HARVEY WEINSTEIN: BEING LYNCHED?

ICHEOKU says is Harvey Weinstein a victim of a society of lynch mobs who readily and delightfully takes down any successful person and be gleeful about it. What is it with an American society that takes pleasure in building a person up, only to bring them down to a forceful fiery end, with a thud that shudders the grounds. Tiger Woods was once a victim of this rage; ditto Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson and a host of many others who were summarily smacked down, despite the epicurean heights to which they had ascended and majestically occupied. American people cheered them on to get there and supported them all the way, as they propelled and rappelled to the top but as soon as they erred, the same people, who hate as much as they love, brought them down to a hard un-cushioned landing. They showed no mercy and their bile is unforgiving and they avenge the wrongs done to their fellow Americans, victims of these vile personalities. 

ICHEOKU is not holding brief for the latest victim of the American lynch mob hysteria, as he brought the wrath unto himself; only to say what took them this long and why now? How about the rest of the rat pack Hollywood predators who serially indulge in this sleaze; admitted sexual predatory is not restricted to only Hollywood but is prevalent throughout the America job sphere, especially where rising to the top is an all comers game but only the fittest gets there. As a result, people are wont to do whatever it takes to get an edge over their contemporaries and competitors; including offering and giving sexual favors to bosses and people who can influence their rise to the top. ICHEOKU says anyone pretending otherwise or feigning ignorance of the existence and prevalence of this tactic is to say the least either being economical with the truth or is playing a possum because it is a system wide knowledge that bottom power still works, any time, any day. It is an excruciating daunting task getting to the top, but some females don't care and would do anything or give in to whatever is necessarily required to get what they what or to where they want to go.

Yes, what Harvey Weinstein did is reprehensible; but he is not the only person who has done such thing. He is just the latest fall guy whose cup has runneth over and is now at the business end tip of the spear. Unfortunately, it is only when such people fall down from grace that people begin their righteous indignation, pretending that they are repulsed and that it was the first time they ever heard a thing like that. From Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky to Anthony Weiner to Bill O'Reilly to Roger Ailes to now Harvey Weinstein, it is a known and open secret that men of power use their position and influence to always get what they want, including having their way with women who are seeking some advantage and favors from them. ICHEOKU is not defending any of this decrepitude persons, but bemoans the holier than thou posture of many Americans, including people who are similarly situated and who have even done such nasty things in the past, if not worse; who are queuing up to condemn the latest victim of the lynch mob. Ben Afleck for example was mouthing off Harvey Weinstein until his own groping activity surfaced on the wen and he withdrew back into his shell, after tendering an apology. 

ICHEOKU also remembers vividly during the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky-Gate sex scandal and the impeachment that it triggered, when Larry Flint offered one million dollars to any woman who has any dirt on any member of the House of Representatives. Four women appeared from the blues to tell tales of their sexual dalliances with members of the House, including the then speaker elect who had extra marital affairs with the woman. It led to the downfall of the Speaker elect of the House Robert L. Livingston of Louisiana  who resigned his office immediately. It is akin to our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth admonishing the people who wanted to stone a woman accused of adultery that he who is without sin should cast the first stone. The only reason Harvey Weinstein is getting all the haranguing now is that some powerful people want him out of the way and have dug up some old dirt on him and found some collaborating women to lead the crucify him crucify him charge. 

Admitted that Harvey Weinstein is probably guilty on all or most of the charges; but he failed to take a page from then candidate Donald John Trump's playbook and manned up and fought back. He capitulated so easily and so quickly that he turned tail and his traducers, having smelled blood, are now furiously charging behind him with their pitch forks and they will not rest nor let until they run him off the cliff or unto a fast moving freight train. His company has fired him; his wife has left him and the latest is the Motion Picture Academy which has removed him from their honoree roll. It is the way of the world and there is nothing anyone can do about it but to guard against falling into the trap that will take you to the rock bottom. Harvey Weinstein made a big mistake by not keeping his teeny weeny zipped behind his fly and was readily sharing it even to many uncomfortable guests, many of who he lured into a situation which they ordinarily would not want to be in. Yes, he thought he was God and sitting on top of the world and can do whatever he likes and would get away with same. It is unfortunate, but the rise to the top comes with a lot of sacrifice and some of these women probably did whatever it took to get them where their eyes was focused on - stardom, fame and fortune and Harvey Weinstein was a ticket to it. 

ICHEOKU is not saying that the victims necessarily brought their fate unto themselves, but that they did not do all they could have reasonably done to protect themselves, including literally physically fighting off his proposition and overtures. Harvey Weinstein is a horrible person who ICHEOKU finds utterly disgusting, listening to the tape where he was swearing with his children's name that he will not do anything untoward to the victim. ICHEOKU says that is the height of perversion and any man who is a husband and a father, who could stoop so low as to swear on the name of his children about not harming a girl as young as his daughter who he is about to assault, is out of his mind and needs all the medical help he could get and receive. Harvey Weinstein is addicted to sexual perversion and needs the peoples sympathy and not their scorn. He  should consider every possible medical treatment available to cure himself of this debilitating disease, including chemical castration, if that is what it will take to help him get the monkeys of his addiction off his back. 

Harvey Weinstein has admitted what he did and has asked for forgiveness and possibly deserves to be forgiven. he is human and humans err and ICHEOKU wants to believe that he has learned his lesson. But whatever happens, the current lynch him hysteria enveloping the country should cease because he is just one in a million other similarly situated powerful men and women who are using their position of authority, power and influence to get laid and by people they ordinarily wouldn't have laid. Even in our classrooms, teachers, both females and males, are using their position to get intimate with our children who they were supposed to be teaching. So it is a story that is pervasive in many work place environments as human beings continue to take advantage of their positions of privilege to get and have whatever they want and desire. Hopefully, the fall of Harvey Weinstein will be a great lesson to others who are still milking their anonymity and continuing with their predatory behavior. But there is a time for everything and just like Harvey Weinstein did not know that this day will come, so will others someday suddenly meet their own Waterloo, if they don't repent from their evil ways and now.  What a fall from an olympian height into the dustbin of history and odium. Poor Harvey. 

A DEAR NNAMDI KANU LETTER BY REUBEN APATI

Dear Nnamdi Kanu,We have never met. I only know you by reputation and I have had cause in the last year to write on your activities within the public arena and offer my own views about you, your persona, and your interventions in the Nigerian debate. I sincerely hope you would get to read this letter wherever you may be, that is assuming you are still alive. Your father’s house was recently invaded by the Nigerian military (surprised you don’t have a house of your own!). We were later told that you simply disappeared into thin air, along with your parents. The murderous Operation Python Dance II that was unleashed on Igboland by the Federal Government of Nigeria has since become a subject of national interest. Many people have proclaimed that you have been killed, abducted and that many members of your family and movement – the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been wasted. Some people said you were called The Lion, but when trouble came, you were the first to run away from the zoo. 

