Sui Generis | The Musings

White Folk K'eping the Proceeds of the Original Sin of Slavery while Punishing the Black Man for Slavery

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 15:15:00 +0000

Exposed: Yoruba Ethnic Bigot, Wole Soyinka's, Nobel Award Exposes a Deep Flaw in the Nobel Selection Process.

Dr. Emeka J. Amanze:Agbara1

In 1986, I had reason to incorporate Soyinka's book, "The Man Died," in my writing as a student in a course on Revolution and Rebellion.

It did not take long before I reached the conclusion that the Nobel Committee made a horrible mistake, as "The Man Died," the book for which Soyinka was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, fell below the standard of previous winners in both intellectual quality and in the stated non-intellectual values that the award is designed to foster. In particular, the ideal espoused in "The Man Died," though incoherent, does NOT run through Soyinka's other works.

Thus, I am glad that some people have now called for the recall of the wrongfully awarded prize for literature, which Soyinka was awarded in 1986 without recourse to merit.

Now that a Nigerian, Mahmoud Yakubu of INEC -Nigeria's "Independent" National Electoral Commission, has made himself infamous for awarding certificates to candidates that did not win and who do not deserve the award, the ObIdient Movement, and, indeed, all Nigerians, should henceforth refer to Soyinka's 1886 award as the Mahmoud Yakubu Award for Literature.

White Folk K'eping the Proceeds of the Original Sin of Slavery while Punishing the Black Man for Slavery"Wole Soyinka' Slavery

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 26 Mar 2023 15:06:00 +0000

Dr. Emeka J. Amanze - Agbara1

One needs neither be overly cynical nor have sympathy for Ike Ekweremadu to point out the patently hypocritical sanctimony of white folk in this particular "modern" slavery criminal conviction in the UK.

Now that slavery is to be punished rather than rewarded, the Black man has become the exemplar, the perpetrator of the heinous evil that is slavery, and the white man has become the knight in shining armor, the prosecutor and exemplar of the anti-slavery crusader.

Am I the only one concerned about this white Daniel Come to Judgment in a Black on Black crime?

Dr. Emeka J. Amanze:Agbara1 on Ezinne Sophia Chijioke Ulunma Amanze

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 17:36:00 +0000

That Speech on Hope Uzodinma's 100 Days in Office as Imo Governor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 10:52:00 +0000

That Speech on Hope Uzodinma's 100 Days in Office as Imo Governor

by Dr. Emeka J. Amanze - Agbara1

Gov. Hope Uzodinma

The biggest mistake that Gov. Hope Uzodinma made in his 100th Day Anniversary speech was to repeatedly remind us of how he got to power. We all know he was not elected; he knows that too. But, who really cares anymore? Spare us all the gibberish about 'my mandate,' given, stolen, or hijacked. Just get the job done and show us what you are made of. We have had all manners of unelected people imposed on Nd'Igbo starting with Ukpabi Asika in 1967. None of those past rulers is remembered today for who sent them to Igboland or Imo State or what type of mandate they purported to have. Most people praise Mbakwe today, not because of the nature of his mandate, but, because of his performance in office.

A good chunk of Uzodinma's speech amounted to nothing more than the proceedings from a catfight between two women at Ogbete market, the other woman, of course, being Hope's perceived and real PDP adversaries. You could almost identify to the person the people that occupied the governor's mind as his speechwriters prepared the speech.

As he took credit for some of Ihedioha's achievements, he seemed to forget that Ihedioha's tenure is still fresh in people's memories, that this is the information age and the Internet has a deep and readily accessible archive from which his claims could be impeached as rapidly as he made them.

Uzodinma did not realize that regardless of the excuse for it, a government has failed in its primary duty, if it fails to pay legitimate salaries and pensions as and when due, or fails to address issues of schools, roads, and hospitals. The governor failed to pay legitimate salaries because, according to him, he wanted to make sure that some money did not end up in the pockets of the people he calls "payroll cabal." Certainly, the IMSU professors and others whose legitimacy were not in dispute could have been paid.

On COVID-19, he should not be so hasty in taking credit for the abominable lockdown regime, which has subjected our people to starvation, as well as police, military, and paramilitary brutality. Uzodinma's palliative to that suffering was to accept mold-diseased and rotten rice from the federal government and share it to poor people in Imo State. Uzodinma's Yoruba counterparts returned the rotten rice back to the federal government. That was malfeasance on our governor's part; it would have been better if he did nothing.

Now, Uzodinma needs to hurry up and settle all the people who expect appointments, contracts, or other rewards from him so that they don't kill us with their displays of loyalty and sycophancy. These people could soon hurt themselves trying to show their loyalty to the governor, to impress him, or to convince the world of their membership of Camp-Hope. They are performing loyalty-to-Hope gymnastics/acrobatics around each other, all of it done to the dismay and amusement of apolitical and nonpartisan Imo citizens. There is only so much of that show of shamelessness that ordinary people like us can handle.

