14 DEAD 17 WOUNDED IN SAN BERNADINO SHOOTING, THE CARNAGE CONTINUES.

Icheoku says the slaughter that has become analogous with life in America continued today as three possibly white domestic terrorists stormed a county's Christmas event in San Bernadino California, killing fourteen people, with seventeen others left critically wounded from gunshots. When added to the two suspects who were later chased down and killed by the police in their black SUV, that brings the number to sixteen, people killed following just one incident. 

It appears that Americans have somewhat become numb to these deaths by guns and no sooner than the investigation into todays carnage is completed would people move on with their lives, going about their business as if nothing happened; possibly filed away in their distance memory bank as just another one of the usual deaths by gun violence. A matter made worse by an inept and cowardly Congress, too afraid of the National Rifle Association to pass any meaningful sensible gun safety laws that would take guns away from some of these people who should not be in their possession in the first place. 

Today's mass killing in San Bernadino California brings to 355 the number of such shootings in America this 2015 alone; leaving more than 12,051 people dead and so many others wounded. Icheoku says what will it take for Americans to rise up and stand up to the NRA and force Congress to do something to curtail this senseless, now seemingly routine wastage of human lives in America? Quite unfortunate it is indeed; as Icheoku questions which ISIS terrorist is worst than these domestic terrorists, who by their skin color so easily blend in and are not easily identifiable, profiled and monitored. But hey, life goes on and only the good Lord is capable of keeping his people safe. Our condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in this yet another inexplicable terror on American soil and by white American white terrorists.

(FYI: Icheoku says if other races were involved in today's attacks, the police and media would have since  identified and pigeonholed them as such. Moreso such domestic terrorism have long since always been associated with white far right supremacists anarchists).

BIAFRA RISING, SET NNAMDI KANU FREE.

Icheoku says the genie is already out of the bottle as the threshold of fear has been crossed and conquered. It can only be a one way forward march until mission accomplished. There is no more stopping a thing which time has come and now is the time.

KOBE BRYANT RETIRES, THERE IS A TIME FOR EVERYTHING.

Icheoku says the preacher in Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 said it all, there is time for everything under the sun including a time to begin and a time to retire from playing basketball. So now that the sun has set for the storied basketball playing career of Kobe Bryant, Icheoku can but wish the mega super star, one heck of a good time in retirement. 

With a 20-year career record that saw him win five NBA championships with Los Angeles Lakers, two Olympic gold medals, 17 NBA All-Star selections, 81 point game and more than 32,000 points, an NBA MVP as well as numerous endorsements, Icheoku agrees with Lakers' coach that he is eminently qualified as a "Greatness." Although he would have bowed out when the ovation was loudest rather than going out now limping, with no recent championship win; but that does not diminish his record as one of the finest that ever played the orange round leather game. Icheoku says his story cannot be completely told with mentioning his indictment for rape and sexual assault; a called off divorce and subsequent reconciliation with his wife Vanessa.

In his parting remarks, the 'Basketball Greatness' wrote, "But I cannot love you obsessively for much longer. This season is all I have to give. My heart can take the pounding. My mind can handle the grind but my body knows its time to say goodbye. And that's OK. I'm ready to let you go." Icheoku has nothing more to add other than to join NBA commissioner, in saying "Thank you Kobe for this incredible journey." Your place is secured in the annals of the greats that has ever played the game of basketball. Best of luck KB.

KLITSCHIKO DEFEATED!!!

Icheoku says World heavy weight boxing champion Vladimir Klitschiko is now a former champion, defeated by Tyson Fury, a man named after Mike Tyson, who now the new sheriff in town in the heavyweight boxing world. Tyson won 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111 to wrestle all Klitschko's WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO world heavy weight championship boxing titles.   

Mouthing off, the new champion intoned, "You're a great champion Vlad, thanks very much for having me. It was all fun and games in the build up, I just wanted to be confident, young and brash. I've always known I would become world heavyweight champion. Its my destiny." Icheoku says congratulations champ!!!

NNAMDI KANU, THE MAKING OF A LEADER.

Icheoku says without meaning to, the Federal Government of Nigeria has successfully made a leader out of the former pirate radio broadcaster of Radio Biafra. An unintended consequence of some sort, now, the formerly little known or rather unknown quantum called Nnamdi Kanu has now morphed into a widely visible and recognizable personality and the new face of Biafra. 

