If there is anything that is as common in Nigeria as corruption, and if not more, it is lawlessness. People break the law they never have any regards for, with the least compunction. If you are a Nigerian and you believe in playing by the rules, you will die a premature death in frustration. Worse still, people do these without thinking there should be repercussions and that whatever these are should be meant for some other fellas.

To start with, we are irresponsible in the sense that we never want to accept the consequences of our actions. When we are caught, we either lie, whip up sentiments or shift blames. If we dont see who to blame, we heap it at the doorstep of the devil. No society develops like that. Law and order are the bedrock of civilisation. They are the foundation of growth and development of every society. Remove it and you descend to the Hobbesian state, where "there were no government, no civilization, no laws, and no common power to restrain human nature."

Some Nigerians have been condemning Wike's actions, for being high handed. Some were saying he destroyed someone's means of livelihood. Others were of the view he would have sealed the place or used it as quarantine centre. These are all sentiments. They all beg the question, which is, was there an executive order well announced with what constituted their infractions and penalties well publicised? Governor Wike made it clear from day one he would quarantine those caught breaching the stay at home order. He also said vehicles would be impounded and auctioned. He warned landlords that anyone whose premises were used for business would have himself to blame as such would be demolished. Those who were wise heeded .

Governor Wike was always on live broadcast communicating with Rivers people, reviewing strategies and rolling out new measures. He was very empathetic about his desire to protect the lives of his people and would take extreme measures to achieve this including coming out hard against sabotage. He suspended his own counsil area Chairman of Obio-Akpor, for not doing enough to stop markets in the area from holding. He arrested Caverton Helicopters pilots for flying in people after they failed to heed his repeated warnings. One of the cases would be one of the oil workers flown in. And he closed hotels to stop people sneaking into the state from staying and distributing it from there.

Was it not therefore stupid to open your hotel in the midst of all these clear warnings and actions against their breach? What more did they need to know Wike was dead serious? Why are Nigerians like this? We excoriate those doing the right while coming to the defence of the transgressors. Any wonder evil and mediocrity thrive here more than good and excellence? The victims were just typical Nigerians, the type I see here in Enugu leaving my neighbours flats they had visited after eight o'clock when the curfew had already started. They believed nobody would see them, or if they were seen they could bribe or bluff their ways out hence they beat up and injured Wike's officials that went to shut them down.

Wike merely responded with the action he had promised law breakers. He didn't have issues with them. One was even a PDP stalwart who in the Nigerian fashion could have believed they were in charge. And, they were not the only hotels in Rivers State. Besides, if you know how many others that obeyed the law and closed he had to pass to get to Eleme and Onne, you would understand that these people simply elected to be scapegoats. So, if there is law, obey it. We are where we are today because we dont play by the rules. Not even jungle rules apply here. How can we develop like this?

Link: https://ikengachronicles.com/governor-wike-and-lawlessness-of-nigerians/

News is that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has placed the mother of late Super Eagles striker, Rashidi Yekini, Alhaja Sikiratu, on a monthly stipend of N10,000. This was disclosed on Wednesday by Olaitan Shittu, a representative of the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, during a visit to Alhaja Yekini in Ijagbo, Kwara State. Shittu said that the ministry would also be extending the same gesture to the mother of late Super Eagles player, Samuel Okwaraji.

Really? N10,000? It's okay that Nigerian governmental and political officials have lost all sense of shame and decency. Nigerians have since handed their fate and soul to God for judgment. But do they also have to insult this poor woman? Are they that despicably shameless that they cannot restrain themselves from making a mockery of this poor woman?

Okay, let me ask. What can anyone get for N10,000 in today's Nigeria? Can it pay for a meal in a decent restaurant? Can N10,000 pay for a visit to a nail salon? How much was given in palliative welfare fund to the almajiris up north? How much does this shitty Shittu give to his own mother as monthly maintenance fund? How much does Shittu spend on his dog's meals in a week?

This woman is in her 70s. Report indicates that she has medical needs. And this is all that the Nigerian government can do for her? N120,000 a year. This is thoroughly shameful! And the sad part of it is the fraud associated with it. I can guarantee you that what will be debited to Nigerian taxpayers for this will be in the range of millions. The poor woman will receive a paltry N10,000 every month while records will show that tens of thousands of Naira is spent in servicing the funding arrangement every month. These guys are that grossly and incredibly corrupt.

And they plan to take their show of shame on the road down east to late Samuel Okwaraji's mother in Imo state. That must be resisted. The good Igbo people of Imo state must not allow the memory of their great son to be similarly insulted. Imo State Governor Uzodimma must tell Shittu "thanks but no thanks" and announce generous allowance to Sam's mother. These mothers are in their 70s for goodness sakes! If you give them N100,000 per month, how long will you have to do that before you don't have to do that? Will these people for once do the right thing?

And you wonder why Nigerian soccer has become a joke. If this is how we treat the mothers of Nigerian players when those players pass on, some in active service to the country, how will their spirits allow achievement in that field? Rashidi Yekini scored Nigeria's first World Cup goal. Sam Okwaraji slumped and died on the field at the National Stadium while in action for the county he loved. And this is how you love him back? By insulting his mother with N10,000 per month? May God forgive all those behind this!

By the way, to my non-Nigerian friends, N10,000 is about $23.

Link: https://ikengachronicles.com/23-in-monthly-allowance-nigeria-insults-rashidi-yekini-and-samuel-okwaraji/

Many Igbo knew Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu for his commando, his bravado, his penchant spoken queens English, his aura, his oratic prowess, and his Tiger heart leading the then Eastern region to a brutal war.

Very few knew him for his soft ends, his wild ecstasy for women; for beautiful women I mean.

He was not alone, all of us love beautiful women though Ojukwu's was special.

Given his repertoire and standing in life, he was expected to date and marry women with luxurious family tradition to complement his own family heritage, style and taste.

Besides, Ojukwu was that special breed, not a Rottweiler, but a Poddle every woman would make a dream.

With a well drilled education at Epsom College and Oxford University, a rich parentage, dead smart, outstanding brilliance and once a high-flying officer in the army he was cut out for a kill.

No woman would turn down Ojukwu's love sermon, aside his presence and body size oppression, he was an expert in spinning on-the-spot love poetry, and had many of them like bees on honey comb.

It was alleged when Ojukwu lived, aside his wives; competitions for his attention came from former Governor Sam Mbakwe’s daughter, renowned Barrister Onwuelo’s daughter from Nnewi among others.

Eventually after years of sampling a good long list of beauties, he eventually chose to marry, but not without his usual pick.

ELIZABETH OKOLI
Ojukwu married -in 1956- a Senior Nurse, Elizabeth Okoli from Awka town in Anambra State. She was the daughter of Nigeria's first known Post Master General. Without a child between them, they divorced in 1958, just two years after. However it was Ojukwu's love affair with a certain Njideka Onyekwelu that brought Ojukwu's mad love anthem to the fore.

LATE NJIDEKA ONYEKWELU
By parental reference Ojukwu’s second wife came handy. She was Njideka Onyekwelu, daughter of the then famous Christopher Tagbo Onyekwelu from Nawfia, Anambra State. Mr. Onyekwelu and the wife known then as Elina-Nwamama, were very popular back then in Onitsha, and were family friends to the Ojukwu's. Ojukwu and Njideka love story began in a London tube where they met after a long time of first encounter. They had two kids in Emeka jnr (the former commissioner in Anambra State) and Okigbo.

Njideka was Ojukwu's wife when he was the commander of the 5th Battalion until he was appointed the governor of Eastern Region. Their happy marriage ended in separation in Ivory Coast when Ojukwu against her wish went on to marry a second wife.

She died in Onitsha in 2010.

VICTORIA
Victoria whom Ojukwu met in his sojourn in Ivory Coast was the cause of Njideka's anger and total.breakdown of her marriage to Ojukwu. She got married to Ojikwu until the early 1980’s. Near the same year Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the then Nigeria president granted him a state pardon.

LATE STELLA ONYEADOR
While still very much with Victoria, Ojukwu met and began an affair with a stunning beauty, Stella Onyeador. Stella Onyeador was the daughter of Mr. Alexander Onyeador of Arochukwu, Abia State. She is the elder sister to the very learned-rich-business woman and popular socialite, late Angela Onyeador (check her out on google), and the aunt to Amarachi Nwankwo wife of renowned Nigerian football star, Kanu Nwankwo. For 10 years they shared good memories, yet ended without a clear marriage claim nor a child between them.

They adopted one, a girl child for whom they both went to court seeking who takes custody. A court case Ojukwu later won under French laws.

Stella was the chief bridesmaid to Ojukwu's second wife, Njideka Onyekwelu, when they got married in 1964, and both returned to Nigeria in 1982.

She was famous for her picture with Ojukwu in Ivory Coast while they walked down a garden.

In 2010, she died in her sleep in her Banana Island home in Lagos, Nigeria.

BIANCA ONOH OJUKWU
In 1989 Bianca Onoh appeared on the scene. They both wedded on the 12th November, 1994 after a prolong battle with his father-in-law, Christian Onoh.
When Bianca won the Silverbird Beauty Pageant in 1988 it was said that Ojukwu came with flowers to warm her heart.

Such was the soft warmth of a soldier, a fierce one at that.

In the end he had four wives. What a man.....

Link: https: //ikengachronicles.com/emeka-odimegwu-ojukwus-war-for-love/

Yesterday, a Nigerian wrote an infantile screed about why he supports Donald Trump. Okay, he has a right to be an idiot. But he did not stop right there; he went on and on talking about Barack Obama and how he did nothing for Nigeria, how he helped elect Buhari Nigeria’s president and so on.
For the records, there is not one shred of evidence that Obama played a role in the election of Buhari; he did not come to Nigeria to vote for Buhari.

That notwithstanding the man took his conjecture as true.

Regarding whether Obama helped Africans or not, that is up for debate. For what it is worth, let me state that it is the US Congress that appropriates money spent by America’s government and determines the amount given by the US in foreign Aid; it is not the president that determines US foreign Aid.

The US Congress appropriates about $19 billion dollars annually for foreign Aid. That money is generally used for US national interest calculations. They give money to nations that serve their strategic national interests not because they like you. If your country happens to be of interest to them they give you money. It is Congress that gives that money, not the president.

The USA foreign Aid to Africans during the Obama administration was about the same as under George Bush administration.

In case you need to be reminded of facts then know that to America Africa is not a relevant geopolitical area. Indeed, Africa is not even mentioned in US newspapers. Africans may have delusions of their importance the fact is that North America and Western Europe does not pay attention to them.

Open the New Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Time (America’s three major Newspapers) and see if Africa is mentioned in months (unless Africans killing themselves become so outrageous that they cannot be totally ignored so a line or two is devoted to the latest Africans killing themselves, as in the Congo Democratic Republic, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone).

The fact is that nothing good economically comes out of Africa. Africa is a place where some Western companies come to get raw materials, such as oil, gold, diamond but beyond that Africa is irrelevant in the world’s political economy; people outside Africa do not pay much attention to Africa.

Consider: Nigeria fancies itself rich, the giant of Africa. The budget of Nigeria’s central government is about $26 billion dollars annually (and much of that money goes to paying for the swollen workers of the federal government and what is left is stolen by politicians so that only a few million dollars is devoted to capital projects).

For the purposes of comparison, consider that the budget of my Alma Mata, University of California is $26 billion dollars.

If your government’s budget is the same as the budget of a university in the USA that tells you that your country is irrelevant in the world’s economy. Did you get that point into your thick head or would you still be running around saying that you are from a rich country? Africans do not know how ridiculously poor they are!

Obama was the first black President of the USA. During much of his administration, the Republican Party of Racist Americans controlled Congress.
White racists do not even think that Africans are human beings and therefore do not care to help Africa.

Racist Republicans who controlled Congress did not permit Obama to do for Africa more than Bush did. This does not make Obama useless for Africa, as the idiot that I am responding to said in his drivel.

Now, how about Trump, is he helping Africa? He has been in office for three years. What has he done for Africa? Why is he better for Africa than Obama?

I have not done a study of Trump’s economic policy towards Africa. My hunch is that he probably does not give Africa foreign aid beyond the level that Obama did. I further suspect that he probably has reduced that aid from Obama’s levels and would eliminate it entirely if he could, if black

Americans in Congress would not fight him.

Trump has made it crystal clear that he does not want black and Latino (brown) immigrants in the USA. He says that Nigerians live in primitive huts. He called Africa shithole.

He said that he wants immigrants only from the whitest countries, such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark to come to the USA.

The man probably closes his nose when he is around Africans and Latinos (does he have a business venture in Nigeria, Africa?).

I bet you that if one did a study of the level of visas offered by the USA embassy at Nigeria under Obama and Trump that it would be less during the Trump era.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/you-are-african-and-you-support-donald-trump-eh/

Most Nigerians are ingrates, in the matter of the renovation of the Nigerian National Assembly building. It appears most of us don't know and don't want to know what it takes to be a lawmaker and what lawmaking entails. Oh, yes. It, lawmaking, requires high intelligence and therefore, only the very cerebral make it into the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly.

My people, didn't you hear Napoleon, in Orwell's Animal Farm, making a case for the rulers, under the political doctrine of all animals are equal but some are more equal than others? Napoleon submitted that rulers, as our legislators are, are entitled exclusively to eggs and milk. You dare ask me why? Napoleon said that it is because of the brain work they magnanimously do for the people whom they rule.

Just because these selfless legislators, who are austere in their lifestyle, decided to patriotically propose to expend a mere thirty-seven billion naira on the renovation of the National Assembly Complex. We are simply petty.

Who are you to complain about that amount being humongous when the anti-corruption Czar, General Muhammadu Buhari, in his infinite wisdom, gleefully endorsed it? Many of us are full of spite and hate for the mighty president. And that's why the hate speech law is appropriate.

Our distinguished lawmakers should be provided with a heaven-like chamber. God does not live in a house built with hands. Though they are not God but they are next to God and so, they deserve to be in a place whose description has not been heard, nor seen, or entered into the heart of men. They are not mere mortals; they are gods.

I'm hoping and praying that someone, whether amongst them or from us, would move a bill to be made law, to the effect that they should be entitled, at the full expense of our commonwealth, to special spoons. These spoons would have state of the art technology to be able to detect poison and death. Yes, these are honourable, distinguished legislators, who don't deserve any discomfort or anything that may predispose them to danger, peril or hurt. Yes, like a Nigerian ex-governor, overfed with power, as governor, once spluttered, that whenever he's sick, the state is sick too. And he's right, that's authority speaking; it's the rule (or ruin, if you like) of power; rule of law is meant for Lilliputians like me and you.

Buhari okayed a project; or you don't know him? Check out his credentials. He's the only one who possesses what even the gods lack: the spectacle to detect the least modicum of corruption, even when it is yet to be conceived.

Due to the high premiums of security placed on the lives of these legislators, far above those of faceless common Nigerians, all the materials and workers, that would be utilized in the renovation must be sourced overseas. They are honourable men and women, who are selflessly serving us. And what do they get in return? Nothing!

I think someone should move a motion or bill that our legislators should just remain in office till death; in fact, we should pass a law quickly, forbidding death from touching anyone of them. They are our national symbol. You remember the patriotism of ex-governors and their deputies? How they passed the law that gave them access to huge amounts of money, cars and houses? They are honourable people, they have served the nation wella! Oh, you are thinking about common pensioners? Those ones never served meritoriously, that's why they die on the queues waiting for the crumbs they call pensions. There are lords and there are midgets.

You just hate people who are doing great for themselves, and that is why you are suggesting that there are roads, hospitals, etc to be fixed. The comfort of these legislators and their ilk is of the most important national interest.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/behold-our-very-own-honourables/

There’s an ongoing fight within Obiano’s cabinet and it’s a no holds barred and very messy fight involving Dr Christian Madubuko, the current Commissioner for transport in one part, and Uchenna Okafor “Wiper”, who is the commissioner for commerce and industry, and Osodietipia in another part.

Dr Christian Madubuko, is accusing Wiper and Osodietipia of swindling Anambra state to the tune of billions of naira, and that they are the reason why Anambra’s IGR is spiraling downwards on daily basis, he even provided account numbers and how much was lodged into them. “Within six months, a whopping three billion, six hundred thousand naira was lodged in his access bank account number 0023xxxx65. Another eight hundred million is lodged in his fidelity account number 616xxxx25.”

He further accused Wiper of holding 3 portfolios as commissioner in the state under the supervision of Osodietipia. In his words, Dr Madubuko wrote: “As at today, Hon. Okafor is the substantive head of Anambra Internal Revenue Service, commissioner for Commerce and Industry and the commissioner for transport because he has not handed over the ministry properly to Dr. Christian Madubuko who is presently Commissioner for Transport.”

You can read up excerpts from the exposé, as I quoted them all before they will say Odumodu Gbulagu is the one that wrote it.

