24 LEGACY, WHERE IS JACK BAUER?

ICHEOKU says the fact of the matter is that there can only be one Jack Bauer and Keith Sunderland is that Jack Bauer and no other person can ever be Jack Bauer. Jack Bauer can only be imitated but can never be duplicated or replicated. Icheoku says millions of fans know Jack Bauer and Jack Bauer is our heroic 24 icon. The current super hero guy Eric Carter, is no Jack Bauer, admitted he is trying mightily to fill such a very big giant shoes left by the real Jack Bauer. His personality and demeanor, especially coming so soon after the relationship many fans had developed with Jack Bauer, an alpha macho male numero uno, is to say the least not a convincing enough fit for the role he is currently playing. 

Jack Bauer is a bad guy who goes after bad guys as it takes one to know one and feet same out. Jack Bauer that goes to the end of the earth to protect us against enemies, both foreign and domestic; terrorists who want to do us harm and he is ruthless and likes to whack people - he shoots first and then ask questions later. Hie mien and looks has attached him to us and no 24, whether Legacy or not, can ever be complete without Jack Bauer playing his role and doing what he does best, tracking the bad guys and putting a hole right inside their head or puck-shot them through their hearts. The only consolation many fans all over have is their conviction that Jack Bauer will be reintroduced sometime down the road after a negotiated release from the Chinese or is it the Russians. It has been such a long time since the last episode aired. 

ICHEOKU says the new fill-in guy is okay, just that he does not have that masculinity appeal that Jack Bauer has; and he runs like a sissy, girlie man rather than a chivalry who is leading or charging with the cavalry. Eric Carter is tall, handsome and fires his guns right, but he does not have that killer instinct personality and demeanor. Icheoku has tried ceding to him a smooth operator, mean and ruthless killer; but Jack Bauer's larger than life image is on the way and try as Icheoku may, this guy is not cutting it, may be not just yet. He does not possess that picture of a fighter who is ready to do whatever it takes to keep us safe from those terrorists. Jack Bauer had such a presence that many people were beginning to attach to him a real life person actually fighting a real war against  terrorists. He assumed a real life hero status as many actually thought that what he is acting is actually a real life situational issues. 

Icheoku had a 24 Legacy discussion with another fan who suggested that even Eric Carter's drug dealing brother would have been a better fit for the Jack Bauer's role; and agreed with Icheoku that Eric who has a funny sissy way of running might even be gay. But hey, a fan of 24 Icheoku is and remains; and regardless of who is saving us from those wild-eyed terrorists, will always tune in every Monday 8.00 pm on Fox television to stay thrilled and be amazed. Icheoku likes the shooting scenes a lot and Eric Carter is one expert shot; and also the cat and mouse game of deception and magical elusiveness of those terrorists from the dragnets of security. Did that student die on the hospital bed? What happened to the senator's dad who betrayed those soldiers? Was that list recovered before they were activated? All the answers will ensure that Icheoku tunes in to find out; but overall and so far a good 24, provided Jack Bauer will come back or at least make even a cameo  appearance.

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: SELF DEPORTATION A GOOD OPTION?

ICHEOKU says at least it will give one time and opportunity to properly order his or her affairs and put things in order rather than being picked up from either the workplace or shopping mall or on the streets or nightclub/bar and straight to the airport, adios. Any person who is not assured of his or her residence status should make haste to consult his lawyers to be properly briefed on their current immigration status and if in doubt or falls within the likely to be deported category, to plan on leaving on their own volition while the window is still open. 

Everyone knows that President Donald John Trump is a promise keeper and so far has not disappointed anyone who voted for him based on what he promised to do as he has been checking those promises one promise fulfilled one at a time. He promised enforcing the laws on immigration and so far, it has been rubber meets the road and there will be no letting off or cooling down until his safe country objective is achieved. As a result, instead of perpetually looking over one's shoulders or remain in permanent state of fear of the inevitable which will impact one's psychological wellbeing as well as routine, a better option would be to plan to self deport, to voluntarily remove oneself and return to one's own original country before the now unchained and extended arms of the immigration officials nabs one. As things stands presently, it is no longer a question of if but when as an increased enforcement officials will translate to reaching persons previously considered too remote or too deep to reach. 

Previously it would have been much easier to successfully play the cat and mouse game and hope that mother luck remained on one's side until the officials tire out or move to some other more promising deportables; but not anymore and not since PDJT took over office as president. People rat on people and a time like this, the mad ex-girlfriend or wife or ex-boyfriend or husband might see it as a good opportunity to draw blood and cut his or her pound of flesh. Reports abound of even close family members such as a brother's wife or sister's husband ratting out an unbearable in-law or a friend who has become a pain in the behind to the Immigration officials. Sometime co-workers have turned in fellow workers who either made them mad or whose position they covet. Neighbors and landlords too, especially for difficult tenants or in high rent neighborhoods who want to recover a tenement and rent same to a higher rent paying tenant. Business partners or employers might also turn someone in just to appropriate the entire business or not pay what is owed. In construction industry, such a sword of Damocles might be foist by an unscrupulous supervisor or owner to keep undocumented migrants obedient and use them without ceasing. 

So, instead of such high risk exposure of being eventually nabbed and deported someday, and under circumstances one has no control, logic would dictate that any rational minded possible deportee should commence the process of removing self from the country before the law catches up with him or her. This way, money in the bank could be repatriated back to the new country; properties owned could be monetized through a moving auction and if there are things one would need in the new country, purchase same and ship them and simply tidy up his or her affairs in order to have some resources with which to cushion the new realities of the new country. As always things done in ordered fashion is always to be preferred than being rushed out of the country without time to say goodbyes or even withdraw money in the bank. That way, one at least cuts down on his loses and go back to his country with some dignity and something to live on before reestablishing withered roots once again. As always, fresh petition for reentry could be started anew and if fortunate, may possibly be approved at a later date. The fact that one self removed self might also count as a bonus point in future petition for re-admittance. 

