inibetok

2024-07-11T11:44:00.000+01:00

The Death Knell of a Nation: When Shamelessness and Audacity for Evil Reign- Part 1

A nation's downward spiral is often marked by a disturbing trend: the erosion of shame and the rise of audacity for evil. When a society loses its sense of shame and individuals brazenly engage in wrongdoing without remorse, it's a telltale sign of a nation in decline.

When the masses lose their sense of shame, a society's moral fabric begins to unravel. Shame serves as a vital social construct, holding individuals accountable for their actions and maintaining social order. However, when shamelessness prevails, the consequences are far-reaching and devastating.

Without shame, individuals feel no remorse for their wrongdoings, and moral boundaries disappear. The collective conscience of society becomes numb, and the concept of right and wrong becomes distorted. As a result, societal norms deteriorate, and the rule of law is challenged.

The absence of shame also leads to a lack of accountability. Individuals and leaders alike engage in corrupt and unethical practices without fear of repercussions. Corruption and nepotism flourish, and the vulnerable suffer at the hands of the powerful. The moral leadership that societies need to thrive is absent or compromised.

Moreover, shamelessness breeds a culture of disrespect and incivility. Social discourse deteriorates, and verbal and physical violence become commonplace. The masses become desensitized to the suffering of others, and empathy and compassion are lost.

The international community also takes notice when a nation's masses lose their sense of shame. Diplomatic relationships suffer, and economic consequences follow. Tourism and investment decline as the nation's reputation becomes tarnished.

Ultimately, a society without shame is a society without a moral compass. The consequences are catastrophic, leading to social unrest, political instability, and economic collapse. It is essential for individuals and societies to recognize the importance of shame in maintaining social order and to cultivate a sense of shame that promotes accountability, empathy, and respect for the well-being of others. Only then can we build a society that values morality, justice, and human rights.

Discriminatory Justice, A Nigeria's Idiosyncrasy

2022-05-07T16:24:00.000+01:00

Nigeria is a weird nation. Might is actually right in the country and the level of your connection determines how mighty you are.

Lady Justice has dropped her blindfold and her judgement is becoming discriminatory. A dangerous precedent has been set.

While some kidnappers are pampered and given amnesty, others are killed or jailed. Someone was abducted and killed in a government owned and operated transport vehicle, the mighty hand of the law didn't fall on the government establishment. The driver alone is singled out for prosecution. However, when a student misbehaved during an international trip by a school, all the branches of the school were shut down. All private schools in Kaduna were once shutdown simply because a proprietor abducted and killed a student.

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha received a pardon from President Goodluck Jonaths in spite of the damning corruption charges and conviction that hung over his head. Recently, Buhari, a man who came into power on the mantra of anti-corruption ignored all arguments against the pardoning of Governors Nyame and Dariye and went head to pardon them.

Unfortunately, some innocent Nigerians are languishing in prison cells and police custody all over the nation awaiting trial. Who did this to us?

Love and Sex

2022-05-07T15:29:00.001+01:00

Love, the four-letter word with numerous meanings, has been used by many to blackmail, cajole, malign and deceive. The users primarily adjust the meanings to capitalise on the emotional weakness of his/her target to achieve an ulterior motive.

The diversity of its meanings is in direct proportion to the number of proponents. Some attempts at demystifying the word have been sincere. Unfortunately, this sincerity has been limited by the intensity of illumination available to them.

Love is definitely not that fleeting thrust of emotion that usually culminates in arousal which requires sexual satisfaction. Rather, it is a commitment to be kind, nice, humane, caring, giving and sacrificial to the object of that affection irrespective of the prevailing circumstance. That means, the commitment is not subjective to any external factors and is unchangeable. It is not also based on any superficial features. It is indeed timeless and blind to faults.

The categorisation of that word into erotic, filial, agape, etc love should not have happened. Love should just be love.

Love should also be separated from sex and the idea of love making thrashed. Sex should be sex and viewed as an art that requires skills to make the act pleasurable.

All spiritual, moral and religious undertones should be extracted from sex and seen as a physical action which it is. The only limitation should be its confinement to only the matrimonial enclave.

Sex should be a course in the curriculum developed for parenting in the university. This is vital to bust the myth and religiosity surrounding sex and allow humans to enjoy the most pleasurable experience nature created for them.

Good sex is therapeutic. It calms nerves and make humans less violent. It can provide a way to solving the present insecurity challenges and marital violence that are now on the front burner of national discourse.

A survey may also reveal that most women are not usually carried to the promise land during the ride. And most men even when they "cum", it is not usually at that inexplicable pleasurable peak but just at the sublime one due to ignorance and inexperience of the parties involved.

The inability of man to achieve such feat which was meant to ease tension, dissipate energy and rejuvenate the mind and soul results in pent up emotions that are vented in violent actions. The origin of the violent nature of man.

In this critical time in our national life, it becomes pertinent to learn, unlearn and relearn for our common good. An unexamined life is not worth living.

Challenging the Status Quo

2022-05-07T14:33:00.002+01:00

It is only when you know and understand your purpose in life that you can identify and stick to your consecration. To avoid falling for anything, you must stand for something.

Wole Soyinka once said ,"the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny ". If we were to go by this assertion, the measure of the magnitude of manness left in us will reveal an infinitesimal quantity.

Lack of personal conviction has emboldened the cowardice in most men and caused the fear of uncertainty to become yes men.

Challenging the status quo is no mean feat especially when those adverse to the change are blinded by myopic and parochial sentiments.

Doing what is right is always at a cost, that's the reason most people prefer to keep quiet and adopt the herd mentality.