Unlike other previously intending usurpers of that title, his case is quite different. His message and vision is resonating with the people as a sentiment widely shared by many, especially the youths of the region, admitted so many people would rather not publicly voice their true feelings. By sacrificing for a cause, admitted unintentionally, as he never knew that  security agencies will come after him that very fateful Sunday morning following his routine breezing into Nigeria; the people are beginning to believe again that finally someone is ready to provide the much needed leadership of and for the region and that someone is prepared to pay dearly for it. Unlike the great pretenders of yore who shout until settled by Abuja, this guy seemingly is genuinely honed into the cause; admitted it will be a tall order accomplishing it. 

Now the region have risen to listen and cheer him on and they have been demonstrating this fervor for quite some time now following his incarceration. Icheoku says exactly how leaders are made, they rise up with or are thrown up by occasions. To the clarion call who shall I send, they usually thrust themselves up and respond, here I am send me. With emotions running high, they easily convince the people that their cause is their command as they are fully invested in their struggle and are ready to suffer on their behalf. Nnamdi Kanu has perfectly provided and positioned himself for this arduous assignment and he is now seen worthy of the trust of the people. A regional Biafran people, long in search of someone to stand up as their alter-ego and lead them has finally seen the light and they are excitedly tuned in. 

Icheoku says Nnamdi Kanu has earned the right to be now called a leader of Biafra. Like the people of Israel in want of a messiah, Icheoku says Nnamdi Kanu perfectly fits this tab of the messiah to save and lead Biafrans to the promised land of no marginalization and no discrimination and a land freed of the suffocating repression of a people in their very own country that is Nigeria. He is youthful, he is very eloquently spoken like the Biafra alter ego Odimegwu Ojukwu and he is very passionate about his desire to set Biafra free. He represents hope, aspiration, optimism and everything missing previously in other various persons who have attempted in the past to fill the large shoes left behind by Ojukwu. So if, Ndigbo should rally around this guy in their effort to become equal citizens, treated fairly in their country. 

Like with other such historical figures, Nnamdi Kanu has now towed the path of Nelson Mandela who suffered long incarceration in Roben Island in order to purchase freedom for South Africa from a very repressive racist apartheid regime. Like Myammar President-elect Aung Sui Chi who suffered a lengthy detention in the hands of her country's junta, Nnamdi Kanu is now enroute suffering long incarceration as a bargain for his heart's delight, a Biafra nation come to fruition. Martin Luther King suffered severely to win Civil Rights for Black Americans and so is the history of the world replete with such committed individuals who refused to take it any longer and stood up to do something about what they consider a man's inhumanity to a fellow man. 

They rose up at the hour of great need to say not any more; they refused to keep silent faced with tyranny; they were not afraid anymore to confront what must be confronted and they spoke truth to power. Nnamdi Kanu did all that and he is no more afraid, a key weapon in setting oneself truly free - NOT AFRAID ANYMORE. The authorities will try to break him; they will try to make him foreswear his commitment. Like Nelson Mandela, they will offer him a get out of jail card on the condition that he drops  his cause. But how he responds to the overture will truly determine if he has finally indeed crossed the threshold and attained the stature of leader of the people of Biafra. 

So far so good as the guy is holding up well and having survived the initial first few nights in jail, he has passed the crucial test; now every other night no matter how many, will simply be just another night. Cells and prison custody could be overwhelming, but it is more of a mental encumbrance than the physical confinement. Some of us during our student days activism (students riots) were severally detained and it is survivable; and not as horrifying as it is imagined. But the key is the will to survive and believing in the greatness of the cause for which one is fighting. 

Icheoku says unlike MKO Abiola who took to his heels and went into hiding when he should have stood up and confronted Sani Abacha to reclaim his mandate, Nnamdi Kanu did not run away from Nigeria but frequently visited Nigeria, aware of the danger of being arrested for his viewpoints and activism for a sovereign state of Biafra. He faced down his traducers and is now suffering the inconvenience that follows such rearing of head. But like with every dusk which is followed by a dawn, Nnamdi Kanu will emerge someday, no matter how long his incarceration, as somebody different from who he was when he was first arrested. His cause is a widely, generally applauded cause; admitted so many are too afraid to say something in support but privately hailing him as a hero, the man of the moment of Biafra. 

His admiration and fan base is organically generated, including market women and grandfathers and is not orchestrated nor contrived by any confining association. He did not campaign for the teaming support which followed his arrest and detention. Nnamdi Kanu has now shown to the people of Biafra, by taking one on the cheek for the people and on their behalf, that he can take some pain and suffering for them. This selfless sacrifice is what endures people to the hearts of the people and the torrent of agitators who have been responding in kind, in show of support, tells it all. The throng of humanity that besieged the Abuja trial venue of the arrested Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu is a testimony that the people are in bed with him and will do his bidding should shove come to push. At last, Biafra has a leader, although emergent, in Nnamdi Kanu; Icheoku says congratulations NK and may God guide and protect you through your struggles IJN.

