A NIGERIAN ARAB SPRING, HIGHLY PROBABLE - JUDE AKUBUILO

The Arab Spring, a series of anti-government protests, revolts and uprisings started in early 2011 in Tunisia and led to the ousting of long time Tunisian leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. By the time it came under some control,  it had severely impacted eight countries, dislodging  powerful Middle East rulers like Hosni Mubarak of Egypt who had been in power since 1980. It  plunged Syria, Libya and Yemen into long drawn conflicts, forced deep political reforms in Morocco and Jordan, while changing the political landscape of the region for a long time to come, if not forever.

The Arab Spring was precipitated by deep rooted resentment by the masses against the ruling class. The resentment was fuelled by mass anger against the prevailing pervasive corruption, high youth unemployment, high inflation in the backdrop of a geriatric ruling class that had been there for decades, and its resistance to mass demand for political reforms. At the onset of the Arab Spring, the Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak had been in power for 31 years; the Tunisian President had been in power for 27 years; while Muammar al-Qaddafi had ruled Libya for 42 years, the youth felt that the sit-tight ruling class would never create room for their upward mobility confining them to abject poverty in harsh prevailing economic conditions. Most university graduates were unable to secure employment commensurate with their education and had to settle for menial jobs in order to survive. Engineers trained in good universities found themselves working as taxi drivers. In Egypt, the uprising was sparked by a single Facebook post that called for a mass protest exploding into a response by tens of thousands that overwhelmed and toppled the ruling class.

LESSONS FOR NIGERIA

The precipitants for an Arab Spring type uprising exist today in Nigeria and in many other West African countries. The political and ruling class can avert this by taking immediate steps/measures to reduce the risk factors for a potentially catastrophic chapter in the nation’s history.

1. UNEMPLOYMENT

According to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics (NNBS), unemployment in Nigeria today is about 9.90%. This figure is hotly contested by Non Governmental Organizations and other stakeholders as unrealistic who feel 34% to be more realistic. See Tolu Ogunlesi, FACTSHEET: How Nigeria’s unemployment rate is calculated in africacheck.org. Bringing it into perspective, France with an unemployment rate of 10.5%, (as of April, 2015)would have a higher unemployment rate than Nigeria using the NNBS figure. Important to note that Nigeria recently changed the way unemployment is calculated, adopting a formula that lowered the rates compared to the past. Today, people who work for twenty hours per week are regarded as having full time employment as against the forty hours per week benchmark used previously.

According to the Nigerian National Population Commission, in 2012 Nigeria had a population of 167 million, half of which are youth defined as those between the ages of 15 and 34 years. Over 11 million of the youth are unemployed presenting a picture bleaker than what is painted by statistics. The jobs are simply not there and many job seekers while they possess the paper qualifications, are unemployable because they lack basic skills for today’s job market. The ones in highly skilled areas like medicine, pharmacy and nursing, seek employment overseas where there is great demand and better remuneration for their skills. Hundreds of accredited and unaccredited universities, polytechnics, and other institutions of higher education churn out graduates in their thousands annually, with little or no employment prospects. Rather than create a level playing field for the scarce employment opportunities that become available, the ruling class allocate the employment positions to their cronies and off springs. The masses when lucky, have to purchase very scarce employment positions and become victims of  numerous employment scams, losing hundreds of thousands of Naira. The female applicants are subjected to sexual exploitation, without any assurances of obtaining employment. Meanwhile, the children of the ruling class, (who most of the time are educated overseas, using funds embezzled by their parents from the Nigerian Commonwealth), are not subjected to such indignities. These privileged few are beneficiaries of employment allocations, while millions of Nigerian youth who graduated many years ago are condemned to hideous and soul destroying unemployment or menial jobs.

Three recent examples will bring clarity to the scandal of youth unemployment that threatens to engulf the country.

On March 15, 2014, over 200,000 job seekers reported to a poorly organized recruitment scam by the Nigerian Immigration Service having been made to cough up illegal levies totaling about N520 Million. About 20 of the job seekers died in the ensuing stampede. The then Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro and other officers are presently standing trial for this scam. One would have thought that after this public black eye, the Immigration Service would have learnt a bitter lesson. That however was not the case because in December 2015, it came to light that the Immigration Service secretly recruited about 500 officers without due process and publication. It is alleged that that the beneficiaries were wards and nominees of top public officers, politicians and the ruling class.

In March 2016, it came to light that the Central Bank of Nigeria allocated 91 employment positions to children and wards  of the top Nigerian ruling elite. It was said that this employment placed these wards in enhanced positions beyond their experience and educational qualifications. To mask the apparent deceit and criminality of this job allocation, some employment letters are alleged to have been issued with fictitious names.

The public outcry over these odious practices was short lived but like a tinder, no one knows when the spark will ignite and conflagrate the nation given the presence of robust social media in Nigeria, like  Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. It takes just one flash point. Mohammed Bouazizi was a 26 year old unemployed man from Tunisia who tried so hard without success in seeking government assistance to get employment. He tried and failed getting into the army neither could he secure employment with public and private enterprises, he then started a small business selling vegetables from a kiosk. The government stopped his business by confiscating his vegetables and kiosk effectively barring him from feeding his family and paying his sister’s school fees. Out of frustration, he set himself on fire in front of the government building where his confiscated kiosk rested, thus registering his extreme condemnation of the 23 year regime of President Ben Ali. This tragic self-immolation triggered a mass uprising and spurned a revolution which brought down the ruling class and government in Tunisia.

The issue of massive and pervasive youth unemployment in Nigeria is a ticking time bomb that needs to be addressed in earnest and with utmost urgency.

2. CORRUPTION

According to Hamza Abbas Jamoul writing in the Al Manar News, “Economic hardships can be tolerated if the people believe there is a better future ahead, or feel that the pain is at least somewhat equally distributed.”

A situation where a small group of people engage in thievery to govern the people is known as KLEPTOCRACY. Such a group consolidates tyrannical powers by transferring the country’s wealth and power from the public to only a few. The kleptomaniac ruling class usurp all the democratic rights of the people, embezzling all their money, using same to buy justice, liberty, influence, and an upper crust existence for their generations unborn. In the case of Nigeria, these people own homes in choice areas of  Lagos, Abuja and other cities, as well as in other world capitals. They own fleets of cars, their children are educated overseas, they seek medical treatment overseas even for minor tooth aches while denying Nigerians funding for mass transportation, good education and quality health care, Money allocated for the building of infrastructure like well-equipped and functional hospitals is embezzled and construction of a sustainable mass transit system in Nigeria is sabotaged while playing politics with the payment of a paltry N5000 per month stipend to the unemployed youth. This group has billions of Naira and foreign currency in local and foreign banks and some of them feature prominently in the recently released PANAMA PAPERS, setting up contraptions to hide their ill gotten wealth as well as making certain Nigeria is denied the tax revenue that would better the lot of the common man.

In 2015, the World Bank released a list of Nigerian looters with billions of dollars trapped in banks all over the world. In January of 2016, the Nigerian Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed informed the world that between 2006 and 2013, 55 Nigerians stole over N1.34 trillion. He went on to say  “We know that those who stole us dry are powerful, they have newspapers, radio and television stations and an army of supporters to continuously deride government’s war against corruption…Corruption is responsible for the endemic poverty in the country today”. Premium Times Newspaper, January 18, 2016.

