged White people. Icheoku says had the Mayor been caught inhaling the Whites' stuff - real snow white (pure angel dust aka cocaine), nobody would be going into the present tizzy that a wealthy white mayor of Toronto was caught crack-in-mouth. But where is the scandal - that he smoked crack and inhaled or did not inhale or denied it - "I did not smoke that thing, CRACK!"

Anyway the mayor is having fun being chased around and now turned into a celebrity by his detractors who are calling for his head or rather his mayoral seat. Icheoku says the real question should be is his job being impacted adversely by his addiction to dirty cheap drug meant for the ghetto-poor crack-heads? Also is it proper to now call or refer to the mayor as crack-head? Usually crack-heads are lean and emaciated but the mayor is robust and fat, begging the question, was the mayor just a casual inhaler or was he binging on food to mask his crack habit signs from ever manifesting? Whatever happens, Toronto would go on with or without Mayor Rob Ford who is now internationally famous or rather infamous for being a bad example of how not to be a public official, depending on which side of the divide you stand. 

Icheoku asks has anybody ever noticed the canny resemblance the cracking-Mayor Rob Ford has with America's talk show host Rush Limbaugh and both men share a lot in common. Both men are fat and huge; they also look like twins; both men are addicted to substances that apparently skew their mind and make them have a different reality than that of most rational; both men are wealthy and white; both men are publicly famous and both men seem to be too full of themselves. Just our thoughts. 

Icheoku will however leave the decision for the people he represents in Toronto to make on what becomes of Mayor Rob Ford; and whether or not he remains in office and/or should eventually face prosecution for his cracking conduct is strictly their prerogative. One other thing, these white people do more drugs than any other group in North America because they can afford it and more stressed out fueling the need for fixes. They are also in charge and in authority and often cover their arses protectively until the wind blows their coverings up for the world to see their hypocritical life under. take for example the disparate laws governing sentencing for crack cocaine and real snow-white cocaine and their discretionary prosecution? But hey today's essay is on a white Mayor of Toronto Canada pretending to be hip by inhaling a street stuff. What a mayor.

VOTE NGIGE GET TINUBU, NOT A GOOD BARGAIN.

ICHEOKU SAYS IT DOES NOT MATTER WHO YOU VOTE FOR AS LONG AS IT IS NOT NGIGE. ON NOVEMBER 16, VOTE WITH YOUR IGBO PRIDE STILL INTACT!

ON NOVEMBER 16, DO THE RIGHT THING.

"Chris Ngige has taken enough for the owner to notice. We were just recovering from his betrayal over the deportation Saga when the man led his APC gang to desecrate the tradition of Onitsha people on the Ofala day. That was a handshake across the elbow. We hope that this should teach him a lesson that no man who holds his people in absolute contempt can turn around and rule them in absolute comfort.” - Tony Onwuchekwa, Onitsha based human rights lawyer. Icheoku says eziokwu bu nka and calls on Anambra State Igbos to reject Ngige and his Bola Tinubu led gang from the West.

ON NOVEMBER 16, DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS MAN.

 

Icheoku says behold the man hiding behind the mask of Ngige. A vote for Chris Ngige is a vote for Bola Tinubu to take over Anambra State's revenue. Icheoku says it is a bad idea to permit Bola Tinubu's greedy filthy hands to get at Anambra State's MONEY. It is not good for Anambra State and it is not good for Igboland's pride. On November 16, say NO to a Bola Tinubu's hostile takeover of Anambra State's treasury; vote to reject his frontman Chris Ngige

OBASANJO ABANDONS REBEL GOVERNORS MIDSTREAM?

"No President, no matter his perceived weakness, would stand and watch a body of governors test his resolve. Seek ways of reconciling with Jonathan if you don't want rougher days ahead." - Olusegun Obasanjo to visiting seven nPDP rebel governors. 

Icheoku says at last 'Jonathan don begin dey laugh.' 

This manoeuvre is atypical of Obasanjo whose cunning ability is so legendary that some people describe him as the Fox of Ota. Obasanjo instigated the current rebellion against Jonathan with his speech at Dutse urging Governor Sule Lamido to move against President Jonathan's 2015 second term ambition. Now like the army man he is, sensing that the steam is out and that the rebellious train is sputtering to a sudden stop if not a crash, he has made a sudden U-turn and is now telling the same rascals he pushed into starting a fight with their "chi"(gods) to go do the unthinkable - leak their spittle? Icheoku asks how can people like Kwankwaso, Wamako, Amaechi and Lamido in particular now go genuflecting and prostrating before the president when they have been delusional for too long that they are winning the battle of will for the soul of PDP and Nigerians? Icheoku knows that Aliyu is a more pragmatic and more seasoned politician and would do the needful when facing a real cliffhanger situation. As for Nyako and the other guy at Kwara State's government house in Ilorin, they are ordinary fish fingerings and have little or no clout either way. Those two can be easily thrown under the bus for all Icheoku cares.

Icheoku says if any time ever called for President Jonathan to aggressively and ruthlessly move against these seven rascals, now is the time as they are all standing on very quick sand and will easily be uprooted and thrown into political abyss and irrelevance. Their godfather Obasanjo has disavowed them and there is nobody out there to come to their aid should they be fired from the PDP with immediate effect. Imagine ordinary state governors wagging their finger at the face of a sitting Nigerian Executive President with all his unlimited powers including that of the purse as well as countless security operatives and ethnic militia waiting for the marching orders? Icheoku says 'we dey watch' to see what finally becomes of these rascals and how their political graveyards will be marked or left unmarked. What unthinking jerks these rebel governors so called are, who mistook President Jonathan's very calculating demeanor to mean weakness; aided by their abiding faith that Obasanjo will always get their backs. Now they know better, admitted the hard way, never to trust some people from certain parts of the country to stand resolute as agreed because when push comes to shove they will always do a Peter on you.

