ZAILA AVANT-GARDE: SPELLS HERSELF INTO HISTORY WITH THE WORD MURRAYA.

ICHEOKU says she is so cute and her personality so lovable that she is simply adorable. Speaking of Scripps National Spelling Bee 2021 winner Zaila Avant-Garde; needless to add that she has a very unique and special name as well. The winning word was MURRAYA. She is the stuff geniuses are made of and in fact, she is actually one. She is a multi talented individual who at just 14 years have already previously won herself into Guinness Book of World records joggling the most basketballs and this Bee champion is yet another laurel for the Guinness Book. 

The Louisiana native is the first African American to ever win the Scripps National Spelling Bee championship since its inception 96 years ago. What a great feat and she did it with such a panache. A proud nation has not heard the last of her and her black life really matters being a positive example to millions of other black kids on what is possible outside the streets. Her parents too deserve to share in the moment for guiding their child in the right path. She is both joyful and joyous and ICHEOKU celebrates her. Congratulations ZAG.

HAITIAN AUTHORITIES: WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?

ICHEOKU says Haitian authorities are still missing the point. Nobody wants to know how many "gang" members they have killed or captured so far who participated in the killing of President Jovenel Moise. The only nagging issue is how a president of a country could be so easily killed and where was his presidential security detail and secret service protection unit. Who murdered the president? Who put the hit on him? Was it orchestrated to move the political process forward or a powerful neighboring country wanted him deleted?

A president is a president 24 hours, regardless of his location, so where was his presidential security when some alleged "gang" members killed him on his sleeping bed? Even if as they presently claim that those killers lied their way through to the president's bedroom by claiming that they are DEA officers, was there no procedure in place for first verifying their story and identities, and at worse, escorting or accompanying them to go and meet with the president, especially the ungodly hour of the night when they called, considered. 

Why would a presidential security detail allow armed men into the president's home and at such very late hour of the night? Even if they had claimed that the White House sent them, talkless of passing off as an American drug agency, this was a president of another country for crying out loud. Why did the presidential security fumble the ball and so stupidly as not to make the safety and security of the president paramount and above anything else. Why did they not refuse their request to see the president at such a late time of night and what was their explanation for being fully armed? Did they not think about disarming them, arresting and holding them until day break so that they can carry out further investigation about their alleged mission. 

Even the arrest of Noriega was resisted and not this stupidly managed. Even if they had claimed that the president was a drug dealer or laundering money for drug dealers and needed to be taken into custody, what were they doing with all the firepower they had for a president who has already retired to bed for the night. Why did the guards not force them to wait until morning in order to get further clarifications or was there no echelon or chain of command in Haiti's presidential guard in Port-Au-Prince to have put necessary calls to before allowing the violation of the country's president's security. This is a president and not just any other citizen Joe that was accessed to in this cavalier manner. 

It just does not make sense that a presidential security will be this so careless and reckless in their only assignment which is to defend and protect the president, even with their lives, if need be. So why was there such a lapse in judgement and under whose authority or order or instruction did they stand down and watch as the president was assassinated right inside his bedroom in his home. The world needs some answers and when will the Haitian authorities inform the world on the actual conspiracy that MURDERED their president and spare us all of the after the fact cock and bull story about "killing and arresting" of "gang" members who killed their president. 

The world wants to know the truth of what actually happened; why President Jovenel Moise was rendered so vulnerable and was so exposed to the danger of losing his life in such a violent manner and in fact did lose his life in that manner. The world is not that necessarily interested in what happened after the fact or what the authorities in Haiti are doing to finding the president's killers and bringing them to book. Why was it not prevented? So, until Port-Au-Prince is prepared to come clean and level with the world on who signed off on the murder, they can kill even a thousand "gang" members and/or arrest a million of "gang" members as "killers" of President Jovenel Moise, but will still not clear the fog surrounding his assassination. 

A full investigation is called for to unravel how a country's president was just killed like that while asleep on his bed, in his bedroom, inside his home. Whatever it takes to solve this puzzle should be welcome by those presently managing the affairs of Haiti. They should request and accept help from every where, including the United States of America, to help them get to the root of the assassination. Thankfully the White House has agreed to send some FBI officials down to Port-Au-Prince to see what they can find out. However, ICHEOKU says other third party countries should be brought in as well to help with the investigation just in case the whodunnit is within the hemisphere to help prevent any coverup from being easily pulled off with a restricted investigation. The entire world is waiting for some urgent answers and Haitians must provide them asap. #WhoKilledPresidentMoise.

MICHAEL AVENATTI SENT TO PRISON FOR ATTEMPTED EXTORTION OF NIKE.

ICHEOKU says creepy porn lawyer Michael Avenatti, whose rise to fame from relative obscurity was by taking on a sitting United States President Donald John Trump has been sent to prison. Recall that he used information from his infamous client, hooker Stormy Daniels, in perpetuating his attacks on the president. He later attempted to extort Nike of $25 million, using another client coach Gary Franklin's claim, for which he has now been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. He will also do additional three years of supervised release upon the completion of the two and half years sentence. HIs fall was epicurean as he went from being cable televisions and social media darling straight to being a pariah who nobody wants to be seen with or associated with in a twinkle of eye. 

He was obsessed with power of the television and in fact became infatuated with it that he couldn't have enough of the attention which came with it. It became a drug of choice for him and to get a sizable does of it, he obsessively piled on the president, cursing, huffing, puffing and sometimes even believing that he is already the next rightful occupant of the White House. It indeed got so much into his head that he lost his sense of reasoning as a lawyer by not weighing the pros and cons of his actions. He relished it so much to the point of becoming reckless and it ended him like a punctured balloon. He was completely deflated, lost everything and by the time he finishes his prison term, both the already sentenced and the three more likely to come, he would have been a completely spent man with nothing else holding him up.

There was no television opportunity which he refused or even thought twice before saying yes to and at a time, he was rumored to be actively lobbying for his own show on CNN, believing that he has become "too popular" that his show will be an instant smash hit. He was wearing thousands of dollars designer suits, apparels and expensive leather Italian shoes and adorning ultra expensive wrist watches just to look the part. As it turned out he was not rich as most of  his lifestyle were purchased on credit and with his personal debts piling up, he became more desperate on how to keep on funding his assumed lifestyle. 

