THE PRESIDENT IS RIGHT: LET'S HARDEN OUR SCHOOLS.

ICHEOKU says any one arguing against the proposal by the president to fortify our schools and make it nearly impregnable is doing so only to score some cheap gotcha points. The White House is hardened; the Congress is hardened; military fortes are hardened; our airports are hardened; the banks are hardened; the stores and malls are hardened; even the various homes of our celebrities are hardened. So why not our children's schools?

The question which non of these anti-gun activists, majority of who are protected by gun totting security guards, are not answering is why not also make the gathering place of our young children and leaders of tomorrow, safe enough and fully protected from the savagery that is mass shootings? Why not also defend their place of learning like we depend and protect other areas of our common interest. What value do we actually place on our children not to want to protect them accordingly from harm. Like President Donald John Trump rightly articulated, those cowards who go about shooting up our schools and killing innocent children will not dare if they knew they will also be fired at and possibly killed in the process. These animals are terrorists who are afraid of being confronted and are always looking for easy targets of opportunity; hence they creep in and waylay innocent school children who are unarmed, defenseless and cannot fight back. 

How often do those crazy bastards go shooting their way inside an airport or prison or military formations or police stations or at government offices. The only reason they do not try it is that they know what the ruthless consequences of their action will be and most times, as we are finding out from Nikolas Cruz, the Florida High School shooter, is that they do not want to die. They are cowards and they have no liver; but simply acting out their fantasies and inexplicable machismo by attacking soft targets with defenseless children. They can be checkmated with fortifying the schools to make them harder if not impenetrable and hence frustrate their murderous mania. It will not take too much to build up the required defenses and only a prioritizing of our issues is required to mission accomplish on this. Such fortification can be funded through government and private sector participation where the government cannot afford to fully fund it. 

If the government cannot do it, every home owner within every school district should be made to come up with the much needed funds with which to make our schools safer and more difficult for these animals to prey upon. 

It will not cost too much when compared to the lives lost as a result of inaction.We can start by fencing the schools, installing metal detectors at all entry points of schools and hiring armed guards to patrol the schools in a their security vehicles; and holed up in their offices when not on patrol, until summoned either by gun shots fired or call for help. They will be there to distract the attacker by engaging him while waiting for the police to arrive. Also such a security details should be fully uniformed in order to avoid their being mistaken as the attacker by the arriving police. The solution to end this scourge is simple and it is also affordable; and it should therefore be implemented immediately. Our children are our best and most valuable assets and they should be protected with all we have and can summon. We should do it now and we should do it right. Let's harden the gaddam schools now and make our children safe and as a correlation guarantee the future of our civilization.

THE REVEREND BILLY GRAHAM IS DEAD: HE TRULY LIVED.

ICHEOKU says popularly known as and called the America's pastor, he lived and died believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he died for our sins and in him we secured our passport to heaven. He was a television evangelist extraordinaire and took Jesus Christ into millions of homes world wide. According to one commentator, his success came in his good grasp of the anxieties and opportunities of the time and harped on them which gravitated people to him for succor. The Reverend Blly Graham was 99 years old and died of old age related natural causes. May his soul now rest. Adieu Billy.

BBC WORLD SERVICE IGBO LANGUAGE: A WELCOME GREAT BOOST TO NDIGBO.

ICHEOKU says it is with heart filled with joy and gratitude that ICHEOKU welcomes the British Broadcasting Service decision to acknowledge and accord Igbo language its rightful place amongst the comity of world languages. Igbo language is spoken by over 80 million people worldwide, with its primary ancestral location in Southeastern Nigeria, formerly Biafra. It is about time the language, with such so many speakers, is duly recognized. Thankfully BBC has now answered the call, internationalized it and made it mainstream, with this World Service. 

By this trail blazing service, Igbo language has now rocketed into a language of reckon in the world. It is now the 40th globally most widely spoken language to be added to BBC World Service, from the acknowledged over 6909 languages world languages. This is indeed a great honor and being 40th amongst 6909 world languages definitely makes it an elite in the languages department of the world. The Bible has been translated into 2,508 languages, including Igbo language as well; making this BBC recognition the latest honor done to the speakers of the language for which every Nwa-afor Onye Igbo should be proud and eternally grateful. It is a recognition of great magnitude and an introduction of Igbo language to the world audience. Now, among the many world languages, is Igbo language of Ndigbo, spoken predominantly in Southeastern Nigeria Igbo land, by a proud people who are steeped in Igbo cultural identity. A people that have produced so many world recognizable individuals including novelist China Achebe of Things Fall Apart fame.