DIEZANI ALLISON MADUEKE, POISONED?

Icheoku says after watching Russian turncoat Alexander Litvinenko die from polonium poisoning in London, his rapid deterioration considered, it is safe to suggest that former Nigeria Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison Madueke is possibly, similarly ebbing away? How could this stunningly beautiful lady go from such a dazzling woman, with two  shinning orbs that passes for eyes,  to the witch-looking hag within just few months after leaving office? 

Cancer kills and equally wastes its victims away, but it is usually not at this accelerated speed. Dora Akunyili too was a victim of the same conspiracy that is trying so hard to now also take out Diezani. She was buried as a cancer victim; after plummeting from a once bubbly vivacious adorable Amazonian to the skeletal ghoul that Nigerians gasped when they first beheld. Dora is gone and Diezani is going; but will humanity especially those that call Nigeria home, wait to save this woman. Icheoku laments that some cabal in Nigeria who feels that a woman has no right of say ganged up against Dora Akunyili because she outed an incapacitated late President Umaru YarAdua and they succeeded in permanently silencing her by getting rid of her. Diezani came and they wondered how dare a woman tell them how to behave in the oil industry and now she is paying a steeped price for her zealousness to sanitize the bazaar that use to be Nigeria's oil industry. 

Icheoku has no provable information about this thought; and except for critical thinking, analysis of all surrounding circumstances including her health's rapid deterioration;  juxtaposed with the death of the Russian above mentioned, it is more likely than not that she is marked for elimination. Their weapon of choice, a surreptitious insertion of plutonium into her system either through drink, food or inhalation; and then wait and watch as the radioactive material shred her away in piecemeal? Icheoku prays that she will beat the odds and make a quick recovery; but her present situation is dire and baring a miracle, it does not look good. Dora is gone but Diezani is still here with us and it is never too late for these jackals to have a change of heart and get her the right medicine she needs. She may have cancer but cancer does not speed-waste its victims; certainly not in this manner. What a life we live; leading to the question, what is life really worth. God's speed Diezani.

BIAFRA IS AFOOT, THE SUN IS RISING AGAIN.

 Icheoku says it is looking more assured today than yesterday that Biafra shall once again become a reality. Like the phoenix, it shall rise again and soon. To all the courageous brave Biafra Boys and Girls spearheading the current agitation, marching without fear or intimidation, know you all that the world of Biafra are with you and that you are being celebrated as people who rose up to say enough is enough. It is either equity or Biafra but nothing in between, not anymore. Icheoku says kudos!

TURKEY DOWNS RUSSIA PLANE, THIRD WORLD WAR LOOMING?

Icheoku says one passenger plane bombed out of the skies by none state actors is one humiliation already too many and now another plane, a Su-24 fighter jet, shot down by a state actor and the question is, would Vladimir Putin be able to contain his ego and not react in such a way that would trigger a third world war conflagration? This becomes imperative because a reprisal attack by Russia on Turkey would be an attack on NATO including the United States of America, a recipe for disaster. So how does Putin save face by retaliating for this downing of his country's war plane and yet not start a shooting war with NATO countries? Icheoku has no clue whatsoever but says the looming third world war is nearer today than it was yesterday. 

The downing of Russian fighter jet by Turkey is certainly one helluva changing equation in the whether to be or not to be threatening confrontation in the Middle East. Depending on how Putin's Russia responds, the world might be on the verge of the real mother of all wars. Although President Obama and French President Hollande have urged a deescalation of the matter and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has reaffirmed NATO' solidarity with Turkey, it appears the only one who could truly stop the situation from barreling down under is Russia's President Vladimir Putin. if he chooses not to retaliate, he will appear weak; but if he settles for a payback, then he will have the mighty force of NATO to contend with. Geo-politically, China, North Korea as well as Iran will be drawn into the conflict on the side of Russia; while the rest of none NATO countries will each chose sides according to their leaning; and then the will and economy will see either side through the war. 

Already President Putin has warned of "serious consequences", threatening that Russia "will never tolerate such crimes as was committed today" by what he called "the accomplices of terrorists.'Turkey's President Erdogan on his part said "nobody should doubt that we made our best efforts to avoid this latest incident. But everyone should respect the right of Turkey to defend its borders. Continuing he said that cool-headedness of Turkey had prevented worse incidents in the past. While Moscow maintained that no Turkish airspace was violated by their plane, Turkey restated that their airspace were violated multiple times and knowingly; and that Russia's plane did not heed repeated warnings to back off from approaching Turkey borders. 