The accumulating debt has to be paid off, so he got more creative on how to make quick and easy money, leading to so many frauds including the attempted  blackmail of Nike into paying him $25 million as hush money. As the judge said, his conduct was simply outrageous in hijacking his client's claims and using them to further his own financial gains agenda, making money regardless of the propriety. 

The convicted and now sentenced Stormy Daniels' lawyer has three other criminal cases which are awaiting trial, including one on July 20th, 2021 in California for stealing almost $10 million from five former clients including a paraplegic; and another for bankruptcy, bank fraud and tax fraud. Thereafter, it is back to New York where another criminal case awaits him in January 2022  for cheating his infamous client Stormy Daniels of #300,000 proceeds from her book contract. 

As one writer described him, Michael Avenatti is "a once obscure lawyer who in 2018 became a cable news and social media fixture, disparaging then President Donald John Trump." Good enough he is now receiving the rewards of his bargained notoriety, which he achieved by his desperate pursuit of fame and stardom. He deliberately violated his oath and ethically duty as lawyer, which he owed his client Stormy Daniel as well as to the legal profession, by litigating a non disclosure agreement just to get on television. Other unprofessional conducts followed and he ended up in criminalities. Now, who laughs last between him and the president as he goes to prison for two and half years; and will be likely also convicted on the other three remaining criminal charges which aggravated will surely get him a lengthy term.  

Addressing the court before his sentencing, Michael Avenatti said: "TV and Twitter means nothing. Everyone wants to ride in a limo with you but only a very few are willing to take a sit next to you on a bus. Even fewer are willing to take your calls from prison. I alone have destroyed my career, my relationships and my life. And there is no doubt I need to pay. I am truly sorry for all of the pain I caused to Mr. Franklin and others. I lost my way. I betrayed my own values, my friends, my family and myself. I betrayed my profession. I became driven by the things that don’t matter in life. Over the past two years, I have thought to myself, why did this need to happen. I’ve learned that all the fame, money notoriety in the world is meaningless. Most people want their children to be proud of their fathers, but in the case of my own three children, I want them to be ashamed of me, because that will mean that their moral compass is exactly what it should be." 

ICHEOKU says if only he had thought these thoughts earlier and before he drank the cooled of CNN may be people would empathize with him. But no, he was possessed by the demon of limelight and he saw the availability of lights, camera and action as a golden parachute to land in the White House and he grabbed it with his two hands. Now, it is time to pay the price for his notoriety and like he rightly admitted, he is entirely on his own now. He brought it upon himself and it was deliberative. Hopefully CNN will still be around when he completes his prison sentences so that he can come and share his prison experience on the network or go there to introduce a book he wrote about life in behind bars. ICHEOKU says all the best Micky. 

PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA TURNS HIMSELF IN WITHOUT ANY RUCKUS: GOOD PLAY.

ICHEOKU says the former president did the right thing by peacefully surrendering and beginning his 15 months prison sentence. Now, that he has shown a good example by peacefully turning himself in and taken into custody, his appeal for reprieve should be favorably considered. 

The essence of the whole contempt of court proceeding is to establish that no one is above the law and that respect to court process is imperative. Leadership is about showing the led how to be a good citizen and the former president have now acquitted himself very well. He is now compliant and should be granted bail, message sent and received. Well done Mr President. 

TRUMP SUES FACEBOOK.

ICHEOKU says President Donald John Trump has brought a class action lawsuit against the three major social media platforms, Facebook, Google and Twitter; alleging violations of his fundamental First Amendment right of free speech. Will he succeed or will the lawsuit be thrown out for lack of merit. ICHEOKU is not presently offering any opinion on the matter and wishes the peoples president the best of luck. 

PRESIDENTS DO NOT JUST GET KILLED LIKE THAT: SO, WHAT HAPPENED IN HAITI?

ICHEOKU says was it with the approval of the White House that President Moise of Haiti was assassinated and if not, where were his country's equivalent of the Secret Service and presidential protection details when he was murdered right inside his own home. A sitting president of any country do not ordinarily just get killed unless a powerful foreign country wanted him or her gone, signed off on it and also supplied necessary logistics to carry out the hit. A sitting president can also sometimes lose his life in a bloody military coup staged against his government, mostly if he puts up resistance and refuses the first offer to resign. There was no military coup in Haiti unless there was an internal palace coup by his government officials, disguised as "foreign assassins" which took out the president. What exactly took place in Port-Au-Prince or was it the United States of American government that wanted the Haiti leader out of power and had him killed? 

Such a high profile hit job requires extensive planning, training, coordination and logistics. Contingency arrangements must have also been made on how to quickly get the assassins out of Haiti. All these must have involved a lot of communications among the conspirators and a large amount of money most likely exchanged hands through international money transfers and other forms of payments, including cryptocurrency. So, with the amount of communications and huge amount of money that will be needed to pull off the assassination of a president, one would expect the United States of America National Security Agencies to have had at least a whiff of the impending assassination from all the message intercepts and call monitoring they are involved in as well as their keeping tab on huge monetary transfers in their fight against money laundering. 

Why did these agencies not get wind of the planned assassination of President Jovenel Moise of Haiti and if not, was it deliberate or due to incompetency. Did they willfully keep a deaf ear to the scheme or were they caught unaware just like millions of other people throughout the world, who are demanding answers and had thought that assassinating presidents is no longer possible in today's world. This is not an effort at holding brief of any kind for the assassinated president, but that the Caribbean region is within the United States of America sphere of influence and naturally, under their special eavesdropping and surveillance coverage area and to a large extent, under the protection of the United States of America as a correlative. So why a president of a country within this premise be assassinated just like that?

America's intelligence agencies definitely scoops information and communications being exchanged within the Caribbean region, principally because of the war on drugs and to keep a lid over any foreign adversary's interference and encroachment in the region. These agencies have extensive coverage and reach globally and tip countries off about planned bad activities by bad players within their country. Russia have severally benefitted from it including when such tip off led to the arrest of terrorists who were about to unleash terrorist attacks both in Moscow and St Petersburg. So if a country as far away as Russia could benefit from information and communications gathering technology of the United States of America intelligence agencies, how then could an assassination plot be incubated within America's backyard, their Caribbean neighbors, and no hint of it was scooped? 

