THIS NEW YEAR 2016, RESOLVE TO LOVE LIKE YOU MEAN IT.

Icheoku says man surrender to your woman; woman submit to your man and there will be peace on earth, blessed by the heavens. This 2016, let your new year resolution be to love and love mightily. To accomplish this, learn to appreciate your partner and their efforts no matter how minuscule they might seem to you; and also learn to apologize when you offend them or you are wrong. Say thank you to them when they do some good or favor to you and also say sorry when you offend or wrong them. It is simple and not that hard to do; except that mortals would not heed this time-honored advise? The reason they are stewing in unhappiness and steadily agonizing why did they get married. 

Life is too short to live it regretfully, so learn to live it lovingly. Love is a contact sport which admits of no breaks nor sitting on the fence. You have to live it in the now; being present always, not aloof or lackadaisically. That's the only way you can get the best out of life, lived in love and happiness. A well choreographed and functional life is a delight and imitable thing to behold and experience. Those who unfortunately waste their valuable time, fighting for needless supremacy in their relationship, instead of enjoying a well-lubricated life, are simply missing out on a lot of good life's moments. So in this new year 2016, resolve to reorder your priorities in such a way that you can start truly living a good, less stressful life, instead of just hanging in there bitching about all the time how unlucky in love you are and how screwed up your life is. There is order in the universe and there is a hierarchy of things, so try to find your fitting position and then snuggle in accordingly, not to  make your own life experience an exception. 

As a cardinal rule number one, admit no one whosoever in your relationship. It is purely a private affair between two parties and a third will ruin it. You can have and keep your friends, your relatives, your sisters and brothers and even your parents; but they must not be an integral part of your relationship, period. They are but welcome strangers to it and should always remain so and as far as your relationship is concerned. Your parents especially have had their time in the sun and must therefore allow you to have yours; so do not allow their interferences to ruin what you have. The same goes with nosey, overbearing sisters and brothers, who like to butt themselves into other peoples business. You must force them to let go off you, which being married truly presupposes. Three is a crowd in love relationships and there is no point fighting it if you want to have a successful outing. The late Princess Diana once lamented that her relationship with Prince Charles was overcrowded as there were simply too many of them involved in it; referring to Queen Elizabeth's controlling obsession in Prince Charles affairs and accordingly tele-guiding his actions and decisions. 

You can have members of your family around but never as part of the relationship by bringing them into whatever decisions or disputes you may have with your significant other. It is dangerous and very damaging to involve third parties in your relationships. First you don't know who is jealous of what you have and might want to unravel and ruin it? Also why needlessly create enmity and bad blood where and if it could be avoided? For example if you have an issue with your spouse and you invite your mother or sister or brother of even a friend to come and adjudicate it for you guys. As expected, they naturally will gravitate towards your viewpoint and position. Your spouse will automatically assume that they took their position because they were biased against him or her, in favor of one of their own. So regardless of how germane their position in the disputation might be, your spouse will not care to understand the rationale behind it and will brand them marked for destruction as the enemies within, who are ruining the relationship. Conversely, if they side with your spouse, you will see them as taking sides against one of their own - the Michael Corleone's admonition of Fredo 'don't ever take sides with anyone against the family," kind of situation. And as Godfather teaches us, such never ends well; so why create an avoidable unpleasantness. 
  
To really love, learn to love like a child - fearlessly, truthfully and honestly. 

The other rule of the thumb, if there is anything you value more than your spouse including friends, family members, parents, children, job, money, vehicle, habits, drugs and alcohol, then you are not truly in love. At best, you are like every other Jack and Jill out there who are having their own self-inflicted marital problems, hence nothing special about you. You are as ordinary as the rest of them and there is nothing that stands you out from the pack, the day you start devaluing your spouse as of less important to you than some other things that you value higher. But to make your relationship rock solid, endeavor to not let anything come or stand in-between you and your spouse; and treat it as you would when in between the sheets. Above all, share and share everything in common. Be the best friend your spouse wants to find in a relationship and be the confidant he or she wants to have a companionship with; and together you both shall find bliss IJN. Love conquers everything and without love in your life, you are running on emptiness. Have a love-filled new year 2016. All the best. Salute.

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI MEDIA CHAT, CONFOUNDED.

“If you know the atrocities committed by the people granted bail then you’d understand.” - President Muhammadu Buhari, on why he will not or has rather refused to obey valid courts' ruling granting bail to Nnamdi Kanu and Sambo Dasuki.

Icheoku says the president was indeed very obfuscatory in many of his answers and did not give any tangible reason, because none exist, for his continuing detention of the two accused persons and not obeying valid orders of courts, which granted them bail. There is nothing to understand as the president has no leeway in this matter; his is to comply with the courts orders and by not doing so is risking Nigeria's democracy which is built on the pedestal of rule of law. So what if the two accused persons has potential and/or probability to jump bail, it is not the president's nor his executive branch of the government to so determine and then decide therefore to keep them in detention post bail. 

In a functioning society, the prosecution's duty is to establish that a risk of jumping bail by an accused person exists and accordingly convince the court not to grant bail. The court will therefore weigh the exposed risk of granting such bail and then determine if bail could still be granted and under what conditions. A court, so decided, will then put conditions of bail as will be commensurate with the charged crime and as would ensure and compel the accused person to show up at trial.  Whether or not to grant bail and to stiffen bail conditions accordingly is the utter prerogative of the court. What the president and his executive branch of government has to do is to charge the accused to court and prove their case at trial; but not to in anyway conduct the adjudication proceedings, including bail themselves. It is not their forte to determine or decide which accused is likely to jump bail and then summarily and illegally keep such accused person in indefinite detention; especially post bail. 

But unfortunately, President Muhammadu Buhari does not grasp this nuanced dictates of separation of powers between the three arms of government - executive, legislature and judiciary. A matter made worse because his Vice President Osibanjo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria is there to advise and help walk the president through the sometimes confusing maze of law, but he choose to not disturb the groove and he is a lawyer? Now the president is breaking the law by disobeying the law - several valid orders of courts of competent jurisdiction which he refused to obey. By continuing to disobey valid courts orders, the president has assumed the toga of a law breaker himself who needs to be arrested and prosecuted for breaking the law. Icheoku says why the Nigeria Bar Association is keeping mum, as well as the other several noise-makers of Nigeria who masquerade themselves as human rights advocates and defenders of the constitution over this continued infringement by the president is indeed mind numbing.

Once a court of competent jurisdiction have reviewed an application for bail and determined a case to be bailable and grants bail, the president or his executive minders have no option but to comply with the order setting the accused temporarily free until the final resolution of the case. The reason why bail is conditioned on terms is to ensure the attendance of the accused person through trial; failing which the bail bond is forfeited and if there are human surety, they are hauled into custody until they produce the  accused person. This is how the legal system in a functional democracy works and Nigeria is supposedly in a democracy; and should not pivot from this fundamental rights of citizens not to be unduly incarcerated pending the determination of their guilt or lack thereof. 

