THE CONFEDERATE FLAG IS DOWN, GOOD RIDDANCE TO A CONTINUING NUISANCE?

Icheoku says but what took it so long and this long; 54 long years of uninterrupted free flustering in the winds on South Carolina's state capital building grounds in Columbia?  What a riddance to a continuing nuisance which has festered for too long and which would have still not been abated but for the uproar generated by the murder of nine innocent black parishioners. A good step in the right direction though; admitted this is not the end nor the beginning of the end of racism in America; but might eventually become the end of the beginning. As once said by the wartime British Prime Minster Winston Churchill, Icheoku hopes this is a step in finally, frontally, addressing the issue of racism and with utmost sincerity in America. The removal of the racist slave confederate flag today from South Carolina state capital grounds in Columbia is not going to end racism nor is it the beginning of the end of racism; but if peradventure, it furthers steps in that direction, then the removing of the flag will cease being a mere symbolic reaction to current public opinion but indeed an assured step towards racial equality in America. 

It is regrettable that it took the killing of nine parishioners inside their church to stir the souls in South Carolina into doing something about a long existing divisive racial symbol called the confederate flag. Icheoku says being good and doing good should be a naturally occurring act which manifests in spontaneity and not prodded or merely responsive to shifting sands of opinions. It should be a way of life and not just something that is predicated on events as they unfold. Query, so without those nine black people being executed inside their church, does it mean that those lawmakers in South Carolina  would have continued to ignore the cries that the confederate flag reminds black Americans of something very sinister and asinine called slavery? That the confederate flag continues till this day to represent racial inequality in America; with a white people claiming superiority over blacks, who are daily subjugated. That there is something about the symbolism of the flag which reminds some people of a dark history and that those on its receiving end did not feel good sighting the flag flying so menacingly on the grounds of their state capital in a way suggestive that the entire state is supportive of their horrendous history?

Ordinarily, Icheoku would have celebrated the removal of that insidious symbol of racism with more fanfare had it happened without the prompting of a sacrificed nine black lives including a member of the South Carolina senate, Pastor Clementa Pinckney. But heck no, as is always the case, some black lives must necessarily always be sacrificed before any inch would be conceded to them as full humans. Icheoku still somehow holds the government and people of South Carolina collectively responsible for the action of Dylaan Roof, who believed in the flag and what it represents, when he killed those nine. Icheoku is of the opinion that had so obtrusively displaying the flag, despite what it truly indeed represents, not been an official policy of the state, may be Dylaan Roof would not have misread its purport and seen blacks in the jaundiced eyes which made him take their lives. The acceptance and tolerance of that flag for this long helped encourage, foster  and feed the behavior which took those nine lives. A tacit approval which telegraphs that yes, white people are superior and black people are inferior; and it takes a higher entity to snuff the life out of a lower entity including in the animal world? 

It took 54 long years of all manners of discrimination, unlawful arrests and imprisonments, beatings, torture, killings and eventually the final killing of nine innocent worshippers inside their church for that flag to finally come down? Anyway, better late than never; admitted never late would have been better. But it is America and the white people are tone-deaf to black peoples centuries of complain of racial inequality and its attendant discriminatory segregation in America. So for listening to the cries this time around and following through by bringing their flag down, Icheoku says commendable. Hopefully, this will help start a new beginning of real racial integration and assimilation in America. At last it will appear that those nine killed did not die in vain, as by bringing down the flag as a result of their death, they died to give black Americans hope and reason to hope again. Salute to their memory and salute to the courage of the white people that spearheaded the campaign to bring down the flag and who eventually brought down this flag of bigotry. A history was indeed made with this action and now the flag can go to where it belongs - an archive or historical museum; where it can now rest without remaining a continuing nuisance and source of irritation on the grounds of the state capital. Like blackhawk down, the racist confederate flag is down, never to fly again.

IRANIAN NUCLEAR DEAL, A SMART IRAN SHOULD DEAL NOW?

Icheoku says if only the Islamic Republic of Iran is smart enough to know that the present opportunity presented at the ongoing nuclear negotiation with the West is a once in a life opportunity that should be grasped with both hands, they would have since done the needful and put their pen on the paper sealing the deal. A great risk which President Barack Obama is taking and against all odds, especially a stiff opposition by the Jewish State of Israel and a United States of America congress which is literally in Tel Aviv's pocket, negotiating what would be literally the mother of all negotiations to end the continuing tension in the Middle East and years of no real diplomatic relationship with the West. So why is the Islamic republic holding out or rather stretching this talk and needlessly trying to sabotage an opportunity of a lifetime which if it goes might never surface again. 

Icheoku says only a non-white president of the United States of America could bravely go up against such entrenched Zionist's interest to keep Iran permanently isolated; and therefore a thinking Iran must as a matter of urgency not allow this presented window to be shut on its face, not now that so many things are this close to being realized. This Iranian nuclear deal is a great opportunity that will also normalize their relationship with the West, a relationship which has been on ice or rather on tundra frost for so many decades since that 1973 hostage taking at American embassy in Tehran. It is an opportunity worth taking now while a president who is not entirely beholden to the wishes of the state of Israel still sits in the Oval office. Icheoku laments that the Iranians are still dragging this thing out and you ask for what purpose or eventual end and conclusion? A deal they should have since accepted on its surface and then consequent thereof, ask for some periodic tweaking as their implementations come alive. But unfortunately world politics is not that easy as so many vested interests particularly President Vladimir Putin's Russia, is flexing its muscles and through back channels encouraging Iranian obstinacy and never landing on this deal. Icheoku is emphatic that but for President Putin's encouragement and arm twisting, Iran would have since put pen on the paper on this nuclear deal that has severally reached set deadlines with new ones set but which never gets to conclusively seal it. 