You had boasted that you will deal with any invading force from Abuja. You also said it would be “Biafra or Death”. But when death came calling in the shape of Operation Python Dance II, your enemies insisted that you should have waited. Don’t mind them, oh. I have defended you in another piece where I argued that it is probably better to run away so you can live to fight another day. Of course, it is not every revolutionary that runs away. 

Che Guevara died in the struggle, and Martin Luther King, Patrice Lumumba, and so on. Nelson Mandela was jailed for life, but he lived to tell the story. In your case, the way the Nigerian state has been carrying on, it is clear they don’t want you to tell any more stories. You have been charged for treason. You have now been labeled a terrorist. Your organization has been proscribed, and labeled an enemy of the Nigerian state. A week after soldiers stormed your state, neighborhood and home, the Nigerian Air Force began to drop its men from helicopters all over Igboland. They call it show of force. 

I guess all of that is to let you and your men know that wherever you are, the Nigerian state is determined to hunt you down. If you are on land, they will grab you. If you hide in the skies, the Air Force will bring you down. And if you hide in the seas, the Nigerian Navy and the Amphibious Brigade of the Nigeria Army will fish you out. 

Officially, we have been told that you and IPOB are worse than violent herdsmen and the Boko Haram who have killed thousands of Nigerians in the last year alone. The Boko Haram has been declared the fourth most violent group in the world, but the Nigerian government insists that you pose a greater threat. In fact, a government spokesperson sounded as if there is a secret plan in place to give herdsmen and the Boko Haram national honors. 

There is probably something that the Nigerian government and state actors know that we do not know. You were dealing with the charge of treason, now there is the additional allegation of terrorism. Don’t ever deceive yourself that if you get arrested again, you’d be released, except perhaps you change your identity and claim that you are now a herdsman or a member of the Boko Haram. There may be many people who have Nicodemus access to you who may be telling you to come and confront the Nigerian state.  That is how Nigerians sweet-tongue people to their death. I am sure that by now, from your hiding place, you would have learnt some lessons. 

The Nigerian state may be against you, but the people you really have to fear are the same people you claim to be leading, that is the same people who used to call you messiah and who followed you about, kneeling before you and kissing the ground on which you walked. Of what use is a change-agent without committed followers? Of what use is a revolution without the people’s buy-in? Of what use is an ideology without foot-soldiers? The moment the Federal Government activated Operation Python II, most of the people who used to support you have gone completely silent. 

The Biafra Secret Service is nowhere to be seen. The Biafra National Guard threw away its uniform. Some of those boys who used to wave the Biafran flag and wear the Biafran cap have thrown them away too. One or two persons are still issuing statements on behalf of IPOB, but even those statements sound like they were issued from business centers.  Your own kinsmen have called you a tyrant and an opportunist. Many of them have written social media pieces advising the Federal Government to deal with you, because you don’t listen to advice.  They even say you are not a true revolutionary but a gold-digger. 

In all manner of ways, the Governors of the five Igbo states are using you to play politics. They have declared IPOB an illegal organization. They are openly abusing you. All the big men in Igbo land are as quiet as the dead sea. Igbo traditional rulers have refused to support your father who is their colleague. Some of them have in fact asked the Abia state Governor to withdraw his certificate and staff of office and appoint another person in his place. Even the big men who signed your bail documents have refused to defend you.  You used to boast about international support for the Biafran cause. 

It has been said that the government now knows some “treasury looters” and international groups who are funding you and that IPOB accounts have been traced to some countries, particularly France. The French and the Turkish promptly distanced themselves from you. But the European Union and the United States spoke nicely. America says IPOB is not a terrorist organization and America will know. 

But the Nigerian government that may not know half of what America knows is insisting that it is now a crime for anybody, even as young as five years old to identify with Biafra, regardless of the Constitutional right to the freedom of speech and association and the right to self-determination enshrined in the UN Charter.  Indeed, it would appear as if the Nigerian Government has been able to break the spine of your movement, at least for now, and certainly, the way things are, the November 18 election in Anambra state will take place – with or without you. If anybody expected that there would be a massive protest in the South East over the treatment that has been meted out to you, that has not quite happened. All the markets in the South East are open; Igbo traders across Nigeria have moved on with their businesses. Life is so normal in the South East, the Nigerian military is dancing and beating its chest. 

Northern and South Eastern Governors are holding meetings and congratulating each other. You turned 50 yesterday, apart from a few messages on social media, everywhere was quiet in the South-East. If this had been a month ago, the crowd that would have gathered at your doorstep would have stretched from Isiama Afara to Afikpo, and the cakes you would have received would have been uncountable. Rochas Okorocha recently got 27 birthday cakes, presented by 27 women, representing the same number of local governments in Imo State, you probably would have received a cake from every local government in the entire South East! 

Since your disappearance there has also been little talk about self-determination or Biafra among Igbos. The sound of the narrative is gradually changing. There is more talk these days about Igbo marginalization, and the need to appoint Igbos into offices. One prominent Northerner from Kaduna has since gone to Chatham House in the UK to say Igbos should not complain about marginalization when they didn’t vote for President Buhari in 2015, and that it is foolish for any Nigerian to expect to reap where he or she did not sow. Nnamdi, you’d be surprised that appointment-seeking Igbos will mobilize your people, including your followers, to vote massively for the same people who are currently hounding you, in 2019. 

You can be sure this will happen. In fact some people are already boasting that the only way to have peace in Nigeria is to make an Igbo man President or Vice President in 2019. While you were shouting “Biafra or death”, some people were eyeing the business and political side of things. Every proposed revolution often runs into its own contradictions. 

But don’t worry. It may be fashionable now to criticize Nnamdi Kanu but the wisdom of the mob is not always the best guide. I sincerely hope that you are alive, and that you’d not end up as an Abogunrin. Not every man has the opportunity to witness what life would be like after his own funeral. Treachery is one of those unsavory ingredients of the change process. The deserters of the cause would claim they prefer to survive. The coffin maker prays fervently for business but he would never wish that his own family members should die. But take heart, hope is not lost. The fire that you have lit will continue to burn. Your struggle speaks directly to the subject of the national question. You have reminded all and sundry that Nigeria remains a troubled country and that there are many unresolved issues. Every effort has been made to kill your voice, and your movement, but the ideas that you have forced out of the cupboard will continue to resonate. 