Icheoku therefore says that President Muhammadu Buhari  was wrong when he assumed the roles of a prosecutor and judge and executioner in this matter. The president has no right whatsoever to decide not to obey valid courts orders on bail of the two accused persons simply because he considers them flight risk, regardless of the gravity of their alleged or charged crimes. The president and his security agencies can keep the accused monitored; require them to report periodically; seize their traveling documents; keep eyes on every departure points in Nigeria and even demand of them to furnish additional credible Nigerians to serve as further surety that they will not abscond. This is the much the government can do if they suspect that an accused is a flight risk; but they have no right not to disobey valid courts orders granting them bail - Nnamdi Kanu and Sambo Dasuki. 

Otherwise how long does the president plan to hold the duo in custody and what if at the end of their trials, they are both found not guilty of these charges? Will the president then arrest the judges who presided over the cases and imprison them too for not finding the accused persons guilty? Icheoku cries out that the democracy in Nigeria is gradually unraveling before everyones' eyes, while Nigerians are pretending it is not a big deal that Nnamdi Kanu and Sambo Dasuki are not allowed out on bail. It is not about Nnamdi Kanu and Sambo Dasuki, but about the constitution of Nigeria which is currently being trampled by President Muhammadu Buhari. If it is Nnamdi Kanu yesterday and now Sambo Dasuki today, who will it be tomorrow? Moments like this makes the death of Gani Fawehinmi more regrettable as he would have since rushed to court to compel President Muhammadu Buhari to show cause and/or for contempt of court for disobeying and disregarding valid courts orders. 

Once again, Icheoku reiterates that the actions of President Muhammadu Buhari is threatening the democracy which Nigerians fought very hard for and won; and has had for the past sixteen years. Like South African Judge, Dunstan Mambo warned, "A court is the guardian of justice, the cornerstone of a democratic system based on rule of law. If the state does not abide by court orders, the democratic edifice crumbles stone by stone until it collapses and chaos ensues." But are there still lawyers left in Nigeria who actually and truly defends the law to facedown President Muhammadu Buhari and compel him to respect the law before it is too late? Please President Muhammadu Buhari, Icheoku says don't be the 'Mr Know-it-All' that crashed Nigeria's experiment with democracy; do the right thing, obey and respect the rules of law, honor valid bails of courts and set Nnamdi Kanu and Sambo Dasuki free as ordered.

ASO ROCK PARADISE LOST, JONATHAN'S MAN IN THE MIRROR MOMENT OF TRUTH?

Icheoku says today is the last day of the year 2015, a momentous year in Nigeria's checkered history which saw former President Goodluck Ebelesiemie Jonathan lose his second term bid and with it, lost power and keys to Aso Rock. What a better way to commemorate this than to revisit the last five years of his presidency and take stock of what actually went wrong that drove him out of Aso Rock and out of power. As far as Icheoku's school of political thinking is concerned, President Muhammadu Buhari did not win the last election; rather, former President Goodluck Ebelesiemie Jonathan lost it and a very long time ago; he totally blew it and to smithereens. 

Hopefully the erstwhile president has had time to reflect on what took him out of Aso Rock. It might also do the former president one heck of a good, during his reflection, to take a look in a mirror and see the image starring right back at him. That image, the man in the mirror, often in a fedora hat and drab native attire, is actually what went wrong with his presidency and what indeed did him in. Icheoku is emphatic that Jonathan Goodluck shot himself on the foot and then limped out of Aso Rock and out of power. No other person was responsible for the fate that befell him, his losing the keys to Aso Rock. His injury was self inflicted and in a literary sense, he committed political harakiri and self-immolated out of power. The good in his luck ran out early and turned into bad, from which he never recovered his mojo and became known sarcastically as President 'Badluck' Jonathan.

Some people would ask why is Icheoku re-opening this old wound and why not let matters lie? In response, Icheoku says it is to provide and preserve materials for historians  future researchers and students of political science, who might be interested in studying the Jonathan presidency and what eventually torpedoed it. A presidency which started with all the fanfare and great expectations that chaperoned its coming into being, only to summarily flounder out, crashed and burnt. So without prejudice, Icheoku says no other person or thing, including aggregated global conspiracies, played any more vital role in the toppling of the former president from power than the former president himself. He was his own worst nightmare, his own worst nemesis, his own worst enemy, the self-villain who personally drove the dagger of defeat into his presidential vein and carotid artery and he bled out of Aso Rock and out of power. 

The 2015 presidential election was not lost by Jonathan on March 29th, 2015; admitted that was when the dirge of his presidency was formally sang by the greater Nigerian populace. The election was lost a very long time ago, upon his being sworn into office for the very first time, when he lost complete grip of his presidency and was merely hanging in, coasting on a life support until March 29, 2015. His inability to correctly assess the situation and understand that the politics of running for a second term in office begins on the day a president is sworn in for his first term, undid his presidency. He took some early wobbly steps and faltered; and never fully recovered nor regained his balance until he stumbled out of Aso Rock and out of power. The former president made so many early mistakes in his presidency from which he never fully recovered until March 28, 2015 when majority of Nigerian voters, dejected and disappointed with his promised breath of fresh air which turned putrid, kicked him out of Aso Rock and out of power. 

President Jonathan Goodluck failed to cleverly tailor his policies and their implementations towards securing his second term. The president forgot that it is usually only after a second term's election is won, that a smart president goes into overdrive; and actually starts pursuing those things dearest to his heart, as well as rubbishing those who made him mad as well as burning those bridges he walked on to the presidency, if need be. But a novitiate first termer President Jonathan, did not know any better, so he prematurely went frontal and he paid dearly for this mistake, hounded and bundled out of Aso Rock and out of power by the same people who put him there in the first place. A president who was bequeathed with so much goodwill and who was heralded into office as the the best thing to ever happen to Nigeria's leadership firmament, because of his supposed youth, education and energy, but disappointingly failed to provide the leadership expected of him by a very  restive nation. His political naiveté and lack of understanding of how to wield the instrument of power saw him surrender his presidency to forces that eventually hogtied him and threw him out of the presidency. 

Icheoku is emphatic that the former president should not look anywhere for any other responsible party but the mirror in his bathroom, where he shall see the culprit of his failed presidency starring back at him. The late King of Pop Michael Jackson, in his song aptly titled "Man in the mirror", reminded the world that usually the guilty party for our misfortunes, which we are always busy looking for elsewhere, are usually found in the image that stare back at us in the mirror. Icheoku asks how could the former president so easily throw away such a powerful and all-important position as the presidency of a country? Only that he did not suffer nor toiled hard enough to secure it, hence the lackadaisical attitude and aloofness which he brought to bear to it. The proverbial come easy, go easy effect, that is? Thus being of a minimized value to him, he could care less if it was lost or taken away from him by the same token with which he got it - easy and cheap. A presidency which was handed to him on a platter of gold through the contrivance of Olusegun Obasanjo, hence he did not value nor appreciate what it actually takes to secure a presidency of a country. It is also apparent that he did not desire it that passionately enough as to want to seriously fight to keep it or even die, trying. 