But hey, like with everything else, talks or diplomacy does have a shelf line. Icheoku prays the Iranians would realize this inevitable fact and strike while the deal is still hot and available or forever regret missing such a golden opportunity presented to them while a president named Barack Hussein Obama still presides at the White House. Icheoku knows for a fact that there are so many people in the United States congress as well as opinion leaders and leaders of industry and some other world leaders who wish this deal is never reached because they are beholden to Israel and wants to do what will please Bibi Netanyahu, the chief antagonist of any deal with Iran. But while President Obama still can, pushing back so the avalanche of pressure from this anti-deal quarters, Iran should do the needful and sign this deal. They should put an end to all these their puerile standoff which is not in their best interest and sign the deal  without any further ado, delay, hesitation or needless shifting of goalpost or making unattainable demands. Icheoku therefore calls on the authorities in Tehran, particularly the Ayatollah, to sign off on this deal and authorize for the deal to be signed. It is in the interest of world peace and the people of Iran who have waited since 1973 to be fully assimilated back to the world community and cease being seen as pariahs or untouchable lepers that this deal is reached and signed now. Unlike Bibi Netanyahu who condemns any deal as bad deal and said that a no-deal is better than a bad deal, Icheoku counters that any deal over the nuclear ambition of the Iranians is better than a deal not being reached at all; as any grey areas could be tweaked later. So Iranians, do the needful, sign the deal NOW.

A NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT ON AUTO PILOT - ARMSFREE AJANAKU

THE framers of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution must have taken the enormity of governance into consideration when, in their wisdom, decided to create a space for ministers of the government of the federation. 

And as if a pointer to the inclusiveness and broad character that must underlie governance, the Constitution makes it mandatory for each of Nigeria’s 36 states to produce, at least, one minister to work with the nation’s helmsman. 

While the ministers hold their offices at the pleasure of the President, the constitution has envisaged them as inseparable components of the entire governance architecture. 

Added to this are the various provisions that give the body of ministers, designated as the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) in the Constitution, wide powers to take certain fundamental decisions that go beyond policy making and implementation. 

If, for instance, the President is incapacitated, the Executive Council of the Federation is one body the Constitution gives the powers to rescue the situation.

It is, therefore, apparent that the Constitution does not intend any form of sole administration in the governance of the country. This is why Section 147 provides, “there be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President.” 

The need for ministers as important parts of the governance architecture is reinforced by the provision in Section 148 (2), which holds that the President shall hold regular meetings with the Vice President and all the Ministers of the Government of the Federation. The purpose of those meetings include, determining the general direction of the government, coordinating its activities and advising the President in the discharge of his executive functions.

In the light of these clear insights as provided in the 1999 Constitution, the President’s leisurely pace with respect to the appointment of his cabinet is becoming a cause for concern. This posture runs contrary to what was promised Nigerians in those heady days of the campaigns, when the current governing party talked so glibly about hitting the ground running. 

Frustration is building that the President who swept into office on the back of a near hysteric demand by the electorate for a decisive, urgent and clinical approach to governance, is somewhat pouring cold water on the momentum, thereby frittering away an important resource without which governance will be a nightmare: good will and public support. Going by the reality on the ground therefore, a convincing argument can be made that over one month after President Buhari took over the reins, the machinery of government is yet to begin running. 

Talks about permanent secretaries being in place to carry on in the absence of minister miss the point. While it is true that the core civil servants, who have the technical expertise relating to their ministries are in place, the task of providing a broad vision around set goals, and coordinating all efforts, belongs to the minister. 

As appointees of the President, the ministers are deemed to be people who understand and have ruminated extensively on the specific plans of the President, and are able to guide the implementation of those within the context of available resources. Significantly, there are specific ministries in which the civil servants cannot afford to be second-guessing the actual governing party position relating to what to do. 

The delicate task of policy coordination and balancing requires that in these ministries, an appointee capable of interpreting the President’s and the governing party’s vision should be in place. 

The ministries of power and that of health are cases in point, where someone who understands the issues from the outside is needed for things to run efficiently. If the section of the health workers union, which is already warming up for another round of strike decide to call for an industrial action, would the President jump into the fray to begin negotiations with them on his own? 

On the other hand, it would be somewhat incongruous for a permanent secretary, who is merely concerned with the execution of decisions to be at the negotiating table to make promises that only political decision makers should make. 

Even in the area of scrutinising ideas and policies, the core civil servants may want to be to appear to overbearing in directly critiquing the ideas of the President. A minister on the other hand, if he knows his onions can argue with his other colleagues and with the President on a particular policy direction. How about the close monitoring and supervision required to achieve results and get value for money? 

Whatever may be going on at the moment cannot be coordinated in the sense in which it would have been, if there was a team of ministers. In fact, government business will be more efficiently coordinated with the presence of an efficient Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). 

The SGF is like the clearing house from where the streamlining of the multitude of policies, and plans, is done. In the absence of these key functionaries, it will not be difficult to discern that the machinery of government would most likely function below par. 

If the nascent Buhari administration allows this state of things to continue, it would be read as a blatant lack of regard for the sensibilities of longsuffering Nigerians, who voted for him with the expectation that there would be a giant leap in terms of how government conducts its business. 

Consequently, there are obvious implications of what is coming across as dithering on the part of the President. In the first place, the massive supply of goodwill and the ‘feel good’ period within which certain important things could have been put in motion would have been lost. 

In other words, the aura and the inspiring factor that fired the imagination of the electorate, is gradually wearing off from the minds of the citizens. There is a price to pay for not seizing the moment, especially, when it comes to mobilising the people to support some signature policies and programmes of the government. 

Similarly, the time lag provides ammunition for those with negative narratives to spin about the government. The disconcerting reality, as the emerging pattern of communication from the seat of power shows, is that the government would have to be on the defensive, so early in its tenure. 

This can already be gleaned from the number of statements the President’s spokesmen have had to issue to refute unwanted narratives being peddled by those who have a long term interest in seeing the President flounder. It is in this light that the recent unfriendly exchange between the opposition and the President would be viewed. 

Another manifestation is that a section of the public is creating its own perspectives of what should be happening in the seat of power and is crediting the result of the spin to the President. Specifically, the story about Buhari’s alleged order that nine planes in the presidential fleet be sold falls into this category. The moral in these examples is that a leader carrying a huge burden of expectation cannot afford to keep the people in suspense for too long.

Incidentally, if the time being projected for the ministers to come on board were anything to go by, it would mean that President Buhari has decided to take the unenviable record for the longest time spent before appointing minsters. 