The BBC honorarium will also help create curiosity and provoke interest amongst the world community in the Igbo language going forward. It will definitely attract other things for Ndigbo, including someday having Igbo language incorporated in computer languages, just like their Chinese, English, Russian, German, French counterparts; such that Ndigbo can then surf and use the Internet using Igbo language as their preferred language of online activities. The world will also get introduced to the magic of a language where one word could mean several things depending on the inflection of the speaker, enunciation and pronunciation. A word like "EGBE" could mean a kite or gun depending on how it is enunciated. Another word like "AKWA" could mean bed, egg, cloth, cry, funeral rites, minstrel, depending on how the speaker twisted his or her tongue. 

With Ndigbo spread throughout the world,  the BBC World Service for Igbo will help to bridge the gap for children of Ndigbo in Diaspora to stay close to their ancestral language and diligent parents can also use the portal as a tool to teach their children their native language and general keep abreast of developments in Ala-Igbo.

ICHEOKU agrees with Adline Okere that the BBC World Service for Igbo will be the first time Igbo language will be written and broadcast internationally, reaching a global audience running into billion human beings.  Also, Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye was right that delivering authentic content in Igbo language to Ndigbo worldwide in their mother tongue will be exciting and refreshing indeed. Now, Igbo language will join Yoruba and Hausa as the three Nigerian main languages, among the over 520 languages spoken in Nigeria, to make the BBC News World Service. ICHEOKU is grateful that BBC was very considerate in its decision to give all the three major cultures in Nigeria an international platform to communicate, interact and keep abreast with happenings and in their lingua franca. Congratulations BBC World Service for introducing Igbo language to the world. 

I RIDE FOR THE BRAND - REX TILLERSON

"My word is my bond. I ride for the brand. Once I am committed, I am in it for the long haul." - Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State on loyalty.

THE RUSSIAN COLLUSION: DEALT A FATAL BLOW.

"There is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity. There is also no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election." - Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General of the United States of America.

ICHEOKU says this determination, for every intent and purpose, now lays to rest the "Collusion with the Russians" hogwash; as nobody can be guilty of an offense which requires awareness to ground when he or she is not aware of it. Collusion is a conspiracy and requires a proactive participation coupled with a guilty knowledge to bring about the purpose of the conspiracy. 

Therefore, when will the Special Counsel address the nation and tell Americans that there is no there, there, in the Russian Collusion investigation and save America further bleeding both in resources, time and unity. 

Enough of the sore loser antics of the Democratic Party which does not know how to take a loss and learn to work to fix what went wrong, instead of continuously pointing a finger at a mirage that is the Russian Collusion, in its bid to find something to blame for its ineptitude that led to the epochal loss of November 8th, 2016.

BUHARI 2019: BOLA TINUBU ON A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

ICHEOKU says how anybody will campaign for President Muhammad Buhari reelection in 2019, faced with all the things that have gone wrong in Nigeria under his watch, is simply beyond fathom. With which face would anyone stand and explain to Nigerians why the APC's 'hope and change' mantra, which they voted for in 2015, virtually turned sour; and have remained unfulfilled three years down the road, and literary turned APC into an All Promises Cancelled disaster. Like a bad product, selling or marketing President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians in 2019, will definitely be an uphill difficult, if not impossible, task to pull off. 

President Muhammadu Buhari has unenviably earned the singular dishonor of being the most hated and loathed president Nigeria ever had; such that no right thinking Nigerian would willingly vote for him again to continue in office in 2019. He has not kept faith with the Nigerian people, whose goodwill he fretted away when he failed to honor his election promises to improve their lives. Like American Queen Crooked Hillary Clinton to the Democratic Party,  President Muhammadu Buhari has become more of a liability to the All Progressive Congress than an asset. He lost it all and his hitherto electoral invincibility as a disciplined corruption-free military man has since also been eroded; particularly by his crass cronyism and the unfortunate political poison pill which he took when he distinguished and differentiated Nigerians into two groups, the 5% and the 97%. His lopsided appointments and complete exclusion of an entire one third of the country, Ndigbo, from key positions in his government will hurt him greatly. The president did not do enough either to improve his electoral fortunes in those areas that consider themselves victims of his nepotism and cronyism. 