“It is a known fact that the Commissioner for commerce and industry, Chief Uchenna Okafor (Wiper) is among the agents of the First Lady of anambra state. He has boasted on several fora that the real governor of anambra is Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano and not the husband. It is also a known fact that Hon. Uchenna Okafor is the only serving commissioner who has built a massive structure at Banana Island in Lagos State and is currently building another gingantic spare parts company at awkuzu, his hometown. He has vowed to make sure that he unseat the current commissioner for transport because he is man enough to expose the financial robbery going on in the IGR sector in anambra state.”

“It’s also important to note that since the unpopular appointment of Mr. Okafor as Commissioner for commerce and industry, there has been a steady increase in the activities of criminals around all the major parks and markets, extorting money from the good people of Anambra State. The truth is that none of those monies enters the state’s coffers and those criminals are direct recruitments of the commissioner using the disgraced SSA on IGR Okey Anyayo as the front man.”

Investigation revealed that the quest to succeed in her CAFÉ Programme, has turned the Anambra First Lady into a demagogue approving of every scheme crafted by Wiper and pressuring the Governor into accepting same. No wonder the hardworking Governor seems not to have any solution for the constant harassment of the people of the state by Wiper’s men at the parks and markets. It is an established fact that Wiper’s new motor spare parts factory at Awkuzu is jointly owned by Osodieme, the Governor’s wife. The factory investment is the major hold Wiper has on the Governor’s wife that guarantees her support”

“As at the last count, more than 10 contractors that worked in the state have died heartbroken and in great debts because of the abnormally long delays in payments for works executed while Wiper, Nzekwu and Osodieme are building factories and smiling to the banks.”

“Hidden revenue windows identified by Wiper’s foot soldiers are secretly tucked away by Anyayo, who prepares authorities for Nzekwu to sign off without questions and over 70% of such windows are unaccounted for. They go straight into their pockets. Osodieme takes 50%, Wiper takes 25%, Nzekwu takes 15% while the disgraced and demoted Anyayo, who also is Osodieme’s cousin, takes 10%.
Interestinly, Osodieme feeling the pressure of this expose immediately instructed her Press Secretary, Mr Ozumba to rush in defence of the corrupt and incompetent Uchenna Okafor, Nzekwu and her disgraced and demoted Cousin Anyanyo.”

“It’s on record that Wiper and Osodieme didn’t stop there. Their companies, Gold Fingers Nigeria Ltd. and Siva Engineering Limited among others are the conduits with which Osodieme siphons funds from the state coffers through the Ministry of Works and ARMA. It’s on record that it’s only these two companies that are being paid as at when due by the seems to be the Accountant General of the State.
In the last one year, contractors slaving for the State has not been paid. Some of them have slumped and died while some have slumped and are grateful they did not die while some have become incapacitated because Honestly. “

Points to take away from the exposé
1. Governor Willie Obiano is not in charge of the state as he’s barely sober enough to know what’s happening around him. Osodietipia is the real Governor who hires and fires.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/day-4-obiano-holidays-in-u-s-as-his-commissioners-fight-dirty/

Some fans of General Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian president, this time must be an embarrassing moment for them; and I mean his supporters with some crumbs of conscience. Really, there are sprinkles of them here and there, who would somehow not call a spade a car.

How do you defend your hero, who would, with reckless abandon treat judgement and other outputs of the hallowed court of law with outrageous disdain and impunity. For me, I have always said it, that Buhari is a classical figure in dictatorship.

If things go as planned by this government, this piece that you are reading, will qualify as hate speech, and the punishment will be beheading! Death penalty is the proposed punishment for whatever Buhari regards as hate speech; recall that the regime mooted this law way back in 2017. If you think that that bill had died, then have a rethink.

Sometimes I ask myself, in the very heart of the self-acclaimed gnome of Owu, Matthew Aremu Okikiolu Obasanjo, Nigerian erstwhile president, how would he feel about a Buharialised Nigeria? Not that Obasanjo was a good ruler; it's about the"anybody but Jonathan"!mania.

A lot of Nigerians are not empathetic towards Sowore, apparently because of his role, which they considered ignoble, during the buildup to Jonathan's exit from power. They seem to be telling Sowore that the chickens have come to roost, that he should enjoy the dose of his own medicine. For me, it's neither here nor there.

A citizen was arraigned on alleged charges, bail granted by a court, the said bail conditions met, and warrant of release issued by the court and served upon the detaining agency of government; days after the service of the warrant, the accused person is still held unlawfully by the said agency of government. Mind you, this was not happening in the year 1300; it's in 2019 Buhari's Nigeria.

Did you read the writeup of Adesina, Buhari's Senior Special adviser on media? It was a writeup wherein he appraised Buhari's victory at the 2019 poll and ultimately at the supreme court. If an opposition figure had said what Adesina said derogatorily of Atiku of Buhari, surely, it would have been baptized hate speech. Note, I didn't support Atiku, just like I never routed for Jonathan.

If a ruler could propose that citizens' right to free speech be gagged by the penalty of wringing their necks till they die, then know that we are in a darkness of darkness, and we just began.

Welcome to year 1984!

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/buharis-nigeria-you-can-be-beheaded/

Being the paper presented at the 2019 Human Rights Day symposium organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (Ikeja Branch) on December 10, 2019.

Introduction

At the 30th anniversary ceremony of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights which held in Lagos in May this year, I was compelled to express regret over the proclivity of the elected Buhari administration to disobey orders of courts. The embarrassing development is an irony because the dreaded Buhari military junta had complied with all orders of Nigerian courts for the release of political detainees and criminal suspects from custody. A respected colleague in the human rights community had questioned my historicity. I pointed out that apart from handling fundamental rights cases for some political detainees at the material time I was personally incarcerated without trial under the obnoxious State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree No. 2 of 1984 by the Buhari military regime. Hence, I am in a vantage position to speak authoritatively on a regime whose human rights record was despicable.

Suspension of the Constitution by military dictators

In January 1966, the Constitution was suspended while fundamental rights were put in abeyance by the military junta which sacked the Tafawa Balewa administration. To justify the detention of citizens without trial the Aguiyi Ironsi regime issued individual detention orders for detainees. But the Yakubu Gowon regime discarded the practice and promulgated the State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree No 24 of 1967. The Decree was grossly abused as critics like Wole Soyinka, Gani Fawehinmi, Tai Solarin, Aper Aku, Air Iyare etc were detained without trial. Despite the fact that the country was under the jackboots the courts never hesitated to order the release of several persons whose detention was found to be patently illegal.

The locus classicus during the era was the case of Agbaje v Commissioner of Police (1967) NMLR 65 wherein Akinola Aguda J. (as he then was) struck down the detention order and released the applicant, who was then the lawyer of the Agbekoya farmers in the Western state. The judgment was upheld by the Western State Court of Appeal which commended the trial judge for treating the matter with admirable dispatch and exceptional courage. While the Murtala Mohammed regime never detained any person under the preventive detention decree the Olusegun Obasanjo regime invoked it to detain some progressive lecturers, student leaders, trade unionists and other critics of his regime. But following the termination of military rule in 1979 the fundamental rights of citizens were restored. Consequently, the courts regularly ordered the release of citizens who were detained illegally and awarded damages to them in deserving cases.

State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree No 2 of 1984

Sequel to the coup d’e tat led by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari which sacked the elected Shehu Shagari administration in December 1983, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979 was suspended and replaced with the Constitution Supremacy Decree No 1 of 1984. As the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens were suspended the junta embarked on indiscriminate arrest and detention of politicians, activists, journalists and many other citizens without trial. The State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree No 2 of 1984 was promulgated by General Buhari to authorise the detention of anyone who was alleged to have contributed to the economic adversity of the nation or who was concerned in acts prejudicial to State Security or in preparation or instigation of such acts. The Decree effectively ousted the jurisdiction of the courts.

For the avoidance of doubt, Section 4 (1) of the Decree provided that “No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against any persons for anything done or intended to be done in pursuance to this Decree.” Under the authoritarian regime the law was subjected to uncontrolled abuse by the notorious National Security Organisation and other security agencies. Indeed, some detainees who were classified as extremists were locked up in harsh conditions in the mosquito infested Ita Oko secret prison, in the swamps of Lekki Lagoon, cut out of the dense jungle that engulfs Lagos. Detainees were dropped in the dungeon either by boat or helicopter.

Compliance with court orders for release of political detainees

However, notwithstanding the ouster of the jurisdiction of the courts, the legal validity of many detention orders was successfully challenged in the various high courts. As the seat of power was then in Dodan barracks in Lagos, majority of the habeas corpus or fundamental rights cases were filed in the Lagos high court. To the...
READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/how-buhari-military-regime-released-detainees-based-on-court-order/

The Moronic Result Of Perpetual Enslavement Of Many By An Illiterate According To The Editorials Of Nigerian Newspapers

NATIONAL NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS (1)
However, the president probably thinks that a good record in the economy might be enough to ensure his party’s survival. He is, for instance, building the railways. But Dr Jonathan also built railways, obviously with less cost to the economy as a whole. Yes, the former president took external loans; but President Buhari has taken much more, and has in fact become obsessed with loans as the only way of rebuilding infrastructure. His stock response to critics is that had thieves not taken the country’s money, there would be no need for a recourse to loan. So, having grown the debt portfolio by more than $10bn dollars in his first term, he is now set to take another $30bn, bringing the total external debt stock to some $57bn. It is unprecedented, but the president is unruffled, having been bitten by the demoniac bug of rebuilding infrastructure over a few dizzying years, regardless of the punishment it inflicts on future generations.

Excerpt from The Nation Newspaper Editorial

(2) President Buhari may be in politics, but he is not a politician. He can’t seem to understand how integral the constitution and the rule of law are to politics. Now that Nigerians know that the APC is indistinguishable from the PDP, and having apparently held the party together by virtually the force of arms, it is strange that the president expects the APC to flourish after his exit. Chief Obasanjo, despite running the country far better than he did, and even ran a somewhat inclusive politics, could not guarantee the survival of the PDP beyond a few years, how does President Buhari hope to guarantee his party’s future, despite running a government and party of exclusion?

Excerpt from The Nation Newspaper Editorial

(3) So the country must confront what is obviously a looming disaster with patience and commonsense, and try to navigate around the Buhari presidency’s deliberate actions against peace and unity. They must recognise the dangerous precedents he is setting by his mistreatment of the constitution, by his appointments, and by his impossible temperament. They must know he is sowing dangerous seeds for future conflicts, turning the people against themselves, prejudicing one ethnic group against another, supplanting the rule of law with the rule of man, and virtually erasing the last vestiges of democracy. It is not in such illiberal environments that politics can prosper and elections can be well managed.

Excerpt from The Nation Newspaper Editorials

(4) The incontestable fact is that Nigerians elected a man who was not convinced about democracy, regards the constitution as a Morse code, and displayed perfect contempt for the rule of law. Only last week, at a function in Abuja, the president once again sneered at the demands of the rule of law, indicating how he felt constrained and incommoded by its slow pace. If after getting a second term he still has not found the discipline and exposure to appreciate and be persuaded about the beauty of democracy and the ennobling services provided by the rule of law as a societal fulcrum to balance governmental power and people’s rights, then the country’s case is next to hopeless.

Except from The Nation Newspaper Editorials

(5) The politics and elections superintended by the two past presidents achieved little success, but a liberal atmosphere still pervaded the country, and politicians and their supporters revelled in the limited glory accorded by the constitution. But since the Buhari ascendancy, that liberal atmosphere has vanished; and though he has done precious little to endear himself to the country, he insists on not being criticised and abhors being despised.

Excerpt from The Nation Newspaper Editorials

(6) Nigeria has two living Fourth Republic presidents pining away in regret over how they managed the country. They did not of course demonstrate the extreme parochialism that has taken root today, and they did their best to act like they understood the complexities of governing a country of about 200 million people and about 250 ethnic groups. In appointments, they also bent over backwards to engage people they were not familiar with, whether for cabinet positions or electoral commission management duties. In fact, believing that optics were even more crucial than verbal declarations, they took care to appoint people of other ethnic groups to manage elections and found officers of diverse backgrounds spread across the entire country to secure the polity. Despite their best intentions, however, they probably still regret that democracy and the rule of law, not to say governance principles, were not deeply and irreversibly entrenched. They have thus have to battle their successors’ revisionism.

The Nation Newspaper Editorials

(7) The first part of this piece was an exposition of how, by their performance, the president and his party have engendered the fear of party implosion after President Buhari’s second term, especially seeing how his first term virtually crippled democracy, mindlessly exploited the people’s feelings, and left the country destitute of lasting social, political and economic structures

Latest from The Nation Newspaper's editorials. Wait for it!

( Indeed, in just one term, President Buhari upturned a feeble system that at least manageably welded the country together and replaced it with something worse. Almost as soon as he assumed office, he jettisoned the idea of appointing election managers from ethnic groups different from the president’s, coalesced the security agencies around his section of the country, frowned at debates and those who might dare to question his bona fides, rode roughshod over rights constitutionally vouchsafed the people, and appeared bemused by critics who accuse him of being sectional and nepotistic. He has since remained largely indifferent to the groaning of his countrymen.

The Nation Newspaper Editorials

So what is wrong with Nigerians?

They have short term memories and are unable to follow through their decisions and any fool like Tinubu could make nonsense of collective decisions of the people by bribing their conscience.

The people for over two decades refused to elect president BUHARI because as a military leader, he was evil and treated Nigerians, as senseless cattles that could be led to their death without resisting! He was tribalistic and had no economic sense to led the country and was booted out of government because he was never elected but came to power through military coup de’tat! He was guided and advised by Idiagbon, another soulless bow deceased soldier! They both had no vision and made mistakes which we are still paying for.

Then came another slowpoke and rogue TINUBU who for the sake of looting Nigeria dragged president BUHARI out of the dust of hell to come and govern again because he thought president BUHARI could be used to loot the treasury by his TINUBU tax...

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/the-moronic-result-of-perpetual-enslavement-of-many-by-an-illiterate-according-to-the-editorials-of-nigerian-newspapers/

As I followed the impeachment hearings in the American Congress, I wished I could cry. I wish I could shed tears of sorrow, not for President Trump whose fate I knew was already sealed, considering the weighty allegations against him that were eventually distilled into two main articles of impeachment, and the steady and unrelenting push of the House Committees that investigated him, but for my country Nigeria, and how the President is clearly openly disdainful of our rule of law and nobody dared raise a voice to reproach this unspeakable contempt and disregard for the constitution in any of the chambers of our legislature.

From the debate, it was too obvious to notice the sentimental similarities between mainstream Buharists, their party APC and the Republicans, as all the later have for answer to the clear allegation of breach of the constitution by President Trump, was that the Democrats dominated House hated him and thus wanted him out from day one. Nothing anyone said about the President possibly misusing same in withholding a lawfully approved aid to Ukraine, an important American ally that needed help at a critical time they were constrained by Russia, and an image boosting Whitehouse visit by the country's President, until they initiated an investigation against Joe Biden, a personal political rival to Trump in the 2020 elections, for possible smear by the Trump campaign, made any sense to them.

They also saw nothing wrong in Trump taking the unprecedented steps of bluntly refusing to furnish the House Committees with relevant documents they requested to aid their enquiries, just as he barred the executive from cooperating with them, as he ranted on twitter and riled against them in the campaign trail. This formed the second basis for his impeachment, obstruction of justice. Why I almost wept for my country was the passion and pain the debaters displayed while talking about their President not acting in line with the tenets of the constitutional democracy the founding fathers of America had established, that required that those who exercised power did so on behalf of the people, as enshrined in their constitution, and must never at any time act like they were above the law.

They accused Trump of acting like a dictator and in a monarchy whose whims, in all of his erratic inclinations, were the law. Who is talking about Buhari's now fully blossomed dictatorship? Who in the legislature is concerned about his abuse of our rule of law, which he actually believes he is above in not obeying court orders, and openly declaring that 'national interest', a term that is not in our constitution and means whatever definitions he gives it, was more important than rule of law?

So, whether those who impeached President Trump in the House was right or wrong; whether he eventually gets his reprieve from his party controlled Senate or not, what Americans clearly stated loudly to the rest of the world to hear was that no one, no matter how highly placed, and certainly not even Mr. President, was above the law. They found him impeachable, in abusing his powers, and obstructing the Congress, an independent and equal arm of government, from doing their constitutional....

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/trump-impeachment-who-would-dare-tell-buhari-he-is-not-above-the-law/

Buhari, Biafra, Oduduwa, And The Sahel: A Vast Humanitarian Need And Complex Consequences

It is good if Muslims from the hundreds of tribes of the Sahara and Sahel are saved from desertification and starvation by settling them amongst the Muslims of Northern Nigeria and West Africa.

It is an urgent and vast humanitarian issue being confused with RUGA, Cattle Colonies and the prioritisation of the Fulani and their cattle. There are sufficient vast lands to take them all if need be.

