Professor Emmanuel N Obiechina died in Silver Spring Maryland USA on November 8, 2010; he was 77 years old. The academic world shall sorely miss this scholar who got his PhD in English Language since 1967; and have registered his presence in the field of education as well as the publication of educational materials. Icheoku says, may his academic soul rest in peace!
Monday, November 8, 2010
EMMANUEL OBIECHINA (PROFESSOR), IS DEAD!
Professor Emmanuel N Obiechina died in Silver Spring Maryland USA on November 8, 2010; he was 77 years old. The academic world shall sorely miss this scholar who got his PhD in English Language since 1967; and have registered his presence in the field of education as well as the publication of educational materials. Icheoku says, may his academic soul rest in peace!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
SAMSON SIASIA, AN INDIGENOUS COACH SOLUTION TO NIGERIAN AILING FOOTBALL.
Clemens Westerhof sabotaged Nigeria in World Cup 1998 in the United States when his inexplicable substitution of Daniel Amokachie and Emmanuel Amuneke made its possible for Italy to defeat Nigeria. Bonfere Joe was no better and so were all those other mercenary pale-skinned coaches who came to Nigeria to earn their living wages not deserving of their pay checks. Football is all about politics and as always, no one can be more catholic than the pope himself and no one can sing your praise more than yourself. So our position then, now and tomorrow remains the same - that only a Nigerian coach can resolve the footballing logjam currently afflicting Nigerian football. It is on this premise therefore that Icheoku applauds and rejoices with the rest of other sports, especially football, loving Nigerians on the hiring of an indigenous coach to mentor the Eagles of Nigeria. Samson Siasia has been chosen as the new head coach of the Nigerian Eagles and Icheoku has no beef with the choice; and without going into the merits or demerits of his selection, all that is needed now is the support of every Nigeria to enable him succeed. It is not going to be easy or a smooth voyage without the tempest; but hey, sea going vessels are not made for the safe harbor so all hands must be on deck to navigate this baby to safety and see Nigeria Eagles winning soccer laurels once again.
For Coach Samson Siasia to succeed in his new assignment, certain conditions must be made right including allowing him the freedom to do his job. A necessary concomitant to this is the free hand to operate:- to choose and select his team without the undue pressure of quota system by NFF officials, trying to field their favored players especially in international tournaments just for the mouth-watering dollar allowances. Siasia's weapon of choice for their resistance should be the media and he should never be timid about this but must scream on top of his lungs each time they foray and let Nigerians know that his arms are being twisted and by naming the very official involved. Failure to so alert Nigerians of such undue pressure will come back to haunt him should he fail on his national assignment, as the same officials will be the ones leading the charge against him to sack him as a failed coach. This vocalized protest is imperative and Siasia must use it as a weapon of mass destruction against all those roadblocks militating against Nigeria's Eagles' attaining soccer pinnacle in world.
Further, Siasia must not be shy at using the proverbial jackhammer on any unruly or disrespectful player who might be tempted to look down on him or otherwise question his authority; a thing which they would not ever contemplate were the coach of a light pale skin - the never going-away colonial tinged mentality. Stephen Keshi had a similar experience when coaching Togolese national team when their Adebayor (Manchester City) would not obey his instruction and was pivotal to his being sacked eventually. Siasia must be allowed to weld the big stick on any player no matter how highly rated or deep pocketed; and none of them should ever be allowed to demean his new office or undermine his authority. Siasia's power of discipline must be explicitly inked in the contract and must not be amenable or subjected to any overriding superior authority in the NFF or any other whatsoever. The buck of mentoring the Eagles should squarely lie on his shoulders, period.
Also the contract between Siasia and NFF must be firm and the fixed term of four years should be made subject to renewal at the expiration of the stated term based on performance. By this proviso, notwithstanding the lack of performance or under-performance of his within the contract period, he must not be fired or have his salary or allowance withheld; but must be given time sufficient enough to turn things around. Icheoku is talking about a real contract with all the 'ts' and 'is' properly crossed and dotted and such contract as would be easily enforceable should the Nigeria usual factor creep in somewhere down the road. In the event the NFF become adamant on letting him go before the expiration of his term, they should be made to pay a hefty penalty and vice versa Siasia, who should be made to respect the full term of the contract putting his best effort forward.