Governor, His Excellency, please, let us know when you have settled all the people you intend to settle so that we can tell all the other gravy train chasers to go home or look for a job somewhere else.

________________

BROADCAST TO IMO PEOPLE ON 100 DAYS IN OFFICE BY THE GOVERNOR OF IMO STATE, DIST. SEN. HOPE UZODIMMA, IN OWERRI ON MONDAY APRIL 27, 2020

My beloved NDIMO, I am indeed glad to address you on this auspicious occasion of the 100 days of my administration. As you will recall, about 100 days ago, precisely on January 15th this year, I was sworn in as the duly elected Governor of our beloved Imo State. This was sequel to the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court the previous day, which restored the mandate the good people of Imo State freely gave me on March 9th 2019, as your duly elected Governor.

However, the circumstances of this historic victory did not avail me the luxury of a transition period, which most governors- elect have the privilege of using as a preparatory phase to actual governance. I assumed office less than 24 hours after my final victory and still hit the ground running.

The situation was not helped by the sorry state of affairs I inherited. There was no handover note from the previous government to mine. This left me with no definite starting point.
In addition, I inherited an empty treasury and a disillusioned, disoriented and dispirited civil service.

It was sad to behold the site of the Imo State Civil Service Secretariat. The roofs of all the buildings housing the civil service structure were leaking. All the blocks were dirty and unkempt. There was no water in the buildings just as there was no light. To describe the entire environment where our civil servants worked as reminiscent of an abandoned scary set of buildings in which no decent person can conduct any meaningful business will be a gross understatement. It was close to a piggery!

Worse still, I inherited a public service sector that was riddled with corruption and fraud. The amount of Imo State money that was siphoned through a public sector corruption riddled payroll system was simply mind blowing. It was, to say the least, incredible.

It was very painful to me that while Imo people groaned under the yoke of scanty infrastructural provisions and lack of efficient public service delivery, few heartless people were regularly siphoning huge sums of money from public coffers. Needless to add that these stolen funds could have been used to provide more infrastructures and services to the people.

I reasoned rightly that I had a choice to make in the face of the daunting situation on ground; 1. To sweep the appalling situation under the carpet and continue to do business as usual, as previous administrations did, and receive accolades for doing little or nothing. Or 2. To summon the courage and do the right thing by flushing out an endemic corruption that threatened the survival of our State, and risk being initially misunderstood.

I made my choice and chose the latter. I did so, because I do know that Leadership is not about early popularity contest but about having the honest courage to do the right thing for the right reasons and for the good of the greatest number of people. I have no doubt in my mind that in the fullness of time, history will vindicate me for not submitting to pressure and blackmail to do business as usual and condone monumental corruption.

Our hundred days in office, therefore, offers an auspicious moment to share and review with you, our journey so far since that fateful day of January 15, this year, when I was sworn in as the rightfully elected Governor of our dear State. The tradition of marking 100 days in office begun by the administration of President John Kennedy of the US in 1963. Ever since, the commemoration of the first 100 days in the life of an administration has become a feature of democracy around the world.

Our eternal gratitude goes to God, once again, for the singular opportunity to contribute our invaluable quota to the good governance of the state and its long suffering masses. Desperate attempts by political jobbers to turn back the clock notwithstanding, our commitment to turn things around for the better, remain unshaken.

Against the backdrop of an almost failed Civil Service that we met, our initial efforts in the first One Hundred days of our administration, have centered on arresting the rot in the system so that the good people of Imo State shall enjoy in the full, their God given wealth, knowing that leakages in the state treasury have caused untold hardship to them.

Expectedly, however, the cabal responsible for this massive hemorrhage of the State treasury is not giving up without a fight. Deploying their well known channels for misinformation and propaganda they tried to put enormous pressure on the administration, to turn a blind eye to doctored payment records.

But we have resisted their attempts at blackmail. Instead, we have insisted that anomalies in payment records must be corrected. The Imo State of which, by the Grace of God, I am the Governor, has the funds to meet all recurrent expenditures. But not a kobo will go to the Cabal of payroll fraudsters who have held the State hostage for many years.

I recognize that the life wire of any efficient and productive state administration is the Civil Service. Regrettably, the Imo State Civil Service has been so neglected over the years that it has become a shadow of its old admirable self.

Incentive for productivity and established welfare packages for the sustenance of staff moral have been denied the service for a decade and more. Desiring to right these wrongs and rekindle the spirit of loyal service, I am glad to tell you that I took immediate steps to arrest further decaying of morale and infrastructural provisions in the Service.
Consequently, I am glad to announce to you, my beloved people of Imo State, that we have recorded salutary success in the fight to cleanse the public service of pervasive corruption. Let me throw more light on this.

