BARACK OBAMA GETS A DAY OF HONOR IN ILLINOIS, AUGUST 4TH.

ICHEOKU says former President Barack Hussein Obama has been honored by his adopted State of Illinois with a holiday, to be observed throughout the state, as Barack Obama Day. The State Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed Illinois Senate Bill 55 into law, declaring August 4, Obama's birthday, a State day of honor to celebrate the state's illustrious son and former president of the United States of America. 

However, government offices and businesses will not be required to close on the said day in commemoration of the day; but schools and other institutions are encouraged to observe it, but not necessarily required. ICHEOKU queries what use is a holiday if it is not observed with closure of businesses and government offices as well as schools and other institutions. But hey, it is Illinois and they have decided to honor their son in the best way they know how and ICHEOKU says congratulations to Barack Obama. August 4th of every year beginning with 2018 will now be observed in the State of Illinois as Barack Obama Day. 

JOE IGBOEKWE(GHI): THE SLAVE WHO WEARS PURPLE.

"In his bid to prove that he is not a slave, he ended up writing the story of his long years of slavery to the Tinubu dynasty. He was called a hungry Lagos slave and he responded by listing his long years of "serving" Tinubu for 8 years, Fashola for 8 years and Ambode for 2 years and still counting. In all his sordid tales, he didn't mention anyway his Lagos sojourn benefited his Nnewi hometown. He made mention of no tangible record of achievement. All he regaled us with was his long years of serving Tinubu and Sons Nigeria limited. Should we now crown him the longest serving Lagos servant? All the people with whom he served Tinubu are now Masters, yet, Igbokwe is still serving. The joke is on him but the bigger joke is that he didn't even realize it." - Charles Ogbu

TRANSGENDERS IN THE MILITARY: A NEEDLESS DISTRACTION.

ICHEOKU says commends the president for boldly and courageously telling volunteers to the United States of America military to serve as soldiers, period. Therefore, cosmetics and lipsticks should take the back seat as they train and fight to defeat any world's army and decisively too. It is based on the need to have a fighting military of great repute that ICHEOKU supports the president's ban of transgender or rather gender-conflicted persons from serving in the US Military. 

At whatever cost, the segregation which has inflicted much damage on the societal fabric must not be allowed to rear its head in the military. Soldiers bleed blood, not lipstick and they don't fight with lipstick on and America will have only an army of one, an army strong. So if anyone wants to fight or join the fighting men and women of the US military, that person must conform and not ask the military to conform to him or her. 

The military is the dominant party here and whoever is joining must abide by rules of the military and not the military make accommodations to suit personal idiosyncrasies. So it necessarily follows that any person who wants to volunteer his or her service must then serve as a soldier and not a "transgendered" soldier or any other form of soldier but a soldier of the United States military. There is no room for cosmetics including cosmetic surgery as the soldiers job is to kill and destroy and any volunteer must abide by this rule or fall out. Nobody needs a sex change in order to carry out this task and so should it remain. 

President Donald John Trump is providing the much needed and desired leadership and focus which America needs right now; pulling the country back from the precipice where Barack Obama had dragged it to and nearly destroyed the social fabric of a great nation with his attempted social reengineering of America. President Barack Obama's gay tendencies and inclinations nearly ruined America and it did not help matters either that he had forced the military to pay of r expensive sex change operations of any so desiring service member who is conflicted about his or her sexuality. 

ICHEOKU says thank you President Donald John Trump for bringing God back into the military and the country at large. In the president's own words, "After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you."  ICHEOKU says the president said it all, exactly what the country has been waiting for; an America of one solider and not a military of variegated soldiers.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY: TRUMP'S NOMINEE FOR FBI DIRECTOR CONFIRMED

ICHEOKU says for those leftist looney tunes still protesting the election of President Donald John Trump and manufacturing a variety of fantastic Russians Did It collusion nonsense, the 45th president is soldiering on with his presidency. His nominee to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, was overwhelmingly   confirmed 92-5 as the new director of the Bureau. 

With a new FBI director now in place, the president continues to stamp his authority on America and leaving a lasting legacy; having earlier appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and now an FBI Director Christopher Wray. The new director during his confirmation hearing assured Americans as follows: 

“If I am given the honor of leading this agency, I will never allow the FBI’s work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law, and the impartial pursuit of justice. Period. Full stop. My loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law.” 

ICHEOKU says with such assurance, no one is left in doubt that the new director will bring utmost integrity to his assignment. He will also strive to repair whatever damage the fired former director James Comey must have caused the Bureau when he failed to recommend the prosecution of Hillary Clinton after establishing a prosecutable case against her. That way he will restore the confidence of American people that the Bureau is apolitical and will always uphold the constitution in the discharge of its obligation. 