Boko Haram is still taking its toll on Nigerians. Corruption is still ravaging Nigeria. Power supply has not improved. Overall security has further been compounded by the addition of terrorists Fulani herdsmen who are causing immense havoc in the land, leaving a trail of sorrow, blood and tears in their wake. Unemployment is still rife. So what exactly are the underlying strengths of President Muhammadu Buhari which Nigerians would like to continue to see and enjoy; and which will persuade them to want to keep him around for much longer and which will make them to vote for him in 2019. These are some of the multi dimensional questions which anyone campaigning for Buhari-2019 will first have to convincingly answer to Nigerians, before they will accord him any serious second look. How can anyone convince Nigerians that a Buhari who could not deliver on the two main planks of his 2015 mandate, war on corruption and insecurity, will suddenly become who he is not and that anyone should take him serious with his promise to take Nigeria to another level come 2019. The general feeling in the land is that if he could not do it in his first term, there is no guarantee that he will do it with a second term mandate in 2019; and bridging this gap of distrust is a heavy duty task for Bola Tinubu and Rotimi Amaechi to pull off. 

Therefore ICHEOKU is not envious of the current task which Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is saddled with to reconcile the various factions within the moribund APC. As a correlation, by accepting to work for President Muhammadu Buhari's reelection campaign, Bola Tinubu  has embarked on a mission impossible and only by special miracle will he mission accomplish this time around. ICHEOKU is emphatic that 2019 will not be a walk in the park like 2015 was and APC will need all the help they can get to retain their President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock. President Muhammadu Buhari has lost all the goodwill which endeared him to the hearts of those Nigerians who swarmed around him in 2015 to elect him president. With no electoral rain check left for him to cash in 2019, only a feat of improbable proportion will see President Muhammadu Buhari through to a second term. What a tall order Bola Tinubu and co have in their task to help win President Muhammdu Buhari a second term and they definitely have their work cut out for them. 

ICHEOKU says no one captured this dire strait in which APC found themselves with their President Muhammadu Buhari's disappointing or rather lack of performance during his first term more than Rotimi Amaechi, when he eloquently stated: “It was not easy electing Buhari the last time, but it will certainly be more difficult this time. Expectations were too high and we did not meet those expectation." ICHEOKU says completely agrees that Rotimi Amaechi summation was right on the money; and that baring any miracle of election, President Muhammadu Buhari will end up being just a one term president, who Nigerians regretted ever electing in the first place and wished they never did. But as with everything in life, never say never is always a good hedge and until the election comes and goes, no one should ever rule out anything including a possible President Muhammadu Buhari's reelection in 2019. 

"RUSSIAN COLLUSION" UPDATE: 13 RUSSIANS PLUS MORE INDICTED.

ICHEOKU says in what seems like the nearing of the end of the road in the ongoing Robert Mueller Special Counsel investigation of the Russian Collusion into the 2016 American presidential election, 13 Russian nationals and three other Russian groups were indicted today by the Justice Department. 

Their offense was interfering with the 2016 United States of America presidential election by allegedly creating aliases and assuming false personas of American citizens which they used as a cover to interfere with the presidential election. According to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, it is a reminder that somethings and people are not always what they seem or appear to be, especially on the Internet. Further, that the Russians primary objective was to create and promote discord in America and undermine the public confidence in America's democracy. That their goal was to support now-President Trump's campaign and to hurt Democrat Hillary Clinton's, and that some defendants while posing as U.S. people communicated with "unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities. 

ICHEOKU says if as alleged, the Russians allegedly talked to some American people and were advised to focus their efforts on swing states such as "Colorado, Virginia and Florida, two of which, Virginia and Colorado, Hillary Clinton won and Trump won the other one Florida,  how successful then was the Russians attempt to help the then candidate Donald Trump become president if he lost two out of the three swing States they had focused their efforts on. 

The Russian meddling efforts, which began in 2014, was connected to an Internet Research Agency based in St. Petersburg Russia, which leveraged Facebook and other social media platforms to spread divisive messages among Americans months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. ICHEOKU says if the Russian meddling effort began in 2014, one year before Donald Trump entered into active partisan politics with his declaration of intent to run for the presidency in 2015, what then is the collusion nonsense he is being accused of, really about? The Russians were already in the heat of their game, "meddling" with American politics, long before Trump jumped into partisan politics. So why then accuse him of starting or colluding with what preceded him? Certain things does not in fact make any sense and this investigation cockamamie do smell of an ongoing effort to still deliver an outcome which will suit a predetermined narrative. The Never-Trumpers had their goal fixed and must therefore manufacture incredulous tales to help drive the ball into their preset post. Simply incredible. 

