THIS CHANGE IS KILLING US, OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUHARI - INIBEHE OFFING

Dear President Buhari,

It is with a deep sense of humility that I write to convey to you my sincere feelings on the state of affairs in our nation and my home State, Akwa Ibom. I am doing so as an ardent supporter who devoted his time; risked his safety; staked his integrity and passionately and vociferously defended your candidacy during the 2015 presidential election in defiance of the strong campaign of calumny mounted against you by those who never wanted you to be the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

If I had any other practicable and convenient channel of communicating with you, I would have graciously explored it. Accept my sincere apologies if you are discomfited by my resort to public engagement through this open letter.

During the electioneering campaigns, you went round the country and vigorously propagated the message of change and solicited the support and votes of the Nigerian people with a solemn undertaking that our precarious situation will be ameliorated upon your assumption of office. I was persuaded by your promises. Majority of Nigerians went to the polls on March 28, 2015 and overwhelmingly elected you as the president of Nigeria because you promised change.

The slogan was 'Sai Buhari'.

For once, I found dignity in my Nigerian citizenship. Many Nigerians, myself inclusive, kept vigil to monitor closely the events and controversies at the National Collation Centre. We were willing and prepared to march on the streets and defend your mandate if the Godsday Orubebes' of this world had suceeded in truncating the final collation of results.

I shed tears of joy when the then Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, declared you the winner of that fiercely contested election. It was a marvellous and glorious experience. The feeling was simply indescribable. Upon your declaration, you proceeded to the National Secretariat of your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) where you addressed a world press conference and reiterated your mantra of change. That night, I slept like a little baby because I felt that a responsible, incorruptible and courageous leader had finally emerged in Nigeria in my lifetime to lead our country out of the precipice.

My dear President, ten months after your historic assumption of office, it has become increasingly tedious to defend the change we proudly supported and voted for. The hitherto much taunted "body language of the president" seems to have evaporated.

It is true that the corruption infested Goodluck Jonathan's regime and those before him had greatly destroyed, vandalised and polluted our country. It is also true that you met Nigeria in a terrible state. We are not unmindful of the myriad of challenges your administration is facing: from financial constraints due largely to low prices of crude oil at the international market; security problems orchestrated by the Boko Haram sect, the rampaging Fulani herdsmen and the very delicate agitation by the Pro-Biafran movement, etc. Nobody is expecting you to perform miracles or "turn things around overnight" as erroneously suggested by some of your aides.

The fact of the matter is that responsibility is the hallmark of leadership. What was the change gospel about if things were to remain the same? Yes you have a four year mandate. But ten months is enough time to resolve certain pressing and critical issues in the country and set a very precise and clear direction for the nation. There are problems that only require a firm presidential directive to solve but which has been neglected.

Mr President, just in case you are oblivious of the cost of fuel across the country, may I report to you that contrary to the pronouncement of your administration, fuel is not being sold for eighty six naira (N86) per liter. As at Sunday the 13th of March, 2016 when I wrote this open letter, I bought fuel at N125 per liter. In some places, it is much costlier than that. Does it mean that the federal government is incapable of keeping to its promises and enforcing policy decisions? It is not enough for the government to give excuses, the issue is that people are suffering because of the sheer incompetence of government.

If there is one problem that we expected the change government to address with vigour, it is the issue of epileptic power supply in the country. Before your election, our power generation was over 4000 megawatts. Data from Nigeria Electricity System Operator (NESO) showed that by 9.48am on Wednesday, 9th March, 2016 power generation was 1,580.6MW, with the Ikeja Electric getting 237.09MW; Abuja, 181.77MW; Eko, 173.87MW; Benin, 142.25MW; and Enugu, 142.25MW. Others are Ibadan, 205.48MW; Jos, 86.93MW; Kano, 126.45MW; Kaduna, 126.45MW; Port Harcourt, 102.74MW; and Yola, 55.32MW. See the Punch Newspaper report of Thursday, 10th March, 2016.

Despite this terrible power situation, the Minister Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) have gone ahead to implement a new electricity tariff regime. In other words, while the administration is insisting that the old tariff regime is not "commercially viable and sustainable", the reality on the ground is that Nigerians are being made to pay higher for darkness by a government that promised change.

Under your watch, commercial banks in the country are still carrying out illegal and unjustifiable deductions of funds belonging to their customers. Banks are still collecting inexplicable and offensive charges. Telecommunication service providers are still holding their subscribers to ransom in various ways. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have respectively failed to stop this unwholesome practices. The Nigeria Police Force is still perpetuating extra-judicial killings and extortion.

Before your ascension to the presidency, a dollar sold for about N150. Currently a dollar goes for between 250 to N370 at the forex market. While the present depreciation in currency value may not be peculiar to Nigeria, the attendant effects on the economy and the well-being of Nigerians are self-evident and require no elucidation. The government has clearly not done enough to address this anomalous situation.

By Section 14 (2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government" (sic). Although incessant killing and massacre of people of various communities across the country by the well armed Fulani herdsmen predated your administration, there is reasonable basis to say that they are now more daring and emboldened than what we witnessed in the past.

The recent killings in Agatu community of Benue State adds credence to the view that the herdsmen seems to enjoy immunity from the Nigerian State. The federal government so far has not demonstrated serious commitment to end the bloodbath and bring the culprits to justice. While I commend the feats recorded by the federal government and the security agencies in its ongoing onslaught against Boko Haram, it is unfathomable that innocent Nigerians are being killed and slaughtered in Rivers State simply because of their political persuasion.