The dearth of men of ideology has been the bane of our economic and political emancipation. Today we are swayed by common and selfish interest rather than by conviction and ideology based on truth and facts.

Sheikh Nuru Khalid is just one of the recent casualties of those who allow their ideological conviction to direct their actions. Many have gone before him. I have personally suffered a great loss for daring to believe and act on my conviction which was against an established norm.

Until we speak up and take action in the face of tyranny; until we brace up and challenge the the established devilish norms; until we say enough is enough to the men in agbada, isiagu and babban rigar, we will continue this subservient existence shackled to the floor by their greed, wickedness, ineptitude and corruption.

-Ini 2022

There wasn't a Nation

2020-07-15T15:32:00.002+01:00

Nigeria, O! The land of my ancestors
You were birthed on the bed of iniquity
And "contrapted" on the foundation of greed and obscenities
To feather the nest and be subject to the whims and caprices of your originators
Like all ill-conceived projects
Your case is not different

You were setup to fail, doomed from the onset
Failure was ingrained in your DNA
It was indeed your ultimate goal
Which you have so far achieved

Some blind folks, patriots, they call themselves
They saw the potentials
But failed to recognise your pitfalls
How wrong were they, when you failed them as doomed.

Their utopia had become their graveyard
Their smiles replaced with tears
And their dreams/visions by nightmares
They harbour nothing except regrets on their deathbeds
As they whine at the twilight of their existence
There was a country

O what a creature you are!
Your venom kills only yours
And your fangs only injurious to your offsprings
Your strength lies in self destruction
But you cowardly scamper to safety on the face of external aggression

Your offsprings now know better
And expect no better
Your security structure is now an instrument for their annihilation
You saddle them with derogatory appellate, lazy, you call them
Their juvenile strengths are harnessed to eliminate your perceived enemies but dumped when they outlive their usefulness.

There was indeed a country.

Nigeria: A Nation Where Ignorance is Bliss

2018-08-10T17:45:00.002+01:00

“...The PDP can weep from now until there is no tear in their body; she is going to be there. We cannot afford to lose that woman. Who cares about youth service?" This statement unfortunately came from Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Itse Sagay. This was his response to calls by Nigerians for the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to react to the allegations that she forged her NYSC discharge certificate.

Any person, who forges any document, writing, or seal, is guilty of an offence which, unless otherwise stated, is a felony, and he is liable, if no other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for three years. The NYSC decree Section 13, Sub-section 4, articles a to c can be summarised thus, any person who makes false statement, forges or is in possession of any document so closely resembling any certificate in an attempt to deceive is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N5000.00 or to imprisonment for a term of three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

The above describes what the law of land says about Mrs Kemi Adeosun Certificate saga, yet a professor who chairs the Presidential Committee Against Corruption sees nothing wrong with using a forged certificate to work as a Minister of Finance. What a life. There’s something wrong with their type of education or what my dictionary and common sense are telling me. Why should my dictionary define corruption as ‘’ dishonest or fraudulent conduct” when prof sees nothing wrong with Mrs Adeosun’s alleged conduct to it?

I have indeed been deceived and lied to. I was deceived into believing that certificates were prerequisites for occupying certain political positions. That was indeed a blatant lie; with enough money to hire as many SAN as possible you can occupy any position, from a senatorial to presidential one. The law is an ass, yet they lied to me that the judiciary was the hope of a common man. They lied that the blind fold on the Lady Justice enforces neutrality, but they refused to let me know that even the blind is still subjected to the influence of money. They told me that all graduates were found worthy in character and learning. I shake my head. Are they(Reno Omokri, Femi Fani-Kayode, Itse Sagay, Lai Mohammed, Godswill Akpabio, Reuben Abati, Dino Melaye, Dele Momodu, etc) not all graduates? Or have we changed the meaning of character or worthy? My basic Economics informed me that one of the major reasons for the location of industries was the availability of raw materials, which is a lie. If not, why would we build refineries in the North for oil found in the South and Ranches in the South for cattle that are predominant in the North? I was made to believe that we were to uphold the sanctity of human life from conception to the grave but no; the Fulani herdsmen prefer to uphold the sanctity of cattle life.

I wish I did not know what I know. I wish I could just think like the majority of us. I wish I could just conform and believe the lies that have been made to be the truths. I wish my mind could just stop bothering me when mediocrity is celebrated. I wish I could just believe in this alternative truth and the subjectivity of fact.

I wish I could just support either Akpabio fanatically because we come from the same tribe for follow Buhari dogmatically because he claims to be my president. I wish!

“Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.”

Before You Crucify Godswill Akpabio

2018-08-06T13:01:00.001+01:00

Akpabio

In saner clime, ideology differentiates political parties from each other in the political system. It is believed to be central to the strength, viability and solidarity of a party.

In the United States of America, where we enjoy copying from, the traditional, right-leaning Republican Party opposes the liberal, left-leaning Democratic Party on economic, social and political matters:

"Republicans believe in strong border controls, in tax cuts, in the use of firearms and in death penalty. They are against abortion, same-sex marriages and support private health care systems; and

Democrats support open immigration policies, believe that rich people should pay higher taxes, advocate for more regulations in the use of firearms and oppose death penalty. They are in favour of free choice, support same-sex marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples and believe that the government should intervene in economic and social matters, including health care."

However, in my beloved country, Nigeria, such differentiation is conspicuously missing.
Their strategy is a catch-all in nature that makes it easier to adjust to convenience rather than ideological coherence and consistency. The absence of coherent ideological principles, in the party, that could focus its government and guide members in public offices is directly linked to the ruination of our political growth.