When former President Olusegun Obasanjo took over as President in May 1999, he needed just one month to appoint his cabinet. And even before Obasanjo’s cabinet came on stream, he had sent the service chiefs packing, and had made several important appointments to consolidate his hold on power. In his second coming in 2003, Obasanjo appointed his cabinet by July. 

Similarly, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had his cabinet in place by July 2007. Even President Jonathan, who emerged as Acting President in February 2010, under very difficult circumstances, created by the high-wired politics and intrigues of those heady days, initially named Policy Advisory Council made up of elder statesmen. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan went on to name his own cabinet by March 2010. 

As such, if the pace of the Buhari Presidency and the indications coming from his information managers are anything to go by, it would then mean that the President who was given a clear mandate and who has no legal challenge to his election, would be appointing his ministers sometime around September, four clear months after his inauguration on May 29. 

This would certainly paint the administration in unflattering light. The other fallout of this languid approach to governance is that by the time the ministers arrive, they too could take a cue and claim a similar time frame to settle in and get themselves familiar with the fine details of their ministries.

Another dimension to it is the crisis at the National Assembly, where the President’s party, the APC is seemingly yet to come to grips with the enormity of holding power at the centre. Inaction in the face of growing calls for the cabinet to be constituted would rile many Nigerians. 

In the eyes of Nigerians, the massive expectations built around the mantra of change of the APC would have been dashed if the President doesn’t move quickly to douse the emerging cloud of doubts that have come up on account of the delay in constituting the cabinet. Failure to heed the voices of the people, on this and other sundry issues would imply that the ‘governing’ party is still far from governing in the sense in which many Nigerians look forward to.

CONFUSION, LETHARGY OR WORSE, PARALYSIS? - AYKUBE

Until President Muhammadu Buhari’s government sufficiently picks up momentum, and is revving full steam into the Eldorado many believe he is capable of midwifing, it will remain legitimate, and even defensible, for critics to conclude that his pace is deplorably slow. His party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), can defend him all they wish, and his fanatical admirers can also rhapsodise his attributes all they can, but there is little both groups can do to mollify the anxiety of the country, or to encourage those who voted for him that the votes they expended on the ageing former army general will eventually yield the expected dividends. The president may have slowed down, but as this column has said repeatedly, he still possesses the right qualities to rule: honesty, simplicity, firmness, and equity, among many others. He has an obligation to ensure that those qualities are neither misapplied nor misused. 

Neither his party, however, nor his supporters can resolve the riddle of what speed is appropriate for these times. Among both his critics and the undecided, criticism of his pace, while audible, has not risen above whispers. As the weeks wear on, and the pains the people feel multiply on account of the government’s perceived inattentiveness, the whispers will rise gradually to a crescendo. If that should happen, President Buhari will no longer be able to control the momentum of the change he and his party promised, and will struggle, without any assurance of success, to stamp his will and ideas on his government, events and the country. His best bet therefore is to create, modulate and impose his authority on the vestigial momentum that accompanied electioneering. Rather than heedlessly jump to his defence, his party and his aides should let him understand these nuances. 

For the about two months available to him to fine-tune his preparations for assuming the reins of power after his election as president in March, it was not clear, for instance, that he paid enough attention to compiling a list of the close advisers and aides he would ned. He has now governed for a little over a month without the full complement of advisers, let alone hint at a ministerial list, and has shown no clear direction where he wants his government headed. The people, the world and the domestic economy have been left second-guessing him. While the world can afford the luxury of waiting for as long as the situation requires, neither Nigerians nor their economy has done fairly well in anticipating him. Of the latter two, the economy, though it is the more important and adverse actions on it more consequential, is far less competent in anticipating the president. It has virtually slipped into near paralysis. 

His party may be speaking to him behind closed doors, for their fate is intertwined with his, and they will sink or swim with him. But, so far, there is no proof the APC is exercising that gentle restraint and moral suasion the president’s actions and inactions desperately call for. Indeed, much more than the president, the party is itself enmeshed in a paralysis of its own finding and fouling. It has lost control of its national lawmakers, many of whom are defying it with increasing insouciance and considerable chutzpah. The party leadership itself appears rent in two, with no discernible philosophy or even a scintilla of discipline. Party members are left unattended to, as many of them file greedily and giddily behind their rebellious champions. If the party does not put a lid on its schisms, and take firm, practical and brilliant steps to curb the lurch towards chaos in their ranks, they will fritter away their hard-earned victory, a part of which has already been mortgaged to the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by errant and ambitious lawmakers and leaders. 

The president has rejected blame for the crisis convulsing the party. He had at first attempted idealistically to stay above the fray, arguing that he was prepared to work with any legislative leadership, irrespective of its composition or orientation. He had also probably assumed that that leadership would be as altruistic as he had been all his public life. Now, he may apparently be waking up a little too late to discover that the altruism he read into their actions and politics were merely theoretical and chimerical. There were indications, as this piece was being written, that the president might be wading into the legislative fracas after all. Nigerians will wish him much luck in pacifying the rebels. For without a united party behind him, especially one with a definite and uplifting worldview, it is doubtful whether he can create or retain the policy conciseness and vigour necessary to remould the country along the change mantra enunciated during his party’s electioneering. 

A part of the Buhari idealism that also needs to be dismantled in order to curb the confusion, lethargy and paralysis of the past few weeks is the president’s romantic notion of not wanting to hurt the legacy of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Other than a few desultory probes, including one involving the NNPC and another side bar involving the excess crude account, there is no consistent or comprehensive probe of the commanding heights of the Jonathan government. From all indications, a few more panels will be set up to look into aspects of the former government’s shortcomings, but there is no indication something grand, compelling and even cathartic will be attempted. President Buhari now has a healthy appetite for obeying the constitution, and is in addition a truly reborn democrat, as he has asserted vigorously. Surely, then, he must recognise he has an obligation, notwithstanding his campaign promises, to satisfy the longings of those who voted him into office, and who want a concise understanding of the terrible wrongs perpetrated under or by the Jonathan presidency. 

