₦airaland Forum

I live in St. Catherines, a nice town and capital of the Niagara Region in Ontario, Canada. There is this food festival called Ribfest where you have different kinds of ribs to enjoy along with entertainment and games and lots of fun. Due to Covid-19, it has been suspended for the past two years and just returned. It was fun seeing people coming back and celebrating the Ribfest. Took some pictures and had a great deal of enjoyment during the event which takes place all through the long weekend.

Mr. President, what lessons did you Learn from Rwanda?

By Ahaoma Kanu

Hello Mr. President, I saw that you had a very interesting visit recently during the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda; I saw your pictures and watched you during the event.

You are not one to miss such occasions that would accord you some shoulder rubbing with other heads of government as you have always shown a penchant to fly away to world meetings even when situations at home warrants your immediate attention.

Nigerians know better where your passion lies; you love the thrills of being in the assembly of foreign leaders for every reason, condolence, celebrations, medical trips but will never visit a community in Katsina who just got attacked by terrorists of which you as Commander-in-Chief have failed to protect. I wonder if you don’t see those leaders you love being in their midst show active responsibility when calamity occurs in the sovereignty, I bet you do.

But you were in Rwanda and one of your tours of Kigali, your host city, took you to the Rwandan Genocide Memorial; I saw you looking at the pictures of the victims of that infamous moment in the history of Rwanda; people who died within those 100 days when one million ethnic Hutus and moderate Tutsis were killed. It was a period when brothers, neighbours, in-laws, colleagues, friends revolted against their fellow Rwandans and inflicted death through very horrible methods using weapons like matchets, clubs, stones, bullets, fire and what have you. It was a period citizens rose against citizens all in the name of ethnicity.

Did you see the belongings of the victims; what is now viewed by the world as mementos of carnage. The footwears, earrings, clothes, rings, burnt out crucifixes that shows the outcome of how deep the quest for ethnic supremacy can cut. Did you see the depth such resentments can go among fellow countrymen? Those pictures and items on display shows the world that Yes, there was a time Rwanda went up in flames and its soil absorbed blood of the people.

Mr. President, did those pictures remind you of something similar that you actively participated in? Did your visit there take you down memory lane of the fathers, mothers, children, and people of the Southeast of the country you preside over? That period they declared Biafra and you were in the Brigade of soldiers that took part in the police action required to put them back in place. As you saw the faces on those pictures did the faces of the children emaciated and with stomachs ballooned and cheek bones protruding cross your mind?

Did the eyes on those photos on the wall penetrate your soul to remember same eyes of the man, women and children that fell to your bullets as you squeezed the trigger and cut them of from the world and allowed hunger to kill them by instalment? Did you hear their cries and sounds of their brains being crushed, flesh being torn and bodies falling to the ground?
Did those eyes strike your conscience?

When you were told of the numbers of the victims, did you realize that close to 6 million died in the genocide you participated in? Would you compare the number to those of your citizens that have lost their lives under your watch as Commander-in-Chief since taking office in 2015?
As you toured the mass gravesides of over 250,000 victims and laid a wreath, have you ever thought about the many mass graves that have been dug in Nigerians of which Nigerians you failed to protect were dumped in. Did it cross your mind?

I saw the look on your face; it was bereft of emotion, desensitized to humanity and particularly empathy of empathy. You have never been one to show emotion; after all, you are a General and have seen it all. But you do show passion; a passion to protect livestock than people; a passion to allow your Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to shoot over 300 Shiite Muslims in Kaduna. These included men, women, and children. You rewarded him with an Ambassadorial position in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

You know quite well who I am referring to, the infamous, horrible, and corrupt Tukur Buratai. He is your ambassador whose hands are bloodied. He is responsible for both the deaths of civilians and members of the Armed Forces in Nigeria.

While you were in Kigali, were you informed that the discovery made in his house- about the N1.85 billion and luxurious cars recovered in a building belonging to him. Maybe he would make a case that the ghosts of the thousands of soldiers that died in the line of duty because they had inferior weaponry while fighting Boko Haram “put the monies in his property.” Monies that obviously were meant to procure better weapons for them to fight insurgency.

Would you ask him to step aside and clear his name as you did to the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen (SAN), in 2019 on mere allegations? I am sure you would not. You have shown so much bias for elements from the South who do not share your ethnicity.

But be rest assured that no size of Diplomatic Immunity with which you clothe him will clean his hands of the blood he had shed. He will one day be answerable to his actions; his file is at the ICC; they will bid their time.

When you listened to the curators at the Memorial, did they tell you familiar stories; tales of which you know so well from the perspective of a perpetrator. Did you make efforts to ask the management of the memorial why they decided to keep the memory of that dark period alive? Did it occur to you that trying to hide the evils and horrors of the Nigerian genocide from history does not help healing and is part of the problems we have as a nation? Did you ask how the memorial is healed and is healing Rwandans?