According to Shehu Sani, the Nigerian Senator representing APC, Kaduna Central, and the Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, corrupt Nigerians have stashed over $200 billion in United Arab Emirates especially, Dubai. Nigerian Vanguard Newspaper, January 26, 2016.

The on-going War Against Corruption, (WAC) unearths daily, billions of Naira in embezzled and stolen funds by  people in the public and private sectors. The psyche of the public appear to be numbed by the magnitude of theft of public funds which has rocked the nation to its foundation. It is difficult for Nigerians to reconcile these stolen billions in the pockets of a few with the harsh economic hardship that is suffocating Nigerians. While the EFCC has embarked on highly publicized arrests, prosecutions, and seizures, the public is holding its breath to see how many of these prosecutions result in long term commensurate sentences, return of the stolen funds and its use to improve living conditions for the population. If wishes were horses, nothing will make Nigerians happier other than to see a wave of voluntary return of the  embezzled or ill-gotten funds.

Corruption continues to stare Nigerians in the face daily. As Nigerians struggled to scratch out one meal a day, news broke of the billions of Naira spent to procure vehicles for members of the National Assembly. This scandal was followed by the outrageous padding of the 2016 federal budget, including an alleged N100 billion allocation set aside as “Constituency Projects” for members of the National Assembly. Sahara Reporters, May 16, 2016.  As Nigerians battle to comprehend the efficacy of the operation of a ubiquitous federal government system saddled with fulltime legislators at the local government, state and federal levels, most have come to agree that this system is fiscally challenging, impossible to sustain given the current economic realities in Nigeria amid questions of whether the people are getting any value or their money’s worth from this system and whether these elected government officials are representing themselves or the populace.

Unfortunately, the hydra-headed corruption has not spared any branch of life in Nigeria, from public to private life, attacking the executive, legislative and the once thought to be sacrosanct judiciary.

The spiraling hyper inflation, the devalued Naira, the removed fuel subsidy, the total collapse of the economy and the evaporation of personal and economic security make Nigeria a bubbling cauldron for mass agitation. This may possibly be averted if government does a  better job of  selling to Nigerians the gospel, that better days are ahead.

3. SECURITY

There is fairly general consensus that in a civilized society, the first and primary duty of government is the protection of its citizens. Even before Boko Haram, (the most dreaded terrorist organization in the world), the Nigerian government had fared poorly in keeping their own end of the social contract. In 1971, Ishola Oyenusi and his gang of seven were executed at the Bar Beach- Lagos, for a robbery at the WAHUM factory that netted the group $28,000. The execution was witnessed by over 30,000 persons. It was alleged that Oyenusi confessed that he would not have become an armed robber if his father had the money to train him in secondary school. Those days, crimes such as armed robbery were novel to Nigerians and attracted public condemnation. Kidnappings were rare and embezzlement of public funds was seen as a serious crime with the culprits  and their families made pariahs and ostracized. Many people who faced investigative panels probing their handling of public funds usually died of heart attacks before the conclusion of proceedings. No one knows precisely when the Nigerian psyche became numbed to crime and the fruits there from, or when it attained the  glamorization that it has today. By 1992 when the popular Nollywood thriller Living in Bondage came out, making money at all costs in Nigeria had become the norm. The film tells the story of a man who joins a secret cult, kills his wife in a ritual sacrifice, gains enormous wealth as a reward, and is afterwards haunted by the dead wife’s ghost. Today, armed robbery is common place, no longer news and has been joined by more lucrative criminal enterprises like kidnapping, brigandage by herdsmen, oil bunkering, cultism, violent agitation for separatism and so many other vices that have cheapened the life of the Nigerian. The meager sums for which armed robbers were executed in the 1970s are peanuts compared to the billions which few Nigerian elite now embezzle on a daily basis without any fear of repercussions, recriminations or public odium. While those in the privileged class could afford the luxury of police orderlies protecting them and their families, the ordinary Nigerian is exposed to the ugly prospect that his or her life is worth little or nothing and could be lost in a second. This is as the people who have robbed Nigeria blind have sequestered their children in the safe havens of United States, United Kingdom and other developed countries. To compound matters, Nigeria is said to have about 370,000 ill-equipped and demoralized police officers to police over 170 million persons. This is a poor average police to population ratio in the world compared with Russia’s 143 million people with about 782,000  well equipped police officers. Wikipedia: List of countries and dependencies by number of police officers.

One should be worried about the total lack of security seeking to envelope Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgents  in the North East are being tackled vigorously by the Nigerian Military but  like bees, they have been dispersed from their honey comb in the North East. It appears that vicious  attacks (blamed on Fulani Herdsmen) are mushrooming in other parts of Nigeria like Agatu, Benue, Nimbo Nsukka, Enugu State, Nassarawa and other parts. A closer look should also be taken at the emerging conflict involving Shiite Moslems, followers of Sheikh al- ZakZaky, to ascertain whether the proxy war between Sunni Moslems backed by Saudi Arabia, and Shiites backed by Iran has extended to Nigeria.

Equally worrisome are the  separatist agitations of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, MASSOB, the Niger Delta Avengers and other groups, whose agitations could metamorphose into full fledged insurgencies.

These security issues coupled with the unpalatable daily diet of frustration,  horrors and hopelessness  could push the masses over the precipice, leading to mass uprising, with the people  demanding  a government that is more responsive to their security and welfare.

4. YOUTH DISCRIMINATION, AGEING & SIT TIGHT RULING CLASS

According to Jekwu Ozoemene in his blog of November 1, 2015, titled, Memo to Nigerian Youth,

“The UN, for statistical consistency across regions, defines ‘youth’, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, an interesting definition in a country whose erstwhile ruling party’s Youth Leader was 60 years old and the current ruling party’s youth leader well past 50. I will be 43 in February 2016, almost 20 years passed the UN best-before date for youth so I cannot in good faith consider myself a youth (though I am young in mind and spirit). Unfortunately however, trapped in a time warp of a geriatric society, people well passed my age are still considered ‘youths’ in Nigeria. So it must have been people like us who were referred to when our leaders intoned that they cannot find an ‘outstanding’ Nigerian ‘youths’ to include in their Work-in-Progress Federal cabinet, a cabinet whose youngest member is 48 years old.”

Nigeria suffers from a chronic discrimination against the youth which feeds a culture of foisting geriatric leadership across all spheres of Nigerian life. To  make matters worse, Nigerians generally understate their age. It follows therefore that people in positions of authority in their 70s may actually be in their 80s, an age when their contemporaries in civilized societies would be enjoying peace in retirement. Chuba Ezekwesili captured this problem in his article, “The Economic Consequences of “Adultism” in Nigeria“, The Scoop, June 25, 2013:

“Adultism is a form of prejudice characterized by discrimination against young people. It’s the belief that adults are better than young people, and entitled to act upon young people without agreement. In Nigeria, your age in many ways determines how much respect you’ll be accorded, irrespective of your abilities. Such fanaticism on age leads to adverse political, social and economic consequences for Nigeria.”

A sampling of the age of the world leaders will put the problem in perspective, the President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama is 54 years old, David Cameron of Great Britain, 49 years old, Justin Trudeau of Canada 43 years old, while Vladimir Putin of Russia is 63 years old. At such average age, a typical Nigerian may still looking for his first job and may not have held any position of authority.