The good news also is that there are Nigerians in the diaspora who have taken up the struggle. They went to demonstrate at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York and on the streets of London.  Your friends, FFK and Ayo Fayose are still standing by you. There are many others out there who also do not agree that you are a terrorist, even if they do not agree with your methods and rhetoric. You have also exposed the hypocrisy of the Igbo elite. You have exposed the desperation of the ruling class. Don’t let your head swell, though. If I must tell you the truth, you over-acted. Too much acting dey spoil cinema. You paid too much attention to ceremony. You were obsessed with your own heroism. 

As you read this piece and reflect on your life at 50, let me remind you of the following statement which you made on August 27, 2017:“Where we are is Biafra land. Aba is the spiritual capital of Biafra land. We started in Aba in 2015 at CKC. That day, heaven authenticated our move that IPOB will restore Biafra and that’s what we have come to do. We died in Aba at National High School. They shot and killed us in other places in Biafra land where they were protesting for my release. As our people rest in the grave, we’ll never rest until Biafra is restored. I don’t care what they say in Abuja. I don’t give a damn what they say in Lagos. I’m a Biafran and we are going to crumble the zoo. Some idiots who are not educated said that they’ll arrest me, and I ask them to come, I’m in Biafra. If any of them leaves Biafra land alive, know that this is not IPOB. Tell them what I said. Tell Buhari that I am in Aba and any person who comes to arrest Nnamdi Kanu in Biafra land will die here. I’ll never go on exile I assure you.  Some people talk about restructuring, are we doing the restructuring of Nigeria now? Are we doing fiscal Federalism? Are we doing devolution? What we want is Biafra! Forget all the nonsense they write about us. We are not slowing down and no man born of a woman can stop us…”Words on marble, Mazi Kanu, these are strong words on marble… Whatever happens, the fight of the python and the lion is a defining moment for Nigeria.Reuben Abati

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RAVAGES WINE COUNTRY.

ICHEOKU says may the victims of the biggest and most deadly wild fire in California find the strength to bear their loss and those already dead, find solace in the bosom of our Lord. It was a disaster of no mean magnitude which has so far killed 43 persons, burnt down nearly 5000 homes as well as numerous farmlands, vineyards and other structures. 

GRATEFUL TO BE CARRIED FULL TERM

 

ICHEOKU says another lucky one that survived the abortionist's pincers from the over 360,000 unlucky ones that get flushed out each year. May God help us all have a better resolution about unwanted pregnancies

OBAMA'S FECKLESS POLICIES: BEING NUKED, ONE POLICY AT A TIME.

ICHEOKU says in keeping with his campaign promises including to make America great again and respectable once again; and to unapologetically pursue an 'America First' state policy, President Donald John Trump has nixed the Iranian Nuclear deal, albeit technically. The president has send the deal back to the Congress, to either rectify it or stand it killed; pledging never to re-certify it again as is required to keep it valid. By sending the deal back to Congress to legislate on, the president is technically re-empowering the Congress and giving it back its legislative power and authority to make laws; thus helping to Make the Congress Great Again. 

ICHEOKU says way to go Mr President. It is yet another clear and incontrovertible evidence that the president's love for Israel is not a mere lip service sanctimony; but deeply rooted and unwavering. There is wisdom in America's founding fathers who made the separate but co-equal arms of government and ceded to the people, through their elected representatives. the sole power to make laws. President Donald John Trump is a true constitutionalist who believes in the need to respect the separation of powers and to avoid having an imperial president who would usurp the power of the Congress and absorb it, in addition to his own executive powers. 

The Iranian Nuclear deal now joins a litany of other knee jerk policies of the Obama administration which President Donald John Trump has eviscerated since coming into office. Will the world like the decision just like they did not like the decision to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Accord, who cares? ICHEOKU says provided the decision will be beneficial and in the best interest of America and one of its chief ally Israel, and in keeping with the president's 'America First' stated policy objective, it is oh well and dandy. Iran will now have a choice to make between complying with full transparency or stand headed into the deep, as it watch her economy tank. Why the Islamic State needs a nuclear weaponry technology, ICHEOKU does not know; since there are a lot of their are economically beneficial things they could be pursuing, short of seeking a weapon of mass destruction, which they neither will be allowed to use without being completely wiped out or even need at all for their own internal security objectives.

ICHEOKU says America now has a president who says what he means and means what he says and he does not suffer doubters and fools lightly. President Donald John Trump   steadfastly keeps faith with the American people, especially those who voted for him, believing that he is not a typical politician and would keep his campaign promises. So far, the president has not disappointed the American people who facilitated his presidency and this is despite all the roadblocks from both a do-nothing Congress and a court system which has been overruling his actions. It is instructive that President Donald John Trump has dealt a lot of TKOs to former President Barack Obama's policies, especially those he rammed down the American people's throat without Congressional approval. The list is extensive and includes changing Obama's 'America should learn to live with the fact of the existence of ISIS terrorists', which the president promised to bomb the hell out of and has steadily kept the heat on them ever since his inauguration. 

To date, ISIS is nearly completely wiped out of their miserable existence of terror and are now currently only holding out in one little corner of Raqqa, their supposed capital city, where they have been cornered and praying that their death could come sooner. The pressure is such that the ISIS remnants wanted a safe passage out of the hell in which they have been confined into, but which the American military backed coalition said thanks but no; and that only their dead bodies will suffice and ensure that they do not go elsewhere to ferment their troubles anew. Recall that the former President Barack Obama had told the world that they have to learn to adjust to the new reality that is terrorists ISIS and how to accommodate sharing the political world space with them. But President Donald John Trump said nope, that no civilization will accept to share this beautiful God's world with thugs, murderers and torturers; people who derive macabre joy in seeing innocent people being brutally tortured to death, some roasted alive in burn fires. 

ICHEOKU is completely satisfied with this Obama's accommodate them policy which has now been completely decimated. It shows once again, that strength works and that you do not have to negotiate with pinheads and any recalcitrance, especially one involving terrorism, should be decisively rooted out and completely annihilated. Kudos to President Donald John Trump for taking it to ISIS and for bombing the hell out of them as promised during the presidential campaign. Mosul is completely liberated of their evil stranglehold; Baquba the same and pretty soon Raqqa will enjoy their own complete freedom from the evil that is wearing the face of ISIS.