The PDP wails against what its spokesmen describe pejoratively and preemptively as an APC-induced witch-hunt. The president must decry and ignore these plaintive opposition jeremiads. His first obligation is not to satisfy or mollify the opposition, but to satisfy the majority of Nigerians within the ambits of the law and the constitution. In particular, he has a responsibility to help the country understand and come to terms with what happened before he assumed office, how and why things went terribly wrong, and how so much of the country’s resources and funds were wasted or stolen. He is at liberty to determine what punishment to mete out to high-profile offenders, or even pardon them. But he must neither abridge nor eliminate the people’s need to know all the atrocities that happened in the preceding years. If the present and the future are to make any meaning, the past must be understood. 

Overall, rather than be defensive, it is time President Buhari recognised that the criticisms he has received about the pace and structure of his presidency are designed to help him properly and scientifically lay the foundations for success. The confusion that enveloped his party in the National Assembly, the rather discomfiting manner the acting leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was appointed, and the even more distressing fashion the Department of State Service (DSS) leadership was changed after the unseemly struggle between the Service and the president’s Aide de Camp (ADC) at Aso Villa leave a very sour taste in the mouth. The president must put some precision into his presidency, avoid unforced errors, take charge of situations threatening to spiral out of control, and give the country firm, insightful, inspiring and proactive governance. 

If his spokesmen and aides suggest that by and by, the president would get it right and pick up speed, they have not offered enough arguments why they should be taken for their word. Nigerians want to give the president time, but contemporary events do not give them the confidence that when eventually he acts at all or picks up speed, he can be trusted to satisfy the longings of those who voted him into office. It is up to him to dispel their misgivings and quieten their mistrust.

APC, QUIT WHINING AND START GOVERNING - OKEY NDIBE.

Last week, I suggested that President Muhammadu Buhari has squandered a full month of his presidential tenure doing little. Many readers understood the spirit of the piece, which is, quite simply, that Nigerians deserve nothing short of engaged, stellar leadership from Mr. Buhari. And that sort of leadership should start—should have started—on May 29. It should not be triggered two months after the president’s inauguration. I’m willing to attempt again to capture my argument—as an act of generosity towards those who, out of mischief or self-interest, chose to misread me. In both body language and substance, President Buhari gave the impression of being overwhelmed by the demands of governance and statecraft. 

Let me restate a point I made last week. The problem is not only that, a month into his tenure, the president hasn’t figured out his cabinet. That’s bad enough. But an even larger crisis was the president’s failure to make a single significant policy pronouncement in one month. 

If a man sought the highest political office in his country a record four times, I’d hope that it’s because that man is in possession of some viable, perhaps even tested, ideas for moving his society from point A to point B. It doesn’t make sense to seek political power, sans ideas, and then start groping about for what to do only after being entrusted with power. 

That’s a recipe for disaster. Some critics of my column reminded me that one or two past presidents took longer than a month to name their cabinet. It is a particularly exasperating argument. If a delinquent child flunks an exam, is it much comfort to remind the child’s parents that another child, who similarly failed to prepare, had also failed the exam a year or two before? 

Why don’t we hold our leaders, and ourselves, to higher standards of performance and conduct? Why don’t we encourage President Buhari to hit the ground running, rather than adopting the snail style and mediocre performance of his predecessors? 

In a personal email, one reader cautioned that my criticism of the young Presidency could help shape a skeptical national mood about Mr. Buhari. The email was both misconceived and ascribed too much power to me. I can only describe what I observe, not create or sweep aside reality. If Mr. Buhari’s first month in office was a model of diligent, focused leadership, and I wrote a column to argue otherwise, I would be making a fool of myself—for the facts would be there to contradict me. 

In other words, President Buhari remains (largely) the master of his presidential fate. If he’s doing a terrific job, Nigerians will see, touch, hear and taste it. In that event, the naysaying of a malicious critic would be seen by all for what it is—an effete hatchet job. 

Writing has its place in shaping perception, but that writing has to stay close to verifiable facts. 

And one of the bizarre facts of our current politics is that Mr. Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) looks less like a party that won an historic election three months ago than a choleric bazaar of strange bedfellows who detest one another. 

Nigeria is in dire straits, the economy in the doldrums, oil revenues significantly down. It is a time that demands that men and women of mettle stand up to be counted. And what does Nigeria’s new ruling party offer us? A squalid, fractious political mess, I’m afraid.  Several factions have emerged, and they appear determined to work at cross-purposes. In the National Assembly, the APC has staged a brawl-fest worthy of American professional wrestlers. With the exception that the legislators were, unlike the superstars of American wrestling, were not playing to a script. 

And here’s what deeply consternating about the APC’s whole implosive affair. There’s no hint of a positive redeeming value at the heart of it. It’s not a debate about how to provide Nigerians with shelter, jobs, healthcare, sound education, how to lower Nigeria’s misery index. No! There’s no sense that a search for the best path to Nigerians’ well being is a factor in the numerous squabbles. There’s not a tad of evidence that the APC’s various factions are animated by a humanistic vision. 

Instead, what appears to be at stake is the usual scramble for lucre—or an inelegant race for power that can be constantly traded in for cash. 

Nigerians have little to show for all the billions of dollars that have propped up an edifice that first announced itself as a nascent democracy—and then turned plain nasty. The APC rode to power on the mantra of change. Yet, the only change the party has so far demonstrated is the swiftness of its recourse to balkanization. It doesn’t seem as if President Buhari talks much to Senate President Bukola Saraki, who owes his post to an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party. 

I’d be at ease if the schisms were dictated by intra-party ideological differences. But one’s hunch is that this is all about power, and power in its rawest, rudest, basest form. 

When APC officials take a break from fighting their internal wars, it is to whine to Nigerians that the Goodluck Jonathan administration vacuumed up all the money in the treasury. I’ve just about reached the edge of patience with that repeated line. How about a little bit of action? 

Guess what? Nigerian voters sent President Jonathan packing precisely because of their conviction that he was not a good husband of their resources. I was one of the former president’s staunchest critics. Rather than regale us daily with complaints about how the Jonathanians looted, the Buhari team should tell us what they intend to do about it. They should take action. Mr. Jonathan and those who worked with him should be rigorously questioned about their stewardship. And, if implicated in acts of corruption, they should be prosecuted. But—and Mr. Jonathan himself made this point—the Buhari team should also investigate and prosecute Nigeria’s other former heads of government and their circles. 

