JE SUIS CHARLIE, ISLAMIC TERRORISM TOUCHDOWN PARIS.

Icheoku says the gory dishes being served all over the world by Boko Haram, ISIS, al-Queida as well as other Islamic terrorist groups is finally now available on the menu in France. Icheoku is expectantly waiting to see how President Francois Hollande and his French security outfits decisively deal with it, admitted the French has had extensive experience dealing with those Islamic crazy-dogs and for so many years. Unfortunately the West including France would neither help in the fight  against nor sell arms to Nigeria as they grapple with their own Islamic terrorism, version Boko Haram? Instead they look the other way as Boko Haram mercilessly massacre innocent Nigerians including high school kids, children and their mothers as well as their fathers. Icheoku says it is the same morphing global Islamic terrorism that has now touched down in Paris, admitted an entirely different Version Hit and Run. The French has now tasted what living in fear actually feels and looks like as Nigeria and other Islamic terrorism infested countries of the world have come to accept as an unavoidable cost of living?

Icheoku says terrorism anywhere is terrorism everywhere, whether in Nigeria's Northeastern Sambisa Forest and Chibok, America's New York City, Russia's Chechnya, Syria's Damascus and/or now as witnessed in Paris, France. The world should come together to collectively and jointly  root it out through a more determined fight to the finish.  In the final analysis, the Paris incident shows that nobody is immunized or inoculated from these random acts of terror by the hate-driven ideology that is Islamic terrorism. Their sadistic perpetrators perceive people of other faiths as infidels that should be put out of their misery by killing them; hence they see themselves doing one heck of a big favor to these victims in order to free them from their sins being alive? Icheoku says nobody is safe from their murderous rampages and not geography or acceptance or tolerance or even attempt at understanding their warped thinking, provides any shield to this their wanton lawlessness; thus leaving the other questions still unanswered, what else can be done to either re-orientate them or decisively defeat them. 

They are daring, they are determined and because life have stopped having any meaning to them , they visit their havoc on both the innocent and the unsuspecting, using the most vicious attack possible and without any care about  the consequence of their act whatsoever. Icheoku says may be the West is not killing them enough or is it about time the West find out from those Israelis how they managed to successfully contain them for so long while living in their midst. It would seem that the more the West ignore them or try to show some understanding, the more impetuous and audacious these scoundrels become. In revving their poisonous pistons, they have managed to put the West in a pickle of not knowing exactly how to completely stop them or when another one of their tragic signature is going to unfold somewhere around or near or that might even consume any person. They are transnational, well financed and well coordinated, determined to the death and seems to lack fear or cowardice while driving this their agenda of fear on the West as the Paris daylight attack attests.

On a final note, Icheoku says to the murdered Stephane Charbonnier and crew of the Charlie Hebdo stable, the world will defend your cause. To the grieving bereaved families of those killed, our sympathies. To the French people, whose leisurely living style, liberty and inviolable freedom, were senselessly and violently violated by this band of jihadist brothers, Icheoku, borrowing the words of President GW Bush, says, the whole world hears you and soon the people that pulled those triggers on those twelve French people would hear from the French law enforcement. They would also get the justice they deserve; which Icheoku hopes would be instantaneous and not litigated out for so long and needlessly wasting additional resources. Like Ismaayi Brimsley, an immediate execution upon contact or sight, would strangely not be out of order and is ideal in the circumstance. 

To the hands of global Islamic terrorism that were used to strike Parisians today, the Kouachi brothers Said and Cherif and their 18year old friend Hamyd Mourad, Icheoku says the hand you dealt Charlie Hebdo is an attack on freedom of speech. But please know that freedom of speech is going nowhere otherwise ask North Korea's Kim Jong-un why The Interview showed. You did not succeed in your cowardly sneak attack to cower freedom of speech; it is here to stay. If you love your Mohammad so much as to perpetrate such heinous mayhem because of what was drawn or written, what the heck are you still doing in Paris? Why not just crawl back to whichever country or cave that you yearn for, which possibly imparted this idiotic, imbecilic convoluted ideology on you and leave the peace loving Parisians alone. Icheoku says what a big tragedy in Paris this Charlie Hebdo massacre indeed is. 

NIGERIA IS A FRAUD - ISIWELE

"Anybody trying to play sectional politics with this is a coward. I was posted to Kano State in 1985 as a police officer. I have spent over 30 years there, even after my retirement. Some of my children do not even speak my language. When I relocated to Kano State, it had 44 local government areas. After creating Jigawa out of the state, it still remained 44. The whole nation saw this as a fraud. There was nothing anybody could have done then because it was during the military." - Alhaji Musa Shehu Isiwele, Uromi Kingdom.

HAUNTED BY SHOELESS PAST, HIS NIGHTMARE BEGAN?

"How Mr President fell madly in love with corruption and brought himself firmly in touch with mediocrity is out of touch with the taunted story of his humble background and the shoeless narrative. It is either that corruption was imprinted on his receptive mind or his sensitive soul veers relentlessly to his earlier shoeless state. Which ever way, President Jonathan's sun has set at midnight in the Eastern part of Nigeria, at the Adoration Ground, where he holds a portion of the nation to a grand illusion of oneness and slavish governance." - Erasmus Ikhide

NIGERIA INSECURITY PROBLEM, JUST WIPE THEM ALL OUT - NALLAH.

"Since Nigeria is a populous country with over 160 million people, we will not mind so much if the 20 million people of the Niger Delta who are giving the rest of the people of the country so much headache in the exploitation of the crude oil in the place are exterminated so that the rest of Nigeria can have peace. 

There is nothing morally wrong in sacrificing just only 20 million people in the interest of the remainder 140million people; otherwise why would they continue to hold the rest of Nigeria hostage and continue to demand ransom for the oil which God of Nigeria merely placed there. Meanwhile I just took delvery of my private jet and discovered it is cheaper to maintain my aircraft than my cars. Can you imagine the return flight from Abuja to Zuru, my village, will cost me only 50liters of petrol whereas my jeep consume 200liters for the same journey; Ba Magana Yaka ri". - Hon Bala Ibn Na'Allah, (PSP, PDP) Representative Zuru/Fakai/Sakaba/Wasagu District of Kebbi State. July 2, 2009.