As it stands now, it will be appear that every illegal aliens in the United States of America has been put on notice of impending deportation. Like Iran, hey have been served and waiting being picked up and shipped off. It will be much more difficult now to remain in the United States illegally as there will no longer be exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security personnel also has now been given full authority to arrest or apprehend any alien whom an immigration officer has probable cause to believe is in violation of the immigration laws. Further, it also expands the priority list for deportation, including for crimes related to illegal immigration such as the use of forged documents, people charged but not convicted of a crime etc. Icheoku says any mistaken belief by anyone that one will always be lucky not to be caught is rather foolhardy and at best playing with one's stability that could arise from being suddenly caught and removed without the opportunity to first tidy up one's affairs as well as say their goodbyes. But hey, election has consequences and PDJT campaigned on making America safe again and therefore the current removal of ungrateful criminal aliens is in order and should be encouraged rather than chastised. 

NORMAN MCCORVEY: THE ROE IN ROE V. WADE, DEAD AT 69.

ICHEOKU says akin to putting the Range in Range Rover, she put the Roe in Roe V. Wade and now she has gone. Norma McCorvey, the then invisible plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, the life changing 1973 Supreme Court decision which literally legalized abortion in the United States of America is dead. McCorvey aka Ms Roe was 69 years old. (Defendant Wade was the then Dallas Country District Attorney Henry Wade). 

McCorvey was five months pregnant and wanted a quick abortion which Texas did not allow except in special circumstances including to save the life of a mother. She sued Dallas County wherein she lived and the case traveled up to the Supreme Court, which ruled 7-2 that that privacy rights under the due process and equal rights clauses of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman’s decision to have an abortion in a pregnancy’s first trimester “free of interference by the state. But before the case would be decided she gave birth to a baby girl who she summarily gave up for adoption. 

ICHEOKU says whether McCorvey was an agent of murder in the womb and considering that a lot of children have been deprived their right to live since then, at a rate of 300,000 abortions a year and 44 years later, that will be a total of 13,200,000 babies killed as a result of her action. Hopefully this many children will be able line up to testify against her as she faces her maker to account for her social upheaval in helping institute the culture of abortion in United States of America. Although later in her life she did a somewhat somersault, became a pro-lifer and undertook to dedicate herself for the rest of her life, fighting to undo the law that bore her name. She once petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the law but was dismissed as moot. She also once accused Obama of being a baby killer and you wonder if it was a case of the kettle calling the pot black, admitted she was the one whose action actually legalized abortions in the United States of America. 

ICHEOKU says as always, trying to put the genie back in the bottle is usually the difficult if not impossible part of any given situation. So many children have been killed as a result of her action and are continuing to be killed till today and possibly will continue to be killed till tomorrow and many more years to come because the Supreme Court in a subsequent petition to have it overruled, ruled that the matter is moot and it is a subsisting law of the land that women have fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy. Quoting Ms Roe, “I wasn’t the wrong person to become Jane Roe, I wasn’t the right person to become Jane Roe. I was just the person who became Jane Roe, of Roe v. Wade. And my life story, warts and all, was a little piece of history.” To which Icheoku says not just a little piece of history but a very big disruptive force of history which gave rise to baby killing in the United States of America. What a record for someone to have. May her soul figure it out. Adieu the face of abortion.

ADAMA BARROW: GAMBIA PRESIDENT FINALLY INAUGURATED.

Icheoku says after the high wire drama that was the former president Yahya Jammeh attempted botching of his election as Gambia president, Adama Barrow was inaugurated at last as president of The Gambia. In his remarks after the ceremony, he said:- "For 22 years, the Gambian people yearned to live in a country where our diverse tribes will be bridged by tolerance and our determination to work together for the common good," he said. "One Gambia, one nation, one people."

Icheoku says hopefully his will not be another ugly chapter of the many unfulfilled dreams of Africans, who excitedly elect a president hoping that they chose right, only to be disappointed down the road as it turns out that they only armed another criminal vagabond in power. ICHEOKU hopes too that he will be mindful of the many hope reposed on him including the effort mounted by Nigeria and other West African countries including the United Nations to validate his mandate and govern not to disappoint these people in addition to his Gambian people who elected him. Icheoku reiterates, NO DRAMA ADAMA. Congratulations. 

NORTH KOREAN SIBLING RIVALRY: WHEN A BROTHER KILLS HIS BROTHER?

ICHEOKU says it will not be the first time neither will it be the last time that sibling rivalry has forced the drawing of blood of a brother by another brother. In Genesis 4:8 Cain killed his brother Abel and went on to retort that he is not his brother's keeper. Genesis 27:35-41 told the story of Esau and Jacob and how their mother helped engineer another sibling rivalry between her two sons. In Nepal, a brother murdered his brother King and his family, covetous of the kingdom which led to the abolition of the monarchy in Nepal. 

So if the current suspicion that the leader of the reclusive North Korea Kim Jong Un ordered the hit on his brother, Kim Jong Nam, it goes without saying that sibling rivalry is still very much a fact of life and has not gone away.

Kim Jong Nam, 45, was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Malaysia by two female secret agents from North Korea's Spy agency Reconnaissance General Bureau, wielding poisoned handkerchief and poisoned needles. They struck following a security lapse between his bodyguards and Malaysian airport police at the airport. Kim Jo Nam was an out of wedlock child of the former leader of North Korea, their father, Kim Jong II and his South Korea mistress, Sung Hae-rim. 