President Donald John Trump also dealt a blow to former President Barack Obama's DACA policy of allowing child illegals to remain in the United States and pursue their respective American dreams. With just a stroke of the pen, the president reversed President Barack Obama and sent the DACA matter back to the Congress to either come up with an acceptable law thereon within six months or have the policy ended. Then add the President Barack Obama's Paris Climate Change Accord which the president has withdrawn America from; the coal policy which he also reversed to allow coal miners to go back to work; the do no harm appeasement foreign policy which the president reversed by not bowing to other nations leaders including their Kings and Queens; the Keystone pipelines which is now ongoing; the Trans Pacific Partnership reversal with intent to replace the former free trade laisse-faire with a fair trade. 

The president also reversed Barack Obama's policy of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, which the president said he is going to keep open and going to load it up with some very bad dudes. EPA unfreezing many energy activities which former President Barack Obama had frozen, including oil exploration and drilling. It is a fair assessment to make that by the time President Donald John Trump completes his first term in office, whatever useless legacy the former President Barack Obama had his name and signature to, would have been completely wiped out of existence; leaving a somewhat tabula-rasa of a never happened presidency. 

ICHEOKU says although the president's main promise to repeal and replace Obamacare is still meeting some resistance from a do-nothing Congress; and the two attempts made thereto did not succeed; the president is not resting. He has so far signed two executive orders attacking the the main structure of the failing Obamacare, one to no longer compel Americans to show to IRS proof that they are compliant in maintaining a health insurance; and the latest stoppage of payments of bribes masked as subsidies to Insurance companies to entice them into continuing coverage. ICHEOKU says this subsidy removal is actually Obamacare laid to rest, as its vein will now completely wither away naturally, deprived of its subsidy water, hence the need to repeal Obamacare might soon become moot. 

Yes, indeed, President Donald John Trump understands what needs to be done to keep his promise to Make America Great Again and he is methodically pursuing them, one policy at a time; and when obstructionist Congress and liberal courts gets in the way, he plays a fast one on them by going subterranean on them, achieving the same result through another means. As at this moment, Obamacare is technically no more, killed by a double massive heart attack as the Insurance companies will do the job which the Congress will not do or rather lacks the will to mission accomplish on. ICHEOKU says congratulations to President Donald John Trump for outfoxing his detractors and obstructionists and may the Make America Great Again be fully accomplished. Iran's nuclear deal and Obamacare subsidy are now history. Well done Mr President and you have earned yourself another term, a second term in office; and ICHEOKU will, as before, throw its full weight of support come 2020. 

HARVEY WEINSTEIN: HILLARY CLINTON ATTRACTED TO PERVERTS?

ICHEOKU says isn't it rather interesting that Queen Crooked Hillary Clinton is particularly attracted to certain types of men. Men who are addicted to sex and of a particular kind and whose fetish is as weird as it gets. Funny too is her always pretended lack of knowledge of their deviant misbehavior; resolutely denying ever knowing of their sexual proclivities while it lasted; and once they are busted, she will crawl out from whatever woodshed she was hiding in prior, to make a rather laborious denial of knowledge and denunciation of their activities; but usually not their person. 

From Bill Clinton to Anthony Weiner and now Harvey Weinstein, all sexual predators, who plowed the land and used their power and influence to overwhelm the resistance of their victims. They are all associated to Hillary Clinton, one way or the other; and you wonder if it was poor choices or her stars are playing funny tricks on her. BIll Clinton whose sexual wild fire started at Arkansas and who was nearly taken down by the Monica Lewisnky's blue dress sexual scandal is married to Hillary Clinton. He had series of women victimized, some he raped, some he threatened, some he cajoled. including an intern, Monica Lewinsky, who was too young and too naive to withstand the pressure of the president of the United States of America and went down on him at the White House. Yet, Hillary Clinton made excuses and excuses for him; never left him, but stuck out with him till date. It is on record that she even blamed some of the victims as having brought whatever it was that they were alleging on themselves. Yes, Bill Clinton, the chief pervert, is married to Hillary Clinton and she still finds him good enough to continue to call him her husband till date. 

Then enter Anthony Weiner, a friend of the Clintons and the former husband of Hillary Clinton's rumored lesbian-love interest, Huma Abedine. Yes, Anthony Weiner's own fetish was sexting young underage girls his bulged private part and mouthing off how he was going to dislocate their waste upon encounter. Not once, not twice; but repeatedly and he was finally disgraced out of his public service and now sentenced to 21 months in prison. It is a test of strength and intolerance of bad behavior that his wife of many years, Huma Abedine, walked away from the marriage and divorced him. So, query, if Human Abedine could feel so repulsed by the misdeeds of her former husband and could muster the courage to denounce him so vehemently by divorcing him; why did Hillary Clinton not give Bill Clinton a similar treatment? How does Hillary Clinton stand Bill Clinton and still look him on the face based on the litany of recorded sexual perversions under his belt. ICHEOKU says it takes a special kind of cold, unfeeling soul to tolerate and accommodate a spouse who has exposed a fellow spouse to such unimaginable, despicable and shameful public odium.

The latest in the series of Hillary Clinton's men of perversion is the now unraveled Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, a friend of Hillary Clinton and a handsome donor to her political campaigns, causes and the family foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative Foundation. Yes, these are the type of men who Hillary Clinton either feel proud of or is attracted to, possibly by a mere dint of fate. Harvey Weinstein is also a funder and bundler for the Hillary Clinton's two failed presidential bids, funneling to her campaign millions of dollars during the last 2016 election. Photographs do not lie and the fact that both individuals have a strong relationship is consequential; which explains the extended delay before Hillary Clinton mustered the courage and straight face to offer her condemnation of the sexual deviance of her long time friend, Harvey Weinstein. 

Once again, going by her usual playbook, Hillary Clinton is denying any prior knowledge of Harvey Weinstein's sexual escapades. While this is doubtful, considering the generally wild spread nature and open secret that was his sexual prowling, ICHEOKU is prepared to give her a benefit of the doubt that something came in the way that prevented a prompt reaction to the development. Admitted she did not expressly call out Harvey Weinstein by his name and condemn him specifically for his misdeeds, but let everyone accept it that Hillary Clinton has condemned her friend Harvey Weinstein and has now technically thrown him under the bus. However, ICHEOKU expects Hillary Clinton to refund, in full and entire, whatever dime she and her campaign as well as her family's foundation ever took or received from Harvey Weinstein. This is the only way she will categorically denounce what happened and disassociate herself and family completely from what took place. It is not acceptable for her to say that there is no person to give the money back to; to which ICHEOKU says sign the check to his wife as it is a community property.  Nothing else will suffice and ICHEOKU hereby call on Hillary Clinton to give back the money.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN SEXUAL PERVERSION: OBAMA AND CLINTON OFFER REMARKS.