President Jonathan is weakness personified. His overbearing wife Dame Patience showed Nigerians this much and his benefactor/s also based their decision to make him president on this assumed deficiency of his. They figured they could easily control and tele-guide his presidency because he is a weak personality that could be shoved around very easily.  Unfortunately, he did not disappoint his critics nor did he disprove this perception of him as he fiddled, dithered and differed to everybody and anyone who shouted at his presidency. Ironically, the same tragic weakness of his saw him shoved him out of Aso Rock and out of power without even much of a pushback or a fight. APC threatened thunder and brimstone, Jonathan  quivered. Then candidate Muhammadu Buhari rattled his saber, Jonathan hid in the closet, whimpering. Americans made series of threats and Jonathan scampered away and into oblivion, too afraid for his own personal safety, to venture out, respond or react. Olusegun Obasanjo fired so many salvos across his bow and Jonathan trembled and fidgeted. Then followed by Bola Tinubu, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Oby Ezekwesili, Nasir el-Rufai, Nyako, Kwankwaso and even Rotimi Amaechi? Almost everyone in the country turned him into their favorite pastime punching bag and he merely stood there, took it severally on the chin; leading to the final conspiracy that swept him away and out of power and sent his presidency into the archives. 

Icheoku says any other courageous leader would have put up a fierce resistance to the effort to topple his presidency and audaciously fight off his attackers in order to defend his staked second term bid. But not the weakling Jonathan, who turned tail and so easily surrendered his presidency, which according to his sorry narrative was in order for there to be peace in the land. Icheoku asks what kind of bullcrap peace was he talking about and why must this supposed peace be ONLY at the back of his presidency or the emasculation of the South? Icheoku asks did President Jonathan not understand that anything worth having, including power, is equally worth fighting for and even dying for if it need be? That if one cannot die for a cause, that there is no need of professing that cause in the first place? Power which so many people have died for, trying to secure, throughout the world, including MKO Abiola in Nigeria; and which the late Obafemi Awolowo once literally begged to be allowed to hold for just twenty four hours? But with Jonathan, it was a come easy, go easy affair; otherwise whoever so easily unseats an incumbent president, especially in Africa? Or may be it was as some analysts opined, that the former president has had enough and wanted out; the reason he summarily accepted defeat, conceded the election and scurried away out of Aso Rock?

Although known Buharists and all those invested interests in the ouster of the former president would want everyone to believe that their candidate indeed truly won the election. But Icheoku as well as other impartial observers are emphatic that the former president merely conceded the election in the interest of peace. Otherwise, so many recorded blatant irregularities in the election could have provided enough grounds to cancel the election. A blatancy which saw over 700,000 underage almajiris vote in the election; then add the 100% voting record in Kano State and the over 500,000 already recorded votes in favor of the PDP which magically switched parties to APC in Bauchi State. Then add the unprecedented direct foreign intervention in a purely internal affairs matter of Nigeria. All or any of these would have seen a courageous president either cancel the election result or defiantly refuse to yield his grounds, followed by a total clamp-down of the opposition. But not the former president who rather opted to concede the election than fight the fallout war. Were Icheoku the former president, Nigeria would still be up in flames today rather than accept the travesty that took place in that election; admitted Icheoku would not have traveled the same uninspiring road to political perdition which Jonathan traversed to get to March 29, 2015. 

From day one of his presidency, the former president was  knee-jerk, very squirmish, skittish, indecisive, fidgety, wish-washy and seemingly too reluctant or rather afraid to use the powers vested in his office. Nigerians, sensing his vulnerability, obliged him and took away his authority. He lost his grip on power and with it, lost the respect of Nigerians as well as the international community and this made it so easy to plot his downfall. Jonathan became an over-exposed president, whose underbelly was an easy target for those men and women in long knives and they drove their steely weapon right through him and twisted same without mercy. 

Icheoku says leadership is not just about distributing political largess and conferring patronages and benefits on favored persons and causes. No, it entails leading the people, pointing the direction forward for them to follow; motivating them into doing big things; inspiring them to go for all that are possible; urging and cajoling the best out of them; instilling hope in them of a better and brighter future ahead; encouraging and assuring them that all is not lost. But when a president chickens out of or shirks away from this primary responsibility to provide leadership to the people or gingerly holds power or shows crass weakness, fear and timidity, the people become confused and like sheep without a Shepard, things barrel down hill from there. This attitude was what unraveled Jonathan's presidency and he never recovered nor broke the free fall until he freely-fell out of Aso Rock and out of power. 

The former president practically broke every canon rules of leadership known to man. A president or a leader must not exhibit weakness especially faced with adversities, but the former president did. A president or leader in order to effectively lead must either be respected or feared by those being led, but the former president was neither respected nor feared. A president or leader in order to succeed must be able to make the people to follow him or forcefully corral them if need be, but the former president did not succeed with either. A president or leader must establish without equivocation who is in charge of the political estate he presides over and must leave no one in doubt about his authority; but the former president also failed in this department as he did not decisively let Nigerians know that before him there was no other person who stood with a comparable or superior authority. The former president allowed so many people to run wild in the land, some competing with him and putting up appearances as if they were co-presidents or even superior to his  presidency, including Olusegun Obasanjo.

Icheoku says President Jonathan lost his second term reelection bid the day he lost grip over the Nigerian polity. The very day he lamented that he is neither an army general nor a despot and could therefore not tell Nigerians how to behave? What manner of a leader would so hopeless confess his shortcomings and to a restless polity that is always looking for a way to cut corners, run rings around their leaders and undermine any given authority. They latched on this confessed weakness and they sat on the former president until they turned him inside out and out of Aso Rock. 

Icheoku says the former president lost his second term reelection bid the day he declared that he gets so many conflicting advises that he is confused about which one to take as the best for the country? It appeared the president forgot that his number one job as president is to figure out the road map out of the wood and how to navigate through the many advises he gets in order to get to the desired destination. He forgot that his advisers are there to merely give him "so many advises", from which he will and is expected to then choose which advise is best for the country. He forgot that his advisers were not elected by Nigerians but are merely advisers, his aides; who are there to help him travel through the maze of governance, but not to do the traveling themselves. Icheoku says such a big gaffe showed that he lacked the wisdom of governance and this got him heavily reduced in the eyes of Nigerians. 

The former president once told Nigerians that they are members of his cabinet who belong to Boko Haram. Nigerians waited in vain to see these Boko Haram members in his cabinet publicly named and flushed out of his government. But it never happened; leaving many Nigerians wondering who is actually in charge of his presidency - the members of Boko Haram in his government or those fighting the scourge of Boko Haram including the president himself. It created a heavy mistrust and suspicion among his cabinet members. It further diminished the president in the eyes of Nigerians as a president who is not in charge of his own presidency and who is also incapable of firing Boko Haram members in his own cabinet. 