There is simply no space at the top, since virtually the same group of people have occupied the Nigerian political space since independence in 1960. These days in America, it is hard to remember that Bush Senior and Junior, and Bill Clinton were once Presidents. They and others quietly stepped aside, ushering in a breath of fresh leadership so that new ideas will continue to propel America to great heights. Not so in Nigeria where not long ago, Chief Anthony Anenih was pleading with the Nigerian “youth” who average over 50 years to be patient and wait for their turn. When a population feels condemned to the bottom of the barrel, with little or no opportunities to rise to the top, especially if the system is rigged against progress based on merit, it is only a matter of time before such a system explodes. This was identified to be one of the major causes of the Arab Spring.

5. SOCIAL IMBALANCES

In Nigeria, social development grossly lags behind economic development. The rate of poverty and the widening income disparity are reasons for grave concern when coupled with the widespread youth unemployment and stagnant economic development, one can appreciate that Nigeria could be sitting on a time bomb. In 1980, less than 30% of Nigerians were living below the poverty line. By 2013, this percentage grew to 50-60%. In fact some studies show that there has been no change in per capita income in Nigeria since 1970 despite the trillions of dollars in oil revenue that accrued to the country over the years. The wealth appears to have gone to a small percentage of Nigerians. At the same time, the average Nigerian has not witnessed a major improvement in his living standards since government investment in social services has been abysmal. Today, Nigeria cannot boast of good hospitals, good and quality education, good road infrastructure, public transportation, employment, or anything that can show that the massive wealth that accrued to the country in the past several years trickled down to the masses. It has been observed that when the benefits of economic growth are not reaching a majority of the people, and there exists increasing disparity in income and living standards between social groups and between regions, and where such is exacerbated by serious environmental degradation (as is the case in Niger Delta region), due to careless or over exploitation of natural resources, the country could experience serious turbulence.

The 2006 United Nations Human Development Index puts Nigeria at 159th out of 177  countries, with 70.8 percent of the population living on less than $1 per day and 92.4 percent living on less than $2 per day. There is consensus that high levels of poverty and inequality undermines social cohesion and endangers political stability. It is difficult to convince Nigerians to accept the status quo, when they are treated to a daily diet of how a small number of individuals misappropriated billions of dollars meant for their welfare.

 Even for those lucky to be employed, it is increasingly difficult to sustain the argument that the N18,000 minimum wage is a living wage, especially since the purchasing power of the Naira has been whittled down by hyperinflation, covert devaluation, exchange control issues and other factors.  While Nigerians are subjected to these indignities, people are debating the necessity of paying a N5000 per month safety net stipend to the unemployed youth, a campaign promise made by the ruling APC during the elections. Urgent steps need to be put in place to address the glaring socio-economic imbalances and dislocations plaguing the country if the country hopes to avert a Nigerian Arab Spring.

For those in doubt as to how dire the situation is, on or about May 10, 2016,  irate youth burnt down the houses of a serving Senator and that of a member of the House of Representatives in Kano allegedly for failing  to fulfill their campaign promises. New Telegraph Newspaper,  May 11, 2016. This should be a wakeup call for all of us. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee too!

BLOCK THE SALE OF WARPLANES TO NIGERIA - NEW YORK TIMES.

Fourteen months after the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria, the Obama administration is considering selling his government 12 warplanes. It is a thorny decision because Mr. Buhari is an improvement over his disastrous predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, and is fighting Boko Haram, the Islamist extremists who have terrorized the region. But he has not done enough to end corruption and respond to charges that the army has committed war crimes in its fight against the group. Selling him the planes now would be a mistake. 

Under Mr. Buhari, Nigeria has cooperated more with Chad and Niger to fight Boko Haram. The group, which emerged in the early 2000s, has seized land in the northeastern, predominantly Muslim section of Nigeria. Thousands of people have been killed and 2.2 million displaced. The group’s depravity captured world attention in 2014 when it kidnapped 276 girls from a secondary school. 

While violence is down and some territory has been recaptured, the group continues to attack remote villages and refugee camps, and it is using women and children as suicide bombers. American military officials say that Boko Haram has begun collaborating with the Islamic State and that the groups could be planning attacks on American allies in Africa. 

Yet Nigeria’s government cannot be entrusted with the versatile new warplanes, which can be used for ground attacks as well as reconnaissance. Its security services have long engaged in extrajudicial killings, torture and rape, according to the State Department’s latest annual human rights report. Amnesty International says that during the army’s scorched-earth response to Boko Haram between 2011 and 2015, more than 8,200 civilians were murdered, starved or tortured to death. 

The Obama administration was so concerned about this record that two years ago it blocked Israel’s sale of American-made Cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria and ended American training of Nigerian troops. American officials even hesitated to share intelligence with the military, fearing it had been infiltrated by Boko Haram. That wariness has eased and American officials say they are now working with some Nigerian counterparts. 

Since winning election on a reform platform, Mr. Buhari has moved to root out graft and to investigate human rights abuses by the military. But the State Department said Nigerian “authorities did not investigate or punish the majority of cases of police or military abuse” in 2015 

That hardly seems like an endorsement for selling the aircraft. Tim Rieser, a top aide to Senator Patrick Leahy, who wrote the law barring American aid to foreign military units accused of abuses, told The Times that “we don’t have confidence in the Nigerians’ ability to use them in a manner that complies with the laws of war and doesn’t end up disproportionately harming civilians, nor in the capability of the U.S. government to monitor their use. 

To defeat Boko Haram, which preys on citizens’ anger at the government, Mr. Buhari will need more than weapons. He has to get serious about improving governance and providing jobs, roads and services in every region of Nigeria. Until then or until Congress develops ways to monitor the planes’ use, it should block the sale.

HILLARY CLINTON, FACING PERFECT LEGAL STORM OVER EMAILS - NAPOLITANO

The bad legal news for Hillary Clinton continued to cascade upon her presidential hopes during the past week in what has amounted to a perfect storm of legal misery. 

Here is what happened.

Last week, Mrs. Clinton's five closest advisers when she was Secretary of State — four of whom remain close to her and have significant positions in her presidential campaign —were interrogated by the FBI. 

These interrogations were voluntary, not under oath, and done in the presence of the same legal team which represented all five aides.

The atmosphere was confrontational, as the purpose of the interrogations is to enable federal prosecutors and investigators to determine whether these five are targets or witnesses. Stated differently, the feds need to decide if they should charge any of these folks as part of a plan to commit espionage, or if they will be witnesses on behalf of the government should there be such a prosecution; or witnesses for Mrs. Clinton.

In the same week, a federal judge ordered the same five persons to give videotaped testimony in a civil lawsuit against the State Department which once employed them in order to determine if there was a "conspiracy" — that's the word used by the judge — in Mrs. Clinton's office to evade federal transparency laws. Stated differently, the purpose of these interrogations is to seek evidence of an agreement to avoid the Freedom of Information Act requirements of storage and transparency of records, and whether such an agreement, if it existed, was also an agreement to commit espionage — the removal of state secrets from a secure place to a non-secure place.

Also earlier this week, the State Department revealed that it cannot find the emails of Bryan Pagliano for the four years that he was employed there. Who is Bryan Pagliano? He is the former information technology expert, employed by the State Department to problem shoot Mrs. Clinton's entail issues.