Therefore, for those screaming blue murder, betrayal, especially my Annang people, over Godswill Akpabio's defection hold your peace. What he has done is neither abominable nor a betrayal of any cause. He did exactly what he is meant to do, self-preservation. Theirs have always been the politics of convenience and stomach infrastructure. The earlier you realise this, the better for your sanity.

Stay blessed and be vigilant.

Danse Macabre

2018-07-26T16:29:00.001+01:00

The sound of the superstitious French fiddle is in the air again. The dancers are tightening the final knots on their costumes and gearing up for the ultimate showdown. To the uninitiates the tone may not be decipherable, but to the perennial dancers it is a familiar one. It is their regular diabolus in musica which they have over the years devised matching dance steps to its dissonant tritone. The preparation is not new to them; rather it is a ritual they have grown so accustomed to. They are merely fulfilling their obligation with neither any emotional attachment nor no ideological inclinations. They are not caught up in it. It is just a game to them; a chess game where they are kings and queens.

Unfortunately, the spectators know none of these. They are so caught in the alignment and realignment to realise that they are about to be taken for a ride once again. They fight, shout and jostle for front row position just to catch a glimpse of their favourite and celebrated dancers. They are so passionate about this dance but they are completely ignorant of their status as the pawns.

How can one begin to uncover the veil that has been placed over them for perpetual enslavement? How do you explain to them that they are being played if they cannot even see the glaring shackles used to immobilize them?

There's nothing as dangerous as the incarceration of the mind. The individual so caged automatically becomes a ready tool in the hands of his master. No atrocious act is beyond him or inconceivable as long as it satisfies the insatiable demonic urge of his boss. God, how can this vicious cycle of captivity be broken? How can this rat race be truncated? How can these walking zombies be awakened?

2019 is just by the corner, multifarious activities have begun. The dancers have taken their positions to herald in the Danse Macabre. Spectators beware! To before warned.... Be warned. Stop drinking murky water or endangering your lives for someone who does not care about you and yours; someone who does not acknowledge your existence and right to be treated like humans. Pay attention to their positioning, a cursory look will reveal the baseless nature of their alignment. A second glance will show a change in cloak devoid of any iota of transformation. A final look will unveil a gathering of the vultures desperately positioned for the furtherance of their devilish avarice to the detriment of the spectators.

Be watchful!

APC's Change

2016-10-04T15:22:00.003+01:00

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. -John F. Kenedy

My friend Toyin Olumoko gave me this as a definition of change. That was when it dawn on me that Nigerians were shortchanged and that APC owes them nothing.

Two laws of life come to my mind, the survival of the fittest and Murphy's law. In both cases one doesn't need to lift a finger to do anything, nature will automatically take it's course.

If that was the change APC promised Nigerians, it makes real sense to me now. They actually planned to do nothing, but to wait for nature to perform it's function. Why then are Nigerians claiming not to have seen the change promised them.
Some of us are just ungrateful to the most transparent and honest govt we may ever get. They promised us nothing and delivered just that.

We should learn to be grateful to our present govt. How can we not commend the effort of a man who abandoned his over 150 cattle to come and do nothing in such a lonely Aso Rock? If you can fathom how boring such is, then you will be more appreciative of the sacrifices our leaders are making for us.

What is This Hullabaloo About PMB's Speech ?

2016-10-04T15:19:00.001+01:00

What is this hullabaloo about PMB's speech during the launch of The Change Begins With You campaign? Why the shout that part of it was plagiarized? Was the idea for the campaign itself not stolen?

It surprises me more when Nigerians actually expect anything good from a bunch of people whose interest is only to assume position of leadership for the name. A set of people whose idea of governance is to make their predecessor look bad so that they can look good. A gathering of individuals so bereft of ideas that their hollowness is enough buoyancy to create their flotation.

What do expect from a leader whose followers are very gullible? What do you expect when an old uneducated man is elected to lead a country of more than 100 million educated young people? What do you expected from a man who promised you change, only to demand that you produce the change he promised? What do you expect from a people whose idea of job creation is to promote masquerade dressing? What do you expect from a president who will not do his homework but reads just everything placed before him? What do you expect from a people who will commission another person's project and praise themselves for achieving a huge feat. What do you expect from someone who will demand accountability and honesty only from us?

The story continues but my battery says bye.

WHAT NIGERIA MEANS TO ME by Ini Etok

2016-10-04T15:16:00.001+01:00

I read with interest the article written by Reuben with the same title. According to him, he is a grateful Nigerian. What else did you expect from someone who was educated by the country free of charge? What did you expect from someone who grew up when life was easy and food was cheap? I mean, what did you expect from who was given an opportunity to share from the national cake? He is a patriotic Nigerian! Who wouldn’t be if you were that catered for by your country?

What does Nigeria mean to? It means a country that has not done anything for me? It means a nation, which despite my many years of candle burning and sleepless nights couldn’t offer me a job with my 2.1. It is the country that didn’t give me a kobo as bursary allowance throughout my university days? It means a nation that made me spend more than eight daunting years studying a five-year due to no fault of mine? It means a nation that leaves her students at the mercy of cultists.

What does Nigeria mean to me? It means exploitation. A country that religiously collects my tax yet my electricity, security, road and water are provided by me. It means a conglomeration of people who have repeatedly made bad choices in electing their leaders. It means a country the can voluntarily vote one man into power because he had no shoes and the other just because he had only 150 cattle. It means a nation where people celebrate togetherness even when its foundation reeks of fraud, contempt, corruption and deprivation. It means a nation that appoints a man who lacks firm grip of the manipulation of monetary and fiscal policy tools to chart its economic direction as her CBN governor and a woman who is not well grounded in elementary economic theories as a finance minister.