The circumstance of his birth possibly explains why he was passed over by their late father in choosing his heir to the throne in Pyongyang; admitted some analysts would like the world to believe that it was his disgraceful conduct, caught traveling with a false passport in Japan in 2001 that did him in and cost him the throne. However, masking his anger at being passed over, he once said that he is not personally interested in being a leader of North Korea and urged his younger brother leader to do his best for the sake of North Koreans prosperous lives. 

But his luck ran out and not even his false identity, traveling under an assumed name Kin Choi when he was hit, could protect him. An advocate of political reform in the reclusive North Korean, was probably considered a threat which must be eliminated and he was in fact eliminated. Kim Jong Nam was previously targeted for a hit and run accident but the plot was preempted when the agent assigned to stage it was arrested in South Korea. But in Malaysia, a porous security did the trick; his luck exhausted and not being the cat with the proverbial nine lives, they got him. May his soul rest. 

PDJT TAKES ON FAKE NEWS MEDIA IN A MOTHER OF ALL PRESS CONFERENCES.

GENERAL FLYNN'S FORCED EXIT: IT'S CANDOR, STUPID !

Icheoku says trust, once lost, is hardly ever regained because once anyone's veracity for telling the truth is compromised, it Is often extremely difficult to ever trust that person again or take whatever he or she subsequently says without a grain of salt. This is exactly why the National Security Adviser of President Donald John Trump had to go,  relieved of his duties and asked to resign in order to save face. He misled the president by not truthfully telling everything about a telephone call he had with the Russian ambassador; which led Vice President Mike Pence to also misspeak on the issue, thus damaging the presidency's truthfulness to the American people. 

So having breached this foundational bedrock of every relationship, the ultimate test of loyalty, the president was left with only one option, to let Flynn go. Left with the president, whose loyalty to his friends is legendary, the general would have been left in his office, but the need for maintaining institutional truth telling forced the president's hand and he acted accordingly. It is not a rocket science and it does not require burning the midnight oil to understand why General Michael Flynn was fired or rather asked to turn in his security clearance and cease being the National Security Adviser to the president. He crossed that line and can no longer be trusted to tell the truth and in his special relationship with the presidency, his words should be his bonds and he flunked that test. 

What the truth or lie was about is irrelevant because if someone lied in a little matter, the propensity to lie in a major matter is highly probable. Therefore it is imperative to understand why Flynn was let go - it was not because he had a phone call with the Russian ambassador; nope, it was because he did not fully disclose the issues that came up during the telephone call including the Russian sanctions.  He was asked severally and he denied sanctions did not come up only to later claim his recollections were foggy before finally coming clean with an admission that it possibly did come up. By this time it was already too late as a politically charged atmosphere had called for his resignation and it got to fever pitch that the president had no other option but to relieve him of his duties. 

Icheoku says the attempt to misled is not something that should be tolerated because there is no way such a very important issue would not have stood out in his mind while responding to the inquiry. He knew but he choose to keep it secret and this intention supplied the animus of a deliberate effort to lie and conceal a fact of consequence. Therefore General Flynn was rightfully fired or rather forced to resign. ICHEOKU says will so do exactly the same if the president; and the same measure applies to a disloyal spouse, friends and/or family members. If they did it once, they could and will most likely do it again, the right circumstance permitting. Icheoku says it was a good decision by the president to let General Flynn go. It is also to send a message to other underlings that such behavior will not be tolerated by the president or in the presidency and will make everyone to sit up and do their job without any mischievous thoughts. Icheoku says General Michael Flynn is a good man and a great patriot who should be considered for other positions including an ambassadorial posting to possibly Russia and let him go to Russia with love.

JOY VILLA: THE TRUMP GIRL AT THE GRAMMYS, WOWED.

ICHEOKU says imagine what a believe in the peoples president could do for you that a previously not so famous singer has ballooned to the stratosphere for audaciously wearing a MAGA outfit to the Grammys. Joy Villa stepped into the den of anti-Trump anarchists which Hollywood has become and bedazzled them with a bold Make America Great Again dress which was adorned with TRUMP on the bottom flared section. ICHEOKU says audacity could not be better defined than this and like McDonald's, is lovin it. 

Good enough, American deplorables responded warmly to her and showed her so much love by spending their money on her music. Such was their generosity of heart that her record sales on Amazon went from ranking Number 543,202 to ranking Number 3 within just a few hours after boldly identifying with President Donald John Trump. A record 18.106.633% increase which saw more of her records sold than Beyonce, Adele, JayZ, Kanye West and Justin Bieber combined. 

ICHEOKU says nothing else would appreciate her love more than the love which was given back to her in return. What a tribute she paid to our dear President Donald John Trump, whom the singer advised hater to rather learn to see the person occupying the office than the politics that put him there. ICHEOKU definitely agrees that those crazy wide-eyed losers should pick up their pieces and move on from their sorrows and tears, fully aware that their whining won't a thing change regarding who American president is and would remain this coming four years, if not eight years.

In her remarks at the Grammys, Singer Joy Villa said "My whole artistic platform is about LOVE. I couldn’t be where I am today without the love and tenderness of those beautiful supporters and friends around me and remember to forget your problems and focus on the future! You are infinite and beautiful and no one can stop you but you. So go out and celebrate yourself as a winner no matter what, together with those you adore. Life is about living free and loving it. Be your beautiful selves. Go big, or go home. You can either stand for what you believe or fall for what you don't. Above all make a choice for tolerance and love. Agree to disagree. See the person over the politics, carry yourself with dignity, always. Life is made to be lived, so go boldly and give no effs.” 