The former president also once declared that he 'does not give a damn' about not declaring his assets. Icheoku wonders which astute political leader will so carelessly mouth-off his feeling of not being responsible and accountable to the people who put him in office? This abject display of lack of understanding of how to maintain and sustain the Nigerian public's loyalty did the former president in. A much smarter president, well seasoned in the art of speaking, would have couched the response in much better way as not to create the willful indifference his response created - not to give a damn about what his electorates are thinking concerning his assets declaration. What a snub of an expected president he became thereafter and it came to haunt the former president and he paid dearly for it. 

Icheoku says the former president lost his second term bid the day he declared state of emergencies in some Northeastern states and still left their governors in place. These were governors whose inability to provide and maintain security in their states led to the state of insecurity that triggered the declaration of state of emergencies, yet they were left in place. The former president had precedents of state of emergencies in Ekiti and Plateau states by former President Olusegun Obasanjo which he could have easily followed, but he choose not and did not. The worst of it, these governors later ganged up against him, accused him of incompetence and inability to rout the scourge of Boko Haram. Needless to add that one of them, Taraba State former Governor Muritala Nyako went as far as accusing the former president of committing genocide against his Hausa/Fulani people in the guise of fighting Boko Haram.

Icheoku says by not allowing former PDP chairman Vincent Ogbulafor to be jailed and also not timely firing former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah for corruption, the former president telegraphed to Nigerians and the world that he condones corruption and/or that he was too afraid to take decisive action against certain people. He became mortally damaged as Mister Corruption incarnate or its condoner in chief, who looks the other way while his lieutenants ran amok with corruption and it hounded him out of office. Icheoku says this catapulted the allegation of corruption against him especially by Olusegun Obasanjo to a totally new heights from which the president fell and crashed out of Aso Rock and out of power. Recall that APC's war cry during the last election was corruption, corruption and more corruption, in their campaign against the former president.

The former president lost his second term bid the day he fired former Power Minister Barth Nnaji, the only minister then who had a road map towards solving Nigeria's intractable power problem. The minister had a blueprint to getting Nigerians the much needed power and was meticulously following it to detail and Nigerians were beginning to see the result. Suddenly, the former president caved under unparalleled pressure by generators mafia of Nigeria, whose business thrives in keeping power supply in the country very epileptic so that they can continue to manufacture and sell more generators in the Nigerian market. Jonathan let go this performing minister, based on a very flimsy incident that could ordinarily have been ameliorated by rejecting his alleged bid for a DISCO without the need for sacking him. 

Icheoku maintains that the president lost his second term bid the day he allowed the existence of a de-facto president in Nigeria. A pseudo president, named Olusegun Obasanjo, freely pranced around the country, caused so much headache for the president without any repercussion or consequence whatsoever; to the point of outright sabotage of the president's agenda and government, yet the former president was awestruck with inaction. Obasanjo, in addition, wrote a very derogatory, damaging and defamatory letter against the former president, accusing him of everything including intent to commit "murder", yet President Jonathan did not react.  Icheoku says a courageous president would have had Obasanjo invited by security agents to establish his allegation, failing which, he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for defamation and attempting to raise insurrection in the land. But when Nigerians waited and awaited to see the former president react and react decisively to the accusation of raising a killer sniper squad to hunt down Nigerians, but nothing came from his Aso Rock stables, they concluded that Obasanjo's allegation was probably true and they started viewing their president suspiciously. This is when his second term bid was lost.

Obasanjo continued his disparaging of the president while the president looked the other way, tremblingly and showing unparalleled weakness and cowardice to go after him. Obasanjo continued his insult and confrontations, while the president shivered in one corner of Aso Rock, acting like he does not have the necessary authority nor possess the full weight of the presidency of the country to decisively curtail such excessive affronts. Obasanjo was literally sabotaging the former president's government, holding press conferences, interviews, press releases, holding nocturnal meetings, conspiring and encouraging open rebellion against the president and his government, including encouraging the renegade seven PDP governors to rebel against the president, yet the former president lifted no finger? Obasanjo had so much free range in the country that Nigerians were wondering who actually was in charge of affairs in Nigeria; and which of the rocks really mattered - Aso Rock or Abeokuta Hilltop Rock? A situation which subliminally telegraphed to Nigerians and the world at large that there were two presidents, simultaneously presiding over affairs in Nigeria, an indicator of a very weak presidency and he lost his second term bid as a result? Icheoku says this was when former President Goodluck Jonathan's second term presidency's dream turned into a nightmare,  a very long time ago before March 29, 2015. 

Icheoku says if only the former president had read with great understanding the two vital books of power - the Bible and The Prince by Machiavelli, may be he would have easily coasted to a second term victory, rather than the resounding defeat which he suffered in the last election. A defeat which saw him lose by a net votes of 9 million and you ask yourself how could this ever be possible? A president who previously defeated the same presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari just 48 months earlier in 2011 with over 7 million votes, only to now lose to the same guy with about 2 million votes; which amounts to a total net loss of 9 million aggregate loss. Really, where does such ever happen; a war-chest of over 23 billion Naira budgeted and cash in hand with which to prosecute the election coupled with the power of the incumbency and the former president still lost the election?  Icheoku lambastes that only an incompetent political nymph would so easily trail off into the night and into political perdition.

Icheoku says President Jonathan lost his second term bid by severally tipping over to threats and demands of so many Nigerians. The day he cowered and bowed to Muhammadu Buhari's threatening demand for the immediate release of a detained Mallam el-Rufai, who was returning from one of his usual covert overseas trip to London on July 3, 2011 and released him, was the day the timid former president lost his reelection. The former president lost his second term election bid the day he released Major Mustapha from prison without getting any mileage from it; especially from then Kano State Governor Kwankwaso as a quid pro quod for releasing the Sani Abacha's killer CSO. Icheoku says President Jonathan lost his second term bid the day he fired IGP Ogbonna Onovo just six months into office and without any cause and did not allow him time to implement his planned reform of the Nigerian Police Force just because former Senate President David Mark did not like the IGP. The IGP was fired for allegedly not tackling insecurity in the country fast enough and just within only six months of his appointment. Nigerians now know better as insecurity increased triple-fold since Onovo's departure yet subsequent IGPs stayed put, regardless? 

Icheoku says the former president lost his bid for a second term the day he fired INEC's Maurice Iwu and replaced him with his now proven nemesis Attahiru Jega. The president lost his reelection bid the day he allowed then CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to function as a parallel chief executive officer of Nigeria, with unbridled power to disburse Nigeria's commonwealth as he saw fit; without being dismissed, arrested, indicted and imprisoned for fraud. It is on record that Sanusi as CBN governor, disbursed over 500 billion Naira of Nigeria's money to mainly his Islamic causes, including doling out 500 million Naira to his Kano State government as disaster relief without first seeking and obtaining approval from Aso Rock. A payout which many observed was a bribery down payment for his later being made the Emir of Kano? Icheoku says the former president slept on his watch as Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi freely walked all over him, disparaging the president and eventually purchased the Emirship of Kano. He was later crowned Emir of Kano, without the former president going to the ends of the earth to stop him or force him into exile or even out of this planet if need be. Icheoku laments that was when the former president's reelection bid was lost and not necessarily on March 29, 2015, a mere formality date. 