The confirmation now finally seals whatever sliver of hope the disgruntled James Comey might have entertained of ever coming back to the Bureau again. Hopefully, Americans can begin to believe in their FBI again and ICHEOKU prays that the new director will Make FBI Great Again and transform it into a place devoid of any cloud of suspicion or partisan influences. ICHEOKU says congratulations to Director Christopher Wray on his new gig and also to President Donald John Trump for making a right appointment and for having the nominee confirmed in such a non partisan manner. Simply put, it is yet another feather to the president's presidency's cap.

SCARAMUCCI FIRED: THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON PREVAILED.

ICHEOKU says this was certainly the most natural outcome of the recent feuding and tidal wave which swept the White House. To let both antagonists go and with it quench whatever taking of sides and loyalty rancor which may gave arisen amongst the staff. It is also good in order to enable both parties save face, with a no victor no vanquished declaration. 

It would have been a humiliating experience and a cut off of the nose from the face situation for Reince Priebus had Anthony Scaramucci remained, after Michael Short, Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus were forced out at literally his instance. Not after the spat between them which directly and for the first time publicly acknowledged that all was not well with the different personalities congregated in service of the president in the White House. Good enough, an adult has entered the service of the president and as a first act, has finally and fully resolved this budding conflict which was ominous, with potential to threaten or even take-down the presidency of President Donald John Trump.

Anthony Scaramucci had come in as Communications Director with great fanfare and great expectation and was warmly received; including by ICHEOKU, who dubbed him the communication director/press secretary President Donald John Trump has been waiting for. He was presentable, he had the presence and also commands the stage; he was photogenic and people were attracted to him as a welcome relief to the ever studious and uptight Sean Spicer, who was too cumbersome to look at and somewhat boring. His first introduction to the White House press corps was equally charming as he took the podium and made it his own, amiable and answered all questions that were thrown his way. 

But his passion did him in as he became so out there, talking, pushing back and threatening such that he suddenly became the news instead of being the vehicle for the news. He became arrogant, cocky and somewhat condescendingly full of air; acting as if he is even the clone of the president. Simply put, he morphed into the junior President Trump and people were drawing closer and closer to see and hear what he is going to say or do next. Then suddenly he lost his mind, forgetting that the White House is different from his boardroom in New York where whatever he desires and wants is commanded. He also forgot that the White House is closer to American Christian community than it has ever been in the recent past. 

Then enter the profanity laced rant to a New Yorker reporter which finally took him down and out. The diatribe and exhibited vulgarity was simply too much for everyone, including a president who is still trying to wish away his own "grab them by the *ussy' Access Hollywood with Billy Bush comment, to bear. So when the opportunity finally came with the new Chief of Staff General Kelly, he was shoved out and there ended the ten day reign of the King who wanted to 'fire them all' but ended up himself inside the belly of the beast and now, a goner too. What a cruel irony that what he wanted to visit on others was visited on him. What a short lived tumultuous White House Communication director Anthony Scaramucci was. It must all be in the stars. So long Mucci.

JONES DEFEATS CORMIER: 3RD ROUND TKO IN UFC 214

ICHEOKU says it was a thriller although not in Manilla; but Anaheim California and it lived to its hoopla. It was a good fight and as ICHEOKU predicted, Jon Jones defeated Daniel Cormier in a third round technical knockout. Now their rivalry is finally over and with a two time wins, Jon Jones is now the indisputable better fighter than Daniel Cormier. ICHEOKU says congratulations Jones for reasserting your fighting supremacy over Daniel Cormier. What a fight it was.

JOHN MCCAIN TORPEDOS HEALTHCARE REPEAL: VENGEANCE AND ANGER DRIVEN.

ICHEOKU says the ever angry 84 year old Senator from the great State of Arizona has nothing to lose, being terminally ill, afflicted with glioblastoma brain cancer, and it showed. He abandoned the president, his party's interest, including the of his closest friend South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and voted to kill Obamacare's repeal. He was the deciding vote and he voted alongside his Democratic Party friends to kill the repeal effort and the attempted repeal failed. 