A crucial look at Salary management in the state revealed some startling trends that has consistently hemorrhaged our common treasury.
Some glaring mismatch discovered amply proves that the state salary regime is fraught with corrupt manipulations

I found it curious that a state with 56,000 workers (both state and LGA) only captured 17, 000 persons in the income tax otherwise known as Pay as you Earn(PAYE)

More mesmerising is the fact that the nominal roll of Pensioners have stood at 30,000 for ten years now. This will mean that there has been no retirements in the last 10 years and no Pensioner has died either

These are discoveries that clearly showcase sharp practices in the state payroll system.

The absence of a BVN security in payment of salaries is yet another source of fraud. It is common knowledge that in this digital age, BVN is a necessary component of salary payments. Quite instructively most of the payroll fraud were committed through multiple entries of the same BVN for different names on the payroll. It was incredible to discover that some people earned salaries as civil servants and at the same time earned pension as Pensioners. Indeed what we discovered in the process of cross checking BVNs against names on the payroll were truly saddening .

I can tell you today that by insisting on the enforcement of BVN records, which uniquely ties each worker to a distinct bank account, I have been able to save about N2 Billion monthly from the wage bill of Imo Workers and Pensioners.

I consider it a great achievement that through these painstaking exercise of eradicating the stinking fraud in the public service payroll system, the sum of N2bn (Two Billion Naira) is saved every month for the state. This huge sum will be ploughed back to infrastructural development. This means that the Government will be able to deliver more roads, more housing and better hospitals and schools in the coming months and years.

Let me use this opportunity to appeal to my esteemed Imo people to walk with us in this journey of blocking a few wicked people from stealing from our commonwealth through payroll fraud.

I appeal to our people to understand that if there are temporary delays in payment of salaries it is never for lack of funds but because we are determined to stop the payroll cabal from fleecing our commonwealth .

Let me reiterate my early commitment to pay salaries on or before the end of every month. While I intend to keep this promise religiously, I will nonetheless allow the payroll cabal to use it as an excuse to blackmail me into paying nonexistent staff salaries that ends up in their private pockets.

The next line of action after sanitizing public service finances is to consider all reports from committees and departments of government. To this end we shall do everything within our behest to recover every government asset wrongly appropriated by individuals or persons. Imo people should trust me to recover to the last value any government asset in private hands, no matter who is involved.

Looking ahead and as a proactive measure to ensure a corruption free wage management system, a data centre has been established by the government. The data centre is in the process of automating all Salary Payments by the Government as well as all procurements.
Henceforth, through the centre, workers can download their monthly pay slips as evidence of gainful employment which will also enable them access to social services across the Country. The advantage of this arrangement is that every Staff will have direct access to his or her salary payment details. Moreso the management of a workers salary will no longer be a secret to him or her.

The data centre also ensures complete transparency in the Management of workers welfare. Henceforth, the salary of every staff of the State at all levels is auto-computed on a monthly basis with provision for imputing non-regular items such as deductions, allowances, fines, loan repayments etc.

I am equally glad to announce that the sorry state of the State Secretariat is now history. All the blocks have been re- roofed and are being re-painted .The four gigantic 2500 KVA stand-by generators abandoned for years have been repaired and are now functional. This means that the Secretariat is in a position to have steady power supply.

Also the central borehole, which has been non functional for years, has been rehabilitated .Water supply has consequently been restored at the Secretariat. The sum total is that our long abandoned Secretariat now wears a new human look, ready for business.

Determined to boost the low morale of the Civil Service, my administration provided official cars to all permanent secretaries. In a few weeks time, staff buses for junior civil servants, which have been procured, will become operational. The buses will pick junior civil servants from designated locations, which will include local government headquarters.

It is sad to note that on assumption of office, the Governor's Office and Lodge were in a state of utter disrepair. The previous administration abandoned both and preferred instead to make due with a make shift bush bar or Odenigbo guest houses as governor's office. This indiscretion on the part of past administrations made governance a public laughing stock. It reduced Government business to a child's play.

Meanwhile the Governor's Office and Lodge became available for the tenancy of rats and rodents. This situation was unacceptable to me.

Consequently we took immediate steps to remedy this sorry state of affairs. I am glad to inform you that I have renovated the Governor's office with only N 177M, far less than the N800M the immediate past administration provided in the 2020 budget for its renovation. Let me also add that this was after obtaining a no objection certificate from Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), in line with the procurement act of the state

Equally, the renovation of the abandoned Governor's Lodge is 80% completed. This means that in a few weeks time, the Lodge will resume its role as the official home of the Office of the Governor of Imo State.

All internal roads within the Government House Compound are being rehabilitated. Sam Mbakwe Exco Chambers which was run down has also been renovated.

These immediate steps taken by this administration within the first 100 days in office by reviving the morale of the Civil Service, cleansing the public sector of a corrupt system that was choking the State to a comatose, giving the State Secretariat a much needed facelift and restoring the official Office and Lodge of the Governor to reckoning, all add up to the restoration of the dignity and respect of Government as an institution. Once again, after many years, those who have reason to do business with government will see us as serious and reliable partners.