What does Nigeria mean to me? It means a country where people are not judged by the content of their character but by the size of the loot garnered while in public office. It means a country where the whistle blower is suspended by those he accused and everyone claps. It means a nation-state where the leaders plagiarized other peoples work and blame their subordinate for it. It means a nation where the citizenry is so gullible that they believe CHANGE is always positive.

That is what Nigeria mean to me. What about you?
Happy Independence!!!!!!

Keep deceiving yourself.

ECOWAS court orders FG to pay N15m to former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, for unlawfully arresting him

2016-10-04T15:10:00.002+01:00

The Court of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has ruled against the arrest and continued detention of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, describing it as unlawful and arbitrary.

Delivering judgement today in a suit filed by Dasuki, the court ruled that the further arrest of Dasuki by security agents on November 4th last year after he was granted bail by a court of law, amounts to a mockery of democracy and the rule of law.

Dasuki who is currently being tried for allegedly squandering $2.1 billion arms deal fund during the last administration, had dragged the Federal government before the court to seek redress over his arrest and continued detention despite meeting his bail conditions. The court in its ruling today, ordered the Federal government to pay N15 million to Dasuki as damages.

The blunder continues.

DISTRIBUTION OF CAPITAL PROJECTS IN THE 2016 UNPADDED BUDGET

2016-08-30T11:45:00.002+01:00

What does this mean?

I sincerely do not envy those from from the SS and SE.

ON MY MIND

2016-06-22T10:10:00.000+01:00

It has been a while since I penned down my thoughts. Bottling up things can be disastrous; therefore it is another time for my rambling. Where do I start from? So much water has gone under the bridge. Nigeria has recorded new lows in all the sectors. The economic variables, especially macro ones, all seem to have their independence and thus fluctuate at will. The economy is in a mess and we are drifting uncontrollably towards a fall without any anchor or a captain. Someone once likened the nation to a guinea pig on the slab of quack senile surgeon whose only interest is in the exploitation of his subjects.

The recent CBN policy on forex is seen as a welcome development. Many believe the economy will benefit from it since market forces will be left to determine the exchange rates. However, what baffles me is that there is still an existence of a parallel market. Why? On the other hand, how will an economy that is import dependent benefit from a floating exchange rate? How will their huge current account deficit tilt the exchange rates to their favour? It is really absurd how our policy makers think and operate. Floating exchange rates may aggravate existing problems in the economy. Since the country is already experiencing economic problems such as higher inflation and unemployment, floating exchange rates will make the situation worse. They were the ones who initiated that irrational/illogical stringent forex policy that put so much pressure on the naira and resulted in the huge disparity that existed and still exist between the official and parallel market.

We lack the emergence and interplay of ideas and thoughts that are local in origin but global in perspective. Ideas that are well structured into explaining socio-economic phenomena in the area of cause and effect relationship, theories, generalization that serve as building blocks to the evolution or formation of indigenous policies. Some factors come into play to determine the effectiveness of policies. According to Blaug (1982), economic theory of a given period is nothing but a reflection of the prevailing historical and political circumstances. But our economist are ignorant or just do not care about this and as such we are saddled with haphazard policy formulation and implementation. They are just reactive instead of being proactive. They have refused to factor in the order in which such policies are introduced and the intrinsic factors in our nation that may not be in alignment with such policies.

How I wish that our policy makers will realize that what they read in books were written by people like them. How I wish they will stop being just copy cats and use their cerebral prowess to fashion out economic policies that are home groomed and capable of solving our own unique challenges. Logical thinking is not instinctive but is learned and regularly practiced.

DESECRATION OF THE ALTAR

2016-04-26T17:05:00.001+01:00

"Men of God", yes that is what they call themselves. They have succeeded in making our religion more complex, confusing and confounding. Where in the name of God do they get their prophesies from? How can they distinguish their personal sentiments from divine instruction. Those who claim to be the mouthpiece of God should be careful with their utterances. Their proclamations should be devoid of political undertones and must be divine. God is not an author of confusion and He is not mocked.

Many have uttered words and proclamations that have much to be desired. Such utterances are either conflicting or politically motivated. From the one who his "god" sent to be the president of Nogeria to the one who was ordained to announce the coming of our "messiah", Buhari, the list is endless.

Buhari is the president now, however, what is puzzling is this incessant killing of crop farmers(mostly Christians), by the Fulani herdsmen (mostly Muslims) and the unpardonable silence of our "messiah". Recently, a Catholic church was razed down and over 100 people killed by the Fulani herdsmen, once again, Buhari is silent. Could this have been predestined by Rev Fr Mbaka's god? It is just an innocent question that need answering. I wish our very Rev Fr Mbaka is taking. I wish he could answer me.

MISPLACED PRIORITY

2016-04-26T16:39:00.001+01:00

A beauty book in this period of economic downturn? Haba madam! And people say GEJ was clueless. How in God's name can we describe this Buhari/Aisha era? I mean cluelessness will definitely not do justice to this continuous blunder, this modus operandi of wobbling and fumbling can't be succinctly captured by such a simple word as cluelessness.

Who needs outside beauty when the stomach isn't beautified? Why pay so much attention to such superficial thing like beauty? My bible tells me that beauty is fading and charm is deceitful. I was also told that beauty is in the eyes of the beer-holder, some my say beholder. That explains why some people llike Oshiomole, as ugly as the word ugly can still marry a Lara; a Tinubu, a Remi and an OBJ, a Stella.