Icheoku says agrees to all that she said. Wonderful words of wisdom from a wonderful soul songstress and Americans, particularly the irredeemable deplorables, rewarded her mightily. Simply put Joy Villa is wonderful and ICHEOKU says to you to pick your own copy of her 'I MAKE THE STATIC' album today. 

MAKERS CONFERENCE 2017: THE FUTURE IS FEMALE - HILLARY CLINTON.

ICHEOKU says exactly why she lost the last election of November 8, 2016 as American people perceived her to be an extremist who is on the fringe of feminism and leading the attack on family values as well as pushing an unrepentant agenda to turn respective gender roles of the society upside down on its head. Icheoku says was thinking that she learnt at least a lesson or two from her last rejection, but no. In her rather fanatical and maniacal believe that the females of  America far outnumber their males counterpart and that all females vote vagina and not their basic human needs including food on the table and clothes on their back, this wide-eyed feminist has again wandered off the reservation of acceptable speak. 

Once again it is all systems go in her possessed propagation of the feminist female equality nonsocial or rather superiority over men. Delivering a message of solidarity to a feminist group's annual conference in California, Hillary Clinton said, "Despite all the challenges we (feminists) face, I remain convinced that, yes, the future is female." Icheoku queries which future is she talking about and which females does she mean exactly; because if she is delusional about the American society, then she has another thing coming. The American society is still predominantly a macho society, the noisy activism of the unsecured female feminists, who are not comfortable in their skin or who they are, notwithstanding. The other good news too is that women hate one another and even Madam Madeline Albright was this much forthcoming when she urged American females to please rally around one of their own; which of course they rejected by voting nearly equally between Hillary Clinton and President Donald John Trump. 

Icheoku says funny enough and interesting as it may sound, human beings do not or hardly learn from their experiences; otherwise Hillary Clinton would not not have been as boldly imprudent as she was while addressing the MAKER'S 2017 conference. As one commentator put it, the occasion was a golden opportunity for Hillary Clinton to show grace, introspection and some self restraint, but instead she choose otherwise and barreled through the self-censoring barriers into the land of rascality by disparaging and alienating more than one half of American population and by extension, the entire world's human race. The democrat who lost a presidential bid, which was hers for grabs, to a new comer political novitiate President Donald John Trump said that the future is female and belongs to the female species. What has become of this woman, the other woman in Bill Clinton's life or women and debauchery and why is she this possessed by her hatred for males especially those males of America. 

Icheoku says what Hillary Clinton has against males, especially those who call America home is beyond anyone's easy comprehension. What did men do to Hillary Clinton that she is this horn-mad vengeful and looking for an opportunity for a payback. It is a generally widely agreed on proposition that Hillary Clinton is a feminist numero uno whose eyes are crazily wild, red-hot open and looking for a fight with men; which to some people has risen to intentionally seeking an opportunity at vengeance. Should American males be concerned and so perturbed as to engage the services of her husband Bill Clinton to try and get into the mind of this woman and see if there is any way possible to pacify her and make her crave for power more rational and more reasonable. If female is the future, does it mean that men are now so yesterday and have become disposable antiquity of no value and not worth preserving. If these buck-eyed feminists have figured a way to propagate without males or would do with just a male for one every one thousand of them, what exactly do they want the rest of the males to do - commit mass suicide? 

ICHEOKU says this crass female activism of all or nothing must stop and those feminists who see the males as a threatening force which must be completely routed out of relevance, made to shut up permanently never to be seen or heard again from or simply made obsolete and extinct should have a rethink. ICHEOKU says to these feminist anarchists, men are not their problem; their heads which continuously whisper sermons of inferiority complexity to them are the culprit. The earlier they get a grip of this fact the better it will be for their general psychological well-being. As one commentator put it, the ongoing demolition derby of life playing out between the two sexes, the battle of the sexes, might never come to an end if this pervasive mindset continues to fester. A  peaceful partnership and co-existence of both parties is required for far-reaching progress of the collective society at large. ICHEOKU admonishes that the future is both sexes, males and females alike and that Hillary Clinton and her ilk should get over their delusion that the world will ever become a mono-sex female society.  They should learn to become part of the God created and ordained unisex world and collectively aspire to make things better for everyone and where apparent inequity exist, jointly find a remedial relief. What an irredeemable feminist.

LADY GAGA IS NOT FAT, SHE IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS.

Icheoku says haters will always hate and now they are piling on and trolling Lady Gaga. So it goes that after pressuring Lady Gaga to go politically ballistic against President Donald John Trump during her Super Bowl halftime performance and failed, these liberal wild eyed feminists nuts and their sissy male accomplices have taken to twitter and other social media outlets to hammer Lady Gaga for not being a willing tool in their hands of hate. A spectacular performance which every sane person hailed as stellar and which these lunatic fringed anarchists could not find anyway to fault or impugn has now become a belly fat issue? 

It is her body that they are now going after, claiming that she is fat for a loose hanging belly flop that was hardly noticeable. In their warped mind, just find some fault to fault Lady Gaga for not doing their bidding and haranguing President Donald John Trump, their newest punchbag of fun. In their body-shaming of Lady Gaga, they forgot the time honored decorum never to talk about a woman's body weight and to encourage rather than shame her into discouragement. It appears these cry-babies only duly certified females are entitled to such society's protections otherwise why call her out on "pot belly, belly flop and over the belts' pot belly?" 