In the area of physical infrastructure, we are toeing a new direction of efficiency in the allocation of scarce resources. Before now, government industrial and commercial investment have been allowed to go to waste through fruitless concessions that put money in the pockets of powerful individuals while robbing the State of its deserved return on investment. One of such establishments is the ADAPALM Estate in Ohaji- Egbema.

We have made that industry a test case of our resolve to wrest control of the destiny of Ndimo from carpetbaggers, whose only interest is to fleece the public treasury for their own vile agenda. We created an interim board of directors with very capable members for ADAPALM. Already the result is very encouraging. ADAPALM, I am very proud to declare, is back on the tracks of producing first grade palm oil , since April this year. Currently the oil mill is producing 100/metric tonnes per day.

In the last fifteen years, the inhabitants of Owerri our state capital, have been without public water supply, depending instead on privately owned boreholes for daily water. This sad situation has replicated itself in Orlu and Okigwe where the Imo State Water and Sewage Corporation abandoned its mandate through incapacitation or willful negligence of past administrations.

Today, however, I am pleased to inform my good people of Imo State that water is flowing once more through the Otamiris Water Scheme after an extensive turn around maintenance. Such an exercise was last carried out in 1996. The maintenance project, carried out in collaboration with International financial partners (WORLD BANK), involved the repair of a 200KV vertical turbine pump, replacement of its starter control panel, desilting of its raw water tank, aeration and fluctuation chambers among other important repair works.

My desire to carry out this important project was inspired by the pitiable sight of children and women, youth and adults hurling jerry cans all over the place looking for clean drinking water. I was no less concerned about the health risks of water borne diseases which was afflicting our people through the use of untreated water. I don't know if any other project will give me as much pleasure as the rehabilitation of the Otamiri Water Scheme.

On the area of road construction, my administration met on ground the award of contracts for 25 roads for different parts of the state at the cost of N43Billion. l had no problem asking the contractors to continue with the contracts, because I believe that government is a continuum, even when I met an empty treasury.

Regrettably inspite of this gesture, many of the contractors took flight from their sites and abandoned the contracts. Despite my repeated appeals to them to return to site, they have remained adamant. I am yet to phantom either what they are hiding, or what they are afraid of. However, I am using the auspicious occasion of this address to extend yet another olive branch to them by appealing again that they return to site within 7 days or refund the advance payment they received back to the State Coffers.

Having said this, let me emphasis that my approach to road construction within Owerri metropolis is different. My first concern was to get to the root cause of the perennial flooding in the State Capital. I therefore had to carry out needs assessment of the road network in the Owerri Metropolis. The assessment discovered that the crucial roads in the Owerri capital master plan of the Sam Mbakwe days, which housed the major drains designed to keep Owerri flood free, had been neglected since the end of the Mbakwe administration by successive governments.
This explains why Owerri capital is always flooded during raining season.

Consequently, the following roads and drainage system were identified for immediate emergency rehabilitation to guarantee a flood free Owerri capital before the rains start. These six (6) roads which are almost completed and will be commissioned in a few days time are:

1. Oparanozie St to Relief Market Road,
2. Chukwuma Nwaoha Relief Market Road,
3. Assumpta World Bank Road,
4. Assumpta Roundabout to Concorde Junction,
5. Dick Tiger- Egbu Junction road and
6 Dick Tiger Aladinma Lake Nwaebere Road

Other roads completed by my administration within the first 100days in office are:
1. Umuaka internal Road in Njaba L.G.A. (4 Kilometers)
2. Amaigbo – Njaba Road (14Kilometres)
3. Mgbidi – Omuma Road

Further strides have been made in the area of providing housing for Imo people, workers in particular. Land has been acquired in the three senatorial zones for building affordable houses for Civil Servants.

As you are aware, even as we soldiered on in our determined effort to serve you, the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic took centre stage of Government activities and attention.

As a responsible Government, we responded promptly and proactively. We put in place six well equipped isolation and treatment centres. We provided 30 state of the art ambulances for emergency response to the COVID 19 pandemic.

An emergency call centre is in place to help in processing health and crime emergencies. The toll free number for the call centres is 112.

I salute you all for your outstanding faith and resilience in the great test of will that has befallen our country, our state and indeed the entire world since this year. To prevent the corona pandemic from ravaging our country, the federal and state governments have imposed serious restrictions on the freedom of movement and association of Nigerians.

The general lockdown and curfews imposed on our people have been a bitter but necessary pill to save everyone from this very frightful virus, for which there is no vaccine or cure yet. We must continue to thank God Almighty that so far, there has been only one case of coronavirus in our dear IMO State. So far we have conducted over 500 tests and all have turned out negative, except one, which was only discovered in the state last Saturday April 25, 2020

As the saying goes, heaven helps those who help themselves. Evidently, therefore, the responsible conduct of Imo citizens in heeding instructions to stay safe has contributed in no small measure to our current status. As unfortunate as these reported covid-19 case maybe, it should serve as a reminder to all of us that the coronavirus pandemic is real. We should therefore take the recommended safety measures more seriously.