If these settlements do not happen, the tribes of the Sahel and Sahara will move down as permanent refugees or by force. The war-like Fulani nomads, with their centuries-old history of toppling and building empires, may be adopting 19th century ways of conquest and occupation. Being mostly illiterate, they may not quite understand that the world has moved on from the days of cavalries, conquests and empire.

The Fulani nomads of West Africa have not been settled like the Masai, the nomads of East Africa, whose cattle routes have been preserved at global levels and have attracted immense pride as the main tourist attractions of East Africa. These were set up by the British colonialists and preserved by the Governments of East Africa.

We, in West Africa have jointly made a mess of it. We have neglected the tourism potential and ruined the image of our own nomads, the Fulani, with their unique cattle grazing culture, their colourful lifestyle and legends of immense courage. Instead we have blocked their traditional cattle routes from the North to the South, and those East - West routes, from Guinea to Central African Republic, have been dried up by the Sahara and Sahel.

Farmers have claimed lands of traditional routes, ending up with petty squabbles of farmers' herders' clashes, and now outright attempts at land grabs by Fulani militia using maximum force. Nobody will settle for a life of droughts, death and hunger. It is either they are permanently resettled in areas with rain or there would be permanent refugees, or worse, war.

The issue of settlements, it must be stressed, is not the same as providing the Igbo or Yoruba with land for business. The tribes of Southern Nigeria are not facing death by drought and starvation. Somebody must provide these funds for the refugees to resettle or they will come here as beggars as do many of the fair, curly haired Berbers, who are Muslim and have migrated without passports. They are begging to survive. We see them everyday in our traffic, but we do not fear they are here for Jihad.

The refugees from the Sahara and Sahel must be provided funds to resettle and create a new life, just like the EU provided funds for refugees from the Syria War to resettle in Europe. The money can come from UN, AU, ECOWAS or Nigeria.

The process of resettlement should be handled by the UN, the AU and ECOWAS, and not by Buhari or the Federal Government, who are now so much under suspicion in Southern Nigeria that nothing they say or do will be accepted.

This whole drama is not just an issue of permanent drought. That is the major driver and it is economic. However, three sets of confusions are playing out here.

The first is the politics and history of the Fulani. They are probably the largest tribe of West Africa. The town Fulani have been destroying and building empires since the 11th century after being converted to Islam by the Arabs. They hold the Arab 'franchise' to spread Islam in West Africa. They have done it very successfully through Jihads and Empires. The nomadic Fulani have always been foot soldiers in this enterprise. Their highest achievement was the Sokoto Caliphate, the largest West African Empire and greatest promoter of Islam.

The Fulani are minorities in all West African countries and yet are in positions of power or outright leadership in most of these countries. This history creates a fierce sense of pride and superiority. Simply they believe they are political leaders and conquerors. Their methods have proved successful in the past so they apply it as necessary.

Right now the greatest urgency is to resettle the millions of Fulani stranded in the Sahel and Sahara. However, hundreds of other tribes are also in trouble and need to be rescued.

The focus on the Fulani, and their power, is confusing the real need to resettle hundreds of other stranded tribes.

Secondly, the collapse of ISIS in the middle east has led to ISIS adopting West Africa as it's next Jihad and Caliphate experiment. The drought and hunger means thousands are being recruited for Jihad. Many of these recruits are Fulani. Fused with their traditional sense of superiority and conquest, we have an explosive cocktail that are the militia and cells spreading through the Middle Belt and forests of Southern Nigeria.

The third confusion is Buhari. As a Fulani, he cannot stand by and watch millions of his people die. Anybody in his position will use the instruments of power to save his people. However, the way he has been going about it has sent shivers of fear in Southern Nigeria.

Most Southerners probably now believe that Buhari is leading a Jihad which is manifested in the killing militia in the forests of the South. Or at best, his presence encourages them. However, the harsh truth is whether Buhari is there or not, these militias would form and attack. So far as the tribes of the Sahara and Sahel are determined to move South for survival, these militias will grow, with their Jihadi cries in search of greener pastures.

So, in a way Buhari is right with his settlement concept, but the RUGA idea is too Fulani oriented and defeats the urgent humanitarian need facing us, by turning an issue of basic humanity into fears of occupation and subjugation.

Settlement amongst Christians of the Middle belt and Southern Nigeria has, therefore, become impractical because of poor presentation. It is unnecessary because there are enough lands up North, amongst Muslims where they will certainly be safer.

It is explosive because there is now too much fear of Jihad. It can lead to considerable strife at the least or outright violence, and even war in the worst scenario.

It is urgent to get the UN, the AU and ECOWAS to intervene, so that we can all focus on the very real humanitarian issues; so that the people of the South can reach deep into their pockets to help, rather than digging trenches to fight a perceived invasion. It is probably one way, if not the only way, to turn the cries of Jihad into celebrations of life.

Rather than opt for a neutral actor in the UN, Buhari insists on being the Central Character in this whole drama. He does not seem to realise that his very involvement is what will ultimately defeat his dreams, as millions of Southerners prepare to repel the sahelian invasion of the South.

Nothing will drive the Biafra and Oduduwa dreams of a breakaway from Nigeria like Buhari's announcement in Egypt that he is throwing the borders open for all Africans. The attempt to veil the obvious objective with the inclusion of "all Africans" would be hilarious if it were not so serious.

He returned from Egypt, then summoned some Northern Governors, just as I expected, to fly to Niger, the home of the wandering Fulanis and Tuaregs caught in the Sahelian drought and the onslaught of the Sahara desert. His purpose may be sincere, to truly break good news to his cousins in despair that they can now come South to Nigeria, to the waters of its green fields, forests, rivers and ocean. It may even be a security summit to solve Boko Haram and armed bandits.

Whatever is the reason, innocent or twisted, most Southerners would only conclude one thing - that he is on a Jihad mission to invite Fulanis and other Muslims to Nigeria for Islamic domination and conquest. Perception can be as concrete as reality. If that is not true then he is tactless in not covering his tracks better to prevent such conclusions. If it is true, then he is being foolish in believing that he is in such control of the forces of coercion that the opinions and preferences of the Southerners no longer matter.

The conclusions of Southerners who are students of history will be buttressed by other actions of Buhari. Before Turkey commenced the Armenian genocide to forcefully convert Armenian Christians to Islam, they shut down the borders. They gave similar reasons like Buhari. To boost local productivity. But it proved to be a mask to line the borders with the army to prevent anybody escaping and alerting the world. Then they launched their Armenian pogroms.

Turkey also shut down the media before the Armenian genocide. In this day and age that includes Social Media, so the attack on Social Media, and the increasing rationalisation that it is a bad thing, can send shivers up Southern spines. It may be seen as a prelude to close down the media as Turkey did before the Armenian genocide. However, I hope and pray that nobody could be so crude in the 21st Century.

Whatever, Buhari seems too far gone. He has dropped all pretences to the extent that the previously petrified and compromised Lagos Press have finally found their nerves and turned against him. They opened up what seems an orchestrated barrage of verbal canons beginning with the salvo from Punch. It seems they held a secret meeting somewhere, or a puppeteer with balls gave them the courage, because the Presidency did not see that coming.

The Lagos Press and the Yorubas are the traditional home of social rebellion and resistance in Nigeria and they have brought down every dictator that got too pig headed, with their hydra-headed Media. Tinubu was one of the chief architects of NADECO that brought down Abacha and today he controls much of the Lagos Press. They knew what was happening all along but chose to serve their own interests till that got punctured. His disenchantment and the self-serving response of the Lagos Press for Yoruba interests, rather than human interests, means that the gloves are off, the lines drawn and the gauntlet thrown down in the sand...........

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/buhari-biafraoduduwa-and-the-sahel-a-vast-humanitarian-need-and-complex-consequences/

I am conversant with much of world history yet I have NEVER read or heard of a people that are more comfortable with tyranny and bondage and pleased with poverty and suffering than Nigerians.

Push a Nigerian to the wall and rather than fight back he will dig a hole into it to escape.

Consider Gen. T.Y. Danjuma. He still can't find the balls to speak the truth and reveal all yet he is complaining about others! He more than any other helped put the north in power on July 29th 1966. He also supported Buhari in 2015.

Someone please tell him that Nigerians have already lost their sleep and that he should speak up NOW & free us from the bondage that he helped put us in.

Obasanjo, Danjuma, Babangida, Tinubu, Adeboye, Atiku and all the others that helped put Buhari in power in 2015 and destroy Nigeria will answer to God for what they did.

Due to their poor judgement hundreds of thousands have been killed in the last 4 years and so many lives and families have been decimated and destroyed. The blood of these innocent souls and victims screams from the earth and is crying to God in Heaven for vengeance.

We must be bold enough to speak the truth and the truth is that Buhari is not our only problem but all those who colluded with him and conspired to put him in power in 2015.

We warned them over and over again yet they refused to listen, insulted us, ridiculed our concerns and fears and stubbornly and blindly insisted on putting a beast in power. Now they are ALL complaining!

As a people Nigerians have nothing to lose anymore. We have lost it all already but we just don't know it or want to accept it!

Our nation, our freedom, our pride, our dignity, our honor and our self-esteem: all gone! The only thing that we have left to fear is fear itself and death: yet to die is Christ and to live is gain!

I urge my people to shed their FEARS and to find the courage to stand up and speak truth to power! I urge them to be the men and women that they were destined to be and not to accept that tyranny of tyrants or to be part of a colony of slaves.

It is time to make a choice between freedom and servitude. It is time to choose between light and darkness. I have made that choice and I urge you to join me: I would rather live free for a short period of time and make a difference than live a slave for one thousand years!

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/re-t-y-danjuma-when-will-nigerians-stop-being-cowards/

It is eighteen years since Bola Ige, Afenifere chieftain and former governor of the old Oyo State, departed this wide, wild world of war, courtesy of some yet-to-be identified assassins. Ige was the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation at the time of his death on December 23, 2001.

Close to two decades after the gory incident, Solemilia Court, No 8, Akinlabi Sanda Close, Bodija in Ibadan, Oyo State, where this foremost nationalist breathed his last on that fateful Sunday evening, still wears a mournful look, save for some few-and-far-between movements in and out of the compound. Credible sources revealed that the room, where the former presidential aspirant was killed, remains under lock and key, in the family’s hope that, one day, destiny will change its mind and the uncleansed sacrilege of its patriarch’s murder will be resolved in the interest of justice.

Cicero captured the mood of our predicament when he wrote: “the hope of escaping with impunity is the greatest incentive to vice.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau also dreaded its evil in the human society when he posited that “as soon as it is possible to disobey with impunity, disobedience is legitimate …” Yes, we know that Bola Ige is dead and has since been buried! However, blame the portentous naughtiness, hypocritical propensity and a bourgeoning legitimacy of impunity for providing the ingredients for our inability to find his killers and apply sanctions. And there is no other way to cure impunity than a draconian attack; for, if we don’t get that aspect of justice right, we will only be shooting in the dark; and at imaginary targets!

Dele Giwa (1986)! Alfred Rewane (1995)! Bagauda Kaltho (1996)! Kudirat Abiola (1996)! MKO Abiola (1998)! Barnabas Igwe and Abigail, his wife (2002)! Marshall Harry (2003)! Aminosari Dikibo (2004)! Hassan Olajoku (2005)! Ayodeji Daramola (2006)! Funsho Williams (2006)! Dipo Dina (2010)! Olaitan Oyerinde (2012)! Funke Olakunri (2019)! As a game or a trade, Nigeria is in dangerous times and all eyes can see it! More to the shock of Nigerians, dear country has couched euphemistic names for reckless killings in the land; and it is as if the gods are angry! In Katsina, Governor Aminu Masari is now at the forefront of negotiations with bandits for “peace to return to” President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state. Curiously, other states are fast catching the bug! Elsewhere in Kaduna State, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) paid more than “N300m as ransom” within two years “to free over-500” of its members from the kidnappers’ den; and it is as if God has left the Church. And, in what could be described as half cup of much bigger problems in this poignant portrait of vanity and falseness, the usual band of four hundred prophets continue to hang around Ahab and Jehoshaphat, even, as the kings march on Syria!

For a fact, societal cohesion comes as a result of the interconnectedness of little-yet-important ties. However, whenever those ties are ruptured, the consequences are always grave. That security is a global problem is a fair and general argument! But, where a dog kills a lion, the society needs to beware! Amidst what looks like faint promises of recovery from those elected and paid to protect us, Leah Sharibu has added to the number of Nigerians wasting away in Boko Haram’s custody even as the police hierarchy now allegedly pays ransom to kidnappers in exchange for freedom for its seized officers, Yet, it does not appear as if the people are ready to do something concrete about this tragic manifestation of the statelessness of the Nigerian state. Instead, everybody keeps going about his or her daily activities as if nothing is amiss!

Very recently, Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka wrote a letter to the National Assembly on the controversial Hate Speech Bill currently before the Red Chamber. In the letter, Soyinka asked, rhetorically, if it’s “now cool to kill” Nigerians. Going by the contents of the letter, it’s obvious that the 85-year-old elder statesman was frustrated. Hence, he wanted to know if it’s now normal to turn Nigeria into a series of accidents. Well, if this is now the way to go, then, Ige’s assassination is a warning to the rich and the powerful that they should not sleep and close their two eyes because they can die anytime; and nothing will happen! Again, the implication is that, even, if the president is murdered in his sleep, it will also be seen as normal!

In Jane Mayer’s view, “nothing predicts future behavior as much as past impunity.” While conceding that some government efforts are noble, fact remains that the foundational structure of those efforts in Nigeria are on a shaky and porous ground. Unlike other climes, where people are sure of getting justice when homicide is committed, our ‘Rule of Law’ is in glaring contrast to justice! Little wonder: as some people are trying to make the country proud, others are working at bringing it down. Take for instance a state like Osun, where the government is crying out that people should come and do business in the state. For God’s sake, how do you expect people, who could be killed and nothing would be done, to come and invest their fame and fortune in an unsafe country? And what manner of the ‘Rule of Law’ is it that has not been able to fish out the culprits in the assassination of ‘Uncle Bola’, eighteen years after?

Back to the issues surrounding our situation, Ige has been killed and there is nothing we can do about it again! But then, his gruesome murder, which also led to the sudden death of Atinuke, his wife; and destabilized his family, is a sad trajectory that won’t go away, no matter how hard we try to cover the smoke. As a matter of fact, this country will neither know peace nor press the pedal of acceleration towards development and progress until the stress and the strain of this malady are addressed. If they like, let the birds of passage continue to row on a boat of pretence with their hollow and sequined glint as if nothing happened at ‘Solemilia Court’ on December 23, 2001!

Again, who killed Bola Ige? Or, is it yet another in the series of ‘eni to ku, tie lo gbe’ murders?

O ma se o!

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, continue to rest the souls of all the faithful departed!

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/again-who-killed-bola-ige/

DONALD TRUMP, THE UKRAINE SCANDAL AND THE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: FACTS VERSUS FICTION (I)


(Note: This is a long piece, but it is only the first part of my view on the Ukraine scandal that led to the impeachment of President Donald Trump by the US House of Representatives. My intention is to conclude this with the actual impeachment hearings and Senate trial of President Trump, but I stopped writing this shortly after the impeachment inquiry started with the first appearance of Ambassador Kurt Volker on the Hill. It’s still a rough sketch, but I have decided to post it now because someone in an exchange with me believe I am criticizing Trump only because I have not read the transcript. Of course, I have and there’s enough proof here to show I have. Please, if you are interested, read, but you need not read it in one sitting. Hopefully, you can get through it before the New Year. Hehe! Thank you.)

(1) Introduction:

Let me start by introducing and explaining the purpose of this piece. It is not a “post” in the traditional sense. Consider it a ‘book’ or a small ‘pamphlet’ or anything just a little more substantial than a traditional Facebook post. That is why it is lengthy. My purpose is not to do a commentary on one or two aspects of the Ukraine issue. My purpose is to deal with it in reasonable detail, by way of accounts and analysis, with all the issues surrounding this affair. This is a very important period in human history and some of us are choosing to document it in our own way.

The impeachment inquiry is just the beginning of a long process that will depend on the facts presently available and some yet to be unearthed to reach a historic verdict either way. It is my belief that Americans and citizens of the world are under serious misinformation attack from Donald Trump and his rightwing supporters invested in muddying the waters on this issue with a view to ensuring that Donald Trump escapes accountability. I know that already, most Americans are in a spin following the fast-paced developments around the case, so one can imagine how much more difficult it is for an international audience. Yet, for Americans who look to reclaim their democracy and for the world that looks to America for inspiration, we need to sort out the facts from fiction. We cannot all allow ourselves to be swept along complacently in the Trumpian tide of lies and obfuscation because there are consequences for Americans in particular and the world at large because of the position America occupies in today’s world order.