In the meantime, the reclamation of Nigeria’s stolen funds is no excuse for the suspension of governance. For me, the frequent disclosure that Nigeria is near broke serves to underline the nature of the challenge facing the Buhari Presidency. That challenge is three-fold. One is to find creative ways of sourcing or attracting the funds he needs for the work he must do for Nigerians. Another is to spell out how he intends to wrest looted funds, including those in the hands of APC officials. Finally, he should move to block the holes deliberately designed into the Nigerian system in order to enable public officials to steal with impunity. 

If President Buhari and the APC are not up to the task, then they ought to be served notice that whining alone does not translate into leadership. 

A LIVING IN BONDAGE ANDY, ASKING 'WHAT DID I FIND MYSELF IN' - PRESIDENT BUHARI?

Icheoku says one of the finest movie ever made in Nigeria and from the Nollywood stable, 'Living in Bondage' appositely surmises the present state of anomie in the land. A situation where the citizens are wondering what went wrong with the president of great expectation they elected and the president is seemingly wondering too, what did I find myself in. A case of the falcon not hearing the falconer or the falconer not calling loud enough or the falcon probably gone deaf but not to the knowledge of the falconer? Which one is it or is it none of the above? Icheoku says except for the lopsided appointments PMB has so far made, in which he grossly and disproportionately favored his Miyetti Allah people of the North to the detriment of Southerners, nothing seems to have moved an inch ever since that his swearing in of May 29th 2015. 

Just for the records, Boko Haram seems to have regained their momentum and now once again enjoying a free range in the country's Northeast? The staged kidnapped Chibok girls have neither been located nor released? Kidnappers are still kidnapping people and killing their victims, and just recently a Professor from the Southwest died in their hands? Armed robbers are still waylaying citizens and robbing banks (Ikorodu)? Unemployed are still praying for their promised monthly stipends while waiting for also promised jobs to fall from the skies of PMB's Aso Rock? Power is still what it was pre-his inauguration - very epileptic? Availability of petroleum products is still as anemic as a kwashiorkor victim? The almighty dollar instead of becoming tamed as promised has completely lost its mind in a mercurial climb to the stratosphere? World oil prices has not received the steroid shot that was promised? So Icheoku asks, were Nigerians sold a dummy or were they 419ed, scammed into making the choice they made on March 29? Icheoku does not know the answer off the bat, but developments thus far have only consolidated our position that a snake-oil is a snake oil and their salesmen should not be allowed with Nigerian electorates' ear shot. But hey, Nigerians made that choice and they must learn to live with it. As for those Buhari apologists who are saying that it is too early in the day to pass judgment, Icheoku reminds them that the chick that will become a cockerel starts exhibiting such signs at a very early age. So go figure!

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, SOLE ADMINISTRATOR OF NIGERIA PLC?

Icheoku says President Muhammadu Buhari is running Nigeria as a private fiefdom where his knowledge is solely important; while forgetting that in a democracy, a team is required for a plurality of brain-trust in order to pull the country together and jointly move it forward. Three months into his presidency, there is no Secretary of Government; there are no ministers and there are no heads of parastatals appointed yet and you wonder what idea does this man from Daura have moving Nigeria forward. But hey, Nigerians deserve what they got as they voted for him regardless of his past trait of being a maximum dictator who admits of no opinion. President Muhammad Buhari, Icheoku asks, what is the game plan for moving Nigeria forward or does one not exist?

DONALD TRUMP ASININITY, BOYCOTT EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING TRUMP?

Icheoku says a man who swore that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and challenged anyone with emphatic proof to the contrary is capable of any other horrendous verbiage. Therefore Icheoku is not surprised when the racist white pig, Donald Trump, once again put his foot in his mouth, disparaging Mexican immigrants as no good dead-enders. He has said and done worse things before and being the reddest of the rednecks walking the face of America will say and do more heinous things in the future. 

A man who claimed that he employs many blacks and Hispanics as janitors and security guards in his businesses and you wonder are this people only good for such lowly employment? A man who said that if black people claim that their life don't matter in America or that they are being shafted, they should move back to Africa and there start killing themselves? A man who claimed that immigration in America should be restricted to European migrants only and not to all those Africans and Mexicans?  Icheoku knows what a racist Donald Trump is; so the latest Mexican sewage only goes to consolidate his hold to the title of a pin-head racist white pig who does not see anything good with people of color being admitted into America while wishing that those of them already here be shipped back to where they came from. 

However, if only Donald Trump was a good student of history, especially his own peculiar history of white peoples advent into America, he would have known that there is some wisdom in the kettle not calling the pot black.  A past history of his which saw thousands of Europe's worst decrepitude persons being banished from the mainland and shipped to the new found land. Bands of bandits comprising of murderers, rapists, armed robbers, child molesters and other manners of bestial people who Europe deemed as unwanted and not fit or worthy of cohabiting the same real estate with and shipped them off and out. These were the original European immigrants to America and they came without visas nor authorizing credentials from Native American Indians, the true owners of the land.These were the people that Donald Trump descended from; the people who sired Donald Trump's generations past, the people whose bloodline Donald Trump inherited and which he is still passing on to his own offsprings and offsprings' offsprings. 

So Icheoku asks is this a case of a former slave now calling the new slaves names simply because his memory is now faint as to his own shared historical past? It is the height of idiocy for such a man whose forebears  shared the same fate as the new immigrants arriving from across the southern border, to so foul-mouth the new arrivees; admitted his own peculiar experience was many hundred years ago. So let all decent people make Donald Trump pay and as a starting point, Icheoku has destroyed all Donald Trump's ties and shirts previously owned and possessed by Icheoku and suggests that everybody who felt violated by what sewage sipped out of Donald Trump's mouth follow suit. Icheoku's further pledges not to spend a dim again on anything Donald Trump until a full mea culpa is made by him, recanting all his despicable past disparaging attacks especially his latest broad-brushing of an entire civilization as criminals. 