It is a sad commentary on the United States of America that such a dastardly murder of an elected and sitting president could happen inside its area of influence and geopolitical territory without either knowing about it or preventing it. Why has no presidents of satellite countries of Russia and China ever been assassinated? Not even in Africa recently because assassinations of presidents are no longer cool nor very easy these days. So, the whole world is seeking answers to what happened in Haiti, how such is still possible in this 2021 and who approved the hit; because a country's president is the most protected citizen of any country and such a high value individual cannot just be murdered in that way, at least not without hundreds of his also killed bodyguards to show for it. 

If it was a palace coup because of the political impasse in that country, why was other means of getting him out of power not considered instead of going to the most extreme means of assassinating him. His murder will bring back the sad memories of the 80s and 90s when such assassinations were practically a way of changing presidents of countries who was not acceptable to Washington DC. It is despicable assassinating a sitting president of a country regardless of his offense, including as some rumors have it, drug trafficking. He should have been abducted like Noriega and bundled back to the US, tried and sent to prison, rather than just kill him. 

Haiti has suffered enough already and does not need any such additional trauma on the psyche of a people, who would easily pass for the most traumatized people on earth and millions of who are suffering from undiagnosed nor treated PTSD, admitted ignorantly. But from the way they frequently act out and erupt into unimaginable violence, it does not need an expert or professional to determine that Haitians are indeed heavily traumatized. If it is not a devastating earthquake, it is hurricane, mismanagement, hunger, diseases and sicknesses, depravity, economic malaise, lack of basics of life such as good drinking water and of course a demented political class that is rather busy planning how to relocate to Miami after a ruinous governance than building Haiti back better up and into a livable country where prosperity can endure, attracting investors and tourists. It seems too that their voodoo is powerless in the face of these adversities to prevent them or may be it is even the cause of them. 

It is sad that there is no functional country being governed by black people throughout the face of the earth; not Haiti, not Nigeria and not even South Africa which has begun its own steady descent into the abyss of a failed state like so many other black governed political spaces in the world. Even many American previously great cities have been smitten by this spell and have since nose dived into failing cities. Chicago and San Francisco used to wonderful livable and safe cities in America but not any more, due to black ultra liberalism which condones crimes, pursues less policing, shows too much unnecessary empathy and to some degree, inadvertently encourages laziness. 

Something is definitely wrong when a country of 95% black population cannot seem to get its acts together, with the people loving each other to a degree that forging a nation that is enduring becomes their goal. Such a self hating attitude needs to change, it should be condemned and concerted effort made to fix it. Haitians have no white people breathing down their necks and ordering them about, so what then is the problem that is inhibiting them from coming together and building their nation. Is the black person cursed and is it Haiti that is particularly under a spell that these many tragedies became their portion, so close to each other. Why is it that black people cannot seem to get their acts together and do right for their people, whether in Africa or the Caribbean. Although Ghana is showing some signs of a rebirth, but who knows whether it will outlive their current president and become institutionalized in order to be sustainable. 

If Nigeria, the biggest collection of black people on earth had its acts together, they would have immediately sent a contingent to Port-Au-Prince, with or without Paris or Washington DC approval, although better if they did, to go help stabilize the country, help conduct an immediate election and supervise a transition of power. A yawning vacuum has been created with the murder of President Jovenel Mosie and it might snowball into another 1994 Rwanda if not properly managed. If only America's foreign policy was driven by geopolitical interest and considerations, all the Caribbean countries and territories would have been flourishing today. But sadly it is not, the reason a president could be assassinated just like that in Haiti. Imagine the level of development, both in manpower and infrastructures, which the trillions of dollars wasted in Afghanistan and Iraq would have brought in the Caribbean. 

Hopefully, the FBI will assist Haiti authorities unravel what happened and find out how a sitting president was murdered with such ease. It will also be nice if America will help prevent an implosion of Haiti using every means possible, including sending in the Marines to help protect the country. Immediate election should also be conducted in order to avoid a power vacuum and prevent some bad elements from seizing the authority of the Haitian State. The investigation into the assassination should also take a serious look into his wife on how she survived the assassination and whether their marriage was cordial. Some of their pictures did not show a wife with happy face and the late president did not look like he was having the best of marital life either, his gaunt look and melancholic face considered. It is sad. May his soul now rest. Adieu Mr President. 

HAITI PRESIDENT ASSASSINATED: ADIEU MR PRESIDENT.

ICHEOKU says how could such a despicable act be allowed and still possible within the United States of America geopolitical sphere of influence. That a democratically elected and still serving president of Haiti was summarily assassinated inside his home in the country's presidential palace in Port-Au-Prince capital city of Haiti and in this 21st century, previous centuries' assassinations of presidents by the CIA considered. 

It does not make sense and defies of every possible logic that Haiti's president could be murdered just like that and you wonder who else is safe in that country if their president was not. It is condemnable and it stands here condemned by ICHEOKU. It seems that the curse of Haiti never ceases giving its gory gifts and now it is the highest political office holder in the land that it has just claimed. It is sad. President Jovenel Moise was only 53 years old. Adieu Mr President. 

MAZI NNAMDI KANU THREW CAUTION TO THE WIND IN VISITING KENYA?

ICHEOKU says although this is not the time for apportioning blames, but truth be told, a man so exposed to danger and public enemy number one of the Nigerian government, who knew that the Nigerian government wanted him dead or alive, should not have traveled to any African country. Kenya in particular should have been self red-flagged because of their antecedents of arbitrary renditions and history of seizures and repatriations of self exiled citizens of other countries who are wanted by their home countries but who happen to be found on Kenya soil. 

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu should have been aware of the overwhelming influence which Nigeria exerts on the African continent because of its oil money which it spreads in great largess to majority of African countries, without which many of them would have probably gone belly up, broke and bankrupt. But he went anyway and now he is cooling his heels inside one of Nigeria's underground dungeons or rather glorified detention facility in Abuja; if not in one secret, dark and dank cave  somewhere in Sokoto State being guarded by Fulani herdsmen and their cows just for maximum effect. 