Another laudable landmark in our 100 days in Office is that the State Government under my watch has enlisted 5000 (Five Thousand) graduates of tertiary institutions for a Graduate Entrepreneurship Training Scheme that will offer training to interested graduates to run their own businesses and create employment with government financial support.

Yes, Imo is on the path to a big turnaround for great things and history will record that the foundation began in 2020 with this government.

On internal Revenue Generation I am proud to announce that we have increased Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state from N600M a month to N1.2B. This great feat was achieved partly by eliminating the middlemen in the Internal Revenue Generation chain who were paid 50% of internally generated revenue in the name of Consultants, and partly through sheer creative ingenuity.

Our target is to automate the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) process and ensure that all internal revenue generated are paid into a Single Treasury Account (TSA). With these measures in place, leakages in internal Revenue receipts would have been eradicated, and the stage set for the government to net in a monthly Internally Generated Revenue target of N5Billion To this end, we are working assiduously to capture in the state revenue menu, revenues due to the Board of Internal Revenue, from oil companies, oil servicing companies and financial institutions operating in the state.

Arrangements are almost conclusive in this direction and I am confident that sooner than later this goal will be accomplished.

Even more worthy of celebration is that within 100 days in office we have revived the Statesman Newspapers. That tabloid which used to be the flagship and pride of the South East but which has been in coma for many years, is now back in full force. It has returned to a daily newspaper to the glory of God and the pride of Imo state.

Mindful of the fact that in all things we do, the security of life and property is the key to a peaceful environment for business and private engagements, my administration has taken the bull by the horn to ensure a zero crime rate in the state. Consequently, we have provided 150 security pick up patrol vans, for a combined team of the military, the police, State security Services and other security agencies, under our operation Search and Flush (SAF) security outfit, to police the state on a 24 hour basis.

These patrol vehicles have inbuilt modern communication gadgets which connects them to the emergency call center. Any distress call on a crime event to the call centre will be automatically transferred to the patrol van nearest to the scene of crime and it will respond rapidly.

I am sure that you would have observed that crime rate is abating in the state this good report card is all thanks to God and our new, efficient and effective SAF outfit. Almost on a daily basis they have been busting one crime syndicate or the other.

My beloved NDIMO, I want to assure you that I have come to serve. I have come to define good governance. I have come to prove that our people have not been caused with bad governance since the end of the De Sam Mbakwe. era, as people have been bemoaning. I have come to demonstrate that from among us a good government can emerge to offer sincere, honest, purposeful and incorruptible governance.
Hold me on my words and read my lips: Under my watch there will be zero public sector corruption. Imo state will witness unprecedented developmental strides that will make our people glorify God

I recognize that if not for Divine intervention I would not have been able to recover my stolen mandate. I cannot therefore afford to fail either God or NDIMO.

I thank you my beloved brothers and sisters for your support and love so far. Let us resolve to give our best to the only state we can truly call our own. I am confident that together we will take Imo to the next level

Thank you all and God bless

Sen. Hope Uzodimma
Governor

Monday, April 27, 2020

Abba Kyari and for Whom the Bell Tolls

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 00:32:00 +0000

Late Abba Kyari

No words more readily spring into our consciousness or make themselves more suitable upon the fall of a tyrant or the demise of a great man than the following immortal words with which John Donne exhorts us:

No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friend's were. Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.

So let it be with Abba Kyari.

But, Mr. Donne was not a Nigerian, and he did not know Abba Kyari, not even in the way Allen Onyema and Femi Fani-Kayode say they do, as schoolmates of Kyari's at Warwick or Cambridge, or his colleagues at a law firm in Lagos. Onyema even called him simply, "Abba," Habba!!

I know Abba Kyari as the man behind the Buhari regime policy to continue fighting the genocidal Nigeria-Biafra War through political, economic, cultural, extra-judicial, jihadi, and even military means. Abba Kyari was the man who took the letter "d" out of democracy in Nigeria. I don't want to say good riddance to bad rubbish. But, I don't see how his fall to COVID-19 diminishes any honest Igbo person.

This bell tolls for Abba Kyari; it tolls for Buhari

It tolls for the Nigerian Cabal,

It tolls Not for Nd'Igbo.

Coronavirus: World Health Organization now Recommends "Airborne Precautions" for Medical Professionals After Coronavirus was Found to Survive in Air for Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 18:57:00 +0000

World Health Organization now Recommends "Airborne Precautions"

Coronavirus

for Medical Professionals After Coronavirus was Found to Survive in Air for Hours. I have long suspected that to be the case. Although this latest update is directed to medical professionals when performing procedures such as intubation, I prefer to think that it is directed to all of us. Read more - New York Post.

