NDIGBO: NIGERIA'S NATION BUILDERS - an article by RALPH UWECHUE

Every human being on God’s good earth today is simultaneously endowed with three inter-locking nationalities. The first is the Ethnic Nationality into which one is born and, in most cases, bred with natural distinguishing characteristics and primary communication mode such as language. In this category falls the Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Ijaw, Nupe, Kanuri, Tiv, Berber; Amharic, Tigrinya, Ashanti, Kikuyu, Luo, Shona, Ndebele, Zulu, Czech, Slovak, Serb, Croat, English, Scottish and Welsh among a myriad of ethnic nationalities world-wide.

The second is the Nation State or Country, resulting from a political arrangement at a point in history, usually bringing a number of ethnic nations together by force in most cases, to form a country. In this category falls Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, France, United Kingdom, China, India, Canada and the United States of America.

The third is the Continental Nation, grouping various ethnic and nation states to form a continent such as the African, Asiatic and the European continental nations. Each citizen of today’s world belongs concomitantly to these three national definitions. I am therefore proudly an Igbo, a Nigerian and an African. Thus, the ethnic unit is the original building block, the basic infrastructure whose solidity determines the eventual soundness and stability of the country and continental super structures.

Thus for our country, Nigeria, the ethnic nation is the nursery and primary school for the upbringing of good citizens imbued with the cherished, time-honoured traditional values of respect for the elders in the family, law and order in the community, integrity as a virtue and a cultivated predisposition to serve the community dutifully and selflessly.

For our country, with its colonial stamp of “made in England”, the three hundred odd ethnic and sub-ethnic units in this land have good cause to thank God for the astonishing abundance of human and material resources bestowed on us. We are still in the process of nation building, struggling to blend and harmonize our various traditions, customs and cultures. Although, this is by all accounts a herculean task, it is both achievable and supremely worthwhile, as a successful fusion of so many valuable elements is bound to bring forth a unique socio-economic product that could astound the world.

This was, indeed, the focus of the vision of Nigeria’s founding fathers that we must keep constantly in view. The recognition of the significance of ethnicity was clear at the birth of an independent Nigeria in 1960. The larger ethnic units of Hausa/Fulani-Igbo- Yoruba formed the basis of the three Regions North, East, and West. Ethno-based agitations sprouted in the three Regions. These include the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) Movement in the North, Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State Movement in the East and the Midwest Movement in the West.

The current concept of six geo-political zones is ethnically based, with three zones accorded to the larger ethnic groups and, to balance them out, three to conglomerate the smaller ethnic units. The simple lesson from this arrangement is that the ethnic units are recognized and adopted as the building blocks in the on-going construction work and nation building process in Nigeria.

In our socio-political and economic intercourse, all ethnic units (big or small) must be allowed free-play and equitable access to our country’s resources. The stability of our country can be affected positively or otherwise by the perception of these various ethnic units as to their rights and fair share of the proverbial ‘national cake’.

Sustained inequity could conceivably induce in those units aggrieved a rethink of the value to them of unity, which otherwise we all so much cherish and are anxious to preserve. The break-up of countries, some very powerful and prosperous, like the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, took place along ethnic lines. They are examples that we must eschew in Africa, already over-fragmented.

It is in the light of the supreme importance of sustainable unity in our country that I would like us all to recall and retain in our minds the preponderant contribution of the Igbo Nation to the quest for unity in Nigeria’s nation building enterprise.

Today, there is the feeling that the Igbos, as a people, are being deliberately sidelined, especially in the sphere of political leadership of the country. No Igbo person is deemed good enough or trusted enough to be put at the helm of affairs, at the apex management position of Nigeria. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s pioneer titular head of state, took a shot at the real thing the executive presidency, in 1979 and 1983. In spite of his nationally acknowledged role as the foremost crusader for our nation’s independence, he scored abysmally in both electoral tests.

Dr. Alex Ekwueme fared no better, even as he teamed up with a scion of the northern oligarchy Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Their joint ticket under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) won the presidential slot in the successive elections of 1979 and 1983.

Like today’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the NPN was the dominant political party at the time. Securing its presidential candidate’s nomination was as good as clinching the presidential position. Dr. Ekwueme was poised to replace Shagari at the impending end of his second tenure, as the party’s flagbearer come the next election. He was eminently qualified and was favoured by Shagari himself for the presidential job ahead. He had to be stopped, hence, the coup of 31st December 1983, which traded in the remaining three years and nine months of Shagari’s second and final term, with all its democratic restrictions, for an eventual collective northern rule of some fourteen years of absolute power, under the successive military governments of Buhari, Babangida and Abacha.

Indeed, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, former Transport Minister in Shagari’s administration said this much in an interview he gave in London, before his attempted kidnapping, commando style, drugged and gagged in a cage loaded as cargo aboard a plane bound for Nigeria, on the presumed orders of an embarrassed and angry Buhari-Idiagbon government.

Subsequent revelations by former senior northern military officers have since confirmed Umaru Dikko’s candid assertion.

This event denied Ndigbo, perhaps the largest ethnic group in Nigeria, their ‘federal character’ chance of producing an executive president and their constitutional right to exercise presidential powers for a possible eight-year period of two terms.

This callous and contemptuous treatment meted out to Ndigbo is in clear and cruel contrast with the compassionate concession, massively supported by Ndigbo, given to the Yorubas in 1999 to field the two Olus- Falae and Obasanjo, for the presumed presidential slot missed by their kinsman, Chief M.K.O Abiola, in 1993. Surely, what is considered political sauce for the aggrieved Yoruba goose, and rightly so, should equally be tendered to the politically famished Igbo gander.

In the thirty odd years of military rule of our country, apart from the six months stint of General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was officially and formally invited by the civilian remnant of the toppled Balewa Administration to assume office as head of state in January 1966, the closest an Igbo officer got to governance was the appointment of Navy Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe as his second in command by the then military president Ibrahim Babangida in 1985. He was summarily removed in humiliating circumstances early in the life of that Administration.

Sometimes, too much is being simplistically made of random appointment of talented Igbo technocrats to high profile positions, where demonstrable competence is usually required to tackle certain specific and difficult national tasks.

What has been critically absent for decades, and still missing today, is fair and effective Igbo participation in the national decision-making process, which is entirely political. Appointees, no matter how highly positioned, only implement decisions already packaged and handed down to them. They are hired and fired at will. Considering their manifest multi-faceted contribution to Nigeria’s political and economic development, Ndigbo deserve better than political crumbs from the master’s table.

At the current foundation laying stage of our national development, control of vital decision-making positions and organs easily determines who gets what. If at this critical stage in our nation building enterprise, the Igbos continue to be excluded from such positions, in this case, by discernable design, then no matter how much they struggle, their political marginalization, with all its negative consequences will endure.

No doubt, the Igbo people themselves have their share of the blame in this unsavoury saga, especially given the individualistic and blindly opportunistic attitude of some Igbo politicians, scrambling for the crumbs of public office in total disregard of legitimate Igbo collective interest within the Nigerian family.