ATIKU, ADMITS TO CONSPIRACY TO DISMEMBER PDP?

Icheoku says if the big man from Adamawa has learnt anything from his years in politics, it does not include how to navigate the treacherous waters of politics. After severally denying that his splinter group did not have a fore-plan of breaking off from the PDP, the infamous Abubakar Atiku has finally come around to own up to an act of betrayal of a party which gave him pardon and readmitted him back into their fold. Icheoku says yet this renegade had lied previously that their staged walking-out in Abuja PDP's mini convention was spontaneous? 

Anyway a fugitive from justice who was dared by Obasanjo to travel to the United States and be arrested can only open his mouth in a country where his ilks feel they are untouchable and above the law. Despite what he suffered in the hands of Obasanjo and the mercy showed him by Jonathan in readmitting him back to the PDP from which Obasanjo had expelled him, this mallam had the temerity to gang up against the man who showed him mercy as well as the audacity to own up to it. 

What an ingrate, political bastard and prostitute this Abubakar Atiku is, that does not know what real politicking means and that loyalty counts and matters a lot in politics. But fortunately the wind has since blown uncovering his unbridled greed and penchant for disloyalty that it is safe to say categorically and unequivocally that he is finished politically in Nigeria. Icheoku says that Abubakar Atiku has now joined the ranks of those Nigerian politicians who are not nationally electable in Nigeria including Muhammed Buhari and Bola Tinubu. Icheoku says President Jonathan and Chairman Tukur should go ahead and formally fire these renegades led by those seven governors and Atiku from the PDP and make it official. Icheoku states that nothing cataclysmic will happen to the PDP with their expulsion as it is apparent since their attempted coup that their weight is paper-like and feather-lightweight as the grounds has not shifted in their favor. What a very foolish and tactless politician who has not learnt anything from his past experiences including how to bestow loyalty and reciprocate favors. 

NOVEMBER 16 COUNTDOWN DAY 2, DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS MAN

His friend deported Igbos from Lagos, he kept quiet, said nothing but patted him on the back? He failed to come to the defense of those Igbos deported neither did he speak forcefully against the deportation by way of condemnation. Now tell Icheoku what the assurance is that he would not look the other way when Bola Tinubu dips his filthy greed hands into the purse of Anambra State in the unfortunate event Anambra Igbos fail to do right by themselves and for their traditional institutions and he is elected? Icheoku says one could safely tell who a person is by the company of people he keeps. He hung around with people who have serious phobia for Igbo people and who are perpetually looking at any and every opportunity to get at Igbo people. Remember Fashola also closed Ladipo market as well as many other Igbo trading posts in Lagos for a long period of time to jeopardize their economic well-being. This November 16, Igbos of Anambra State on behalf of Igbos everywhere MUST tell Chris Ngige that his sins has finally caught up with him; on November 16, do not vote for Ngige.

DO THE NEEDFUL, ODUAH-GATE POWERFUL DEFENSE SUBMISSION?

"There was nothing in the approved documents reflecting my name, when the budget was being made. At no time did I ever request for any vehicle from the NCAA. It was the agency that had the need and made the request to the Federal Ministry of Aviation. After the purchase on a 3 year Lease Financing arrangement, the vehicles were never delivered to me. The vehicles were also not registered in my name but that of the agency. All I did was to approve the request of the Agency subject to the Agency doing the needful as evidenced by my minutes on the letter dated 15th April, 2013." - Madam Aviation Minister Stella Oduah,debunking claims that two armored vehicles were hers. Icheoku says it is ordinarily a powerful defense argument except that the minister failed in or rather overlooked her duty of supervision of her underlings - vicarious responsibility(liability).

APC SAYS NO TO NATIONAL CONFERENCE, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?

Icheoku says a united, more functional Nigeria would always be a much preferred option than a balkanized Nigeria. Therefore, any effort geared at strengthening the country, by ironing out all those identifiable kinks afflicting it and which in turn, turns Nigeria into a more working country that works for every Nigerian, such as the proposed National Conference, should be welcomed excitedly by every Nigerian. Admitted that internally generated pent-up pressure, which has been threatening to consume the country over the many years of its existence, has made the option of balkanizing Nigeria seem an attractive proposition. But the tempting allure notwithstanding, a nation is stronger when it is big, both in human and natural resources; and fortunately enough, Nigeria commands both this two assets and would be much better off remaining glued together. Therefore, provided the purpose and mandate of the National Conference is to explore and address Nigeria's numerous problems, with a view to finding acceptable solutions and resolutions, to that extent does Icheoku endorse and support it. 

It is with this background in mind and the fact that millions of other Nigerians are joyous at this great opportunity to finally meet and have a conversation about their wellness, that Icheoku was taken aback when the APC's bank-roller, owner and paymaster, Bola Tinubu, came out screaming "Holy macro and NO to the CONFAB." Icheoku was primarily surprised that a self-professed democrat would have any beef to grind with a very democratic process which would allow people to meet and discuss their problems. Icheoku asks, would Bola Tinubu and his APC prefer that Nigeria rather boils over because of suspicions and fears than for the people to first seek possible solutions in a dialogue to their itching problems? Would APC and Bola Tinubu prefer war war instead of jaw jaw? Icheoku asks Bola Tinubu, what is wrong in having a conversation and thrashing out matters injurious to a one united Nigeria such as areas of perceived conflicts? Icheoku says the world of Nigerians were expecting a more articulate Bola Tinubu to be a cheer leader of such epochal step at harmonizing Nigeria but definitely not the highly over-partisan APC Bola Tinubu that is trying to throw spanner in the works of the National Conference. Nigerians, disappointed that they couldn't see the more rational Bola Tinubu they had expected, turned and looked to see if there is any more level-headed APC membership to redirect Bola Tinubu on the merits of the conference and the futility of his one-man opposition mission. But unfortunately all they could see were a party membership that bowed and trembled before Bola Tinubu and who were forced to fall in line with the NO-TO-THE-CONFAB position of their master. Icheoku says it is indeed regrettable that the cowering APC membership, in unison, chorused alongside their mentor to reject the confab. 