Trump Makes US Colors Run in Syria

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 14:55:00 +0000

US Troops in Retreat in Syria

As soldiers, we proudly proclaimed that our flag, our colors, don't run. Shame! Trump has put our colors on the run from Syria. https://twitter.com/amanze/status/1187696910016090112

Why Igbo Diaspora Persons Should Not Use Oral Igbo for Serious Discussions in Igboland

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 16:04:00 +0000

*Why Igbo Diaspora Persons Should Not Use Oral Igbo*

*for Serious Discussions in Igboland*

Dr. Emeka J. Amanze: Agbara1

I understand, speak, read, and write Igbo. I probably

Igbo Elephant Tusk

read and write Igbo better than the average Igbo person. I also understand the Yoruba Language, though I cannot really say that I speak it. Yoruba was my first language, but my grasp of the language became attenuated in the years after my family moved back to Ala Igbo from Lagos. I learned Igbo later and Igbo overtook Yoruba as my dominant African language. My Yoruba acquired a boost in the time I spent in Lagos after high school, just before I left Africa for the US.

I have nothing against those who love to speak Igbo. But, when it comes to interacting with some Igbo in Africa, I wish I only understood Igbo completely but did not speak the language at all. You see, when you leave Igboland at a young age, or if you were born outside Igboland, especially outside Africa in those parts of the world where there is a paucity of native speakers of the language, you do yourself a disservice to hold serious conversation in Igbo with native speakers, especially in Igboland where much could be at stake in the dialog. I intend that my children will understand, and if necessary, read and write Igbo, but not necessarily speak it. Our children in Igbo Diaspora should not be acquitted with Igbo as a second language only to lure them onto the waiting trap of wily villagers, native speakers, back home who can neither read nor write Igbo, but who are masters in exploiting the resident peril in colloquial Igbo.

In the course of my numerous visits to Igboland, I have found that the most recalcitrant people I know there are the ones who speak Igbo and nothing else or those who insist that everyone speak Igbo even when the occasion calls for the use of the official language of the country or Pidgin English. I have also noticed that many Igbo villagers, including young ones, exploit their deep and singular emersion in the Igbo Language to seek undue sympathy when their conduct calls for justice or disciplinary action.

I mentioned earlier that I understand but do necessarily speak Yoruba. In spite of Yoruba complaint that Nd'Igbo are everywhere in Lagos and in some truly Yoruba parts of the country, the Yoruba are notorious for forgetting that the Igbo person standing next to him at the airport in Amsterdam, an elevator in Washington DC, or even a restaurant in Lagos could be fluent in Yoruba. Thus, as Yoruba persons at those places ramble on with each other, they freely share anti-Igbo insults and invectives in the presence of the Igbo person in their midst whom they derisively refer to as "Okoro." Certainly, such persons do not deserve to have your response served in their language; it should be served to them in the language in which you are most comfortable and one which exposes them to others around who do not understand Yoruba.

A similar scenario plays out amongst Nd'Igbo at home when they interact with Igbo Diaspora, and I'm not just talking about the tongue-in-cheek comments about "Agricultural Fowl." They go beyond that, to efforts to cheat, steal, and otherwise expropriate what belongs to the unsuspecting Diaspora person.

It is unfair to subject Igbo children born in say Europe and America to the injustice of having to deal with these cunning villagers who use vernacular, Igbo, and only in colloquy. Those people back home who are harping on the need to speak Igbo must start putting their demands in writing, in Igbo. It will level the playing field. It is time for us to shift the focus from merely speaking Igbo to demanding literacy in Igbo, which must include reading and writing the Igbo Language as well. ~~~ © Agbara1

Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen Convicted of Breaches of Code of Conduct for Public Officers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 15:26:00 +0000

Convicted Fmr CJN, Walter Onnoghen

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has convicted the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen and has banned him from holding any public office for the next 10 years.
Onnoghen was convicted on a six-count charge of false declaration of assets.

Holding that the Federal Government had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspended Chief justice breached the Code of Conduct for public officers, Mr. Danladi Umar, Chairman of the CCT, while delivering the judgment on Thursday, stated that Onnoghen will be removed from office of Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

Notre Dame Cathedral: Icon of France, Christendom, and Western Civilization Destroyed in a Fiery Blaze

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 14:50:00 +0000

Charred Ruins of Notre Dame Cathedral

A massive blaze has destroyed large parts of the 850-year-old Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France. Notre Dame Cathedral is an architectural icon of France, Christendom, and indeed, Western civilization. The blaze spectacularly ripped out and destroyed the famous spire at the top of the Cathedral.

Photos:

Fake, Borrowed, or Stolen: Chief Chris Anukam, the Pedigree of the Tattered Cloth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 05:10:00 +0000

The trouble that some people have is they are so ignorant that they jump into a game without understanding that every game has rules and you must understand the rules of the game even if you have lived life breaking rules in everything you have done. Such people are usually inconsequential as evidenced by their litany of failures, which they strut around repackaging in various forms using different identities.