During the reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), membership of the opposition party was treasonous especially in the South South region. That was the reason why a State like Akwa Ibom during the Godswill Akpabio dictatorship witnessed unprecedented murder(s) and kidnapping of opposition figures and critics.

It is therefore very saddening that even under the Buhari/APC-led federal government, the conscientious people of my State (Akwa Ibom) who risked their lives championing Buhari's message of change are still being haunted, humiliated and intimidated by Godswill Akpabio and his army. The case of Akwa Ibom is just so pathetic. The people were denied their constitutional right to freely exercise their franchise both at the March 28 presidential election and the April 11, 2015 governorship election.

The European Union, the American Embassy in Nigeria and the Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room all returned a unanimous verdict that the Akwa Ibom elections was a total sham which should not be allowed to stand. Even the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in their separate reports discredited the make-believe gubernatorial election. Several lives were lost. One of victims of that State sponsored terror, a 22 year old Mr Federick Richard Okon, from Mbierebe Akpawat village in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was only buried recently on Wednesday, 9th March, 2016.

Till date, no one has been prosecuted for the killings and violence that marred the Akwa Ibom elections.

Justifiably aggrieved by the outcome of that fraudulent election and in line with the advice of local and international observers, Mr Umana Okon Umana, the APC gubernatorial candidate, filed a petition at the Election Tribunal seeking a cancellation of the so-called election and presented over 350 documentary evidence and called 52 witnesses. The Tribunal partly agreed with him and nullified the election in eighteen (18) out of the thirty one (31) Local Government Areas of the State.

On their part, the Court of Appeal in a well considered judgment nullified the entire election and berated the Tribunal for ignoring the unchallenged evidence of over voting based on both the Card Reader and the Voters Register and the evidence that there was no collation of results which were never contested nor countered by the PDP and the other Respondents. On further appeal by the PDP, the Supreme Court did not only reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal but also set aside the partial nullification of election by the Tribunal.

On the day of the final judgment, Akpabio stormed the Supreme Court in fanfare some minutes before the Chief Justice of Nigeria and other Justices of the seven man panel returned from break to deliver their verdict in company of retinue of aides and supporters. The moment Akpabio entered the Supreme Court, movement of people were restricted by security men at the Court. His conduct inside the Supreme Court gave the impression that he merely came for celebration. Several reports in the media quoted him as declaring just before the judgment that it was "all over".

Mr President, where were you when all this was going on? Sir, I do not know of any president in the world who came to power on the platform of an opposition political party that has totally undermined and destroyed the party that brought him to power the way you have done. Respectfully Sir, you seem to operate under the illusion that for you to effect change in the country, you must abdicate from partisan politics.

In the name of non interference, you have allowed very bad people to assume underserved leadership positions through undemocratic means. Your seeming nonchalant attitude has emboldened predators to infiltrate and compromise critical institutions of state and organs of government at the peril of justice, national cohesion and development.

Least I forget, without consulting with anyone, you came to Akwa Ibom State and picked an ally of Godswill Akpabio and a card carrying member of the PDP, Senator Udo Udoma, as the ministerial nominee to represent the State in the Federal Executive Council. Respectfully Sir, that singular decision was/is a spite on the conscientious people of the State who supported and are still supporting you in the hope that you will protect them from the oppressive tendencies of Godswill Akpabio and his proteges. You may need to watch the video clip on YouTube showing how Akwa Ibom people reacted in Uyo the capital to your victory at the election. It speaks volume of the expectations of Akwa Ibom people.

Mr Udo Udoma is today reaping where he did not sow. Here is one very self-centered and egoistic politician from Akwa Ibom that does not have any affection for his people. He only cares about his selfish interest and that of his elitist cronies in the PDP. Udo Udoma has failed in his first critical assignment as Minister of Budget and National Planning given the recent budget imbroglio.

As if that was not enough humiliation for Akwa Ibom people, you sacked the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Dan Abia, who merely occupied the slot of Akwa Ibom State and replaced him with Mrs. Ibim Semenitari from Rivers State. Frankly, I have no problem with the removal of Mr Abia for whatever misconduct he may have committed.

However, by the provisions of Sections 3 and 12 of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment, etc) Act 2000, the position of Managing Director of the NDDC is statutorily rotated every four years among the oil producing States. That has been the practice. Therefore, any replacement for Mr Abia, whether in an Acting or substantive capacity, should have come from Akwa Ibom State until the expiration of the State's tenure. Simply put, Akwa Ibom has been cheated. It amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul. Even if the growing support of Akwa Ibom people for your administration means nothing to you, the State should be given her rightful place in federal appointments and citing of projects being the highest oil producing State in the federation.

My beloved president, you suffered from fraudulent elections on three previous occasions before Nigerians finally elected you in 2015. You fought up to the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2003 and 2007. In 2011, you declined seeking remedy in court having lost faith in the nation's judicial process. But your party,  the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), went to Court and fought up to the Supreme Court and lost.

Experience they say is the best teacher. Even if you were to fail in every other aspect of governance, it should certainly not be in the restoration of the sanctity of the electoral process. You also have a historic responsibility to champion revolutionary changes in the Judiciary.

It is not defensible for you to sit back and say that you "will not interfere" when you have not effected a system or mechanism that stops other people from interfering with the judicial and electoral process. Nobody is asking you to help rig elections or inflence court judgments. All we are saying is that nobody should be able to do what the president himself has refused to do. Leaving people who staked their lives supporting you at the mercy of electoral predators is sinful and wicked. You have left the weak and vulnerable in Akwa Ibom State at the mercy of Godswill Akpabio and his army.