"I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior." - Hillary Clinton. 

"Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein. Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture -- including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect -- so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future." - Barack Obama. 

ICHEOKU says are they going to return the millions of dollars their campaigns received from Harvey Weinstein, including the $100,000 he donated to the Clinton Global Initiative Foundation. This is the only meaningful way of expressing real disgust at a despicable misbehavior and not just offering remarks that waited for five long days before coming; especially because it is the most political expedient thing to do now. Further, ICHEOKU hopes that the president's daughter Malia was never similarly victimized by the pervert when she interned for him last summer. Now, both should return the pervert's money to him. 

THE KACHIKWU LETTER: A TOO LITTLE TOO LATE GOOF.

Overall, Ibe Kachikwu's letter to President Muhammadu Buhari was unnecessary as a resignation would have been most appropriate under the circumstances. The weight of  the alleged transgressions shows that they could not possibly have happened without the President being in on them. Without the President's approval, direct or tacit, no subordinate GMD would be this so brazen in confronting and challenging the authority of his apparent boss, the Junior Minister. Therefore ICHEOKU is emphatic that President Muhammadu Buhari who doubles as the substantive Minister of Petroleum had a hand in the travails of his Junior Minister of Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu and denying it is akin to contesting whether the sun rises from the East. 

Unfortunately, Baru's rebellion is not the first time a junior Fulani official challenged his Southern boss's authority. The Southwest Yoruba man who is the Health Minister also once had his own rude shock  from a Fulani stork, when he tried to fire or rather suspend a Fulani director of a parastatal under his supervision. Even Vice President Osinbajo was not spared of these mistreatment as he continually was disrespected and disregarded as Acting President during the President's long medical leave of absence, to the extent of being derisively named the Coordinator of National Affairs by the same Fulani gangsters in power. It is the Fulani way as a Fulani does not recognize any authority that is not Fulani being above them. So Ibe Kachikwu was just another victim of the Fulani born to rule crass mentality and should have either sucked it up or resigned in protest. 

Any man or woman of courage who is similarly situated would have stopped the GMD cold right from the start; and made it clear to him who is the boss and that he will not tolerate any disruption of the hierarchically tiered order within the Petroleum Ministry. Ibe Kachikwu should have been more assertive in standing his grounds; but he made the fatal error of judgment by allowing the GMD to get away with his earlier infra digs, believing that things would eventually sort themselves out quietly; but forgot that he was dealing with a Fulani man who is possessed of Fulani mentality. This was his greatest undoing as the erosion of his powers continued until he went belly-up powerless. 

What stopped Ibe Kachikwu from resigning or is the job so that important that without it he will go homeless and hungry. Where is his honor and manhood that a subordinate was riding him like a camel and all he did was whine and complain to a President, who is most likely incahoot in his ordeal, to save his pitiful self. Why did he not fire the guy and let the president overrule him and then turn in his resignation. But Nigerians and Africans love the perks of power so much; and regardless of their precarious perch or lack thereof, and provided the appearance is there that they are in authority and are part of the movers and shakers of the society, they will cling to it so dearly, despite the abysmal nature of their power hold. 

That being said, Ibe Kachikwu left much to be desired by the letter which he wrote to the President as he did not represent his academic credentials very well. The form and substance of the letter are not befitting of a man with his storied academic credentials, begging the question, did Ibe Kachikwu write the letter or his secretary did; and if so, did he not review and revise the letter before signing it. That he did not follow prescribed format is also quite glaring, including certain loosely form of writing which he employed into a rather formal petition. Further, he was too patronizing in the letter, suggestive of a slavish servant desperately begging for his sustenance not to be taken away. There are so many things Ibe Kachikwu did not do right in the letter, including feebly ending the letter, without assertively asking of the President to either act with the expected maximum dispatch and redress the situation or consider the letter as his two weeks notice to resign the office. 

Ibe Kachikwu disappointed many, especially those who know that better is an improved version of good and an aspiration to best. There is no satisfaction to be driven from the Kachikwu's letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, as he did not say anything new or out of place within the Nigerian political space; nor did he substantiate any of the alleged litany of misdeeds conclusively. The letter is also not punchy enough to arouse any serious curiosity or to warrant any investigative excursion into its merits or lack thereof. Were are the evidence of misdeeds or corrupt practises; both of which would have grounded a better moralizing. If ICHEOKU were to grade the Kachikwu letter, will score it a C+ as it failed both in content, form and scholarly mettle. Oh poor Ibe Kachkwu, who knows what his regrets are at this time. SAD! 

ICHEOKU will end this oped with a trite summation by one Ifenayi Izeze concerning Ibe Kachikwu, the now fabled letter writer and his letter to President Muhammadu Buhari: - "How else can one describe the letter of lamentation by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, to President Muhammadu Buhari on the contracts scam and the serial misdemeanor of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, if not to say it was not only childish but outrightly naive. Is there anything in government that makes even our brightest minds think and act like dullards once they join the cult? What made Ibe Kachikwu think that the NNPC boss had been acting unilaterally alone without the full backing and approval of the substantive Petroleum Minister who also doubles as the President of the Fulani (Federal) Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari." ICHEOKU says the whole truth and nothing but the truth, concisely surmised, so help Ibe Kachikwu, God.

MURTALA MUHAMMED: ASABA MASSACRE AND THE NIGERIAN QUESTION - CHARLES OGBU

For the people of Asaba, Delta State, October 7, 1967 remains a day they will forever rue, for that was the day the Nigerian state executed one of the worst forms of savagery against them. 

As I sat listening to a number of survivors narrate their experience at Grand Hotel, Asaba, venue of the 50th commemoration of the massacre, I was left wondering if those men and women were narrating scenes from some horror movie they had just watched. But as it happens, I wondered wrong, for they were actually narrating event that had happened a few steps away from where we were all seated. 

In the early days of the Biafran war in 1967, it happened that Nigerian troops had entered the town of Asaba in pursuit of the Biafran soldiers who had retreated into the core East. On getting into Asaba on the 4th of October, 1967, the Nigerian soldiers led by Col. Murtala Muhammad with Col. Taiwo as his deputy, wasted no time embarking on the indiscriminate killing of men and boys in the town on suspicion of being sympathetic to the Biafran soldiers. 

After two days of such killings, the leaders of the town had gathered all their people, both young and old, to the village square to officially welcome the federal troops and pledge their allegiance to #OneNigeria. Dressed in the customary white cloth (akwa ocha) signifying peace, they all marched before the Nigerian troops, singing #OneNigeria. 