Pagliano was also personally employed by Mrs. Clinton. She paid him $5,000 to migrate her regular State Department email account and her secret State Department email account from their secure State Department servers to her personal, secret, non-secure server in her home in Chappaqua, New York. That was undoubtedly a criminal act. 

Pagliano either received a promise of non-prosecution or an actual order of immunity from a federal judge. He is now the government's chief witness against Mrs. Clinton.

It is almost inconceivable that all of his emails have been lost. Surely this will intrigue the FBI, which has reportedly been able to retrieve the emails Mrs. Clinton attempted to wipe from her server.

While all of this has been going on, intelligence community sources have reported about a below the radar screen, yet largely known debate in the Kremlin between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Intelligence Services. 

They are trying to come to a meeting of the minds to determine whether the Russian government should release some 20,000 of Mrs. Clinton's emails that it obtained either by hacking her directly or by hacking into the email of her confidante, Sid Blumenthal.

As if all this wasn't enough bad news for Mrs. Clinton in one week, the FBI learned last week from the convicted international hacker, who calls himself Guccifer, that he knows how the Russians came to possess Mrs. Clinton's emails; and it is because she stored, received and sent them from her personal, secret, non-secure server.

Mrs. Clinton has not been confronted publicly and asked for an explanation of her thoughts about the confluence of these events, but she has been asked if the FBI has reached out to her. It may seem counter-intuitive, but in white collar criminal cases, the FBI gives the targets of its investigations an opportunity to come in and explain why the target should not be indicted.

This is treacherous ground for any target, even a smart lawyer like Mrs. Clinton. She does not know what the feds know about her. She faces a damned-if-she-does and damned-if-she-doesn't choice here.

Any lie and any materially misleading statement — and she is prone to both — made to the FBI can form the basis for an independent criminal charge against her. This is the environment that trapped Martha Stewart. Hence the standard practice among experienced counsel is to decline interviews by the folks investigating their clients.

But Mrs. Clinton is no ordinary client. She is running for president. She lies frequently.

We know this because, when asked if the FBI has reached out to her for an interview, she told reporters that neither she nor her campaign had heard from the FBI; but she couldn't wait to talk to the agents.

That is a mouthful, and the FBI knows it. 

First, the FBI does not come calling upon her campaign or even upon her. The Department of Justice prosecutors will call upon her lawyers — and that has already been done, and Mrs. Clinton knows it. 

So her statements about the FBI not calling her or the campaign were profoundly misleading, and the FBI knows that. Mrs. Clinton's folks are preparing for the worst. 

They have leaked nonsense from "U.S. officials" that the feds have found no intent to commit espionage on the part of Mrs. Clinton. Too bad these officials — political appointees, no doubt — skipped or failed Criminal Law 101. 

The government need not prove intent for either espionage or for lying to federal agents.

And it prosecutes both crimes very vigorously.

FANTASTICALLY CORRUPT COUNTRY, NO APOLOGY NEEDED - PRESIDENT BUHARI

Icheoku says President Muhammadu Buhari was right and appropriately responded that Nigeria will not seek nor demand any apology from British Prime Minister David Cameron for calling Nigeria a fantastically corrupt country because the prime minister spoke the truth. The president was also right in calling Britain to help and assist Nigeria recover the looted funds held in British bank vaults and laundered as choice properties in London and other British territories. Icheoku says the president spoke well and rightly articulated the thinking of majority of honest Nigerians who truly meant well for the country. It is foolhardy for any Nigerian to demand the head of a man who simply spoke truth to corrupt Nigerians and in a matter which affects the country and the wellbeing of their country men and women. 

Unfortunately some Nigerians are taking up issue with the PM, claiming that he was out of diplomatic niceties by so publicly calling out Nigeria for its corruption. Icheoku says these pinheads are wrong in tacitly condoning corruption by Nigerians, in hounding the prime minister for speaking out. They should instead be praising the prime minister for whistle blowing on prevalent corruption amongst Nigeria's elite. It is also important that the Prime Minister spoke on the authority of one who should know and knows, being the leader of Britain and privileged of information of financial dealings and transactions within Britain. It is also a fact of consequence that the West eavesdrops on virtually every communications throughout the world and most likely heard conversations involving these Nigerian thieves of state. 

That all mortgages transactions and other outright purchase of properties within Britain are duly documented and their owners easily verifiable is also a fact of consequence in this call out by the British prime minister. So Nigerians instead of being unduly and unreasonable patriotic in the defense of their country, should pile on pressure on David Cameron to help them recover their loot treasure hidden in Britain. That is a more sensible thing to do; but to needlessly pretend that the prime minister overreached himself is foolish as evidence of wanton corruption is everywhere for every unbiased eyes to see. A matter made worse by the lurid disclosures in the ongoing $2.1 or rather $15.1 corruption investigation involving arms deals in Nigeria popularly known as the Dasikugate scandal. 

Icheoku commends the courage or rather the fortunate hot mic that yielded this public chastisement of Nigeria by the British prime minister. Hopefully it will  provide the much needed push for Nigerians to demand more from their leadership and encourage them to up the ante in the war on corruption and demand more accountability in their leaders. Icheoku prays that the government of Nigeria will keep the heat on British prime minister and his government and challenge them to do something about Britain being a receptacle of global corruption proceeds. If this is achieved, then the public humiliation was not in vain, otherwise what a scolding it was that Nigeria was called out alongside Afghanistan as the most corrupt country in the world. What a condemnation. 

A MUSLIM MAYOR FOR LONDON, A TROJAN HORSE?

Icheoku says if a soothsayer had told King George or even Winston Churchill that their London would be so easily vanquished by Muslim civilization, they would have ordered the soothsayer executed. But in 2016, that nightmarish scenario has followed the dreamer into reality, as London now has a new mayor, who is a Muslim. Icheoku says the conquest couldn't be more surreptitious than this cleverly disguised politician, within inches of imposing Islamic way of life on London and which will surely provide a springboard for the broader West's campaign. 

Whatever the subterfuge, whatever the art, Icheoku is not buying the explanation that it is just an election in a democratic society. No, it is not; it is an innocuous maneuver towards a higher objective because Muslims owe their allegiance first to their faith and their Mohammed and every other thing else can then follow. Muslim is an ideology, not necessarily a harmless religion. It demands total obedience and allegiance and does not accommodate nor tolerate any other dissenting views or opinions. It is not a choice but a willy-nilly commanded obedience to dictates of Muhammed and Islam. It is in competition with the West and its religion and culture for supremacy. It is either their way or the highway and any objection is often met with unparalleled brutality including beheading. 

Why haven't the mayor converted to christianity since arriving Britain? Why haven't the mayor changed completely and fully assimilated to Western values and culture? Why does the mayor still stick to a Muslim religion that subjugates women and still carries out stone-age stoning of women for simple adultery and indulges in honor killing? A muslim society which still holds women in scornful, demeaning lowly status? But the whole world especially the Western world is being asked to accept this as a new reality of democracy and you wonder how far is too far. With the rabbit-like procreation of children by muslim women, a time will soon come when Muslims would completely overrun and overwhelm the British society as to produce all its leaders and then have the opportunity to impose full sharia law on the land, thus completely islamizing the society.