Sir, the current Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, is an ally of Godswill Akpabio having served in Akwa Ibom State during Akpabio's regime as Commissioner of Police at a time politically motivated killings and other crimes were rife. That was why he instituted frivolous criminal charges against a lawyer, Mr Leo Ekpenyong, who has written series of petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Akpabio. The EFCC till date has refused to act on those petitions. What then is the war against corruption about when people like Akpabio are allowed to walk freely and infiltrate critical institutions and organs of government in the country? Is Mr Solomon Arase not one of the saboteurs in your government?

Sir, without the support of the Democrats, President Obama would not have recorded his achievements in the United States of America in the last seven years of his presidency. The Republicans rarely give him a chance. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has succeeded because he has the support of the Conservative Party both in parliament and in the country. This explains why both leaders are very interested in the affairs of their parties. Obama is currently backing Hillary Clinton for the White House because he knows that if the Republicans win the November 8, 2016 presidential election, many of his landmark reforms like the ObamaCare will be truncated.

Since you came to power, your party the APC has recorded more defeats than victories. The APC is today fighting a cold war with itself. There are various camps: the Tinubu camp; Atiku camp; Saraki camp; your own camp and so on. Few days ago, it was Tinubu's daughter who led market women to protest at the APC Secretariat in Abuja. Across the States, members of your party feel abandoned. Even though I do not belong to the APC, I believe that what goes on in the ruling party will ultimately affect the entire country. If there was responsible leadership in the PDP, Nigeria will not be where it is today. The division and leadership failure in the PDP culminated in the defeat of Goodluck Jonathan at the polls.

Looking at the National Assembly today, one can clearly see the signature of your bad politics and error in judgment in the name of "non interference". If you had appreciated the fact that the composition of the leadership of the National Assembly will affect your administration, Senator Bukola Saraki would not have been the Senate President today. As long as the status quo remains, you will continue to face embarrassment and resistance from the National Assembly.

As a final postscript, permit me to say that the faith of the Nigerian people in your administration is eroding at a worrisome level. This is the hard fact that Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Mr Femi Adesina, Mallam Garba Shehu and other image managers of your administration may not tell you. You may need curtail your oversea trips if that will make you to fully appreciate the true situation of things in the country.

This "change" is killing us and the time to truly change things in the country is now.

I sincerely want you to succeed and may you succeed. May God give you the insight and the courage to do what is right for our nation.

Thank you.

Your loyal subject,

Inibehe Effiong (Esq.).

BEYONCE REFUSES TO REMAIN A GOOD HOUSE NIGGER.

Icheoku says free at last, free at last; finally liberated and no longer afraid of their backlash. She took to her music to finally condemn police brutality in America, especially against African Americans. Now the white people are furious and have literally placed a price on her head. Their police is threatening that they will no longer protect her, will boycott her concerts and music as well as her record sales. Icheoku says in the White American's world, every person of color is required to know their place, do as told, keep silent and speak only when spoken to and never have an opinion. The good old house nigger resume` is all they require of every person of color and going outside the narrow straight line always attracts their ire and fury, as Beyonce is now finding out. But kudos to sista Queen Bey and may this finally serve to wake up the conscience of America into doing something about race relationship in America. Icheoku stands with Beyonce` in this matter.

BUHARI, KEEP NIGERIA OFF ISMAT - OCHEREOME NNANNA

The announcement by President  Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria will join ISMAT, a Saudi-led military coalition of Sunni Muslim countries fighting rival Muslim factions in the Middle East is capable of destabilizing Nigeria and unsettling its already seriously challenged unity in diversity. It is not only against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but more than that, it is liable to reduce Northern Nigeria and the nation a whole to a theatre of Muslim proxy wars as we see in Yemen, Syria, Libya and other countries. President Buhari Many of us had warned, during the campaigns, that electing Buhari would put Nigeria in danger of its neutrality to issues of religion being undermined, given his avowal to carry the torch of Sharia to all corners of Nigeria. Although he has often said that no one can Islamise Nigeria, his intention to drag the nation into the 34-member ISMAT is, more than any other thing, an assumption that Nigeria is already a Muslim country, which it is not. 

The first sign that Buhari would drag Nigeria into the petty but dangerous quarrels among factions of the Muslim faith showed in December 2015 when the Nigerian Army responded to a roadblock mounted by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (the Shiites) by killing hundreds of its members, flattening its enclave in Zaria and taking away its leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky without putting him on trial for any offence till date. In spite of the outrage this provoked from amazed Nigerians and the human rights community, the Federal Government has been cool and unbothered by this crackdown, which elicited a call from Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani to President Buhari to register the concern of his country. The Army said it had to act the way it did to avoid a situation whereby the Zakzaky group would constitute itself into another insurgent group like Boko Haram. 

This explanation probably helped in keeping many Nigerians quiet, but the warning from Shiite Iran betrayed the sectarian dimensions of the scorched earth killing of an ant with a sledgehammer. The plain truth is that majority of Nigerian Muslims (including Buhari) belong to the Sunni sect and do not see eye to eye with the Shiites. The danger of what happened was that Iran probably saw the action of the Nigerian Army which obviously had the backing of the President as official persecution of members of their sect. Shortly after this bloody incident, President Buhari started his many forays of official visits to the Arab world, ostensibly to rally their support to salvage the sagging prices of crude oil in the international market. 

On February 23rd 2016, Buhari had initially and wisely shown his reluctance in directly involving Nigeria in the coalition of Muslim countries fighting Islamic terrorism with this statement: “even if we are not part of it we support you”. But surprisingly, he made an about-face after meeting with Saudi King, Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz. He now was quoted as saying: “We are part of it because we have got terrorists in Nigeria that everybody knows which claims they are Islamic” (referring to Boko Haram). He then added that those (like us) who oppose his intention to send our troops to join ISMAT are “religious bigots” and challenged us to go and fight Boko Haram. 