Such a personality should not have been traveling rather recklessly and not to Africa; and would have rather sent his aide to go and represent him in whatever business that sent him to Kenya. It was too risky a proposition going to Kenya which his abduction and sell off to Nigeria proves beyond any shadow of doubt. He should have learnt basic lessons 101 of freedom fighting from renown freedom fighters of the world on why they avoid needless exposures. Such usually easily provide the government they are fighting against, the golden opportunity to nab or kill them and with it, end or cripple their struggle. This is why most fabled freedom fighters usually change their "zip code" to the forest and/or bushes in order to make nabbing them difficult. 

But he was enjoying a "five star lifestyle, living in luxury apartment and jetting around in luxurious chartered private jets", which telegraphed to Nigerian authorities a bold red lettered message, "here I am, come and capture me if you can" and of course they did, admitted it took them two long years plus of careful planning. It was avoidable but we cannot and should not dwell on what could have been as now is time to figure out what lies ahead. 

It is regrettable and rather unfortunate that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu sheepishly walked into the snare of his enemy, as walking into any African country is tantamount to walking into Aso Rock. He could have as well saved himself the agonizing torture of the Kenyan government and protected his body from the unknown effects of tranquilizer by simply boarding a flight straight from Heathrow to Nnamdi Azikwe Airport and handed himself over to the first sighted uniformed officer upon arrival. Nigeria's long arm touches and reaches every nook and cranny in Africa, from West to East and from North to South. 

As a country which underwrites most African Union and many African countries' expenses, sometimes supplying some of them with power when Nigerians have no light; allowing their citizens to study free on Nigerian scholarship in Nigerian universities and colleges; providing them with manpower including jurists and technicians; building infrastructures for them such as railway lines, bridges and roads; and in some of the countries even providing them with their armed forces as well as commanding officers, Nigeria maintains a great leverage over Africa countries. So it is either Mazi Nnamdi Kanu did not do his homework on personal security very well by visiting Kenya or he was awfully arrogant in believing that he has become such an untouchable that nothing will happen to him in Kenya.

ICHEOKU watched a recent interview which Mazi Nnamdi Kanu granted a journalist during his last visit to America, which was just a few weeks before he was abducted in Kenya. The female journalist/interviewer had expressed concern about his safety and security and wanted to know why he still travels around freely and so too often; and whether he is not afraid of being captured or even killed by his enemies, particularly the Nigerian authorities. His response was rather dismissively off handedly, that people have been saying that he cannot travel to America because he will be arrested on sight. But that here he is in America and nobody bothered him, not in the plane, not through the immigration and customs which shows that he is a free man and can freely travel to anywhere, whenever he wants. He added that he is not afraid of the Janjaweed Nigerian government because what is in him is greater than them. 

Anyway, as the saying goes, the rest is now history as they ended up abducting him because he suddenly became too relaxed, otherwise why didn't they capture him since the past two years plus they have been hunting him. So, was his abduction in Kenya an otherwise avoidable embarrassment to both himself, the IPOB and other supporters worldwide to whom he was morphing into an invincible legend, which a little humility would have prevented? If he had advisers who he listens to and seeks their counseling before doing anything including traveling, would they have signed off on the Kenya trip? Would they not have figured out the high probability of his being nabbed in Kenya because of Nigeria's extensive influence on the African continent? 

Why was it not obvious to him and his inner council that every country in Africa will be looking for such an opportunity to please Nigeria with the capture of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and make Nigeria perpetually indebted to them for the favor. These impoverished African countries also know that there was a bounty on the head of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and that the Nigerian government will in addition reward them with a check with many zeros as in appreciation. So, why did he travel to Kenya or is it possible that he was counseled against it but he waved it off as "rubbish" and stubbornly traveled to Kenya anyway. Did he think that being a British citizen, that the Kenyan authorities cannot mess with him or seize him and pawn him over to Nigerian government. 

But Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not saying nor disclosing any of the underlying factors of his trip to Kenya, at least not yet. His counsel's reportage of the circumstances surrounding his abduction from Kenya left so many details out such as why he was in Kenya; why he thought it was safe for him to travel to Kenya; what did the Kenya authorities accused him of doing before detaining and taking him into custody. It also did not explain why they tortured him for eight long days and whether they were seeking to coarse a particular information from him and what the information was. 

Was the torture an effort to make him admit or confess to a crime and what crime was it that made them subject him to serious bodily and psychological torture, including physical abuse, beatings, sleep deprivation and waterboarding. Was there any petition for his arrest and detention that led to the harried experience which he endured in Kenya before he was bundled back to Nigeria. Like Jesus Christ before Pontus Pilate, did he invoke Her Majesty's sovereign as a subject of the British Crown and citizen of Britain who is not subject to Nigerian authorities. Did he seek assistance of the British High Commissioner in Nairobi and was he given an opportunity to file a petition against his return to Nigeria or was everything shrouded in illegality.

These are the issues of concern which should occupy everybody now and not that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu "deserves" what happened to him because he "insults everybody and respects nobody" and that "those who would have come to his aid were all insulted by him." This time has no room for reclamations or pointing of accusatory fingers as all hands must be on deck to secure his freedom or force the Nigerian government to deal fairly and equitably with him in incarceration. His cause is for the greater good of the people, both Biafrans and other Nigerians, who he has now opened their eyes to the impunities of the Fulani nomadic death merchants and land grabbers. The least we all should do now is to show support in appreciation for all his sacrifices and keep whatever misgivings against him in the back burner and may be get back to them later after securing his freedom.

It is obvious that some of his utterances were not convivial, but it could be that he was so incensed and overly reacting because of the Nigerian parlous situation which has made majority of Nigerians raving mad and fuming with anger. So such less congenial choice of words of his should be excused as a product of deep seated frustration caused by the Nigeria State and for which every Nigerian, in his or her right mind, should be righteously frustrated as well. What is going on in Nigeria can make anybody run literary mad, so being frustrated is a less evil in comparison. A country which is not formally at war but has such a dire living conditions worse than most countries at war. 