Anyway as far as Icheoku is concerned, war is good and a global war much better because it will help rebuild the sputtering world economies and to an extent control the ever exploding world's population. Either way, the world is waiting to see how the current impasse is resolved as Icheoku prays it ends without shooting war.

AUDU ABUBAKAR'S THIRD TERM BID, DENIED !

By death, that is. Life has an uncanny way of playing cruel joke on people. An irony of some sort it is, that a man who contested and was on the verge of winning a governorship election was red-carded by death and can no longer govern the state which he was being elected to govern? Query, if the APC governorship candidate Audu Abubakar knew that death was lurking this so near, would he have traded the effort at the governorship contest to make peace with his maker before the final call? If he was given a choice between remaining alive as a trade off for not running for the governorship election, how would he have pulled the trigger and exercised the option? 

All these are but inquiries of a curious mind and at best the "what ifs" and Monday night quarterbacking on the current development in Kogi State Nigeria as no one, including Audu Abubakar, had any inkling that his end-time was this near. Icheoku says it is a very good weapon of the Almighty that  he stealthily picks off whoever he desires and whenever he so wishes, without let or hindrance or any time to plead  please God wait just a minute as am not quite ready yet. But humans do not learn from life experiences otherwise certain actions would have been more circumspect rather than the usual acting and living like one will never die. 

Audu Abubakar was the fielded APC governorship candidate in the just conducted but determined inconclusive Kogi State  governorship election. His candidacy was rather a rude shocking surprise to many as it was everything contradictory to APC anti-corruption mantra. This was a former governor indicted and standing trial for money laundering and embezzlement of State funds by EFCC, yet President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC choose to ignore that fact of grave consequence and fielded him as their party's candidate, in their very selective prosecution of their war on corruption. But unbeknownst to them, the only one above all human frail and fallibility knows best and has now acted to end it all. Former Governor Audu Abubakar was 68 years old.

Icheoku says were William Shakespeare to be encapsulating this happenstance, probably he will couch it as the man who won the fight but lost the battle to govern Kogi State for the third time. Or one who won the governorship but lost the governance. Or one who was stopped cold at the gate to the governor's mansion at Lafia. Or one who like the biblical Moses saw the promised land but was not allowed to set his feet thereinunto; or who did all he could to and was nearly winning the governorship election except that his destiny ruled otherwise. 

Laughably though, were all the teaming "men and women of God" who pry in the business of retailing scripture and performing miracles; and who also claim to see tomorrow but who were blindsided by Audu's sudden death as it never appeared in their Ouija board or is it tarot cards? Icheoku says if a prophet could not and did not see something as huge as this guy's death or "God" did not reveal it to them, what else would be visible to them? But a very gullible society plagued by 419 con-men masquerading as men and women of God, would not give a damn about this catastrophic failure of the "anointed" ones in not prophesying Audu Abubakar's sudden death.

Icheoku recalls that the deceased promised to 'Bring Back' his looted ten billion Naira and reinvest same in the State if he wins the election? Now many people are wondering if he remembered to leave instructions to his bankers so that they could still effect the same. It appears Audu Abubakar was laboring under the weight of some debilitating illness for quite some time now. But regrettably, the Nigerian "big-man" syndrome or rather factor, which sees every bloated person as a sign of being rich, possibly foreclosed his seeking appropriate medical advise and adequate treatment before now. From his puffy look, possibly he had a heart condition or liver disease; but without an autopsy, cannot be conclusive and the real cause of his death might never be known. Like good people whose goodness are often interred with their bones, Audu Abubakar's plans for Kogi State this third time around, the real cause of his death as well as whatever he previously stole and promised to return and reinvest back in Kogi State shall now all be buried with him. Adieu Governor Audu Abubakar.

OBY EZEKWESILI, WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Icheoku says it appears those Chibok girls have since been rescued and reunited with their families; otherwise why have the 'Bring Back Their Girls" activism died down? Why has Oby Ezekwesili, the ugly one, stopped her protest marches? Anyway, anyone who sees Oby Ezekwesili or runs into her should please tell her that the whole world is waiting to hear from her what has become the faith of those kidnapped Chibok girls. If they have been rescued, she should let the world know when and if not, why has she not been marching to have those girls released or rescued? 

Although a reliable source has it that Oby has been in a mental health care facility, yet to fully recover from the shock and trauma that was her rejection by President Muhammadu Buhari as a minister. Icheoku says why is life so cruel on some, especially those who would sell their own as a trade off but only to end up still rejected. To Oby Ezekwesili, Icheoku says lets go bring back those Chibok girls and now; or at least lets resume the protest march until PMB brings those girls back.What is good for the goose should be good for the gander, why protest Jonathan and not protest Buhari and those girls are still kidnapped and possibly gone forever. 