The perceived overall aggressiveness of the Igbos in social and business intercourse creates fright among their competitors who tend to gang up against them. However, the core problem for the Igbos today is clearly traceable to the immediate events that preceded the civil war, 1967-70. The military coup of January 1966 is central to it all. It created fear and distrust of the Igbos that are yet to be purged from the national political system.

It is for this reason that I have chosen to base my talk today on the central theme, ‘Ndigbo: Nigeria’s Nation Builders’ in order to highlight the enormous contribution of Ndigbo to the building and sustenance of the Nigeria project. The aim is to help reassure ourselves, especially the young up-and-coming generation of Igbos, that in spite of a few hitches, Ndigbo have, over the years, borne the brunt of the onerous task of nation building in Nigeria and have good cause to feel truly proud of their achievements in that regard.

Igbo political role in Nigeria has been consistent in the pursuit of national unity and inter-ethnic cooperation. Under the leadership of the late Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Igbos played the role of bridge builders in the fledgling Nigerian nation. Zik, as he was fondly called, accepted the leadership of the legendary Yoruba political activist, Herbert Babington Macauley to form and direct the first truly significant national political party National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC).

With respected and nationalist Yoruba leaders like Dr. Ibiyinka Olorun-Nimbe, the first and only Mayor of Lagos, Sir Odeleye Fadahunsi, the first national vice-president of the NCNC and second indigenous Governor of Western Region, Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu, the lion of Ibadan politics, and others including Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, Chief Mojeed Agbaje and Otunba T.O.S. Benson, the then Igbo leadership forged a political alliance which cut across ethnic boundaries. Such was the extent of their success that Zik was poised, after the regional election of 1951, but for a last minute hitch, to become the premier of the Western Region, the home ground of the Yoruba nation.

The party, which he led, the NCNC and its allies won a majority of seats in the Western House of Assembly. In the Eastern Region, the Igbo-dominated NCNC, true to its pan-Nigerian orientation and commitment, elected as the first mayor of Enugu metropolis, Mallam Umoru Altini, a Moslem from Katsina in Northern Nigeria.

Again, in 1957 when the British Colonial Government, under intense pressure from Southern politicians pressing for independence, attempted to uncouple the union between the North and the South, forged through Lord Lugard’s Amalgamation of 1914, with the offer of Independence to the three Regions individually, provided any two accepted the offer; a political crisis loomed large on the national horizon.

The Northern Region, led by the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) took the position that the North was not ready for that level of political and economic independence. The Western Region, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group (AG) promptly declared its readiness to accept the offer. It was the Igbo-Ied NCNC that held the balance. It was an issue that could make or break Nigeria, if Ndigbo, Nigeria’s Nation Builders, if the three Regions chose to go their separate ways to Independence.

The NCNC leader, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, took the stand that although the Eastern Region was ready to assume the responsibilities of Regional Independence, its attainment without the North would lead, in his own words, to the “Balkanisation of the Nigerian Nation” and conceivably a break-up of the country. The Eastern Region would rather suppress its appetite for Independence and the obvious gains it would entail until the Northern Region was ready.

That was how Nigerian Independence was delayed until 1960. In short, the Igbo-Ied Eastern Region would rather forgo the advancement of its own political and economic interests than risk the break-up of Nigeria.

Had the Eastern Region opted for Independence at that time, the territory under its control would have comprised in today’s terms the following nine States with their enormous human and natural resources: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers of Nigeria. It would also have included in all probability, as was the case with the then Northern Cameroon which became today’s Adamawa and Taraba States, what was then Southern Cameroon with the oil rich Bakassi Peninsula well in the middle of a distinct, sovereign and independent Eastern Nigeria.

By 1960, the three Regions would have become separate sovereign states and there would have been no question of Biafra’s attempted secession in 1967 from a non-existing Nigerian federation and the devastating civil war fought to stop it.

Similarly, when Zik moved to the Federal scene as Governor-General and later titular President of Nigeria, the NCNC, under the leadership of Dr. Michael Okpara, of blessed memory, continued faithfully in his giant and indelible footsteps, the political bridge-building and nation building enterprise of the Igbos.

At independence, the Igbo-Ied NCNC, shunned the attraction of being the senior partner in an East-West Alliance with Chief Awolowo’s Action Group (AG) and chose to team up instead as the junior partner, with Sir Ahmadu Bello’s Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) in order to consolidate the frail and insipid attachment of a wary and skeptical North to Southern Nigeria.

At that time, Chief Awolowo’s Yoruba-dominated Action Group (AG) was viewed with considerable suspicion by the Hausa Fulani-Ied NPC for its ambition and role in the then Middle Belt, under the ebullient, intrepid and anti-feudalistic leadership of J.S.Tarka’s United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC). However, when the Yoruba Leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was accused of treason and incarcerated in 1963, on charges which many Nigerians believed were trumped up to silence him politically, the Igbo leadership of the NCNC switched sides and came to his rescue.

Dr. Michael Okpara teamed up with Alhaji Dauda Adegbenro, the acting leader of the Action Group, to fight what the Igbos perceived as political injustice that could threaten the unity of Nigeria. They formed the United Peoples Grand Alliance (UPGA). The leadership, suspicious of NPC’s conceivable dark intentions, insisted that Chief Awolowo must be transferred from Kaduna to Calabar for his physical safety. The reason was that considering the overwhelming popularity of the Yoruba leader in the Western Region, the stability and unity of Nigeria could face jeopardy if something untoward happened to him. The Igbos were not ready for that risk. For them, the unity and stability of Nigeria was paramount.

The military intervention of January 1966, which was to a considerable degree, a consequence of the persisting political turmoil in Western Nigeria, put an abrupt end to the political activities of the various parties. That coup, most regrettably, took the lives of many prominent national leaders, both military and civilian. Behind the façade of general jubilation, which greeted the January coup among the progressives in the country, particularly in the South, there was the ominous reality of an embittered North, the most powerful region in the Federation, whose overall representation in the army itself kept good pace with its political dominance in the country.

Northern interests had suffered heavily both in the political and military spheres. Once it recovered from the shock, the North was bound to reassert itself in both domains. This, it did brutally in July 1966, sweeping General Ironsi, who was murdered at Ibadan, out of power. Some 214 Igbo officers and men were reported killed across the nation in a wholesale massacre, which also took the life of Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, the popular Yoruba military governor of Western Region, an articulate Ironsi confidant, known to be a sympathizer of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Thus, the circumstances of the January event and the largely one-sided killings that marked the bloody aspect of that coup, practically made such a vengeful situation inevitable. For the Northern political leadership, the January 1966 coup was a plot conceived and hatched by the entire Igbo nation to seize political power in Nigeria.

Yet, the stark reality of that historic episode is that, as the British writer, Walter Schwartz put it succinctly in his classic book ‘Nigeria’ that appeared at the time, “… the coup was lbo-led, but national in objective”. Many prominent Igbo officers, starting with the head of the Army, General Aguiyi Ironsi to Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who was the commanding officer in Kano, were not involved.