Icheoku says the president lost his second term bid the day he fired Festus Odimegwu from the National Population Commission just because Governor Kwankwaso made him do it, without first securing a quid pro quod concession from the rambunctious governor. It is on record that the former governor immediately thereafter branded the former president as being very weak, incompetent and not fit for the office of the president. Icheoku says the president lost his second term bid the day he fired Ihejirika as the army chief just because Governor Murtiala Nyako pushed for that. Recall that Ihejirika was on the verge of crushing Boko Haram insurgents when he was fired by former president Goodluck Jonathan and the rest is now history. The president lost his second term bid the day he begged Aliyu Gusau to please accept a defense minister's appointment. Icheoku asks how can any right thinking president beg anyone to accept a ministerial appointment in a country of over 170 million people; and even visited his house to further beg him, as if his life or the life of his presidency depended on Gusau saying yes and agreeing to  serve as a minister of defense? 

The former president lost his second term bid the day he allowed two brothers inlaws - Gusau and Dasuki, to hold two key security positions of defense and National Security Adviser in a multi diversified country like Nigeria.  The day the former president allowed all security chiefs positions in Nigeria to be concentrated in just one region - the police IG, the NSA, the defense minister, internal affairs boss, the customs chief as well as the INEC chairman, all occupied by Northerners was the day he lost his reelection bid. The former president was fighting for his second term presidency life with Muhammadu Buhari, a Hausa/Fulani from the Northwest and all his security chiefs are Hausa/Fulani from the same Northwest? This makes Icheoku wonder whether the former president's advisers were all Hausa/Fulani from the Northwest or who was rather advising the former president, not to advert his mind on where these peoples, especially the election chief umpire's loyalty will be pitched? 

Then to further nail his coffin completely shut, the former president who fell out of favor with his political godfather Olusegun Obasanjo, went ahead to appoint Obasanjo's closest confidant, Ahmadu Ali, another Hausa/Fulani Northerner, as his own reelection campaign organization director general. Why not instead put someone with a real axe to grind with either Buhari or Obasanjo or Tinubu in charge of his  reelection effort? Why not put someone who will put his all in his reelection bid instead of a man who had nothing to lose, either way? Why not even put Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, who got him first elected in 2011 in charge of his  reelection bid? If the former president refused and did not replace his vice president Sambo Namadi as demanded by Obasanjo as a condition for his support, because of loyalty according to the former president, why did he then replace Tafida as his campaign director general? It is unimaginable and an unmitigated politicking disaster that the former president was going into an election battle with a Hausa/Fulani Northerner, yet all his supposed confidants and lieutenants were all from the same Hausa/Fulani Northern stock? Did the former president not consider where their hearts and loyalty will be primarily - to one of their own kindred, of course. Yet the unthinking political novitiate former president, hopelessly believed in their allegiance to PDP and to him, forgetting that blood is thicker than water. That to the Hausa/Fulani North, a Northerner is a Northerner and comes first irrespective of political party affiliation or who appointed them to office and on whose pleasure they served. 

Icheoku says the ominous signs were all over the place that the former president was possibly not even going to make it through his first term, talkless of securing a second term. The day he stopped listening to then NSA Patrick Aziza and allowed his detractors to kill him alongside then Kaduna State's Governor Patrick Yakowa in a rigged plane crash, was the day he lost his second term bid? Like Aguiyi Ironsi, President Jonathan surrounded himself with people who are not his own kind and who did not care much about securing his interest and they left him high to dry when it mattered most. His presidency was a sordid lesson on how not to be on the seat of power, day-dreaming and drifting away in la-la land of political obscurity. Icheoku asks who did former President Jonathan hope would get his back when he so skewed up all security apparatus in the country and left them only in the hands of the same people who want their power back at all cost and by any and all means necessary? 

The former president showed weakness, he showed cowardice and he was neither respected nor feared, hence the sudden eruption of the society against him. He made himself a mouse and the Nigerians cats ate him for dinner, devoured by hungry and opportunists political wolves perambulating all over the country. This perceived weakness led to Aminu Tambuwal hijacking the speakership of the House without approval of the presidency and contrary to PDP's allocations of political offices.  A matter made worse when the former speaker left the PDP and decamped to APC, still holding unto his speakership. Then there was the Chibok Girls concocted abduction and the 'Bring Back their Girls' motley crew which took the president unawares. Icheoku says the former president lost his second term bid the day he made a deal with the devil in order to win his first term presidency in 2011, by conceding the entire Southwest states to Bola Tinubu's AC; the eventual springboard used for his ouster. A smarter political tactician would have either conceded Lagos with one other state or all other states excluding Lagos to Tinubu in order to still have a solid anchor in the Southwest. But not the novitiate politician who did not know any better or who was rather too arrogant or so foolish  not to articulate and anticipate then, a clear path to his reelection victory in 2015. 

That the former president has an overbearing wife, Dame Patience, who made more enemies for him than friends, also did not help matters either. The president found himself marooned and not in a decisive control of the country; not any of the six geographical regions or the governors forum nor even his own party machinery. A disruptive governors forum with his South-south region's Governor Rotimi Amaechi's became very disrespectful and confrontational and the president was powerless to depose him, when a precedent was there to follow in former Governor Ngige of Anambra State as well as the banana peels of the Senate. 

The president did not also make any friend internationally to help protect his presidency  and periodically chip a word or two on his behalf amongst the nations that do really matter. A more savvy president and astute political operator would have wooed a country like Russia and entice Putin into adopting him as his person and ask him to help him succeed and in turn pay whatever the cost. This lack of an international godfather made the former president an easy target for those Western conspirators, who wanted him out and for some reasons bordering on his anti-gay position to his re-assessing Nigeria's economy as the largest in Africa and then of course to the last straw that broke the camels back of his presidency, which made the West really so mad that they wanted him out at all cost and by all means, his purchasing of weapons from Russia. 

The president not being a poker player, lost the narrative that in poker games, you do not show your hands while still dealing. He naively informed the enemies of Nigeria, the retired army generals and oil well owners, that he is going to review their oil well contracts downwards when it becomes due for renewal early 2016 and they rallied round to abort his power to so do. The former president was also partial in some of his actions leading to Olusegun Obasanjo openly accusing him of nepotism and cronyism. He fired Immigration Controller General Rosemary Uzoma, simply because she promoted those who passed a promotional exam, who coincidentally happen to be mainly from her Southeast geographical area. But when the Custom boss Abdullah Dikko Inde from Katsina Northwest carried out a skewed promotion in the customs favoring only Northerners, the president looked the other way. 