It is also noteworthy that Chris Ngige, who is running for the governorship of Anambra State is part of this REJECT-THE-CONFAB motley crew operating under APC moniker. Icheoku says, if you are still looking for a reason to reject Ngige as governor of Anambra State, you just found one. Please Anambra people, do not vote for APC's Ngige as his party's rejection of the Confab is another anti-Igbo action by them. The Igbo people are looking forward to the Confab's platform as a God sent opportunity to finally address so many injustices meted to them, many of which are still continuing till date, by both the Nigerian state and other Nigerians. Chris Ngige and his APC said NO TO the CONFAB and he still wants to be governor of an Igboland heartland first state? It does not make sense nor is it reconcilable that APC which does not like the Igbos nor care for traditional institution they hold high, will now want to be handed over an Igbo main state, Anambra? Anambra State Igbos, Icheoku urges you to speak up and speak loudly on November 16, 2013 and with your votes exclaim ANYBODY BUT NGIGE.

Icheoku asks what is Bola Tinubu, the man who owns, runs and micro-manages APC with iron fist, smoking this time around that he rejected what majority of Nigerians have been clamoring for and for so many years, and which they are happy that their prayers were finally answered? Apparently Bola Tinubu must be out of his mind or high on some mind-altering barbiturates not to appreciate the mistake of his current very minority position on the merit of the National Conference. It is obvious that the Prince of Isale-Eko has overreached himself with his anti-Confab position and thereby challenged a very high majority of Nigerians into doing a battle over their much awaited and very welcomed conference. Icheoku says by castigating and rejecting a process that would x-ray and resolve areas of conflict among Nigerians, Bola Tinubu shot himself on the foot and is now limping in clutches in Nigeria political estate? How dare him? Icheoku says Bola Tinubu is certainly out of sync with the yearnings and aspirations of high majority of Nigerians with his position on the conference and therefore he must have a rethink if he still wants to retain some relevancy among those Nigerians still enjoying their freedom from his clutches and who are not under his slave-master's vice grip command and control, atypical of APC controlled Yoruba Southwest states.

Icheoku says other than mischief, the civilian draconian-dictator and self-effusing infallible owner of APC, by saying NO to a thing which its time had since come and which majority of rational Nigerians, without any other ulterior agenda, are rooting for, has nothing else to anchor this rejection on. Icheoku says Bola Tinubu is simply a rabble rouser, who like the spoilt brat he is and who continually feels so much entitled and disturbs the peace of everybody whenever he is not getting and having his way, is now against something he was previously for. In America, they term his type flip floppers; and you would recall John Kerry who voted for a bill before he voted against it or Mitt Romney who was for RomneyCare before he became against ObamaCare? Bola Tinubu's disorder is that he is not dictating to everyone in Nigeria like he does with his APC controlled Yoruba Southwestern Nigeria. Atypical of maniacs, his conquering of Yoruba Southwest is no longer enough and now he wants the entire Nigerian territory as his private fiefdom to dictate his will to? And if he cannot have his way, he would rather undermine the country by rejecting a process that would make Nigeria stronger?

There is strength in numbers both economically and politically. Number of mouths needing nutrition and bodies that need to be clothed is important as world businesses look at such data with a prospect of profitability before making their investment moves. If in doubt look at how China or India are courted by the world just for a piece of their markets. Enemies will also think twice before taking on a big country and then the always present opportunity that from the many, it is easier for one to rise as that person whom the country has been waiting for to take the country to lofty heights. Icheoku says the only reason anyone in any kind of relationship sometimes wants out is usually for lack of comfort continuing in or going forward with that relationship. So now that Nigerians have agreed to sit down and discuss their misgivings against each other and among themselves, why would any well-meaning Nigerian patriot not give it a chance of succeeding and thereafter act on the outcome however he may deem or see fit. But for anyone including APC's owner Bola Tinubu, at the present infancy stage of the Confab process, to start sabotaging the process either with comments or action, Icheoku finds it regrettable. 

Icheoku says it is not only presumptuous but irrational and unpatriotic for Bola Tinubu and his APC to reject the National Conference, an honest attempt at objectively discussing and resolving amicably areas of conflicts and disputations affecting Nigeria's survival as an entity. Talking is always better and cheaper than warring. On this final note, Icheoku reiterates support for the National Conference and hereby calls on Bola Tinubu and his APC to have a rethink of their ill-thought out position rejecting the prospect. They should instead accept and participate in a process that is geared towards making Nigeria a much stronger and more functional place for all Nigerians to continue to live peacefully together and in harmony. Therefore Nigerians must in unison reject Bola Tinubu's APC latest antic to just stay headlined with their narrow minded, pigeonholed and shallow political dart thrown across the political bow of the other party through their rejection of a conference which more than 75% of Nigerians are for. The conference is not about the president nor his party but a forum for Nigerians to vent their misgivings against one another with a view to finding lasting super-glue to apply to the cracks that is widening on the country's structural integrity to keep it going and going until God knows when. 

UMARU DIKKO RECYCLED, SO MUCH FOR THE BREATH OF FRESH AIR?