I want to also say something here to my Nigerian readers. I know the mentality of a lot of Nigerians is that we shouldn’t bother with what is happening in the US. Some will go as far as saying we shouldn’t bother with what is happening in the US, but rather focus on Nigeria. For both classes of Nigerians, they need to appreciate that they are being intellectually lazy, uncurious and unrealistic. Two things they need to first appreciate are these: First, Nigeria is not an island. Its politics, economy, social conditions and general development are greatly impacted by what happens elsewhere because humanity flows into each other and we always learn from what’s happening elsewhere. Secondly, America is one of the most important countries today in the international system, if not the most important. In fact, for us as Nigerians, America should be seen as the most important country for us outside our own country if for nothing else, at least for the fact that America is the country with the highest number of Nigerians in the diaspora. A lot of them are contributing to development at home, either from their American base or upon return to Nigeria.
There’s also the fact that we, like a lot of people around the world, look to America for inspiration. Particularly, we have a political system largely modelled after the American system. Our practice of the system has been scandalously poor, but we are still sticking to it under the principle that we would make our mistakes but ultimately get it right through practice because it’s all about navigating the challenges of democracy and practicing it better. This is another example America has set for us through its history.

However, today, after almost two and half centuries of practice, American governmental institutions are facing a test from an exceptionally vicious class of political profiteers who have no regard for democracy and a rule-based system. The challenge is so bad that the survival of democracy in our world today now depends on what happens in America from here on. Despite all the eulogized signs of high civilization, humanity today has become as politically endangered as it was in primeval times. We have become so complacent about our freedom won with blood and sweat that we are now giving it back to philistines and sociopaths like Donald Trump and his brood of vipers. Indeed, whether we recognize it or not, we are all students of history now; thus, those of us who are conscious of this must begin to keep record.

Of course, there is the fact that there are those Nigerians who have no idea what democracy is and whose conflicted ideas of good governance and human development have them terribly mixed up with their personality cultism and social wickedness masquerading as conservatism. We encounter a lot of them everyday in the streets, in our communities, on our travels and online. They want to determine what is good or bad religion and how others must relate to God. They always see a snarling criminal berating the establishment as the messiah that has come to save the world from going to the dogs when in fact their messiah and them in tow are the ones really taking the world to the jackals with their attacks on others who are not like them, who do not think like them and who simply want to exercise their freedom without hurting anyone. They are the ones mocking the science of climate change as they eat the earth and the future to death in their insatiable greed. They are the worshippers of Mammon who think the size of their bank accounts is the size of their brains and the insurance against their conscience.

Their conflicted politics has no room for morality or character because all they worship is empty partisanship. For instance, I cannot understand how anyone who knows that Muhammadu Buhari is evidently destroying democracy and running a bad government in Nigeria would in the same breath be glorifying Donald Trump that is doing the same in America. I know they always manufacture silly criteria for contrasting them, but I think it’s a case of partisanship compromising good sense. Unfortunately, the world does not lack aggressively ignorant people stiffly committed to planting their ignorance as the universal creed. They are the ones who lack any moral scruples and who would do anything to ensure their warped vision prevails in national and international policy milieus. More unfortunately, a lot of them do not understand the difference between self-interest and enlightened self-interest. You might, for whatever personal gain, think or act conflicted in exercise of political morality, but history has consistently showed that such shortsightedness never ensures your safety, your community’s safety or the safety of humanity at large. But enlightened self-interest requires that you consider the best for yourself as the best for other people and, no matter what you think of that, it always has room to positively grow.
I believe there is a lot for Americans and people from all over the world to learn from what is going on in America right now. We all need to start keeping watch. I don’t know if this piece would be discussed by others or not, but I want to be able to return here from time to time during this impeachment inquiry to see how unfolding events are bearing out or upturning the analyses we are doing here. That is one reason it’s this detailed.
Please, there is no compulsion to read this. If you are not interested in American politics or in long reads, you can move on. If you are keen on it, you don’t have to read everything in one sitting. You can take your time to go through it a few minutes, a few lines at a time and contribute to the discussion whenever you are through or whenever you feel like. That may be today, tomorrow, next week, whenever. The idea behind this is that at the end of it all we all learn from each other and be better for it.
(2) A Russian bear hug:

Now, with this Ukraine matter, let’s start from what is looming in the background. Russia. Ukraine used to have a pro-Russian government headed by Viktor Yanukovych. In November 2013, the Ukrainians began what was called the Euromaidan, which was a nationwide protest against the pro-Russian government when it decided to suspend the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement at the instigation of Moscow because Russia does not want the European Union’s influence extended to Ukraine, a territory of the former Soviet Union. By 2014, the protest became a full-scale revolution that saw to the ouster of Yanukovych. In February that year, parliament removed Yanukovych officially and fixed an election for the 25th of May to choose a president. Petro Poroshenko, a pro-Western businessman who ran on a pro-European Union platform won more than 50 percent of the vote and therefore avoided a run-off.

By this time, Vladimir Putin had started fomenting trouble in Eastern Ukraine obviously to punish Ukrainians for daring to remove his stooge. He annexed an area of Ukraine known as the Crimea and in March 2014 conducted a sham referendum in the region before proclaiming the place “Republic of Crimea.” But the international community was outraged. The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 68/262 invalidating the referendum and recognizing the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Russia continued to engage in more destabilizing gambits in the Luhansk and Donesk regions and, indeed, Poroshenko’s time in office was marked by this conflict with Russia. His attempt to negotiate peace with Russia was rebuffed and, as at today, more than 13,000 lives have been lost to the conflict. Amongst them are 298 innocent people killed when Russian-backed forces shot down a Malaysian passenger airliner over Ukraine in July 2014. But under Poroshenko, Ukraine ratified the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement and continued its push towards aligning more with the West. He also revived Ukraine’s attempt to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an attempt that was suspended by Yanukovych under the pretence of remaining non-aligned.

Western leaders under the leadership of the United States, the EU and some other international organizations decided to robustly support Ukraine against Russian aggression. This involves giving Ukraine military and economic aid. However, Ukraine has a notorious corruption culture dating back to the days it was under Russian influence. Western nations keen to help were also keen not to allow the money and aid they were sending Ukraine to go fund corruption. They therefore negotiated with the Ukrainian government strategies to fight corruption and set up international monitoring machineries to ensure that aid money is spent for what it is meant for. The Obama-led US government was leading this effort on behalf of the international community in Ukraine and Joe Biden, the then US Vice President was designated as the lead go-to person for this policy within the US government.

Thereafter, in 2015 a fellow known as Viktor Shokin was appointed Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General. He had the power to initiate and prosecute corruption cases against private and public persons and entities. But soon, it became obvious that this chap wasn’t interested in fighting corruption. He was Poroshenko’s ally; in fact, he is a godfather to one of Poroshenko’s children. The international community became alarmed when he repeatedly ignored flagged up cases of corruption and then prosecuted and harassed his own officials who courageously attempted to prosecute some of these cases. After several backchannel efforts to get the Ukrainian authorities to act failed, the United States and the international community now sent Biden to Ukraine in December 2015 to make clear that no aid would be forthcoming any more until the compromised anti-corruption chief was removed. Eventually, the parliament voted to sack him and in March 2016, he resigned.
(3) Trump and Ukraine:

So, the above was all that happened before Trump came into office in January 2017. But at this juncture, it’s important to look back at Trump’s relationship with the Ukrainian government even before the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is because we can deduce from reading the “transcript” of the 25 July conversation between Trump and Zelensky, the whistleblower’s complaint and now some text messages between diplomats released to Congressional Committees by Kurt Volker, the just-resigned U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations that Trump has been in the business of pressuring the Ukrainian government long before Zelensky came on the scene.

Trump came into office with an albatross around his neck, which was the Russian intervention in the US election and his role and the role of his Campaign in that affair. We know that the US security and intelligence agencies all have said that Russia actually intervened on behalf of Trump. The Robert Mueller inquiry was all about this and we all read the report and know that many convictions have been obtained and many prosecutions are still ongoing. Now, Trump we know is not happy about all this. We know the many ways he tried to impede and obstruct Mueller, but what we didn’t know was what he was doing with other governments and in other countries to stop Mueller, especially with Ukraine which had a lot on his campaign Chairman, Paul Manafort. This was an area we knew Mueller was very much interested in.

In May 2018, the New York Times broke a story about Ukraine whose significance was not noted at the time because it did not receive much attention. The report centred around Trump’s meeting with the then Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko on 21 September 2017 on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York. Shortly after the meeting, some strange things began to happen in Ukraine and Democrats wanted to know if Donald Trump pressured Poroshenko because of these events.

First, Ukraine’s then Prosecutor-General, Yuri Lutsenko halted cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation abruptly without giving any reason. Four Ukrainian criminal inquiries related to Mueller’s work were shut down. These four Ukrainian investigations that were shut down concerned Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, who had made millions in Ukraine as a consultant for the corrupt and ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and his political party. As part of the effort to stop the investigations, Ukrainian officials also let a Russian Ukrainian business partner of Manafort, Konstantin Kilimnik to leave Ukraine before Mueller’s investigators could question him. He was a key potential witness for Mueller.

At the time, the issue came up in parliament in Ukraine and the consensus was that the Ukrainian government took these steps in order not to upset Donald Trump and jeopardize a deal that would supply Ukraine Javelin anti-tank missiles for its ongoing conflict with Russia. In any case, Donald Trump did not approve the sale of the Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine (which was why Zelensky was flattering Trump during their 25 July conversation to get him to sell them the anti-tank missiles). But at the time, several US Senators were wondering if the Ukrainian investigations had been sidelined as an act of Trump-Ukraine collusion.

Senators Patrick Leahy, Dick Durbin, and Robert Menendez wrote a letter to Yuri Lutsenko, expressing their “great concern about reports that your office has taken steps to impede cooperation” with Mueller’s investigation. They asked Lutsenko to explain these moves. They also raised the issue of whether Trump and his people had pressured the Ukrainians to quash these probes. They asked: “Did any individual from the Trump Administration, or anyone acting on its behalf, encourage Ukrainian government or law enforcement officials not to cooperate with the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller?” They also asked if there had been any discussion of the Mueller probe between Ukrainian and US officials when Trump met then-President Petro Poroshenko during the UN meeting. Basically, the Senators were asking if there had been some quid pro quo underhanded collusion requiring the blocking of the Mueller inquiries in Ukraine before they, the Ukrainians, can get the anti-missiles system. But Lutsenko stonewalled and didn’t respond. Now, the same Lutsenko is at the centre of the present Trump-Ukraine scandal following revelations that Rudy Giuliani had recruited him into the conspiracy against Biden before he seemingly had a change of mind. He recently toldthe Los Angeles Times that he has repeatedly turned down demands from Giuliani to provide dirt on the Bidens because he has seen no evidence that they engaged in any wrongdoing.

In the light of the present revelations, the Senators’ letter to Lutsenko has become an issue because it raises the question whether Trump in any way tried to pressure the Ukraine government to impede Mueller a year before Trump phoned Zelensky and asked for the “favor” he asked for on July 25 this year in that telephone conversation. It is noted that reading the transcript, he asked for this personal favour as a condition before he could consider the sale of the Javelin anti-tank missiles which the Ukrainian leader expressed interest in buying. There’s every possibility that the House Intelligence Committee now investigating Trump and Giuliani’s actions in Ukraine would want to hear from Lutsenko on that 2018 episode and his latter interactions with Giuliani.

It is no surprise that a jittery Trump has typically been trying to twist the old Senators’ letter into some kind of evidence that he’s saying exonerates him. He has zeroed in on a line in the letter the Senators wrote Lutsenko which pointed out that blocking cooperation with Mueller “sends a worrying signal—to the Ukrainian people as well as the international community—about your government’s commitment broadly to support justice and the rule of law.” Trump claims this is proof that the Democrats have been the ones threatening the Ukrainian government all along and not him, Trump.
Of course, this claim is evidently false because the Democrats sent their letter in May 2018, long before Zelensky’s defeat of Poroshenko in April 2019. There was no threat in the letter against Poroshenko or Zelensky who hadn’t even come on the scene. The line Trump is zeroing on was simply reminding the Ukrainian authorities that impeding these investigations would cause the international community to question the government’s commitment to fighting corruption, which was and still is a critical issue for Ukraine, as it seeks aid from Western nations.

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READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/donald-trump-the-ukraine-scandal-and-the-impeachment-inquiry-facts-versus-fiction-i/

The club hadn’t ended just yet at 2:35a.m. It was Addie’s second day at work, and she wondered how humans in America survived in that cold, yet still partied all night.

She exhaled deeply as she sipped Hennessy from a small cup. She was tired in her high heel shoes; she wasn’t used to them. It was her first time of doing a job that required her wearing heels all through her shift.

When she was a manager at Westminster mall, she was always in sneakers or boots.

Her best friend Ida convinced her to submit her CV for the Grand Night Club interview. The pay was good enough to cater for her bills.

As she stepped into the club auditorium, the liquid notes soared through the balmy California night. They sprang from the golden slide of two trombones in perfect unison. The reedy seduction of an alto sax. The swish of a steel brush against cymbals. Addie walked around elegantly in her pink sweater and a black jean on her black high heel shoes, asking the waiters if everyone was okay and if their customers were treated well.

Everyone was lost to the dreamy ballad as they swayed cheek to cheek on the parquet floor of the famous Grand Night Club.

The singer waited for the clarinet to sweep out the final bars of the bridge before stepping up to the mic.
Her gold coloured hair glittered in the light from the chandeliers.
Addie paused and watched her, then smiled, “Americans and their boring parties”. She thought.

“Your hair is gorgeous!” A Caucasian lady whispered in Addie’s ears.

“Thank you!” She exclaimed as she put her hands on her natural kinky Afro hair as if she had just realized that she owned it.

When the female singer at the stage cradled the mic and poured out her talent to the crowd who were already standing on their feet. She put her heart into each note, her earthy, provocative signature on each phrase. She was good at making every male in the audience think she was singing to him alone.

Donald Ette was here, Addie had seen him walk in a few moments ago, tall, and achingly handsome as usual. He’d come to see what her new work place looks like for the first time. He never wanted Addie to work, he sent her to America so she can be hidden from his wife Hannah for a while. It’s been two years already, and she had refused to go back to Nigeria, afraid that Hannah still had her at heart and might send her thugs at her again, this time she might never survive it.

Donald Ette was the governor of her state, the most handsome governor in Nigeria that almost all Cross River women had a crush on.
His wife fought tooth and nail to make sure her husband wasn’t taken by any woman who seemed way ward.

Now, Addie had lost Donald in the throng of dancers jamming in the club house.

Her impatience mounting as she walked into the crowd of people, running her eyes everywhere and searching for him.
When the music faded, everyone clapped thunderously. Then she saw him sitting by a corner, and talking to one of the waitresses.

“He wants me Celine, don’t worry you can leave us now.” Addie said, waving at the Caucasian waitress in a red sassy hair.

She kissed him on the lips so passionately.

“I missed you.” She said.

Donald looked at her like she’d lost her mind. She had never kissed him in public when she was in Nigeria. But of course, nobody knew her in America and she could do whatever she wanted with him.

“I came in yesterday, needed to rest.” Donald said huskily.

“Where are you lodging?” Addie asked.

“The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage. I hope you’re going with me tonight?”

“Why not?” She asked excitedly and kissed him on the lips again. “Ida won’t love to have a married man in the house again.”

“But it was just once I visited. And don’t forget I pay the rent for that house.”

“Buy me the house Don, buy it for me. You can afford it.” Addie said girlishly in Nigerian Accent.

Donald gave a soft husky laugh. “Donald buy me a car, buy me a house...” He mimicked her.
“You said you needed a car first before a house. That’s why I had to buy a car. Now you want a house so soon.”

“Not like I want it so soon. I just want you to put it in your budget. In the next one year, you won’t be governor anymore, and you might not be able to afford a house.”

“Says who?

“Says me baby.” She replied nastily.

“Don’t worry, I will buy you a house at Los Angeles when the money I am expecting comes in, okay?”

She nodded nicely. “Let me get to work. Drink all you want; I am riding you all through this night nonstop!” She winked at him and stood to walk away.

READ MORE: https://africanfictions.com/the-bride-chapter-1/

Apart from the revelation by economists that globally, governments are ‘resource-and bandwidth-constrained’, our mind eye using available data also observes that Nigeria’s income has been on the increase since independence. As the income increases so do expenditure. But as expenditure is increasing, so has budget deficit been on the increase as well.

An unconstructive trend it seems, but such appalling episode is by no means unique to the public finance sector as recent happenings across the world also indicate that limited access to food, shortfalls in housing, extreme poverty, health challenges, infrastructural deficiency and environmental pollution have visibly added to the socioeconomic discourse the world, sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria in particular currently grapple with.