Icheoku says wondering how Muhammadu Buhari would tackle insecurity in Nigeria if elected? Wonder no more, as one of the Miyetti Allah has revealed how they usually deal with such disturbances. This is an elected member of the House of Representative from Kebbi State, proffering solution to the then Niger Delta crisis. Icheoku says Abubakar Shekau and Asari Dokubo must beware because these mallams are dead serious and not joking. They live and breath ruthlessness and if they encouraged Olusegun Obasanjo to carry out such scorch-earth annihilation in Odi and Zaki Ibiam, what stops them under their own despotic Muhammadu Buhari, from similarly doing the same in the event Asari Dokubo and his original Niger Delta oil terrorists decided to carry out their threat should their Jona not be returned? Icheoku is only positing the thoughts, so now you decide; but with these Miyetti Allah, it is always a one way straight ticket out of here, no mercy!

BUHARI GOES TO CHURCH, ADEBOYE'S LAYING OF HAND ON JONATHAN OVER?

Icheoku says even Pastor Enoch Adebayo seems to have also shifted side in his support for a presidential candidate, from the embattled President Jonathan, whom he previously laid his hand on before the last election, to now Team Buhari? Query: based on what is on the grounds now, would the president still be similarly privileged of receiving the man of "God"s blessings this time around or is it move over Jonathan, please enter OsiBuhari? Icheoku says but wouldn't that be a sort of conflict of interest, blessing both OsiBuhari and President Jonathan, since both parties are seeking the same one presidency of Nigeria and Enoch Adeboye has to decide in whom he is more well pleased? Icheoku does not know about you, but any man would be similarly conflicted, with one of his own pastors on a ticket contesting with a person that used to be a favorite? So ask yourself if you are Pastor Adeboye, what would you do? 

Previously when it was the Islamist and President Jonathan, it was not difficult with the pastor deciding in whom to pitch his tent with. But with the curve ball of one of his own pastors, Yemi Osibanjo, thrown in the fray, any humanbeing, believing the pastor is still human, would certainly be internally conflicted deciding whether to abandon the ship of Jonathan to welcome the attachment that is one of his pastors to the ship of Buhari or choose to do nothing? But this election 2015, sitting on the fence or doing nothing is not on the ballot and will not cut it, as every Nigerian has a skin in the game. So it will not be out of place if the pastor has fallen in love with Team Buhari for nominating one of his men as a vice presidential candidate; and from now it is Kumbaya the Islamist and so long President Jonathan? Icheoku says imagine the incredible "love and affection" that was developed with the selection of Junior Pastor Yemi Osibanjo that Muhammadu Buhari, of all persons, was persuaded to attend and fellowship in a church service; and for the very first time in his entire fundamentalist Islamic Muslim life? 

Icheoku says if nothing else good comes out of this 2015 presidential election, the fact that Muhammadu Buhari was cajoled into entering a place where God and not Allah is worshipped, is one heck of a very bid deal and it is commendable. Who say "e no go betaa for Nigeria" with this kind of an earth-shattering do-over of the fundamentalist Islamic zealot and made him accept to honor an invitation to step inside a Christian church? However, provided Buhari was genuine in giving Osibanjo the benefit of the doubt finding out how they worship their own God, and that his intentions are good and not merely another one of his 'fake it until elected' maneuvers, Icheoku declares it is a new dawn in Nigeria in inter-religion relationship. Otherwise, who knows what the former head of state is hiding in the bosom of his heart including to just use any and every means of tactic and cunning, necessary to acquire power and then bare his infamous fangs? 

But if only there is a way to read the mind's construction by merely looking at one's face, except that William Shakespeare warned us that such is not possible. Icheoku asks are Nigerians going to soon see President Goodluck Jonathan knocking his head on the grounds at a Friday's Jumat Islamic prayers next? Icheoku says until it is over, it is not over and anything is still possible. So give it up to all the different shades of chameleon which politicians are capable of taking and can take just to hoodwink unsuspecting voters to cast their ballots their way. But hey, Nigerians are  waiting and watching to see who they will eventually fall in love on Valentine's day 2015. Icheoku adds, it is also good to see the almighty despot Buhari being humbled around in this manner and instead of barking out orders, he is surreptitiously crawling about begging for votes and asking to be allowed into power instead of forcibly armed robbing power in coup d'etat. And instead of   'WE DECREE this and that', including murdering three innocent Nigerians with a retroactive decree, now goes to church to seek votes. But 'dar is god ooooo!'

THE LAGOS FYING BIRD-WOMAN BY OKEY NDIBE?

"It’s no secret that some unscrupulous tricksters who mask themselves as men or women of God have helped foster this shocking culture of credulousness, this willingness to cleave to any superstition or tale, however absurd. It is a deadly, deadening phenomenon. It enables people to see a scalded victim of an obvious savage attack, and to watch her die, having stigmatized her as a diabolical, flying witch. It deadens the humanity of those who stand by and watch a miserable human expire before their eyes. 

What has happened—what is happening—to the minds of some Nigerians? Why do some of us rush to believe any balderdash? Do we even have any glimmer of hope of becoming an enlightened society when we believe that some of our fellows are literally flying objects, witches and wizards out to wreck us? This kind of ignorance redounds to the advantage of the few who exploit the rest of us. They relish it when we gather in glee around a hapless, helpless dying woman at Oshodi, mistaking her as the source of our woes. The real witches and wizards sit in the halls of power—yes, with many priests, pastors and imams as their guests—gorging on the commonwealth. And these real witches and wizards deepen Nigeria’s misery, and some Nigerians’ susceptibility to superstitions." - Okey Ndibe

FATHER MBAKA SAYS JONATHAN MUST GO!

Icheoku says please, irrespective of your political leaning, watch this video and make up your mind accordingly as to whether there is any meat to the bone in the current ruckus about what Father Mbaka said or did not say concerning Project Jonathan 2015. Icheoku agrees that sometimes a motive could be subjudice and prejudice combined, but oftentimes a messenger could also be at variance with a message. Therefore it is good to have the discipline to listen to the message despite ones dislike for the messenger; because truth can also come from an imbecile too. 