ICHEOKU says yes, Senator John McCain is a perpetually angry person, unforgiving and it once again showed. He did not act out of any deep rooted concerns or convictions about the bill as every possible tweaking of the Healthcare repeal that was possible was made to accommodate needed concerns; such  that it become merely a shadow of its original self and now termed a "skinny" repeal, yet McCain did not bulge. He acted with a malicious mind in order to spite the president whose main agenda is a Healthcare reform, which drove his campaign message. Yes, John McCain acted to get back at the president and take his own pound of flesh from the president, for his remark that "those who were not captured" are the type of heroes he likes. It is obvious that Senator John McCain has not forgiven the president for the remark which the then candidate Trump made concerning the Senator's years of being detained inside a Hanoi prison. The Senator, known for his unforgiving spirit, clearly understood then that Trump's jab was meant to diminish his hero status and he has never forgiven Trump ever since. So when a golden opportunity presented itself to get back at Trump, the Senator did not show magnanimity but cashed in, measure for measure. 

Senator John McCain is as mercurial as he is a maverick, admitted he denied being a maverick when called out on that his special streak of his. ICHEOKU says here is a man who then as presidential candidate campaigned on repealing Obamacare and now that the opportunity finally arrived to get it done, he shirked and shied away; simply because he had an ax to grind with the president. Such an unforgiving spirit is not good for anyone, especially a senator of the United States of America who is now making his personal feeling come before the interest of the people of Arizona as well as the general United States of America citizens. Sad!

ICHEOKU says Senator John McCain is simply lashing out, probably because his days are numbered and he does not care about burning down the house as he departs. That the president sent him good wishes while in the hospital and even called him an American hero was not enough for the Senator to forgive a past squabble. Those paying attention and who are versatile with body language, saw the telltale signs of McCain going rogue with the repeal when he went off against talk radio hosts, calling them names and urging politicians to ignore them. It was unlike McCain and he was once a fan; but apparently he no longer have any use or need for them due to changing life circumstances and he told them to take hike. Otherwise how else could any Republican argue against talk radio hosts who literally direct conservative public opinions in the country; except to say that having crossed the bridge and have no further need for them, he is now telling the bridge and its builders to go to hell.

Senator John McCain also probably voted against the repeal just out of jealousy and envy of a president who achieved and accomplished more than he dreamt of by winning the United States presidency on a first try. The senator lost to then Barack Obama in 2008 after years in politics and here came Donald John Trump, on a first attempt, securing victory and is now the President of the United States of America. John McCain is human and humans do get envious and jealous of what they don't and couldn't have. So when all these considerations are factored in, the true picture comes to live and one can begin to actually truly understand what it is that moves McCain and indeed moved him to vote against the repeal effort - he is petty and little. 

Possibly too, because of his latest diagnosis of incurable brain cancer, he decided to make one last final stand, a last major act, before passing on. He wanted to leave one lasting legacy for which he will be remembered among other things, by voting against the repeal. Although one of three Republicans to vote against it, but his was the consequential vote in the 49 - 51 downer. The Senator has since returned to his Arizona hospital to begin a regimen of treatment which will only ease him out, as their is no cure for glioblastoma, the same malignant brain cancer which killed Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. But why the senator want such epitaph is really beyond many people's understanding; except that he is John McCain and he is irascible and choleric and it once again showed.

DC CORMIER V JOHN JONES UFC FIGHT OF THE CENTURY

ICHEOKU says their age long rivalry will be finally decided in Anaheim California today July 29th, 2017. ICHEOKU says Jones will win in round 3; admitted a good fight will be watched,

WHAT HAPPENED: HILLARY CLINTON'S NEW BOOK OF TALES AND MAKING EXCUSES.

ICHEOKU says short of running a lousy campaign devoid of fresh and bold ideas on  how best to move America forward; and spewing hatred for the other guy, her then opponent and now president of America, Donald John Trump, Hillary Clinton was stuck on stupid on the campaign she ran and continuing till today with all these made up excuses on why American people rejected her presidency, nothing else happened. 

This her ineptitude and lack of an original message were exactly 'What Happened' and nothing more. Therefore, since there is nothing new she is admitting to or admitted to in the new book, the book should have been more aptly titled "What I would have done differently" or 'Let me confess: I screwed up", period.

So, whatever the hogwash she narrated in the new book, which at best will be a compendium of all the inanities of the last six months or thereabout of pointing her accusatory finger at other people but not at herself, 'What Happened' will be an ordinary lame book with nothing new to add to what the people have already been inundated with and which they are tired of hearing. It is going to be a rehash of the Russians stole the election; the American people hate me and of course former FBI director James Comy did me in. As ingrained in her DNA, it is other peoples fault but never Saint Hillary Clinton's fault because Hillary Clinton's knows everything, is infallible and can do no wrong.

But a woman, who is a typical female, will never take responsibility for her actions or shortcomings including the lackluster mediocre campaign of only name calling which she ran. American people will be disappointed that the book supplied nothing new nor in any other way allayed their curiosity about the internals of the Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign of ineptitude 2016. 