Query, what happened to the pride of the British people that allowed this imposition on them and their way of live and religion? What an abdication of political power that the mayoral seat of London will be so easily handed over to a foreigner, of foreign culture and foreign religion. Hopefully they will not regret it so soon that it will cause revulsive upheaval. Icheoku disagrees with Sadiq Khan that Western liberal values are compatible with Islam otherwise why are women still treated as things in Islam and left holding the plate for equality and dignity? Why does Islam still permit honor killing of their women? Why does Islam in Saudi Arabia not allow women to drive? Why is Islam anti homosexuals? Why are Muslims not assimilating with the West and instead are trying to carve out Islamic enclaves with sharia laws and other muslim practices within Western territories? Yet Islam is compatible with Western values?

Icheoku says whether he is "too muslim" or not "muslim enough", Sadiq Khan is certainly different and his mayoral seat should be more closely watched to make sure it does not provide a springboard for the complete islamization of Britain. What is important here is the appearance and not necessarily the substance. To every onlooker, British people have lost their London which they handed over to a Pakistani Muslim and it does not matter if this particular muslim is a good muslim or not. The tension will remain and so also will the psychological burden that London is no longer what it is used to be or meant to be and to so many people. 

Icheoku laments that by virtue of the election of a muslim as mayor of the city of London, the city has now fully transformed itself into another city, a Londonistan?  It is the new reality. What a changing face of humanity or should Icheoku call it a conquering phase by Muslim civilization of Western christian civilization. A routing of some sort, which the muslim world would neither allow nor tolerate in their own part of the world. Anyway, congratulations Sadiq Khan and may your mayoral years not completely change London as the world knows it. Keep those muslim praying mats behind the doors of your office and the washing kettles hidden from public sight. Icheoku bemoans that by this capitulation, London has fallen and only God will help us all. It is rather inexplicable that this new mayor wants Western political power but is coy about assimilating its ways and religion fully. Good luck Brits that call London home; admitted it will soon be transformed into a Londonistan. What a travesty, a very humongous joke.

"EXTREMELY RICH" SARAKI, A PITIFUL AND PATHETIC PERSON.

Icheoku says in a civilized clime, the Nigerian Senate president would be forced to disclosed the source of his supposedly stupendous wealth and how much taxes he paid on it. But it is Nigeria and another story is being told of a man who does not manufacture nor produce a thing; and who did not write any successful app, yet parading himself rather boisterously as being richer than the state he governed. In his own testimony, Bukola Saraki, stated that he was "extremely rich" before becoming governor of Kwara State. Icheoku queries if this man is indeed as rich as he declared, why did he collect his monthly salaries and allowances as governor? Why is he also presently collecting pension from the same impoverished Kwara State, post his governorship?  

Here is a man, who according to his filed court papers, "had $22million, about £12million, 2.6m Euro and about N4billion in cash in his various bank accounts. He also possessed landed property estimated at N2billion and 15 vehicles valued at about N263.4 million" prior to becoming governor of Kwara State. So what need does Bukola Saraki has, collecting from a state he is richer than and still have the mouth of saying that he cares about the little people. Icheoku says baring crass greed and mean-spiritedness, nothing else explains his collection of his salaries and allowances plus pension as governor of Kwara State. What does this man need fifteen private vehicles for? Imagine how many jobs he could have help create in Nigeria had he invested part of his stash in business ventures in Nigeria. But instead he slushed it overseas in foreign banks.

New York City once had a mayor, Michael Bloomberg, a very wealthy humble man, a billionaire, who never described himself as "extremely rich"; but who as mayor of the richest city in America personally paid himself while discharging duties as the mayor for twelve long years. To avoid infringing laws against servitude and indenture, he received one dollar (100 cents) per year remuneration from the city as full salary and allowances. Whenever he traveled overseas, like to China on official business for the city, he flies his own private jet, personally pays allowances to officials in his delegation as well as their boarding and sustenance. The city of New York can afford to pay this team ten times over; but here is a man, truly committed to service of the people and who indeed selflessly served the people. MB is a good man and he gave it his all serving New York, including spending his own personal money in service thereof. 

Then Nigeria is cursed with people like this man, Bukola Saraki, who claimed he is "extremely rich" and richer than his home state of Kwara, yet shakes down his extremely  impoverished people of Kwara State, nickling and diming them for every and all expenses he made, genuine and otherwise; and you wonder what is wrong with Nigerians, especially the ruling class that beget this Bukola Saraki. Icheoku says if Bukola Saraki is "extremely rich", what need does he have of the extra peanuts he collected from Kwara State in salaries and allowances as well as security votes throughout his eight years as governor of Kwara State.

There is also a former governor of California, Arnold Schwazzeneggar (Terminator) who for the eight years he was governor never collected a dime for his job governing the richest state in America and the sixth largest economy in the world. He flew his private jet from his home in Brentwood (Los Angeles) to the state capital Sacramento for work. He lived in his private home and commuted to work on his own expenses and never collected reimbursements from the state. Such person is a blessing to the state or country they served; but definitely not a person as horrible as Bukola Saraki, who despite being "extremely rich", was yoked to greed. Why Nigeria is cursed with his likes, only God can tell; but surely with leaders like Bukola Saraki, Nigeria might as well become a wild wild West with no laws nor rules at all. What benefit does a society then derive from having "extremely rich" people like Bukola Saraki in their midst, one may ask.

Anyway, while Icheoku is not begrudging Bukola Saraki for being "extremely rich", Icheoku would rather he kept it to himself and not be too puerile bragging about it. Worse still, he did not disclose how he amassed such wealth and it was okay for Nigerians to hail him as rich, without veering into its source. But regardless, if this qualifies for Bukola Saraki as being "extremely rich", how would the Dangotes, Otedolas, Orji Kalus, Danjumas, Adenugas etc of Nigeria then qualify their wealth? Icheoku purposely limited the comparison to Nigeria where it is acceptable for people to boast and brag about their questionable resources; otherwise when moved to global riches, Bukola Saraki might be as merely rich as a hustler in the world of the rich and wealthy. It is rather very unfortunate and regrettable that such an "extremely rich" Bukola Saraki was so callous to deprive Kwara State money, he does not need and which the state could have used to take care of their poor and needy workers and civil servants. What a jerk he is.

HILLARY BEATEN AGAIN, CANNOT SEEM TO CLOSE THE DEAL, DOESN'T KNOW HOW.

Icheoku says once again, the woman who nobody really likes in America and who because of her crookedness hardly makes eye contact with people, has once again been handed another defeat. Hillary Clinton was handily defeated by 75 year old, silver-haired, grandfather, Bernie Sanders and in two states Nebraska and West Virginia. Icheoku says the American people are steadily telegraphing to the Democrats that Hillary Clinton is not the ONE and imposing her on the party will be simply devastating. 

Hillary Clinton is simply not trustworthy and cannot be trusted. Hillary Clinton is a fraud who tells every person what they want to hear just to score cheap political gains. Hillary Clinton is a purchasable politician who will be bought by any highest bidder. Hillary Clinton is not bringing anything new nor exciting to the arena, hence not generating enough enthusiasm to go into the general election. But hey, another gift to a Donald Trump's impending presidency, the gifts that keep on giving. Go Trump; Vote Trump and together lets help make America great again. 

NIGERIANS PETRIFIED, A SILENCE OF THE LAMBS?