Icheoku agrees with the message that President Jonathan usually assumes the names "Azikwe and Ebele" when campaigning in Igboland but quickly reverts to his original names once the election is over. Further that the citizens of Nigeria have been overstretched and now deputizing for the government, doing projects which is a meaningful government's lawful duty, but which it neglected or rather failed to do. 

Icheoku implores Nigerians to understand the magnitude of failures recorded under the Jonathan's presidency as they cast their votes, admitted that APC screwed up with their choice of a presidential candidate, thereby not giving Nigerians a meaningful choice either? A man carrying as much baggage as Muhammadu Buhari should have no business being presented as a presidential candidate by any major political party, which truly wants to give Nigerians a real choice in an election; because no true and sincere Nigeria would conscionably cast his vote for such an anti-democrat despot. So Jonathan must be made to understand that his first term was a BIG failure and he must be prepared to do better next time! But hey, you decide!

NIGERIA ABORTS PALESTINE STATE, FOR WHAT?

Icheoku says amidst the nitty gritty, quid pro quo, wheeling and dealing that is international diplomacy, Nigeria was forced to vote against the emergence of a Palestinian state and for FREE? The country got nothing in return for her golden vote and Icheoku asks why not? Icheoku queries why did Nigeria blow away such a pivotal and beautiful opportunity they would have used to leverage so many things they need from the international community including support and obtaining weapons for the Boko Haram struggle? Why did Nigeria not premise their vote on a precondition that United States of America as well as their 51st State Israel, first furnish a binding commitment to sell Nigeria weapons before casting their absentee vote? Why did Nigeria not strong-arm the United States into first committing their full support with weapons and cooperation on intelligence in the fight against Boko Haram before ceding that vote to deny the Palestines' Statehood?  

Icheoku says but unfortunately, a lackluster and clueless Jonathan government, too timid to look these white people in the eyes and tell them what he is indeed thinking, sheepishly voted by default of their abstinence and today Palestine once again hit the wall in their attempt to secure a homeland for their people? There was no promise or commitment to help fight the Boko Haram insurgency nor was there any promise to supply or sell the much needed weapons and one wonders what motivated this Nigeria's international goof and golden lifetime opportunity missed? All Jonathan got for his no-vote vote was a mere commendation from Bibi Netanyahu, who said "I would like to voice appreciation and thanks to the United States and Australia and also special appreciation for the president of Rwanda, my friend Paul Kagame and the president of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan. I spoke with both of them and they told me and promised me personally that they would not support this resolution. They kept their word and thats what clinched this matter. I think this is very important for the state of Israel." Icheoku says funny enough, Netanyahu did not even acknowledge Jonathan as his FRIEND and also mentioned him last? 

Icheoku says ironically even those pontificating the religious angle as reason why Nigeria under a Christian President sided with the Israelis, fail to understand that Israelis are not even Christians? They failed to understand that the people of Israel are not followers or admirers of Jesus Christ; that they even killed Jesus, admitted they now deny what is even recorded in the Bible as they blame Italian Pontius Pilate for Jesus' death?  These Nigerians forgot that as Jews, they practice Judaism - the religion of Abraham and Moses but not Christianity and they don't even go to church? But the Palestine, admitted they are Arabs, but they are majority Christians including their President Abbas who regularly goes to church; and even the murdered Arafat was married to a Christian from Morocco? So is it not a logic on its head that a Nigerian Christian President Jonathan should take sides with people who are anti-Christ as opposed to his Christian brothers, the Palestine, who are majority Christians? 

Anyway it is all international politics and President Jonathan of Nigeria should have mined the given opportunity optimally. But because he is too timid to stand up to these foreign leaders in his mad quest to get some level of acceptance, he hurriedly caved in to their pressure or rather slight push. Icheoku is not saying any other Nigerian president would have done otherwise or stood in the way of the Americans, but at least he should have made that vote count, and very expensive, if need be. They needed Nigeria's vote, Nigeria needed and still needs arms and intelligence to fight Boko Haram; and as a quid pro quo, Nigeria should have dealt accordingly. But to just gratuitously cave in and gave them that hefty default vote in return for nothing, is what Icheoku calls selling out or rather buckling under. Possibly Nigeria has now made Saudi Arabia doubly-mad and they might decide to slash oil price further down to even below $20 per barrel and let Nigerians eat their vote against the Palestine Statehood, which the Saudis so much wanted. Icheoku says the Nigeria no-vote  abstention against Palestine Statehood was a vote thrown away and at best was given for nothing, which defeats the whole essence of international diplomacy. But this President Jonathan sef, who is neither providing leadership at home nor abroad yet desiring a second term? If only the APC had given Nigerians a choice they can live with and the Niger Delta original terrorists not threatening to send Nigeria to hell, 2015 would have been a mere pipe dream for him. But, hey....

HID AWOLOWO BAILS OUT ON JONATHAN, ANOTHER SUPPORTER LOST?

Icheoku says is it possible that another prominent former Jonathan's supporter has deserted the president? Just few short days after the pentecostal reverend father in Enugu Father Mbaka offloaded President Jonathan from his 2015 support train, it appears that the Yeye Oba of Yorubaland Chef Mrs HID Awolowo has also made her exit from the Jonathan 2015 train to Aso Rock? Icheoku says it appears the woman has decided that "MINE" is a far much better alternative to "OURS" by pitching her tent with her son inlaw, APC Vice Presidential candidate Yemi Osibanjo  in his ticket with Muhammadu Buhari. 

Responding when the candidate paid her a courtesy visit, Hanah Idowu Dideola Awolowo said "I am very happy this morning to see that Yemi Osibanjo is going to higher ground and it is my prayer that he will get there. I urge you all to support his aspirate; God will take you there."

Icheoku says such public endorsement by Awolowo matriarch surely does not bode well for Team Jonathan 2015; a matter made worse as it will be seen as people beginning to take their exit from his campaign. Admitted that die-hard Jonathanists might dismiss such as inconsequential, but any keen political analyst would agree with Icheoku that more is always merrier in politics. The loss of any support is a serious matter politically speaking, especially under the circumstances Jonathan found himself going into the 2015 election. Now Jonathan seems to have been boxed into a tighter corner, defending his lackluster records, contending with a Yoruba Southwest with a vice presidential candidate slot, as well as a threatening bloc-votes in the North. But hey, Icheoku dey only watch ooo; but things are certainly not looking very good for Team Jonathan and his prospect today, is rather gloomier than  it was yesterday with this switching of sides of the Yoruba Chief Madam, if the truth must be told.