Yet, they are too eager to sneer at their superiors. According to him, he comes from a “perdegree [sic] with unassailable evidence of service to dea people.” They use words and phrases they do not understand, including a word like “pedigree” because in their ignorant worldview anything goes and there is no accountability to be had. They seek to hide that which should be open and open that which should be hidden. They end up trying to hide in the open.

Irete, Umunwaoha, Owerri-West, and indeed, the world knows between us, as pedigree goes, who is made of genuine royal velvet silk and who is cut from the cheap tattered cloth that his proclivity for the ad hominem exposes. It is perhaps his own elusive quest to upgrade his pedigree that has him obsessed with my family; it has turned his nose brown from kissing the derrière of some members of my family. What is that thing that Nd’Igbo say about onye adụdụ? Bro., don’t cry more than the bereaved.

It is laughable that the sickest addict of the pull-him-down syndrome is also the one now bitching and moaning about the subject matter of his addiction. Yet, you cannot pull down that which has already buried itself several meters under your feet. Why would you have bad belle for someone who just lost an election? Besides, everything of which he is so proud is either fake, borrowed, or stolen. A man who has failed every election he could not rig, including the last four that he participated in, now wants us to accept that he is popular in his constituency. That is a man under a delusion. The troublemaker-in-chief of Irete, he has the nerve to sign off with a Monica that suggests he is a peacemaker. Omeudo arụrụala!

I noticed the following line, “Some of these people will not win an election in dea family compound.” Most persons begin their political careers by running first for a small office, and then a bigger one. Not this egomaniac. He did it in reverse. He began his failed political career by first running for the Senate, then the Local Government chairmanship. His goal is to eventually orchestrate an election “in dea family compound,” which I’m sure he’ll have to rig to win. Biko!! I don’t know about others here, we don’t hold elections in my “family compound,” whatever that means. Tufiakwa!!!

I understand that a man may be disgruntled, dejected, and bitter because he lost an election (I use “he” very advisedly). I sympathize. But, that is no reason for him to lash out and fart in public where people are merely holding a proper discussion about the aftermath of the election.

A candidate who lost an election is free to challenge and appeal the outcome at any tribunal. But, it is asinine for a loser to suggest that people cannot comment about activities at the tribunal, or observe that the public appearances, interactions, and utterances of the winner and the challenger seem odd. It is a shame that one has to teach this to a man who claims to be educated. Such are the rules of the game.

It is particularly odd when the challenger has publicly congratulated the winner and received praises, including from me, for sportsmanlike behavior. Should we now withdraw our messages commending the APGA candidate for sportsmanlike behavior?

Did the candidate not know that Irete results were canceled before he congratulated the winner? Did INEC not know that canceled results from Irete are not enough to change the outcome in favor of the APGA candidate? Considering his public appearance and congratulatory message to Egbe, is the APGA candidate now acting of his own free will at the tribunal or is he being pushed by puppeteers, an issue that dogged the APGA candidate’s entire campaign? Most people from Owerri-West are still not able to distinguish uncle from nephew in the APGA candidate's participation in politics. These are legitimate questions. No amount of childish attacks against participants in this forum will stop the inquiry.