Indeed, Col. Arthur Unegbe, the Quarter-Master General, was killed in Lagos for refusing to cooperate with the coup makers, who came to him and demanded the keys to the armoury.

This very act on the part of Col. Unegbe, a thorough-bred Igbo patriot, of giving his life for Nigeria and his absolute loyalty to the northern NPC controlled Balewa Administration, played a decisive role in bringing about the collapse of the coup in Lagos, itse1f the very seat of the Federal Government. Unable to secure the armoury, the coup leaders were automatically denied control of the most important means- arms and ammunition of carrying out their plan in the supremely strategic Lagos area.

It was, indeed, exactly this situation that gave a loyal General Ironsi his chance on that fateful night of 15th January. The troops he rallied at dawn to thwart the coup had the arms and ammunition to support him. Such was the extent of active and effective opposition mounted by high ranking Igbo officers to ensure the failure of the most unfairly branded ‘Igbo coup’ of January 1966.

The putsch was aimed at dislodging those who held the levers of federal power and their allies in the Regions. Most unfortunately, in Lagos, it took the lives of the NPC Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and his close confidant, the Finance Minister from the Mid-West Region, Chief Festus Okotie Eboh of Zik’s NCNC party. In the Regions, the NPC Premier of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was killed. So also was the Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, an ally and protégé of the Balewa government and a bitter political enemy of opposition leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, then languishing in prison.

In fact, informed rumours at the time had it that the young officers, with a clear patriotic national perspective, had in mind to release the Yoruba leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, from detention and install him as head of an interim government, pending a constitutional review and elections.’ Indeed, the renowned educationist and civil rights activist, Tai Solarin, came close to confirming that view in an interview he gave to a national daily a few years before his death.

Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, the widely acclaimed coup leader, himself put the record this way in an interview he gave to the magazine ‘Africa And The World’ in May 1967, “our purpose was to change our country and make it a place we could be proud to call our home. Tribal considerations were completely out of our minds. But we had a set back in the execution.”

In other words, the intervention of this group of idealistic young officers, which included many Igbos, was to help build a better, united and prosperous Nigeria for all its citizens, totally regardless of ethnicity or other affiliations. In relevant retrospect, the similarity between the Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu led coup of January 1966 and that led by Major Gideon Orkah in April l990 against the government of General Ibrahim Babangida stands out in astonishing relief.

Both coups were carried out by young and idealistic middle-ranking officers, intent on transforming what they sincerely believed was a rotten Nigerian society. Neither coup was prompted or supported by senior officers of their respective ethnic groups. However, there is a painful difference in their socio-political aftermath. Nzeogwu’s coup was branded an ‘Igbo’ coup, for which the entire Ndigbo must pay a heavy and recurrent political price. Orkah’s coup was not seen as a ‘Tiv’ coup and justly so, and has no perceivable penalizing political price tag for the Tiv ethnic group.

For this clearly discriminatory attitude towards Ndigbo, and in sharp contrast with the unanimous national political concession given to the Yorubas over the M.K.O. Abiola case, cited earlier, it is only right to assert that our beloved co-citizens of Nigeria owe the Igbo Nation unreserved fraternal apology for visiting an unjust and sustained capital political punishment on the entire Igbo nation, vis-à-vis their constitutional right to exercise executive power as president bf our country. This is a fundamental right already too long denied, for which Ndigbo gburu-gburu, no matter their individual political differences, must now unite to fight and secure.

On the socio-economic front, the Igbos played and are still playing a leading role in the promotion of national integration. Today, there are several millions of Igbo people living, working and helping to develop significantly parts of Nigeria outside Igboland. They are in remote villages and towns nationwide.

Be it our country’s commercial cities of Lagos or Kano, heavy Igbo presence attests to Igbo people’s belief and commitment to pan-Nigerian nationhood. For the Igbos, anywhere in Nigeria is home. Indeed, as recently as a year or so ago, the former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir eI-Rufai, was quoted as saying that Igbo investment in indigenous private property development in the Federal Capital Territory, accounted for some seventy percent of the existing structures. Clearly, the Igbos put their money where their heart is - Nigeria’s centre of unity.

It is therefore clear that all this long, since the British colonial administration put together this vast country, the evident role of Igbo people in the political, economic and social history of Nigeria has been that of bridge builders and nation builders.

The desperate resort to Biafran secession in 1967, following successive massacres and tearful exodus of Igbos from Northern Nigeria the previous year, and its subsisting residual echo in the emergence of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), are clearly an aberration, not an Igbo hallmark, emanating from a sense of perceived rejection and persecution of a people who have given their all, in spirit and material resources to the concept and construction of a truly united, prosperous Nigerian nation.

By all accounts, the Igbo people deserve and richly so, much better understanding and demonstrable appreciation from their fellow citizens of their spirited and consistent role as nation builders and committed custodians of Nigerian unity.To the Nigeria project, the Igbos have given a great deal yesterday, are still doing so today and have a lot more in store for a much greater tomorrow.

God bless the Igbo nation! Long live our great country, Nigeria! God bless Africa!

(An address he delivered at the "Igbo Day 2009" celebration in Owerri, Imo State on November 14, 2009)

CONCACAF GOLD CUP 2017 FINALS: JAMAICA V. USA

 

ICHEOKU says the two sides have come a long way to lose now; so it will be an interesting finals on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. ICHEOKU says may the better side win. Congratulations to both countries for reaching the finals.

WHITE HOUSE REJIGS COMMUNICATION: SPICER OUT, SCARAMUCCI IN.

ICHEOKU says if what was displayed by the new White House Director of Communications, as he introduced himself to the media, is any barometer of what the American people will see going forward, then his choice was well founded. He delivered. His mannerism, tone, demeanor, affability, witticism, quickness on his feet and the flowing effortless ease with which he handled the session was quite impressive. Simply put, he was splendidly spectacular. 

ICHEOKU says the president finally found a right fit for the job and soon the impact of his decision will begin to be felt. Anthony Scaramucci is the piece of puzzle which has been missing and now that it is found, will greatly impact the presidency as he will effectively get the president's message out. He has charm, charisma and every trappings of a gifted communicator who will get the job done, keeping American people informed on the numerous Make America Great Again activities of the president. With a now charmed American media, including the fake news wing, cajoled into reporting the president's activities and mile high accomplishments, his job is done. 

Anthony Scaramucci is also a natural and someone not trying too hard to be something which he is not. He does not appear to be evasive and accommodated nearly every media person that had a question to ask, thus giving them the feeling of inclusiveness and that they matter, which of course will attract reciprocity and become a win win situation for every side. This might eventually prove to be the most effective tool for building rapprochement with the antagonistic media hordes and help persuade them to tone down their vituperation against the president

Anthony Scaramucci is also soft to the eyes too, not overtly aggressive nor threatening and he seems very approachable too; unlike the now gone former director Sean Spicer who labored under a seemingly "unbearable" weight of the office and suffered untold hardship and could not effectively get the message of the president out to the American people. He tried but his best effort was not good enough and he did not have a likable personality that charms loyalty and makes people believers. As a result, his messaging lacked force and became a victim of lost in translation syndrome. He also lost his personality and assumed the caricature, albeit unwittingly, which Saturday Night Live created of him and he never recovered from the damage, leading to his ouster. 