Have you ever seen a rich and ugly person? Haven't you seen the transformation in Omobaba, I Go Die and others just because of a few bucks in their pockets?
How then will a reasonable and rational human being commandeer the machinery of power for such vanity at this critical moment in our economic life? A beauty book at this moment when the masses can't fuel their cars and generators is a misplaced priority. It is a reflection of the insensitivity and shallowness of our ruling class. It is the height of corruption and an abuse of public office. The proceeds from such launch will be used to feather the nest of those who already have more than they deserve. Madam Aisa is profiteering from her position, yet her supporters will claim she is not our president

BUHARI GOES ON HOLIDAY WHILE THE ECONOMY IS PUT ON HOLD

2016-04-13T21:50:00.000+01:00

President Buhari who is currently on a state visit to China, visited the Former Chinese Imperial Palace otherwise known as China’s Forbidden city April 12th. Read a brief history of the forbidden city as written by Special Adviser to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, after the cut.

The city was built from 1406 to 1420 in the reign of the Ming Dynasty Yongle Emperor. It served as the seat of power for 24 emperors, over the course of 491 years. And why is it called the Forbidden City? Because it was not just for anybody. Not for the hoi polloi, nor the flotsam and jetsam of society. Not for the proleteriat, but only the privileged and dignified. The poor enter at their own peril. It was off limits to them.
But then, the Hausa say “Seriki goma, zamani goma” (Ten kings for ten epochs) and then times and seasons would change. The Forbidden City, located over vast hectares of land, with over 8,000 buildings and 1,800,000 sets of artifacts, fell to the 1911 Revolution led by Dr Sun Zhongshan. Yes, the good does not last forever, neither does the evil last forever. The Qing Dynasty (which was ruling then) came to an end, and the city was turned to a museum. Millions of tourists throng the place today from differnt parts of the world. A place that was once forbidden to commoners is now host to anybody and everbody. That is why it is good to belong to everybody, rather than to a privileged few.
A tour guide took us round the Forbidden City, with its galleries of ceramics, clocks and watches, and other treasures, most in pure gold. Members of the dynasty really lived it up, drawing the wine of life to the full, and “the mere lees is left the vault to brag of.” (William Shakespeare).

The palace museum is believed to be the largest surviving wooden palace structure in the world. Most of the treasures, in gold, silver, jade, pearls and other precious materials, represent the highest artistic level of their time, and the splendour of the imperial family. Those of them who had died before the Forbidden City became a public place, would turn in their graves, if they know what has become of their much vaunted royal abode. The good does not last forever, neither does the evil last forever. Seriki goma, zamani goma. The pauper can become a prince, while the prince can become a pauper. Time and chance pertains to them all.

BUHARI, BEWARE OF THE TROJAN HORSE

2016-04-13T21:41:00.003+01:00

n a bid to bridge the widening gap between the Naira and the Dollar in the Exchange rate market, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, April, 12, shocked foreign investors mainly from the United States who have been accused of stockpiling their money in dollars.
The President had consistently insisted that he would not devalue the naira against the dollar despite pressure from the International Monetary Fund, IMF and the United States.

With the West insisting that the nation’s currency must be devalued, which has always been part of their conditions for assistance, the East (China) has offered to rejuvenate the nation’s economy by investing in capital projects across the country.
During talks, China and Nigeria agreed to strengthen military and civil service exchanges as part of a larger capacity building engagement.
In line with this, China offered to raise it’s scholarship awards to Nigerian students from about 100 to 700 annually, while 1,000 other Nigerians would be given vocational and technical training by China annually.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping also offered $15 million agricultural assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of 50 demonstration farms across the country.
The offer was in response to Buhari’s vow to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production.
During Buhari’s visit to Beijing, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, the world’s biggest lender, and the Central Bank of Nigeria signed a Currency swap deal on yuan transactions.
The implication according to the Director-General, African Affairs Department, China’s Foreign Ministry, Lin Songtian, is that “Renminbi (yuan) is free to flow among different banks in Nigeria, and the renminbi has been included in the foreign exchange reserves of Nigeria,”
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had said last week that Nigeria was looking at panda bonds or yuan-denominated bonds sold by overseas entities on the mainland, which she noted would be cheaper than the dollar and the Eurobonds.
An economic expert and Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, noted that the currency swap agreement will allow Nigerian banks to issue Letters of Credit in renminbi (yuan) in place of the dollar or euro.

“It will facilitate trade deals between Nigeria and China. The ongoing foreign exchange scarcity has been affecting the amount of Nigeria’s import from China.
“The new deal may ease pressure on the dollar, since demand for yuan/renminbi will start rising,” Chukwu said.

So far, most financial analysts have applauded Buhari for the trade agreement with China; on the other hand, China has also expressed interest in setting up major projects in Nigeria such as refineries, power plants, mining companies, textile manufacturing, and food processing industries as soon as the enabling environment is provided by the Federal Government.
Economic pundits have likened this agreement to his 1984 military regime policy when he directed the Apex Bank to cause a change in the colours of the Nigerian currency.
The exercise was designed to render the money alleged to have been stolen by Nigerian political leaders useless in their hands.
In a bid not to devalue, Buhari according to experts is seeking for a way to weaken the dollar dominated currency by approving Yaun to be one of the nation’s major foreign exchange currencies.