FATHER MBAKA MAKES U-TURN, GIVES JONATHAN A RED CARD!

Icheoku says what suddenly changed  to make this supposed seer and man of "God" change his prophesy for the Jonathans regarding their stay in Aso Rock? Is it possible that may be his "God" never indeed really told him anything nor  revealed any vision to him, when a few short weeks ago, on November 9th 2014, he prophesied to a gathering in his adoration center, which included Dame Patience Jonathan and her entourage, that "Those fighting Jonathan would meet their down fall!" In his own very words, Reverend Mbaka said “I want to ask those saying that Jonathan must bring back the Chibok girls. Is Jonathan holding the Chibok Girls? When you, First Lady went to Borno, you said there is God oh! Jonathan is not a kidnapper. We are giving you our support. You have done a lot for this country. You have done it with distractions. We wonder what you will do without distractions. We know what you will do. Adoration will support you and your husband."  

Now before the year 2015 could even be cleaned off its after birth, the same man of "God" has changed his tune and instead of affirming his praise and resolution on the Jonathan 2015 project, has made a dramatic 180 degree turn, now saying that is finished for the Jonathans? In his sermon during the new year's eve night mass at the same adoration center titled "From Goodluck to Badluck", the same preacher said, “Jonathan has ruled for six years. We need change. NEPA is not working because of corruption. We need change. The privatization of public companies has not yielded any fruit because of corruption. We need change. Jonathan surrounded himself with very corrupt officers who advise him. We need change. Nigerians are sick and tired of wasting innocent lives without government doing enough to stop the destruction. We need change. Up till now, nobody knows the whereabouts of the innocent Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram and we say we have a government that cannot guarantee the welfare, safety and security of the citizens. We need change. Nigerians are calling for change. We need a change.” 

Icheoku is visiting this matter because we have always known that these self-prescribed men and women of "God" are preying on the gullible of Nigeria who are too afraid to stand up and face their demons; but instead are finding succor in all manner of prayer houses and babalawos shrines throughout Nigeria? Query:- if indeed these men communicate with "God", as they proclaim, why haven't they begged "God" to please solve all Nigerians' problems or at least those of their suffering congregants. Icheoku says this is the same man of "God" who went to Imo State government house few years ago to pour encomiums on Governor Rochas Okorocha as what Imo State has been waiting for; but following a bounced check snafu, now is praising Ikedi Ohakim as the true man of wonders Imo State missed for Okorocha? It is also on record that all the goodies Imo State is supposed to receive as a result of Okorocha's becoming a governor as predicted by this very man of "God" has not yet manifested. 

Anyway, you be the judge but for any supposed man of "God" to say one thing and within few short weeks changed his mind and started singing an entirely different tune is suspect. Icheoku's opinion is that possibly the check from Aso Rock similarly bounced and now an incensed man of "God", feeling betrayed and not paid his wages for the prescribed vision he rendered, now decided to take his vision back or hold its beneficiaries hostage? But why not, after all in the bible there are prophets of prosperity as well as prophets of doom and today depending on who is n attendance at their respective mountain of fire miracle roughing sermons, they could always tailor their prophesies to the exigency of the moment. Icheoku is convinced that this latest prophesy must be causing a whole lot of jitters at Aso Rock at this moment? The Jonathans, being who they are - well known for their belief in these mundanities and serious reliance on them just like Abubakar Atiku  relies on his Cameroonian marabouts and fortune tellers, must have dispatched an assistant to Emene Enugu to make peace with this enraged man of "God" by redeeming his bounced check? Icheoku says Nigerians will not be surprised to wake up within the next few days with another changed prophesy about Jonathan come 2015. But hey, only the so called man of prophesy, Reverend Father Camellias Ejike Mbaka, knows what indeed actually works and what does not work. As to whether or nor any "God" speaks to him, will be better left fora trained psychiatrist to determine as that is above Icheoku's pay grade. FYI" Picture below is Dame "dar is god ooo" receiving the prophesy of November 9 at the adoration center.

CHANGE, WHAT CHANGE - LAMIDO

"How can a child begotten by a leper, breastfed by a leper, then now grow up saying the leper is dirty and smelling? People like Kano State Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi, Makatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto, Nasiru El-Rufai, former speaker Aminu Bello Masari are all PDP-born politically, who have everything in common with those in the party. But because they were frustrated out of the party, today are talking of change, which change. Nonsense." - Governor Sule Lamido of Adamawa State.

NEW YEAR RESOLUTION 2015, MAKE NIGERIA A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY.

Icheoku says a well functioning society is like a well choreographed orchestra; each musician playing his or her  instrument in accordance with prescribed notes and directed by a conductor; and together they produce a harmonious melody. But a dysfunctional society, where everybody wants to lead at the same time is like an orchestra with too many conductors and in which nobody even wants to be an instrument player. Icheoku asks who then plays the various family instruments from the percussion, string, woodwind, brass, keyboard, and of course voice including accordion, flute, tambourine, trumpet, clarinet, cello etc when every person wants to only be the conductor and nothing else? The result is disharmony, confusion, chaos, dysfunctionality and often times, mayhem; as the conductor's position which is supposed to be occupied by solely one person now has a motley of disparate people, each trying to drive the musical discourse which results in discordant tune and/or no music at all. "Fela's Confusion Break Bone, yee kpaaa" readily comes into mind discussing Nigeria's problem.

Icheoku says Nigerians must learn that somebody must lead and others must follow in order to achieve the desired objective of having a functional country. The true test of a leader is one who has ably, previously followed as an understudy; otherwise where did he learn or take his pupillage on how to lead if he has never been led to know how it is done? It is the school of hard-knocks and their lesson is superbly very instructive. This is one reason why Icheoku regrets the lack of continuity in some government programs in Nigeria like the laudable WAI and MAMSER. Take for example MAMSER which was in the process of making every Nigerian begin to take pride in whatever type of work they did which is no more. Remember the Jerry Gana's famous campaign "if you are teacher, teach well", "if you are a tailor, sew well," "if you are a bricklayer, layer well", "if you are a doctor, doctor well," if you are a lawyer, lawyer well" and "if you are a president, preside well" etc? 