Although his approach and methodology could probably use some finesse and fine tuning, but it is understandable that something triggered him that made him to throw every caution and decorum to the winds, including less regard for his own personal safety. So, it is possible that he was using those "speak" to force people to pay attention to the message which she was delivering and spreading, and not necessarily because of any particular disdain or hatred he has or harbors for anyone or group or religion. He craved attention of a Nigerian people that are obstinately tuned out of their problems and went for the shock treatment with some acerbic words and foul languages to ensure that people are compelled to hear him out.

Even Jesus Christ was mad severally according to the Bible and even cursed out a fig tree as well as chased money changers out of the temple. So, we should judge Mazi Nnamdi Kanu based on the meat of his message and not the disposable bone which has no relevance to the dinner plate. He is frustrated just like millions of other Nigerians by the so many missed opportunities and he is calling attention to them and trying to make millions of "drooling" Nigerians wake up from their stupor. We should therefore not allow our sentimental attachments to needless ancient obeisance and obsequiousness to cloud our sights to the message which Mazi Nnamdi Kanu brought to Nigerians, the need to checkmate Fulani avowed domination of the country. 

The fundamentals of his message must not be allowed to be eclipsed by our distaste for his "uncouth" mannerism and/or lack of "respect for elders" such that we chose to throw away the baby with the bath water. We must not kill the messenger just because he brought a good message with a bad attitude. This moment calls for real logical discerning and the ability to sieve the wheat from the chaff; and also to understand that as humans, we are all fallible. Lets do something with his message that Nigeria could be better and run in a more equitable and just manner than it is being presently run. It is in the best interest of the plurality of Nigerians that a more functional Nigeria is berthed and with it, instead of all the agitations for separatist Nations, Nigerians will be working to build a Nigeria that will be the envy of the rest of the world or at least black Africa and stop being the pariah it presently is where everybody wants to run away from. #MNKdeservesOurSupport.

JACOB ZUMA NOT ABOVE THE LAW: MUST NOT BLUFF HIS WAY OUT OF PRISON.

ICHEOKU says blames Judge Sisi Khampepe for not making her order with immediate effect and marching off the former president straight to  prison, without issuing the five days grace period. It was a contempt of court proceeding which required no other further evidentiary proof outside what the presiding judge had determined were violations of the court which cannot be pardoned and must be punished. Such a commitment to prison order is usually with immediate effect, so why the judge granted the former president the period of reprieve before beginning his 15 months prison term is not clear. 

Could it be out of respect for his position as a former president of South Africa or for his leadership role during the apartheid struggle for which the former president did a 10 years prison term or because of his very advanced old age, in order to allow him time to prepare, both mentally and emotionally, get his house in order and also get his medicines and make other overall necessary arrangement before beginning his prison sojourn. Why did the judge permit this aberration of failing to commit former President Jacob Zuma straight to prison, aware of his theatrics and that such a recalcitrant defiant of the court might once again be up to his tricks and will most likely not turn himself in at the expiration of the five days. 

Now that the worst fear has come through and he failed or refused to turn himself in as initially ordered, the judge must now develop additional courage in saying to Jacob Zuma that his conduct will not be tolerated by adding more months to his already 15 months prison sentence and have Zuma marched off in handcuffs straight to prison. A matter made even more disheartening by the former president comparing the judge to apartheid era and you wonder what racist undertone is in the judgment. Jacob Zuma is a perennial flagrant disrespecter of the court process, a punishable contempt of court and he was punished, so? It is also somewhat defamatory of the person of the judge to compare her, a fellow black person, to the white oppressive government of then apartheid South Africa. She simply upheld the law and courageously said enough of his rascality and all she gets now is being accused of apartheid. 

ICHEOKU says the former president must be hauled off to prison immediately as he is a bad example and his obstinate and impetuous disregard of the judicial process in South Africa should no longer be tolerated or accommodated. The whole world is watching very closely to see if South Africa has fallen to such a lowly rock bottom that the rule of law is no longer respected and whether Jacob Zuma has now grown above the law. The five days have lapsed, the judge must now add teeth to her order by ordering the police to arrest Jacob Zuma immediately and deliver him to the correctional center to begin his prison term. The court concluded that Jacob Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt of court and will be punished. The court has punished him by sentencing him to 15 months imprisonment, so the only thing now left is for the court have Zuma committed to prison. 

Not to do so and to allow his latest shenanigan of an "appeal" to stall his confinement will send the same otherwise avoidable message that the rule of law and administration of justice in South Africa is no longer supreme. He refused to cooperate with the commission of inquiry and said that he would rather go to prison than cooperate with a judicial process. Now that he has been sent to prison, the court must enforce its order and help him realize his preferred goal. He must not be allowed to bullshit his way out of going to prison for contempt of court for which he has been sentenced, because to do so will encourage lawlessness and chaos in South Africa judicial process as other people who might be 'similarly situated in the future will point at the Jacob Zumas example as a precedent whenever faced with court's processes. 

ICHEOKU says strongly believes that if Jacob Zuma is allowed to ignore and disregard a valid  order of a competent court of South Africa, it will shake the foundation of democracy in South Africa since rule of law is the bedrock which anchors every democracy. Imagine the lawlessness which his recalcitrance is already threatening to unleash on South Africa, with some of his thugs insisting that "Zuma is not going to jail" and that they will make South Africa ungovernable if he is sent to prison. What manner of a leader is he anyway if he is encouraging such lawlessness and wishing it envelopes the same country which he once served as its president for eight years? His sentence for contempt of court does not require extensive "trial" as he ignorantly claimed that he was "lambasted with a punitive sentence without trial"; contempt of court proceeding is a summarily weapon in the hands of the court to punish misbehaviors before the court. 

ICHEOKU says hereby rejects his notion that South Africa is sliding back to apartheid rule because he was punished for aggregated disrespectful misconducts and unbecoming contemptible attitude shown to the judicial process. If anyone is eroding any rule of law in South Africa it is Jacob Zuma who has refused to turn himself over to the police as ordered by the court to begin his prison sentence. So yes, many honest persons are accusing him of being against the rule of law as his resistance to a judge order and willful disregard to the judicial process is capable of upsetting the political equilibrium in South Africa by causing social unrest. His action is capable of causing a complete breakdown of law and order in South Africa should his supporters takeover the streets, forcing the government to react. So, yes, Jacob Zuma is against the rule of law. 