The Nigeria Football Federation must be prepared to rest its fate fully on the indigenous coach and be ready to swim or sink with it; and should never mete out to Siasia the Amodu treatment whereby a coach who qualified the Eagles against all odds for South Africa 2010 was later sidelined for an incompetent pale-skinned coach Lagerfield who later proved a monumental disaster at South Africa 2010. Coach Siasia must be made comfortable just like those white coaches who have lead Nigeria's Eagle in the past both in remuneration and perks of office; including things and officials to work with. To this effect, there should be a functioning department at NFF purely catering for the needs of the Eagles and their coach to ensure that the usually attendant bureaucracies are cut away and that the new coach gets what he needs to do his job and succeed; and when he needs it. Siasia should also be exposed to international coaching seminars and workshops world-over in order to learn more tactics as well as fine-tune his own coaching skills - simply put, the NFF should invest heavily in this experiment of an indigenous coach and see it turn a profit for Nigeria football. Even attending some European, Asian and South America Football Associations league matches and competitions especially the finals will not hurt his continuing education in football coaching.
Now a little digress on Stephen Keshi, admitted there cannot be two captains of a ship at the same time, but based on his prior records of performances as well as international coaching assignments in Togo and Mali, and having personally captained the Nigeria Eagles side in the past, Icheoku believes that making him assistant coach to Siasia will not be a bad idea. The NFF should offer Stephen Keshi the assistant coach position since they admitted that he interviewed greatly for the head coach job except that Siasia is who the masses in Nigeria wanted and preferred. So in some sarcastic speaking terms, Keshi was the runner-up of Siasia and should automatically get the number two position, except where he rejects it. Icheoku says populism is never a good anchor for any important decision making, but what will be in the best interest of the subject matter under advisement and in this case, football in Nigeria. Hiring a national coach for the Eagles should not have been decided on what is popular because sometimes the masses are plebianistic in their approach and like mobs, usually follows the flow. Resume and past records of performance and the commanding personality of the person would have been the most important deciding factors in choosing a new coach for the Eagles. But hey, a decision has been made, Siasia has been hired and Nigerians has to support the choice of their new indigenous coach and root for him to succeed.
Finally Coach Siasia should not rely solely on foreign based players to do the job required to be done with Nigeria winning footballing competitions but must also raise a home side that could effectively compete and vie for positions with their foreign based counterparts. The new Eagles waiting a rebirth should be a mixed bag, a potpourri of home-based and Diaspora players, each working to earn a place in the national side each time there is a tournament. If otherwise, then the argument favoring his hire will be defeated, since Nigeria might as well have settled for a foreign coach who could also assemble foreign players each time there is a competition. But Samson Siasia's job includes developing Nigeria football and working with the other coaches of the home FA to give Nigeria football industry a bang for their bucks. Why would sports bars in Nigeria be tuning to Barclays Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga or Conmebol each weekend to watch other federations clubs when they can be doing that with the Nigeria league? Icheoku therefore says, the new indigenous coach must raise and rely heavily on the indigenous home-based players and help grow the industry. No position should ever be reserved for anyone player no matter how highly rated he is but each should be made to compete to earn their jersey and let the best always play. It will not be easy but it is doable; it will be rough but it could be smoothen; it will be tough but the strong will always find a way through or around it; and where there is a will there is always a way. On this note, Icheoku with the rest of soccer-loving Nigerians wish the new Eagles head-coach, Samson Siasia, God's speed as he proceeds to restore hope to a hopeless Nigeria Eagles side that has for every intent and purpose been written off. Congratulations Siasia, all the best!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, A BASTARD SON OF AN IGBO POLICE OFFICER?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A DEMOCRATIC NO VICTORY AND VICTORY MID-TERM ELECTIONS?
Last Tuesday's Mid-term elections have come and gone, with it Democrats loss of control of the House of Representatives to Tea-Party Republicans. But amidst all the cacophony of an election lost and won, was the unsung victory of rational Americans who said 'NO' to absolute madness of the far right Tea Party anarchists. Americans wholly rejected extremism and irrationality as they said thanks but no to the candidacy of Nevada's Sharon Angle, Delaware's Christie O'Donnel, Colorado's Ken Buck and soon to be made official Alaska's Joe Miller. Unfortunately though, Rand Paul, the other extremist from Kentucky, managed to sneak through the dragnet into the Senate; but his lonely voice of madness will be drowned-out by 99 other voices of reason. Icheoku calls on progressives everywhere and other rational Americans who made this possible to celebrate their victory over extremism; and not to dwell too much on an election lost by Democrats since 2012 is almost around the corner to reclaim what was lost!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
MID TERM ELECTION 2010, A VICTORY FOR RATIONALITY AND DEMOCRATS?