BOKO HARAM DEADLIER THAN ISIS, YET THE WORLD IS INDIFFERENT?

Icheoku says a terrorist group has certainly earned its pips as an equal opportunity terror dispenser, very brutal and crazily ruthless in farming out terror, when it is considered more deadly than the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, the notorious ISIS. So if this affliction of Nigeria, particularly Nigeria's Northeast, is this toxic, why is it that the world has not since rushed to the aid of Nigeria to help it battle this group? Yet the whole world has been acting out ever since the Paris terror strike as if the French were the first people to be killed by terrorists? Icheoku asks are the over six thousand Nigerians so far laid waste by Boko Haram not human enough for the world to pay attention; or rather is it that their lives don't matter to the world, especially the Western world, to be considered worthy of avenging or to act to protect or preserve others before they are taken? 

Every life should and do matter as no life should be discountenanced as being less important, regardless of the skin color bearing it. If the French 126 lost lives is attracting such global condemnation and heightened action by world powers, why then has the Nigerian 6,000 lost lives not attracting a commensurate attention and action? Is a French life of higher premium and value compared to that of a Nigerian such that it has to take the taking of a French life to awaken the world to the scourge of Islamic terrorism that is ravaging the world? But a world driven by greed, irrationality and racism, somehow have their own skewed, peculiar agenda and sets their priorities differently. They look the other way while Nigeria is being pummeled by these monsters from the pit of hell called Boko Haram while now rushing to the aid of just recently attacked France. Even then American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once dismissed concerns for Boko Haram as an ordinary protest being fueled by marginalization? 

Nigeria based Boko Haram, according to Global Terrorism Index produced by Institute for Economic and Peace with  data collated by National Institute for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, has now overtaken ISIS as the World's Most Deadly Terrorist Organization. We all are aware of John Walsh's America Most Wanted television program and the effort which is always put together to have these wanted fugitives put behind bars as undesirables dregs of society. Query:- why is the world not looking seriously at helping tackle the meanest of all menace of terrors in Northeast Nigeria? Is it possibly, as suggested by one former United States official, that, that region of the world, the sub-Saharan black Africa, does not factor in America's and to a larger extent Western countries' geo-political interest? Should Nigerians then continue perishing as a result, a matter made worse by the same Western countries refusing to sell or supply arms to Nigeria with which to face down these beasts of Islam who are making life a living hell in Nigeria Northeast?

Boko Haram aka Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) has killed thousands of Nigerians, recording an alarming number of Nigerians dead of 6,644 just in 2014 alone. Meanwhile France just lost "only" 126 to ISIS attack in Paris while Russia lost 229 through a plane crash which ISIS bombed out of the sky over Sinai Egypt. That Boko Haram is fast spreading through Africa Lake Chad region with deadly presence in Chad, Niger and Cameroon; where they have carried out 46 strikes which took 520 lives in the same 2014, was still not enough to make the world declare a terrorism emergency in this part of the world and rush much needed help both in munition, weapons and manpower to help stop the bleeding therein. Then add the Fulani Militant terrorist group, rated number four deadliest terrorist group in the world according to the same index and you have a perfect storm of terror trying to wrestle Nigeria to its knees. According to the report, the "Fula People" (Fulani) nomadic pastoral ethnic terrorist group killed 1,229 Nigerians just in 2014 alone. It would appear that between the Fulanis and Boko Haram, they delineated their areas of terror, with Boko Haram operating in the North while Fulani nomads are operating in the Middle Belt as well as in Southern Nigeria.

Boko Haram taking a cue from their parent organization ISIS has mounted increased attacks recently following Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari boastful saying that Boko Haram is nearly defeated and on the run. They responded with several bombings including suicide bombings which have left over 100 Nigerians dead just within this last week alone. It will appear also that ISIS also responded to America's President Obama's claim that they have been weakened and cornered by striking Lebanon and Paris to say, sorry, we are still very much around and active and more deadly. Icheoku says may be the West and Nigeria should learn to stop saying anything about these animals and just go on silently decimating them until they turn tail or repent or are all killed and dead. That way they will not be reacting or responding to prove anything by killing us all. Icheoku calls on the world to please help Nigeria overcome the scourge of Boko Haram and treat every life including those Northeastern Nigerians as if they matter just like the French. 

CHARLIE SHEEN GOT THE VIRUS, HIV THAT IS.