ICHEOKU says will definitely read the book just for the heck of it; but will not pay for it nor buy it as ICHEOKU has since resolved not to and will never add additional dime to the Clinton's crime family's cash. Enough of the Clintons; it is about time they bowed out of the stage and vanish into a sinkhole of permanent leave of absence from the political landscape of America. The Cinton fatigue is real and if they do not advise themselves properly and beat it into an honorable retirement, soon the fatigue could translate to disgust and hatred. In a country of about 360 million people, it puzzles ICHEOKU that the Clintons and the Bushes would think that they are the only ones knowledgeable enough to direct affairs in America. The Bushes have been forced out and the Clintons need to also go as well. 

ICHEOKU awaits the launch of the book of fantasies, fallacies, falsehoods and rueful innuendos with some excitement to see what other additional made up story she told therein. But until she climbs down from her mounted horse of self hubris and looks in the mirror to see the "woman in the mirror" staring back at her, she will never know who it is that actually did her in; her arch nemesis, her own body double, her avatar, a woman similarly named Hillary Rodham Clinton.  

USA WINS CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIP 2017, BEATS JAMAICA 2 - 1

ICHEOKU says congratulations to the coach Bruce Arena tutored United States Mens Soccer Team on winning CONCACAF 2017.

JEFF SESSIONS RECUSAL: THE FRUSTRATIONS OF PRESIDENT TRUMP.

ICHEOKU says President Donald John Trump is deservedly right in his beef against Attorney General Jeff Session for his rushed recusal from the ongoing witch-hunt Russia collusion investigation against the president. Anyone in the president's shoes would be; otherwise what is the use then of appointing one's own right hand men and women to certain positions, if such appointees cannot man up and do what is needed to ensure that the president is not unreasonably harangued by his detractors. Attorney General Jeff Sessions should have known when he accepted the appointment that the president expected that the ongoing witch hunt must stop and then help to stop it. But unfortunately, he removed himself from a glaring opportunity to help stop it with his rushed recusal. 

What difference then did it make, one would ask, that former Attorney General Lauretta Lynch is no longer running the Justice department if the president is still exposed to the same jeopardy which he would otherwise have had to deal with under the former Attorney General Lynch. How does anyone begin to understand why the president's own appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who should understand certain subliminal messages not to expose the president to further certain avoidable risks including untold distractions, could so easily shirk away when at such risk first rear of its ugly head. ICHEOKU says his primary responsibility at the Justice Department is to ensure that the president is not unfairly targeted by the department nor treated differently by an already antagonistic department, whose former head somewhat colluded with the Hillary Clinton's campaign by meeting with her husband and chief surrogate Bill Clinton at an airport in Arizona.

A wing man of the president and then nominee for the position of the Attorney General of the United States of America would have told Congress, when asked if he would recuse himself, that he cannot in fairness answer the question right away without first studying the matter. That if anything is revealed going forward which makes it impossible for him to continue leading the investigation or that he cannot dispassionately supervise the investigation going forward, that he will then revisit the issue of recusal, advise himself according and act in the best interest of justice and fairness. That is how a seasoned, politically exposed  lawyer, would have responded to the question and not to so outrightly bind himself to a MUST recusal. ICHEOKU says it is obvious that his eagerness to land the job forced his volunteered recusal; without first studying its underlying ramifications. At least he would have anticipated such a scenario during the time leading to his nomination and confirmation hearing process and agreed with the president on the best way of navigating such crevice when it comes up. 

But no, he was baited and the president was left wondering what use then was his effort in getting Jeff Sessions appointed if he will not be there to at least somewhat get the president's back by preventing unfounded endless investigations. Had Sessions refused to recuse himself or refused to continue with the investigation and also refused to appoint an independent counsel, they all would have been within the purview of his powers and backed by numerous precedents set by his predecessors in office. 

In 1997, then Attorney General Janet Reno refused to appoint an independent counsel to investigate Democratic Party and Vice President Al Gore's Chinese fund raising money scandal;  and resisted every pressure mounted on her by the Republican Party to appoint an independent counsel to pursue the money scandal to its logical conclusion. She stood firm to the end and successfully pushed back demands for the investigation and did not comply with their demand. As recently as 2012 then Attorney General Eric Holder twice refused to investigate alleged criminal acts involving black voters in Philadelphia and also the Mexico gun running scandal known as Fast and Furious as well as numerous leaks of classified information. He stood firm and shot all the demands down despite the many outcries demanding for investigation and/or appointment of independent counsel to give them a second look. 