It is also instructive that the same indicted people and groups organized and staged those anti Trump rallies soon following his election victory and sponsored all those Vagina-hat wearing women as well as Black Lives Matters protests that nearly achieved their objective to cause political turmoil in America. So fundamentally, the Russians were not actually interested in who wins the election, provided they sowed discord within American polity and damage the believe of Americans in their democratic political process. The Russians also tried to encourage minority groups to boycott the election and not to vote for either Trump or Clinton in the last 2016 presidential election because neither represents their interest; and/or if they must, to vote for a third party candidate in protest. They also promoted voter fraud allegations just to cause trouble and create disillusion among Americans.

Lastly, the Deputy Attorney General said that there is no allegation in the indictment that Americans had any knowledge of the Russian clandestine meddling operation. Also that there is no allegation that the Russian meddling influenced the final outcome of the election. ICHEOKU says this is actually the meat of the indictment announcement as it said that "no American" and Trump's team were all Americans; and secondly that whatever the Russians did or did not do did not affect the final outcome of the election. Then query, what is the Robert Mueller's investigation still doing, staying alive, when no American knew nor was involved with the Russians in their collusion and there can be no collusion without knowledge or intent to so collude. Further, if whatever the Russians did or did not do, had no effect in the final outcome of the election, what then is the purpose of all this waste of time and resources on a fantastic Russian Collusion. 

Anyway, the innocent will always be vindicated as the Russian Collusion fable is gradually collapsing on its own weightless weight. It never happened. It was a manufactured ruse by the Democrats to save face from fielding the most hated wild eyed crazed out feminist candidate no real American liked nor loved enough to push her through the presidential finish line. Worst still, they lost to a novitiate first timer candidate President Donald John Trump and it made the lost more painful. But their plot is unraveling and soon the Special Counsel is expected to come out and publicly put an end to the Russian Collusion charade. Until then, ICHEOKU agrees with the DAG that the United States of America going forward must work to ensure that such conspiracies to affect elections' outcome do not succeed in undermining the nation's democracy. Also that American agencies will continue to work tirelessly to defend our nation against similar current and future schemes.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: A SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE

“And I will do this as a servant of the people because I do believe that when one is elected, you basically become a servant of the people of South Africa. And I will seek to execute that task with humility, with faithfulness and with dignity as well. That is what I will seek to do. Thank you all for this great opportunity that I’ve been given. I will try to work very hard not to disappoint the people of South Africa.” - Cyril Ramaphosa, President, South Africa.

ICHEOKU says definitely a right tone to flag off his presidency. Provided he translates his words into action by putting his money where his mouth is, he will succeed as president. ICHEOKU says congratulations Mr President CR.

JACOB ZUMA: MAKES A GRACIOUS EXIT.

"No life should be lost in my name and also the ANC should never be divided in my name. I have therefore come to the decision to resign as President of the Republic with immediate effect. Even though I disagree with the decision of the leadership of my organization, I have always been a disciplined member of the ANC." - Jacob Zuma, former President, South Africa.

ICHEOKU says certainly a gracious and selfless exit. Goodluck JZ and may God see you through your retirement. Thank you Jacob for accepting to relinquish the office and peacefully too. Like former President Jonathan Goodluck of Nigeria, they rose above self, recognizing that no blood of the citizens should be shed in their names. Worthy of emulation, especially in the African continent where so many despot would rather continuously shed the blood of the citizens than to yield the office. Congratulations.

MORGAN TSVANGIRAI: DEAD AT 65

ICHEOKU says Uncle Robert Mugabe finaly outlived him; admitted he put up a good fight trying to be president of Zimbabwe. He was 65 years old and died of colon cancer. May his soul now rest. Adieu Morgan.

FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL: VALENTINE DAY MASSACRE IN USA BY NIKOLAS CRUZ.

ICHEOKU says it is now part of life in the United States of America that every now and then, another crazed out gunman will pick up weapon and summarily murder innocent people including school children. The latest was in Parkland Florida where a discipline challenged and expelled former student returned for vengeance, killing 17 and wounding 14 others including students, teachers and staff. The gunman was identified as 19 year old Nikolas Cruz was taken alive by police. 