Icheoku reiterates that every person cannot be the president or governor or senator or local government chairman or councillor or even anything at the same time. MAMSER was trying to make every Nigerian be comfortable with whatever they did or are doing and encourage them to do it so well it sizzles. For instance in the clime where I call home, not many people even care about politics enough to give a damn who is where that many people don't even know who their governors are? Even one Hollywood actress was asked on national television who the vice president is but she does not know and did not care either. But in Nigeria, because it is the means to an end and the be it that makes it all, every tug and tout head-dive therein to steal themselves blind from the common wealth. Otherwise why should anybody be that desperate to "serve" anyone to warrant all the do or die that comes with politicking in Nigeria. 

If only Nigerians would ask themselves when did it become fashionable for someone to kill another person simply because he wants to provide service for the people?  It does not make any sense at all and if Nigerians could imbibe this lesson in the New Year, it will help them make and have a good life for themselves, devoid of all these stress and tension, simply because one man wants to be president and another wants to be governor and another wants to be senator and another wants to be local government chairman. If everyone becomes this and that who then becomes the other things in the society? Just be the best you can be in your department and make others so jealous they want to imitate you and be like you. There is honor in labor and as a laborer, you will surely get your wages doing whatever you do, provided you do it well. 

If only MAMSER had succeeded, by now many of these people struggling and killing each other to be elected for one office or another would not have abandoned their original trade or professional calling for politics. So Nigerians, Icheoku calls on you to make a new year resolution to be the best in whatever you do and help make Nigeria a more functioning society. Realizing too that for many of these political offices, there are limited number of occupants at one time; and that you don't have to be the one in it. But in any event, if you must, please go about it in an orderly and civilized manner and also learn to take defeat like a sportsman. All the best in the new year Nigerians and may the lesser of the two evils, running for president, emerge victorious on February 14, 2015.

364 DAYS AND NO DALLIANCE, A RECORD BREAKING FEAT.

Icheoku says 12/24/14 was exactly a full calendar year - day to day, night to night, that no naked female or male or animal shared Icheoku's private moment and I say congratulations to myself. So 2014 will go on record and is now officially declared the ONLY year in the life of an adult man that no wine was poured into any vessel and neither was any water passed under any bridge howsoever. 

From a frequent flyer miles to now zero flight record, that is incredible but a true story! Icheoku never thought it was possible or doable, until it was pulled off;  done principally for reassurance and to prove a point that a man can go without, despite all the needless accusations of the ever suspicious female specie, including companions and spouses. Icheoku says from garnered experience, all it takes is to get really busy and to stay so mentally preoccupied, that there is no free space to think about the apple. But for the new year, ....???

BUHARI, A CRIMINAL PRESIDENT FOR NIGERIA?

Icheoku says did the fact that Robbin Hood distributed his loot to the poor and needy of England make his criminal brigandage acceptable? Did the fact that Ma Baker stole from the rich and gave to the poor, give him a pass from the law against his many bank robberies? What about the infamous Lawrence Aninih of Benin, former Bendel State of Nigeria armed robbery saga or rather notoriety, who robbed banks and distributed his loot to the poor and needy of Benin? When he was caught, did he plead his charitable contributions to secure his freedom from the hail of police bullets that ended his life? Ditto Ngene Omu of Enugu State who robbed everyone including banks but gave the proceeds to the needy of Enugu State. When the end of his life came, did he plead his being Mr Generosity to blunt those police hot leads? 

So what is Icheoku saying traveling down these memory lanes of some world notorious robbery kingpins who thought they were doing good with their loot while breaking the law? Icheoku has been doing some research lately, on a few words, particularly the word "coup d'etat" and who a coup plotter really is?  The word coup d'etat, which is French, means to cause a "stroke of the state," i.e. to cause a state to have a stroke or to give a "blow  to or against the state or government." Continuing, "a coup de'tat is the unlawful taking control by some group of military personnel of some active portion of the military while neutralizing the remainder of a country's armed forces. This group captures or expels the leaders of the country or government, illegally seizes physical control of important government offices, means of communication, and the physical infrastructure, such as streets and power plants. The coup succeeds if its would be opponents fail to dislodge the plotters, allowing them to consolidate their position, obtain the surrender or compliance of the populace and surviving armed forces, and claim legitimacy. 

A coup d’etat is an illegal quick and decisive seizure of governmental power by military or political coup plotters. It is the sudden convulsive overthrow of a government by a small group of army personnel who then arrest the incumbent leaders, seizes the national radio and television services and proclaims itself in power. A coup plotter is therefore someone, usually a military person, who secretly makes plans with others to do something illegal, wrong or harmful alongside his other conspirators such as the overthrow of a legitimate subsisting government. Planning and/or carrying out a coup d'etat is therefore a crime and so are coup plotters, criminals, both in the illegality of their act and in the conspiracy to carry out same. Icheoku therefore queries, had Muhammadu Buhari not succeeded with the coup d'etat of December 31st 1983, would he still be alive today? 

As a conspirator to an illegality - coup plotting and its execution, had he not succeeded, would he have been hailed as a hero or rather shot as a common criminal who levied insurrection against the state? If the answer is the later and Nigerians agree that what Buhari did on that cold December 31st night 1983, when Nigerians were awaiting the arrival of the new year, was both illegal and unlawful, and that he would have been executed if he did not succeed, and given that only criminals are executed for their criminal act or conduct, does it not therefore necessarily follow that Muhammadu Buhari is a criminal, but one who succeeded in carrying out his crime? So why does murderers and armed robbers as well as other criminals who successfully carried out their crimes, later get hunted down to face justice? At least until there is a state pardon extirpating the said crime, a crime remains a crime and a criminal involved thereto remains a criminal? So why should an established criminal be running for the office of the presidency of the Nigerian state or is it a case of what is good for the goose not being good for the gander? Why must different rules be applied to different criminals or is someone now saying that some crimes are more reprehensible than others? 