A leader should either be loved, respected or feared; but never derided, ridiculed, looked down on or simply ignored as ineffective. His former minister of Information Ibrahim Maku walked away on him without any consequence. Five of his former ministers lost election bids to become governors under his watch, signs of the things to come. The president lost his second term bid the day he allowed then Governor Fashola to deport fellow Nigerians from Lagos without sending in Federal troops to enforce their constitutional right to call any part of Nigeria home and reside there unmolested. But the former president lacked fire in his belly and could not summon the courage to fight and win his reelection bid and with it, his second term dream went up in smoke. Then came the over 100 security agents who were slaughtered by Ombatse cult in Eggon Nassarawa State without any reprisal from his Federal government. According to his then director of SSS Ita Ekpenyong, the government has decided to leave everything in the hands of God and you ask yourself when did Nigeria become a theocracy?  These were husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, uncles and relatives of Nigerians who were on official duty for and on behold of the government and their brutal murders will not and was not avenged by the government? It was not as if the former president did not have precedents to follow in Odi, Zaki Ibiam and Gbaramatu; but Jonathn showed his weakness and Nigerians said not to forget and they did not forget on March 28, 2015. 

Icheoku maintains that the former president was too afraid for his life to effectively function as president and commander in chief. He treaded rather too cautiously, tremblingly swallowing every manner of disrespectful behavior and insults from virtually everybody. He literally never really had a firm hold on Nigeria and Nigerians. His timid aloofness helped with the gathering of the conspiracy storm which finally swept him out of office. The conspiracy assessed him and concluded that he is one easily smotherable fly that could be so easily swathed and squashed without any fight back or repercussion and they struck. Jonathan was the snake which did not act like a snake and the kids used it to tie their firewood, mistaking it for a rope or twine. This was Jonathan, a linguine-spined weakling, who sheepishly played into the hands of his traducers and could not bark nor bite and they came charging at him like African water buffaloes and stampeded him out of his second term bid, out of Aso Rock and out of power.  

Icheoku asks why must the North always have their way with their threats of violence, making the South look cowardly and without the spine to stand up to the ever feisty North? What happened to William Shakespeare's admonition that when two fires meet they extinguish the thing that fuels the fire; but that little wind encourages  fire. Why did Jonathan not draw a line in the sands this time so that Nigerians can once and for all determine how Nigeria moves forward thence. Who needs Nigeria more and why must it always be one section threatening the other and the other being the one always capitulating? Anyway what is done is done and while it is commendable of Jonathan to have taken this route out, Icheoku disagrees that the threat of the North should always be the decider of disputes in and about Nigeria.  

Should the former president have dropped vice president Sambo Namadi as demanded by Olusegun Obasanjo as a condition for supporting his second term bid? Should the president have fallen out with his godfather, the man who made him, Olusegun Obasanjo? If only he had advised himself properly that the "okra shrub never gets taller than its planter. Should Jonathan have listened and not even ran at all for second term, as many of the rebellious party governors and members demanded before they eventually decamped to APC? If the president knew that he does not have the stamina and determination to go all it out with Muhammadu Buhari, why did he not yield the presidential candidacy for a more fiery and formidable candidate to step in and run the necessary winning gamut? 

But regrettably all these are now mere Monday night quarterbacking, as nobody knew back then that the election will go the way it went. Why did the former president not forcefully react instead of the tepid response he gave to the Olusegun Obasanjo accusatory letter from hell, which accused him of all manner of things including raising an assassination killer squad? Why did the president not make an example out of those eminently corrupt Nigerians especially those of them in APC including Abubakar Atiku, Bola Tinubu, Bukola Saraki etc when the same people were taunting him and accusing him of being a corruption incarnate and his looking the other way while the thieves of state had a field day? Simply put, there are so many "WHYs" and unanswered questions about how the cookie of Jonathan's presidency crumbled and only Jonathan of Otuoke can indeed provide their answers. 

Concluding, Icheoku lays all the blame for the failed second term presidency squarely on the feet of former President Goodluck Jonathan; who is also equally solely responsible for the loss of power by the PDP. If he knew he was not brave and courageous enough to defend the PDP's hold unto power, why did he covert the PDP presidential ticket and refused to hold presidential primaries? Why did he commandeer the PDP presidential candidacy only to forfeit it and turn it over to the APC? Why did he not fight the fight of his life to retain a presidency which belonged to the PDP when it mattered most? Hopefully, following his extended long vacation out of Aso Rock, the former president will find time to sit down and put his thoughts on paper, a memoir of some sort, to help Nigerians and historians get a peep into his presidency and possibly a grasp at what went wrong with it. Until then, it is safe to conclude that former President Goodluck Jonathan is not a good role model on how to fight for a cause one truly believes in; leading to some Nigerian women now referring to their weakly husbands as Jonathan and also calling any sissy-girlie man, a Jonathan. It is an unforgivable case of where weakness was not a virtue otherwise which Mandigo-man wants to be so referred to as a Jonathan? Definitely not Icheoku and also not all those brave and courageous souls and worthy associates. So long President Jonathan and please hurry up with writing your memoirs.

N85 POST SUBSIDY FUEL PRICE, UNREALISTIC HOGWASH.

Icheoku says Nigerians have never been told a bigger fat white lie or rather Fulani lie as the promised pegging of price of premium motor spirit aka fuel (gasoline) to 85 Naira, following the forthcoming fuel subsidy removal. Subsidy presupposes the  paying part of a price or taking the edge off something in order to make it much easily affordable by the intended beneficiaries. So if subsidy is removed and this formerly prepaid portion is reinstated, requiring payment in full of purchase price, how then can this new price still be lower than what obtained when subsidy existed? Icheoku says if fuel could not be purchased at N85 with fuel subsidy in place, what kind of mathematical magic is the government planning to bring to bear, to simultaneously remove the subsidy and still peg the price to N85? 

Icheoku does not know about you but this math does not add up; except of course, Nigerians are being asked to just believe and the miracle will just work itself out? Only in the dreamland of Gulliver's Travelers' Island of Lilliputians would this pan out and pan out as promised - simplistic fantasy. This feat, if achieved, will make Nigeria the cheapest place on planet earth to purchase gasoline; and not even in Saudi Arabia, the oil well of the world, would gasoline then be retailed so low. Venezuela, another country whose citizens enjoy heavily subsidized gasoline, will be jealous with envy. So can someone in the know, who has a clue on how the government plans to achieve this, please shine more light on this abracadabra proposition, to enable Nigerians have a clearer understanding of what they are expecting in the new year when the subsidy finally goes south. 