Buhari is making it seem like joining ISMAT to fight Islamic terrorists is just like Nigeria joining ECOMOG or any other military alliance to confront a collective threat. This is a very myopic and dangerous assumption. In the first place, Nigeria is not qualified for ISMAT membership. There is no data to prove that Muslims are the majority in Nigeria. Even if they are (which I seriously doubt) it does not automatically make Nigeria a “Muslim” country. Senegal, with over 90 per cent of their population being Muslims does not classify itself as a Muslim country. All member-states of ISMAT are Muslim countries. Secondly, they are of the Sunni tradition. 

So, it is like forcing Nigeria to take sides in a conflict between Catholics and Protestants (such as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against the UK when the former was still involved in its insurgency to force Britain to grant independence to Northern Ireland). When it comes to quarrels between foreign powers, Nigeria has a subsisting policy of non-alignment. Nigeria only joins peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations and its regional subsets such as the African Union and ECOWAS. Nigeria never joins or openly sides with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) or their rivals, the Warsaw Pact. In fact, Nigeria’s neutrality and independence was forcefully asserted by the students’ uprising against the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact barely two months after independence in 1960. 

I wonder what the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs exists for if not to advise adventurous presidents like Buhari to stay away from committing the country the way he wants to. Nigeria is not a Muslim country. The constitution makes it clear that Nigeria does not have any state religion. Regrettably, successive Muslim presidents find it difficult to respect this constitutional principle. Apart from General Ibrahim Babangida sneaking Nigeria into the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and Buhari taking us to ISMAT, you see things like the Islamic figurines in our national currency called ajami in Arabic. You also see the motto of the Nigerian Army written in Arabic and translated to our common lingua franca, the English language as “Victory Comes From God”. 

Reverend Father Matthew Hassan Kukah in one of his books disclosed that our presidential villa (Aso Rock Villa) built by General Babangida, is a Muslim architecture – in a country that constitutionally does not have state religion! Are these taunts obviously meant to provoke the non-Muslim Nigerians or challenge them to do their worst? Yet, Buhari will come out and proclaim: “no one can Islamise Nigeria”. Beyond the constitutional issue, the danger of Buhari dragging us into ISMAT is that if care is not taken, Northern Nigeria will soon become a theatre of proxy wars between Shiite sects sponsored by Iran and their Sunni counterparts financed by Saudi Arabia and backed by Buhari’s Presidency. 

If we allow Buhari to send a contingent of our troops to help the Saudis to fight their Iran-sponsored enemies in the Middle East, nothing stops Iran from financing and arming Muslim groups to destabilise Nigeria. Already, we do not know who is sponsoring these so-called “Fulani herdsmen” who have been waging wars against communities in the North Central and Southern parts of Nigeria without Buhari saying a word, let alone taking decisive steps to eliminate these people and protect our citizens as he swore an oath to do. Unfortunately, Nigerian students, who rallied nationwide and successfully stopped Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa from signing the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact with Britain seem to have lost their consciousness, if not their conscience. 

The National Assembly must step in and stop Buhari before he lands us in something people never bargained for when they voted for him. Let us control his eagerness to make Nigeria a Saudi satellite state, or the Islamic kingdom’s area of military influence, with its attendant consequences for the survival of Nigeria as a single entity. Take this from me: if Buhari ignores our rejection of his move to take Nigeria into ISMAT, we will have more Islamic terror groups operating in pockets of enclaves all over the North as soon as Boko Haram dies down. By then, Buhari might even no longer be in Aso Rock to face the consequences of his unilateral action. Buhari MUST be stopped from taking Nigeria to ISMAT!

NANCY JOINS RONNY, THEY TRULY LOVED EACH OTHER.

 

Icheoku says they were together and happily married for 52 long years and she helped him get to where he got in life. Americans knew this and the whole world acknowledged this too. They were truly into each other and Icheoku prays they will reunite in the world beyond to continue their life of bliss. Nancy Reagan was 94 years and died of old age related heart condition. She was laid to rest beside her Ronny. Icheoku says Adieu Nancy and please say hi to Ron.

DONALD TRUMP, A MAN CALLED UP BY DESTINY TO BE PRESIDENT.

Icheoku says not a million of the petty and small-minded Mitt Romney of this world could and would stop a movement which is beyond them to comprehend. Icheoku once again calls on the Republican Party to fall in line behind Donald Trump, the only man who could beat and trounce Hillary Clinton come November. So Go Trump and together lets make America great again. Lets build that wall. Vatican has its wall; Jericho has its Great Wall; China has its Great Wall; so why not a Great Wall of and for America too?

DONT VOTE FOR CUBANS, VOTE FOR AN AMERICAN

Icheoku says the message is resonating and increasingly becoming clearer why Donald Trump is sweeping the polls. White Americans are tired and feel like they are rapidly losing grip of their country to some "outsiders" and are not prepared to let this opportunity at stopping the erosion of their power go unplugged. Icheoku says they may have a valid point in this; otherwise why are these other peoples' countries not as functional. So tired of experimentation and political correctness, they want a white boy to move back into "their" White House for crying out loud. Marcopolo Antonio El-Rubio and Rafael Edwardo La Cruz are both Hispanic Cubans and simply not white enough for America. Icheoku says whatever!!!!!

TRUMP IS THUMPING THEM ALL, WHITE HOUSE WITHIN GRASP.