Now follow it up by asking whether successfully committing a crime or doing something illegal removes the repugnance which society attaches to  such conduct? So except the end now justifies the means as with almost everything Nigerian, and that the crime of coup plotting is now an acceptable crime in Nigeria, why would someone tainted with the crime of overthrowing of a legitimately elected democratic government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and who has not been granted a state pardon, now be hailed as a hero and the knight in shinning armor charging on horse back to the rescue of Nigeria? Icheoku says, for a man who violently overthrew an elected government of President Shehu Shagari in a bloody coup d'etat, at least Brigadier Bako was killed during the putsch, to now become so elevated by a society that has been aptly described as 'too fast and too furious', leaves much to be desired and a very sour palate in the mouth of many decent human beings the world over. How can a man with blood in his hands and who conspired to wreck havoc on a state be allowed to shamelessly stand for election into the same office he deprived another? 

What sensibility is left in these Nigerians that cannot condemn and frown at a criminal behavior but seem to celebrate criminals of every kind and description. If such a criminal could now be so celebrated as a corruption czar extra-ordinaire, why is nobody also querying how he first became opportune to get into the position to so profess or prove his mettle fighting corruption? Icheoku says if it is indeed agreed that the end does not justify the means and that a criminal behavior should always and forever remains opprobrious in the eyes of the society, then a man who committed such an abhorable crime of levying insurrection against the state and which qualifies him as a very hardened criminal, should not have anything to do desiring the office of Nigeria president or be allowed anywhere near the office. 

But in any other event, it is Nigeria and in Nigeria, everything is virtually possible, including the current celebration of Muhammadu Buhari for his perfidious and inimical conduct of overthrowing a legitimate government, which in other civilized societies would be greatly frowned at. As far as Icheoku is concerned, coup plotting and/or its execution is as heinous as it gets, if not worse than armed robbery and murder combined. Therefore every coup plotter, whether successful or not, should be summarily executed whenever the opportunity calls and so should Muhammadu Buhari have been. Icheoku laments that it is as a result of a society that condones indecent behavior and infra-dig conducts that a person who should have since been executed or at least locked away to rot in prison has become a continuing nuisance in Nigeria  and shamelessly desiring to be her president? What a tragedy - the tragedy of an unconscionable polity that allowed the likes of Muhammadu Buhari to thrive among them. What a perfidy!

IS BUHARI THE BEST APC CAN OFFER - MUSTAPHA ABDULLAHI?

Is Muhammadu Buhari really the best the opposition All Progressives Congress has to offer? This question has come to the fore since Buhari, Nigeria’s former military strongman, beat the likes of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Kano state governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, Imo state governor Rochas Okorocha and Leadership publisher, Sam Nda-Isaiah, to clinch the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress. His victory at the December 11, 2014 national convention has the imprimatur of former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu—and so does  the choice of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as his running mate, raising disquiet within the party of a grand design by two power blocks to corner the party and its decision making process.

The internal contradictions in the party pale into insignificance if the barrage of attacks so far generated by Buhari’s nomination is considered. What have come into focus since that victory are the credentials Buhari brings into the contest and why he has arrogantly refused to come to terms with his sordid past. This question whether he is really the best the APC can offer, becomes pertinent considering the huge baggage of negative perception associated with his tenure as Nigeria’s military leader.

Buhari’s past will always haunt him politically. His actions as military Head of State between December, 1983 and August, 1985, the documented cases of ethnic bias against him, his tainted democratic credentials, his flawed judgment on public policy and his warped worldview, have been the reasons for his failure in successive presidential contests from 2003 to 2011. Whether 2015 will be different depends on how the questions surrounding his democratic credentials are interrogated. That his name continues to be mentioned in many high-profile cases of abuses ranging from rights infringement to murder, certainly does not help, just like the perception that he still harbours such sadistic dispositions — a perception that cost him the three previous contests in 2003, 3007 and 2011.

The charge of ethnic bias has trailed Buhari throughout his public life.  It manifested in 1984 when he bent the rules to accommodate the father of his then aide-de-camp, who had smuggled in 53 suitcases loaded with Nigerian currency when he had supposedly shut the borders for a change of the Nigerian currency.  Also as chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) that was set up by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, he converted what was a national assignment to the benefit of a certain section of the country. At the end of the PTF activities, those who had viewed Buhari as a nationalist were dismayed to discover that he ran the PTF like a sectional enclave.

His cancellation of the Lagos metroline project conceived by Second Republic governor of Lagos State, Lateef Jakande, is an instance of poor judgment of public policy. That singular act on that project, designed to build underground transport system to address the chaotic traffic situation in the state, is still blamed for the transportation challenges in that mega city.

The government, which Buhari led was a dictatorship of the worst kind, but the fact that he arrogantly stands by his draconian laws and official high-handedness is unimaginable.  A true statesman should have the courage to admit errors of the past for it is only then that it can be used as a guide to the future.  His ascension to leadership of the nation witnessed an unprecedented hounding of politicians into detention and jail, most of them on trumped up charges of corruption: to demonise the political actors of the time and legitimise his action of sacking a democratically elected federal government.

The obnoxious Decree 4 under which two prominent journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were jailed for a story they published in The Guardian newspapers is a case in point.  Buhari’s government’s attempt to kidnap Umaru Dikko, Second Republic Transport minister who had taken refuge as an exile in London, is another. For the general, he has developed thick skin to such criticisms of his poor human rights record but for him, it is a road well travelled. The question is: are these issues Nigerians are prepared to associate with their President? For a man who desires to lead, Buhari is as unbending as he was thirty years ago and his arrogance continues to manifest in his statements and actions today. The conclusion is obvious and the fear that he will visit the country with worse policies and draconian rule, are not misplaced after all.

By the time the 2015 presidential election is held next February, Buhari would have broken all records as the only Nigerian to have sought election to that high office four consecutive times: in 2003, 2007 and 2011.  The All Progressives Congress (APC) on which platform he has indicated interest in contesting the position again, will be his third political party; the previous ones being the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Why the desperation?

He has possibly forgotten the message serially delivered by Nigerians in 2003, 2007 and as recent as Saturday, 16 April, 2011 when the Congress for Progressive Change on which platform he contested, lost the 2011 presidential election to President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party. Not only was the defeat emphatic, it was also believed to signpost Buhari’s journey to political retirement after a career in which his electoral performance has always been far below his rating. How he squares up against candidate Goodluck Jonathan who is virtually unblemished by any negative allegations or stigmas, will be interesting.