Icheoku says when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, during his presidential election campaign, promised Nigerians a breath of fresh air, no Nigerian understood the president to mean his own version of fresh air which to a functioning olfactory is nothing short of a stinking breath of stale air? Nigerians thought that President Jonathan's installed chairman of the PDP Bamanga Tukur at 78 years old, was his last old peoples' team joker and certainly enough of these old breeds resurrected; but the president thought differently? The president has slapped Nigerians on the face yet again with another one of his idea of "breath of fresh air" with his appointment of 79 year former Transport Minister in the second republic government of President Shehu Shagari, Umaru Dikko. President Jonathan appointed Umaru Dikko to a plum job of Provost Marshall of the PDP with primary assignment being to whip those errant seven PDP governors and their acolytes to order. 

Remember him - the man who in response to hunger in the land under his NPN government, told the world that no Nigerian was picking food from the garbage dump so all is honky dory with affairs in Nigeria? If that is not enough to jug your memory, which must have faded after such a long time and for those alive then who are still alive, it was the same Umaru Dikko that was found invalid in a cargo crate at Gatwick London airport in a botched attempt to smuggle him back to Nigeria to face charges of gross abuse of office. With Umaru Dikko's latest appointment, Nigerians have once again been saddled with yet another dinosaur with twentieth century ideas and way of doing things and in this twenty-first century; and you wonder if President Jonathan deliberately want to fail Nigerians in the delivery of his promised breath of fresh air or he is just playing a cruel joke with them? Icheoku says why Umaru Dikko and where is his energy and gravitas? 

Icheoku says with Umaru Dikko's appointment, as the man to deal with those rascal seven governors and their followers as the new chief disciplinarian of the PDP, another job opportunity has been denied a much younger and more energetic Nigerian and the unemployment quagmire continues to exacerbate. Icheoku asks what use is actually a man that age, who in more civilized societies should be restfully awaiting his maker in an old peoples home, in being resuscitated and tasked with turning things around in a wobbly party? How much longer does an 79 year Umaru Dikko has to live to seriously have the interest and presence of mind to do the heavy lifting required to put back the humpty-dumpty that is falling apart? Why would an 79 year old Umaru Dikko put whatever is left of his brain and brawn to right things in the PDP and the greater estate Nigeria from which he will soon leave anyway? Surprising? No, it is Nigeria and it is a place where things are stood on their heads - a land where the old brigade has obstinately refused to yield the territory for the youthful with workable twenty first ideas and ways and means of doing things, needed to shake things up and in order to earnestly begin the rebuilding process. 

A lone voice in the wilderness, Icheoku can but hope that President Jonathan remembers his campaign promise to Nigerians, and realizes on time that there is nothing fresh about the air of Umaru Dikko and his ilks. Icheoku says the president has to change this his peculiar understanding of "breath of fresh air" or Nigerians will be forced to remind him in 2015 that he is a man long on promises but short on their delivery.  Whatever may be the rationale for this latest appointment, Icheoku says this very Umaru Dikko, at 79 and his past records considered, is certainly not anything fresh, whether breath or otherwise and as a spent force, has nothing new to offer or add to the administration or the PDP. Sometimes Icheoku wonders who the president has as a counselor and who advises and recommends these octogenarians for his government; except of course the other co ancient-travelers like Tony Anenih at 80 years and Bamanga Tukur 78 years simply needed a companion, since the young party members are not versed in the things of the old and how things are done old fashioned and goaded the president? What an appointment!

MALALA, THE MUSLIM GIRL WHO WON OUR HEARTS.

Out of the death, horror, terror and near total lack of anything and everything that aids civilized modern living that literally sums up life in the Swat Valley area of Northwestern Pakistan, yields a very ebullient and charming girl whose courage and will to live and do better for others have held the world captive and spellbound for quite some time now. The girl is also very articulate and listening to her interviews and comments as well as gauging her body gestures, Icheoku sees a girl destined for leadership somewhere down the road of her life. It is also apparent that the girl also received good education and that is equally commendable of Pakistani educational system. Malala Yousafzai is her name and she is only a teenager. 

Icheoku says her story is atypical of a life-saving spring sprouting out of the hopelessness and despondency that has come to represent anything Islam and everything Muslim fundamentalism. The girl Malala has forced peoples of the world to now have a rethink of their opinion about Muslims and to stop lumping Muslims together as all TERRORISTS; at least Malala is not one. Malala is simply the best good news out of the Muslim world in recent times and Pakistan should mine her new celebrity status and designate her their country's Goodwill ambassador and a mirror into the world of Pakistan and Muslims in general. Malala Yousafzai, Icheoku says what a gift you are to your people and Icheoku sees a Benaizir Bhutto's replacement in your future, provided you elude and survive your worst threat - the TALIBANS. Goodluck.

CHRIS NGIGE, WHY HE MUST NOT BE ELECTED GOVERNOR.

Icheoku says Lagos State's Governor Babatunde Fashola had a great opportunity with the flagging off of Anambra State APC gubernatorial candidate's Chris Ngigi's campaign at Onitsha, to formally apologise to Igbo people in their heartland over the fiasco of his deportation of their kits and kin from Lagos, but was MIA (missing in action). The governor was a no-show at the said APC's "historical" event in Igboland. Icheoku says if indeed Governor Fashola truly wanted an end to the debacle he created with that hateful deportation as he claimed, and sincerely meant the tendered "apology" for what he wrongfully did to fellow Nigerians, why did he not soldier on into Igboland to truly look them in the eye and say to them 'am sorry if my action rubbed you wrongly?' 