GMB ACCUSED OF ABUSING BRITISH AIDS

2016-04-13T21:33:00.003+01:00

President Muhammadu Buhari, has spent most of his 10 months in office traveling from one country to the other seeking international support to rejuvenate the nation’s economy and confront the deadly Boko Haram insurgents.
According to the Presidency, some countries and international partners have indicated interest to support Nigeria through loans and foreign aids.
One of such is the United States of America, USA, which pledged during the opening session of the US-Nigeria bi-national commission meeting in Washington last week to invest $600 million in Nigeria.
Amidst the development, a popular United Kingdom Newspaper, ‘The Telegraph’ on Wednesday April, 13, published an article accusing Buhari of spending £860 million foreign aid given to him to fight insurgency.
According to the report, the aid was provided by Britain to help Nigeria’s security forces to become more effective in fighting Boko Haram, which boasts of its links with the deadly terrorist gang, Islamic State, ISIS, and achieved international notoriety, two years ago after kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in the Borno, Northern Nigeria.
A senior British official who made this known accused Buhari of using the fund to finance the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which has been hunting down members of the opposition party the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

He said, “There is no doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is because President Buhari is far more interested in settling scores with his political opponents than concentrating his energy on defeating terrorists.
“The result is that Nigeria is starting to look more and more like a police state while Boko Haram just goes from strength to strength.”

Another Western diplomat said, “If Buhari was serious about fighting corruption he would be focusing all of his efforts on targeting corruption that is impeding Nigeria’s ability to focus its efforts on tackling Boko Haram.”
The accusation that Nigeria is abusing British aid was said to be growing controversy over Downing Street’s commitment to spend 0.7 percent of the GDP on the foreign aid budget.
The Telegraph last week reported that the Department for International Development, DFID, was under pressure to cancel £200 million of foreign aid to Tanzania, following concerns over a widely condemned election.
Aside Britain’s concern, it said American officials are also angry that $2.1 billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to tackle Boko Haram has not been properly accounted for.
They added that Buhari’s claims to be winning the war against Boko Haram as no local government was under siege, was a cover up as the group’s presence was still eminent, unleashing terror in the North.
It said Buhari has continued to cover up the fact that hundreds more school children have been abducted by the sect under his watch.

TIME TO VENT

2016-04-09T16:50:00.002+01:00

Silence in the face of oppression is the betrayal of the gift of voice!

Where is Rev. Fr Mbaka? Where is our self-acclaimed mouthpiece of the gods? Where is the John the Baptist of our generation? Where is the only man who was “ordained” by himself to herald the coming of our “messiah”? I was told he is now marooned in one nondescript village. I only hope that his new abode is conducive enough for him to hang his head in shame from his teeming followers that he misled.

Don’t even go there! For those of you who are so eager to say, “Touch not my anointed…” bla bla bla, this is not a religious matter but a political one. He who lives in a glass house is not expected to throw stones. Therefore, I refuse to apologize for my inability to make him look like “the next best thing after Olajumoke’s unsliced bread”. Where are even his cohorts? I haven’t heard from Pastor Tunde Bakare recently. Where are the conveners of the Save Nigeria Group? Are they all dead or are they on exile?

There is silence everywhere. This silence is ridiculously surprising. It is really the silence of the grave-yard. It is absurd that we are not occupying anything and anywhere. If I am to pen down my thoughts, some will shout tribalism. But how do you explain this? This country has never had it this bad economically since independence, except during the era of GMB’s austerity measure; yet everyone is quiet. The economic indicators are down, yet TUC has not threatened the government with strike. Workers have not been paid regularly, yet NLC is silent. Fuel is now sold at over N300 naira per litre, yet Nigerians are buying and none is ready to orchestrate the Arab spring.

Everyone has been blamed for our woes, except our president. From Kachikwu to Femi Adesina and from Lai Mohammed to Abike Dabiri, all have been trashed and lambasted by Nigerians for our present woes. The irritating aspect of it is that the man who promised to make our life better, the chief corruption fighter, has been left off the hook to have a fill day globe-trotting. Why is he a sacred cow? Is it because he comes from a certain part of the country? Or does he have the impunity to exude cluelessness and get away with it? Time will tell. I never thought he will do better than his predecessor, but I never envisaged this form of abysmal failure.

BUHARI : AN EPITOME OF FAIRNESS AND INTEGRITY, A MAN OF HIS WORD

2016-01-22T11:28:00.002+01:00

President Buhari is really a very honourable man, a man of integrity. He deserves our commendation. He promised us change and he has given us just that. I like a man who keeps his words. A man who word is his bond deserves our admiration.

When he came out and declared himself a democrats, none but me truly believed him. I knew he was a changed man, a man who wants the best for his country. He has failed in three or more previous attempts to be elected into the office of the president, He went and did his research. He realized that if Nigerians could vote for GEJ just because he had no shoes, then they would vote for him if he told them that he had only 150 cows and less that N1m in his account. He knew they were ''intelligent" enough to believed that, even when his child, Zahra, was swimming in affluence in college abroad. That worked like magic, our super intelligent south westerners swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. The northerners, who have not fared even better under previous administrations headed by fellow northerners, left no stone until to see their "messiah" in Aso rock.

His dream has come to pass, PMB is now in charge. As a man of his word and a democrat he has brought democratic tenets into his government. He flagrantly disobeys court orders because that is undemocratic. He appoints his relatives into position of power because nepotism is very democratic. The federal character representation has been abandon due to its undemocratic nature.

As a man of his word, he has kept his promise of not treating the 5% the same way the "97%" will be treated. He is a very creative and inventive leader that he deductive 5 from 100 to get 97. He also brought back West Germany into existence and put the wife of the American president in charge. He promise to make USD1 equivalent to N1. He has almost achieved that too, USD1 is now N3, just that some wicked PDP members sponsored by GEJ added two zeros to it. He said that unemployed youth will be given N5000 monthly, this he has started by ensuring that CBN will deduct N50 from every bank deposit you receive.