Didn’t you observe a different kind of compassion in Rwanda among the people; didn’t you see the love and respect they have for each other? The love, unity and togetherness that have bound them together under the inspiration of their leader. That is what healing does.
And talking about healing, did you see the strides the country is making under Paul Kagame your host? How honestly and sincerely can you say you have brought Nigeria and Nigerians together? What will be your legacy after May 29, 2023? Did you learn anything from stories you heard from citizens of Rwanda or were you there for the photo-ops?

Did you see the massive infrastructures and development in Kigali? This is a country that does not have natural resources as Nigeria does. Did you see the opportunities the government is affording their young people? They were not labelled “Lazy”, neither were they shot at while demanding for good governance like your agents did in Lekki Tollgate during #ENDSARS protests.

Can you compare your style of government to that of your host while in Rwanda? Did you see how he brought a divided country together while you further divided a country that had tensions of which there was optimism you would repair? Do you realize the divisiveness your dictatorial style of leadership has further thrown Nigeria into? Your bias and stark disdain for the five percenters that did not vote for you was globally broadcasted and shamefully so.

What did you take away from Kigali Mr. President?

When you were elected President seven years ago and made that famous quote, “I belong to Nobody and I belong to Everybody”, can Nigerians and the world testify that you have lived p to that creed? Is security in Nigeria worst or better than you met it and you hang the rank of a military General?

Have you not shown wanton disregard and gross incompetency to the people you lead that reports of killings after killings no longer make it to your briefs? Have you defeated Boko Haram, or have you created more monsters to terrorize the people? Today, state governments are calling their residents to take up arms to protect themselves, isn’t that an “F” on your scorecard General?

As you reflect on your time in Rwandan, I hope these questions prick your conscience and make you at least think about how you have fared as a leader…. that is if you are conscionable Mr. President.

Ahaoma Kanu, a CNN African Journalist Award Winner, wrote in from Ontario,Canada

Cock and Bull story. How could someone on handcuffs and leg chain overpower A solider and others surrendered? I believe they have eliminated him cos he would have opened more cans of worms.

So many Nigerians senior police officers and politicians would be gloating over the extradition decision of Abba Kyari. They ought to be afraid.

The US govt through the FBI will not just want to try Kyari for just the Hushpupi issue; they will interrogate him from what happened from the time he picked up form to become a policeman to the day he was linked. They would want to know how he operated without detection. This is not an Abba Kyari trial, it is the FG, the NP and the Nigerian senate as well as the Nigeria people. They will want to know why complaints about him where not looked into, by whom and at what time. Don't expect Abba Kyari trial to take the same time as that of Hushpupi; it will take longer.

And Abba, I promise you, he will sing like a Canary. He will name names, open his email and of course his phone transcripts are there. Abba will sing because he will feel and is feeling that the Nigeria govt let him down after all he did. He knows he did some deals ,dirty deals with Senators, governors and others that may involve criminality and assassinations by the govt. He will feel betrayed by all those people and will not want to go down alone.

I knew Kyari's connection web has broken when he sued the FG; that is the last resort when you use all your lifelines. The govt has made their decision today to extradite him; he knows there is nothing he can do. He will have his time under the custody of the FBI and expose as much as he can; who he pays to; the AIGs,DIGs and maybe IGs. I know that because he had so much firewall.

Those are the people that should be worried about Kyari's soon-to-be extradition. We will hear stories because I know Kyari will sing.

The cocaine involvement was just his desperate way of getting cash out pay because he knows the FBI indictment had affected him and he was losing his godfathers; he wanted more financial security because he knew he was on borrowed time when the Police Service Commision ordered a new investigation; some people that helped him initially would not want to do such favour a second time. That's what led to desperation. He still had loyal boys and they must have hinted him of the deal. Even NDLEA should be afraid because a lot will be revealed by Kyari's confession. That he could sell the cocaine immediately shows this is not his first time.

So for all the politically exposed persons proud of the decision of the FG to extradite Kyari's, better think again.

You should be afraid.

If I understand you correctly, he does not have a Nigerian passport. That will certainly cause problems. My question is how the citizenship was transferred? If it was transferred by either parents and the subject has never traveled out of Nigeria then you need to get a Nigerian passport for him since the British Passport did not come with a Nigerian visa that explains a foreign national entry into the country. Just get a Nigeria passport to avoid whatever may play out at the point of departure.

At times when I read some posts on this forum, like this one, I am kind of amazed out how much time people have to unproductivity

Boniwhite:
Dear nairalanders,i was having a conversation with a family friend last week.
and she said,she doesn like visitors remaining food served to them. then i told her there is nothing wrong in finishing the food served to you by your host! So am seeking your opinion,
is it wrong to finish food serve to you by your host? Like wont they (your host)look at you as a glutton? Lets hear from you guys.

A Nigerian man, Chief Ugochukwu Okoro, who is an Igbo Community leader staged a one man protest at MSC office in Toronto, Canada over his containers that were been held by the shipping company.

During the protest which he streamed live, he accused MSC of exploiting Nigerians doing business with them.