However, ICHEOKU is not interested in the politics and spin of Sean Spicer's departure. What is imperative is that there was a job to be done, which he was assigned to do, but which he did not satisfactorily do and his office, another took; case closed. ICHEOKU wishes Sean Spicer well in whatever new endeavor he finds himself and says hello welcome to Anthony Scaramucci, the new director and wishes him well too. He started well and hopefully it will only get better moving forward as the president prosecutes his Make America Great Again agenda and results therefrom communicated effectively to the American people. Put in another way, Anthony Scaramucci's first media event showed why he is the real deal Communication Director, a very good, smart choice pick to replace Sean Spicer. Once again President Donald John Trump got it right. ICHEOKU is optimistic that Anthony Scaramucci will successfully deliver as expected. Congratulation to the new director and to the president for a wonderful superbly choice.

OJ SIMPSON PAROLE HEARING 2017, BE THE JUDGE.

IT IS GAME ON: MAYWEATHER FIGHTS MCGREGOR

ICHEOKU says August 26 is the day history will be made as two of the world's most interesting athletes square off in the ring. Boxing champion Floyd MayWeather and mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor, will fight on August 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada. ICHEOKU says not in a position yet to place bet on who will win the fight. Salute

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN HAS BRAIN CANCER, GLIOBLASTOMA.

ICHEOKU says the very senior Senator from the great State of Arizona, Senator John McCain, has been diagnosed with cancerous brain tumor. The 80 year plus old Senator's cancer, glioblastoma, is similar to the cancer which killed then Massachusetts  senior Senator Ted Kennedy; and although the prognosis thus far is somewhat not dire, but chances of it accelerating to a sad end is real. 

Glioblastoma is a highly malignant, incurable brain tumors originating from astrocytes, cells that make up the brain's supportive tissue and usually kills within few months.

ICHEOKU says may be it is about time the Senator retires from the senate to enable him devote more time fighting the cancer and also to restfully live out his golden years, with less stress. ICHEOKU wishes the senator all the best as he enters what would prove to be the fiercest fight of his life; having survived the Hanoi Hilton, three melanomas of the face, hand and nose. Hopefully, he will also beat the brain tumor, admitted it will be one heck of a chance, considering the rapid growth of the cancer. God's speed Senator. 

OSINBAJO AND THE QUAGMIRE OF POWER STRUGGLE - an article by Remi Oyeyemi

Osinbajo heads a government in which he "is not allowed" to get anything done. 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is in a serious quagmire. But unfortunately, he is oblivious to and of it. Even if he is not, he has no tools to help himself. His fish, it seems, has no water on its back. 

The ongoing war in Abuja for power is emblematic of the nature and character of the Nigerian state that hopefully would lead to the Nunc Dimittis of a tragedy called a country. As events continue to unfold, those still acting like ostriches, shouting ONE NIGERIA, would have some education and have theirs eyes opened.

For those theorists who see this from the prism of class war dialectics alone, they are about to be educated about the dynamics of a modern feudalism that hold others in bondage and subjugation. They are about to be tutored about a refined, retooled and modernized apartheid system. They are about to be schooled about the real meanings of second- and third-class citizenship in a contraption euphemized as a country.

The Attorney General of the Federation Mr. Abubakar Malami, has just warned the Vice President that he (the Vice President) couldn't speak for the presidency and that the Vice President is "on his own." This came up after the Vice President returned "fire for fire" to the National Assembly seeking to remove him.

The importance of the warning given by Malami to Vice President Osinbajo is that in the Executive Arm of the Government in Aso Rock, the Vice President has no support. It means he is just being tolerated. It means he is an outsider in a government he leads. It means he is just a decoration. It means he is just a toothless bulldog, if he could be called a bulldog at all.

If you doubt this, ask, how many other members of the Cabinet have come out to support the Vice President publicly? How many of them have come out to call Malami to order? Certainly, they are not all deaf and blind. But because they all know where power truly resides, they have kept mum waiting for Osinbajo to be roasted. Yes, they know that power does not reside with Osinbajo and they don't care if Osinbajo is hanged. 

Not only that, under Osinbajo's nose, even ordinary Garba Shehu describes VP Osinbajo utterances as "unofficial" and "personal" view of his. He suggested that any opinion expressed by Osinbajo is nothing but his own and not representative of the Government or the Presidency in which he is the so called Acting President. Even, as a so called "Coordinator", such a disgrace should not be meted out to the Pastor.

The hapless Vice President seems to just carry on as if nothing is amiss. He is canvassing for a ONE NIGERIA where he is already a second-class citizen in power. His case is akin to that of a slave begging and pleading for the recalibration, reinforcement and reconsolidation of the vestiges and veneers of his enslavement and subjugation; a case of an unthinking happy slave. Americans call his likes "house slaves."

Yes, he is in power but does not have the balls to exercise the power. He dares not. He is so powerless that an ordinary spokesperson can call his bluff. He has no wherewithal to exercise any power. He heads a cabinet to which he cannot give instruction. He heads a cabinet in which he is treated with disdain and open disrespect as well as disregard. As they twit, taunt and toss him around, he twitches and twirls like a fish in the throes of dehydration.

Osinbajo heads a government in which he cannot get anything done. He heads a government in which his words are mere cacophony; meaningless, worthless and useless. He enjoys no one's confidence in the leadership. He is a lone, rudderless, tired and ridiculed wolf surrounded by anxious and rapacious tigers in competition to enthusiastically devour him.

This obviously is sensed by the Senate led by Bukola Saraki who has never hidden his contempt for the Vice President he once referred to as "ordinary commissioner."  Saraki never had any respect for Osinbajo. He loathes him intensely and with unfathomable severity. He sees Osinbajo as the "ajélè" of Bola Tinubu, with whom he is in rivalry. He is determined to bring him down at the right moment. Whether Saraki would succeed in this or not, time would tell.

Let us put my dislike for Saraki aside and all his vices hanged aside for a moment so that the reality be examined honestly. Saraki is truly in charge of the Senate. His support is solid. His men are united, savvy, and combative. They are committed to each other. His men believe in him and he believes in them. He protects them. They protect him. Loyalty to Saraki cuts across party lines in the Senate. He is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.

In the wings for Senator Saraki is the Lower House under the leadership of Yakubu Dogara. Solid, united, determined and consistent in their opposition to any move by Tinubuists. And they have demonstrated without any scintilla of doubt that they would not tolerate any kind of infantile radicalism. They are waiting for an auspicious moment to oust Osinbajo. This is in addition to some silent power elites in the North, especially among the Hausa Fulani whose political wisdom begin with fear of Tinubu, who because of his own morbid ambition, made himself a dispensable tool of enslavement and subjugation of his Yoruba people.

Some of us may not like this because we loathe Saraki, but this is the reality. The Buharideens and the Buharists in Yoruba land may not like this but this is the truth. The Jagabbanians or Tinubuists may hate this but this is a fact. The APC faithfuls and party hacks in the Southwest may detest this but it is the reality. Saraki is in control of that Senate. The earlier they realize this, the better for them so they can figure out their next move.