If Jacob Zuma claims that he is not afraid of going to jail because he is a veteran, he should  turn himself in to begin his 15 months prison sentence. He needs to have gone to jail since yesterday because the five days grace period granted him by the judge have ran its course. His "long detention" is not without trial because trial was summarily done by the judge as required by the law. His claim too that "sending him to jail at the height of a pandemic and at his age amounts to a death sentence" is laughable because he was oblivious of the same COVID-19 infection when he was dancing with thousands of his supporters in his country home without social distancing and not wearing a mask, in defiance of a complete total lockdown order due to rapid reinfection going on in South Africa. It was also his choice too not to get vaccinated. 

Therefore he should not be allowed to wriggle himself out of prison. He made his choice to disrespect the courts severally; he was convicted of contempt of court and he is now duty bound to serve his sentence. It is not his to decide whether or not he will "constitute himself a prisoner" because a court with authority to do so have already so determined. He should be behind bars in the interest of justice and respect for the rule of law. It is rather unfortunate that supposedly appellate papers he belatedly submitted to the court was accepted and that he will now be heard on July 12th. ICHEOKU condemns it as aiding and abetting his bad behavior and avoiding his penalty for contemptible behavior. Hopefully it will be a mere formality and he will end up being marched to prison. 

How can he assert that if it was up to him that he would once again go to jail for his beliefs as early as today, whether he come alive or not, but that he have never operated as an individual and that he is guided by the views of comrades and family. Continuing, he said that when he saw the police he wondered how they were going to get through all his supporters to get to him. What a mockery of the law enforcement in South Africa by  former president and once chief law enforcement officer of South Africa who is now tacitly encouraging a breakdown of law and order as no sensible person in a leadership position should do. Are these "comrades and family" now superior to the justice system in South Africa that what they think is more weighty than the court pronouncement. 

But as we all probably already know, filing an appeal is not an automatic stay of execution; it must be first expressly pleaded, heard and granted before it has the force of delaying an existing sentence. Therefore Jacob Zuma should be arrested immediately to begin serving his 15 months prison sentence for contempt of court and he can always be released if his appeal succeeds. Failure to do so and to allow him bluff his way out of prison will show that South Africa has joined the list of other African failed States such as Nigeria and is now a place where the rule of law does not apply and does not matter, not any more; and where the proverbial African "big" men and women are above the law. Nobody is above the law and former President Jacob Zuma is not above the law. #ArrestJacobumaNow. 

SOME QUOTES WORTH CHRONICLING.

1. “If Nigeria breaks up, the dominant ideologies in all regions, whether theological or tribal, are going to implode, and this time without a powerful force to check their domination of the minorities within their borders. We are all potential oppressors, and some of our seemingly selfless struggles for freedom are disguised pursuits of a domain to dominate others and practice our own version of dictatorship." - Kashim Shettima.

2. "If you can arrest a freedom fighter operating from a foreign land but cannot arrest terrorists and bandits operating on your own land, your own country, then something is wrong with the whole set up called Nigeria." - Samuel Ortom.

3. "I am on earth for a mission, I shall be the hand for those who have no hands, I shall be the leg for those who have no legs, I shall be the voice for those who are voiceless, even when I want to keep quiet, I cannot because the Holy Spirit is using me." - Father Mbaka.

4. "Even if we had sunk that ship, it would be hard to imagine that it would put the world on the brink of World War III because those who do it know that they can't emerge as winners in that war, and it's very important." - Vladimir Putin.

5. "it takes nothing to join the crowd but it takes a lot to stand alone with a good conscience." - Ibrahim Muhammad, Nigeria's Chief Justice.

6. "I toured the scene; it is worse than what the media images captured. The TV doesn't do it justice. It is really traumatic to see the collapse of a massive structure like that." - Governor De-Santis of Florida.

7. "If I suicide myself, I didn't; I was whacked. If I "hang" myself like Epstein, it will be due to no fault of mine." - John McAfee.

8. "When I saw his friendly, lying look, which sought me out as a voter, I was filled with disgust." - Damien Tarel, the man who slapped a president, President Emmanuel Macron of France. 

9. "Those who wield power are indispensable to any society, and so are those who will stand up to them because it helps to decide whether power will govern us or we will govern power." - Ibrahim Gambari, Professor. 

10. "Everyone wants to ride in a limo with you but only a very few are willing to take a sit next to you on a bus. I’ve learned that all the fame, money and notoriety in the world are meaningless. Television and Twitter don't mean a thing." - Michael Avenatti, convict and creepy porn lawyer of hooker Stormy Daniels.

11. “They have called me all sort of names. They said that I am a Hausa-Fulani irredentist, that I am a Jihadist and all that. Jihadist, when? Where? I am not even an active member of any Islamic organization. I am a Muslim, yes, a devote one, but I believe religion is private. Even here in this office, when it is time for prayer, I just excuse myself as if I am going to the restroom. I don’t ask anyone to come and pray with me because we will all go to our graves separately." - Mallam Nasir el Rufai. 

12. "IPOB has a majority mindset that is not minority friendly." - Remi Omokri. 

13. "Kenyan Government was deeply involved in the abduction, detention and ill-treatment of my client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, before the illegal handover to their Nigerian counterpart.” - Mazi Ejiofor, lead counsel to detained IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. 

14. "We win and lose together." - Gareth Southgate

15. “He’s a real fighter. Guys like that are who I want to lift up. It’s inspiring to me to see this guy going about his everyday life, still loving life, still living life and never giving up hope in life. That’s a real fighter.” - Dustin Poirier on Peyton Murphy, a cancer patient.

16. "You cannot destroy the hope and aspiration of a people destined for greatness and expect them to perpetually bow down in servitude. You cannot destroy a generation of people and expect them not to fight back in demand of their freedom." - Kelechi Madu.

17. "Marriage is not rosy all the time, but it shouldn’t be tears and pains all the time either." - Uche Ogbodo. 

18. "Not a lot of people think that we could have won and, in fact, I think 40% of the people still don’t think we won." - Tom Brady.