Sai Buhari! You are the messiah we were agitating for. Your fairness in this execution of the fight against corruption has made me your ardent admirer. Your reasoning has left me in awe and portray you in a brighter light. However, I do wonder: why do you handcuff the one who only received the money but the one who gave the money walks like a lord? Why was Metuh's bailed set at N400m, the exact amount he is alleged to collect while Dasuki's was only N100m when he has a USD2.1b case to answer to? Why was Dokpesi arrested while Tinubu wasn't? How come no APC chieftain is in EFCC net? How come all the problems faced by your administration are caused by the PDP when most of your party members are disgruntled ex-PDP members?

But then you, who I'm I to question you? You are the man of integrity. And what you very high level of reasoning I may not comprehend your line of thought. Thank you for the change you have brought us.
Sai Buhari

BETWEEN OBJ AND OSHIOMOLE

2016-01-21T13:25:00.001+01:00

Obasanjo and oshiomole were seated next to each other during a service in church, The pastor said turn to your neighbour and say, "you are beautifully and adorable created by God," Obasanjo looks at oshiomole for a moment, then laughs out loud and told the pastor, "please tell him yourself"...I don't want to lie in church!!

THE IGBOS DON SUFFER !

2016-01-21T13:23:00.000+01:00

Ten pro-Biafran protesters arrested between January 16-18 were on Wednesday Jan. 21st arraigned in court by the Rivers State Police Command. Onu Ifeanyi, Prince Onwazor, Princewill Anyanywu, Sunday Egbim and Uzoma Onyegbu, Chigozie Moses, Chukwudi Enyidau, Anthony Ochuel, Enam David Okon and Friady Nwahiri were arraigned at Magistrates’ Courts 7 and 14 in Port Harcourt on two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and treasonable felony.

Hearing on the cases was adjourned till Thursday, January 21, and 28 respectively while the presiding Magistrate ordered for the suspects to be remanded in prison custody.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer of Rivers Police Command, Ahmad Muhammad, the suspects were arrested while on their way to infiltrate Port Harcourt from neighbouring states with the intent to engage in a conduct likely to undermine public peace.

Muhammad warned that "the command will not stand idly and allow any person or group of persons to violate the laws of country by engaging in conducts that are perilous to public peace and order as well as the lives and properties of other law abiding citizens."

Aisha Buhari visits wife of Dubai Prime Minister Yet She is not A First Lady

2015-12-01T15:25:00.000+01:00

The Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari visited the Wife of the Prime Minister/Ruler of Dubai, Her Royal Highness Princess Sheha Haiya today December 1st.

Don't forget the office of the first lady was scrapped by them. What then is she doing in Dubai? She even has an office space, yet she is not a first lady.

Root causes of the Biafra struggle By Femi Aribisala

2015-12-01T14:21:00.001+01:00

IN the eight years of Obasanjo’s presidency, there was no headline-grabbing demand for Biafra. Ditto for the eight years of the Yar’Adua/Jonathan presidency. However, within months of Buhari’s presidency, the Igbo demand for Biafra has become deafening.

Without a doubt, the blame for this new impetus must be laid firmly at the doorstep of President Buhari. Moreover, rather than attenuate it, the president and the APC have exacerbated separatist tendencies in the country.

This was part of the reason why people like me did not support Buhari’s election as president of Nigeria. I have written severally in Vanguard that Nigeria must remain a united nation. In my column of 4th March, 2014 entitled: “Re-inventing Igbo Politics in Nigeria,” I maintained that: “Nigeria cannot survive without the Igbo.” The following week on 11th March 2014, I wrote another article entitled: “Nigeria Cannot Do without the North.”

I remain persuaded by both positions. But if Nigeria is indeed to remain united, there are certain things that must be said and done. The problem with the Buhari administration is that it seems totally impervious to these imperatives.

Second-class treatment

There is no question that, as one of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo have been hard done by. Since the civil war 45 years ago, they have been treated as if they were a minority ethnic group in Nigeria when in fact they are one of the majorities. No Igbo has been considered worthy of being head-of-state. The South East of Ndigbo is the only one of the six geopolitical zones of the country with five states. All other zones have six or more. Indeed, the number of local governments in the North-East is virtually double that of the South-East. As a result, the Ndigbo receive the smallest amount of revenue allocation among all the zones, in spite of the fact that some of the South-eastern states are among the oil-producing states.

The roads in the South-east are notoriously bad. Government after government have simply ignored them. Inconsequential ministerial positions are usually zoned to Ndigbo. Time was when it seemed the lackluster Ministry of Information was their menial preserve. It is also a known fact that every so often the Igbo are slaughtered in the North under one guise or the other. Many are forced to abandon their homes and businesses and run for dear life. The people who perpetrate these acts never seem to be arrested or prosecuted.

When a major tribe is treated procedurally as second-class in their own country, there will be a demand for self-determination sooner rather than later. When a group of people feel unsafe in their own country, they cannot but be expected to decide to opt out. It is not the responsibility of the government to imprison the Igbo in Nigeria. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure and guarantee that they feel safe and are treated with respect.

Discrimination against the South: While these issues have been brewing under the surface for some time, the lop-sided tendencies of President Buhari have brought them all out to boiling-point. In his first-coming as head-of-state in 1984, Buhari antagonised Ndigbo by locking up Vice-President Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo man, in jail in Kirikiri; while President Shehu Shagari, a Fulani man was only placed under house arrest. In addition, Buhari arrested and jailed Ojukwu, another Igbo icon for no just cause.

As Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, Buhari discriminated blatantly against the South and especially the South-east. For example, his PTF built only 4,440 kilometres of roads in Southern Nigeria representing a paltry 24%; while 13,870 kilometres were built in the North representing 76%. Of these figures, the Southeast and South-south combined only received 13.5%.

Under the PTF’s National Health and Rehabilitation Programme, NHERP, the entire South got 0% allocation, while the North got 100% in the tertiary programme. In the vocational programme, the entire South had only 3% while the North had 97%. The same was for the primary side where the South had only 12% but the North was allocated 88%. The secondary area was no different. While the North had 86% percent, the South had just 14%.

Disenfranchisement of Ndigbo

These anomalies have been duplicated to date in the seven months of Buhari’s presidency. In the first place, Buhari won virtually without Igbo votes. In order to diminish Jonathan’s votes, a major assault was made against them; recognising that they are some of the staunchest Jonathan supporters. INEC ensured that, far more disproportionately relative to other geopolitical zones, millions of South-East voters disappeared between 2011 and 2015.

Only 7.6 million voters were registered for the 2015 election in the South-east, and only 5.6 million PVCs collected. Compare this with Buhari’s North-west, there were 17.6 million registrations and 15.1 million collections. While in the South-west, there were 4.2 million votes in 2015, relative to 4.6 million in 2011: in the South-east, there were only 2.6 million votes in 2015, relative to 5 million in 2011; a drastic drop of 2.4 million.

While Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa and Bauchi posted their traditional humongous figures; Imo, Anambra and Abia posted relatively disappointing figures. While the internally displaced Northerners in the North-East could vote; internally displaced Igbos from the North could not. While the card-readers failed in many parts of the South-east, suggestive they were programmed to fail; they worked in most parts of the North. In places like Lagos and Kano, many non-indigenes, including the Igbo, were not even given their PVCs.

Making of a hero: President Buhari then added insult to injury by stating on his visit to the United States that he could not be expected to treat those who voted for him in the same way as those who did not.

He said: “(Going by election results), constituencies that gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5%. I think these are political realities. While, certainly there will be justice for everybody but the people who voted, and made their votes count, they must feel the government has appreciated the effort they put in putting the government in place.”

While his media assistants later tried to water down this disturbing statement, the reality was that, apart from the constitutionally-stipulated requirement that every state must be represented in the presidential Cabinet, Buhari has virtually ignored the Igbo in his appointments.

Two moves showed the level of insensitivity of the Buhari administration to these anomalies. The first was the decision to move Boko Haram prisoners down from the North to the South-east; a move firmly resisted by the Igbo as it would have made them a target of suicide-bombers. The other was the blunder of placing Nnamdi Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra, under arrest; charging him with treason and terrorism.

All the government has achieved by this is inflame passions in the South-east. It has also made a hero out of Kanu. Those who did not know about Kanu before now know him. Those who were not disposed to Biafra before are now shouting Biafra. For weeks on end, Biafra has become the biggest news item nationwide, with agitations, demonstrations, threats and arrests.

Agenda for action: The government needs to apply more wisdom here. At the moment, it has become the biggest promoter of Biafra by the way it has gone about things. The idea of Biafra cannot be killed with a sledge hammer, if at all. What is required is to address the root causes that impelled Biafra. Unfortunately, it would appear the Buhari administration is unwilling to do this.

As a matter of urgency, Nnamdi Kanu must be released unconditionally. If the government persists in labeling him a terrorist, his supporters might decide to become terrorists. Nigeria already has enough problem of Boko Haram conflagration in the North-east. We cannot afford to light another fire in the South-east.

Kanu was living in England. If he were a terrorist, he would have been arrested there. The fact that he lived there without constraints or restraints shows he was not considered a threat, either to Britain or to Nigeria.

It is not a crime to fight for self-determination; it is a right. The government must not give the impression that Nigeria is a prison where we must all live, irrespective of the living conditions. The government needs to address the grievances of the Igbo. Their roads and bridges must be built. Their waterways must be opened up to the Atlantic Ocean.

Eastern sea-ports must be developed. Railways must link their mercantile cities to the North. Their coal resources must be profitably exploited for the benefit of their unemployed youth and citizenry. An additional state must be created in the South-east to bring it up to par with other geopolitical zones.

National question

Moreover, we need to revisit again a critical issue addressed during the truncated National Conference: the issue of resource allocation. This is a major gripe of the Igbo and it is a legitimate gripe. It is not in the interest of Nigeria to continue in this age-old practice where all the states gather every month in Abuja for handouts, whether they are productive or not. This gives the wrong impression that some states are insisting on being piggy-backed by others. We need to develop a system that rewards and encourages productivity.

Those who produce should be allowed to keep disproportionately what they produce, instead of the current situation where they are required to share it disproportionately with those relatively less productive. The truth of the matter is that every part of Nigeria is resource rich. Every part of Nigeria has the requisite manpower. Unfortunately, our current over-concentration on oil militates against the development of other indigenous resources.

A situation where national resources are distributed according to the number of local government councils, and where there is now supposedly only 96 local government councils in the South-East, relative to 186 in the North-west does not suggest equity and justice.

The disgruntlement in the South-east about the Nigeria project will not disappear by ignoring it. It will not disappear by arresting Kanu. It will not disappear by issuing threats. Neither will it disappear by denying the youth of the South-east their freedom of speech and assembly.

Today, the demand for Biafra remains the demand of a minority of the Igbo. If the root causes of their anger are not addressed, the minority will soon become the majority. If that happens, Nigeria might unravel. I repeat what I have stated before: the Nigeria of our manifest destiny cannot be realised without the Igbo.