Vice President Osinbajo himself seems not to be aware. Or if he is aware, he does not care. And if he cares, he has no tools to fight for himself. He has limited or no support. His supporters are in the minority. His supporters, when they overstep their allotted boundaries, get suspended at will and nothing has happened. Or would happen.

Meanwhile, the so called "Cabal", from whence originated the idea of a "Coordinator" are silently waiting for the right moment to oust the unwary, naive, smart but non-analytical Vice President. He has been suspected and hated from Day One when he was locked out of the security meeting about a country of which he was the Vice President and now the Acting President.

Osinbajo refused to pay attention. He refused to heed warnings then as he is refusing now. He is acting like his mentor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and allowing morbid ambition to drive his thinking, his planning, his responses and his approach. He is not thinking about the fate that might befall Yoruba Nation when these falling chips land. He wants to be in power at all costs, even when he is deemed not good enough as a messenger by the INHERITORS of the Nigerian power. He refuses to see the handwriting on the wall. He is not able to fathom that he is fussing over the corpse of a dead country. 

Applying the Marxian dialectics to the Nigerian tragedy as an analytic tool is a great misapplication to an enormously misunderstood situation. The subsisting struggle in Nigeria today is not about the rich and the poor or between the haves and the have-nots. Rather, it is about the contest of applied philosophical world views.

It is about those who treasure the reverence and desirability for human dignity for all and those who do not. It is about those who believe in equality of man as a creature and those who do not. It is about those who believe in equitable justice for all and those who do not. It is about those who believe in human family, not cronyism, and those who do not. It is about those who believe that human lives have more value than those of cows and those who do not.

There is a culture that lays not undue emphasis on materialism and the one that does. There is a culture which ensures your dignity, your self and personal respect even when you are poor and the one that does not. There is a culture that takes accountability seriously and the one that does not. This is the crux of the matter. This is the kernel of the issue. This is the heart of the contest. This is the why of the struggle. This is the theme of the clarion call.

For the honest, sincere but naive purveyors of UNITY of Nigeria in the hills and valleys of Yoruba Nation;  for the untutored die hard believers in ONE NIGERIA swimming in the streams and rivers of  Oòduà land; for the misguided and miseducated latter day Nigerian nationalists acting out Henry Kissinger's concept of "patriotism" as being "the last refuge of scoundrels" among the sons and daughters of Oòduà land, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee. 

It is time to think beyond politics and unite in action and purpose for our people, our future, our freedom and our independence. This is more serious and important than the ephemeral politics of APC, PDP, Labour, KOWA, CPC, AC, ADM, PDM or whatever. We are first and foremost Yoruba before anything else. This is about the survival of our race. This is about our survival and dignity as a people. This is about our pride as inheritors of great culture and traditions. This is about us as a people with proud History. 

It is time to stop planting corn on the rock. It is time to stop chasing shadows. It is time to stop  chasing power that could not be used or benefit our people. It is time to wise up and free yourselves mentally. It is time to think of our past and put our future in perspective. It is time to think of our children and the next generation. It is time to be free. It is time to go home to Oòduà Nation. The Yoruba do not belong in Nigeria. We belong to our own Nation.

WERE OSINBAJO OF A FULANI/HAUSA STORK - an article by Bayo Oluwasanmi

When Muhammadu Buhari clinched the presidency, many Nigerians believed it was a year of a big, bloodless political revolution. But now we know this wasn't so much a revolution as a restructuring of the political order, a transfer of power from one elite to another, then the sort of bottom-up popular uprising that many Nigerians had in mind. 

The economic melt down, unrest, protests, violence, the long intractable poverty, the sense of hopelessness and helplessness, the leadership vacuum created by the hospitalization of President Buhari, and the tyrannical abandon of problems facing Nigerians by the do-nothing National Assembly have spurred the long-dormant spirit of activism. The snowflakes, it seems, have whipped up a snowstorm. 

Lately, Yorubas are being terrorized from all angles by the Hausas and Fulanis. The Fulani herdsmen are killing Yorubas like flies. Even the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was not spared of the incursion of the Fulanis. He's being harassed, intimidated, insulted, humiliated, taunted, and turned into a ping pong ball by Aso Rock Hausa and Fulani cabals led by Bukola Saraki. The latest plot by Saraki and Aso Rock cabals published July 5, 2017, by SaharaReporters headlined “Aso Rock Cabal, Senator Saraki Commence Sabotage of Acting President Osinbajo As Buhari's Health Crisis Deepens” detailed how Saraki in an unholy alliance with other reactionary forces at Aso Rock plot to unleash tsunami of political upheavals to dislodge Osinbajo from assuming full presidential powers. On the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu, the EFCC Chair, the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, said Osinbajo's statement on the issue didn't reflect the collective decision of the Federal Executive Council. Though, Malami had since denied the statement. 

It bears repeating that were Osinbajo a Hausa or Fulani, he'll never have been subjected to such trauma and torture. It's troubling. It's dangerous. And it's saddening. What further evidence do we need that Nigeria isn't one country? What more reasons do we need to justify Yoruexit from Nigeria? It's in the best interest of Yorubas to start working on ways and means to disengage from Nigeria. 

Like I have argued many times, it's too late to save Nigeria as is. In other words, the continued existence of Nigeria as one nation is beyond “restructure.” I believe the only way out for Yorubas is to hasten their exit from this hell hole called Nigeria. Anything short of that is unacceptable, unrealistic, and unworkable. We don't have to ask for anyone's permission to leave Nigeria. We don't have to wait for the primitive, decadent, hostile, system to evolve or for bad laws to change. In the best interest of direct action, we have to walk out of this pit of hell – now! 

The reckless political provocation by the Hausa and Fulani Aso Rock cabals should stretch Yoruba political imaginations. Yorubas are known to be tolerant, accommodating, liberal and refined. However, being reasonable and civilized should not be exploited by the Hausas and Fulanis. Of course, we have corrupt and selfish politicians among us. In the new Yoruba nation – Oduduwa Republic – We'll take care of the corrupt ones among us. We'll cut their wings. We'll tame them. We'll uproot them from our midst. 

When we talk about secession, separation, call it any name, some Nigerians are uncomfortable acknowledging the contradictions, crises, and confusion in which a divided one Nigeria has been submerged for 58 years. When confronted with the reality of Nigeria's 58 years of misery, the apologists of one Nigeria  have no cogent and convincing reasons other than tirade of trite cliches: “It's costly and destructive to break up,” “bigger is better,” there's strength in diversity,” “we cannot go it alone,” “we have much to lose than to gain.” And on, and on, and on. They conjure up these imaginary ghosts to justify the self-serving present. They forget we cannot erase or cover up the historical dystopian reality of Nigeria. 