Monday, November 1, 2010
SHEDDING OF IGBO BLOOD BY IGBO PEOPLE, ALARMINGLY JUST TOO MANY!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
RAND PAUL'S CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR TIM PROFITT, A WOMAN STOMPER!
The crazy bald-head volunteer and campaign coordinator of Kentucky's United States Senator wanna-be Republican Rand Paul, Tim Profitt, seen in this picture right with Rand Paul stomps on women. He nearly killed one such female when he stomped her on her shoulder, neck and head while she was held down and pinned down on the concrete pavement by his other accomplice thugs. Her offense, the woman was only trying to exercise her freedom of speech and expression by holding a protest poster of Rand Paul where he could see it and possibly read it?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
FRANK T. CAPRIO OF RHODE ISLAND, A DISRESPECTFUL DEMOCRAT!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
GREGORY ISAACS, MR NIGHT NURSE IS DEAD!
The reggae world has lost yet another one of its finest - Gregory Isaacs, the originator and the man who brought the world hits like 'Night Nurse,' 'Number One etc.' Gregory died of complications from lung cancer at his London home October 25th; he was 59 years old. Icheoku says lung cancer has become the killer in chief of many of these reggae ambassadors and it was the same lung cancer that took the life of legendary Bob Nestor Marley in 1986. Reggae fans all over the world surely miss Gregory; but our consolation lies in the fact that as a Rastafarian, he will now join Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and the rest of them departed in Jah Kingdom where they can smoke ganja and party non-stop till thy kingdom come. No more pains for dem Rastaman Gregory. Icheoku says, so long Mr. Night Nurse!
Monday, October 25, 2010
JUAN WILLIAMS OUSTER, FREEDOM OF SPEECH CURTAILED FOR MINORITIES?
It is very interesting to note the wild-fire furor generated by the firing of former NPR commentator Juan Williams by the radio station's chief executive officer Vivian Schiller. Icheoku condemns the crucifixion of Juan's freedom of speech right by the radio's CEO, who considered, albeit subjectively, that the statement accredited to Juan that he gets nervous on airplanes whenever he sees Muslims, as prejudicial to Muslims. In Juan's very own words, while speaking on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox-News television Channel, "When I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."
But why is Juan Williams firing making all the headline and front-pages of our newspapers? Why the public outcry or rather Republicans and Fox-News hysteria over an employment contract matter which one of the parties choose to terminate? Why the throwing of feat that Juan Williams was fired? Afterall Juan Williams was not the first nor will he be the last employee to be so fired by a media house or radio station, based on a hurt-feeling emanating from what was said or written about. Dan Rather was fired by CBS for a news report critical of George Bush's service or lack thereof in the military; Don Imus was fired for a commentary of "nappy hairs" in reference to Rutgers female basketball players; and most recently, Rick Sanchez was fired by CNN for stating the fact that Jews control the media in America. Now suddenly Juan Williams was let go and low and behold, the heavens will fall if he is not reinstated? Said who? Who in his real senses is asking that this Uncle Tom gets his job back at NPR, fully seized of his dirty mouth that needs some soap-washing? Definitely not NAACP and not Icheoku, as this guy has sold his black-soul to the white devil and hauntingly thinks himself white and more superior as he continuously disparages black people. During the 2008 President Barack Obama's presidential campaign effort, this Juan WIlliams readily commented as if he regrets the color of his skin and never supported Obama's effort. Now he has been told to his face that hanging out with White people does not automatically earn one certain privileges such as unabridged freedom of speech or otherwise make one a white person.
The firing of Juan Williams once again shows what minorities in America must always put up with - to advise themselves that they should always know their place within any given setup, when they are magnanimously let in. Also to learn how to fall in line and only speak when they are spoken to or told to; and speak only what they have been told to say, but never to have or formulate any independent opinion or be let go in defiance. Regrettably too, several years since slavery ended and with a blackman in the white House, it is still same old same old as it appertains to black Americans and other minorities who are expected to always defer to their white superiors and as a correlation, keep their thoughts to themselves. To survive, they must become totally and completely emasculated, 'zombie-fied' and kow-tow to whatever line that are drawn for them by their superiors and assume a complete subservient status that is expected of them otherwise their ass is out the door as the Juan William example just told. Icheoku believes that were Rush Limbaugh a blackman or any other minority, spitting the incendiary toxicity he spews out five days a week on our airwaves, steps would have since been taken to cage him or to borrow their words, let him go! But hey, he is a white-boy and hence privileged to holler fire in a crowded theater, while media minders pretend it is Oxycontin that is speaking and that it is not really his act?.