But for Col. Murtala Muhammad and Ibrahim Taiwo, nothing short of total annihilation of all boys and men in the town would suffice. Those two military men would gather all the boys and men to one side before ordering their soldiers to shoot them all at a very close range. At the end, not less than 1500 people lay dead, according to survivors of the massacre who spoke at the 50th anniversary. Murtala Muhammed and his men would later remain in the town where they raped many women and girls and forcefully married some. 

Now this is not even the biggest tragedy of October 7. The biggest tragedy here is that the Nigerian state would later reward, not punish, those two murderous military commanders. 

While Taiwo Ibrahim would later become the military governor of Kwara State, Murtala Muhammad did not only become head of the Nigerian state, a foremost international airport, Lagos airport, still bears his name till date. His face dons the twenty naira note. Asaba people use this airport the same way they have no choice but to look at his murderous face each time they spend the twenty naira note. 

As for Yakubu Gowon, the Commander-In-Chief under whose watch this unconscionable act took place, he is busy gallivanting from one church to another with some prayer group known as The Nigeria Prays. 

Fifty years after this clear case of barbarism was committed by a body that calls itself a nation, there has been no restitution of any kind, no explanations, not even a recognition, not to talk of attempt at reconciliation. 

If Nigerian soldiers could do this to civilians in Asaba even after pledging allegiance to #OneNigeria, is it not safe, logical and reasonable to assume that civilians in the core East must have been gifted with a fate more cruel than that during the Biafran war? 

How can anyone feel proud to be associated with a country that does not just murder her own unarmed citizens but equally celebrate the murderers? How can I love a country that is deaf, dumb and blind to the sanctity of the lives of the same citizens she exists mainly to protect? How does one show patriotism to a country that has no conscience, no sense of morality, no nothing? Just kill everything and everyone WITH IMPUNITY! 

A country that feels she is too big to apologize to her own citizens! A country where some people can commit all sort of unimaginable crimes and their names and religions would be all that would be required to ensure they are rewarded instead of being punished. How can anyone just wake up and claim that the so called unity of such a murderous entity masquerading as a nation is non-negotiable? 

It is understandable if a people chose to lie to themselves. What is neither understandable nor excusable is for a people to choose to swallow their own lies as the gospel truth. Sadly, this is the terrible situation of Nigeria today. 

This country has progressed in error for far too long. Unless she turns back from this suicidal route, she can never get to her destination. It does appear that for Nigeria as a country, the night beckons with a knife. Will she bend to escape this knife or will she be cut to pieces? Your guess is as good as mine!

HARVEY WEINSTEIN: GETS A PASS FROM LIBERAL MEDIA AND DEMOCRATS.

ICHEOKU says provided you are a big donor to the Democratic Party and a powerful Hollywood liberal, you can do no wrong and will easily get a free pass from the ever holier than thou liberal media and their Hollywood collaborators. It also does not matter the gravity of your transgression, including crimes against women such as sexual perversion. Once you are their beloved, you are safe from scrutiny and being held accountable.

Suddenly, the vagina warriors of America have all gone dumb and limb as no one is marching and protesting and calling for the head of the big Hollywood honcho who was outed as being a sexual predator. Even Gloria Allred and her daughter Lisa Bloom have both gone low profile and are not busy parading multitude of women victims on television, threatening multiples of lawsuits against their predator. ICHEOKU says where is the moral authority of these feminists activists or are they telegraphing to the world that some sexual assaults are excusable once you belong to certain protected privileged groups? Where is their outrage and why are they not complaining and marching and demanding for redress and even arrest and prosecution. 

It was not too long ago that the world was inundated by the story of then presidential candidate Donald John Trump and his locker room banter, which took a life of its own, feverishly and maniacally covered wall to wall on national televisions and for a long time.  So many pretentious women lined up for interviews and offering their opinions on televisions, trying to express their outrage that a man said something about women's private part. Queen Crooked Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi led the charge from the political front, while the Hollywood women elite covered the front from their end. CNN and MSBBC went into a tizzy, trying to hammer in the outrageousness of the comment and how Donald John Trump is the worst pervert ever to walk the face of the earth. 

The same hounding treatment was meted out to Bill O'Reilly, Bill Cosby and Roger Ailes.  Bill O'Reilly and  Rogers Ailes were hounded out of their jobs, with Roger now dead and the Bill still hanging in strong and looking for a new gig. Bill Cosby is been prosecuted with a hung jury with the prosecutor threatening a retrial, laboring seriously to send the old man to prison. Needless to add too that Michael Jackson was also literally pushed off the cliff to death over an unsubstantiated allegation of sexual molestation of a sick child, which was prosecuted but he was found not guilty; although he never recovered from the traumatic experience and it led to his death by drug overdose.   

The question now is what changed with the latest sexual intimidation and molestation of several women scandal dating over many years, by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein? Why is he not being pilloried, harangued and harpooned the same way by the same feminist anarchists as America have seen in recent years and continuing till earlier this year when they dressed up in pink and vagina headgears and flooded the streets of Washington DC and other major cities protesting their vagina? Does it mean that the vaginas molested by Harvey Weinstein are not feminine enough for them to feel concerned enough to protest against the predator? What is the explanation or is there more to these incessant protests than the watching nation understands. If indeed they are truly protesting perceived injustice and unfairness, why not protest this Harvey Weinstein perversion against women.

ICHEOKU is just asking questions, believing that an explanation could possibly be furnished, especially by these rabid wild-eyed feminists who are always shouting from mountain tops of the demeaning treatment which women are aways getting from men simply because they are women. What other more demeaning treatment is there which is more than asking a woman against her will to watch a fat slob taking a shower or to give the walrus a massage when they are not trained masseur. Why is Harvey Weinstein being protected and not pilloried like other past sexual male predators. Does the fact that he is Jewish has anything to do with this shielding, a matter made more plausible since the media in America is for all intent and purpose practically Jewish owned and Jewish controlled. Are they defending one of their own and is the pressure on everyone to seal it and say nothing?

ICHEOKU says fairness demands that every victim gets equal protection and that every pervert gets equal treatment. But something suddenly changed with the Harvey Weinstein sexcapade or is it a case of the Orwellian Animal Farm where some animals are more equal than the others?  It does not make sense and it goes to buttress the stereotype that the media in America is merely a purveyor of Fake News and not interested in dispassionately informing the society, without forcing them into a particular viewpoint aka indoctrination. How the liberal media and their Hollywood gangland collaborators which  usually have meltdowns with such scandals, suddenly went quiet, is indeed shocking. 