We waited 58 years hoping for miracles. It never came. Meanwhile, as we waited for a better Nigeria, things have gotten worse. Our education system once the envy of the world has been dismantled and mutilated. The curriculum has no content, no rigor, no substance, no value, no philosophy. It's an empty shell. As we waited, disparities in wealth increased with the looters prospering and the poor starving. The long running poverty slaughtered and uprooted as it were, the present generation and generations yet unborn. The persistence and prevalence of untamed corruption and infectious poverty daily consume our people. Inflamed ethnic rivalries and religious intolerance grow daily with intensity among the poor. It has fostered distrust and festered old ethnic prejudices. 

As we waited, the excesses, evils, injustices, and wickedness of the ruling class have further chiseled the great divide between the haves and have nots and have collapsed our civilization and culture. Our society has been turned into a Hobbesian horror that a normal person must escape. An extended mediation of Nigerian maladies has turned citizens into a surviving appendage that begs for life support. As we waited, Nigeria remains a country of misery characterized by a rainbow of misadventures. The citizens of a country blessed with the world's most abundant resources live in one of the worst places on earth. The federal system of government has been rendered useless, ineffective and made impossible to work. It's a failure. It's a tombstone. It's fragile foundation built on a corrupt and deceitful Nigerian political model that doesn't make sense. 

As we waited, Nigeria has turned into a jungle alien to rule of law, where might is right and where injustice reigns supreme. Nigeria provides a textbook example of a country being governed by fools, idiots, thugs, looters, and ignoramuses. These elected ruffians and con artists are the real enemies of our people.  As we waited, Nigerian unskilled poor have exchanged rural poverty for even deeper miseries of the shanty towns with disaffection-filling movements. The swelling urban mobs, abductors, rapists, armed robbers, kidnappers, and hired assassins in the ghastly alleys of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Kano, Benin, Otuoke, etc., are unchecked, disregarded, left to grow and fester. 

You see, we've waited for 58 years. Every death hurts. Every impoverished Nigerian enrages. Every jobless Nigerian is a walking dead. The God given blessings for Nigeria are not shared or enjoyed in common. Justice, liberty, and prosperity are exclusive illusion of the poor. The sunlight that brought light and healing to the few, has brought stripes and death to our people. While the ruling class rejoices and relishes for one Nigeria, the poor are in perpetual mourning in the same country. 

Can you hear the mournful wail of million of Yoruba youths whose lives are being wasted before our eyes and whose lives are being cut short by cheap preventable deaths? Can you see the bleeding of sorrow from Yorubas - the hungry, sick, helpless and hopeless children turned scavengers roaming the streets looking for food in the garbage dumpsters? Can you see Yoruba young girls turned prostitutes for lack of jobs and opportunities? Can you see Yoruba young men turned armed robbers as a result of being uprooted by poverty and precarious life?  Can you see Yoruba gaunt, haggard looking senior citizens badly squeezed by hunger and disease and nowhere to turn? 

Nigeria is false to the past. Nigeria is false to the present. Nigeria is solemnly binding herself to the false in the future. Nigeria is ruptured and fragmented. Lives of Yoruba people are split open like water melon ravaged by poverty served loosely together by jagged stitches of fear and insecurity. Can you see the Yorubas...running helter-skelter from pillar to post … confused and in disarray, groping, gripping, dripping in the dark … See... Can you see...? Enough is enough. It's time to go

BEYONCE PRESENTS THE CARTER TWINS TO THE WORLD.

ICHEOKU says their names, Rumi and Sir; and they are adorable. Congratulations to Beyonce and Jay-Z Carter on their double blessings. ICHEOKU commends the Carters for not commercializing their babies first photographs like other celebrities who charge millions for the right of first pictures. Way to go Mr and Mrs Carter; simply showing how it is done. 

'Je m'appelle Melania. Et toi?' - FLOTUS MELANIA TRUMP SPEAKS FRENCH

ICHEOKU says United States of America First Lady Melanie Trump is all round beautiful and she is languages proficient too. The First Lady speaks six international languages including Slovenian, Italian, German, Serbo-Croatian, French and English; and is currently rumored to be learning Chinese and Hispanic. She spoke French to school children during her and her husband President Donald John Trump recent Bastille visit to France at the invitation of the French President Emmanuel Macron, saying 'Je m'appelle Melania. Et toi?' (My name is Melania. And you?) . 

ICHEOKU understands some rudimentary French, thanks to French 101 of several decades past, hence the unaided translation of what the First Lady said. ICHEOKU says America is blessed to have a First Lady who is indeed pleasant to behold and who carries herself with the best decorum as only a royalty could fathom. Irredeemable Deplorable ICHEOKU is pleased to call her a worthy First Lady and prays she continue to carry herself majestically as she represents the United States of America. Well done Melanie!!

LIU XIAOBO: KILLED BY CHINESE AUTHORITIES.

ICHEOKU says China is killing her finest, one after the other; and any nation or state which does not allow her citizens freedom is a nation in chains, whose citizens are living in bondage. The Chinese authorities killed him, trying to silence his voice of freedom for the Chinese people. But unfortunately, if history is any guide, Liu Xiabo will become huger in death and his voice more resonant and will be carried far and wide to the ends of earth. Chinese people will hear him and he might be the eventual precursor to Chinese people becoming truly independent in the real sense of it. 

Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel laureate and human rights activist extraordinaire, who has been advocating freedom for the Chinese people since 1989 Tienanmen Square democracy stand off, has died. Xiaobo was killed by the Chinese authorities, albeit technically; who imprisoned him in 2009 and he was serving a 11 years sentence when he died of advanced liver cancer. His offense, simply calling for political reforms in China, which the Beijing authorities considered a sacrilege and threw him in prison. 

His "Charter 08"  petition stood out as an enviable act of defiance and he paid dearly for it with his life for daring where angels trembled trying to force reforms within the Chinese enclave. The oppressive government termed his activities "inciting subversion of state powers and marked him for elimination and eliminate him, they did. ICHEOKU says may his ever restive, change-desiring and driven soul now rest. Liu Xiaobo was 61 years old, Adieu.

THE NNAMDI KANU PHENOMENON an article by REUBEN ABATI

The most discussed subject in Nigeria today is what is called “restructuring” and indeed so popular is this subject that it has attracted the attention of roadside commentators, the bright, the not-so-bright, the mischievous and the outrightly unintelligent all united by the singular claim that Nigeria belongs to all of us and we all have a right to determine its future.  The last person who brought up this subject with me is a mechanic in Abeokuta! He had heard about Biafra, the Arewa youths, the President’s absence, Professor Osinbajo, Nnamdi Kanu, what Igbo leaders, Northern leaders, and Yoruba leaders have said about restructuring and he wanted a conversation. That’s how democracy works, not so?  The inclusiveness is actually very good for us…

But the point I have always made stands proven: that Nigeria remains an unanswered question, more than a century after the amalgamation of 1914. Before and after independence, virtually every government has had to deal with this same question, viz, the national question. Brought together in an unwieldy, unequal and uneven union by the British, Nigeria’s about 400 ethnic nationalities have been unable to transform into one nation, one union, a community of people and communities driven by a common purpose - to create a united, progressive nation, under the umbrella of patriotism and the common good.