Okoro, who stormed the MSC office in Toronto said he had been coming to the office to complain for the past two months but has always been told that the issue will be resolved which never happened.

His decision to go live during his protest got the attention of senior managers in the company . Okoro accused the shipping company of exploiting Nigerian shippers by making them pay bribes and other unknown bills before releasing their containers. He said that MSC office in Nigeria are exploiting loopholes in government non supervisory role in ports to exploit Nigerian shippers.

Management of the MSC contacted Toronto Police who later had a discussion with the protester.

The live streaming of the protest has gone viral with so many commentators sharing what Nigerian shippers go through in the hands of MSC.

Watch video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQNA1wPX5so&ab_channel=Ugostarshine

My son inspired me into taking up a passion to clean our environment. ----Jane Umegbolu


About 14 Billion pounds of garbage is produced globally every year with plastic wastes making 70 per cent of the waste. Nigeria is estimates to produce about 32 million tonnes of waste in a year of which 2.5 million tonnes are plastic. While developed countries and some developing countries have gotten efficient models in their waste management systems, Nigeria still lags in effecting proper waste management especially in plastic disposals and recycling. This continuous problem which is evidently seeable around our society with litters of plastic at every corner across the country. One Nigeria who has taken the challenge to advocate for more awareness in plastic and waste disposal is JANE TOCHUKWU UMEGBOLU. She has taken up an initiative to make a difference in preserving the coastal beaches and waters which is among the final destinations of these wastes. In this interview with Tony Erhariefe Ogaga, she speaks about how she hopes to achieve some level of awareness among Nigerians on safe plastic disposal.
One thing that struck me was seeing a well dressed young lady getting out of her comfort zone to take up an initiative that we all see but somehow ignore, what do you plan to achieve by starting up this campaign to create awareness to Nigerians on healthy and better methods of plastic waste disposal?
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. You are right to say that we have a problem that is starring all of us in the eyes but somehow, some way, we have this thinking that it is not our responsibility to take care of this problem. Everywhere you go in any part of Nigeria and you look around, there is one plastic waste around you. It may be plastic bottles of water, used packs of sachet water, packaging plastic bags, condoms and other composite materials that are wastes. You can try walking 10 metres from where we are now and you are sure to find at least 10 disposed plastic materials. That should shock you to understand that we have a big problem very visible one at that and we are not paying attention. Now take a moment to imagine the hazards these materials cause. There are so many. You may see that sachet water waste on the floor around and don’t think much about dangers it poses but I can tell you that they pose problems ranging from environmental, health challenges and also affect our health. These plastics travelling widely and end up in the waters, sewage pipes and gutters and help in blocking better access for water flow. Once this happens the pile of garbage starts increasing and his creates a conducive environment for the breeding mosquitoes and then we have Malaria because this is happening around us. Then there is the issue such as soil pollution, water pollution, and air pollution. One thing we have to have in mind is that plastics stay around for ages, it does not decompose. So the bottled water you threw carelessly into that gutter in January is still there causing havoc. It is not going decay and vanish like wood. So much exposure to plastics creates toxins that harm wildlife not to talk about global warming which we are seeing a lot of weird stuff happening around us as compared to decades back. Plastic sticks around in the environment for ages, threatening wildlife and spreading toxins which studies have found to be causes of Asthma, Cancer and liver damage. Nerve and brain damage as well as Kidney disease. When you think about these issues then you should think twice how you dispose of that plastic bottle of drink you got.

That was revealing and scary considering the amount of wastes we are talking about. Is there any idea of data on how much waste in produced in Nigeria?
That is a good question and one which the government should take seriously. The importance of having such data is that it helps in assessing what plastic materials are increasingly disposed, tonnage by state and areas in localities. This would have in planning models on how to educate Nigerians on how to dispose of their wastes, especially plastics. The government need to make strict policies to industries producing plastics to take some responsibility in a way and help in educating the masses. Now imagine if the government makes a policy that manufacturers of plastic products should put up some awareness messages on their products just like they did to Big Tobbacco; I know you see these small messages printed on plastic bottles of soft drinks but let us be realistic here; who checks the bottle when they want to refresh their thirst? The government should ask plastic products manufactures to print these messages and in possible, include pictures of where these bags finally go to and the effects they are having on the marine life. There is an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste in the oceans. 269,000 tonnes float, four billion microfibers per km² dwell below the surface 70 per cent of the debris sink into the ocean's ecosystem, 15 per cent floats, and 15 per cent lands on our beaches. In terms of plastic, 8.3 million tons are discarded in the sea yearly. Now these are world data. In Nigeria, acccrding to the Nigerian Ministry of Environment, Nigeria generates some 32 million tonnes of waste per year, of which 2.5 million tonnes is plastic waste. But the problem is that we do not have an efficient disposal, recycling and waste management system which deals with both plastic and non-plastic waste, most of which (70 per cent) ends up in landfills, sewers, beaches and water bodies. I am aware that the government is doing its best by signing into law on plastic waste which aims at improving plastic waste management, they need to do more on creating awareness. This is where I think the National Orientation Agency should sit up and do its job. For now they are doing nothing and we are ready to work with them in providing models that can work.