But instead he settled for that forsworn no-apology apology he tendered at the tiny Aka Ikenga forum in "HIS" Lagos as being entirely sufficient for what he did and requiring no further or additional effort at soothing frayed Igbo nerve and stayed off Igboland's headquarters? Icheoku says if indeed Governor Fashola felt forgiven by the Igbos and/or that his mea culpa before Aka Ikenga was all encompassing and that all is now honky-dory with the Igbos, why did he not follow his master Ahmed Bola Tinubu into Onitsha to prove that after the apology, that he once again finds himself at home in Igboland; and that the hurt he caused the Igbos by deporting them from Lagos is no longer hurting and he has been forgiven? But no, rather like a fowl which let foul air, the land of Igboland is in his pursuit and he would not dare be found near or around it; hence the wisdom to stay out of such "historic" event across the Niger, right? 

Icheoku says Igbo people of Anambra State must join other Igbos to register their displeasure over our peoples' deportation from Lagos by APC's Governor Fashola. They must in unison say to APC's Governor Fashola that his so called apology was neither sufficient nor was it properly tendered and channeled, and therefore not accepted. Igbo people of Anambra State must let APC's Governor Fashola know that Aka Ikenga is not Igbo people's recognized representative, hence not the proper medium to communicate to Igbo people whatsoever. Anambra State Igbos must drive it into Governor Fashola's ears that Oha-na-Eze Ndigbo and the Southeastern Governors Forum are the only true representatives of the Igbo people, hence any communication meant for the entire Igbo people, including an "apology", must be routed through either of this two agencies. 

Further, that the Igbo people do not and cannot expect a cloister of select few Igbo businessmen and professionals based in Lagos, who hardly visit home, who were neither appointed nor elected by them as their representatives, to be their middlemen for communicating apologies to them and will not listen to any such routed apology. Icheoku says Igbo people of Anambra State has only one way of strongly and most effectively communicating this message to APC's Governor Fashola and in unequivocal terms. By resoundingly rejecting Governor Fashola's APC from taking roots in Anambra State by proxy of the APC-tainted governorship candidate Chris Ngige, in the forthcoming governorship election in November, the message would have been sent to all Igbo-haters, who demean and denigrate Igbo people in Nigeria at every given opportunity, that enough is enough - NO MORE, NEVER AGAIN and NOT THIS TIME. 

It would be a symbolic gesture, made not out of hatred of Chris Ngige but to send a clear message to APC's Governor Fashola and the other Yoruba apologist Femi Fani Kayode that spiting Igbo people will not be rewarded or tolerated, nor would any of such their frontal assault on Igbo's general psyche ever be forgotten. To ignore this plea and otherwise in any event elect APC's Chris Ngige as governor of Anambra State this November, no matter under what color, subterfuge or disguise of his past proven record of performance, would be selling out to Yoruba's APC's Bola Tinubu and Governor Fashola. Such a salutary gesture would once again reinforce and reiterate the cliched opinion of other Nigerians that Igbos have no cored value; that Igbo people lack a political will to go the extra mile; that Igbo people lack the cohesion to fight and pursue a common purpose; that the Igbos are merely a motley of disorganize and dysfunctional people, with no collective agenda or plan to get anywhere politically in Nigeria; that all their handicaps are because they are confused and untutored in the act of real politics of numbers, guided by one united common front and voice and this is the sole reason they are always easily manipulated out of any serious contention in Nigeria's politics every time. 

A vote for Chris Ngige is a vote for APC; and a vote for APC is an automatic authorization of Bola Tinubu to do whatever and however pleases him, with the purse of Anambra State, Igboland's headquarters. Icheoku says after all the horrid experiences Igbo people have suffered in the hands of Yoruba people starting with Awolowo and Zik through Obasanjo's shutting down of Igbo businesses (Ibeto cement, Slok airlines, Hallmark Bank, Savannah Bank etc) to the most recent deportation of Igbos by Governor Fashola, it would be a great defeatism for Igbo people to just turn around and hand over to Yorubas our key State, Anambra. Igbo and Yoruba people are competitors in Nigeria and for one competitor to win the other must lose and igbos must not lose by such a wide margin of turning over our key state to the Yorubas. Igbo and Yoruba are arch rivals in Nigeria and this rivalry must and should continue in order for the Igbos to still remain competitive in Nigeria. So please Anambra Igbos do not play the possum or allow the Yorubas run a roughshod on you by surrendering your state to Bola Tinubu. By so doing, you would equally be ratifying APC's Governor Fashola's deportation of Igbos from Lagos and this should be a NO, NO.

Furthermore, APC's bank-roller and controller-general in chief, Bola Tinubu, a scion of royalty, well versed in the things of culture and tradition being a prince of Isale Eko, found it very convenient and tolerable to literally invade another royalty's domain on a sacred day the king was marking his reign, just to hold a campaign rally? Why that particular day for the political rally if not a deliberate attempt to challenge the monarch's institutional authority? Icheoku queries were it the Oba of Lagos who was celebrating a royal event of same magnitude as the Ofala festival, would a similar political campaign rally or any other event been tolerated in Lagos or allowed to clash with a traditional festivities which was scheduled over one year ago thus giving sufficient notice to the world? Why that particular day to hold a political rally if not a deliberate attempt to sabotage the Obi's festivities? Icheoku asks would Bola Tinubu or any Igbo man for that matter dare assault a highly revered monarch of Lagos or any other Yoruba kingdom by holding a conflicting and somewhat confrontational event on a day festivities marking their reign were taking place? 