From Cher to Patton Oswalt to Emmy Rossum to Madonna to Rosie O'Donnel and many others, who called Donald John Trump names when the Access Hollywood tape leaked, have all gone dumb and quiet. Query, does it mean that the Oscar winning movie and television producer Harvey Weinstein can do no wrong, accused of a long history of sexual harassment of women, yet no much is being heard from those activists and proverbial protectors and defenders of the women folk. But the Catholic Church, Bill O'Reilly, Roger Aises, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby and even Michael Jackson cannot and did not enjoy such protection.

So far eight women have come forward with their tales of sexual harassment by Harvey Weinstein and have all been paid settled. Many others were also paid hush money not to say a thing and their silence purchased long time ago. His sexual perversion includes asking women to watch him while he showered his blubber filed fat body which must have been painful and hurtful to the eyes to watch. Others were made to give him a pat down massage despite not being certified masseurs and against their will; but a necessary passage rite if they want a chance at making it in Hollywood. A matter made worse because everyone that cared to know, knew of the open secret that was Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment of woman of Hollywood industry, but everyone chose to see nothing, say nothing and instead, looked the other way.  

It is on record too that Harvey Weinstein is a top Democratic Party fundraiser, bundler, contributor and donor, who has personally donated close to a million dollars to Democratic politicians; and also donated tens of thousands of dollars to both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's two presidential campaigns; as well as close to one hundred thousand dollars to the Clinton Global Initiative Foundation. Malia Obama also briefly worked as an intern for his company. He also raised millions of dollars for Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns too; little wonder no tweet has yet issued from the Queen Crooked Hillary Clinton tweeter feed handle. Yet the 'pro-women' outrage machine have not engaged their gear in protest and demand that his head be put on the platter. What a double standards by these people in matters affecting one of their own and others who they considered not similarly so privileged. SAD!

REX TILLERSON'S 'MORONIC' COMMENT: SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE.

ICHEOKU says regardless of whatever Rex Tillerson is bringing or brought to the table and/or providing to the administration of President Donald John Trump's presidency, one fact remains clear, he is not indispensable. He did not win the election and he is not the president of the United States of America as nobody voted for him nor elected him into any office. 

Therefore he must understand clearly who the boss is and that he is serving at the sole pleasure of one man and one man only, President Donald John Trump; and accordingly show him necessary respect deserving of both his person and office. He must also  religiously follow the president's policy objectives or resign his office immediately so that another more loyal person can take over from him and fulfill the president's foreign policy goals. That Rex Tillerson has no choice in this matter is also a fact. ICHEOKU therefore condemns in its totality the alleged calling of the president by the Secretary of State, a MORON. 

If he is a "moron", how did he outsmart the supposedly "smartest" people in America to win the presidency? If he is a 'moron", how did he build a real estate business empire? If he is a moron, how did he rise to the tip of the totem pole? If he is a moron, why did the Secretary of State accept to serve a moron and in a moron's administration? ICHEOKU says the Secretary over stepped his bounds and baring any serious acceptable mea culpa, should resign or be fired immediately, because such back stabbing name calling cannot and should not be tolerated; not by anyone and neither should the president. 

Rex Tillerson is so full of it and as a former boss of Exxon Mobil, still sees himself as a boss, above whom no one else matters nor counts. He misjudged the situation of things and he went too far outside his leech to think or assume that he is either a co-equal to the president or that he is the ultimate boss in this administration. Admitted he comes with a very good resume, but that does not bequeath him the headship of this administration and if he does not like the direction the government is headed, he should quit and resign his office immediately. 

Like the proverbial can't stand the heat in the kitchen, he should leave the kitchen and go find himself something else cooler with which to engage his time. But he cannot continue to remain or be allowed to remain in the government as a disgusted enemy of the president and continuously undermine the president's foreign policy objective or be seen to be pulling the boat in one different direction outside the compass focus of the president at whose pleasure he serves. ICHEOKU says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was not the the initial choice of the president for the job, but who was imposed on him by the Bush wing of the Republican Party championed by Condolessa Rice, should resign or be fired NOW.

LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: A PURE EVIL - PRESIDENT DONALD JOHN TRUMP

"Thank you. My fellow Americans, we are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief.

Last night a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more.

It was an act of pure evil.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are working closely with local authorities to assist with the investigation and they will provide updates as to the investigation and how it develops.

I want to thank the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department and all of the first responders for their courageous efforts and for helping to save the lives of so many. The speed with which they acted is miraculous and prevented further loss of life. To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired, is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful. It shows what true professionalism is all about.

Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the sudden loss of a loved one, a parent, a child, a brother or sister. We cannot fathom their pain, we cannot imagine their loss. To the families of the victims, we are praying for you and we are here for you. And we ask God to help see you through this very dark period.

Scripture teaches us the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. We seek comfort in those words, for we know that God lives in the hearts of those who grieve. To the wounded who are now recovering in hospitals, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery, and pledge to you our support from this day forward.

In memory of the fallen, I have directed that our great flag be flown at half-staff. I will be visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with law enforcement, first responders, and the families of the victims. In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has.

We call upon the bonds that unite us, our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence, and though we feel such great anger, at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today. And always will. Forever.

In times such as these, I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers do not come easy. But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be brightened by a single light and even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope.

Melania and I are praying for every American who has been hurt, wounded or lost the ones they loved so dearly in this terrible, terrible attack. We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace, and we pray for the day when evil is banished and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear.

May God bless the souls of the lives that are lost, may God give us the grace of healing and may God provide the grieving families with strength to carry on. Thank you. God bless America. Thank you

MASSACRE IN THE USA: ANOTHER MASS SHOOTING IN LAS VEGAS.

ICHEOKU says it has happened again and this time on a scale never before imagined. The worst mass shooting ever in the United States of America and it was as big as it gets. It was at a Country Music Festival near Mandalay Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, where a crazed out gunman, Stephen Paddock, opened fire on concert goers and when it was over, 59 people lay dead and dying, while 527 others were wounded. 

ICHEOKU laments that mass shootings in America has become a recurring decimal with no end in sight and it seems that Americans are gradually becoming numb to it. As always, speeches and condolences will be made and given; and after the usual empathies, the country moves on as another day of blood letting is filed away in our memory banks as an incident. ICHEOKU is not going to devote time here rehashing what has been severally written about before and on many occasions. The only thing to add here is that something needs to be urgently done about its recurrence frequency; at least if not to stop it completely,  but hedge these mass shootings and bring them within a tolerable reasonable degree. For 59 people to just lose their lives like that with 527 others wounded is rather heartbreaking; moreso when they did not do anything to warrant nor deserve it. America, time to wake up is now and if not now, when. Enough of these mass shootings.