Icheoku says believe any other thing to your detriment but Americans are in unison in saying enough of establishment politics. The winning is piling up as DT wins 3 out of 4 - Mississippi, Michigan and Hawaii; Icheoku says congratulations and together lets make America great again. 

For all those supposed world officials acting as meddlesome interlopers in this purely internal affairs of the United States of America, Icheoku says BUTT OUT. Who Americans chooses to be their president is their sole prerogative and not anybody's business. Americans do not tell these other countries of the world who to choose as their own leaders, so why must they now try to dip their filthy fingers in American pie. Vatican has its wall; Jericho had its great wall; China has its great wall and America will have its own great wall. Go Trump and let them talk till the cows come home, but the next president of America, the 45th, is going to be President Donald J. Trump.  

MITT ROMNEY FORCED TO SWALLOW HIS VOMIT, TRUMP'S PRODUCTS.

Icheoku says the best treatment to an envious and jealous hater is to force the licking up of a vomit. A case made worst when the hater deliberately misrepresented verifiable facts that could be so easily checked and ascertained to be true. But the MORMON of Boston, Mitt Romney, who in 2012 blew away a glaring opportunity to become president of the United States of America, went on national television to tell bare faced lie against Donald Trump out of spite. In his words of disparagement or attempt thereto since he did not succeed in slowing the movement, Mitt Romney said:- 

“Wait wait wait. Isn’t he a huge business success? Doesn’t he know what he’s talking about?” No, he isn’t. And no, he doesn’t. Look, his bankruptcies have crushed small businesses. And the men and women who worked for them. He inherited his business; he didn’t create it. And what ever happened to Trump airlines? How about Trump University? And then there’s Trump Magazine. And Trump Vodka. And Trump Steaks. And Trump Mortgage. A business genius he is not."

Icheoku says now that Donald Trump has put forward his rebuttal to Mitt Romney's baseless attempt to misstate facts, by explaining that he sold his airlines, that his university will rebound after his court case, displayed his steak, his water, his wines, his magazine etc, would the better Mitt Romney stand up and apologize to both Donald Trump and the American people as well as the entire world he tried to mislead and deceive about Donald Trump businesses. What a shameless, hateful, little, dishonorable man this Mitt is and Icheoku bets he will not be gracious enough to admit that he lied.

MARRIAGE AND THE WHAT PEOPLE WILL SAY INHIBITING FACTOR - ALBINUS CHIEDU

A major puncturing factor to the joy of many marriages today is the four-word phrase: “What people will say?” Because of this phrase, certain things that you ought to do to boost your marriage, strengthen bonding in your marital rela­tionship and increase your joy, are deliberately not done. 

You find a lady to marry. She is the love of your life. You love each other. Because of her occupational status, she has a car, house and some other assets that you do not have. You now feel that ‘if I marry her, people will say it is because of her wealth’. Now, you leave her and eventually marry someone that is wired for another man. Then, you begin to endure marriage instead of enjoying it. 

There are marriages where elements of romance are missing just because one or both parties are afraid of what people will say. “What will people say if I drive my wife in a car to a destination, alight quickly from the driver’s seat and rush to open the door for my wife like her employed driver? What will they say if I am taking a walk with my spouse and I hold him or her in a romantic manner? What will they say if I am the one cuddling my baby or bathing the child in public while my wife looks on? Will they not call me ‘woman wrapper?’ 

You have a wife who is an accountant by profession and prudent with spending, in contrast to you, a wasteful and careless spender. You know that if you hand over the family financial management to her, your family finance will improve and fami­ly business will grow. But you are finding it difficult to do that. Now, there has been financial and economic stagnation since you both officially became a couple. How will God’s plan for this marriage manifest? Ex­cept you call the bluff of what people will say. You are even accusing witches for your situ­ation instead of facing reality. 

You have a fiancée and you both have remained in pre-marital status for years, sim­ply because of what people will say if you do not throw a lavish wedding ceremony like so and so person. What will they say if you guys simply walk up to your clergyman or court registry with your family representative(s) as witness(es), take the marital vow and move forward with your life? They will say you did a poor man’s wedding. Right? 

You have money to buy a car but you have deliberately delayed purchasing one for your family. Why? Your wife can drive but be­cause of your job schedule and other factors  you have not been able to learn how to drive. ‘What will people say if I buy a car and my wife is the one always on the steer­ing during outings? 

You are presiding over a public meeting and your wife is among discussants. During discussions, she suggests an idea which happens to be superior to an idea that you earli­er tabled. Because the suggestion came from your wife, you jettison the suggestion. ‘What will people say if I implement what my wife has suggested? Won’t they say she is the one that dictates what I do?’ 

Maybe your wife is yet to conceive, years after marriage despite her good character as a person. You are considering going for an­other wife because of what people will say. Maybe also, you have had just one child for a long time and you are considering another woman for the purpose of having anoth­er child so that they will not say that you are infertile. You now want to break your mar­riage covenant and suffer implications be­cause of ‘people’. 

I don’t know what you may be passing through right now in your marriage and you are feeling so unhappy because of what people are saying already or what people will say, especially when that saying is not true. First, I want you to know that no matter what you do in life, people will always say something negative or positive about you. 

Secondly, if you run your marriage based on what people say or do not say, your marriage will lose its peculiar identity. Every marriage has a special element that makes it unique. So, you are expected by God to seek and strive to make your marriage work by putting in deliberate efforts to attract pos­itive ingredients that other marriages may not have. 

Thirdly, what people say about your marriage is totally irrelevant as long as you are living joyfully with your spouse and chil­dren in a godly way. It is what God says about your marriage that matters because God is the founder of the marital institution. As long as you run this institution based on the manual of the inventor, your problems will go at the rate at which they come. 