A cursory check of gasoline (fuel) prices around the world, using data from Bloomberg Business Report analysis 2013, shows Nigeria ranked 55 out of 63 countries of the world where gasoline prices were cheapest in a survey. It is interesting to note that then gasoline was retailing in Nigeria at $2.34 per gallon on the average. So at plus minus N200 to a dollar, and at four liters (3.78541) to a gallon, it showed that gasoline then retailed at N468 per gallon or N117 per liter. At the same period the study was conducted, the most expensive gasoline country in the world was Turkey at $9.89 per a gallon; Norway $9.63; Italy $8.87; France $8.38; Hong Kong $8.15; UK $8.06; Ireland $8.05; Germany 7.96; Israel $7.67; Japan $6.70; Brazil $5.40; South Africa $5.06; India $5.00; China $4.74; US 4.56; Russia $3.47;  Nigeria $2.34; Iran $2.15; UAE $1.77; Egypt $1.14; Saudi Arabia $0.45cents and Venezuela $0.06cents. 

This was with subsidy still in place and now suddenly the Nigerian government of President Muhammadu Buhari, who equally doubles as the country's petroleum minister, is flying a kite that with fuel subsidy removed, the price of gasoline will still be as low as N85 per liter? So query if it was N117 per a liter when subsidy was in place, how could it possibly be brought down to N85 per liter when subsidy is removed? Icheoku is trying to do the math but regrettably so far, it does not seem to add up. A matter made worse with the plummeting world oil price currently hovering below forty dollars; which President Muhammadu Buhari during his campaign stomp speeches promised to stabilize back to its glorious days of optimum high prices? But unfortunately it has also turned out to be another dummy among the many of his unfulfilled campaign promises which he sold to Nigerians. 

For the purposes of this oped, we will peg global oil price at $40 dollars per barrel (42 gallons of crude oil). Now an optimally functioning refinery, with modern catalytic converter/breaker, can abstract 12 gallons of diesel fuel and 19 gallons of gasoline (PMS) and other byproducts such as bitumen, kerosene, 4 gallons of aviation fuel etc from just one barrel of crude oil. So at N340 per gallon, plus or minus N280 for diesel fuel, etc how profitable would operating a refinery in Nigeria be? If the government plans to import the refined products, who will bear the extra cost incurred in order to sell at N340 per gallon (N85 per liter  multiply by four).  Running and operating a refinery is cost intensive including overhead cost (salaries, allowances and benefits of staff both local and expatriate), cost of crude oil,  cost of power or its generation, cost of transportation of both crude and refined products, logistics, turnkey and turnaround maintenance; and of course necessary addictive to refining out the derivatives. 

So assuming a barrel of crude oil is purchased at $40 and to get it refined and take the product to the pump, another $25 was added, thus bringing the total cost to $65. At N250 per dollar that will be N16,250, just to get one barrel of crude oil to the Nigerian customers at the pump. Now retailing at N340 per a gallon, that will be N6,460 from 19 gallons of refined out gasoline (PMS, fuel); at N320 for diesel fuel, that will be N3840 from 12 gallons of refined out diesel fuel; give and take N100 for aviation or jet fuel bringing in another N1,600 from 4 gallons of it; then add bitumen and lubricants or heavy oil plus minus N1,000. So based on this estimates, a total of N12,900 is realizable from one barrel of crude oil which was brought to Nigerian consumers at a cost of N16,250? Query, from where does the government plan to amortize the differential of N3,350? Who pays for the deficit and how does it get written off? This is what the subsidy supposedly cushions and now what?

Icheoku is not a board certified oil industry expert nor a statistician, but using commonly available data, it is very easy to arrive at an empirical deduction that the promised N85 per a liter of gasoline will not see the light of the day. It is neither  feasible nor attainable; and will, like virtually all his other campaign promises, most likely see its sunset before its sun ever rises. It is virtually a mathematical impossibility but for which Icheoku will gladly apologize and rejoice alongside many other Nigerians, in the event it pans out. But hey, Icheoku can't wait for the magic-wand of the lean and mean Cassius of Daura to make gasoline readily available and much easily affordable by many Nigerians. But given that he has severally disappointed on so many other promises, excitedly looking forward to this one coming to fruition would be a sure way of inviting a heart-attack in the new year. So until then, Icheoku says to Nigerians to gird your loins as the climbing will be arduous and tortuous; and this is but the beginning of that onerous journey. But Nigerians were warned except that they did not heed the warning, so Sai Buhari; Sai four more years in 2019.

JONATHAN OF OTUOKE, TOO AFRAID TO CALL FOR NNAMDI KANU'S RELEASE.

Icheoku says on July 3, 2011, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai was arrested at Nnamdi Azikwe airport Abuja, returning from London where he had delivered a speech about  alleged fraud of the then President Goodluck Jonathan's government. Less than twenty four hours following his arrest, then CPC presidential candidate and now President Muhammadu Buhari issued a fierce warning to the president and demanded the immediate release of el-Rufai. The squirm and ever fidgeting Jonathan trembled and buckled under the weight of Buhari's threat and quiveringly, immediately released the mallam. According to the SSS, el-Rufai's act constituted a threat to national security and disturbance of public peace and inciting disorder and subverting the government. The SSS said "Nigeria belongs to all of us and no one should take laws into their hands as no one is above the law." 

But Buhari thundered that in a democracy issues must be resolved through the courts and not through the arbitrariness of just one man. That the main reason for el-Rufai's arrest was his disclosure that the government allocated N208 billion in the 2011 budget just to the office of the NSA alone. That free speech is a constitutional right and implies the obligation by the state to defend even those whose views are not congruent with it or the powers that be. In a statement signed by his spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, Muhammadu Buhari said "He condemns this brazen act of intimidation, harassment and flagrant violation of citizens right to free speech in a democratic atmosphere." Even Femi Fani Kayode quipped in that "those that speak out are not the ones to be worried about; that the president should stop "this display of shameless paranoia; that the president cannot silence dissent and opposition by brazen display of brute force and intimidation because when he do that, he only makes it grow; and finally that if it is el-Rufai today, who will it be tomorrow?'

This was a few short three years ago in 2011 and now in 2015, the two have traded positions, Muhammadu Buhari is now the president and Goodluck Jonathan is now a citizen. President Muhammad Buhari is the one now intimidating, harassing and flagrantly violating a citizen's right to free speech and in a supposedly democratic atmosphere.  Meanwhile Goodluck Jonathan is no where to be seen   now reminding President Muhammadu Buhari of his statement and position then, in the matter of Nnamdi Kanu? Icheoku says what is the problem here Jonathan of Otuoke, is it that you cannot man up and demand that President Muhammadu Buhari does not abuse a citizen's right to free speech in the matter of Nnamdi Kanu as he demanded of you in the then matter of el-Rufai? If Jonathan could sheepishly cave in to the threat of Muhammadu Buhari and released a man his SSS accused of inciting public unrest, why could Jonathan not demand that President Muhammadu Buhari equally cave in now and release a man whom the court granted unconditional bail?  