This is the minimum the president expected of his Attorney General Jeff Sessions; to at least develop some backbone and push back and not to capitulate to Democratic Party's pressure and then see where it all ends up. But to so hopelessly rush and throw in the white flag in surrender to the president's adversaries and antagonists, without a fight and much expected push back, amounts to capitulation and it was seen by the president as unbecoming of a man he considered one of his close lieutenants. If not his Attorney General, who else and the president is not asking anything out of the ordinary or that has never be seen or done before. 

The other issue most likely bothering the president is why the Justice Department singled him out for persecution since the alleged offense supposedly took place when he was a candidate for office and he was not the only candidate then running for office. So what is the logic of the Justice Department in still pursing the president for alleged Russian Collusion, which allegedly took place when he was a candidate for the office and one year later, nothing has been revealed or found. Meanwhile the other then candidate Hillary Clinton, whose criminal activities are screaming holy Molly for everyone to see, with over 33,000 deleted emails, smashed hardwares as well as millions of dollars which she received from the Russian Federation, is not being investigated.  Where is the fairness  and where is the justice and this is a Justice Department being led by the president's appointed Attorney General Sessions? 

This is the pain which the president feels; this is the apparent injustice which riles the president as he continuously wonders why give Hillary Clinton such a huge pass while continuously coming after him and singling him out as the bad guy offender or suspect? A matter which would made more sense had former Attorney General Lauretta Lynch still be in charge and calling the shots at the Justice Department. But it is Jeff Sessions that is calling the shots, an appointee of the president and the president cannot seem to get a break or at least a fair shake. 

President Trump wanted Attorney General Sessions to man up and cover the flank from the Justice department and not to leave that angle of pointy attacks leaking. It is obvious that the president cannot be left to single handedly continue to defend against all the wars of attrition which the leftist Democrats have mounted and could use some help of the Attorney General by not letting his detractors drive their dagger through frivolous investigations. This is the crux of the matter, the reason the president is showing signs of frustrations and somewhat rueful that he appointed Jeff Sessions the Attorney General and not some other person who would have met the challenge head-on and not chicken out at the slightest push. This is understandable as ICHEOKU would have since acted differently if in the president's shoes. Hopefully both men can find the magnanimity to sit down over their own version of "Obama beer garden summit" and hash out whatever it is that may still be sore between them and then move on with project Make America Great Again. 

There is nothing that would delight the far left more than to see a split inside Team MAGA and the president must take this into consideration in continuing whatever beef he may have against Jeff Sessions. The Session mistake has been made and only an amendment going forward will heal broken bones and there is no need exacerbating the matter. ICHEOKU like so many irredeemable deplorables likes Jeff Sessions, admitted would sign unto whatever the president decides as a way out and moving forward from the current  impasse. But the devil one knows is better than the stranger angel and ICHEOKU prays the presidents factors this in too in making this final decision; aware that what could replace Session might be a worser Sessions. 

The president must also be wary of the difficulty of a confirmation hearing which might pit the president against an unfriendly Senate, which will be angry that one of their own was treated shabbily and might want to take their own pound of flesh. Thankfully, Jeff Sessions' tone that "the President of the United States is a strong leader. He has had a lot of criticisms and he is steadfastly determined to get his job done and he wants all of us to do our jobs and that's what I intend to do" is somewhat reconciliatory. ICHEOKU agrees that the president probably just wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to be up to speed and not slow the president's agenda and expectations of him down; and does not necessarily want to see him leave the Justice Department. ICHEOKU prays of a good outcome that will still retain Sessions and a satisfied president forgives the recusal and then move on to doing what he does best - Making America Great Again. 

I DID NOT COLLUDE WITH THE RUSSIANS - JARED KUSHNER

"When my father-in-law decided to run for president, I served his campaign the best I could, because I believe in him and his ability to improve the lives of all Americans. 

And now, serving the president and the people of the United States has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work on important matters such as Middle East peace and reinvigorating America's innovative spirit. Every day, I come to work with enthusiasm and excitement for what can be. 

I have not sought the spotlight. First in business, and now in public service, I have always focused on setting and achieving goals and have left it to others to work on media and public perception.

Since the first questions were raised in March, I have been consistent in saying that I was eager to share any information I have with the investigating bodies, and I have done so today. The record and documents I have voluntarily provided will show that all of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign. 

Let me be very clear: I did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so. I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds for my businesses, and I have been fully transparent in providing all requested information. 

Donald Trump had a better message and ran a smarter campaign, and that is why he won. Suggesting otherwise ridicules those who voted for him. It is an honor to work with President Trump and his administration as we take on the challenges that he was elected to face: creating jobs for American people, keeping America safe and eliminating barriers to achieving the American dream.

Thank you very much, and I look forward to taking questions from the House committee tomorrow."

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