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). 

“Submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. There­fore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hateth his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church” (Ephesians 5:21-29 KJV).

CHRISTIANS ARE RELIGIOUS BIGOTS, THEIR OPINION DON'T MATTER - BUHARI

“We are part of the Islamic coalition because we have got terrorists in Nigeria, which everybody knows and the terrorists claim to be Islamic. So, if there is an Islamic coalition to fight terrorism, we will be part of it because we are casualties of Islamic terrorism. Boko Haram has declared loyalty to ISIS and ISIS is based in Islamic countries, and if there is a coalition to fight them why shouldn’t we be part of it, particularly when those fighting the country claim to be Muslims, although what they are doing is against Islam. Why can’t those Christians that complain about the coalition fight terrorism in Nigeria or fight the militants in the south? It’s Nigeria that matters, not the opinion of the religious bigots.” - Dr President Muhammadu Buhari.

Icheoku says with this Dr President Muhammadu Buhari has raised the ante in his battle plan against those who worships differently and who shares Nigeria with him as a secular country. As far as he is concerned, any opinion outside his does not matter in his latest attempt to railroad Nigeria fully into the Organization of Islamic Countries now against terrorism. A position from which he had earlier distanced himself and Nigeria from, but which he suddenly reversed himself on, having caved in to the pressure of Saudi Arabia. According to President Muhammadu Buhari, any Christian who does not like it can go and hang, as he does not give a damn. 

Icheoku says a president never took Nigeria for a ride as the current President Muhammadu Buhari, the lean and mean Cassius of Daura, who is now steaming full course to completely Islamize Nigeria. That his Boko Haram and Fulani nomadic cattle rearer terrorists army are on the prowl and wrecking havoc, should leave no one in doubt that their game plan is fast being translated into action.  What an unmitigated disaster Nigerians brought unto themselves when they elected such a paranoid,  opinionated zealot as their president. Now change has truly come to Nigeria and they are in different shades and forms.

DONALD TRUMP 2016 IS BARACK OBAMA 2008, BOTH INSPIRED PEOPLE.

Icheoku says likes to hear it or not, then candidate Barack Obama roared to the center stage of American politics  propelled by the yearnings of millions of Americans, who felt it was about time somebody different and with a different vision, held sway in America. People were excitedly giddy about the new kid on the block and gravitated to him accordingly, in response to his appeal as a refreshing breath of fresh air. They saw in Obama what they craved for and wanted for their dear country and they responded to his candidacy and today the rest is history. 

By the same token, the current political earthquake that is Donald Trump, is being powered by similarly excited Americans, who feel that it is about time they take back their White House and fix the so many things they see and consider broken about America. They are tired of politics as usual and like the mobs in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, now wants to do away with the conspirators - the establishment Republicans. They see in Donald Trump their yearning and aspiration fulfilled; and this is why he is unstoppable and will be ushered into the White House come November 2016 as the 45th president of the United States of America. Icheoku says the same phenomenal wind of change that carried Obama through is now underneath the sail of Donald Trump and no conceited, petty and envious establishment Republican, be him Mitt Romney or Lindsey Graham or John McCain or Karl Rove or even Bobby Jindal has enough energy to make a dent in his appeal. 

This effervescing enthusiasm, cutting across the length and breath of America, is what is driving Donald Trump's campaign, a campaign which has literally morphed into a movement. It will push and see him through to the White House in November, regardless of whatever contrary opinion any pinhead naysayer has to offer. Like then candidate Barack Obama was unstoppable, so is candidate Donald Trump now unstoppable and any Republican still holding out false hope, thinking that some magic will happen to stop him, better have another fall back option. Anyone still holding out there, hopelessly, will find him or herself missing the Trump train into the White House as a left behind. Donald Trump's train to the White House has since left unstoppably enroute the White House and trains don't usually stop once it takes off. 

Icheoku says Donald Trump is the answer to the question how do we move America truly forward. Donald Trump is the answer to the question how do we deal with immigration problem in America. Donald Trump is the answer to question how do we defeat ISIS and Islamic terrorism. Donald Trump is the answer to the question how do we rebuild America. Donald Trump is the answer to the question how do America begin to win again. Donald Trump is the answer to the question how do we checkmate China from their rising impetus. Donald Trump is the answer to the question how do we truly reset the button with Vladimir Putin's Russia. Donald Trump is the answer to the question how do Israel and Palestine truly make peace; and Donald Trump is the answer to how do we make America great again. 

Donald Trump's message is resonating with Americans; Donald Trump's message is refreshingly soothing to the ears of Americans; majority of who are tired of waiting for that knight in shinning armor that will lead them out of their presently found enslavement in the land of Egupt. America wants to truly lead and decisively again and Donald Trump will provide that leadership. Donald Trump is a winner extraordinary and together, America will join him and begin winning again. Donald Trump will take it to Hillary Clinton without gloves come the general election and Donald Trump will deal her a decisive TKO. Tired of the last eight years, look the way of Donald Trump. Go Trump and lets make America great again. Vatican has their wall; Jericho has their great wall; China has their own great wall and America will have its own great wall; so lets BUILD THAT WALL.

MITT ROMNEY, A SHAMELESS AND SPITE-FILLED MORMON.

Icheoku says with a friend like Mitt Romney, no Donald Trump needs an enemy. A man who actively sought and received endorsement from someone he once called a good friend, only to now turnaround to crucify the same person out of jealousy and simply because the other guy is on the verge of achieving what he could not achieve himself in 2012, is dangerous. Mitt Romney, Icheoku says to stop and quit hating, you Mr Judas Iscariot.