Icheoku says Magic Johnson is no longer alone, he has company; as another rich and famous Hollywood celebrity has been tagged by the infamous AIDS precursor, HIV. Now Magic Johnson will no longer be the only famous face of the virus as Charlie Sheen has publicly said, 'YES, HE TOO GOT IT.' Charlie Sheen of Two and Half men fame said he went public with his condition because it  had become a sort of an ATM source for some of his supposedly close personal friends and confidants who were now in the habit of blackmailing him for money to keep quiet about his condition. He was tired and continue to sustain the lie as it is taking a toll on his life and resources.

According to Charlie, he has spent upwards of ten million dollars paying off shakedown people to purchase their silence about his condition, a strategy which he admitted has hurt his bank account. People he trusted and who were deep in his inner circle, who he thought could be helpful but who turned his trust into "treason" of shakedown blackmail. It was to end this fleecing that he went public with his HIV positive diagnosis. He was diagnosed since the past four years, but  does not know the source of its contraction. Continuing he said, "It's not great. It will be great again. I'm a survivor. I've been up, I've been down, I've been rich, I've been poor, It's another chapter in my life but it's not commerce driven. It's socially driven." 

Charlie admitted to having had only two unprotected sex since contracting the virus; dismissing suggestions that he knowingly was transmitting the virus to so many women he had sex with over the years including two former wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller. It is rumored that Charlie Sheen has slept with close to over one thousand women, leaving Icheoku completely bewildered about men's lecherous exploits. According to Charlie Sheen, "Its a hard three letters to absorb. Its a turning point in one's life. If there was one guy on this planet to contract this that's going to deliver a cure, it's me. It's me. Seriously. I'm not going to be the poster man for this, but I will not shy away from responsibilities and opportunities that drive me to helping others." Icheoku says well said Charlie and hopefully the good Lord will strengthen you and enable you help find a cure for a malady which is taking too long to find a cure since actor Rock Hudson succumbed to it several decades ago.

JOE IGBOKWE, WHERE IS HE NOW?

Icheoku says where is that piece of excrement who sold out on his umunna (kindred) for a plate of porridge? Whether his name is Igbo-kwe or Igbo-ekweghi or even Yoruba-kwe or Yoruba-ekweghi, Icheoku does not really know; but that APC son of a gun worked his behind off for nothing during the last Nigeria presidential democracy election. At least for his effort, Lai Mohammed was rewarded with a ministerial appointment as Minister of Information; but Joe Igbokwe was not considered good enough for any position, not even for an "ordinary"  commissionership portfolio in Lagos State? 

Their thinking possibly, Joey is "dem people" who are to be drowned in the Lagos lagoon had Ambode not won; and therefore not being a "shon of the shoil", has no business being appointed Commissioner of Information in their Lagos State government? Probably too their Oba Akiolu who threatened the lagoon drowning equally decreed the entire exclusion of Igbo people from the Lagos State cabinet, leading to the ouster of the only Igbo person to ever serve as commissioner in Lagos State, Ben Akabueze. Yet some people are chastising President Muhammad Buhari for appointing only Northerners as his trusted advisers and overseers of all government key positions; while overlooking the fact of Governor Ambode's Yorubas-only appointments in Lagos State. 

A state as cosmopolitan as Lagos State with a very multi-cultural mix of people, who  own properties and pay their taxes therein, with many of them born in Lagos and see Lagos as their home, yet they were considered outsiders not deserving of appointment as commissioners therein. Query:- where then lies the unity of Nigeria when people who call Lagos home, own properties therein and paying their taxes too, are excluded from appointments and kept out of governance simply for having "other peoples' sounding names? Needless to add that Governor Ambode himself was not born in Lagos but in Ondo State; likewise his godfather Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu who was born in Osun State. 

Icheoku asks if Joe Igbokwe, instead of answering his father's tribal name, had a name like Joe Ogunowe, would his fate have been any different? If an Adebayo Ogunsawe had put in as much effort as Joe Igbokwe did, selling the propaganda of the APC leading to the last election, to the extent of even denigrating his father's people, would he not have been considered worthy and rewarded with a commissioner appointment as a deserving stake holder in the APC Lagos State government? But hell no, Joe Igbokwe, no matter how he tries to Yoruba-nize himself or lapdog Bola Tinubu and crew, he is still seen and treated as an Igbo-outsider never to be trusted with a key commissioner position. 

Icheoku does not know what moves other people or what stirs their inner being; but an Icheoku who dutifully carried the waters of the APC as Joe Igbokwe did during the last election and was not rewarded with a commissioner appointment would have gone publicly rogue on Bola Tinubu and his APC. But hey, to each his own and possibly Joey Igbo-ekweghi is content with being seen as in the good books of Bola TInubu or rather the perception of being seen as within the corridors of power, no matter how peripheral? Icheoku asks has anybody seen the Lagos State APC Publicity Secretary lately and if yes, what is he doing now and how is he sulking his 'used and dumped' treatment by Bola Tinubu and crew. Too bad, some people allow themselves to be so lowly treated and still bow and salute with inner painful disgust but outwardly smile. Icheoku says when next you see him, please say hello to Joe! 