Icheoku asks why would Bola Tinubu's APC's political train so flagrantly invade Onitsha for a political rally while the Obi of Onitsha was celebrating his Ofala festival? Why couldn't the rally wait for another time or weekend following the completion of the Ofala festival? To add insult to injury, Bola Tinubu did not even have the cultural decency or a visitor's courtesy to visit the Ime-Obi to pay homage to the Obi for coming into his domain or indeed commiserate with him on  the occasion of marking his reign? Icheoku wonders what founded the effrontery of Bola Tinubu to so vagrantly disrespect a very high Igbo Majesty, the Obi of Onitsha Igwe Patrick Achebe and inside his domain if the APC was not seeking further confrontation and now inside Igboland? Icheoku queries would Bola Tinubu dare do this in Kano with the Emir of Kano or in Ife with the Ooni of Ife or in Oyo with the Alaafin of Oyo or in Benin with the Oba of Bini or in Sokoto with the Sarduana of Sokoto? Only in Igboland and you ask why? The simple answer seems to be because Bola Ige does not care a hoot about the sensibilities of the Igbo people and is indeed very scornful of the Igbos and their traditional institutions? As the sole financier and promoter in chief of the APC, Bola Tinubu bears sole responsibility for anything done wrong by the party sucklings including Ngige and for disrespecting the Obi of Onitsha.

Icheoku says this is a perversion of the highest order of an Igbo revered institution that must not be tolerated by Igbo people. The fact that Chris Ngige was a party to this show of shameful disrespect to the institution of the Obi-ship of Onitsha and by extension the entire Igboland, being Igboland's highest ranking first class monarchy, is a call for a serious reprimand of all the transgressors including Chris Ngige. This will let Chris Ngige and his APC Yoruba sponsors know that they cannot come into Igboland and further denigrate the Igbo people including what they hold so dear to them - their first class traditional institution, and in such very arrogant and disrespectful manner. The APC should pay a price for their infra-dig; the APC should suffer a consequence for their spiteful treatment of the Obi of Onitsha  and the institution he represents in Igboland. Icheoku says the denial of APC an access to the purse of Anambra State would be a good measure. Therefore Icheoku calls on Anambra State Igbos to register their great displeasure over Bola Tinubu's disrespectful treatment of Igbo's first class monarch, the Obi of Onitsha, by saying no to APC and their front-man Chris Ngige this November 2013. In addition, Anambra Igbos MUST not sell-out politically to the Yorubas as that will be uprooting the very foundation of the only Igbo legacy party in Nigeria. As a matter of honor and pride, Anambra Igbos should endeavor to sustain the anchor of the only truly Igbo party in Nigeria and in memory of our war lord Ikemba Nnewi. At least do it for him; but in any other event, please do not settle for a sectional tribal party as represented by Bola Tinubu's APC and it does not and should not matter that Ngige is beloved as that will be politically suicidal for Anambra State and Igboland in general.  

Icheoku is emphatic that APC Bola Tinubu violated the sanctity of Obi of Onitsha's solemn Ofala ceremony by staging a campaign event on the same day the Obi was marking his reign to countermand the festivities in an unneeded rivalry. APC Bola Tinubu also spitefully failed, refused and/or neglected to pay the Obi of Onitsha a courtesy call and homage while in the Obi's domain, carrying out a campaign visit to Onitsha. It also did not matter to APC Bola Tinubu that the Obi in whose domain he was trying to stir trouble was celebrating his coronation as to warrant him going to felicitate with him on such an occasion and to wish him many more happy returns? A man as schooled in culture and tradition as APC Bola Tinubu should not have in the first place agreed to flag off any political campaign rally in Onitsha on the same day the Obi of Onitsha was celebrating his Ofala festival; but he chose to affront an institution which means so much to Igbos. The very act of holding a rival event in Onitsha, on the same day the Obi was celebrating his Ofala, by itself, without more, was indeed so confrontational in nature that were it in so many other traditional domains in Nigeria, may be the APC marauders led by Bola Tinubu would not have made it out alive from Onitsha; but thankfully the Obi was both a gentleman and a scholar, a very peaceful person and he restrained his subjects. 

In Bola Tinubu's Lagos, even the celebration of Eyoo masquerade leads to a near total and complete shut down of everything and who knows the fate which usually befalls any unlucky wanderer caught after dawn when their curfew is already in place; but the Obi of Onitsh's Ofala and in Onitsha was no big deal to this band of vagrants led by Bola Tinubu who invaded Onitsha for a political event while the Obi was marking his coronation? Any man or woman who is indeed respectful of a people would by the same token respect things endear to them including their traditional institutions; hence would not hold a confrontational event on the occasion as the Ofala festival. Assuming for the sake of advocacy that no Ofala festival was even taking place, a rather respectful Bola Tinubu, while visiting Onitsha, would have first paid homage to the custodian of Onitsha, the Obi of Onitsha. At least protocol demands that and respect for what the Obi represents and the institution's very high place in Igboland also make it imperative that any dignitary visiting Onitsha should stop by the Ime-Obi to extend felicitations to the Obi. But APC's Bola Tinubu did not any of that nor did he show any respect to His Majesty. A matter made worse because the Obi was celebrating his Ofala when APC Bola Tinubu and his APC vagrants invaded Onitsha and this did not weigh enough to move Bola Tinubu to do what is right by the Obi, by the people of Onitsha, by Anambra State and indeed the entire Igbo people and you ask yourself WHY? Icheoku's guess is because APC Bola Tinubu does not GIVE A DAMN about what the Igbo people or how they feel or think about their traditional institutions?

Icheoku says Chris Ngige is in a wrong party. APC is for all intent and purpose a Southwest regional Yoruba party, in a vice stranglehold of Ahmed Bola Tinubu with some little North West Hausa/Fulani Buhari flavor. The broom symbol was Yoruba ACN's as well as one of its colors. Moreso all the prime officers of APC are Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani people without any Igbo South Easterner in any position of real strength, power or authority within the party; a matter made worse by the Islamic party symbolism of APC with Bola Tinubu and Muhammadu Buhari, both Muslims, calling all the shots. Icheoku queries why would the Igbo people sell out to this arrangement when Buhari has never condemned the incessant massacres of Igbo people in the North by his Islamic brothers Boko Haram terrorists? Bola Tinubu has also not spoken forcefully against the Islamic Boko Haram terrorist scourge whenever their victims were Igbo people unlike he did when those students were beheaded in Yobe recently? So who will protect Igbo people in an APC controlled government under this two men's leadership of the party, their antecedent considered? Therefore why give them front-row accommodation in the heartland of Igboland by handing them over Anambra State through Chris Ngige?