TRUMP CANDIDACY, THE WORLD MUST BUTT OUT.

Icheoku says America does not tell other countries of the world who to choose as their leaders and/or presidents. Therefore in the matter of the impending Donald Trump's presidency, it is not the world's business to tell Americans who to choose as her leader and president. That decision is an entire prerogative of the American people and theirs alone; and if as is looking increasingly inevitable, it becomes Donald Trump, so be it. Together we shall make America great again, create jobs, fix the economy, rebuild our military, rebuild our infrastructure and of course build the almighty GREAT WALL OF AMERICA. Vatican has its own wall; Jericho had its own great wall; China has its own great wall, so why not America's own great wall. Go Trump, Americans are with you and supporting you all the way to the White House. The 45th United States of American President Donald J. Trump.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM AND KARL ROVE, SIMPLY PATHETIC.

Icheoku says at what time did Lindsey Graham-nesty figure out that the man he, a short few weeks ago, debated on a nationally televised Republican Party's debate on who will be a better presidential candidate for the party,  is not or rather is no longer a member of the Republican Party? When did Donald Trump "DISAVOW" his membership of the Republican Party or was it privately done in the inner recesses of the chambers of the Senator from South Carolina? A man who flunked and flamed out his presidential run and was forced to beat a quick retreat, in his attempt to equal his friend, John McCain's record, as an also ran presidential candidate, is now saying what? A second tier and second rate presidential candidate wanna be, who could not even qualify, due to a very low single digit approval ratings, to make the cutoff mark to participate in the main presidential debates is now saying what? 

Needless to add that his endorsement of Jeb Bush did not yield JEB even a second place in his native South Carolina. Icheoku is bemused and wondering what weight does this guy really think he has? Who is Lindsey Graham outside his small state of South Carolina to say who is or who is not a Republican when he is not Reince Priebus, the chair of the Republican party? Which register of the Republican Party exists, where every Republican is listed as members? 

A man who Senator Graham was jostling a few short weeks ago on who will be a better presidential candidate for the Republican party, suddenly is no longer a member of the Republican Party? Icheoku asks Lindsey Graham on what platform did he then participate in the said debate? Why did Senator Graham not observe then or even walked out in protest that a stranger from Namibia was on stage debating with him and fighting to foist the flag of the Republican Party's presidential run this fall? What changed except that pitiful envy and jealousy is consuming the senator that what he could not do, an outsider is doing it successfully and having fun about it.

A man who was made to sign an undertaking not to run a third party candidate against the eventual nominee of the Republican Party in protest, is now no longer a member of the Republican Party? A man who has given so much money and resources to past Republican Party presidential candidates including 2008 John McCain and 2012 Mitt Romney; and who stood side by side and endorsed Mitt Romney for the election and who Mitt Romney acknowledged as a dear friend and bona fide Republican, is now adjudged no longer bona fides of the Republican Party. Icheoku says wonders shall never end as this goes to show how far entrenched and established interests could go to fight for their hold unto power and its accouterments. 

Now to the other Michelin Tire man Karl Rove, who is yet to recover from the drubbing of election 2012, which saw him stupefied and still assuring donors that Mitt Romney won the election until Obama was sworn in for the second term. A man who destroyed every credit and credibility he garnered as the man who made George W Bush president, with his mediocre performance in that election 2008 which was Romney's to lose and he lost it; especially after squandering over $400 million special interest's money to stop Obama which task he failed woefully. 

Icheoku thought Karl Rove has finally retired faraway to Wyoming from partisan politics until this Trump Movement flushed him back into the scene. So query, what standing does Karl Rove, man who could not help beat Obama in 2012 with $400 million and despite the beatable environment then, still have to open his mouth to tell Americans who to choose as president as well as the Republican Party's presidential candidate nominee. Icheoku condemns Karl Rove's attempt at meddling with the current process as both misguided and impetuous. He wasted donor's money in 2012 and Donald Trump called him out on it and now he wants his pound of flesh? 

Icheoku says not this time Karl and other established politicians as millions of Americans, including Pagans, Gentiles, Jews, Christians, born again and born before, educated and none educated, tall and short, fat and slim, ugly and beautiful, Mexicans, blacks, women, Chinese, Japanese, gays and Lesbians as well as people who generally love differently, and every American who desires better for America, are united in the current effort to send The Donald to Washington. Politics as usual has been defeated and Americans in unison want an outsider who does not accept money from any special interest to go to Washington and shake things up. So these hating and hateful established Republicans, who feel threatened that an outsider is coming uninvited, not only to the dinner table but also to man the kitchen and bar, should know that America's democracy is peoples democracy and their majority will trounce whatever conspiracy is going on among the family of the entrenched political jobbers. 

A NATION OF SPERM DONORS AND SINGLE MOTHERHOOD SYNDROME?

Icheoku says still wondering why things are spiraling downwards on its head, headed to hell in hands basket in American society, especially among families of peoples of color? Studies show that 73% of black American children are born outside wedlock, to single mothers.  Their father is either a deadbeat dad without any fixed address or source of income, or has abandoned the mother following her pregnancy, or is a crackhead, or is in prison or is already shot dead or killed in domestic violence, regardless. So many others fall into the feminist trap of a nagging female  who finally forces her man to walk away into the night without ever coming back. Others simply divorce. 