OBASANJO'S UNBECOMING BEHAVIOR, GOADED BY HIS MINDSET?

Icheoku says  the continuing nuisance which Olusegun Obasanjo has lately become, to both President Jonathan and the Nigerian people, has indeed become a cancer which has to be cut off before it metastasizes. Like every cancer, if not treated or cut off at this stage is capable of taking the whole body down with it; and this is exactly what Olusegun Obasanjo is trying to do - take Nigeria down with him; or for there to be no more Nigeria left when he is dead and gone. Icheoku laments that Obasanjo's mindset which deludes him that he is an untouchable and to which he has become captive of, is trying to do him in. As he accelerates at a very top speed on his highway to hell autobahn, our prayer is that he does not take Nigeria with him when he rendezvous with Lucifer. 

Icheoku says Obasanjo presents a case of a patient with a  chronic and acute psychotic disorder, who goes into intermittent delusional psychosis, wherein he finds himself living in a space, alone, and over-confident in the   unassailability of his position. To Olusegun Obasanjo, it does not matter what the reality on the ground is, and provided his mind tells him the version of reality which he is comfortable with and wants to operate in, that is only what counts. This warped state of mind is currently serving as Obasanjo's navigational compass, as he continues to trudge in front of an approaching freight train that is the state of Nigeria. But luckily for him, the engineer/operator of the train, a man named Jonathan, is rather too disciplined and so God fearing that he is carefully applying his brakes, hoping to gradually ease an inebriated Obasanjo safely out of danger zone and not convert him into a hamburger. Icheoku will not take it and an Obasanjo will not and did not take it; likewise did every other former leader of Nigeria not take it and no future leader would be that magnanimous either, faced with such continuing arrant nonsensical provocations. Why Jonathan is accommodating this Obasanjo madness is beyond Icheoku's comprehension; a matter his dogs of war would have since abated by hog-tying and dumping Obasanjo into political irrelevance in Nigeria but for the man Jonathan.

Olusegun Obasanjo's mind is fixated on the rightness of his cause, which pursuit, is leading him into believing that as a 'co-president' of Nigeria, he can have his way as he pleases? He also believes that no person in Nigeria, including the legitimate sitting president, can do him anything or attempt to cage him or is even capable of reigning him in? Icheoku says this bigoted mindset is what is driving Obasanjo's pistons and nothing more, period. It is a peculiar idiosyncrasy which makes one to perceive things which are not there as being there. A confused reality situation, a near hallucinatory condition, which thrives, simply because one has so repeatedly done something or caused so much troubles and got away with them, without any consequence, and not being challenged either, then begins to assume the rightness and correctness of his action. To such a mind-afflicted person, it usually is, if I am not right, why is there no counter-argument or consequence  or challenge to my opinions or position? 

Around April 2014 Obasanjo was visiting Ethiopia and in his usual braggadocio, told how he is not afraid of anyone in Nigeria and rather, it is Nigerians that are afraid of him. Icheoku queries should a man with such a given mindset ever stop carrying out all his needless attacks and confrontations except his balloon is deflated? Your answer is as good as mine, but Icheoku maintains that Olusegun Obasanjo is daily growing impetuous simply because he thinks he is now an untouchable and that the Jonathan's government is deathly afraid of him. Icheoku says Olusegun Obasanjo is convinced that nothing can happen to him and this mentality is what is fueling his continuous attacks and confrontation of the president; and unless he is told ENOUGH, through some drastic action, he will continue to cause tension in the country as he inflicts reputation damage to the government and person of President Jonathan. 

Icheoku says if Sani Abacha had his way with Obasanjo and nearly killed him but for his late wife Stella's contacting Atlanta's former mayor Andrew Young, who contacted then President Bill Clinton, who made a threatening phone call to Abacha of a Grenada styled invasion of Nigeria should anything happen to Obasanjo, that Ota deity would have since rotten in an unmarked grave somewhere in Damaturu. But this is not to suggest that Obasanjo should be killed or harmed in any way, but to reiterate that a courageous head of state once went after him and the skies over Yorubaland did not cave in. Late President Umaru Yar'Adua, another courageous leader, was similarly readying himself to take on Obasanjo before the hands of death snatched him, thus once again restating that Obasanjo is not above the law but has been lucky, surviving thus far.

Icheoku says it was William Shakespeare who said in "Taming of the Shrew" that 'where two raging fires meet together they do consume the thing that fuels their fury. Adding that little fire do grow great with little wind; but extreme gust blows out fire." Icheoku says the only reason the Ota deity, is still prancing around and insulting every Nigerian's psyche, is because he has not been confronted just yet. So like a small fire, he is being prodded by the fanning which the needless attention to his reckless talks, brings his way. Icheoku says it is about time President Jonathan mans up, turn into a gust and blow out Obasanjo's fire; and let Obasanjo know that there cannot be two presidents at the same time in Nigeria. Enough of all these provocations from Olusegun Obasanjo, who himself would not tolerate half of what he is presently dishing out to President Jonathan. President Jonathan, Icheoku calls on you to just turn the dogs loose and let them do their job and bring all these mongrels to their senses. 

Obasanjo is running all over the place like a rabid dog and running his mouth as a leaky faucet simply because no countering fire for fire, scorch earth campaign, has been mounted by the timid Jonathan's government against him. Icheoku says it is about time President Jonathan mans up, develop some backbone and confront Olusegun Obasanjo once and for all; and also drum it right into his ears that there cannot be two sitting presidents in Nigeria at the same time. Olusegun Obasanjo has been sabotaging the Jonathan's government for quite sometime now, while President Jonathan, respectfully or rather timidly, looked the other way while the damage continues to mount. Why President Jonathan does not know or care to know that Obasanjo is bleeding his government's reputation baffles Icheoku a lot. Were Icheoku Jonathan, this Obasanjo distraction would have since been taken care of and in whatever way possible, even if it means the end justifying the means, provided this pesky mosquito is got rid of once and for all. 