HAYLE GEFTMAN-GOLD: A VERY HATEFUL PERSON, FIRED !

ICHEOKU says the hate in this peoples heart is simply unimaginable and she is a Hillary Clinton supporter. Another one of the millions of crazed out wild-eyed feminists, championing 'Am With Her', who wanted to impose Queen Crooked Hillary Clinton on America but were stopped cold. This Jezebel is so filled with hatred for others that she stooped so low as to disparage victims of a mass shooting. 

Hayley Geftman-Gold, a Vice President and Senior Counsel of Strategic Transactions for CBS Broadcast Network was summarily fired by her employers for making a very insensitive remarks concerning victims of the largest mass shooting in America at Las Vegas Nevada which killed 59 and wounded 527 people. In her Facebook page posting, Hayley wrote: "If they wouldn’t do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs will ever do the right thing. I’m actually not even sympathetic because country music fans often are Republican gun toters.”

ICHEOKU commends CBS for their quick action in letting her go as what she thought and said and stood for and represent is unbecoming of any human being with blood running in their vein. In a tragedy of such immense magnitude, that anyone would so remove them-self from a shared American humanity, which was tested and nearly shattered by the gravity of the lunacy that went down in Las Vegas Nevada over the weekend, is to say the least mind numbing. In their separation of service with her notice, CBS wrote: “This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS. Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families.”

ICHEOKU cannot agree more with CBS and says they acted as any corporation with a human face would act because what she did is incomprehensibly repugnant. Hayley Geftman-Gold deserves all that she got from CBS plus more and hopefully will find time to actually introspect on the rancid post she made, fully aware that the victims are fellow Americans who did not deserve the fate which they met. They did not do anything to bring it about and merely went to a concert just like any other average Joe and Jill America periodically do. They were gunned down by a lunatic piece of excrement and this Jezebel has this to say about them? ICHEOKU says Hayle Geftman-Gold is a human excrement who does not deserve to share a space with the rest of decent human beings. She is very mean, uncaring and unsympathetic to hundreds of grieving families whose anguish and pain the whole nation is sharing and reeling under. The worst mass shooting massacre in the United States of American recent history which claimed 59 lives and wounded 527 others; and all this woman has to say is that she does not care a hoot. SAD.

TOM PETTY, DEAD AT 66.

ICHEOKU says the only thing sadder than his dying is that he died at literally a wrong time; when instead of being the news, he is now consigned to a mere footnote news, forced to side step for a more newsy news, the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

But no one chooses when they die and like with all things mortal, it was as destined. Tom Petty, 66, a rock icon, died of cardiac arrest on a day Americans woke up to yet another sad news of a mass shooting, this time in Las Vegas, Nevada, where a lunatic millionaire opened fire on a country music festival, killing so many people. This sad incident somehow eclipsed the passing of a great man, a rock legend who achieved greatness as of his own right. 

The rock world will surely miss Tom Petty who commanded a huge presence on the rock n roll stage and went on to sell over 80 million records during his playing career which spanned several decades. ICHEOKU's favorites among his many songs include: 'I Wont Back Down; Free Fallin; Breakdown; Don't Come Around No More, Refugee, Runnin Down A Dream and Learning To Fly' just to mention a few. ICHEOKU says adieu Mr Rocker.

NIGERIA LIABLE FOR LABELLING IPOB A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION - BRUCE FEIN

Nigerian Attorney General Malami and Justice Kafarati are both vulnerable to Genocide Prosecution for Illegally Listing IPOB as a Terrorist Organization. 

On September 20, 2017, Nigeria’s Attorney General Abubakar Malami and Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice Abdul Adamu Kafarati secretly collaborated in issuing a flagrantly illegal order proscribing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organization to provide Dictator Muhammadu Buhari a pretext for genocide against innocent civilian Biafrans because of their Christian religion or ethnicity. 

But neither judges, nor attorneys general nor lawyers are shielded from prosecution for genocide or crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal. The principle that judges or prosecutors can be prosecuted for participation in the enforcement of illegal laws or the issuance of illegal orders that further genocidal objectives was established at Nuremburg in The Judges Trial sub. nom. United States of America v. Josef Alstotter, et al.( Military Tribunal III). 

Even non-lawyers would recognize that Justice Kafarati order violated fundamental principles of civilized justice. 

It was issued without notice to IPOB. 

It was issued without offering IPOB an opportunity to be heard or respond. 

It was issued after a secret meeting between Attorney General Malami and Justice Kafarati. 

It was issued by a tribunal which notoriously operates as an arm of the executive branch through bribery or intimidation. 

Victims of the barbaric Spanish Inquisition enjoyed more procedural safeguards against injustice and error than IPOB was provided. 

The order was issued under the Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011 which defines terrorism, among other things, as an act or speech which “may seriously harm or damage [Nigeria]…” No actual harm or damage need be proven. An excited imagining of the conceivable is sufficient. Moreover, the definition absurdly transforms the exercise of fundamental human rights into terrorism. Under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, IPOB commands a right to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of peaceably assembly and association. Yet Justice Kafarati’s terrorism order was provoked by IPOB’s peaceful protest of Hausa-Fulani persecution of Igbos and association to obtain a Biafran self-determination referendum. That is the same right Great Britain has recognized for Scotland and Canada has recognized for Quebec. 

It speaks volumes that no other nation has listed IPOB as a terrorist organization, including the United States and the United Kingdom. And no civilized system of justice condemns free speech and association as terrorism. In the United States, terrorism is generally confined to the use of force and violence to intimidate a civilian population or to coerce government behavior. In addition, the law in the United States provides listed international terrorist organizations with a right of judicial review before impartial tribunals; and, the Secretary of State is saddled with an obligation to periodically review every listing to determine whether they remain appropriate. 

Skeptics of the ongoing Hausa-Fulani genocide of Igbos point to the general absence of public reporting on the indiscriminate killings and torture. But journalists or publishers rightfully fear that publicizing the genocide would provoke immediate and lethal retribution by Dictator Buhari and his Hausa-Fulani armed forces. The available photographic and video evidence of the genocide is convincing even without independent reporting. 

History is instructive. Nazi Germany did not respect freedom of the press at their extermination camps like Auschwitz or Dachau. Holocaust claims were initially disbelieved because independent reporting was unavailable. The full truth emerged only belatedly after the Third Reich had collapsed and the death camps were occupied by the Allied Forces. 

Participants in torturing the law to facilitate or encourage genocide should recognize their vulnerability to criminal prosecution before the International Criminal Tribunal. They should learn from the Nazi example

Biafra must be restored!