Icheoku says suddenly everybody in Nigeria has become mute, silenced and extremely measured in their criticism of the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari. They are no longer keen on pointing out the shortcomings of the government and you wonder what changed? These were the same people who shouted everybody deaf, hollering about the deficiencies of the former president Jonathan Goodluck of Otuoke, eventually chasing him out of Aso Rock and out of power. Many of them constituted themselves into various human rights activists this and activists that; civil rights this and that; as well as conscience of the nation this and that. So where are these people today or what happened to them and their holding the torch for the nation? 

These noise maker no longer see nor hear nor voice out anything wrong with the way Nigeria is headed and you wonder if miraculously everything is now kosher in Nigeria and their services or activism no longer needed nor necessary. Theirs have become a case of see no evil, hear no evil and talk no evil of and about President Muhammadu Buhari and his slumbering confused government. Like Jesus Christ admonished in the Bible, he who is without sin should cast the first stone and it appears that these bunch of Nigerians have disappeared in the same manner those accusers of the adulterous woman. These men and women have been checkmated by the EFCC, as almost all of them have fallen short of glory by reason of corruption and are bound to be picked up and interrogated by the EFCC. So it would appear that the fear of EFCC's invitation by these rabble rousers is now the beginning of wisdom for them. 

All of these activists so called have one stinking skeleton or the other in their closet and the EFCC has files on them; and none of them wants to be deprived of his or her freedom and liberty. Now they look the other way, zip their mouth and with two fingers plug their ears, while the current lord of the manor in Nigeria traverses the land. Arbitrary acting, saying and doing whatever and however he pleases, without anyone reminding him that he is not an emperor who can do no wrong. Culpable of the corruption war, so now shackled with fear of being arrested by EFCC, they decide to play it safe by being deaf and dumb, while the country is spiraling down the path to perdition. Icheoku queries are these Nigerians the same Nigerians who literally drove Jonathan of Otuoke out of Aso Rock with all manners of accusation and shouting of fire in the theater that actually almost set Nigeria ablaze. 

There is fire on the mountain in Nigeria and instead of these people telling Nigerians to run, run, run; they are petrified with fear and cannot even move their lips nor lift their hands in condemnation of the man at Aso Rock. Power supply has not improved and have gotten even worse, yet it is hallelujah. Security situation has not improved, yet it is all praise songs to the emperor of Aso Rock. Boko haram is still running amok, yet it is give give some time to languish them. Naira has depreciated greatly but there is no problem. Oil price has not appreciated yet there is no qualms. Unemployment has only skyrocketed to new high, but it is okay. Chibok girls are still missing but the Bring Back Their Girls pressure group have gone silent. Fulani cattle terrorists are maiming and killing Nigerians, destroying properties and means of livelihood, but it only gets tepid mention. Kidnapping and armed robbery as well as other vices and brigandry is on the roll in Nigeria, but these loud mouths appear not to be worried. 

Nigerians, Icheoku asks what is going on or rather what purchased the current silence; or does being a Fulani grant a president certain inviolable immunity from criticism and being Ijaw, automatically ensures a president being ran out of Aso Rock like a petty vagrant. Worse still, even the so called men and women of "God" have all gone silent too and you wonder if the current situation in Nigeria is acceptable to them? Anyway, Icheoku can only point the way and also point out certain observed wrongs, but regrets to say that Nigerians are a funny lot; a people who have no core nor character and whose stand on issues is Clintonian and highly influenced by peculiar circumstances. Possibly the Gods are angry at Nigerians and apologizing to Jonathan of Otuoke might be a way to start the process of atonement. A very incredible people, especially the so called civil and human rights activists and the conscience of the nation. What a country.

'ABACHA NEVER STOLE, HIS GOVERNMENT DID' - OCHEREOME NNANNA.

“Nigeria is awaiting receipt from Swiss Govt. of $320 million, identified as illegally taken from Nigeria under Abacha” – Buhari @NGR President, 5:09 PM – 27 APR 2016. 

WHEN Twitter-addicted Nigerians stumbled on this posting on President Muhammadu Buhari’s Twitter handle last week, the whole Internet went abuzz, with most people expressing their dismay at Buhari’s refusal to call a spade by its correct name. Before we go on, let us try to reason out the meaning of this statement, especially against the backdrop of its nexus to our history where Abacha and Buhari’s paths crossed. It is obvious why the President or the operator of his Twitter handle chose to describe this amount (which is over N100 billion, a third of what the Federal, State Local governments shared in February 2016) as money “identified as illegally taken from Nigeria under Abacha”, rather than the usual “Abacha loot”. 

The answer is simple. Buhari, long before he was elected president, stubbornly insisted that Abacha “never stole”, and that he was not corrupt. “Illegally taken from Nigeria” is a ploy to sidestep the word: “stolen”. “Under Abacha” portrays it as if other people, not Abacha himself, committed the “illegality” without Abacha’s knowledge. Some unknown individuals were taking money from Nigeria and lodging it in Abacha’s Swiss bank accounts? For what purpose? Perhaps, they knew that our economy would be in trouble in the future and decided to “save” for this rainy day for us? If that is what President Buhari wants to say, let him say so openly, so that we all will join him in congratulating the Abacha family for the sacrifices their patriarch made for Nigeria. 

In the past sixteen years, series of sums of money in foreign currency have been brought back from Western countries, especially Switzerland, where former military Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha stashed funds which he looted from the Nigerian treasury. These monies have always been called “Abacha loot”. Abacha is the only former ruler boldly ascribed, even in official circles, to have “stolen” or “looted” our public funds. He certainly was not the only one who did so. And most of us believe that he was probably not the biggest looter. Then, how come it is only his loots that are being “identified” and repatriated? Is it because he is dead? If he were still alive like most of his fellow former rulers, would there be any such thing as “Abacha loot”? 

I doubt it, since his predecessors and successors who probably took more have never even been officially accused or made to return their own “loots”. In fact, one of them majestically struts over the landscape calling other people corrupt without justifying his own obvious affluence after his long stint in the Presidency. Are we a nation of cowards and dastards, mobbing Abacha and his estate simply because he is dead? More questions: if Abacha had not arrested, tried and jailed General Olusegun Obasanjo for his part in the 1995 coup attempt to unseat him, would Obasanjo have launched the campaign to recover Abacha loot? 

If Abacha had not died and he played a role in the election of Obasanjo as President in 1999 as Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Theophilus Danjuma and their civilian Northern cohorts had done, would Obasanjo have started the campaign to retrieve the Abacha loot? Still more questions: if Buhari had been the one elected as the civilian president of Nigeria in 1999, would he even be talking about receiving money from Swiss Government “illegally taken away” under his regime since he maintains, against all concrete evidence, that Abacha never stole our money? 

So, is it only when a person deals with us and dies that he becomes corrupt, but when he treats us nicely (as Abacha did to Buhari) he becomes a “saint”? If Abacha had not rehabilitated Buhari after being jailed by Babangida; If Abacha had not appointed him as the Executive Chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), where he was given unlimited powers to spend billions of Naira between 1996 and 1998, would Buhari have stuck out his neck for him and say he was not corrupt? Is this the mentality we take with us in fighting corruption, making sure that those who helped us are regarded as clean, while those who wronged us are pursued with a single-minded quest to retrieve their loot and sent to jail? Is this our national standard for integrity? 