What are the models you may want to share?
First and foremost is to get the kids involved. I Can confidently tell you that my son was the one that made me go into taking care of the environment. I am a single mum and Have a son that is eight years old. I usually take him to the beach to have fun and look around since he was three years old. Increasingly when we visit the beach and come home he kept asking me why the beaches were very dirty. I offered to take him to a different beach, but he refused and asked me if we could clean the beach and make it clean. I agreed and we have been doing this since. We are looking at starting Safe the Environment Clubs in primary and secondary schools and the club will be a realistic one that would train the children and students on what, why and how we can take care of the environment. Once we start this we can partner with National Geographic Society to send materials to the participating schools and make then Environmental Safe guards. Now you may want to ask what we are targeting the young ones and I will tell you that if today in Rwanda that they can live together as one after the 1994 genocide the country passed through, then the younger generation should be the focus. The Rwanda president concentrated on the young ones and that is why they are getting the results they are having now because those kids of 1994 have grown up today with a new mindset which is devoid of ethnicity. Foe the other levels of people in Nigeria, we will need enhanced awareness via radio, television and social media to raise the bar and make people understand why it is not good for them to dispose of plastics anyhow. We will be producing short videos of how plastic products not properly disposed travels and how it affects us and share them across several channels. I have already mentioned the part of imaging on plastic bags and all that just as the tobacco industry were made to put dangers of smoking on the product packs.
Are these not very lofty ideas you are talking about considering the economic situation in the country?
I do understand what Nigerians are going through; I am going through the same. There was some part of the new policy on waste that the Minister mentioned that the government is focusing on recycling the plastics to be used for pellets, blocks and other products. The awareness of the fact that you can make money from plastics waste should be amplified so people can dig into it and help reduce the careless disposal.

So what is the frequency of the beach clean up you have done so far?

We have gone to several beaches across Lagos to clean up and will be doing some in the waters in Anambra State this month. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it did affect some of the programs we planned to do but we should be up and going by next year.

Are you planning to start up and NGO to focus on this?
I am not thinking about that now because this is just a passion that I have and I am making researches and examining the models other countries use with a view of developing one that would suit our society. For now, I have my friends and some of my son’s friends that join in this exercise and we will be expanding as we do the beach cleaning in the morning, so it serves as a form of exercise as well. I will be looking forward to your joining us.




https://www.sunnewsonline.com/how-my-son-inspired-me-into-cleaning-up-nigerian-beaches-jane-umegbolu-environmentalist/

Macrofrancis:
Of all the speakers?
This is politics in Nigeria.

I wonder why Igbere TV news stories get so verified here on Nairaland. Is Nairaland compromised

PRESS RELEASE

ICCA/UMUNNA TO PETITION CANADIAN PARLIAMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES/KILLINGS UNDER BUHARI.

-Nigeria under dictatorship.
-DSS, a state sponsored terror agency.

Toronto, Friday, December 13, 2019

The Igbo Canadian Community Association (ICCA/Umunna) has made known its intention to petition the Canadian Parliament on the now worsening human rights abuses, killings and indiscriminate state sponsored kidnappings going on in Nigeria under the leadership of President Mohammadu Buhari who has shelved democracy thereby subjecting the country to tyranny.

In a statement issued in Toronto, Canada by the President, Chief Ugochukwu Okoro, through the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahaoma Kanu, the socio-cultural and political group, said, “What we are witnessing in Nigeria today under this president is incomprehensible and unconscionable, devastating and condemnable. The momentum with which Buhari and his handlers are fast turning Nigeria into a dictatorship without regard to the fact that we are in a democracy poses a major problem to the collective unity of this nation hence our decision to take action.”

“In the past few days, we have seen actions taken by security agencies headed by the Executive arm of government and witnessed the recklessness and utter disregard for the rule of law with these supposed law enforcement organizations have debased Nigerians. First was the condemnable manner with which the Nigeria Police acted at Oraifite in Anambra State when they went on rampage at the home of Barr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor and secondly is the brazen desecration of the judiciary by agents from the Department of State Security (DSS) who were attempted to arrest Mr. Omoyele Sowore, founder and publisher of Sahara Reporters and the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and human rights activist, Olawale Bakare. The actions taken by these government since inception and the catalogue of human rights abuses, killings by the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Army show the continuous descent of President Muhammadu Buhari to the level of tyranny and dictatorship and should be treated with antidotes that surprises such excesses.

Under this President, Nigerians have been killed indiscriminately by the Nigeria Army led by a Chief of Army Staff (COAS) that has outlived his usefulness: an Inspector-General pf Police that has no knowledge of how many police officers are in the force and a Director-General of the DSS that has turned the agency into a domestic terror group. Recent revelations in the media have shown how the DSS have been abducting innocent Nigerians and incarcerating them, some times for years, without being charged to court. The Nigeria Police, a police force rated the worst in the world in 2017 and currently among the top 10 most corrupt police worldwide by the World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI), have not shown any sign of leaving its circle of ineptitude and ineffectiveness going by incidents recorded during the Kogi elections where a serving IGP said criminals dressed in police uniforms overpowered over 60,000 police officers deployed for the election.