19. “It’s dangerous to exist as a persecuted group." - Kashim Shettima

Updated 7/25/21

MAZI NNAMDI KANU'S ABDUCTION: AN ACT OF INTERNATIONAL PIRACY.

ICHEOKU says like the Chinese coronavirus, there are so many variants of the account on how Mazi Nnamdi was captured and forcibly brought back to Nigeria. So many stories have been churned out as to the manner and place of his abduction, leaving many people perplexed and wondering what truly happened. Some people said that the British government bundled him back to Nigeria. Some said that he was apprehended in Ethiopia; some said that he was captured in Kenya; some said that he was arrested in Czech Republic while in transit from Singapore/Hong Kong where he had gone to solicit support for the IPOB struggle for an independent Biafra Nation. Others placed him in Brazil, where a woman allegedly working as  undercover agent for the Nigeria government, lured him and betrayed him into the hands of Nigerian security operatives. 

The British government have denied and disassociated themselves from the abduction, claiming that they neither arrested Mazi Nnamdi Kanu nor handed him over to the Nigerian government. The Kenyan government have also come out to deny their involvement in the abduction and subsequent handover to Nigerian government. However, the lawyer of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu have visited him in detention and has now confirmed that he was abducted from Kenya in collaboration with the Kenyan government, whose security operatives abducted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from an airport in Nairobi as he was transiting back to the United Kingdom. 

According to his narrative, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was apprehended, detained and tortured for eight days in Kenya before he was transferred to Nigerian authorities who then airlifted him back to Nigeria. It is possible too that the Kenya government was paid a huge amount of money by the Nigerian government for facilitating his abduction. But since the Kenyan government denied their involvement in his abduction and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu implicated them as the mastermind, it now behoves the Nigeria government to make the needed clarification and exonerate the Kenya government and absolve them from any complicity, by telling the world how they abducted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and from which country andl condemn Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as lying and being out of his mind. 

Their merely saying that he was "intercepted" is not enough because they did not intercept him in a void, but from some tangible space, either in an airplane or an airport or some other place suitable for human presence and/or habitation. The clarification is also necessary to either impute liability on the Kenya government and hold them out as a lying piece of manure or debunk the account given by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. But why would Mazi Nnamdi Kanu lie about where he was when he was abducted since he has nothing to gain by implicating a country which was not involved in his kidnap. Even torturing him and injecting him with muscle relaxing tranquilizer to enable his airlift back to Nigeria is additional violation and criminal trespass of his person.

ICHEOKU says understands the hesitance of the Nigerian government in disclosing the location and country of his abduction, because that will expose such a furtive country to some backlash from incensed Nigerians, particularly Biafrans. But carrying a heist on the body of person leaves them with no much choice because what they did is criminal and illegal, necessitating full disclosure of all the involved parties. What they did amounts to international piracy which is punishable and condemnable as it has the potential of impeding free air travels and transits through airports worldwide including those in Kenya. 

How is what happened to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu any different from the Belarus forced plane landing of RyanAir jet and forcible arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich by the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko? Such acts of brigandage and forcible seizure of a human beings cannot and should not be tolerated as it will only encourage tyrants everywhere abducting people they consider threatening in unsafe manners, whenever their dirty hands can reach or they can bribe their way to securing such an outcome from greedy third party countries. President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has proved himself vulnerable to such external influence as the story goes that he was paid $50 million by the Nigerian government for the seizure and delivery of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. It smacks of human trafficking and government gangsterism between Aso Rock and whatever its equivalent in Nairobi Kenya is. 

It is an open secret that most countries in Africa are financially supported from the coffers of Nigeria, hence Nigeria holds such a great influence in many African countries' presidential houses. Kenya is not an exception and possibly President Uhuru Kenyatta was blackmailed to sell his conscience with many zeros of Green backs.It is also possible that he did what he did in solidarity with Nigeria in the spirit of African Union, desiring to help a fellow African country solve a problem of separatist movement presently bugging it down. But whether it was purely altruistic or he was compromised, it is irrelevant; as a person legally passing through a Kenya international airport in Nairobi should not have been abducted by the Kenyan government in the first place, talk-pless of selling the person over to a third party country outside the traveler's itinerary for a handsome bargain.

The United Nations and the IATA must intervene in this matter as travelers cannot just be kidnapped and sold off to another country by a country through which they were merely transiting just like that. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu arrived in Kenya on a valid British passport with duly issued Kenya's entry visa as required. He finished whatever business that brought him to Kenya, which understandably had to do with his IPOB struggle for an independent Biafran homeland, and was on his way back to London when Kenyan security officials forcibly took him into custody at the airport. 

They tortured him for eight long days for no reason other than on behalf of Nigerian government before handing him off to Nigerian government, which sources claimed paid a whopping $50 million in bargain. He did not break any known Kenyan law and his entry to Kenya was validly made; yet they kidnapped and tortured him and handed him off to Nigeria in return for a bargained amount certain. 

This was the story of how Mazi Nnamdi Kanu ended up back in Nigeria's custodial detention after he had escaped the several attempts made by the Nigerian government's security operatives to assassinate him previously. The account came from the proverbial horses' mouth, as despite the mind altering and muscle relaxing drugs which were pumped into his vein during the whole nightmarish abduction, he still had the presence of mind to remember where he traveled to and was taken into custody from. His British passport was stamped in Nairobi with entry approval by the Kenyan Immigration Service; and so were his purchased plane tickets from London to and from Nairobi. 

So, with this aspect of the story, that it was Kenyan government that seized him and handed him over to Nigeria, now no longer in doubt, what remains for adjudication is the illegality of what the Kenya government did and why they should be punished for committing such an act of international piracy, engaging in human trafficking and profiteering from an abduction of a traveler who was merely passing through their airport. It was a rude shock to millions of Nigerians as well as millions of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu's followers and supporters worldwide that the Kenyan government of President Uhuru Kenyatta could do what he did, abduct a freedom fighter in his country's airport and hand him over to a tyrannical Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, who has been threatening to mercilessly deal with him. 