We have fought each other since 1950 to date, we did not even all agree on independence, and since that happened, we have been at each other’s throats. We ended up fighting a civil war, and from all indications we are at this moment, seemingly preparing for another one. The laziest excuse is that the British caused all our problems, but more than 50 years after independence it should be clear enough that we are the source of our collective agony.

Other countries that were at the same level with us in 1960 have since moved on and developed into better nations despite their own internal contradictions. Nigerian leaders have perpetually lived in denial. Every step forward has resulted in our country taking two steps backward. A combination of the big-man-syndrome, the too-know syndrome, the us-before-others-mentality, ethnic politics, sectarian politics, greed, cronyism and a terrible leadership recruitment process has turned our process of nationhood into an unending struggle. Today, fewer Nigerians believe in the idea of Nigeria.

In 1977/78, the Constituent Assembly whose deliberations resulted in the 1979 Constitution almost ended with fisticuffs. The 2005 National Political Reforms  Conference did not fare better either, as the Niger Delta conferees staged a walk-out and the politics of Third Term or no Third Term sabotaged the entire process. In 2014, the outcomes of yet another National Conference could not be followed through because a succeeding administration declared it would not even look at the report.  

At every stage when it looks as if this country is faced with an opportunity to address the national question, certain interest groups erect the roadblocks of denial and wishful thinking. No country can live perpetually in denial.  This is the message of former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and their disintegration. As for the military, they merely worsened Nigerian politics.

Fifty years after the outbreak of the civil war, we now have a man called Nnamdi Kanu. He may well end up as Nigeria’s nemesis. He is the most frightening product of our many years and acts of denial and he may well throw the country into a nightmare worse than Boko Haram if care is not taken. He started out as the leader of a group called the Indigenous People of Biafra and as director of Radio Biafra.  He and those who bought into his rhetoric of secession and the renewal of the Biafra dream organized protests across the world, and they looked, from afar, like a group of disgruntled Nigerians in the diaspora. 

In the foreign lands where most of the members lived, they looked like persons over-enjoying the freedom of speech from a safe distance. They didn’t appear to have the force of MASSOB, which is locally based and seemingly more malleable.  The renewed struggle for Biafra that Kanu and his crowd talked about could have been nothing more than an internet and television revolution. But everything went wrong the moment Nnamdi Kanu chose to visit home and he was arrested, detained and taken through a court trial.

Whoever ordered Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest and the prosecution did this country a bad turn. Kanu is a character that could have been better ignored. His trial and travails have turned him into a hero and a living martyr among Igbos. And the young man so far, understands the game. Since he was released on bail, he has been taunting the Nigerian state and government. Daily, he dares those who granted him bail and he laughs at the conditions they gave him. He associates with more than 10 persons. He moves about Igboland freely, like a spirit. He addresses rallies and grants interviews.  He has been busy issuing statements. On May 30, he ordered a shut-down of the entire South Eastern region and that order was obeyed not only in the South East but also in parts of the South-South, and Abuja.    

Nnamdi Kanu who probably barely struggled to survive as a black man in Europe, has been turned by the Nigerian Government into a credible apostle of a resurgent Biafran revolution. The other day when he held a meeting in Umuahia, over 5,000 persons trooped to his compound.  Kanu is a master of symbolism. He is exploiting the Jewish symbol: to signal to the world that Igbos are being persecuted. 

He visits symbolic sites of the civil war to prick the injured part of the Igbo consciousness and mobilize the people. His pre-eminence is a comment on the quality of the state and its strategic intelligence system. If he succeeds with his threats, we should know those to blame. A few days ago, someone on social media further compared him to Jesus Christ and described him as the true savior. Every revolutionary in history graduates from ordinariness to being messianic, propelled by opiumized endorsement.

Nnamdi Kanu is certainly capable of doing more damage to the system than the MASSOB, OPC, and such other groups, and should he push things further, he could ignite a crisis worse than Boko Haram. My gut feeling is that some people in certain places are beginning to realize this and that is why Nnamdi Kanu out of detention appears untouchable; it is the reason he is able to dare the state and ridicule his bail conditions. The lesson here is obvious enough: the brazen use of force and intimidation to deal with certain situations could create really bad unintended consequences.

The Federal Government under Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has been holding meetings with key stakeholders within the Federation. The consultations are in order, but the Acting President is yet to talk to the right people.  He is talking to people who carry their international passports in their pockets because they don’t know what tomorrow promises in Nigeria. He is consulting persons whose family members are mostly one-leg-in-one-leg-out Nigerians; many of them, in fact, have dual nationality. Nigeria is their trading post, the place where they make the money they and their children spend in Dubai, UK and wherever.

The people the Federal Government should be talking to are the angry Igbo youths who now kneel down to greet Nnamdi Kanu and call him their God, the Arewa youths who have told the Igbos to get out of Nigeria and get away, and who have called the Yoruba names while further insisting that they are not afraid of the Nigerian government arresting them. The people to talk to are the leaders of the various other groups who are taking sides. Leaders of the Middle Belt and the South South are holding talks; some Yorubas are planning to hold theirs this week in Ibadan. 

Draw the map of the emerging rhetoric in Nigeria today; what you have is a divided country. The scenario is so painfully reminiscent of the early 60s. Every Nigerian leader since the civil war has boasted that he would not preside over the dismemberment of Nigeria. Some of Crisis management is an important part of nation-building. We have failed to manage most of the crises that have befallen our nation, on a sustainable basis, and that is why every proverbial snake that is killed suddenly resurrects. 

It is the reason we have produced a country where the population of the aggrieved appears to be growing daily.  It is the reason Nnamdi Kanu and his followers have become the fish-bone in the throat of government.  As things stand, there is no stronger voice in Igboland today than that of Nnamdi Kanu. The Igbo elites and the self-styled political leaders of the East know that Kanu is more influential than all of them put together. How many among them can command a willing crowd of 5, 000 to their doorsteps? The politicians hire crowds, but the crowds go to Kanu and obey him.

With the kind of influence he wields, Kanu is in a position to dictate the political future of the South East. The same political leaders who posed for photographs at the Aso Villa will go to him at night and beg him to support their candidates if future elections hold in that region.  They will condemn Kanu during the day, but lick his boots at night.

The ancillary challenge, however, is the worsening trend of ethnic polarization with regards to the control of power at the center. I describe this as the conflict between the na-my-brother-dey-there syndrome and the no-be-my-brother reactive tendency. It used to be the case in this country up till the time President Olusegun Obasanjo left in 2007, that whoever held power in Abuja was openly and strongly supported by other Nigerians, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Obasanjo got more support from outside Yorubaland and probably felt more reassured by persons from outside his own ethnic group and religion.

With the death of President Yar’Adua in office, ethnicity, a long-standing threat to Nigerian unity became more potent. The Boko Haram, with its base in the Northern part of the country gave the succeeding Jonathan administration hell.  With the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, the same Boko Haram suddenly became tame. Curiously, the militants of the South East and the South South, who had been significantly quiet during the Jonathan years, also became more vocal and calls for secession became more strident the moment their kinsman and in-law left office. 