What or who gave Donald Trump the right to have a say on who enters or does not enter America since he is not an Indian but a descendant of once illegal migrants himself. Icheoku is emphatic that all undocumented immigrants on Mayflower and years before that who entered America without the authorization of Native Americans are as illegal as immigrants who are currently jumping fences on the southern border. Therefore Donald Trump lacks the moral authority to upbraid or disparage Hispanics following the example of his own ancestors and now coming to America. 

What a huge joke this fat white pig is that thinks that he stands any chance in hell whatsoever in present day America inching his way to the White House. Luckily some still decent people and corporations in America, who felt similarly violated by what oozed out of Donald Trump's mouth have condemned him and are now forcing the wheels off his economic wagon. NBC, NASCAR, MACY'S, UNIVISION, TELEVISA,  FAROUK SYSTEMS, RABBIT CERVECERIA, ORA TV and SERTA have all severed ties with Donald Trump and Icheoku hopes others will follow suit to make the kitchen too hot for Donald and force him to apologize. It is indeed quite regrettable when these sons of privileged white background deride other people without any whiff of circumspection whatsoever. What Donald Trump said sure did cross every line of decency, matter of fact speaking; and is condemnable and should be condemned by all and is here condemned by Icheoku as very repulsive.

USA WINS FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2015, KUDOS TO COACH JILL ELLIS.

Icheoku says and of course to the ladies that played their hearts out to earn a well deserved victory, routing Japan 5-2 in the finals to win the gold. Team USA were stellar throughout the tournament, crowing their effort with a mercurial finals that saw them put more goals in the net more than any other time in their playing career as well as in the competition.  Their coach Jill Ellis also proved all the naysayers wrong, winning the gold in a championship that many critics and sports analysts never gave her coaching tactics any chance at a victory, talkless of winning the championship gold, not at all. Icheoku says congratulations to Coach Jill Ellis and her ladies for doing the United States proud; particularly for winning their arch nemesis Japan which defeated them in the last tournament in 2011. Well done fellas!

PMB MEETS BO ON JULY 20TH WITH NO MINISTERS?

Icheoku says if President Muhammadu Buhari is meeting with President Barack Obama on July 20th in the White House and the Americans are desirous of holding meetings with their Nigerian counterparts and PMB is going to the summit without ministers, with who would America's secretaries and government officials hold their discussions and bilateral talks? Icheoku is just asking but not that Icheoku is bothered about the now really clueless government that Nigeria is saddled with which cannot seem to get its acts together or to get up from its stupor of winning an election against all odds and get going. Three months into office and yet there are no ministers and you wonder if President Muhammadu Buhari according to his peculiar habit, now wants to run Nigeria as a sole administrator? 

May be the Evil Genius Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida was right afterall that his junta overthrew Muhammadu Buhari in 1985 for being too rigid and too myopic and not accommodating of any opinions outside his. Icheoku asks did former President Goodluck Jonathan's "slow" transition also affect the supposedly existing ministerial list which an efficient Muhammadu Buhari otherwise ought to have had ready prior to his being sworn in as president? A man whose party threatened to form a parallel government and you wonder with which ministers would they have ran their parallel government, anyway? But hey, like Baba Iyabo, Icheoku just 'dey' laugh at those Buharists who invested so much in the man with a magic wand from Daura coming to whisk away all Nigeria's problems. Icheoku asks these folks, how far is your expectation working out and if you saw then what you are seeing now, would your voting have been any different? 

PMB, SLEEPING ON DUTY WHILE NIGERIA BURNS - 406 KILLED UNDER HIS WATCH?

Icheoku says in President Muhammadu Buhari's first 36 days in office, Boko Haram have killed 406 Nigerians and counting; an average of eleven Nigerians killed each day  and without any meaningful response from his government?  Yet the ugly duckling Oby Ezekwesili and her band of despicable 'Bring Back Their Girls' motley crew are not raising hell with the new government about this continuing state of insecurity in the country? Icheoku says this is not only a shame but a solid evidence that those band of despicable 'Bring Back Their Girls' rabble rousers were there all these while to carry out a script and not that they sincerely mean well for Nigeria or that any girls were kidnapped or missing int he first place. But hey, what goes around comes around and you wonder when this their conduct will finally catch up with them. 

Here now is a chronological timeline of Boko Haram mayhem, a group which seems to have now completely ran amok since the advent of PMB on May 29th, 2015:-

May 30 - A total of 39 Nigerians were killed, 13 during an attempted night invasion of Maiduguri and another 26 in a bomb attack on a mosque near Borno market.

May 31 - 4 Nigerians were killed at Gamboru market, Maiduguri

June 2 - 17 Nigerians were killed at Maiduguri abattoir

June 3 - 4 Nigerians were killed in an attack in a mechanical workshop on Baga Road.

June 4 - 2 Nigerians were killed by a female suicide bomber near a military checkpoint in Maiduguri

June 5 - 40 Nigerians were killed in a suicide attack on Jimeta Night Market

June 7 - 3 Nigerians were killed in a suicide attack on Baga/Monguno Highway

June 11 - 37 Nigerians were killed in separate attacks on six Borno villages

June 15 - 11 Nigerians were killed in a two suicide bomb attacks in Potiskum

June 17 - 15 Nigerians were killed by accidental explosion in Monguno

June 22 - 8 Nigerians were killed in two suicide attacks on Baga Fish Market, Maiduguri

June 23 - 15 Nigerians were killed in suicide bomb attack on Nannawaji Village, Gujba LG

June 23 - 20 Nigerians were killed in an attack on Debiro, Hawul LG

June 27 - 5 Nigerians were killed killed at General Hospital, Molai, Borno State

June 30 - 48 Nigerians were killed in Mussaram I and Mussaram II near Monguno

July 1 - 98 Nigerians were killed in Kukawa Village

July 2 - 11 Nigerians were killed at Malari Village along Bama/Konduga Highway

July 3 - 29 Nigerians were killed in Mussa Village, Askira-Uba LG.