Also knowing how ACN controlled South Western Yoruba States governors are beholden to Bola Tinubu, lavishing their States money on his birthdays and parceling out billions in over-inflated contracts to Bola Tinubu owned companies from Lagos to Oyo to Ogun to Edo and Oshun states, why should Bola Tinubu also be allowed to take over Onitsha and Nnewi markets revenues? Igbo money should be left for the Igbos and not used to further feather the nest of Bola Tinubu or any of his Yoruba controlled business interests or concerns, period. Admitted this may sound like a tribal goading in action but Icheoku says since the handshake across the Niger has not been consummated - not during Awo and Zik era, not during Ojukwu's repeated efforts; not during Obasanjo's government when he pleasured himself greatly with the number of Igbo businesses he closed down from Slok airlines to Ibeto cement to Hallmark bank to Savannah bank etc; and not as recently evidenced with the Governor Fashola's deportation of Igbos from Lagos saga and the repeated calls by demented Femi Fani Kayode for Igbo people to go home, what then is the point pretending that everything is honky-dory in Nigeria among the tribes and that it does not matter what party's platform Ngige runs on and who controls it? 

Just like election matters, political party's platform also equally do matter as somebody somewhere outside Igboland would automatically control the policy and agenda of the incoming APC government of Anambra State in the unfortunate event APC's Ngige is elected? In democracy, numbers matter and there will not be enough Ngiges in APC to stop Bola Tinubu and his boys from wresting the control of Anambra State purse from Igbo people and doing some wealth transfers across the Niger. If in doubt take a look at ACN controlled states of Western Nigeria and be the judge of Bola Tinubu's imperial control. Currently available evidence shows that Bola Tinubu controls his ACN governors lock and step, so an elected APC's Ngige would also be forced to subjugate himself to APC's godfather Bola Tinubu and will not have a say or strength to raise any objection on how Bola Tinubu wants Onitsha and Nnewi revenues to be shared? Icheoku says Igbo people of Anambra State must not allow themselves to wake up to discover that this nightmarish possibility becomes a reality and MUST endeavor to drain the swamp now before those crocodiles infest it. Bola Tinubu controlling Anambra State resources must not be allowed to happen, not NOW, not at any future time.

Lastly Bola Tinubu was coy at Onitsha in not raising the APC Governor Fashola's deportation question or personally apologizing for it, afterall it was the act of his political son, his appointed governor of Lagos State. Conversely, is there anybody out there willing to challenge Icheoku that Bola Tinubu was not aware of the brouhaha caused by Fashola's deportation of his fellow Nigerians from a section of Nigeria despite not having the power or authority to so do? So why did Bola Tinubu not at least reiterate the apology and sought a confirmation that the apology was accepted and further express how deeply sorry he was that his political son acted in such utra vires divisive manner. But instead, he choose to be smart by half about it and remained taciturn on the matter, thinking that Igbo people are too shallow to remember that ugly incident as they cast their ballots to elect their next governor of Anambra State in November. Icheoku says this failure by Bola Tinubu to apologize for Fashola's deportation of Igbo people from Lagos is a gross wilful neglect and utter indifference to a big Igbo people's hurt in their believe in one Nigerian. It is a neglect by Bola Tinubu of a matter which so violently violated the heart and soul of every Igbo person that they still shudders in shock of disbelief that a Yoruba APC governor do not see them as Nigerians? It also shows that Bola Tinubu did not appreciate or refused to see the injustice complained of by the igbos - that Nigerian Igbos were forcibly deported from a section of their country, Lagos-Nigeria and it impacted their psyche. 

APC Bola Tinubu should be held vicariously liable for that depraved act of his appointed political son, APC Governor of Lagos State Fashola. By the same extension, APC's Chris Ngige of Anambra State SHOULD and MUST also be made to feel the heat of Igbo displeasure of what his APC Yoruba friend Fashola did to the Igbo people he wrongly deported from Lagos. Icheoku says since you can tell who a man is by knowing who his friends are, Chris Ngige's palling around with Igbo haters from across the Niger is not a good sign for Anambra State Igbos wellbeing. His being elected into government house Awka forebodes danger to our pride and dignity in Nigeria; therefore he must be stopped cold in his tracks - PLEASE DO NOT ELECT CHRIS NGIGE, GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE. 

A time like this calls for collective action. Icheoku does not dislike or hate Chris Ngige as a person; admitted Icheoku called him out when he went prostrate before Alusi Okija deity to swear oath of loyalty to his erstwhile political godfather Chris Uba who smuggled him into government house Awka during his first governorship journey; before they fell apart leading to the same Chris Ubah kidnapping him and later forcing him out of the same government house Awka through the courts. So Icheoku still questions whether a devil worshiper and a man who swears by deity like Chris Ngige is a fit and proper person to govern a predominantly Christian State like Anambra; and it does not matter that he bears the name CHRIS. A man who wheels and deals in such manner and who swears by deities for power, probably have also sworn by Oshun Goddess for Bola Tinubu to hand him over Onitsha and Nnewi money pots as a trade for being elected? Icheoku does not know for a fact, neither does any one else except the two parties; but suffice it to say that if he did it once then he probably could have done it again now. Icheoku says Anambra State should be governed by a Christian in faith and in practice; and someone who both publicly and privately hold the Christian tenets with honor. 