Icheoku has no beef with any employer cutting loose an employee, but please let it be for some good reason or cause and not just for such subjective non-plus reason that a speech was deduced as capable of demeaning a group. CNN's Rick Sanchez is also a victim of this conspiracy to subjugate and shut-up minorities of America, their voices stifled and near-silenced and no one among them ever allowed to rise above certain pay-grades within the media industrial complex. All the major networks have no minority host of a program and Icheoku makes bold to ask, if the Jews do not own and control the media in America, who does; and this was the offence Rick Sanchez was accused of committing resulting in his ouster from the CNN? But who among these conservative sympathizers rose in defense of Rick Sanchez when he was fired or was it because they considered him an elitist liberal freethinker; unlike their lap-dog Juan Williams; who they are now raising hell to have reinstated or have the government subsidy to NPR withdrawn in lieu. Whether Juan is a marked man waiting to be taken-down Icheoku does not know for certain, but suffice it to say that both NPR and Fox-News are such two polar opposites that one wonders how anyone could sincerely and objectively work for both stations and still go to bed at night eyes shut, convinced that he did himself and his listeners some service. But Icheoku shall rest on one commentator's observation that 'Juan Williams association with Fox-News was troubling and most likely damaged NPR's reputation for objectivity; to have a well known voice of Fox-News serving in the capacity as an NPR commentator. Good enough Fox-News have signed Juan to a two million dollar contract as a payback for holding forte their and shamelessly driving their agenda. What a reward for selling one's conscience and people still blame Judas; but that does not give NPR right to censure speeches in that fashion?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
ABUJA BOMB BLAST, A BLAST AIDED BY AND MIRED IN GROSS INCOMPETENCE!
Icheoku says at no other time has the truth been murdered much more by the Nigerian security operatives as was in the press conference addressed by Marilyn Ogar, assistant director public relations of the dreadful Nigerian State Security Services. While addressing a press conference to inform the world on the ongoing investigation into the Abuja independence anniversary celebration bombing, Madam Assistant Director said, "The SSS is a public service and people come here and go out at will. The vehicles used for the bombing were wired for detonation at Charles Okah’s house in Port Harcourt and driven to Abuja."
Madam Assistant Director also claimed during her press conference that MEND's ambassador plenipotentiary, Charles Tombra Okah has been identified as the alter-ego of ‘Gbomo Jomo,’ and that he uses that alias to send emails on behalf of MEND including those that warned of the impending blasts which later took off the shine from an ill-advise, thoughtless, self-serving and wasteful extravaganza amidst millions of hungry Nigerians. Now a good gum-shoes would have gone a step further to inform the world on how they reached that conclusion - informing the world on the evidential steps taken to arrive at that determination. But no, she was addressing a cowered populace whose journalists have eaten of the truth-forbidden fruit and for brown enveloped transport money, would not waste their time digging deep into a developing story. The assistant director said it and that makes it true; really? There was no identity suggesting the two personalities as the same person; there was no information scooped from a hard-drive somewhere to buttress the assertion; there was no percipient witness who testified as to the dual identities; or was there any false document/s with the alias found in Okah's possession with his picture on it; yet she told the world that the SS has identified Okah as the 'Gbomo Jomo.' Icheoku asks, if it is truly Okah that is Gbomo Jomo, why then does the said Gbomo Jomo still write emails while its body-double Okah is in detention in faraway South Africa; or is he getting access to a computer as was his interview with Al-Jazeera television while in detention? If truly Okah is the Gbomo Jomo, why did another Gbomo Jomo write again just this week alerting Abuja residents of an upcoming bombing of their city? Icheoku strongly believes that political pressure is pushing state security operatives into desperately wanting to solve this problem immediately and in the process, things are being muddled up and rushed through. Just in case, a direct question to Madam Assistant Director, 'how did your agency establish that Okah is the same person as Gbomo Jomo?