Icheoku queries, at this rate, will there be any Nigerian still left alive by the time President Muhammadu Buhari completes his term of office, if not sooner? Yet all of the deranged Nigerian supposed activists including the Ota Deity, Bab Iyabo Olusegun Obasanjo, his paramour the ugly duckling Oby Ezekwesili as well as governors of Bornu State and other Boko Haram infested Northeastern States have suddenly gone mute and you wonder why? It is just the conspiracy that took out the man from Otuoke that is knifing through Icheoku so badly that it hurts and still hurts till this day; otherwise Icheoku has always known that President Muhammadu Buhari has no plans to rein in those anarchists whom some school of thought believe he nurtured or at least influenced their coming into being through his utterances. But let see how he finally gets around explaining to Nigerians how he could not deliver on that promise to rout Boko Haram when he leaves office. May all the souls of those killed rest in peace.

BRIAN 'DOUCHE BAG' DUTCHER, CRAZED-OUT WISCONSINITE WANTS OBAMA DEAD!

"The usurper is here and if I get a chance i'ill take him out and I'ill take the shot." With those words, another Obama hater has found himself in the hot waters of the law, arrested and facing serious prison term for threatening the president of the United States of America, President Barack Obama. A sequel threat to a FaceBook posting on June 30, 2015 wherein he wrote "That's it! Thursday I will be in La Crosse. Hopefully I will get a clear shot at the pretend president. Killing him is our CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY!”  Interviewed to ascertain his seriousness to carrying the alleged threat out, he affirmed; stating that "He would not have said what he said if he didn’t intend to carry it out. 

Icheoku says what other evidence is needed here except that being a white man American, he will be viewed with pity and sympathy as a mentally challenged person who needs help rather than the criminal he is who made a very serious threat to cause bodily harm on the person of President Barack Obama. Were he P. Diddy, he would have been charged with 'terrorist acts and even for successfully taken needed steps towards carrying out the act. But hey, this is America and we understand how things usually works for or  against the color of anyones skin. 

Icheoku says they are so many and very plentiful, crazy people of America who wants to do the president harm. But fortunately enough, the various security agencies are equal to the task as they squarely facedown such challenges involved in protecting and guarding the president. Good enough too, they usually catch these miscreants before they could ever have the opportunity to carry out their evil plan. Now another crazed-out man from Wisconsin, 55 year old Brian D. Dutcher, has been added to the list of those with 'no love lost with Obama' Americans, who would want and wishes the president dead. They want to or rather would like to so do, except that the security cordon shielding the president would not let them; hence they end up in justice nets, caught while fantasying their plans to wreck such terrible havoc. 

Like with every American president, President Barack Hussein Obama have received his own fair share of multiple threats to his life ever since becoming president. Luckily so far, none of them has come to fruition as the secret service have improved so much since the assassinations of the past, ending with the 1963 assassination of President John FitzGerald Kennedy and the attempted 1983 assassination of President Ronald Reagan. But anyway, it comes with the territory as no one expects everyone to like and love the president or anybody for that matter; and provided the security agencies remain on top of their game, nipping such threats in the bud, there should be no cause for alarm or needlessly worry about the safety of the president. 

PRESIDENT BUHARI'S NEPOTISM GONE WILD, APPOINTING ONLY NORTHERNERS?

Icheoku recalls when in 2011 then candidate Muhammadu Buhari was prancing around that he won the presidential election because he won the North but was admonished by then Niger State Governor Aliyu Babangida that the North alone does not constitute the entire Nigeria; and that the fact that he won the North does not necessarily mean that he won the election. Further, way back in 1985 when the same Muhammadu Buhari violently overthrew President Shehu Shagari's government (Major General Bako was killed at Aguda House where he went to arrest Shagari); the now President Muhammadu Buhari saturated his Supreme Military Council as well as other cabinet and principal staff positions with majority Northerners. A pattern or habit or character of a an arch tribalist, you decide.

However during the last presidential election campaign, Muhammadu Buhari gave out some flicker of hope of being a changed man, a converted democrat, especially to doubters including Icheoku, when he repeatedly assured and reassured that he is not bigoted nor fanatical. That if he wins the election, he will be president to all and every Nigerian; an assurance he has severally repeated since being inaugurated president of Nigeria on May 29, 2015. But to the chagrin of many, the feelers coming out of his Aso Rock so far seems to suggest otherwise and that an old dog cannot be taught new tricks. The prognosis is that the old man Buhari has not changed; as he has once again gone gun-ho North; totally recoiling to his tribal base as if they are the only ones that matter now and who should be primarily catered to? His appointments so far seems to indicate that he has zero trust on any other Nigerian who is not of Hausa/Fulani stork, particularly those of them from the core Northwest. That the Ota Deity, Baba Iyabo Olusegun Obasanjo has not yet fired one of his 'satanic verses' letter to PMB, horn-mad at this crass display of cronyism and nepotism befuddles Icheoku. Also that the ugly Oby Ezekwesili has not yet opened her wide mouth to condemn this development is shocking; needless to add the chill caused by the taciturnity of those 'Bring Back Their Girls' feminist crusaders who are now being appointed to positions in government and you wonder if their job is done since the staged kidnapped Chibok girls are still not home with their parents?

Less than forty eight hours ago, he summarily sacked the director general of State Security Service Ita Ekpenyong and in his place appointed a man from his own very village, Lawal Musa Daura, to run the service. We are not talking about North or Northwest or Katsina State but a man from the same Daura as the president and Icheoku asks is this cronyism, nepotism, 'umunnaism' or what? Yet none of those fair weather watch dogs by choice, the police men and women of governments in Nigeria is raising any eyebrow over this developing trend of crass nepotism. Then add other appointments he has made since he started making appointments and you wonder if he is unaware that there are other people who constitute Nigerians other than Hausa/Fulanis? The new INEC chairwoman Amina Zakari is from Jigawa State and a distant blood relative of PMB, from the same Northwest; head of Department of Petroleum Resources Mordecai Dantean Baba Ladan is from Kano State, also Northwest; Accountant General of the Federation Ahmed Idris is also from Kano State, the same Northwest; Chief Security Officer Abdulrahman Mani; State Chief of Protocol Lawal Adbullahi Kazaure also from Bauchi; his ADC Lt Col Mohammed Laval Abubakar is from Kano State, the same Northwest; acting director of general security and prospective National Security Adviser Abdulrahman Bello Dambazzau is also from Kano State, the same Northwest; Special Senior Assistant Media and Publicity Garba Shehu is from Adamawa State and then acting Chief of Staff Hamid Ali; all are Northerners! Needless to add insult to injury that the president, senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives are all Northerners too.