On the part of the Nigeria Army led by a man whose hands are dripping with the blood of innocent Nigerians killed in broad daylight, the failure of the military to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency show how weak the Nigeria Army have become that they have constantly become an embarrassment to Nigerians all over the world with recurrent announcement of eliminating Boko Haram and its leader.

These security agencies have now been turned to attack Nigerian citizens and her institutions under instruction by the Presidency. The DSS have in times past invaded the National Assembly; stormed the residences of judges and have now taken their home grown terror to the courts. They have constantly disobeyed court orders and shoot live bullets at unarmed Nigerians under the watch of President Buhari. We make bold to say that the DSS has been turned into an agency of terror and fits into the level of the infamous Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) unit of the Nazi era.

With the Nigeria having a Legislative arm of government which have become an appendage of the Executive, the dangers in UMUNNA and other socio-political organizations keeping quiet and not taking actions is very grave as our collective identity and freedom is being suppressed and there need to be action.

The Judiciary, which seems to be operating in a manner to please the Executive, should wake up to its responsibilities. Since the inception of the Buhari regime and his deliberate and unconstitutional attack on the judiciary by first busting the homes of judges and the unconstitutional removal of the CJN, the judiciary seems not to act as a separate arm of government and have exhibited this by some of the injunctions they grant to the FG. For example, proscribing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group within hours of the prayer brought to them, show a judiciary that is very dependent on the Executive. Now that the thugs of the Executive have started desecrating the court spaces, the Judiciary ought to live up to its role as a separate arm of government and not entertain any apology from the DSS but demand that the agents that were part of the invasion of the court be prosecuted according to the law.

The ICCA/UMUNNA have commenced cataloguing the various human rights abuses, killings and domestic terror to which this government have subjected Nigerians to and will, in the coming days, write a petition to the Canadian Parliament informing them of the brazen strangulation of democracy by President Buhari who we believe has dictatorship in his DNA. This petition will be hand delivered at Ottawa and will be publicized for records purposes.

In October 2018, at the Convocation lecture at the University of Ilorin, US envoy, William Symington in a lecture entitled, Citizen Leadership and the link between Economic Diversity and Democratic Good Governance warned Nigerians that injustice and disregard for the rule of law are worse than stealing of public funds.

We at ICCA/UMUNNA consider upholding our democracy a call to duty and will defend the constitution and our country with all we have from the grip of tyranny.

more

more pics

Nigeria 59th Celebration continued

more pics

Nigeria 59th Celebration continued

The Nigeria Canadian Association (NCA) in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) last week celebrated Nigeria’s 59th Independence Celebration.
The event which was held at Panemonte Banquet Hall in Etobicoke witnessed well-meaning Nigerians in Canada and beyond coming together to be part of the occasion.
President of NCA, GTA, Mrs Kemi Amusan, Urged every Nigerian to be patriotic, hardworking and work towards the unity that had held the country together for all these years.
The Nigeria High Commissioner to Canada, Mr. Adeyinka Asekun, who was represented by Alhaji Shafiu Bashir encouraged Nigerians to show very positive exploits in all of endeavour they may find themselves in saying that the government is trying its best to reposition Nigeria in the comity of nations.
He went on to call on Nigerians in Canada to feel free to call upon the high Commission to discuss any issue that will be beneficial to Nigeria and Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora.
The event witnessed a very colourful display of culture and unity that has become remarkable among the Nigerian community in Canada.

PRESS RELEASE


ICCA/UMUNNA CONDEMNS ATTACK ON SENATOR IKE EKWEREMADU IN NUREMBERG, GERMANY BY IPOB MEMBERS.

-Action of IPOB an act of weakness, cowardice
- Such actions will not be tolerated

Toronto: August 18, 2019

The Board, Executive and members of the Igbo Canadian Community Association (ICCA/Umunna) condemns in the strongest of terms the recent attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu by thugs believed to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IOPB) in Nuremberg, Germany, describing it as grossly despicable, utterly shameful and a concentrated act of cowardice and show of weakness on members of the IPOB and their handlers.

In a statement issued from Toronto, Canada by the President of the socio-cultural and political group, Chief Ugochukwu Okoro, through the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahaoma Kanu, ICCA/UMUNNA said the actions of IPOB (Germany chapter) is a step taken too far and henceforth will not be tolerated.

“It is very shameful that members of the IPOB will brazenly and disrespectfully attack on the Senator and former Deputy Senate President in the manner seen at the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organized by Ndigbo Germany is not only regrettable but a sign of weakness, cowardice and complete manifestation of the disorganization in the group which can only be regarded as an assembly of miscreants and immature attention seekers; this action exposes the leadership vacuum the group suffers from.”