What, however, made the development newsy is that the world is facing these challenges at a time when policy objective in the 21st century is headed toward enhancing economic growth and improves the living condition of humanity, in a way that both protects the rights and opportunities of coming generations.

What a contradiction?

.With this concern in mind, it hardly needs to be said that development has become a major policy focus within and among countries. Today, the drivers of change in the world are quite different from what they had been in the last decades.

Take Nigeria as an example, while the masses and all strata of government are currently at the receiving side, corporate organizations, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) are at the supply side in the race to achieve developments that are said to be sustainable.

Understanding this point is important as the scope of this piece broaden to accommodate challenges and practical realities. Particularly, as it is speculated by experts that come 2050, global consumption of food and energy is expected to double as the world population and income grow, while climate change is expected to have an adverse effect on both crop yield and a number of arable acres.

Of course, there are important limits that the government can go. This fact was recently amplified among stakeholders at a gathering in Lagos, where among other considerations stated that the governments in Nigeria at all levels can no longer single-handedly tackle the traditional but universal responsibility of provision of economic and infrastructural succour to the citizenry which the instrumentality of participatory democracy and the election of leaders confer on them. And, therefore, calls for unceasing private sector collaboration.

.

As a response to this mirage of challenge in the country, many interventionist groups came up. And worthy of mention for both practical and moral reasons are TY Danjuma Foundation, a Non-Governmental Foundation established by General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (RTD), a former Chief of Army Staff, Ex-Minister of Defence and Astute Business Man-with primary focus on –Health, Education and extreme poverty.

Specifically, spaced from helping the government perform its responsibility, there are other reasons (s) why the activities of this particular NGO gained attention and worth mentioning in this piece. Separate from being driven by the needs of others, the world will appreciate TY Danjuma and his Foundation more if a crucial attempt is made to seek explanation and provide answers to; why poverty and inequality evolve overtime on our shores?. Find forces that drive such ‘evil’’, the effort government is making to eradicate same, (if any).

When similar questions are placed in juxtaposition with the conscientious effort by this foundation to end extreme poverty and other socio-economic challenges on our shore, it will, without any shadow of the doubt lend credence to the above assertion but confirm what has been on the minds of Nigeria.

For example, going by the records, it factually supported that since inception in 2009, the foundation dedicates 70% of their total allocation to health and 30% to education, awarded about 3billion in grants to fund 280 projects across 31 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT. It has collaborated with 280 organizations so far to implement projects in health and education. Did over thirty million treatments in the control of neglected tropical diseases, where Nigerians suffer from 13 out of the 17 NTDs, identified by the World Health Organization(WHO), with over 8million beneficiaries of projects in hard to reach areas, with about 2.3million beneficiaries in 2018 alone. In 2018, the foundation gave 21NGOs grant of about 212million Naira in interventions in health which includes preventable blindness, free surgical missions, maternal and child health, support for IDPs, free medical missions and eradicating neglected tropical diseases, and operates a highly successful program for the eradication of river blindness in Taraba and Edo states.

From the above, there are two sets of separate but related comparative analysis to make. First, is that at a time when the government in Nigeria manifest signs of weakness to adequately fund the health sector or adhere to the United Nation Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] budgetary recommendation on education, such has become the appropriate time for the foundation to provide a leading example with 70% of their total allocation to health and 30% to education formula. Secondly and profound is that at a time when public funds are corruptly used for personal aggrandisement and public offices viewed as an opportunity for personal good, has become a riped time for the Foundation to render selfless service to Nigerians/humanity.

With this, it is evident that the Foundation has not only demonstrated a corporate culture that one can safely characterize as people-purposed, but supports a true platform for the nation’s attainment of 2030 sustainable agenda which has become not just a lingua franca but formulated to among other aims promote and carter for people, peace, planet, and poverty.
From the foregoing, I hold an opinion that just as the government is a decentralized body for the promotion and protection of the people’s life chances. So has the Foundation, in other words, becomes a platform for development that the government must support and partner with.

Regardless of what others may say, the world in which we now live is geographically one and ‘the challenge we face today as a nation is how to make it one in brotherhood’. What we urgently need is the development of world perspective to welcome every development opportunity that is not immoral. As I encourage the Foundation to do more in uplifting the life chances of Nigerians, I use the opportunity provided by this piece to congratulate General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (RTD), on his 82nd birthday.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/sustainable-partnership-ty-danjuma-and-2030-development-agenda/

Hon. Brady Chijioke Nwosu is a freelance writer and journalist who was educated in Enugu, Nigeria; São Paulo, Brazil; and Connecticut, USA. A former Governorship aspirant in Imo State, Nwosu holds degress in Political Sciences and Criminology.

In this interview with Ikenga Chronicles, Mr. Nwosu discusses the way forward for Nigeria, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the death of the rule of law under General Muhammadu Buhari, Igbo Presidency 2023, and why "hate speech" will continue to flourish in Nigeria.


Excerpts.

How do you see the move by the federal government to secure a new loan to fund infrastructural development?

I must say we have borrowed enough and I just don't know where this one is coming from and any money borrowed now is just to service the existing debts and nobody is building any infrastructure. What infrastructure are they talking about? At the end of the day, it will end up in their private pockets. So far as I am concerned, nobody is interested in Nigeria. People still have strong allegiance to their ethnic nationality rather than the country. There is no patriotism in Nigeria and that is what is wrong with our so called leaders whose main concern is to enrich themselves and their families. So nobody should tell us anything about borrowing for infrastructure. We have heard that too many times. The money will still end up in private pockets just as it has always been since the inception of Nigeria.


How did you receive the news of Orji Uzor Kalu's imprisonment?

Nigeria is a Buccaneering and fighting country. I look at Orji's sentence as obscure and as having the undertone of a conspiracy theory. Why now? That is the first question you should seek answers to. This whole thing is coming now because of the agitation for Igbo Presidency in 2023, which for some of us,is really just a scam. You have the former governors of Plateau and Taraba also in jail because of religious and tribal bigotry. You have Dasuki in jail because of vendetta. So the conviction of politicians in Nigeria is based on vendetta, political, ethnic and religious bigotry.


What is your take on Omoyele Sowore and the DSS?

You see, we are operating a different system of government under the cover of democracy. You recall that President Buhari worked under the Late Abacha and has been an Abacha apologist since then. So what happened during the Abacha dictatorship is what is happening today under the cover of democracy. Recently, The Punch came up with a very strong Editorial which elicited mixed reactions. But for them to come up with that editorial, it tells you that there is indeed a whole lot going on. So we are actually operating in a civilian dictatorship right now. So when there is dictatorship, there is no rule of law. That is why I don't look at our so called democracy as democracy at all. It is at best a mere civilian regime. So for many of us, we are not surprised at the turn of events. If Sowore had said his agitation is for a sectional interest, he would be very safe. Since the creation of Nigeria, we don't have an idol, we don't have a hero because nobody is interested in Nigeria as a country. They look at Nigeria as a working site. We all have very strong allegiance to our ethnic affiliation and not the nation. So the idea now is that, if the courts have granted Sowore bail, then I really don't see why he should be rearrested without a court order. It simply means that there is a reign of impunity. There is no more rule of law.

How will you rate the rule of law in Nigeria today?

There is nothing like the rule of law in Nigeria. How can you have the rule of law when there is no democracy? What we have is civilian regime which is gradually graduating to a civilian dictatorship. A Viking country.

Which reminds me, what is your take on the hate speech Bill?

Hate actions beget hate speech. So you can not address one in isolation. Hate speech started with one of the founders of Nigeria and an icon of the North Ahmadu Bello. That is the first recorded history of hate speech, when he alleged that the Igbos want to dominate everywhere and he therefore urged his people to resist such domination. This was followed by the pogrom against the Igbos which was a hate action. Since the days that Zik was denied the Premier of Western region through hate speech and hate actions, every other day in Nigeria is a manifestation of hate speech and consequently, hate action. So if this regime decides to promulgate such a law, they should first of all tailor it on the consequences of hate action which causes hate speech. And then they should be prepared to jail a great portion of the population. Because you cannot be destroying me and still say I shouldn't talk. You cannot be stealing our commonwealth and mortgaging the future of our children and say we shouldn't talk. It is not possible. They should stop committing hate actions and hate speech will disappear.

What is your take on the agitation for restructuring?

Let me tell you, if we had a Nigerian military, I would have suggested that they should takeover power so that we can all sit back and discuss Nigeria. Unfortunately, what we have now is tribal occupation military. Be that as it may, we need to discuss Nigeria. We must go back to the drawing board--right where we started in order to get things right. Even the name Nigeria is not suitable. Restructuring is simply the only way out of our current mess. It will help as a push back on this ethnic agitation and separation. But as things stand now, the North is afraid of restructuring for reasons only them know. We must go back to how we were before the first coup that disrupted our system. We must have the regions taking control of development and the running of affairs in their areas rather than a central government controlling everything. It is only then that every region will begin to develop according to their strength, ability,capability and choices. That is what is obtainable the world over. So why can't we have it here? The unitary system is not good and that is the brain behind the agitation for separation. In Igboland today, the agitation for separation has gone very far and the agitators have a silent majority that are still nursing the hope for the Republic of Biafra. So my position is that, we need to restructure and we need to do that now before it becomes too late. There is no patriotism in Nigeria, that is just the truth. Our patriotism is to our regions and ethnic nationalities and that must be respected for the nation to grow.

But IPOB was proscribed...

The proscription of IPOB is just out of ignorance. Nobody becomes a terrorist without guns or harmful objects. The agitation for Biafra is just a simple and peaceful agitation by people who believe in what they are looking for. They are not terrorists. In any case, you can only make the pronouncements. You cannot stop them from their agitation. The IPOB is still existing and the proscription is rubbish. The leader of IPOB is still there and he is the most feared human being by this government. He is making waves. He makes broadcasts all the time and Nigerians listen to him, because people believe in him and know that his agitations are genuine. In fact, people believe in him now more than ever. As it is now, an average Igbo man believes that the Igbos are been pushed out of Nigeria. Nigeria is moving without the Igbos and it is not going to work. Right now, the only thing that is still existing about this country is the location. The country itself is far gone. So for me, the proscription is just an effort in futility. IPOB still exists and is even getting stronger.


There is also the issue of zoning the Presidency in 2023 to the South East and how this might help balance things. What is your take on that?

In reality, turn-by-turn Presidency will never take this country forward. And that is one of the things that have destroyed this country. But since it has gone this way, I think the Igbos have the right to the Presidency in 2023. But I don't believe in it. All this promise of Igbo Presidency in 2023 is mere scam. In fact, everything points to the contrary. How many prominent Igbos do you have in APC? But that is not even the issue here. Whoever becomes President in 2023 will still fail just as this government has failed. Until we restructure and get things right, the Presidency is inconsequential. Whoever goes there will fail, because the country is gone. For me, I don't even believe that there would be any election in 2023. I have a strong conviction that this President will extend beyond his four year tenure. They can simply amend the constitution to extend the tenure to six years. Whichever way it goes, anybody coming in 2023 without a restructured Nigeria will still fail.


How do you think the security challenges in the country can be tackled?

The country is not okay. People are still holding strong allegiance to ethnicity over nationalism. And then the leaders are not helping matters at all. It seems the security concern of the government is just in the South East and South South. You see massive deployment of security personnel to these regions but they are not there to provide security. They are there on the mission to extort money. That's just their concern. So the people here are under siege. You see that when the people who are supposed to provide security turn round to become the major threat to security, when injustice holds sway, when the law is not allowed to. When people are denied their rights, then there is bound to be the reign of anarchy. It is as simple as that. Look at the current security architecture of the country. You can see nepotism even in the security heads. The heads of all the key security arms in the country are from one region and of a certain religious belief. You have people who have run out of ideas manning the security structure of the country. How do you expect them to give what they don't have? Its not possible.

Recently, there is the issue of border closure, as a means of addressing our economic development issues. What is your take on that?

Well, that is just a way of inflicting more pains on Nigerians. The only thing this closure has done is to bring more hunger and hardship on the people and to frustrate small businesses. If the government is sincere about developing local production capacity, then they should start with patronizing Nigerian made cars. We have a local car manufacturing company here that is producing good cars. Instead of wasting billions on importation of cars annually for politicians, the government, beginning with the President should start patronizing IVM and ban foreign cars. You don't start your economic reforms with draconian policies that are targeted at the suffering masses. In the end, whatever their reasons may be, the closure has only succeeded in inflicting more pains and loses on ordinary Nigerians. The politician at the top there don't have a problem. They are eating the foreign rice they have barred, they drink expensive foreign wines. In fact, everything they eat, drink, wear, and drive is foreign, including their furniture and carpets. So what are they saying. Why not close the border on foreign medical trips so that we can fix our hospitals back home? Why not close the borders on education abroad so that we can fix our educational system here? These are areas that concern them and you will never hear them say anything there.

One of the key planks of what the Buhari administration campaigned on is anti corruption. How well do you think they are doing, in this regard?[b][/b]

There is nothing like fighting corruption. In fact the so called war against corruption is the height of corruption itself. Check, for every single person they have jailed over corruption charges there are serious political lining. Look at Nyame, look at Kalu, look at Dasuki. They are not fighting any corruption. It is just another way of stealing from others to enrich themselves. What happens to the billions upon billions that the EFCC claims it has been recovering? Why are they still interested in borrowing more money when we have recovered so much loot already? When the governor of Kano was caught with dollars in a clear case of corruption, what happened? He got a pat on the shoulder for doing a great job. Contemplating borrowing more money now to further impoverish this country is corruption. Taking of all key federal projects to the President's village is corruption. So what corruption are we fighting?

People have accused this government of nepotism. Do you agree with them?

So long as we continue to have rotational presidency, so long as the political leadership is tribal and religion-based, we will continue to have the problem of nepotism. Unfortunately that's how it is. For instance, what is the need for establishing a University of Transportation in Daura? In the first place, do we need it? If it were a government that is patriotic, they will simply have faculties of transport in all the federal universities across all the six geopolitical zones. But no, they had to establish a whole University of Transportation in Daura. It doesn't make sense. We don't even have a public transport system, and we are establishing a University of Transportation. Is transportation our problem? We don't have roads, we don't have light, we have serious security challenges and you are establishing transport university. They should go ahead and establish University of Power and University of Security. Unfortunately, our leaders are suffering from acute lack of ideas. They are empty. We are in a mess and like I said, the only thing that can save this country is urgent and honest holistic restructuring.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/nigeria-must-first-address-hate-action-before-hate-speech-brady-nwosu/

Former Governor of Imo State, and Senator representing Imo East Senatorial District, Senator Rochas Okorocha has said that the pronounced victory of Governor Yahaya Bello as the winner of the Kogi State Governorship Election which held on November 18,2019, is proof that his party, the All Progressives Congress(APC) can go to any length to desecrate the electoral process.

Okorocha who said this in Abuja said the world confirmed the impunity that is APC by virtue of Bello’s electoral victory.

According to the Senator, the abysmal performance of Yahaya Bello during his first term ensured that Kogites were going to vote him out. The outcome of the election, preceded by the approval of N10billion by a rubber-stamp Senate, was proof that the electoral process in Nigeria has been desecrated thus proving that the ruling party has enthroned impunity.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/yahaya-bellos-victory-is-proof-of-apcs-impunity-okorocha/

Major-Genral Buhari went to Egypt and told them that as from January 2020 there would no longer be a visa requirement for Africans to come to Nigeria.

The Fulanis of north and west Africa, rejected and unwanted elsewhere, have finally been given what they wanted all along: a homeland of their own. They will flood Nigeria in their millions and within 5 years our demographics will change forever.

Simply put, a visa-free policy for Africans to come into Nigeria is a shameless and subtle attempt to alter the racial and religious demographics of our country and open our front door for mass Fulani, Berber, Taureg and Arab migration into our shores.

By the time they come here from all over north and west Africa and settle down, we the indigenous people of Nigeria will be a tiny minority. The next thing they will do is to implement RUGA to the letter and take our land and insist on sharia law being implemented all over the country.

It is a dangerous, self-serving and self-seeking policy which will ultimately result in great conflict, carnage, racial and religious strife and total catastrophy. In an attempt to implement an ancient agenda of Fulani hegemony and turn us into a conquered and enslaved people Buhari, his born to rule co-travellers and their vast legion of slavish sympathisers and supporters are likely to set Nigeria on fire.

You will not believe me now just as you did not believe me when I warned about the true nature of Buhari in 2015 and the grave consequences of electing him as President.

Yet my words have proved to be prophetic and just as I have been vindicated on Buhari I shall be vindicated on this matter of the grave and dangerous consequences of visa-free mass migration by vagrant, stateless and nomadic Africans into our shores.

With this irresponsible, unpatriotic, dangerous and self-serving policy, I repeat, we are playing with fire and sitting on a keg of gunpowder which will eventually explode. It will be the final nail in the coffin of a united Nigeria. May God deliver us from the coming evil.


READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/buharis-visa-free-policy-femi-fani-kayode/

"As a symbolic demonstration of our protest against autocracy and military-style repression, PUNCH (all our print newspapers, THE PUNCH, Saturday PUNCH, Sunday PUNCH, PUNCH Sports Extra, and digital platforms, most especially Punchng.com) will henceforth prefix Buhari's name with his rank as a military dictator in the 80s, Major General, and refer to his administration as a regime, until they purge themselves of their insufferable contempt for the rule of law" (The Punch Organization)

Really? So, of all the punishments Punch could inflict upon Buhari, it chose "Yo Momma"-type attack? As in 'Yo momma is so fat, I took a picture of her last Christmas and it is still printing'. Or, 'Yo momma is so dumb, when y'all were driving to Disneyland, she saw a sign that said Disneyland Left, and she got mad and went home'.

So, Nigeria, like Rome, is burning and all Emperor Punch could do to salvage the situation was punish Buhari by addressing him by his hard-earned title? Really? So, Buhari should cry home to his momma because Punch has called him a Major General, and has called his administration a regime? Really?While at it, why not we start calling Aso Rock Dodan Barracks? Why are we still calling the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo? Why not we start calling him Brigadier General Tunde Idiagbon? Oh, it's Christmas, but why not we start calling it Yuletide?

I think Punch needs to be investigated. I suspect that Buhari bribed Punch to do what it did. How much did Punch receive from Buhari to want to revert to Buhari's coveted military title of Major General? You have a man who seems to be failing at what he is currently doing - being a president - and you are about to throw him a lifeline by addressing him with a coveted title? Does Punch not know that, all over the world, the military institution is regarded and respected way higher than the political institution? Politics is the scummiest profession in the world. And you want to untie Buhari from the scum of politics and restore him to the highly coveted rank of a military General? What do Ademola Osinubi and his editorial board smoke at Punch?

Symbolic demonstration of your protest? Really? What part of Nigeria's problems under the Buhari government is symbolic? How do you bring a pillow to a gunfight? The country is going through some real raw deal, and your arsenal of war against the man at the helm is a symbolic re-glorification? And you are supposed to be Punch? Naaaa, c'mon, Ademola, you should be smarter than that. Punch should be stronger than that. Grow some spunk and quit the 'yo momma' journalism. If Punch is really Punch, then, it should punch, not punt.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/laughing-at-punch-and-its-yo-momma-journalism/

Nigerians are a people that forgets their history easily!
We are a people that doesn’t learn from the past! What hurts the most is that the elders who knows the truth have had it hidden from the youths just because of what they will get. They have all sold their consciences because of pot of porridge.

Buhari was sold as a converted democrat, and many people bought it. The elders who knew him as a dictator sold him as a Saint, and the young people most of who never knew him saw him as the messiah. We warned and fought against it, but they called us wailers.
Most of them were ready to even kill during the electioneering campaign.
When he started his sectional appointments, they said he was appointing the people he trusts.

Now that they didn’t see god Buhari perform miracles and turn naira to a dollar, they have taken over our wailing.
Most of the young ones are still jobless, and are yet to see his 3 million jobs per annum.
Where’s his 24/7 electricity?
I thought they said he was going to end borrowing?
He has continued to borrow and shows no sign of slowing down.
A General that promised to lead from the front and stop Boko Haram in 3 months rarely talks about the terrorists.
Where are those military equipments he bought from the US?

Those same people who condemned GEJ’s subsidy have lost their voices in Buhari’s subsidy.
Remember he told Nigerians that there’s nothing like subsidy.
Those who said he was right to invade the house of judges gestapo style are now trembling with fears.
Those that sold him to Nigerians as a converted democrat are now his victims.
Those that were rejoicing when he was ruthlessly dealing with others are now crying in his dungeons.

It’s already too late for Nigerians!
They have no choice that to stick with the evil they desperately needed!
Punch and other media houses realized very late.

The only thing that will save us is to always remember our history!
Let’s always remember that rain has never fallen on one Man’s roof alone, but on every man’s roof!

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/buhari-the-rain-doesnt-fall-on-one-mans-rooftop-alone/

The courts remain the last hope of the common and uncommon man.

The courts are and remain the sentinel of justice and bastion of democracy.

Without the courts and their unfettered freedom to exercise adjudicatory powers, the society will be lawless and ungovernable.

No civilized society can do without an independent and well respected judiciary. Nigeria is no different!

It is the height of irresponsibility for any person or public official or authority, no matter how highly placed, to invade the courts or wilfully disobey orders of the courts.

An invasion of the court is not only a direct affront on the judiciary but a clear invitation to the return to mob rule, the very antithesis to rule of law.

In Nigeria, the sordid act of court invasion and desecration of the sacred temple of justice was a regular imprint of military rule.

Nigeria has since moved away from military jackboot and embraced democratic rule.

To think that after two decades and more of unbroken civil rule in Nigeria, this dreaded monster of utter contempt for the judiciary and rule of law will rear its ugly head in our democracy beggars belief.

Under President OBJ, the Court of Appeal in Enugu was invaded in course of resolving the impasse that accompanied the abduction and impeachment of Ngige as Governor of Anambra State. In 2014, under President GEJ, pro-Fayose thugs invaded the Court in Ekiti. There is no record that those behind these invasions were brought to face the long arm of the law.

Only recently, the DSS did the unthinkable by invading a Federal High Court in Abuja under the guise of re-arresting Sowore. This is shocking being that President Buhari in his NEXT LEVEL Agenda has restated a firm commitment to the rule of law which approximates to respect for the sanctity of the judiciary.

The circumstance leading to the latest invasion of the Federal High Court in Abuja must not be swept under the carpet as it is shameful and symptomatic of recession into authoritarianism.

No reason is good enough for this sacrilege or profanation as it is manifestly indefensible.

Those behind the senseless act must be brought to justice and made to realise that by that overzealous action, they threatened our democracy and bespattered the face of the judiciary with contempt and opprobrium.

A new normal is possible!

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/court-invasion-is-illegal-reprehensible-and-manifestly-indefensible/

--By Richard Akinnola II

When Dele Giwa was assassinated on October 19, 1986, the major suspects were the two Security operatives of the General Ibrahim Babangida junta. In an attempt to shift the focus from them, they procured some Nigerians to peddle false narratives, accusing Dele's wife and his colleagues as the main suspects.

Also in 1986, Alozie Ogugbuaja, then the Lagos spokesman of Police, ran into troubled waters over his accusations against the military government for not funding the police. He was suspended. Thereafter, the agents of the junta went after his life. A grenade was thrown from a moving vehicle at him but it refused to detonate. Instead of standing by their man, the police IG, Gambo said the grenade was "harmless" and must have fallen from a moving vehicle. Ever heard of a harmless grenade! They always have odious lies to peddle.

In 1988, agents of Babangida junta set fire on Gani Fawehinmi's house at 28 Sabiu Ajose Crescent, Surulere, Lagos, housing his library and his second wife and her children. Guess what the police said? In an attempt to change the narrative of their dastardly action, they accused Gani Fawehinmi of setting his house on fire "in order to embarrass the government". A livid Fawehinmi countered the police - "You mean I would set fire on my house, housing my wife and children and books worth millions of Naira just to embarrass a government that is already embarrassed? You must be insane like your useless government".

In 1996, after the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola by the agents of Abacha junta, the security agencies, also in an attempt to shift the accusations from them, arrested some NADECO chieftains, accused them of being behind the gruesome act, till a court ordered their release. Of course, Nigerians knew that Abacha's Strike force was behind the gruesome act.

Now, after the show of shame inside the court yesterday, the perpetrators have equally procured some people to retail some puerile and jejune narrative that it was Sowore and his team that simulated the scene in order to blackmail the security agency.

Unfortunately, one of my friends, Mallam Jaji is part of those peddling this narrative. I have told him on his wall that with this his position, l'm afraid of him. I can't feel comfortable being friends with people like this. In fact, l would have to unfriend him. It's as serious as that. We are not just facebook friends, we are friends in real life. But not anymore. There are certain irreducible minimums l can tolerate from people l call my friends. This is not about holding a contrary view but peddling falsehood to save face after such a despicable conduct of yesterday.

You can go ahead to continue retailing your false narrative in order to mask an obvious fact but l also reserve the right to distance myself from such "friends". I'm not emotional about severing relationship with such people. As l often posit, this issue is not about Sowore as a person but about principle.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/they-have-started-again/

Orji Kalu's First Day in Prison - How the Seeds Were Sown in Our Days at Government College Umuahia.

Around 1976, Orji Uzor Kalu was one of the students attracted, and possibly, headhunted into Government College Umuahia (GCU) by the Principal, O.O. Otisi. The Principal had eased the mobility of footballers into the college with the aim of strengthening the legs of the school senior football team towards winning the Academicals Cup.

It turned out that Orji Kalu who came along with players like Okey Uduko, Ohaka, etc was anything but a footballer. It wasn't long before a good number of his new school mates began to feel that he had opportunistically exploited the policy to transfer himself from a regional champion, Eziama Boys Secondary School, to the globally-branded Government College Umuahia. The students were very proud of their school and of themselves, in the light of the very high academic standards they surmounted to gain Admission. It was bad enough that O.O. had lowered the bar. It was unbearable that one of those for whom the bar was lowered did not bring along the expected value in the area of football prowess. If the school had lashed at Orji Uzor Kalu at this juncture with a reprimand for what was perceived as deception, Orji may have begun that early to realize that there could be unsavory consequences for tricks of confidence. But he got away with it.

On arriving 'Umuahia', as Government College Umuahia is sometimes fondly called, Orji Kalu naturally hung out with his ABU (Aba Brought Up) colleagues, particularly the Ex Eziama footballers. He would religiously escort them to Lower Field for football practice. Junior students helped to carry needed materials like football, first-aid box, etc and Orji Kalu'd guard the items by the sidelines of the field as they practiced. After a while, he began to arrogate to himself the title of Team Manager. Again, Orji Uzor Kalu got away with it.

GCU is not a very easy place for students who join in any year later than class one. Such a joiner is called a WHITE SHIRT and subjected to untold bullying (refered to in the school as molestation, harassment and punishment) by seniors, classmates and even confident juniors. Orji Kalu managed to escape the bullying by pressing his false identify as a school senior team footballer. Infact, he even became privileged, like other players. They were exempted from promptness for breakfast at the dinning hall, they were not checked for attending Morning Assembly and even attending the first two or three lessons in class. Players would stroll into class long after other students had taken a number of lessons and were preparing for break. Lunch hour promptness which was a rule in GCU was also below them. Same for dinner. Whereas students that are late to the refectory are denied food, school players had their meals specially reserved for them and even brought back to the hostel. Such were the privileges that Orji Uzor Kalu enjoyed and appropriated by supposedly being a school footballer - which he really wasn't. At this stage, he had learnt to play the system against itself. He had begun to note that rules are for dummies and that there is neither absolute black or white, only shades of grey.

Academically, Orji Kalu wasn't the brightest in his class. Let's say he wasn't bright at all. But he was bold, audacious and pretentious. What he lacked in classroom strength, he more than had in social skills. By the time football season ended, Orji had become so entrenched in the system and, like many of us, he'd learnt how to play school criminal ('crimgwo'). The problem is that he had learnt how to benefit from the underbelly of the school without ever paying his dues. He didn't grow in the system and couldn't grow the system. In his mind, he remained an outsider, appropriating any benefit he could and not paying any tax to support and grow the system. I'm of the impression that Orji Kalu remains till this day a WHITE SHIRT in his heart and in his head. On the inside, his school shirt never really transmuted to pink, our unique weekday school uniform. He remains a bird of passage, a visitor. It's doubtful, for instance if Orji Kalu can remember that the school's acronym, GCU was sometimes said to mean Grass Cutting University. It's doubtful if he knows the underpinnings of the School's quasi Motto, OBC (Obey Before Complain). There's no better evidence of this than the fact that after 8 years as Governor of Abia state in which the school is located, one didn't see him raise a finger to support the many efforts of the vibrant Old Boys Association. It isn't that he was not reminded. He had all the reminding in the world. But he saw our Noble Alma mater as a territory he conquered on his way to the top. To him, it was a prostitute to transact with at a time of need, not a girlfriend, concubine, wife or mother which features looped intricacies. I hear that the situation is worse with Eziama Boys in the sense that he doesn't even want people to know he ever stepped foot at Eziama Boys as a student. Around 1999 some of our classmates said they were noticing a claim in his public profile that he had attended Barewa College. And they were wondering if it was after or before Government College Umuahia. Of course, Barewa College is reputed to have produced more than a fair share of leaders of Northern Nigeria, including, at least, 3 Presidents. So, it's understandable that an identification with Government College Umuahia would reduce his platform for interacting with northerners whose favor he may specifically have targeted for whatever reason. It has therefore to be Barewa College. By magic, Orji Uzor Kalu became an old boy of Barewa College, Zaria.

Back to the narration about Orji at GCU. After the football season, he became friends with Ukata (I think, the son of a High Court Judge). They were often seen together. I remember one evening when many boys drooled as these two boys strolled with Miss Otulaja, a female corper, down the long stretch that runs from from the roundabout near the Principal's quarter to the Parade Ground. For all one knows, the young female corper may just have sought a stroll; but the interpretations of that party stroll had ethereal dimensions.

Orji Kalu's association with Ukata enjoyed an infamous bout of publicity sometime around 1978 when the Debating Society of an all-girls high school had an interaction with the GCU debating society. Such interactions usually commence with interschool debates or quizes and end in ballroom dancing, with exchanges of contacts which mark the possible commencement of amorous relationships. On this occasion, Orji and Ukata disappeared with two of the visiting girls for a large number of minutes. At Assembly the next Monday, the Principal, O.O. Otisi made a public show of them. He said they had claimed that the two girls wanted to drink water, they took them where they could give them water. "And, I suppose, you watered them" the Principal added, to the wild amusement of students and teachers. Orji and Ukata were reprimanded and punished. I don't remember what the exact punishment was, but I remember that I was mortified by the impunity of Orji Kalu and Ukata. That they were not expelled gives an indication that Orji and his friend got away with a slap on the wrist. Once more, the young man was being taught that there are no limits, no bounds. For a school that took breaking of bounds very seriously, Orji had simply achieved the equivalent of getting away with murder. In future engagements with the society, one will see Orji Kalu riding roughshod over laws, rules, policies, persons and people. Let's face it. The Seeds were sown at Government College Umuahia.

I don't know how Orji Kalu's WASC result turned out. But I will not be surprised if it was a straight F9 failure in all subjects. His classmates didn't expect him to pass any subject. Nobody could even tell if he was inclined towards the sciences, arts or technicals (Technical Drawing, Metal Work, Wood Work). He was just present. In the academic space, Orji Kalu may as well not have existed. Nobody could bother to contemplate his future with an University in view.

Orji Kalu lacked capability in all subjects. If he wanted to be frank, he wouldn't lay claim to even average status in any subject. Particularly, not in English Language which was a natural Credit for all Umuahians. Infact, rather than just a fail in English Language, Orji Kalu's classmates expected him to fail woefully and "lose his deposit" (the political language and practice in 1979 when we sat WASC).

GCU had and still has an automatic English language-improvement culture embedded in
(1) good teaching,
(2) english-everywhere-at-all-times,
(3) ridicule by peers and juniors for wrong grammar, and
(4) bullying by seniors for language errors. Even students who arrived GCU with terribly poor grasp of verbs and grammatical constructs naturally self-corrected after the first year. Orji Kalu remains the only person, living or dead who, to the best of my knowledge speak better English after one year in Government. I still don't know how someone can form big boy with mishmash tenses. Even as Governor of Abia state, decades after graduating from our super ivy league GCU, he was still mixing verbs like a comedian immitating a poor village primary school pupil. The story of how he achieved this infamy is instructive and related to his comfort with self-destructive impunity.

Orji Kalu came into Government College Umuahia with a poor academic background from Eziama Boys High School, Aba. Having positioned himself as a footballer (which it turned out that he wasn't), he would watch over the items of Members of the University Senior Football Team as they practiced each morning. While that gave him a sense of belonging in the school team, it robbed him of hours of learning in which he could have improved his verbiage. Moreover, as a privileged "footballer," he wasn't subjected to the peer ridicule and correction by which many of us improved our grammar. So, untaught and uncorrected, Orji emerged a dubious ambassador of Government College Umuahia. A fruit that in no way represents the tree. Even decades after he left secondary school and became Governor of Abia State, his English continued to be an embarrassment. In playing the system, he had played himself big time. Igbos say the man who tenders the wrong foot to an orthopedic surgeon in the hope of avoiding the pain that goes with the treatment of a broken bone will surely end up with a limp. Orji Uzor Kalu's grammar limps. And so does his fate as he spends his full day today behind the high walls of a correctional facility - not as a visitor, not as a guest, but as a resident, a prisoner. Not a prisoner of conscience. But a prisoner, prisoner. Orji Uzor Kalu, the boy who came to Government College Umuahia over four decades ago with unsubstantiated claims of football prowess has become an awardee for a crime against the state.