Icheoku says how else can anyone spin this trajectory of behavior not to confirm that the man President Muhammadu Buhari does not trust or consider any other Nigerian worth of his inner circle? Regrettably, if this trend continues as is most likely to, because Muhammadu Buhari once personally confessed to Olusegun Obasanjo that he does not have many friends from the South who he can trust, then Nigeria is in for a rude shock and convulsive awakening. This is a man who said he will be and is president of all; yet is so far acting like his understanding or idea of Nigerians are only those his Hausa/Fulani Nigerians of the core North? But hey, Icheoku raised the alarm when it could have mattered but those Buharists in Nigeria, both North and South, turned deaf ears to the cry to beware. Therefore, may PMB continue to visit Nigerians with whatever his parochial inclination tells him is right and good for ONLY his Hausa/Fulani people of Northwestern Nigeria;  whose turn it is anyway to party like it is 1999. Like the man from Otuoke, Icheoku does not give a darn about whatever PMB decides to do with Nigerians, especially those from other tribes who voted for him anyway and against their own very interest, and as he sees and deems fit. Little wonder he has been crawling through governance so that he can craftily and quickly implement all his immediate Miyetti Allah agenda before Nigerians wake up from their stupor. Anyway, by this, Icheoku is merely laying out the facts and for the records, that's all. So goodluck Nigerians with your PMB.

SAME SEX MARRIAGE QUESTION, THE HOMOSEXUALITY CONFUSION?

Icheoku says the hullabaloo and perplexity surrounding the recent United States of America Supreme Court's decision to legitimize sodomy is principally being fueled by the Bible. A same sex marriage decision which would not have taken the current air of a great infamy if only the white people that wrote the bible had edited out that tale of Sodom and Gomorrah. This would have nipped the issue in the bud and being so preempted, nobody including Icheoku, would have any serious issue or hard feelings reconciling the current irreconcilable difference between what they originally wrote is a frowned behavior and the sudden somersault now approving same. So going from a once an abominable act to now an acceptable behavior is what got people giddy and confused as to which triumphs over what? 

It is a given that a none existent infraction is not an infraction per se; but where a behavior is religiously 'codified' as a frowned act in the bible then it makes necessary sense that people would question what they already know as juxtaposed with what is now being indoctrinated. It would ordinarily have been okay or at least not raise much of an eyebrow if that is what some people want; moreso since there would not have been anything in the bible which otherwise is prohibitive of such behavior. But where it is explicitly a prohibited conduct as elaborately told in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the same people who wrote the bible are the same people now propagating this inconvenient relationship, the question becomes, on the fork of the current road, which way is the right way? 

Icheoku asks is it therefore the obvious perdition which is tantamount to an express one-way ticket to hell or the unsettled biblical verses which have now become even more doubtful as a result of this pivoting? Icheoku says you decide which road to follow, but like Joshua said to the people of Israel Icheoku will remain conservative on this question and will take a cue from animals as to the way going forward short of what is already known. So until animals too start same-sexing or stops being straight, Icheoku's position on sex and marital relationship is that the status-quo should be maintained and remain unchanged. The world cannot continue to bend backwards just to accommodate some negligible percentage of its population peculiar lifestyle. Query:- will polygamy and polyandry or bestiality be next?  

JILL ELLIS SHAMES CRITICS, TAKES TEAM USA TO WORLD CUP FINALS CANADA 2015?

Icheoku says it appears now a very plausible  argument to make that the Nigeria's women Team Falcons' loss to the United States of America's women's team in the FIFA Women World Cup Canada 2015 championship was not a fluky occurrence afterall. The same team USA just handed world ranked number one team Germany 2-0 in a semi finals match to anchor a berth in the finals; proving conclusively that they are indeed a better side and that the unsportsmanlike attitude of disgruntled Nigeria's coach Edwin Okon, who refused to shake the hands of the USA coach Jill Ellis at the end of their game was rather uncouth and lamentable. Icheoku wishes the Coach Jill Ellis led side all the best in their Sunday finals match against whichever country wins the England v Japan other semi-finals match later today. 

Icheoku recalls that it is the same coach Jill Ellis who was being pilloried by some section of the American media as well as soccer analysts for her "un-tactical" handling of the team. The same crop of humans, who in their usual fashion, never finds anything good or useful in a "foreign" born coach, coaching an American side and were up in arms to frustrate her effort preparatory to lining her up for the firing range. They criticized everything and anything she did, regardless of the successful outcome; and even when the team won Colombia with two goals margin, they still criticized her for not scoring a dozen goals instead? Icheoku was glad when the coach finally took it to them, admonishing that this is a world cup and what is imperative is to win and advance, regardless. In coach Jill's words, "This is the world cup. I am satisfied with advancing. Most goals in World Cup tournaments. a majority of them, come on set pieces; we've been brilliant. It is about finding a way. I thought we stroked the ball around pretty well. So, yeah, I'm pleased with where we are." 

Icheoku says very well and eloquently put and now, America knows who is doing the right thing by and for Team USA in the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015. This is exactly what putting one's money where one's mouth is, looks like; and what other better way to do this than to roll over world's number one side Team Germany resoundingly and with two un-replied goals. A finalist in the last 2011 edition of the tournament, Team USA, having gone through women soccer powerhouse China and now Germany, is more poised to lift the championship cup this time. Icheoku is convinced that irrespective of who wins between England and Japan, Team USA will face them, more assured and determined, to win the championship on Sunday. Icheoku says congratulations Team USA and their able coach Jill Ellis for their brilliant performance in the tournament thus far and in anticipation of their lifting the championship cup on Sunday. Team USA have already proved themselves worthy champions of this year's tournament and Icheoku cannot wait for their final icing on the cake on Sunday. Well done for a job so far well done and brilliantly so far executed; so bring home the cup Team USA. Bravo!!!