Conclusion, former President Goodluck Jonathan of Otuoke is a pinhead weakling who is timidly too afraid to be gutsy. Icheoku says he lost his presidency because of fear and now is on the edge of also losing his freedom because of fear. So Jonathan of Otuoke, Icheoku asks, when are you going to start being assertive in Nigeria and in the affairs of Nigeria? When are you going to start acting as a leader whom so many people look unto? When are you going to speak up and speak out in the matter of Nnamdi Kanu, who is being illegally detained by President Muhammadu Buhari in a democratic atmosphere? If Muhammadu Buhari could demand of you and secure the release of el-Rufai from you, why can't you do the same and demand and secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu from him too? Nigeria is supposedly in a democratic government and a president is refusing to obey courts' orders and release a person being illegally detained and Jonathan of Otuoke is quaking and shivering in a corner, maintaining deathly silence? What a huge joke, little wonder he was so easily swept out of the presidency and out of Aso Rock without ever breaking a sweat. 

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI IS THE TROUBLE MAKER - ONUIGBO

I write with a heavy heart, on this Christmas day, as a result of what is going on under your leadership regarding the Biafra agitation and the leader of the IPOB (Indigenous people of Biafra), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu. Let me first say that I, as an Igbo person, supported your election and campaign passionately for it on social media, but I am now on neutral grounds, because of the way you are handling the cry for Biafra though I will always support any good strides you are making for the people of Nigeria.

1. Some of the reasons I supported you are: 1. Your wife said during a pre-election interview that you promised to lead by listening to the concerns of the people and doing what the people want. 

2. As a former soldier in the United States Army, I knew that the discipline you have as a retired general of Nigeria Army is what is needed to clean up the corruption that has long retarded the progress of Nigeria.

However, during your interview in the USA, I believe at the State Department  after your election you were asked a question about how you would handle the Niger Delta on amnesty and women issues, your answer was that and I quote, "constituents that gave me 97 percent votes cannot, in all honesty, be treated equally with constituents that gave me 5 percent." Both videos of your wife promise of your leadership and your admission of prejudicial treatment of people who did not vote for you is there on Youtube for anyone and the whole world to see.

Mr. President, the problem with this whole situation is that with the way you are currently treating the IPOB matter means that your wife has lied about you wanting to lead by listening and leading according to the needs of the people. Moreover, I, as your initial supporter, was very bewildered and embarrassed when I saw that video where you admitted that you would lead by preferential treatment of those who voted you into office. Those who voted you into office are majorly from your region, the north, as well as the Southwestern region.

Igbos were the ones that only gave you 5 percent vote because they did not trust that you would lead with integrity. And guess what you are doing now! You are proving them right. You are showing that their fears were valid. Mr. President, leadership requires that you must be fair to all and sundry no matter how you feel about them. You cannot lead with a vindictive spirit to get back at those who didn't want you to win. 

Just look at President Barak Obama for example. Barack Obama has and still suffer from a severe opposition of a great number of Americans who don't like him, but guess what, he still leads everyone with equal and fair treatment.

A leader that is temperamental enough to vilify a group of people because they did not vote for him is not yet a leader. A seasoned leader overcomes all negative emotions that tempts him to mistreat any section of people under his leadership. Otherwise, it is a dictatorship and not democracy. Also, remember that many Igbos and Yorubas, who did not want you to become the President, accused you of being a dictator, and I have to say that you are proving them right for holding Nnamdi Kanu hostage.

I must mention that I am not for or against Biafra. I am for peace and fairness for all. If it were within my power, I would lead my people, the Igbos, to focus on what they are good at and leave Politics to those who want it so bad. On the other hand, I have seen that my people are very unhappy in Nigeria and feel grossly marginalized. And since they have been bold enough to start a protest, they need to be heard and not ignored or shoved aside. They are human beings with feelings, values, and aspirations no matter how inconsequential anyone might see them.

So in that case, I support that there should be a referendum and due process to make a country of their own. Now there is a possibility that we may not get all the required vote to amend the Nigeria constitution; but in that case, we would have seen that due process was given and anyone that fights it would be called a trouble maker. Right now, the trouble maker is the leader that have imprisoned the leader of a group that wants to move on to a better world for themselves. YOU are the trouble maker, Mr. President! You can stop all this by releasing him and demanding for him to go through the right process.

I have written partially on this in the past and to your attention as well hoping that your social media crew would bring it to your attention, but I have not seen any meaningful or positive action taken towards this case. Some people have advised me that if the Igbos really want to secede, they would not have to go through you and others have educated me as well that all that is needed is for the IPOB to forward a motion for Referendum through the Nigeria National Assembly.

You might wonder why then am I writing to you if we knew what steps to take. I am writing to you because you are the President of a country in turmoil who has the power to quell the disaster that is brewing under you. The solution to put a stop to the agitation for Biafra is in your hands. All you have to do is take a leadership step by releasing Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and advising him and the group to begin the process of Referendum. If the motion holds, good, if the motion fails, then you have done your job as the President.

May I please remind you that the British, the Russians and the UN have wisely made suggestions for the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and for Nigeria to allow a Referendum to go through, but with all due respect, it all seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The only response I have seen from your office is a statement that NO GROUP WILL BE ALLOWED TO TEAR NIGERIA APART. Mr. President that is not a responsible statement in the midst of what is going on.

Nigeria has never really been one. There is a deeply ingrained spirit of tribalism in Nigeria that has infected the political and economic fabrics of the nation of which is one of the biggest reasons driving the Biafra agitation. Igbos feel totally marginalized and rightfully so. This situation is like a bad marriage where one partner is very unhappy and keeps wanting out of the relationship, and the other partner refuses to corporate because the relationship benefits them more.

Your energy will be better served fighting BokoHaram rather than fighting IPOB agitation that has a simple solution. And I must say that how you are handling this situation makes it look like all of a sudden Mr. Kanu has become more dangerous than BokoHaram that is still killing people actively in Nigeria when Mr. Kanu has not killed one person. When people protest for a cause, it is the responsibility of the leaders to address the issues surrounding that cause, not imprison the individuals. The cry for Biafra did not start today. It has been going on for ages that also led to the massacre of over one million Igbos around 1967. I am not a good student of history, so I will not pretend to go into it. But I am sure you know what I am talking about. 

I implore you to please listen to right conscience and make the judgment that will bring positive resolution to this case and prevent lives from being wasted over a civil war. You have the power to do this by the simple step I have mentioned above. Once again, let me say it again. Release Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and instruct him and his group to go through the right channel through Nigeria National Assembly to put forward the motion for a referendum. Though you are old, you still have a young family that will live on after you. What legacy do you want to leave?

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Captain Ij Onuigbo, US Army (rtd)

SOUTH AFRICAN JUDGE BERATES PRESIDENT BUHARI, IT WOULD SEEM?

"A court is the guardian of justice, the cornerstone of a democratic system based on the rule of law. If the state  does not abide by court orders, the democratic edifice will crumble stone-by-stone until it collapses and chaos ensues." - Judge Dunstan Mlambo of Guateng Division High Court of South Africa  criticizing President Zuma's government for letting Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir leave South Africa in June despite an outstanding International Criminal Court warrant of arrest for him. Icheoku says like Zuma like President Muhammadu Buhari; obey court's order - release Nnamdi Kanu.