In sentencing Orji Uzor Kalu, the judge stated that she couldn't agree more with the prosecution that this Ex-Umuahian literally packed 7.1 billion Naira from Abia State over which he superintended and shifted it in broad daylight to his private limited liability company, Slok. As I read reports of the charges and judgement, I couldn't help but perceive that Orji Uzor Kalu may have gotten to the stage where he approached the stealing of government funds without sense, without brain, and without care. That's what Impunity does. That's what getting away lightly with offenses at GCU 40 years ago has now led him into. Impunity lowers one's sense of caution. It endues the bearer with foolishness, assuring him that he'd get away with the present act as he's gotten away with earlier ones. A false sense of reality. A false sense of right and a warped sense of the not-so-right.

Impunity has turned out a big betrayer. Over time, it had lulled Orji Uzor Kalu into a false sense of security. And time kept watch. Time has turned out again to be on the side of the law. Any lesson here?

READ MORE https://ikengachronicles.com/orji-kalus-first-day-in-prison-how-the-seeds-were-sown-in-our-days-at-government-college-umuahia/

Dee Sam Mbakwe became the governor of the old IMO State in 1979, almost 9 years after the end of the Nigeria - Biafra civil. He was among the dying generation of Igbo Politicians who were pained and challenged by the extent of destruction in Biafraland especially Igbo land as a result of the war. He went into politics to see how he could help rebuild Imo state which was terribly affected by the war.

Dee Mbakwe earned the nickname "the weeping governor" for crying while trying to convince the then NPN led federal government to pay attention to his state. No governor has surpassed his achievement in both Imo, Abia and parts of Ebonyi state which were formally IMO state. The only tarred road that passed through my community, which has survived the test of time was built by him.

Today, we no longer have politicians in the mold and spirit of Sam Mbakwe. We have vultures and hyenas who feed on the flesh and blood of their own people to grow fat, they steal from us instead of giving back to us. Orji Uzo Kalu set the precedence for bad leadership in Abia State. I'm from Abia state, needless to say that nothing shows that we belong to a state.

Each time i drive through Aba in Abia state, I weep. The first thing that confronts and make you uncomfortable is the stench oozing from the refuse dumps along the Aba express way. The dirt in Aba is out of this world, you meet roads in deplorable conditions, you see men and women resolute and defiant of the decay around them to create wonders in the form of shoes, shirts and building materials productions.

Orji Uzo Kalu set the precedence for these retards that continue to rule Abia state. People who do not see beyond their noses. The only thing they know is how to embezzle money meant for the development of the state. For many years, the city of Aba has been in a bad shape. From the roads to the drainage system. Every election year, governorship aspirants of various political parties use the city to campaign.

I understand the anger of the youths today as championed by the IPOB against the Political class in the area and their anger is justified. The political class in Igboland today are really terrible. Any reasonable leader in Abia, Anambra, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi should be challenged by the level of marginalization and unfair treatment against the Igbo people by the federal government of Nigeria. Igbo proverb says "Onye ajuru adighi aju one ya". What manner of leaders do we have today?Yesterday, Orji Uzor Kalu was convicted of embezzling 7.1 billion naira meant for Abia state. Only that money is enough to clean and put Aba in shape to some extent.

To maintain Aba as the commercial nerve center of the state in particular and Africa in general is not difficult to achieve. The IGR to achieve this can be generated only in Aba. Aba is blessed with manufacturers and importers. Put Aba in order, investors will troop in to partner with local manufacturers. If you see the kind of welding works that the people do with epileptic power supply, you will mavel. Made in Aba brand competes favourably with Asian and European brands. Aba supply most of the goods sold in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and some parts of the North and South West.

Hausa/Fulani people will not clean Aba and put the roads in order for us. The former governor that embezzled the money meant for the development of Abia state while he was the governor of the state is not a Yoruba man. We should stop blaming others for our problems. We are our major problems.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/orji-uzor-kalu-set-the-bad-precedence-for-bad-governance-in-abia-state/

Buhari's government may indeed be lacking in any organizing moral and philosophical compass. Just what is the central core of this government? How does the same government that sends Orji Uzor Kalu to prison for 12 years for corruption, and receives popular applause, turn around, on the same day, to attempt to rearrest Omoyele Sowore in court after it has been ordered to release him from a 124-day illegal detention?

With that latter action, whatever political capital and goodwill the government garnered from Orji Uzor Kalu's imprisonment vanished completely. It clearly shows that this government is not guided by any set of consistent and coherent policy values and dictates. Its random acts of courage are almost instantly countered with, and erased by, inexplicable deeds of tyrannical cowardice. You cannot be serious about fighting corruption at the same time you are determined to muzzle up free speech and shred rule of law.

And even from a strategic perspective, what paid slowpoke in the corridors of Aso Rock offered the advice to engage in these two conducts on the same day, and within little space and distance of each other? Not that you should do it, but if, in your obsession with self-destructing unforced errors, you have chosen to shoot yourself in the foot, could you not have waited for a later time as you continue to bask in the current glory of Orji Uzor Kalu's significant and consequential imprisonment?

By attempting to rearrest Sowore in court, in what has since become clear as a blatant act of executive impunity, you have succeeded in dislodging and displacing the Kalu story from trending news headlines, and replacing it with Sowore's. That is not the behavior of a well-organized government. You cannot successfully navigate this behemoth of a ship called Nigeria by lunging through random acts of chaos and confusion. Anti-corruption is not just what you do, it is how and when you do it. The worst form of corruption is the absence of self-discipline - that discipline that keeps you from gratuitously hurting yourself.

Benjamin Franklin, extending the Blackstone Ratio, from 10:1 to 100:1, insisted that it was better that a hundred guilty persons should escape punishment than have one innocent person suffer. It does not matter how many Orji Uzor Kalus you send to prison if you cannot obey court orders and stop harassing Omoyele Sowore. If sending the Orji Uzor Kalus of this world to prison and freeing Omoyele Sowore present a moral conundrum, then, by all means, cut everybody loose. Enough of this silly contradictions. They are confusing.

READ MORE: https://ikengachronicles.com/buhari-orji-uzor-kalu-and-sowore-the-failure-of-blackstone-ratio/

Every sane and lawful society maintains a well designed and deliberately structured system of governance that guarantee smooth administration of the society and a security architecture that ensures the safety of lives and property of the citizens  from both internal and external threats.


As a country, Nigeria, under a democratic system of government, have had to contend with serious security challenges that have continued to deteriorate by the day.


From the menace of Boko  Haram that has ravaged most parts of the Northeast, the threat posed by heavily armed Bandits operating in parts of Northwest and Central and the wave of kidnapping and herdsmen attacks across the southeast and west and literally all over the country, it is very clear that the country is at best under siege.


However, with  a poorly funded police force to contain internal security challenges and maintain law and order, the once glorious  Nigerian army has been dragged out of barracks to help in managing the internal security of the nation, with Gen Turku Buratai at the helm of affairs.


Unfortunately, many observers now believe that rather than the security chief that is desperately needed to address the myriad of security challenges confronting the nation, Buratai has become one of the major security threats to the nation.


Since assumption of office years ago, Buratai has continuously shown high level intellectual ineptitude that has cost thousands of lives of both civilians and military men, have cost the nation billions and serious reputation issues before the global community.


In some unfortunate instances, the military are the ones unleashing the mayhem on the people they supposedly go out to protect.


Whereas most of the threats to the security of the country comes in form of terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and armed herdsmen, the threat from Buratai presents itself in form of gross incompetence and pathetic cluelessness and a rather tenacious cling to a seat he obviously no longer has the capacity to handle.


Buratai's misjudgment, or rather deliberate mistakes, have already done so much damage that one would have expected him to honorably resign and make way for a more vibrant, contemporary and Knowledgeable army Chief to savage the damage he has done due, probably, to factors he has no control over.



One of the areas that Nigerians now detest the army chief is his role during elections, especially the last general election.


The brutality with which the military men posted to conduct elections treated the people and the obvious impunity with which they manipulated the process in clear favoritism to certain interests can not be forgotten in a hurry.


As a strictly top to bottom operation agency, one would have every cause to believe that they were operating with directives from above, resulting in what Nigerians witnessed.


The Operation Python Dance in the South east has done so much damage to the civil military relationship in that region that, it may take divine intervention for the people to ever feel free with the army again.


Under the clueless command of Burutai, the operation python dance caused the deaths of over seventy innocent Nigerians, at a time the terrorist organization Boko Haram was unleashing mayhem in the Northeast and all hands were needed to combat it. Instead, the military mogul focused his attention more on soft targets and used the unarmed innocent Nigerians' lives to showcase his military prowess (cowardice).


Like the Operation Python Dance, the Ayem A Kpatema 1 did similar, if not worse, damage to the lake Chad basin states of Benue, Taraba and others. In these states, the residents repeatedly alleged that the military were confiscating even cooking knives and indiscriminately arresting virile and agile young men to make way for the marauding killer herdsmen to cone in and do damage.


This is in addition to molesting young ladies in their areas of operation and outright stealing from people's homes in the guise of searching for weapons.


The rate at which the terrorists have unleashed onslaught on military establishments and personnel, leading to the deaths of thousands call to question the ability and capacity of the COAS to manage to security architecture of the states.


Between 2015 and now, more than two thousand military men have been lost, killed brutally during attacks on military bases or during ambush personnel. The situation deteriorated to the extent that some of the military guys had to run away from the insurgents.


It is rather shameful that, rather than addressing the concerns of these personnel, the army has chosen to trial them for cowardice and other related offences.


In most recent times, the military exhibited the highest level of ineptitude with the proposed Nation wide positive identification exercise. The exercise, which was killed on arrival due to national outcry over its baselessness was, in its entirety, designed to inflict unnecessary hardship on the populace without any probable possibility of yielding any positive result.


This ,at best, showed just how hopeless and bereft of ideas the army boss has become in handling the ever dynamic security challenges of the nation.


It is little wonder that a former military boss Gen Theophilus Danjuma recently called on the people to either wake up and protect themselves as the army in his words were "colluding with criminal elements to cause ethnic cleansing".


The recent incident where military men shot and killed members of the elite IRT unit just to free a notorious kidnap kingpin Bala Hamisu Wadume and the revelations that followed, shows the extent to which the Nigerian has deteriorated under the watch of Gen Buratai.


As someone entrusted with the security of the nation, Buratai has become such a huge security threat that, his continued stay on the seat is now a greater threat than the Boko Haram, bandits and all the other criminal elements put together.

https://ikengachronicles.com/buratai-the-security-chief-or-threat/

The club hadn’t ended just yet at 2:35 a.m. It was Addie’s second day at work, and she wondered how humans of America survived in that cold, yet still partied all night.

She exhaled deeply as she sipped Hennessy from a small cup. She was tired in her high heel shoes, she wasn’t used to them. It was her first time of doing a job that required her wearing heel shoes all through her shift.

When she used to be a manager at Westminster mall, she was always in her sneakers or a boot.

Her best friend Ida convinced her to submit her CV for the Grand night club interview. The pay was good enough to cater for her bills.

As she stepped into the club auditorium, the liquid notes soared through the balmy California night. They sprang from the golden slide of two trombones in perfect unison. The reedy seduction of an alto sax. The swish of a steel brush against cymbals. Addie walked around elegantly in her pink sweater and a black jean on her black high heel shoes, asking the waiters if everyone was okay and drinks were serve well to their customers.

Everyone was lost to the dreamy ballad swayed cheek-cheek on the parquet floor of the famous grand nightclub.

The singer waited for the clarinet to sweep out the final bars of the bridge before stepping up to the mic.
Her golden hair glittered in the light from the chandeliers.
Addie paused and watched her, then she smiled. “Americans and their boring parties.” She thought.

“Your hair is gorgeous!” A Caucasian lady whispered to Addie’s ears.

“Thank you!” She exclaimed as she put her hands on her natural kinky Afro hair as if she had just realized that she owned it.

When the female singer at the stage cradled the mic and poured out her talent to the crowds of people who were already standing on their feet. She put her heart into each note, her earthy, provocative signature on each phrase. She was good at making every male in the audience think she was singing to him alone.

Donald Ette was here, Addie had seen him walk in a few moments ago, tall, and achingly handsome as usual. He’d come to see what her new work place looks like for the first time. He never wanted Addie to work, he sent her to America so she can be hidden from his wife Hannah for a while. It’s been two years already, and she had refused to go back to Nigeria, afraid that Hannah still had her at heart and might send her thugs at her again, this time she might never survive it.

Donald Ette was the governor of her state, the most handsome governor in Nigeria that almost all cross river women had a crush on.
His wife fought tooth and nails to make sure her husband wasn’t taken by any woman who seemed wayward on their path.

Now, Addie had lost Donald in the throng of dancers jamming in the club house.

Her impatience mounting as she walked into the crowd of people, running her eyes everywhere and searching for him.
When the music faded, everyone clapped thunderously. Then she saw him sitting by a corner, and talking to one of the waitresses.

“He wants me Celine. Don’t worry you can leave us now.” Addie said, waving at the Caucasian waitress in a red sassy hair.

She kissed him on the lips so passionately.

“I missed you.” She said.

Donald looked at her like she’d lost her mind. She had never kissed him in public when she was in Nigeria. But of course, nobody knew her in America and she could do whatever she wanted with him.

“I came in yesterday, needed to rest.” Donald said huskily.

“Where are you lodging?” Addie asked.

“The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage. I hope you’re going with me tonight?”

“Why not?” She asked excitedly and kissed him on the lips again. “Ida won’t love to have a married man in the house again.”

“But it is just once I visited. And don’t forget I pay the rent for that house.”

“Buy me the house Don, buy it for me. You can afford it.” Addie said girlishly in Nigerian Accent.

Donald gave a soft husky laugh. “Donald buy me a car, buy me a house...” He mimicked her.
“You said you needed a car first before a house. That’s why I had to buy a car. Now you want a house so soon.”

“Not like I want it so soon. I just want you to put it in your budget. In the next one year, you won’t be governor anymore, and you might not be able to afford a house.”

“Says who?”

“Says me baby.” She replied nastily.

“Don’t worry, I will buy you a house at Los Angeles when the money I am expecting comes in, okay?”

She nodded nicely. “Let me get to work. Drink all you want, I am riding you all through this night nonstop!” She winked at him and stood to walk away.

https://africanfictions.com/the-bride-chapter-1/

The 2023 battle for the seat of the President, federal republic of Nigeria is definitely on, with various interests and persons across the country already justling for the number one seat. One of such persons is a frontline politician and the current leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Alh Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Bola Tinubu is, by all standards, an astute politician who's political cunning, bravery, and sacrifice in the 2015 political calculations, led to the defeat of a sitting President and the constitution of the present APC led federal government.

As a Nigerian, Tinubu has the inalienable right to contest for the seat of the president, having shown capacity to rule and groom young persons. However, at a time Nigerians are almost desperate for a leader with integrity and political will to extricate the country from the extreme hardship experienced across the country, one would naturally get curious if making a former drug lord the president is a wise choice for Nigeria.

For most persons, this political icon is known only for his political prowess during his time as the governor of Lagos state, when he confronted the then president Olusegun Obasanjo and the duo had a standoff that lasted several years. Consequently, Tinubu was able to build the Internally Generated Revenue base of the state enough to sustain itself and carryout development.

What most people don't know about the leader of the APC is that he is a convicted drug peddler who had to forfeit a fortune to the United States of America on conviction of drug related charges and escaped prison through a plea bargain.

According our investigation, the United State's District Court, Eastern District of Illinois, Eastern Division ordered the forfeiture of funds belonging to Alh Bola Ahmed Tinubu, held in nine different accounts in First Heritage Bank, Citi Bank NA and Citi Bank Int'l, in a case docketed and dated October 5th, 1993 after he was convicted of Narcotics trafficking.

Part of the document titled Decree of Forfeiture as to funds held by Heritage Bank, the court posited that, "the United States filed a verified complaint for forfeiture against the funds in the above-captioned defendant's accounts because there was probable cause to believe that the property represented the proceeds of Narcotics Trafficking or was property involved in financial transaction in violation of U.S.C. SS 1956 and 1957 and was therefore forfeitable to the United States, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 5……".

Our investigation reveal that, the Nigerian born Don Corleone, decidedly, forfeited his entire fortune held in nine accounts with these banks in a plea bargain in order to escape prison, just six years before he was elected the executive governor of Lagos state.

As a Nation, Nigeria celebrates persons with political cunning but equally abhors persons with questionable characters, knowing that bad habits die hard.

The question now is that, has this drug Lord repented from his past, changed his ways to become new creation to be trusted with political leadership of a country?