The blood-shot eyed President Uhuru Kenyatta cannot say that he is not aware of the repeated attempts at the life of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the Nigerian government; nor will he feign ignorance of the repressions of the Nigerian government and ongoing agitations in Nigeria which was triggered by wanton kidnappings and killings of innocent Nigerians by the ethnic Fulani murderous vampiric herdsmen. A blood thirsty group of fiends who are being encouraged and protected by their kinsman President Muhammadu Buhari; and whose criminalities are not being punished. So, on which side is President Uhuru Kenyatta anyway or does he support the genocide going on in Nigeria against Christians and other ethnic groups, one of which groups  Mazi Nnamdi Kanu currently champions their cause.  

If the Nigerian authorities have been on the trail of Mazi (Mr) Nnamdi Kanu for over two years and he has been traveling and visiting other countries, why then must it be President Uhuru Kenyatta who should sanction his abduction from Kenya and handover to Nigeria? Even the words of the Nigerian authority used in describing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, shows their contempt for him. So what if he lived a five star lifestyle? So what if he flew private? So what if he lived in luxury? So what if he is dapper and always in designer clothes and shoes? And so what if he was decked up in Fendi ensemble when they nabbed him? 

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu represents something very great and very important and he has to look the part. He has never worked for the government of Nigeria and therefore cannot be accused of stealing Nigeria's money or looting Nigeria's treasury. So what is the Aso Rock's headache about his five star lifestyle? IPOB is the largest mass movement in the world and they sponsor the lifestyle of their leader however they see fit, so deal with it Nigerian government. 

Unfortunately, the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union as well as the African Union are all playing deaf and are indifferent to the presently smoldering crisis in Nigeria. They will not intervene now to help solve the problem now that it is still manageable and can be easily resolved without the need for a large scale wastage of human lives and wanton destruction of properties. When eventually, things get out of control with its attendant calamitous human displacements, all of them will start to pretend that they care about Nigerians with their pretended frantic efforts to find a resolution of the conflict and cater to the displaced. 

ICHEOKU says whether they are deliberately waiting to first sell their weapons and see Nigeria's population reduced in an ensuing conflagration, nobody knows. But whatever may be their ulterior motive or reason for their reluctance for not stepping in now to help resolve the burning issues of agitations in Nigeria, the problem on the other side, should a total outbreak of conflict ensue, will be one heck of a load for the world to bear. Wisdom demands that it will be less costly for the world and Nigeria's human capital, for them to step in now and do the needful to reduce and possibly resolve the tension building up in Nigeria. 

If it is not possible, then to peacefully divide Nigeria as was done in South Sudan, Kosovo and other places where the construct of colonialism and capitalism forced irreconcilable ethnic groups to be lumped together into one unworkable political entity. If Luxembourg with less than 650,000 people can be a country, ditto so many other European countries of less than 5 million in population, why then can't Nigeria with over 200 million people be divided into as many countries as the people desire in order for peace to reign. But as with so many reasonable people, ICHEOKU says would rather Nigeria fixed its problems of fairness and equity among its various inhabitants, than to have it balkanized. 

But if dividing Nigeria becomes the only option that will avert a very destructive inevitable war in Nigeria's future date definite, for Christ's sake, hell yes, divide Nigeria into even six countries, if that is what it will take to avert such a fate befalling the world. Whatever needs to be done to avoid an implosion of the largest concentration of black people on earth and Africa's most populous country which is home to more than 20% of African population should be done and done now. The ICC should also take notice that the governments of President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and President Muahammadu Buhari of Nigeria are gangster governments and they engage in international piracy of kidnapping and human trafficking. 

 HAPPY JULY 4TH AMERICA!

SHE EARNED THE RIGHT TO COMPETE IN THE OLYMPICS: LIFT THE BAN.

ICHEOKU says Sha'Carri Richardson earned it the hard right way, sweat and good ole guts. She did not cheat nor slept her way through to being simply the best female runner currently in America and preparatory to the Tokyo summer Olympics. She should therefore be allowed to go do her thing in Tokyo and show the world that when she can back it up with performance, it ain't arrogance flaunting what her mama gave to her; because all that swag, she got it from her mama. What her effort gave to her, let no frigging marijuana smoking be allowed to take it away. Sha'Carri Richardson rocks, so let her rock Tokyo Olympics. Please help fight for a review of her case. It is just an ordinary marijuana use and it is legal in Oregon. #LiftTheBan. 

SHE SMOKED MARIJUANA, SO?

 BAN HER FOR WHAT? SMOKING MARIJUANA? REALLY?

ICHEOKU says if Kamala Harris could be in the White House, so could Sha'Carri Richardson go to the Tokyo summer Olympics. They are both potheads but that did not stop them from excelling in their respective careers. #UnbanSha'Carri.

HAPPY JULY 4TH AMERICA: LET STAND WITH SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON.

ICHEOKU says with a mind laden by the suspension of sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson hereby wishes America a wonderful July 4th celebration. As we celebrate the independence of the United States of America, let us continue to improve each other and not needless demoralize people who are working so hard, trying to do good for themselves and also for the country. 

Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson should rather be encouraged and supported and should not have been banned from the Tokyo Olympics for simply smoking marijuana. The punishment is too harsh; it does not fit the "crime" and is more than the "offense" which she allegedly committed by puffing some buds smoke. 

ICHEOKU says where are all those marijuana advocates, including those profiting millions from its use, standing up and protesting the decision by USADA. It is time to stand with Sha'Carri and demand justice and fairness for her and to "un-disqualify" her and allow her to shine at Tokyo Olympics. Happy 4th everybody. #StandWithSha'Carri. 

STAND WITH SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON: ASK USADA TO LIFT THE BAN.

ICHEOKU says she is a goddess of the tracks and her sun must not be deemed just because she smoked marijuana. Kamala Harris did and so did Bill Clinton, admitted he lied about not inhaling. Where are all the feminist females of America at, standing idly by, watching and doing nothing as their fellow woman is being taken out of the Tokyo Olympics just for marijuana use? How about BLM or is she not black enough or ain't black despite voting for Joe Biden to be protected and protested for? Please let everyone stand up and get the back of Sha'Carri Richardson as smoking marijuana should not be enough reason to take away her golden opportunity at Tokyo. ICHEOKU stands with her, how about you. #LetSha'CarriRun.