RESIGN HOLLANDE, RESIGN !!!!!

Icheoku says declaring that 'France is at war' is not enough; President Francois Hollande should rather be explaining to the French people why he did not prevent the attack of November 13, 2015 that claimed so many French lives as well as wounded so many too. He should explain what went wrong, why he failed or was incapable of keeping keep the French people safe and secure in their homeland. A matter made worse because this is yet another one more attack among the many severals that have been carried out in France and on the French people ever since he came into office? This is more important than rushing off to war against ISIS, a mere after the fact reaction, which will not bring back any of those lost lives of last Friday's terror in Paris. As with everything proactive as well as a president who is on top of his game, this is a case where prevention was and would have been better than the intended cure. 

The primary responsibility of any president is the protection of lives and properties of his or her countrymen and women. Therefore where a president fails and in the case of President Hollande, repeatedly, in this duty, honor behoves him to resign the office. His inability or rather incapability to effectively discharge this principal duty of his office makes him unfit to continue to preside over France. What is taking President Francois Hollande so long to arrive at a decision to and surrender the fiat of state. Icheoku heretofore hereby calls on President Francois Hollande to resign from the presidency of France forthwith in order to make way for a more determined French to lead the response to this latest attack as well as keeping France safe going forward. President Francois Hollande, Icheoku says RESIGN now and resign immediately. 

AMERICA AND RUSSIAN, TALKING?

Icheoku says this is why it can never happen again, white man killing each other? They learnt their lesson during the first and second world wars and now are too civilized to ever go at it again. Baring any unintended happenstance which may accidentally trigger a confrontation, the expected World war three led by this two nations will never come to fruition. As always, they will just huddle down together to reach some understanding while their manufactured weapons go to work in other regional geographies, wrecking untoward carnage. (At Antalya Turkey during a G20 summit President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin are talking things over?) But hey, it is the way of the world and anyone who does not like it, TOO BAD!!!

PARIS TERROR ATTACK, THE IRONY OF A BAND NAMED 'EAGLES OF DEATH METAL?'

Icheoku says in what increasingly appears to be France's own version of 9/11, a cruel irony it is that a band called 'Eagles of Death' was performing in Paris when terror struck; leaving many people wondering whether as their name implies, this band were angels or rather harbingers of death that brought death and destruction to Paris? A name has never been this coincidentally, ominous; and Icheoku wonders whether the band should have chosen a different name altogether or better still, not have attracted these murderous Islamists madmen to wreck the havoc that was Paris massacre. 

The France attack compares to America's 9/11 attack in so many ways:- the same Islamic faith dogs carried out both mayhem; different people from different countries of the world nationalities were victims of both attacks; the two attack were simultaneously staged in three locations, admitted America's was in three states while France's was in three districts. The attacks also took both countries security agencies by surprise as they never had any inkling of it, but were simply taken off guard. Further both attacks were successfully staged and so many people were killed respectively. Most of the attackers in both attack were killed as a result and the attacks left both countries jittery. France has vowed to avenge the attacks mercilessly, reminding Icheoku of the then President George Bush's words that "those who knocked down these buildings will soon hear from all of us". 

Query:- have all the retaliatory attacks made the world any safer than before 9/11? Has the ruthlessness of the campaign of "shock and awe" as well as other reactionary actions taken since 9/11 in retributive justice stopped these madness or made those who want to do us harm begin to love us? The answer seem to be in the negative and so will the French threatened reprisals not likely to succeed in accomplishing a secured objective. Icheoku says short of a mushroom cloud rising above the Middle East and with it the particles of what use to be the Middle East, a holistic approach should be preferable and more desirable towards finding a solution to this madness than all these campaign of bombing. 

The West should consider collectively reaching out to those Muslim countries in the Middle East and elsewhere in a dialogue on how to re-program the minds of these murderous beasts whose religion seem to encourage this their irrational behavior. Icheoku says may be it is about time the two civilizations started a serious brainstorming, using Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia as Islamic representatives to try and redirect the warped thinking and mindset that fodders this idiotic imbecilic murderous ideology of these roving Islamic lunatics. 