The APGA candidate is a friend of mine. I believe he would have done better in the election if he did not have to carry the baggage that some of his relatives who are dangling under my nose represent in Owerri-West politics.

~~~ © Agbara1

Congratulations to Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Governor-Elect, Imo State

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 19:39:00 +0000

Hon. Emeka Ihedioha

Ihedioha Celebrates Victory with Friends

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish, Okorocha/Nwosu.
Imo People Dismantle Statues/Billboards of Okorocha and Nwosu

Toppled Statue of Ethelbert Okorocha

Nigeria Votes 2019, State of Fraud, Blood, and Violence

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 19:31:00 +0000

Nigerian Election Results – U.S. Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, Congratulates Buhari

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 21:37:00 +0000

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo

Press Statement

Michael R. Pompeo
Secretary of State
Washington, DC

The United States congratulates the people of Nigeria on a successful presidential election, and President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election. We commend all those Nigerians who participated peacefully in the election and condemn those whose acts of violence harmed Nigerians and the electoral process. We note the assessments of international and domestic observer missions affirming the overall credibility of the election, despite localized violence and irregularities. We also congratulate all the other candidates for their peaceful participation in the electoral process. We call on all Nigerians to ensure successful state elections next week. Going forward, the United States remains committed to working together with Nigeria to achieve greater peace and prosperity for both our nations.

International Observers Narrate How Buhari and APC Rigged the 23 Feb 2019 Vote

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 19:05:00 +0000

INEC Declares Buhari Winner: APC and Buhari Celebrate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 16:21:00 +0000

Nigeria's President Muhamadu Buhari has been declared the winner of the February 23 Presidential election. The election was marred by widespread violence, electoral fraud, and other forms of manipulations. Although Buhari and his party are celebrating, much of the country appears to be in mourning.

Nigeria Votes 2019: PDP Rejects Results Being Announced by INEC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 12:22:00 +0000

Atiku Abubakar, PDP Candidate for president

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the results of last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC

The PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, at a press conference in Abuja, described the figures being announced by INEC as incorrect and totally unacceptable.

Nigeria Votes 2019: NTA Live Coverage of Election Collation

Presidential Election Results @BBC

Nigeria Votes 2019: Rep. Chris Smith Issues Statement on the Elections in Nigeria

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 07:47:00 +0000

Rep Chris Smith (R-NJ)

On the Elections in Nigeria
chrissmith.house.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News Item

Washington, Feb 24, 2019 | Matt Hadro ((202) 225-3765)

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Africa, issued the following statement on the elections in Nigeria:

“Yesterday, Nigeria voted. Today, votes are being counted. I am very concerned by credible reports that the vote is being tampered with. To avoid any manipulation of the tally, it is critical that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announce without delay actual results — which are certified by party agents and observers — at each polling unit as the vote is tabulated.

“Well-placed sources report that in some states and localities — including Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia — INEC commissioners are receiving enormous pressure to alter poll results. This must not be allowed to happen.

“The eyes of the United States, of Africa, and the world are upon Nigeria and INEC. I also ask Secretary Michael Pompeo to hold accountable anyone who seeks to cheat the Nigerian people — who have waited patiently — of their vote or foments violence.”

https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401744

Nigeria Votes 2019: Massive Rigging in Progress, Violence as Previously Thumb-printed Ballot Papers Arrive Polling Units

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 16:39:00 +0000

The Presidential and National Assembly elections are underway across Nigeria. Unfortunately, the elections so far a marred by large scale rigging, other forms of electoral fraud, and violence.

INEC Must Adhere Strictly to New Dates: US, EU, ECOWAS, and Other International Observers Insist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 08:34:00 +0000

W. Stuart Symington-US Amb. to Nigeria

The US Government has expressed support for the joint statement by the heads of the ECOWAS and other international election observation missions on the postponement of the February 16 Nigerian elections.

A statement issued by the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria reads:

We join in encouraging all Nigerians to ensure a free, fair, peaceful, and credible election by supporting the Independent National Electoral Commission while it finalizes electoral preparations this week and by voting in peace together on February 23.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu with International Observers.

Earlier, the European Union Election Observation Mission, the Economic Community of West African States Election Observation Mission, and other election observers asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to promptly finalize preparations and adhere strictly to the new February 23rd date for the general elections. The observers also insisted that INEC must work to improve confidence and trust in the process by providing updates to the public in the coming days and weeks leading up to the elections on 23 February and 9 March.

The joint statement was signed by the leader of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission, former President of Liberia, Johnson Sirleaf, African Union Election Observation Mission leader, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Commonwealth Observer Group leader, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Jakaya Kikwete, Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa Election Observation Mission leader, former President of Zambia, Rupiah Banda, European Union Election Observation Mission Chief observer and Belgian Member of the European Parliament, Maria Arena, National Democratic Institute/International Republican Institute Election Observation Mission co-Chairmen, former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, ex-President of Latvia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, and the Director of African Political Affairs Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Amb. Boubakar Adamou.

The statement reads,

We, the Heads of the international election observation missions and the United Nations present in Nigeria, have taken note of the decision of the INEC to postpone the 2019 general elections due to logistical and operational challenges.

We urge INEC to use this time to finalise all preparations and ensure that the new election dates are strictly adhered to. We encourage INEC to provide regular updates and information to the public on its preparations in the coming days and weeks to enhance confidence and trust in the process.

As we continue to closely observe preparations across the country, we stand in solidarity with the people of Nigeria in their desire for credible and peaceful elections.”

suigeneris.agbara1.com

Breaking News!! INEC Postpones the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to February 23

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 03:21:00 +0000

In a late night announcement, Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to February 23.

No Going Back: Presidential/National Assembly Elections Will Hold on 16 February

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 01:29:00 +0000

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked rumors suggesting that Presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for 16 February have been postponed.

INEC's National Commissioner for Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Festus Okoye, said Friday evening that Nigerians should ignore the rumors. INEC's chairman had earlier foreclosed the possibility of postponement, stating that "INEC is not even contemplating the possibility of a postponement."

“If stories are flying about, allow the stories to fly. What they are reporting is not true.” As for reports that INEC commissioners were holding meetings, Mr. Okoye said: “Yes we are in a meetings but we have not taken such decision.

“This is election period and as commissioners, we meet every time”.

Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB Rescind 2019 Election Boycott Order

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 04:02:00 +0000

Nigeria 2019 Vote: John Nnia Nwodo of Ohanaeze Addresses Nd'Igbo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 20:10:00 +0000

Igbo Against Igbo: How Nd'Igbo are Working Against Each Other in 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 10:58:00 +0000

Audio

Igbo Against Igbo: How Nd'Igbo are Working Against Each Other in 2019