How are we sure that retired Col. Ja’afaru Isa, a close Buhari acolyte who was reluctantly arrested, briefly detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, and released after a couple of days for allegedly returning part of his share of Col. Sambo Dasuki’s bonanza, actually returned anything? Everybody calls President Buhari a “man of integrity”, in spite of certain things we read and hear which do not add up to conclusively justify that branding. Buhari made his declared assets public. But he never disclosed their financial worth, nor did he let us know where they could be found as late President Umaru Yar’Adua voluntarily did. He never followed Yar’ Adua’s exemplary footsteps of including the assets of his wife. 

And from the look of things, ever-smiling Madam Aisha Buhari is very well-to-do, what with her reported donation of N135 million to displaced persons in Adamawa during the campaigns last year, which has not been denied. I still cannot reconcile the fact that Buhari, as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had to borrow N25 million from banks to pay for his form in October, 2014 when his wife could so easily have given it to him from her own resources. There were even some reports that Buhari was once ejected from his “rented” mansion, No 11, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Asokoro, Abuja in 2012. That report was never debunked. Elaborate efforts have always been made to brand Buhari as a retired general who lived on his military pension before he became elected President. 

Yet, when he became President and the foreign exchange crunch set in, he told parents who have their children in foreign schools that they should look for forex wherever they could find it as the Federal Government could no longer afford to provide it. When reminded that he had his own children in foreign schools, he simply retorted: “I can afford it”. These conflicting signals about our President and his true mindset on corruption as well as his real standing financially, is being noticed, and nobody is a dummy. Even the younger generation of Nigerians are watching, reading and taking note of this confusion and wondering what “integrity” actually means here in Nigeria. It is not only the youth that are confused. I am certainly no longer a youth, but I am confused!

TRUMP AT 1175 DELEGATES, 62 MORE TO GO.

Icheoku says the next president of America, 45th, is just few more delegates to clinching the required delegates to officially seal the deal. Icheoku says congratulations Donald Trump and together lets make America great again. Go Trump; Vote Trump.

NIGERIA ETHNIC DIVERSITY, THE MINORITY OF HAUSA-FULANI

MAKING SENSE OF NIGERIA'S CATTLE FULANI AND FARMERS CONFLICT - NAZIRU MIKAILU

After a spate of deadly attacks in Nigeria this year blamed on ethnic Fulani cattle herders, the president has ordered a military crackdown on the group. 

But the issue is not new - clashes between different groups of Fulani herders and farmers have killed thousands of people in Nigeria over the past two decades. 

In 2014, more than 1,200 people lost their lives, according to the most recent  Global Terrorism Index. This made the Fulanis the world's fourth deadliest militant group, the report said. 

February's massacre of some 300 people in central Benue state and last month's raid in southern Enugu state, where more than 40 were killed, caused outrage across Nigeria. Properties were destroyed and thousands of people forced to flee their homes. 

This led to growing anti-Fulani sentiment in some parts of the country with the hashtag #fulaniherdsmen trending on social media.  

President Muhammadu Buhari, himself a Fulani, has responded to the public outcry and ordered the security forces to crack down on the cattle raiders. 

But the issue is much more complicated than this. Disagreements over the use of essential resources such as farmland, grazing areas and water between herders and local farmers are said to be the major source of the fighting. 

Fulani herders can travel hundreds of miles in large numbers with their cattle in search of pasture. They are often armed with weapons to protect their livestock. 

They frequently clash with farmers who consistently accuse them of damaging their crops and failing to control their animals. The Fulanis respond that they are being attacked by gangs from farming communities who try to steal their cattle and they are just defending themselves. 

The clashes used to be confined to Nigeria's central region, with the mainly Christian Berom farming community in Plateau state engaging in tit-for-tat killings with Muslim nomadic herders. But the continued effect of climate change on grazing lands has pushed the Fulani herdsmen further forward south in search of grass and water. This has widened the scope of the conflict with deadly incidents being increasingly reported in southern parts of the country, raising fears that the violence could threaten the fragile unity that exists among Nigeria's diverse ethnic groups. 

Apart from clashes with farmers, there have been allegations that some Fulanis have been involved in armed robbery, rape and communal violence especially in central and northern part of the country. Similar accusations have also been made against them in Ghana and Ivory Coast. 

Their association with the Hausa ethnic group and their nomadic nature has also made them vulnerable to attack, and they have been caught up in ethnic clashes not of their making. 

Much of the violence in central Nigeria dates back to the 2002 and 2004 clashes in the Yelwa-Shendam area of Plateau state in which thousands lost their lives. 

This saw ethnic, political, economic and religious tensions overlap and the consequences are still seen with deep distrust between mainly Muslim Fulani herders and mostly Christian farming communities, who see the Hausa-Fulanis as outsiders trying to take their land. 

The Fulanis are also sometimes attacked and have their animals stolen by bandits, prompting brutal reprisals. This is not unique to central Nigeria but the country as a whole.  

Police recently announced the arrest of several suspected Fulani militants armed with "dangerous weapons" outside the capital, Abuja. The men say they were on their way to recover their stolen cattle. 

Fulani associations have consistently denied any links to militants, saying they are being blamed for crimes committed by others. 

"It is not fair to blame us for every incident because in most cases we are the victims," Sa'idu Baso, a senior Fulani leader in eastern Nigeria, told the BBC. "Nigerian authorities need to do more to protect our people and their cattle," he added. 

The deadly nature of the violence has left many people wondering about the source of the arms being used to carry out the atrocities. The most common weapon used in these types of conflict is the AK47 assault rifle, Abubakar Tsav, a former federal police commissioner, told the BBC. He says that the conflict in Libya and Mali has increased the proliferation of small and large arms into the country because Nigeria's porous borders are uncontrollable. "Some people are exchanging stolen crude oil for arms and these are being easily shipped through our sea ports." 

Another theory being suggested is that the herders get their weapons from black markets across West and Central Africa, because they live in the bush and travel throughout the region. 

The conflict has cost Africa's largest economy more than $14bn (£10bn) in the three years to 2015, according to the UK-based humanitarian organisation, Mercy Corps. It has "impeded market development and economic growth by destroying productive assets, preventing trade, deterring investment, and eroding trust between markets actors," it added in a report last July. 

The recent upsurge also represents a fresh security challenge for a country already stretched by the seven-year Boko Haram insurgency in its north-eastern region. 

Unlike that crisis which is concentrated on a fraction of the country, this conflict is occurring in almost every part of Africa's most populous nation. The UN says it is worried by the "complete impunity enjoyed so far by perpetrators of previous attacks", and called on the government to do more to protect its citizens. Reports in the local media say MPs are working on a law that will establish grazing areas across the country to douse the tension between the rival groups. But the move has proved unpopular with many, especially in the south. 

"The Fulani herdsman is running a business with his cows, why should we have to give up our lands for his interests," one man said on Twitter. 

However, it is difficult to generalise anything related to the Fulanis because in most cases, these nomadic herdsmen don't even know each other and carry out their activities independently. There is certainly no evidence that Fulani groups have a single political goal. So in many ways it is inaccurate to describe them as a single militant group. This makes it difficult for the authorities to come up with any sustainable plan to end the crisis.

TIME TO RETHINK NIGERIA IS NOW - IKE AMAECHI.

No matter how hard one tries, it is difficult, almost impossible, for any Nigerian to pretend not to be angry with the way things are going right now. Even those who want to be seen as being politically correct in this season of anomie are struggling to keep their balance because, let’s face it, there are limits to political correctness.