Icheoku says Lady Gaga is not fat and whatever loose belly was rather sexy than repulsive. She was simply ladylike, being mindful that the Super Bowl was a celebration of American great sport and that in the mix were fans from diverse broad political spectrum including those who are apolitical. In the crowd too were people who paid hefty sums to enjoy a beautiful game of football, played in its grand finale and would rather not be bothered with political remarks or dragged into partisan politics or in short have their day ruined by political comment from a respected entertainer. In the midst too were a lot of Trump's deplorables as well as Clinton's coolaid drinkers and some non partisan independents; while millions of others watched throughout the nation and also globally. So why would a thinking Lady Gaga and she thinks a lot and very fast too, ruin her performance by dabbling into the current political craziness that have seen some extremists on the very far left losing their minds in a rather unsettling hysteric fashion.

Moreso Lady Gaga is from Texas and was performing in Houston Texas, a very deep red State and understands very well the politics of the host state and would have been out of sync obliging these President Trump's detractors. Icheoku is glad that the no nonsense Lady Gaga had fired back and has now rightfully put these mad hounds in their rightful place - the dustbin of irrelevance. In her own words of wisdom she told them to take care of themselves and leave Lady Gaga alone and let Lady Gaga worry about Lady Gaga's issues, if any, including an alleged hanging loose belly skin. According to her, “I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I’m proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don’t need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That’s the stuff of champions. Thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys. Xoxo, Gaga.”

Icheoku says hopefully these anarchists will not take their action a step further by calling for the boycott of Lady Gaga and her music as well as concerts. The far left liberals are tethering on a lunatic fringe and are capable of taking their actions to whatever level that make them feel fulfilled. The same crocks are now boycotting Ivanka Trump's labels and you wonder what did Ivanka also do to them or was it her fault that her father won the presidency; and none of the things the president allegedly said or did was attributable to Ivanka, yet they want to take her down too. Anyway, Icheoku taking the Lady Gaga admonition a step further, says these jobless lowlife trolls should go get jobs and get a life of their own and stop hating others who worked hard and succeeded. The earlier they start accepting the fact that President Donald John Trump won the election and is the president of all, the better for their psychological well being. What a group of human debris that always insist that they know best and that it must either be their way or the highway to hell. Lunatics.

THE TWO FACES OF 2FACE - REUBEN ABATI

Tuface’s decision to lead a protest to register the dissatisfaction of Nigerians with the performance of the incumbent administration and to reiterate the value of government’s responsibility to the people was his finest moment as a citizen and artiste. But it is also now, with his Jammeh-like volte-face, his worst moment. His transformation into a champion of democratic values and voice of the masses brought him added stardom and value. His retreat has turned him into a revolutionary manqué. He deserves our understanding and sympathy. 

When on 24th January Tuface (Innocent Dibia) announced that he was going to lead, under the umbrella of the Tuface Foundation, a mass protest against the economic policies of the Buhari government, he immediately attracted public interest. A multiple award-winning musician, a naturally talented stage performer and author of at least two evergreen songs: “My African Queen” and “If Love is a Crime”, TuBaba, as he is also known, sounded like he was moving from art to politics, and seemed ready to answer to the true calling of the artist as the conscience of the people. 

Artists and creative persons have always led protests and lent their voices to progressive causes. That much is the case in the United States at the moment, where artistes have raised their voices and joined protests to remind the “insurgent in the White House” that America is a land of freedom, democracy and justice and not bigotry and tyranny. Here at home, Fela, and his cousin, the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and others as well, have shown the power of creativity and stardom as a veritable vehicle for social change and justice. Artists and their art, and their movement from the stage, or the printed page, to the public arena of action have always saved humanity, by humanizing man. This has been the case from Sophocles, all through time and history to Olanrewaju Adepoju, Beyonce and Kanye West. 

But activism comes with a price. Tuface obviously didn’t bargain for that. He received enormous support. His announcement of the February 5, later February 6 protest energized the angry, frustrated Nigerian base, and drew our unrelenting “children of anger” back into an overdrive on social media. The international community also became interested, waiting to see the effect of a protest driven by star-power in Nigeria. It was coincidentally a season of protests across the world: in the Gambia, there had been protests against Yahya Jammeh with a positive outcome, in the US, the UK and elsewhere, Donald Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and his misogyny led to protests on both counts, and in the case of the former, a Federal judge has given a ruling that has resulted in the suspension of the ban. In Cameroon, concerned citizens are protesting over discrimination against English-speaking Cameroonians. In Romania, a sea of protesting citizens has just had its way. There is all around the world, right now, a resurgence and affirmation of people power, be it Brexit or left-wing activism in Europe. Individuals and groups lead such moments in history- what makes them different is the fire in their bellies and their readiness to command the revolution, at great personal risk.

It looked initially as if Tuface had that burning fire in his belly, but he couldn’t make that leap between self-preservation and the risks of rebellion. He had appeared on television. He spoke confidently about the need for real change in Nigeria. He encouraged Nigerians to come out en masse to support the movement. He even announced the color and dress code of the protest. His wife stood by him and she, too, talked about her husband’s convictions about national progress and good governance. Each time Tuface appeared in the media, during those five minutes in the sun, he looked bright and determined. But everything changed late Saturday evening. The recorded video of Tuface’s volte-face, announcing the cancellation of the Feb. 6 protest showed him looking dispirited, broken, ashen as if he had been shaken up and chastised. He looked unsettled with his scraggy, uncombed beard. It is not difficult to know when a man’s balls have been squeezed. 