Now query, how does this promise any solid future for blacks in America? Icheoku's says unless something is done to undo what the Clintons did to unravel black communities in America, with their project massive incarceration of "super-predators" black males of America, some of these families without a male family-head will continue to wallow in their problems. The result, the continued descent into despondency and poverty; and of course its attendant more crimes including robbery and prostitution to support an infant in a child-mother's care. Icheoku says in a nation that does not somewhat encourage marriage and which seems to empathize with single motherhood and fatherhood, what else could be expected. But just like CNN's Don Lemon suggested and Icheoku agrees, 'Just because you can have a baby, doesn't mean you should have one if you cannot afford one.' A culture which glorifies baby-mama and baby-daddy and where what other societies consider bastards do not exist.

HILLARY CLINTON IS PART OF THE PROBLEM - DOUG J. TICE

In the winter of 1996 at Keene State College in New Hampshire, then First Lady Hillary Clinton spoke forcefully about policing and criminal justice on behalf of her husband's re-election campaign.

The “challenge,” Clinton declared, “is to take back our streets from crime, gangs and drugs.” Boasting of the administration’s putting more cops on America’s mean streets, she called for “an organized effort against gangs, just as in a previous generation we had an organized effort against the mob. We need to take these people on … They are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called superpredators. No conscience. No empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.”

The president, she promised, had ordered “a very concerted effort against gangs everywhere.” She urged Americans “to be a part of this anti-crime, anti-gang, anti-drug effort.”

Times have changed, and Clinton has changed with them, although she still likes the ring of “concerted effort.”

But in a debate last month, what the now-presidential candidate called for was “a concerted effort to address the systemic racism in our criminal justice system.” Beyond finding it “incredibly outraging to see the constant stories of young men … who have been killed by police officers,” Clinton was appalled that “one out of three African-American men may well end up going to prison. … [A]nd very often, the black men are arrested, convicted and incarcerated … for offenses that do not lead to the same results for white men.”

Today’s bestselling crises are no longer “crime, gangs and drugs.” Today’s crowd-pleasing concerns are “systemic racism” and “mass incarceration.” And a lot of the same politicians who wooed voters a couple decades ago by vowing to “take on” the “superpredators” — brushing aside softheaded talk about “how they got that way” — now seem shocked (shocked!) that “these people” turned out to include many young black males, and that “bringing them to heel” often meant sending them to jail.

Fact is, Hillary and Bill Clinton both have admitted to some regrets, or anyhow reconsideration, regarding their tough-on-crime stances years ago, and particularly regarding the big 1994 federal crime bill that did much to swell U.S. prison populations. But it wasn’t just them. The Clinton crime bill passed with overwhelming Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.

(And yes, Bernie Sanders, who today deplores our “broken” criminal justice system, voted for it.)

All over the country in the 1990s and beyond, no-mercy politicians cracked down on crime with “three strikes” laws and mandatory minimums and broken-windows policing tactics and sex offender civil commitment laws and on and on — and sent prison populations soaring.

Today, politicians and great thinkers all across the spectrum find the results of yesteryear’s anti-crime, anti-gang, anti-drug efforts, well, “incredibly outraging.”

This massive shift in attitudes and policy prescriptions on crime has of course tracked a stunning decline in crime rates in America. The rate of violent crime has plunged by half over the past 20 years. On its face, that happy development might explain many changes of heart and make a course correction reasonable. Tough-on-crime politics peaked not long after (we now know) crime levels themselves peaked in the early 1990s. Now that we’ve largely taken back the streets, it may, in fact, be time for a cease-fire and an assessment of where our concerted efforts went too far.

But seldom do we hear that sort of cautious, measured reflection. The anti-crime rhetoric of 20 years ago was extravagant (“superpredators!”) and so is today’s anti-criminal justice rhetoric (“systemic racism!”) We seem to have gone from suffering a catastrophic crime epidemic two decades ago to suffering a catastrophic injustice epidemic today — with no social health in between.

If so, maybe this lurching from one imbalance to another has something to do with unbalanced leadership.

One difficulty in making sense of America’s wild ride on the crime issue is that we don’t know how much of a role sending more criminals to prison has played in reducing crime. Numerous researchers have concluded that more incarceration has made only a trivial contribution; others think it may account for a third of the crime decline. What’s clear is that crime is a bafflingly complex social phenomenon, and we just don’t know.

Two decades ago, politicians far and wide sounded pretty sure that throw-away-the-key policies would help. But today, with prisons full and streets more peaceful, they are not claiming credit but proclaiming a shiny new outrage — one somebody else must be responsible for — that is a fine a new reason to vote for them.

What makes all this so frustrating is that crime on the one hand and injustice on the other are two horrible evils that we have to rely largely on government to combat. But this record of serial demagoguery makes it hard to have confidence that those who lead us are up to these tasks.

The best advice for citizens is simply to listen skeptically and critically to everything politicians and ideologues of any variety say about crime and criminal justice — and to keep one’s eyes on facts. Here are a few of note, from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics “Prisoners in 2014” report:

• Slightly more than 1.5 million inmates were held in state and federal prisons in 2014, the large majority (87 percent) in state facilities.

• Black males were incarcerated at a rate nearly six times the rate of white males, and also at two-and-a-half times the rate of Hispanic males.

• Minnesota’s overall incarceration rate is the fourth lowest in the country (behind Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts) and well under half the national rate.

• Nationally, among all state prisoners, 53.2 percent are incarcerated for violent crimes. Drug offenses account for 15.7 percent. Drug possession accounts for 3.6 percent.

• Among federal inmates, just over half are incarcerated for drug offenses. Combining the state and federal populations, all drug offenders make up 20 percent of the grand total.

It is likely that county jail populations and offenders under other kinds of supervision (probation, etc.) increase the overall role of drug and other nonviolent offenders in the criminal justice system.