Something has gone fundamentally wrong with the Muhammadu Buhari presidency. He has failed to be the transcendental, pan-Nigeria leader we all craved for after the Goodluck Jonathan presidency. I don’t know how the illusion came about that such an insular, provincial leader like Buhari can step up to the plate at such a critical time in Nigeria’s history. But here we are, once again, at the crossroads.

For me, the massacre last week of innocent citizens by Fulani herdsmen at Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State was the last straw. Over 50 people were killed in cold blood, scores displaced, and about seven villages and property worth millions of naira, including the Christ Holy Church International, destroyed. The victims were killed in the most gruesome manner – some had their throats slit, others were simply butchered with machetes and at least one was burnt alive on a commuter bus. Nobody deserves this fate.

Yet, security men got wind of this attack at least 24 hours before the hoodlums struck. Uzo-Uwani Council Chairman, Cornell Onwubuya, reportedly alerted Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the Commissioner of Police, Ekechukwu Nwodibo, that armed Fulani herdsmen had invaded their community to wreak havoc. No action was taken. The Department of State Securities (DSS) that claimed it discovered mass graves of “Hausa-Fulani” residents allegedly abducted and murdered by suspected members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in Abia State, without any evidence, did nothing to stop the carnage. The military that arrested 76 youths from Ugwuneshi community in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State for protesting against the abduction and gang raping of their mothers and sisters did nothing to forestall the mayhem.

After the carnage, Ugwuanyi wept and declared two days of fasting and prayers. It took Buhari – who had threatened to deal with Niger Delta militants like terrorists and vowed to deal decisively with IPOB and MASSOB for daring to challenge the status quo in Nigeria – three whole days to break his silence on the carnage.

I have wondered since last Monday what would have happened if the people of Nimbo had organised to brutally murder 50 Fulani herdsmen. By now, the security forces would have sacked the entire local government. They would have done to them what soldiers did to Shiites in Kaduna. Imagine what would have happened if some Igbo hoodlums were to go to any community in Katsina, Bauchi, Kaduna, et cetera, to kill, maim, rape and plunder. The perpetrators would have been summarily dealt with and the whole of Ala-Igbo would have become desolate by now.

Those who want to be politically correct say Buhari should not be blamed. But for those crying out loud, he is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If we don’t blame him for allowing the atrocious acts of Fulani herdsmen spiral out of control, who, then, do we blame? Besides, the silence of the government is a clear abdication of its role in ending these killings. Keeping silent in the face of these horrendous atrocities makes both the president and his government complicit in the fatalities. So, for me, the biggest tragedy in all this is not just the deaths but the fact that a government idles away, with the president sitting on his palms, keeping ominously silent while citizens get wiped out.

May I ask the commander-in-chief whether these herdsmen are licensed to carry these sophisticated weapons? If not, why are they not arrested? Why have they not been disarmed? Or, is it impossible to disarm them? If yes, how then can such a government be trusted to fulfill the most basic of its obligations – the protection of the lives and property of citizens? Where are these marauders getting these sophisticated weapons from? How and where did they learn how to use them? If it is okay for the pastoralists to freely acquire and use such weapons, what stops the sedentary farmers from enjoying the same privileges?

Now, back to citizenship and whether the Nigerian project as presently configured is worth it. I had a testy exchange of text messages with a friend who believes that this periodic spilling of Igbo blood in Nigeria may well be our lot and we should accept our fate with every amount of equanimity since any attempt by Ndigbo to ward off such attacks or even revenge will only lead to more killings of our people scattered all over Nigeria. When I argued that our people should no longer offer the other cheek to be abused, particularly when the barbarians who revel in spilling human blood have taken the battle to the Igbo heartland, my friend riposted:

“You can choose to do nzogbu-nzogbu, the first people that will get wiped out will be our Igbo brothers in other people’s land. You can choose to do nzogbu-nzogbu when you are landlocked and without access to an international border. The consequences will be predictable … we are used to coping as Ndigbo instead of asserting our full rights as citizens. I just wish to claim my status as a citizen.”

This is contradictory. How can you claim your status as a citizen of a country that cannot even guarantee you the most fundamental of human rights – right to life? A country where you cannot even protect yourself against the onslaught of hoodlums, not to talk of complaining because your brothers living in other parts of the country may be slaughtered? So, what is the worth of the citizenship of a country that neither guarantees your safety nor the right to complain and seek redress when you are violated?

But my friend is not done yet. He gave me a reason why the Igbo, like a lamb being led to the slaughter house, should not complain in the face of the havoc by rampaging Fulani herdsmen. “I will tell you what I told Berom leaders in Jos in 2002: a sedentary population will not win a war of attrition with a population that has neither land nor a postcode.”

I was flummoxed. So, what is the duty of the state? Just because of the peripatetic nature of the Hausa-Fulani race, they have become outlaws, no longer restrained by the laws of the land? And the victims of their atrocious acts dare not complain for fear of being visited with more violence while the government looks the other away? Isn’t that anarchy?

Truth be told, these attacks will continue. So, Ndigbo should brace up and defend themselves. What is going on is full-fledged terrorism. These murderers are not ordinary cattle herders. This is a deliberate agenda being pursued by those who don’t place any value on human life.

Today, Nigeria boasts a worse terrorism record than Somalia, a failed state, no thanks to the activities of Fulani herdsmen. According to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, which identifies the Fulani militants as a terrorist group, only Iraq and Afghanistan suffered worse terror attacks than Nigeria in 2014. Of the 20 deadliest terror attacks globally in 2014, nine occurred in Nigeria, with Boko Haram – which overtook the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as the deadliest terror group – taking credit for eight. The ninth, an attack which claimed over 200 lives, was attributed to Fulani herdsmen. While Boko Haram claimed 6,644 lives, Fulani militants, named as the fourth deadliest terrorists in the world, killed 1,229.

But that was even yesterday. As I write, Fulani herdsmen have overtaken Boko Haram in hawking their fatal wares to a hapless citizenry, having killed more Nigerians this year than their dreaded Boko Haram cousins.

It is time to rethink Nigeria. While the argument of many that the sheer size of Nigeria and its huge potential makes the idea of a united country inevitable remains plausible, it is only the living that can enjoy those benefits. A country that cannot guarantee its citizens the right to life is not worth the name.

THANK YOU INDIANA FOR SEALING THE SEAL FOR THE DONALD.

 

TRUMP WINS INDIANA, BECOMES THE PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE - REINCE PRIEBUS.

Icheoku says thank you Indiana for helping seal the deal for Donald Trump. Now the Republican Party chairman, Reince Priebus has confirmed that Donald Trump will be the presumptive nominee and urged all Republicans to unite and focus on defeating Hillary Clinton. Icheoku agrees and says a President Hillary Clinton will be a nightmare for America that wants to pivot from the last eight years of hesitant and indecisive foreign policy blunders, including a red line that was drawn in Syria which was ignored and did not attract any consequences. Icheoku says America cannot continue on its current trajectory and need a total and complete c-change as a vote for Hillary Clinton will be endorsing President Barack Hussein Obama's third term.  Icheoku says congratulations Donald John Trump for  a stellar campaign of winning and your effort has been rightly crowned. Go Trump; Vote Trump and together lets help make America great again.