So you decide for yourself BUT personally Icheoku have decided to take some proactive action to campaign against Chris Ngige's election as governor of Anambra State. In the unfortunate event Anambra Igbos sellout to Yoruba Bola Tinubu and elects Ngige come November 2013, Icheoku would embark on some serious protest action. First Icheoku would boycott Anambra State for the duration of his governorship like Icheoku did of Nigeria when Baba Iyabo was president. Secondly all Icheoku's friends from and of Anambra State origin would be chewed out for allowing a goat to deliver while in tethers. Further and since Anambra State is now the designated heartland of Igboland, Icheoku would feel so guilty by ancestral roots that he will be forced to 'de-Igbonize' himself to a great degree. The dimension is not fully known but it will be enough that people would ask 'is this man of Igbo stork,' and Igbo people will ask, 'is he really one of us? '

Chris Ngige is guilty by association. His friends deported Igbo people from Lagos and they also in concert, disrespected our premier traditional institution. Chris Ngige is in a wrong, anti-Igbo, Islamic party. APC is controlled supremely by one Yoruba Muslim man, Bola Tinubu, assisted by one Hausa/Fulani Islamic fundamentalist, Muhammadu Buhari. Muhammadu Buhari hates the Igbos - his war records and brief presence as head of state spoke volume and it is on record that one of the reasons he staged his 1983 coup was to prevent Vice President Alex Ekwueme from eventually becoming president. It is also instructive that Buhari boycotted the Onitsha Chris Ngige's gubernatorial flag off campaign because he is not comfortable visiting igboland. Buhari also murdered Bartholomew Owo based on a retroactive decree. Buhari also imprisoned Vice President Alex Ekwueme while he put President Shagari under executive house arrest and you wonder why a deputy should be persecuted more than the man in charge? Buhari also once wondered on one his rare visit to Onitsha in 1984 how the Igbos managed the miracle of rebuilding their region after the destruction and deprivation of the civil war. 

Icheoku wonders why all these signs are not already flashing DANGER-RED to Igbo people of Anambra State. Igbo people must not allow themselves to be conquered by the Yorubas, beginning with Anambra State. We are rivals and for one to win the other has to lose; we must therefore not capitulate otherwise they will secure a victory over us. Bola Tinubu is not an Igbo lover either. So brethrens of Anambra State, Icheoku says do this for true blood of Igbo flowing inside of you. Do it to save Onitsha and Nnewi markets' pots of gold from being snatched and siphoned by greedy Bola Tinubu. Do it for all those Igbo people deported by APC Governor Fashola from Lagos. Do it for your motherland - JUST SAY NO TO Bola Tinubu's greedy expedition to conquer Igboland. Say no to Bola Tinubu and his band of very disrespectful brigands who invaded Onitsha while the Obi was celebrating his Ofala without even paying a courtesy visit to the Obi. 

Anambra Igbos, please SAY NO to Chris Ngige's governorship ambition to rule Anambra State as he is going to be a conduit for Bola Tinubu to get his filthy greedy hands on Igbo money. APC is not an Igbo party and they do not care about Igbos nor their traditional institutions. Admitted that Anambra Igbos may love Ngige BUT Ngige cannot stand against Bola Tinubu's greedy appetite that is coveting Onitsha and Nnewi markets' purses. Enough of all these Igbos are "nice" people, courted only when they want something out or from us, only to dumb us and say so long until next time? Ngige may be a saint and a performer past governor BUT he is in an anti-Igbo political party and thus literally in bed with the enemy. The devil's train in which Ngige is hitching a ride to Awka governor's mansion will not bring any good tidings to Igbo people other than influenza. The operators of the train have no love for the Igbo people as exhibited by the recent deportation of Igbo people from Lagos by one of them. Then factor in the continued haranguing of an Igbo daughter Bianca by a prominent member of that party, APC Femi Fani Kayode; admitted the loud mouth is on CRACK which must have cracked his brains alongside his perpetually gaping mouth that oozes with putrid offal? It is also pertinent to note that APC Bola Tinubu did not mention either the APC's Fashola's deportation or APC's Femi Fani Kayode tirades against the Igbos while flagging off APC's Ngige's gubernatorial campaign in Igbo heartland Onitsha and you ask yourself, why? 

The solution and the only nuclear option to stop this evil plans of mortgaging Igbo prosperity to the Yoruba Southwest's control via Bola Tinubu, after their Obafemi Awolowo tried in vain to stifle it with his inhumane twenty pounds and indigenisation decree fiscal and monetary policies, is to not bite the bait that is Chris Ngige. The Ngige carrot, being dangled before the Igbos in Anambra State, is a poison pill that will cause untoward hardship and irreparable damage to the standing of the Igbo people in Nigeria and Igbos MUST reject it and thereby refuse to play second fiddle to our arch rivals, the Yoruba people. Anambra Igbos must tell APC thanks but NO to the Ngige offer; and to Ngige, although we love you BUT you are in a wrong party. Igbo people of Anambra State must not and should never surrender or mortgage their hard-earned prosperity to Bola Tinubu's greed or to the Yorubas' overreaching control. Icheoku says if surrendering Anambra State to the Yorubas is the only way the elusive handshake across the Niger can ever take place, may the two hands hang up in the air in perpetuity, never to clasp one another. It was not done in the past by our previous generation and it must not be done NOW by the present generation. Icheoku says NO to APC and hereby calls on Igbos of Anambra State to also say NO to a Yoruba intended domination of the Igbos. Please say NO to Bola Tinubu's greedy coveting of Onitsha and Nnewi markets treasuries which he plans to execute by proxy of Chris Ngige. The silver bullet - REJECT NGIGE come November.