Some fear of God need to be put in Olusegun Obasanjo to contain him or stop him or imprison him or even force him into exile if that is what it takes. Icheoku says it would appear that Nigerians including Olusegun Obasanjo himself do not enjoy the current liberty, freedom and peace in the country; so it maybe about time some barking and biting attack dogs are turned loose on the land if that is what it would take? May be that is what President Jonathan needs to do in order to gain and command some respect? Such might do  the trick otherwise this Obasanjo madness would continue to stir tension in the land and for a long time. It was Obasanjo that engineered the five PDP governors revolt? It was Obasanjo that engineered Aminu Tambuwal recalcitrant behavior, despite the fact that the same Tambuwal once disrespectfully ignored Obasanjo's plea to vacate the speaker-ship because the position was zoned to the Southwest? It was the same Obasanjo that used former and now dead Foreign Affairs Minister Ashiru to sabotage the Jonathan's foreign policies and the list goes on and on. 

Look at Olusegun Obasanjo speaking about a president being evil and Icheoku asks which evil-evil president killed his sitting Attorney General Bola Ige? Which evil-president killed Harry Marshall etc? Which evil-president killed Sultan of Sokoto Maccido alongside Senator Shagari as well as over 100 top Hausa/Fulani leaders in a staged plane crash? Even Ibrahim Babangida once broached the question including the numerous aircraft accidents that took place during Obasanjo despotic regime, masqueraded as a democracy?  Which evil-president killed some 16 army brigadiers and major generals in a staged plane crash on Mambilla plateau? Which evil-president imposed candidates all over the states, legislature etc? Which evil-president went through so many PDP party chairmen more than Icheoku has fingers on one of his hand? Which evil-president so frustrated his vice president that he ran off into exile? 

Further, which despotic evil-president kidnapped a sitting governor of a State and forced some others into exile fearing for their lives? Which evil-president closed down so many businesses which were employing thousands of Nigerians simply because he fell out with their proprietors and in his do or die style of politics, turned into a bull in a China shop, regardless of those Nigerians rendered jobless through his mindless action? Which evil-president forced nearly every state to be under PDP control and which evil-president refused to obey court orders? Which evil-president seized Lagos State revenue allocation simply because a Bola Tinubu controlled state questioned the disparity of Kano State number of local governments areas compared to Lagos and took measures to redress it? 

Continuing, Icheoku asks which evil-president continually festooned the floor of the National assembly with  banana peels, using millions of tax-payers and oil revenue money to bribe his way through and who spent a whipping 9billion Naira to effect the outcome of his failed Third Term agenda, which would have succeeded but for the courageous Ken Nnamani then led senate, who decided to publicly televise its debate? Which evil-president massacred Odi and Zaki Ibiam citizens of Nigeria and turned their homes into wasteland? Which evil-president supervised the Siemens and Halliburton bribery scandal running into hundreds of millions of dollars? Which evil-president gave away a Nigerian Bakassi community to Cameroon? Which evil-president committed sex acts including have carnal knowledge of his son Gbenga's wife Mojisola? Which evil-resident went from having zero-money when he first ran for office to becoming stupendously rich outside office? Which evil-president did all these and many more, yet has the guts to accuse another president of being EVIL? Icheoku says no matter the shortcomings of the President Jonathan's government, at least he has not committed nearly half the evil which Olusegun Obasanjo committed while he was the lord of the manor; yet the same Obasanjo had the temerity to call President Jonathan evil?

Icheoku just gets raving mad at this Obasanjo, each time he opens his foul mouth, cashing in on Nigerians known penchant for amnesia induced forgetfulness and saying what everybody knows is both incredible and incredulous. Nigerians appear to have so easily and so too soon, forgotten the slave camp which Nigeria was turned into under President Olusegun Obasanjo despotic government where everyone bowed and trembled under his suffocating presence. Icheoku once called for the arrest, trail and execution of Olusegun Obasanjo for all the crimes against humanity he committed while in office. With each day he lives thereafter, Icheoku has made conscious decision to stop wasting time on anything about him. But with every rule there are some exceptions and because the Ota deity has started Icheoku again with his recent diatribe and branding of President Jonathan as evil, Icheoku would once again say something? Hopefully, after this comment, Icheoku with much prayers for restraint, might not look the way of Olusegun Obasnjo again until the day his sorry obituary would be written and we pray it comes sooner than later. Icheoku says Olusegun Obasanjo is a cancer in the body of Nigeria and until the country rids itself of his presence, he will always be causing confusion and undue tension in the land. Icheoku laments that it is President Jonathan who allowed this seeming 'double-presidency' or co-presidency with Olusegun Obasanjo to persist in the country. As far as Obasanjo is concerned he still is the president or rather the de-facto president and the official president should submit to his authority. 

The rule number one is that there can never be two kings in a kingdom simultaneously and concurrently reigning. One of them must either be killed or banished in exile to make the reign of the one on the throne trouble-free. So for Jonathan to have piece of the mind, the de-facto president Obasanjo must be taken care of in whatever manner possible. At least if Jonathan does not know what to do, he can start the containment of this megalomaniac by indicting him for the murder of Sultan Macciddo of Sokoto; or at least set up a panel of inquiry to investigate how that plane was crashed. The Hausa/Fulani might interestingly shift their support from Obasanjo out of curiosity to say the least. The new guys on the block, across Nigeria's far northern border, in Ouagadougou, has just started investigating the killing of Thomas Sankara of thirty something odd years ago and somebody please tell Icheoku their target is not very clear and well known. 

Anyway, an Igbo adage says "Okro does not grow for those who know how to cook soup" otherwise what is going on with Olusegun Obasanjo in the country especially as it affects President Jonathan would have since been forced to  peter out. Icheoku says it requires courage on the part of President Jonathan to do the heavy lifting and get rid of this Olusegun Obasanjo, whose wife and children have rejected or at least shove him aside and out of the way and the heavens would not fall. It was done before and it could be done again. Nothing happened before and nothing will happen this time around. The only regret is that Icheoku forgot that the Ijaw man occupying Aso Rock has no balls and lacks the backbone to do the needful; otherwise the time to take out the vagabond of Ota is now. Just put him in the cold doldrums of Nigerian politics and forever. ENOUGH of him and enough of his continuing nuisance and causing tension in the land.