Tuface actually deserves our sympathy. He must have gone through a lot of pressures that broke his spirit. His capitulation makes us appreciate even better the heroism of those who always stood up to dictatorships. His example is indeed a great lesson…And I mean that positively for the fact that…Despite the massive support that he received, he also received a lot of discouragement. An old ally of his, some guy appropriately called Blackface was one of the first persons to blacken the idea of the protest. Some Nollywood, belle-forever-face-front-chop-money-money-finish-carry-go characters also opposed Tuface. Some musicians too, although in the long run, Tuface was able to mobilize the support of every section of the Nigerian community at home and in diaspora. By Saturday when he poured cold ice on the whole thing, the protest had even grown beyond him, much larger, with others seizing the initiative and turning what he had thought would be a small show into a nationwide and diaspora event.  At that point, Tuface was no longer the singer of sultry songs, but the symbol of a rebellion. The enormity of that potential must have frightened him. He didn’t have the courage to see it through. Leadership is about courage. A coward can never lead a rebellion. 

But we should struggle to understand his situation. He was accused of having seven children from three women, which is an absolutely stupid point. An artist does not have to be a saint. We relate to their art and their engagements with society on the basis of the positive value that they bring forth.  It is also possible that Tuface received pressures from his multiple in-laws, and even the Baby Mamas defending their stakes in his life.  The official wife must have been accused of trying to encourage him to get into trouble so he could get killed and she alone can sit on his estate.  The Baby Mamas and all the in-laws must have called to remind him that his children are still very young and he needs to be alive to be their father and so he should think twice before going to use his chest to stop Nigeria Police bullets. Family members, to whom he is obviously a breadwinner, must have advised him to stay with his singing and dancing and not get involved in politics. They would remind him how Fela’s mom got killed and how Fela’s house was razed down, and how every artist who dared the Nigerian government ended up in exile or in prison or with a strange motor accident.

The Nigerian government was, of course, unhappy with the planned protest, and the idea of it created enormous confusion in Abuja and Aso Rock. While the office of the Acting President spoke about the right to protest and the government not having anything against the expression of fundamental human rights, the Office of the President on vacation made it very clear that the would-be protesters are enemies of the government of the day and sore losers. Those two seemingly contradictory impressions from Aso Rock can only point to one thing: high-level intrigue within. That is probably why the Nigeria Police kept shuffling: we don’t approve of the protest, we do, we don’t, we beg.  The timing says it all also. With the President out of the country, and the plan of the protesters to welcome him with a Trump-like protest from Abuja, to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Akure, and in parts of the Western world, the damage would have been incalculable. And Tuface would have been held responsible for leading the sabotage.  No Nigerian government since 1999 has benefitted from any mass protest. The anti-third term protest hobbled the Obasanjo government. The Jonathan government never recovered from the pro-fuel subsidy protests of January 2012. Tuface and his planned protest had set the stage for a similar prospect for the Buhari government. 

What Tuface imagined was a clean-hearted civil action would have resulted in absolute panic, with some informal voices in and around government doing dangerous analysis on ethnic and religious grounds.  Reckless hypotheses such as the following: (a) “so, as Baba hand over this thing to Osinbajo so, the only thing his Christian brothers think they should do is to organize a protest in Baba’s absence?” (b) “You don hear say Osinbajo’s office say people have right to protest? So, Baba cannot even travel on vacation again. Walahi, these Yoruba people cannot be trusted.”  (c) What are these security people doing? If they are loyal to Baba, by now they should have invited that Tuface, and ask him about the two SUVs that Akpabio gave him and his wife when they got married. They should show him strong evidence that the SUVs were bought with Akwa Ibom state government money and he should pay back the money or get ready to be sued for being an accomplice in a case of diversion of public funds.  (d) Or you could have some people affirming the narrative that was put out by the APC and friends of the government of the day viz:  “this is the PDP at work. Tuface must be an agent of PDP. Why are our own APC people sleeping? Baba no dey around, they want to pull down the country. So, Tuface is now working with Ayo Fayose of Ekiti, to embarrass Baba? This Osinbajo, can we trust him?” 

By pulling the trigger at this time, Tuface simply put a lot of people under pressure and placed their jobs and loyalty at risk -no doubt about it, they must have come after him with a sledgehammer to stop and discourage him. Clear evidence: a counter-revolutionary #IstandwithBuhari protest has already been announced to last for two days. The Tuface revolution that has been abandoned by its main motivator teaches us more lessons about the dynamics of power in Nigeria and the temperament of the resident power elite. Will the protest now take place on February 6, without Tuface? Or will everyone hold fire and down their tools of anger? What is certain, however, is that Tuface is likely to sit at home tomorrow with Anne, his temptingly pretty wife by his side, watching the latest episode of Big Brother Naija on TV, with chicken and salad before him, and a bottle of wine, and one of his hands, innocently setting the stage for the amorous prelude for child number eight. With his wife telling him: “Don't worry yourself, dear, Nigeria is not worth dying for. Who wan die make e go die. You have tried your best, my darling husband!”.

That is how many would-be heroes become anti-heroes, and their dreams die a-borning. If the protests go ahead on February 6 as many are threatening, nonetheless, Tuface would lose a lot. If it doesn’t go ahead, he would still lose. The torch of protest that he has lit may not burn on the streets of Nigeria; it is burning already in the minds of the people. He may have chickened out, but he has already achieved the goal of his initial plan. He has by lending his star power to an anti-Buhari protest, expanded the population of angry Nigerians. He has given voice to their anger and fears. His withdrawal from action will not excuse him. Whatever anyone tells him, in the long run, he would still be punished for his bravery and cowardice on both counts. He should not be surprised if, for the next few months, he doesn’t get invited to any concert, or performance contract, or if he gets to perform anywhere, he could be booed off the stage. He should not be surprised if his phones stop ringing, or if it rings at all, he could be told: “call me on what’s app I beg, I don’t know if they are monitoring your calls.” 