Senator Ike Ekweremadu who represents Enugu-West Senatorial constituency was attacked by thugs believed to be members of the IPOB in Germany.

ICCA/Umunna went on to say that such act of violence towards an Igbo leader makes one wonder the kind of information that the leaders of IPOB feed their members.

“We wonder what grudges that IPOB bears against the former deputy senate president that they will go to the extent they did. This is a man who, along other Igbo leaders, stood up to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari during the onslaught he ordered on members of the IPOB through the Nigeria Army. Senator Ekweremadu stood up against Operation Python Dance and tried very visibly to secure the release of the IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu as well as worked towards his meeting his bail conditions.

“It is only cowards that seek to fight those who stand guard for them instead of facing the oppressors head on. One would wonder where those same IPOB members are whenever known persons that executed the killings of Igbo sons and daughters visit Europe; because they are cowards they will hide within their tails but bare their fangs on someone who fights for them. It is cowards and betrayers that single out their own for attack but will stand lily-livered when the oppressors make an appearance.”

“What happened in Nuremberg goes a long way to expose the kind of charlatans that are made leaders in IPOB; it is a leadership that is bereft of ideas, confused on their directions and allergic to wise counsel. Rather than think that charade of shame got them some currency in the media, the IPOB and their handlers ought to realize they just sunk deeper into the well of deplorable.

“We urge the authorities in Germany to fish out the culprits in this condemnable act and make them face the full wrath of the law.

Okoro went on to warn that such irresponsible and crude attitude should go thus far and no more.

“It is time that members of the IPOB especially their leadership start giving their members reorientation and make them see reason why such act of crime should not be encouraged so as to desist from out of order otherwise Ndigbo will need to take measures to put them in check.

“UMUNN also wants to use this opportunity to assure well-meaning Igbo leaders that they should not be deterred by the actions of some miscreants in Europe as they promised that such act of rascality will not be tolerated by Ndigbo in Diaspora, in North America especially Canada as UMUNNA will stand poised to make sure that whoever makes an attempt to disrepute any of our leader will face the full wrath of the law.

[WHAT IS INVESTIGATIVE HERE?quote author=AutoReportNG post=80201179]Ever since the new international passport was unveiled especially the data page which some group of people claimed to have some sect of people. AutoReportNG was able to get the new international from someone who got their from the passport office and we felt we need to set the record straight.

Base on the little we know about passport designs and implementations, we noticed that passport was designed from all the cultural and ethnic tribes of Nigeria. For example, the Benin people have the ebony artifacts, the Yorubas have the Oduduwa, the Hausas/Fulani have the herdsmen, the National Assembly, the Aso Rock in Abuja and lots more.

It will be unfair to just pick a page out of the 64-page of the international passport to make an issue out of it. The passport was designed using all the cultural traditions from the 3 ethic groups in Nigeria which are Hausa, Yoruba and Igbos.

Please see more for yourself and be the judge.

- AutoReportNG


[img]https://1.bp..com/-Ru3lb2njU7U/XSi5nFmM3AI/AAAAAAAAdxw/SYVkXJMy53ouwVx349Pbk82FaHgZ-hs2wCLcBGAs/s1600/Nigeria_New_Intl_Passport_001_AutoReportNG.com.jpg[/img]

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The Data Page of An American Passport

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Editorial Note
This is not about being paid by a group of people, it's about being investigative and setting the records right which AutoReportNG stands for... To see more, please check the source



Source:
https://www.autoreportng.com/2019/07/the-truth-about-nigerian-new.html[/quote]

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I deliberately refused to be drawn into the incident between Nobel Prize laureate, Prof.Wole Soyinka, and an unknown young man inside an aircraft as announced by Tonye Cole.

My refrain stems from the fact that we have become a people that make issues of incidents that have no way of shaping our lives which this particular story fits into.

And looking at the major commentators and their antecedents you will not only be repulsed but feel sorry for the way we have become.

Tonye Cole that posted the picture and initiated the narrative of the young man who incidentally is being vilified in some quarters and praised in another, was just some couple of months involved in the political scene in Rivers State; I believe he was the gubernatorial standard bearer of the ruling party who unfortunately were disqualified due to inappropriate infighting in their party's selection process.

But rather than remain out of a game he was disqualified by the courts, he was through association by Rotimi Amaechi, involved in bringing mayhem upon the people of Rivers State which led to some deaths.

But all of a sudden he is now a moral police to bemoan how eroded the Nigeria young people have become of respect and courtesy.

In normal climes, folks like Tonye Cole will be explaining their involvement in a process that led to loss of lives. He may have blood on his hands which is a more moral stain on his integrity than the young man that asked to sit on his paid seat in an aircraft.

Also media mogul, Mo Abudu was also prominent in the debacle and even had some tough words for the young man.

But this is a lady that has one of the most slavish contract terms and conditions involving intellectual property and creativity; if you are dealing with Mo you will virtually forfeit all you have to her which is condemnable and impracticable in normal climes. But she also had some moral face to condemn the action of the young man.