Be that as it may, Icheoku questions the morality of a world which mostly goes on overdrive of condemnation and reactions when terror strikes and kills white people but appears lukewarm when others fall victims? Is it a case of there being no sympathy, sentiment and conscience when it comes to the preservation of certain lives even if it means the taking of other lives? When Boko Haram was ravaging Nigeria, the world but paid a lip service to the affliction of Nigerians. The world, especially of white people practically  stood hands akimbo and instead of rushing to the aid of Nigeria with weapons and technical support to rout these Islamic urchins, were rather rationalizing and linking their unwillingness to supply much needed weapon to the scorch-earth tactics of the Nigerian military? 

Query, how would these white people now react to the French president's promise to respond ruthlessly over the attack in Paris? Icheoku asks is it a case that their own lives matter most or is better than anyone else's and should not be taken; and now it will be okay to respond in whatever way and manner possible? Just like blacks in America are beginning to sensitize white people that "black lives matter," every life in the world including the lives of black Africans should matter to the world. Therefore an attack on one country or people should be treated as an attack on all countries and peoples; hence an incensed world should unanimously rise up and rally as an army of one to put down such anarchists with an overwhelming force. 

Icheoku is emphatic that had the world risen up when Syria's Bashir Assad first alerted the world of a threatening Islamist terrorists in his country, possibly this scourge called ISIS would have been stopped at infancy? If the world had also rallied to the aid of Nigeria when Boko Haram was ravaging the country, may be these Islamist terrorists would have since had a rethinking because they would have known that a furious world would always together put them down and out decisively. But no, when blacks and other people of color fall victims to terrorism, these white people will fathom explanations as to why and how it was rather tribal feud and despotism were drove the "insurgency?" Icheoku remembers how the then America's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton point blankly rejected calling then budding Boko Haram a terrorist organization. Instead she explained it away as a simply a protest by the marginalized of Nigeria's North against a biased Southern president? 

As a solution, Icheoku advocates for the world to bandy together and in unison, as one humanity, rise up and face down this scourge of humanity called Islamic terrorism. An attack on Nigeria Northeast should be seen as an attack on New York or Paris or London or Moscow or Beijing. An attack on religious faithfuls gathered for worship in Suleja Nigeria should attract the same condemnation and response as the attack on workers who reported to start their daily work at the World Trade Center or music fans who were enjoying their music idol at Bataclan Music venue in Paris or dinners chowing down on some delicacies or football fans watching an international friendly soccer match. Russia once had a similar situation with Chechnya terrorists and the world thought it was Vladimir Putin being irrational with his retaliatory scorch-earth  response that once and for all put an end to that madness. 

Icheoku maintains that the world is but one humanity enterprise which should treat problems facing each other as if of a general affliction. But Icheoku abhors a situation where the world goes on hyper-sensitivity only when the "right-skin" types become victims of a scourge and appears to tamper things down when other colored lesser mortals are victimized. It should not only be the senseless slaughter of Parisians that would elicit world condemnation and reprisals; nope, the slaughter of innocent Northeastern Nigerians, Kenyans, Somalians, Egyptians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Indians and even Syrians should command commensurate reaction. Life should be life and amounts to something anywhere and everywhere. It should be a universal one-cap fits all enterprise which should be safeguarded and preserved equally, regardless of skin color or region or geography of habitation. Therefore any threat to life anywhere should be a threat to life everywhere and deserving of equal global response in defense thereof. Our hearts go out to the victims of Paris massacre and prays it will provide the wake-up call for the world to finally man up and do something to stop the cancer of Islamic extremism.

RONDA ROUSEY DEFEATED, FINALLY CUT TO SIZE?

Icheoku says at last the lady of UFC and the face of females engaged in martial arts and kickboxing sports, who is famous for her "arm-bar" tactical submission and whose ownership claim to to the title was somewhat storied and undefeated, has been brought down, routed by a relatively unknown pugilist, Holly Holms. Boy was it a long awaited and overdue defeat of Ronda Rousey whose supposed invincibility was beginning to creep into her head. 

Icheoku is not a hater but loves the ever-shifting nature of sports where no one ever holds any title in perpetuity and as if it is theirs for keeps. Titles has to change hands and it sure did it change hands in Melbourne Australia with Holly Holms snatching Ronda Rousey's women bantamweight championship title. It was a very beautiful fight indeed with satisfied fans applauding a feat hitherto considered unimaginable. Now the world of UFC as well as millions of fans world over including Icheoku now has something to really look forward to in a possible rematch between Ronda Rousey V Holly Holms, assuming Ronda ever recovers the courage to face her nemesis again. Icheoku says that Holly Holms will still rout Ronda any next time, if ever there will be one. A very good Holly-dominated fight it was indeed, which witnessed several direct punches to Ronda's face as well as the very good kick to Ronda's jaw which saw the bloodied Ronda counted out on an irrecoverable technical knockout, bloodied, dazed and confused and later rushed to the hospital.