By the same token, the conflict between pastoralists and farmers, an old problem, became worse, with the former asserting themselves more arrogantly for no reason other than that they are sure of better protection under a central government controlled by the North. Our point: Nigeria’s stability should not be so dependent on the whims and caprices of ethnic gladiators. No Nigerian President should be at the mercy of ethnic or religious politics, now or in the future. 

The debate about restructuring and renegotiations is therefore useful and most relevant.  It is indeed urgent if we must take the wind out of the sail of the secessionists and nihilists. Those who have always blocked or hijacked the people’s conference must by now realize that we are close to “the point of no return” on a review and rephrasing of the Nigerian question, in order to make every Nigerian feel a part of the Nigerian project. The alternative in all possible shapes appears ominous.

CNN IS GOING DOWN: TIME TO SEEK A TRUCE IS NOW.

ICHEOKU says what the Fake News Clinton News Network wants to achieve by continuously engaging President Donald John Trump in a media war is simply incomprehensible. The president has nothing to lose and the network has everything to lose in continuing the current atrocious battle between them and the president. As has been shown time and time again, with various opinion polls, the attacks by CNN on President Donald John Trump is not working; it is not eroding the president's presidency and you wonder why then continue a game with such a faulty plan that will lead to nowhere. 

They tried to derail the president's then presidential campaign with their slanted skewed news coverage but did not succeed as the president won the election handily. They have continued their get the president war since the election through the inauguration till date but are not achieving their sinister objective to send the presidency off course. Now it is a full throttle war or words and name calling between them and the president, leaving ICHEOKU to wonder, who has the most to lose continuing the war of words. So the president, having won the election without their support and still successfully presiding over the country without their support; and despite their barrage of attacks and all system go fake news, meant to tarnish the president's image and make it difficult if not impossible to carry on his presidency, what then is their end game here? 

ICHEOKU says any rational, reasonable and responsible news entity would have since backed off, having realized that they embarked on a mission impossible. CNN should have  since cut down on their loses by beating a retreat because continuing in their current lane of travel can only lead to a certain perdition and end up horribly for them. They are the ones that will eventually bleed from the current war by losing viewership and possible patronage from advertisers; needless to add that their rating has tanked measurably too. But not the Cable News Network as they are possessed by some demon which is continuously egging them on and to a place from which they might find it very difficult to climb down from, except they take a plunge of a certain death. ICHEOKU says the management of CNN should as matter of urgency, pull back their hound dogs and leave President Donald John Trump alone to do the job for which millions of Americans voted for him to do. They should face their business of news reporting and cease being a tool of the opposition with their nonsensical fake news hatchet job; and see if they can begin to regain their so many lost grounds.

The saddest part of it all is that CNN is aware of the indomitable fighting spirit of President Donald John Trump. A man who winning is everything and who does not take any competition lightly; and who would not back down from the current face-off with CNN until an assured victory is achieved. A man who puts his all in everything he does and who will bring the same thing that has always worked for him when faced with opposition to bear on CNN. A savvy master brander, who has previously successfully branded people and took them down to a ditch from which they never climbed out from. A man who took on the entire Republican Party establishment and won; who face down sixteen presidential primaries contestants and trumped them all. A man who took up the Democrats alongside  the Clinton machine and triumphed. A man who took on a sitting President Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden and came out tops. A man who took up practically the whole world, including the Vatican, Mexico, France and whatever else was out there and still triumphed. So why on earth does CNN think that their own case will be any different or that they stand a chance in hell of vanquishing the indefatigable Donald John Trump, now POTUS 45th. 

Unfortunately for CNN, the president has now marked them with his usual saint of death; a parchment sort of, of Fake News, which apparently has stuck as people are now referring to CNN by the president's moniker, Fake News CNN. CNN does not stand a chance in this fight and will find it difficult if not impossible to shake off this name once it takes hold. Therefore they should do what any sensible person or entity would do, back off and back down; and stop their antagonistic attacks and confrontation of President Donald John Trump, the 45th. Jeb Bush was tagged Low Energy Jeb and it stuck and took him out of the Republican Party's primaries. Marco Rubio was also branded Little Marco and that ended his presidential nomination aspiration. Ted Cruz also fell victim of Trump's branding and he took him down with Lyin' Ted. Then came the mother of all branding Crooked Hillary which led to the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the election. Now CNN is tagged Fake News CNN and like all previous victims of Trump's marking, is headed to that tunnel of irrelevance and certain death. 

So if CNN is conscious of this historical antecedents of not too long ago, why then do they think that their fate would be any different from these victims of the Trump masterful branding. What exactly then is CNN's game plan or planned objective since it has been proved time without number that their anti-Trump reportage does not move the needle regarding President Donald John Trump's popularity or his ability to win elections or reach out to his millions of fans and followers. The president has nothing to lose and having lost nothing thus far, it is only CNN that the odds are stacked up against. It is only CNN that will come out from the present feuding scathed and bloodied; and left with a mouth full of regrets, wondering what brought upon themselves. Therefore picking a fight which one cannot win is not wise nor a smart decision; rather it is foolishness defined and in the battle of Trump V. CNN, the Cable News Network appears to be losing and only a quick retreat will salvage whatever is left of its reputation. 

What is a News Network worth afterall if its news is regarded as fake news? What is CNN worth afterall if what they broadcast to the world is received with some pinch of salt as possible fake. Yes. people tune in to news media to learn what is new and breaking in the world but who will continue to tune in to CNN if their mind is tainted that what they might hear or see is probably manufactured fake. This is the problem CNN has and this is what they must guard and protect by  calling for a cease fire in their battle with President Trump. The president has nothing to lose; has won an election before and will win a second term, regardless of what CNN reports or decides to report about him. Therefore he who has more to lose should seek a truce and end the current ongoing brickbat between the president and CNN and CNN is that entity. 

For whatever it is worth, the CNN of Bernard Shaw's fame is definitely behind us and regaining that past glory might be somewhat difficult. Whether a management reshuffle or general reorganization or rebranding of the network will work and take it away from its current homosexual-tinged operation, to something more of a center this and center that organization, would do the magic, ICHEOKU does not know. But whatever would work should be explored immediately in order to save the network from the precipice which it is fast speeding to. At least the network can start its rehabilitation by turning away from its anti President Donald John Trump reportage and face other issues of greater importance and relevance to their viewers and the market target of their sponsors. Enough of the attacks, especially one which is not making any dent on the presidency of President Donald John Trump. The moniker FAKE NEWS CNN will very soon become indelible and such a kiss of death is not what CNN would wish on itself in the news business. They must therefore do the needful now and salvage themselves and reputation and end the war on President Donald John Trump and for their own good.

WE WILL NEVER BACK DOWN - PRESIDENT DONALD JOHN TRUMP

"The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it? I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph. We will not lose our freedom to a lack of pride and confidence in our values. We will never back down. We will fight for family, for freedom, for country, and for God and we will win." - President Donald John Trump, The 45th.

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SPEECH IN POLAND

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