I wish these two would first of all purge the big moral logs in their eyes before wearing the uniform of moral police officers in actions of young people.

More pics

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is being berated by the hundreds of its members and supporters who were asked to pay $20 (CAD) to enter into the venue of a town hall meeting being held by the leader of the group, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The event which held at the La Victoria Banquet Hall and Convention Centre in North York, Toronto Sunday night witnessed so many members of the group and Igbos in Canada coming to welcome the leader of the group but were shocked when organizers started demanding for a $20CAD (N5600) admittance fee that was not announced in the posters calling for the event.

Nnamdi Kanu has been in North America and visited several cities in the United States before arriving Friday evening in Toronto Canada.
According to the event posters which well circulated to the Igbo communities across Canada, the event was to mark the Biafra 52 Yeats Memorial Day and started with a Heroes and Heroines Remembrance Day which held on Thursday May 30, 2019 at Queens Park in Toronto followed by a solemn service and procession from Queens Park to the United States Embassy to submit a petition calling for Biafra.

The town hall was scheduled for 5pm on June 9, 2019 at 69 Milvan Drive, North York, Toronto and was signed by the factional IPOB coordinator, Tim Okafor. There was never any mention of gate fee for the event.

Also, the event which also appeared on the one of the Igbo communities association in Toronto, Igbo Union, made a clarion calls to all well-meaning Biafrans to attend the event.

The announcement read, “IPOB Townhall Meeting, June 9 2019
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Town hall meeting in Toronto Canada
The IPOB Supreme Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will be holding a town hall meeting with all Biafrans in Canada on June 9th, 2019. This is a clarion call to all well-meaning Biafrans to attend.
Details are as shown in the flyer below:
Date: Sunday, June 9th , 2019
Venue: La Victoria Banquet Hall and Convention Centre
69 Milvan Drive, North York ON M9L 1Y8
Time: 5 pm-9 pm.

Also, there was no mention of any gate fee. It was very embarrassing for the attendees to the event to be asked to dish out $20 to gain entrance, and this is coming on the heels of a receipt that surfaced recently indicating that a monthly fee of N500 is being collected by the organization from their members across Nigeria.

“This is not how to treat members. There was no mention of a gate fee and I came with my family to the event only to be asked to pay for every member of my family. It is so sad that IPOB is now being used as a money-making venture and I am so disappointed in Nnamdi Kanu for this kind of exploitation,” said one of the aggrieved members.

IPOB Canada has been having a leadership tussle between Tim Okafor and Dr Anicetus Okanga who both claim to be the National Coordinator of IPOB in Canada. The Okanga led faction was instrumental to bringing a renowned US lawyer, Bruce Fein, to Toronto last year and no gate fee was charged. It was then worrisome that the Tim Okafor led faction who organized the town hall meeting held Sunday may have decided to cash in from the people that attended the event.

“It is very disgraceful for the IPOB now to be asking for gate fee, it is very wrong and may put the organization in jeopardy should this gets to Revenue Canada that they are making a business out of Nnamdi Kanu’s visit,” said one Chinedu Ukonu.
Another aggrieved member who left the venue said that what he witnessed was so embarrassing and an eye-opener to Ndigbo on what the main objective of IPOB is.

“Now we know what Nnmadi Kanu is using IPOB to do. And this is how he intends to run Biafra.”

[Some bloggers are just damn stupid. What is the story here? So confusingquote author=Mutteeme post=79089926]So when women gathered to beat the man up, an angry woman gave the man three hot slap and wife started begging the women to forgive her husband.

https://all-gists..com/2019/06/husband-poured-hot-soup-on-wife-in-owerri-disturbing-photos.html[/quote]

We remember

Igbos in Canada hold Biafra Memorial Day
• Call for the Federal Government to hold conversation with Ndigbon on Biafra.

Toronto, May 30, 2019

At exactly 10pm, the lights went off at the mega ball room of the Woodbine Hotels and Suites in Toronto, Canada. There was astounding silence and the only source of illumination in the room was from the large projector screen on the background of the nicely decorated podium.

Then quietly in procession came men and children holding lit candles and walking in a single file. As they walked in, the solemn song, Only Time, by the Irish singer Enya Paticia Brennan, enveloped the air.

As they made their way towards the podium with a wreath, pictures came on in a slideshow on the screen. They were black and white footages that showed men, women and children in different stages of pain, hunger, hurt, death and hope.

There were pictures children malnourished and in pains; there were those of mothers carrying their sick and dying babies with hope and fear in their eyes looking pleadingly at the world through the lens of the camera asking for help.

There was a picture of a man; may have been a father, brother, relation or a neighbour, carrying the burnt out corpse of a young child killed apparently in an air raid going by the plume of smoke on the picture background.

There were also pictures of gallant Biafran soldiers at different stages during the civil war in Nigeria from 1968 to 1970.