Let no one blame Tuface His stage name Tuface is the name of Janus: the two-face Greek god, who looks in two directions. When it mattered most in his career, Tuface Idibia answered the call of his name

SUPER BOWL LI: TOM BRADY LEADS THE PATRIOTS TO A MAGICAL 34 - 28 WIN

Icheoku says were this Russia or Italy, it would, most definitely have been a fix, what went down in Super Bowl LI Houston 2017. It is simply incredible that the New England Patriot could come back from their near dead position to pull off what would be considered the most surprising victory in Super Bowl history, coming from a 28:3 deficit in third quarter to clinch the championship trophy 34 to 28 following an instant death overtime play. 

Tom Brady was spectacular as he marshaled his boys to the franchise's fifth Super Bowl victory; the first by any quarterback in NFL history. Icheoku says inexperience and cockiness probably doomed the Atlanta Falcons whose first three unreplied touch downs apparently got into their heads and they forgot that a game is not over until it is indeed over. They became too relaxed and in their celebration before the final whistle, the indefatigable New England Patriots cashed in, charged as wounded lions and overwhelmed the Falcons. 

Icheoku, although rooted for the underdog Atlanta Falcons, but was satisfied by the outcome; moreso as it was a big face-saving victory for the president, President Donald John Trump, who has predicted that the Patriots would win and they won. Imagine what the left wing and their media whores would have done to the president, mocking him for a failed prediction and possibly blaming the president for the hard-luck of the Patriots had they lost. It is another lesson that fighting till the end is the way and manner of champions and indeed the New England Patriots have proved that they earned their storied preeminent position in National Football League. 

ICHEOKU says congratulations to Tom Brady and his boys, their wonderful coach Bill Belichick and of course the owner of the franchise Bob Kraft. What a game it was.  Overall, it was a well staged and well played Super Bowl championship and the weather cooperated as well. 

ROMANIA SURRENDERS TO CORRUPTION, AS A FAULTY SYSTEM WINS.

Icheoku says in 1989 Romanian people rose up against their leader Nicholae Ceausescu and killed him alongside his wife Elena Ceausescu for corruption among a litany of other crimes of his despotism. Twenty eight long years later, the government in Bucharest have legitimized corruption and you wonder what lesson did they learn from the fate which befell Ceausescu. Query, should the Ceausescus have been killed for corruption if the result is for his subsequent successors in office to turn around and become as corrupt as he was, if not more. 

To add insult to injury, the corrupt Romanian politicians have now legalized corruption and said it is okay to demand and accept or take bribes, provided you do it in parchments or tranches but not in one fell swoop. According to their warped narrative, accepting any amount in corrupt proceeds must not exceed $40,000 at once; thus technically making it okay to accept $1 million provided it is spread out in 250 installments. ICHEOKU says it defies every rhyme and reason that any country would adopt corruption as an official  policy of state, regardless of how permeated corruption may have become in the Romanian society. At least the government would have continued with its lip service approach to fighting corruption, but to go out of its way to so brazenly embrace corruption telegraphs a very wrong message and it is condemnable and ICHEOKU hereby condemns it as unbecoming of any civilized society. 

A country where minimum wage is among the least in the world; where people are still finding it difficult to make ends meet and poverty is still one of the highest in continental Europe, but its political class finds it classy to glorify such a criminal misbehavior of official corruption, making the misconduct of bribery no longer illegal. What a mind boggling blow to the effort to bring the country up to date and in conformity with civilized behavior and tame its corruption. It is unbelievable that in a country where 1,170 cases were prosecuted and damages worth $1.07 recovered just within only three years, its politicians are giving impetus to this malady. ICHEOKU agrees with Romania President Klaus Iohannis that the adoption of the pro-corruption measure is a mourning for the rule of law, which has received a grave blow from the enemies of justice. ICHEOKU agrees too that such open adoption of corruption would greatly encourage the abusive behavior of public workers, dishonesty, and immorality within the Romanian society. What a people who in short owes the Ceausescu apology.

IRAN, YOU'RE SERVED !

Icheoku says the Islamic Republic of Iran has been served notice that its meddlesomeness will no longer be tolerated, and not by the new administration in Washington DC. In a very terse statement, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said "As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice." Icheoku says it is now left for Iran to weigh its options accordingly and decide what to do with and how to respond or react to the notice. But a wise Iran will know that President Donald John Trump means what he says and says what he means and that he has little to no love for Iran and therefore be smart enough not to give him reason to destroy them. 

It is the same Iran which took American sailors hostage last January 2016 and paraded them on television just to humiliate them; and refused to release them until they forced an apology from the United States government. It is the same Iran which in 1980 took Americans hostage in their embassy in Tehran and for a lengthy period of time. It is the same Iran that is sponsoring Hezbollah militancy in Lebanon and all its terrorists activities throughout the Middle East and Israel. It is the same Iran that has been meddling in Iraq, Syria and the entire Middle East as well as the Arab world and for such a very long time too. It is the same Iran that is fighting a proxy war in Yemen through the Houthi militia and also sponsored a failed insurrection in Bahrain. It is the same Iran which has been menacingly approaching United States naval assets in the Persian Gulf trying to provoke an incident and confrontation. It is the same Iran which signed an agreement to be of good behavior and was handsomely rewarded with $150 billion; but is now testing missiles in addition to other provocative misbehavior. 