His exploits in the APC and previously as the Lagos state governor offer a clue.

Drug lords rule and control their territory with ferocious viciousness and cruelty typical only in the animal kingdom. They believe more in survival of the fittest and elimination of the weak and competition, and pay little interests in constituted authority.

As the Lagos state governor, Tinubu turned the 'No Man's Land' to his personal empire, grooming his Lieutenants, expanding his coast to other Western states and confronting any discordant voices with cruel proclivity.

It is this sense of ownership that shut Lagos state out of federal allocation for years during his time as the state governor. The same sense of ownership played out again in the last general election, leading to the desertion of then governor Ambode who the Don allegedly felt was not subservient and loyal enough to continue as state governor in his empire.

While some persons may argue that this manifest sense ownership inspires development, the Nigerian experience with this present and previous administrations shows that those who claim ownership of the system, either as cabal or any other form do so for their personal aggrandizement at the detriment of the generality of the people.

It is therefore imperative that Nigerians understand clearly the kind of President Bola Tinubu would be based on his antecedents as a convicted drug peddler, a dictatorial governor, a Don Corleone- like godfather of Lagos politics, and the leader of the APC.

https://ikengachronicles.com/bola-tinubu-the-drug-dealer-who-wants-to-rule-nigeria/

The hottest day of February was coming to an end and drowsy silence covered the whole Asam estate as the news of the former chief judge of the state’s demise made everyone cold.

They’d Just seen him jog on the streets that morning, two hummer jeeps drove behind him as he managed to jog through. He did this every other morning.

He had cardiac arrest, caused by arrhythmia.

Etta, his first daughter had just stepped out from court where she had a case when her phone rang.
It was her younger sister Ekaette who had called to inform her of their father’s demise.

“Etta, Daddy is gone. He is dead...” Ekaette cried out over the phone.

“How?” Etta gasped. Her hands were shaking, her heart was beating so fast she couldn’t move her feet from where she stood.

“Are you okay?” Her colleague and friend Nameh asked as she approached her immediately she noticed something had gone wrong with her friend.

“My father is dead. My father...” She faltered.

“What?”

“We were together this morning, he sent me to get newspapers at Plaza before coming back home. I can’t believe this. I can’t just believe it.” Tears ran out of her eyes.

Nameh held her hands, “give me the car keys, let me drive you home.”

Etta managed to walk into her American spec Camry her father had bought for her on her 26th birthday, in her black pencil skirt and her white collarless shirt. Her fair skin had suddenly turned red from the sad news she had just heard.

“You have to calm down Etta, breath in and out.” Nameh said calmly as she started the car and drove into the main road.

“My father can’t be dead...” Etta said as she ran her hands through her soft braided hair.

As Nameh drove into the compound, she could tell that something had gone wrong. There were lots of people standing outside the house, their hands on their heads in amazement.

Etta rushed out of the car and ran toward her mother who was sitting on the floor of the verandah, dressed in a blue jean and black blouse. Her sister Ekaette was sitting by her mother’s feet. “ Tell me it’s not true mom, tell me it’s not true.” She cried out.

“The ambulance just took him away.” Her mother said tearily.

Another car drove into the compound, and when Etta saw who it was, she left her mother and ran into his arms, “Bobby, My father is gone! He is gone!” She cried out in his arms.

His huge hands snaked round her, and she was diminished by his side.

Nameh sighed and turned her head pitifully. Etta’s father had once dashed her money before when she visited their house for the first time.
She was chubby and had big legs that everyone jokingly called yam legs.

“Husband of my youth! He is gone oooo” Etta’s mom cried out so loud.


READ MORE: https://africanfictions.com/endless-chapter-1/

Time is the best gift any of us can give-or receive.



Something happens as we age, almost as if life suddenly can become clearer and within what matters most. For me, it seems that only the moon knows the truth that my heart beats because when someone has spent the majority of their life alone, it’s not things, but presence that truly means the most.



It’s presence that can transform ordinariness into memories that we will remember for the rest of our lives.



Perhaps it’s about quality time, or maybe even acts of service but more than any of that it’s about a person’s presence not just when they are beside us but the place the occupy in our lives; the space that they choose to take up because in our lives is somewhere they want to be.



I suppose we could say that ultimately what any of us wants is someone to simply choose to be present.



Because it’s not gifts that keep us warm or fancy dates that hold us when we are at our worst and in truth we could dress up and spend an hour or so with anyone and stomach through it but to actually be present for another is something completely different.



I’ve never wanted to date anyone; I’ve never seen myself as someone’s boo or girlfriend because all of that always seemed so fleeting as if it could disappear as quickly as it bloomed and while sometimes we do need those stars that burn hot and bright to streak through our lives, ultimately I was after someone I could grow roots with.



Something happens though when we know what we truly want and it’s that suddenly no matter how hard we try we just can’t accept less because to do that is to forget ourselves and all the work that we’ve done in learning to name our core needs. Any relationship is about balance; about balancing our needs with someone else’s and with the entity of the relationship itself.



Relationships don’t often end because of feelings but because we stop wanting to meet the needs of the person that we are building with; or maybe it’s just that we stop building together. For me though, more than any of that all I am after are the simple things. Those moments that I find myself smiling about as I drive to work, or caressing my skin as I bit my lip, blushing at the memory of.



What I need is someone that wants to make memories with me.



I don’t need to be bae, or even to picked up in limo’s and taken to restaurants where we can’t pronounce half the menu but I do want to feel special; cherished even. To know that I occupy a space in someone’s life that no one else does, and to feel important to that person regardless of what life may throw our way.



It’s often moments that we can’t tell the rest of the world that end up meaning the most to us, almost as if the more people we have involved the more the value decreases but again maybe that’s just one more simply thing I’m dreaming of; that I don’t need to have anyone else’s approval in order to know it’s real. It’s not likes that will give me validation, or comments on “omg #adorbs” that will make me know that I’ve got something the rest of the world only dreams of. Instead it’s ultimately the simple things that will let us know exactly how we feel about someone and of course, how they feel about us.



Perhaps it begins with presence and ends in truth, not the pretty kind that we dress up with bows but the ugly kind, the real kind that is cracked and worn but that fits all the same. All any of us want to know is that we are valued, for who we are and what we bring and so simply speaking, that is all I need.



The simple things are what separates what we have from what we could have with anyone else, the walking hand in hand along a quiet street, the picking up of my favorite chocolate, opening the door, guiding me as I cross the street and the way the rest of the world is put away for time together.



But when it’s the simple things that mean the most, it’s also those very things that are missed the most. Life is about balance, and so is love; balancing needs of course but also consistency with change. Nothing stays the same forever, that is a guarantee but I suppose one of the simple things is that we will continually get better; stronger, more amazing and of course will shine our light even brighter.



The most meaningful of moments are those that don’t cost a dime; talking together as the waves roll across the distant shore, cuddling in front of a fire on a midwinter’s night, watching the stars of August dance across a darkened sky and of course when we awake from a bad dream or sick in the middle of the night, someone is there for us because they have chosen to be present for life’s moments.



Their presence has become the greatest present, regardless of how overly simple it sounds.

And while we could spin and out of adventure, and those grand gestures that steal our hearts at the end of the day it’s who wants to settle in beside us that matters most. The person that doesn’t need a reason to see us, or for that matter doesn’t let a reason stop them from doing just that.



But it’s the person who knows that it’s the simple things, the small moments that matter most and that quite frankly make up a life, and while life will always be moving fast and hot around us, it’s making the choice to always make time for what matters most.



And don’t we all want to be that person that matters most to someone.

b]Link:[/b] https://africanfictions.com/give-me-the-presence-of-simplicity/

READ FULL EPISODES on: africanfictions.com

Adankwo was a mountain of a woman. At six feet two, with broad shoulders and a bulky frame, she was a fearsome sight to behold.

Some said it was in the blood of her family. Her elder brother Ogwo, was a fearsome giant whom the ground shook when he trode on it. 

Ogwo was feared in the entire four clans that made up Ikwuano not just because of his frame, but because of his fiery temper that had seen him beat up almost all the feared strong men in the clan. There was also the tiny matter of him being a menacing robber, who would not hesitate to injure you if you dared surprise him while he was stealing your stuff.

There was a particularly popular story, whispered around about how Dee Tatulee—feared for his massive strength— of Nkalunta had bumped into Ogwo while he was harvesting his yams. A fight had ensued. Ogwo did not only leave him half-dead, but somehow, he had gotten Tatulee to never speak about it. Many had agreed that for Ogwo, only Kamalu, the feared god of thunder could put him in his place.

That fateful Ekenta morning, Adankwo was in her elements.

“Spineless cow!” she roared, trembling on her feet and towering over Mpama Iji, who was quietly seated on the ground in front of his Obi, cleaning his mouth with a long chewing stick.

The Okolo compound was a large one, home to six huge families, that shared one ama— playground— that opens up to the Aliche compound which then connects with the massive Ezioko, the lead playground of the Umuako kindred.

The Mpama Iji-end of the compound consisted of three huts, clustered around each other, with an open space. Iji Okolo, Mpama Iji’s father had married only one wife,Afunwa, contrary to common practice. Iji loved Afunwa to distraction and despite all entreaties saw no reason to marry another wife even though Afunwa could only give birth to one child. Iji was a very rich man who was ahead of his times, and had believed in love.So he had stuck to his one wife and son.

At Iji Okolo’s death, his only son Mpama had inherited his hut and obi, while his wife Afunwa stayed in her own hut, with Mpama’s wife occupying the third hut.

Mpama Iji smiled uneasily and tried to avert his eyes from the blazing fire balls that were Adankwo’s eyes.

“If you are a man stand up let us do it,” Adankwo shouted.

Behind her was her hut, barren of any decoration save the extra polishing given to it by Chukwuma during last harvest season’s re-scrubbing. Her faithful dog Leelee, was lying comfortably in the earthen fireplace.

From a safe distance, Mpama Iji’s relatives volunteered soothing words, begging Adankwo to take it easy that it was too early in the morning.

It had become a routine for them.Adankwo threatening always to beat up Mpama, with him doing everything to avoid her. A stout but short man, Mpama was known for always avoiding physical confrontations. Not that he had not won a fair share of fights, but those fights had always been the last resort. But when it comes to Adankwo, he had always avoided engaging in any physical altercation with her. Perhaps it was the fear of her size. Or maybe a nagging fear of what Ogwo would do to him if he dared raise his hands over his sister.

The story of how they came to marry was a bizarre one. Adankwo, avoided by many of the young men, had fallen for the soft spoken Mpama, after he had met her at Okpolo Ukwu, weeping from a beating she received from Ogwo. He had taken her home and cleaned her up. Adankwo had refused to leave after then. Mpama, ever the man of peace had taken a keg of Palmwine to Adankwo’s father and that was it.

“You always brag that you are a man, what do you have to show for it? Empty gourd that cannot retain enough seed to fertilize my womb!” Adankwo shouted. 

Their marriage was a concrete example of unlike poles attracting. The quiet unassuming and peaceful man, in alliance with the fearless troublesome giant. Mpama, had been the glue, always avoiding her when necessary, and peacefully paying fines, when Adankwo had been fined for her numerous fights. 

“Where is the sound of the laughter of children in your compound?” Adankwo was asking.

“For how many years now, where are the children that should show that you are not just a woman living in a man’s body?”

They had been married for ten years with no issue. Visits to several dibias had not yielded results. Even the famed Nwabuko from Inyila ,for once, failed to deliver a result. 

As the years went by, Mpama had learnt to recline in his own world and shun public appearances as much as he could. That was primarily because Adankwo, ever the loquacious one had gone to town with the story that Mpama only shoots blanks. 

“Adankwo, let me be, this morning, I have things to do,” Mpama said, trying to contain the situation.

“If I don’t leave you, what will you do?” she asked, poking her right index finger on his head.

“Agu nwanyi, let me be,” Mpama said, and tried to rise, from the mud bench his father had built in front of the obi.

Adankwo shoved him back.

At that moment, Mpama’s wiry old mother Afunwa, stepped out of her hut.

“Adankwo are you mad? Ara a la agbai? Don’t you know that that man is your husband?Eh?” she shouted.

The morning drama had woken Afunwa. These days, she was always waking up late. Her nights were filled with semi-sleep moments of interacting with her beloved Iji and all her dead friends. Unable to do much due to old age, apart from chasing away errant children, Afunwa had begun to cherish her midnight sujorn with her beloved.

“Stay away from this!” Adankwo shouted at her, her eyes blazing fire.”Amunsu, witch!”

Perhaps it was the insult to a mother he dotted on. Or maybe it was anger accumulated over the years. But fear turned to strength and Mpama rose quickly from the mud bench, and rammed his head into Adankwo’s face.

The impact was devastating, as all six feet two of Adankwo came tumbling to the ground, her lower lip split in two.

Mpama bestrode her and using his knees, pinned her arms to the red ground and began to pummel her with blows.

Mpama’s relatives barely said a word of caution. Neither did Afunwa, who watched with half a smile, until Adankwo passed out.

*

For three days, Mpama was no where to be found. After Adankwo was revived, he had ran away. Through close relatives, he had heard how Adankwo walked around the entire village crying and showing off her badly battered face.

Adankwo, having no friends, had nobody to go to for consolation. So she had walked from Mbaraegbu, where the Okolo compound was, to Azuahia, crying and showing whoever cared ,her blood-rimmed face.

Ogwo, incensed beyond control had come to the Okolo compound and told everybody who cared to listen that they should tell Mpama that if he ever sets eyes on him, that day would be Mpama’s last day on earth.

So Mpama hid, until days turned to two market weeks. 

But his traps needed tending to, so he decided to go and check some of them out at Ajarata. There was no way, he reckoned, that he would allow his means of livelihood stay untended. After all, it was a domestic misunderstanding that even Ogwo, in his fierceness should have forgotten.

*

Only one of his traps had caught an antelope, but the antelope was half-decayed. 

Mpama cut off the decayed parts and put what was left into his raffia bag and headed back to the village. 

“ I will use this to prepare a nice pepper soup for Ada,” he thought.

He had climbed the first part of the double hill that connected Oba with Azuahia and was half way down the second when suddenly, Ogwo appeared at the tail of the hill.

“I have caught you today,” Ogwo roared, unslinging his raffia bag.

Mpama recoiled, eyes seeking for an escape route. Even as he searched for an escape route, he knew there was no way he could outrun Ogwo.

“Ogo m, my in-law,” Mpama began.

But Ogwo had dropped his raffia bag and unsheathed his cutlass.

“You are dead, Mpama,” Ogwo shouted, and began to run up the hill. 

Like an animal trapped, Mpama knew he was dead. He racked his brain for what to do. He looked up, and saw Ogwo, cutlass raised, fast gaining on him.

Mpama unslung his dane gun,and aimed it at Ogwo, meaning to scare him away.

Ogwo paused momentarily, and continued his run up the hill. 

Mpama pulled the trigger. 

He was a fine marksman, Mpama. 

*

The visitors from Awomukwu came in the morning of Orie-Ukwu, the market day of Ohia, Mpama’s village. They camped at Chief Aliche’s compound where they were entertained. After the drinks and food, they moved to the shade of the huge kolanut tree beside Chief Aliche’s house.

*
Mpama dressed up slowly, wearing his best Jorge wrapper. He wore his okpu egwurugwu and added feathers like a man going for an important event.

Adankwo , teary-eyed had treated him earlier to a fine meal of pounded yam and ukazi soup, replete with moulded melon and stockfish. It was the type of meals reserved for special occasions. 

As he stepped out of his hut, his kinsmen were around to bid him a safe journey. 

He greeted them glumly and set out. 

“Mpama!” his mother called out to him as he was about leaving.

He turned reluctantly.

“Mma,” he greeted her and walked dejectedly towards her.

Afunwa fought hard to contain her tears. She watched her only son, haggard looking and smouldering tears, walking down to meet her. And in that moment, she regretted that Iji did not take another wife.

Afunwa met him halfway and hugged him tightly.

“Go well my son,” she whispered, holding back tears.

Mpama pulled himself away from her and began to walk towards Ezioko.

As Mpama was walking past the kolanut tree in front of Aliche’s compound, two gun shots rang out, followed by Mpama’s shout of “Mma m o!”

His kinsmen ran out. 

“What happened?” they chorused. “Who shot our brother?”

Quietly, and in the the full view of Mpama’s kinsmen, the visitors from Awomukwu who had shot at Mpama, hung back their dane guns and began to walk away, unchallenged.

Mpama’s kinsmen picked up his dead body and began to walk the short distance back to their compound. 

It was said in those days that anybody who killed a relative will likewise die in the hands of strangers. That was the only way to appease Erim—the god of family justice.

Mpama was Ogwo’s relative by marriage.

Link: https://africanfictions.com/erim/

Read READ FULL EPISODES at: africanfictions.com