ICHEOKU says school shootings in the United States of America is becoming a recurring decimal and short of fully policing our schools, with armed guards and metal detectors installed at gates of entry, it is unfortunate that we might have to get used to such dastardly acts and pray that those crazed out individuals who want to perpetrate such carnage do not succeed with the frequency with which they succeed. And on a Valentine Day, February 14th, which happens to also be Catholic's Ash Wednesday, a day for love that this demented individual decided to cause so much sorrow. 

It is pitiful and it is despicable and may God help the grieving and bereaved families heal and give the wounded a full recovery. What a troubled soul this animal in human skin is that the police would have just killed and spared the nation the cost of putting him through trial and possibly long prison sentence or awaiting execution, following an assured conviction. What a sad day it turned out to be for a day meant for love but which this beast just turned it into one of hate and sorrow. 

BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA PORTRAITS OF ABSURDITY: MERE CARICATURES.

ICHEOKU says whose portraits are they anyway that were passed off as the representation of former President Barack Hussein Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, which the National Portraits Gallery unveiled to the world today.  ICHEOKU is not impressed and so are millions of world wide citizens including Americans, who did not see the two portraits as the accurate and true rendering of both public figures. 

The Barack Obama painting depicts an older man than the man who just left the White House only last November 2016. Although the image could safely be used to track him down should he go missing; but the damage done to Michelle Obama is such that she is practically unrecognizable and cannot be identified with the image. Put in another way, the image rendered on the canvass or whatever the material it is, was not the former First Lady's. 

No explanation is sufficient to cushion or sugarcoat the damage, regardless of the spin. It was a poor rendition and it turned out uglier than the former First Lady is ugly. Just take a god look at the portrait and you will see a Michelle Obama's body but without her face; somewhat an imposed stranger's face on her body. 

Anyway, who knows what the intention of the First Couple are in deciding to use this two portraits as what they want to be remembered by for their time in the White House. But whatever their intention and believing that they were consulted during the painting and supervised them while they progressed, and subsequently approved the final outcome before it was presented to the public, the country deserved better. ICHEOKU regrets that the artists who worked on the paintings did a very bad job and will not hire them to paint even a worst enemy. They were mediocre at best and not good at what they do and did. 

New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley and Baltimore based artist Amy Sherald who painted Barack Obama and Michelle Obama respectively for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, will certainly not get more job referrals by reason of this their works. Very poorly rendered. ICHEOKU is not satisfied as a more experienced artist could have been retained and would have done a better job. SAD.

WINTER OLYMPICS PYEONGCHANG 2018: FLAGS OFF.

ICHEOKU says South Korea is hosting the world of Winter Olympics 2018. A stellar preparation and spectacular performances so far. Congratulations to the host country and the gathered athletes who are gathered in Pyeongchang South Korea for the event.

PERCHED AND REVVING TO ITS ALEINS RENDEZVOUS

ICHEOKU says science and technology is awesome. They make the seemingly impossible, possible. Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster enroute to Mars atmospheric orbit. Congratulations to Elon Musk and his SpaceX and Tesla teams.

OBAMA: WHAT DID HE KNOW?

ICHEOKU says what did former President Barack Hussein Obama know and when did he know it. America people must demand of their leaders a full disclosure and full accountability in the unfolding FBI released memo scandal. Only by getting to the bottom of the matter will American people regain their confidence in their law enforcement agencies.

FBI MEMO FILES: SCANDAL

"POTUS WANTS TO KNOW EVERYTHING WE ARE DOING." - Lisa Page to boyfriend Peter Strzok, two FBI officials. 

ICHEOKU says and the POTUS then was President Barack Hussein Obama, who then denied and lied to the American people that he does not dabble into any FBI's investigative matter. Really? 

SPACE-X FALCON HEAVY FERRIES OUT TESLA INTO SPACE

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, 229 foot tall world's most powerful rocket, roared off into space on the power of 27 engines and nearly 5 million pounds of thrust, carrying a payload of Elon Musk's cherry red Tesla Roadster, on what the founder of both SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk, said is a "just for fun and to get the public excited" journey into the asteroid belt well beyond Mars. 

Addressing the media on the successful launch, Elon Musk said: "I'm really excited about today, incredibly proud of the SpaceX team. They've done an incredible job of creating what really is the most advanced rocket in the world, the biggest rocket in the world. I'm still trying to absorb everything that happened because it seems surreal to me. We estimate it'll be in that orbit for several hundred million years, maybe in excess of a billion years." 

ICHEOKU says simply fabulous. What a great fit of engineering by a very brainy and brilliant people. Congratulations to Elon Musk and company.