According to NSA Flynn, instead of Iran being thankful to the United States for the agreement Iran is now feeling emboldened. Icheoku says Iran will be making a grave mistake if it fails to advise itself properly that American people feel that enough is enough; and that the Trump's administration will not put up with its continuing misbehavior or sit down idly and not act on their provocations. Iran is increasingly becoming a continuing nuisance which needs to be abated and surely, they might very soon get their wish. Luckily enough, the Trump administration has now put Iran on notice that it will not stand its unending needling and poking, not anymore. The Trump administration, following the latest Iranian missile test and an attack on a Saudi Arabia warship by Iranian backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, has telegraphed Tehran that they must stop further acts of intransigence or reap the whirlwind. Icheoku agrees that the time has come to confront Iran's destabilizing behavior across the Middle East, a situation which was exacerbated by Obama's weak and ineffective administration's failure to respond adequately to Tehran’s malign actions – including weapons transfers, support for terrorism, and other violations of international norms. 

Icheoku says the mullahs in Tehran must advise themselves properly that the tension between their country and the United States of America which has been simmering since 1979 is about boiling over and their country will be at the receiving end of what the United States military will be prepared to dish out. If it they miscalculate and hostilities erupts, the Iraqi operation shock and awe will pale in comparison to fighting a war which was declared since 1979 and only waiting for an appointed time. A situation which is not helped by the no love lost relationship existing between the two countries and the current American President Donald John Trump does not leave anyone in doubt about his coldness towards Iran and said as much during his campaign and have also acted on it with the 7-nation prohibition of entry into the United States. Those mullahs must take into cognizance the large number of options available to the United States government should it decide to take appropriate action to stop or deter the continuing Iranian provocations. 

ICHEOKU disagrees with the views expressed by Ali Vaez that war with Iran will make the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts look like a walk in the park because at the end of the day, Iran will be the one left with a bleeding nose and a badly bruised battered bloodied body. Iran waged an eight year long war with Iraq which they could not win and fighting America will not be any easier undertaking either. At worst they will resort to terrorism but will bear the brunt of any resulting conflict and it is going to be a very costly mistake on their part to throw their hat in the ring to go forth. That Iranian neighbors including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia would like to see the wings of Iran clipped and would readily support any military action against their arch enemy and a rising force in the Middle East is without a doubt. It is heartening to hear Saudi Arabia's government's full rejection of the suspicious activities and interventions by the Iranian regime and its agents. 

It is now up to the regime in Tehran to decide what it will do; what it decides to do or how it chooses to react or respond is entirely up to them. The aces are with America and a wise Tehran would just hunker down, fully aware that President Donald John Trump will not mind looking the other way while Israel executes its plan of action against Iran; or better still impose the full weight of the United States on them, economically and militarily as well as diplomatically. President Trump could also order the navy to confront Iran in the Persian Gulf and let the tree fall where they may. Either way and whatever happens going forward, Iran must know that heeding this notice is their best outcome because unlike Barack Obama, Donald Trump does not backdown and will strike with a brutal force should push come to shove. 

I AM A WORKAHOLIC - PRESIDENT TRUMP

I like to work. I hate vacations, it is boring. I like this job. There is a lot of work to be done. It provides me opportunity to work as hard as I like to work. I will get the job done. - President Donald John Trump speaking on his experience thus far since being sworn in as president and commander in chief of the United States of America. Icheoku says a right hire for the job as there are so many things that need to be done and PDJT will get them done.

JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH: THE SCOTUS NOMINEE.

Icheoku says he is a great proponent of "originalism and textualism" as guiding philosophy in interpreting the constitution. Judge Neil McGill Gorsuch, 49 years old, of the United States Court of Appeal, 10th Circuit, Denver Colorado, is the president's nominee to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonio Scalia, as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

President Donald John Trump, while introducing the judge, said he made his decision in keeping to his campaign promise to appoint a right fit for late Justice Antonio Scalia and no other person fits that mold better than Judge Neil Gorsuch. Continuing the president said, "Judge Gorsuch has a superb intellect, an unparalleled legal education, and a commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its text. He will make an incredible Justice as soon as the Senate confirms him." 

Icheoku agrees that a judge with such impeccable credentials will be of a great asset as an addition to the Supreme Court. As to his judicial philosophy, Judge Neil Gorsuch often aligns himself to Justice Scalia and once quoted Scalia thus: "Judges should strive, if humanly and so imperfectly, to apply the law as it is, focusing backward, not forward, and looking to text, structure, and history to decide what a reasonable reader at the time of the events in question would have understood the law to be. If you're going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you're not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you're probably doing something wrong." 

Icheoku says Judge Gorsuch sounds every inch the kind of a judge American people would rather see in their Supreme Court, a strict constructionist and not a political judicial activist; and therefore supports his nomination and urge the Senate to confirm him without delay.  It Is definitely another check on President Donald John Trump's promised to do list and in keeping faith with the American people, keeping this campaign promises. 

FYI: Originalism as the law was originally written and understood; and textualism interpreting the law on its face value, rather than its necessary implication or faction in foreseeable consequence of its implementation. Put in another way, interpreting the law the straw, layman's plain manner.

TRUMP V. MAY IS REAGAN V. THATCHER VERSION 2.0

ICHEOKU says British Prime Minister Theresa May was on call to Washington DC to visit with the newly elected president of the United States of America President Donald John Trump. They had discussions on global issues particularly things affecting both countries and held a press conference thereafter where both leaders took some questions. Icheoku says was quite impressed with the performance of a president who is merely one week in office. It is deja vu the eighties with President Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher holding sway in both countries respectively; so you can call Trump meet May a Reagan met Thatcher 2.0 It is a new day in America and when America clears its throat, the world pays attention and in this new president the heavens and America find a leader they can trust.