As members of the Igbo Canadian Community Association (ICCA/UMUNNA), led by their former president, Chief Chris Nsoedo, stood still, the real essence of the annual Biafra Memorial Day became clearer in the dark ballroom as the slides of pictures showed on the screen.

“Today, we gather at this Biafra Memorial Event to lay a wreath to honour the brave men and women who died while serving under the Biafra war. They Died That We May Live; In Remembrance of our Heroes past I dedicate this honour to those who rose from the ashes of genocide to build a nation n of hope. Please join me in a moment of silence in tribute to their bravery,” Nsoedo said when the lights came on.

And there was silence.
In that moment of silence people had reflections of what the Igbo people from the South East region of the present day Nigeria went through.

It was a period of death and survival; fire and bullets; hunger and famine and a total annihilation led by the Federal government of Nigeria. Men, women and children lost their lives.

Over three million were killed while the world looked away. It was genocide; it was a calculated attempt at wiping a people who had the situation brought upon them.

“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old and age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. May we never ever have to face such tragedy again and May their souls through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”

It was the 16th edition of the Biafra Memorial Day organized by the ICCA/UMUNNA, an annual remembrance done to pay honour and remember those three million people that lost their lives.

In his opening remark, the President of ICCA/UMUNNA, Chief Ugochukwu Okoro explained the reason behind the annual event was to continue telling the story of the inhuman treatment at their period and also to celebrate the survival of Ndigbi from that carnage.

“This memorial event is aimed at telling our story, owing that the Nigerian government appear to ignore the circumstances that took lives to the tune of that number. That part of history is facing so much suppression by the actors; unfortunately, the world also seems not concerned as well. Genocide is a crime against humanity,” he started, “The world has recognized and criticizes what happened to the Jews from the Holocaust and Rwandan genocides etc. We hope that someday the Genocide against the Biafrans will be given the recognition it deserves.

I believe that will bring healing to the pain the people faced and probably remove the injustices they still face in the country. Permit me to say that Genocide has continued to happen in Nigeria even after the war. The Army has at any slightest provocation massacred citizens without remorse.”

Okoro went further to state that no family in Igboland was not affected and lost someone during the war that happened 52 years ago.

“There is hardly any family from the Eastern part of the country that was not impacted by that genocide. Most parents watched their children die out of starvation due to food Aid blockade. My uncle narrated his experience after the war, how heartbroken it was to behold the tears of parents who came to welcome the soldiers, only to discover their own children didn’t make it,”he said and thanked friends of Ndigbo that always came for the remembrance.

“To our friends from different nationalities, your presence here, means support and helps in the healing, knowing you share in our pain. Ladies and Gentlemen, we celebrate and honour the lives of our loved ones lost in the genocide of 1967 and thereafter and affirm the bond of community, memory, and hope that sustains us in sorrow. We are all encouraged by the way the Biafrans came together to rebuild themselves. The Biafrans are a force to reckon with in any profession. The wave of academic excellence of our Children currently blowing around the world is an example of how endowed we are.”

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ICCA/UMUNNA, Chief Pastor Ben Allison while delivering a paper entitled, “They Died that we May live: In remembrance of our Heroes Past, gave an insightful details of what culminated to the war and the misunderstandings that have put a label on the action that initiated the war as being Igbo inspired.

“There is poignant similarity between the horrific deaths of 3 million people in Eastern Nigeria and the 800, 000 slaughter and killings of Tutsis in Rwanda. The genocide in Rwanda was sparked by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994 by alleged Tutsi conspirators. The majority Hutu tribe retaliated by organizing a well-planned and coordinated systematic killings of Tutsis of all ages regardless of their innocence,” Allison explained.

“In Nigeria, a group of army officers, mostly of Igbo origin and a Yoruba officer led a coup that toppled the civilian government and killed some of the leaders of that government. No Igboleader in that civilian government was killed. The predictable result was that non-Igbo army officers, particularly from Northern Nigeria, outraged by the killing of their leaders responded first, by exterminating a large body of Igbo officers in a counter coup. More than 30, 000 civilian Igbo population in Northern Nigeria were massacred.”

Allison, who also doubles as the Board Chairman of the Nigeria Canadian Association (NCA), narrated several attempts made by the people of the then Eastern region to reconcile and avoild the looming war.

“The people of Eastern Nigeria remonstrated deeply and there were employment of bellicose political languages by both the leadership of Eastern Nigeria and the military government in Lagos. Several meetings to defuse and resolve the differences were unsuccessful. Threatened by military action by the government in Lagos, Eastern Nigeria declared itself a separate republic of Biafra leading to initial skirmishes and full-blown civil war.”

This, he said led to a total blockage of Biafra which eventually led to the death of millions of women and children.

Allison revealed the post-war strategy initiated by the Federal Government of Nigeria to keep the atrocities committed during the period of the war from history books.

“In Nigeria, the military class that won the war banned and suppressed information and open discussion about that war with the exception of the parts that glorified them. They even banned any formal teaching of the history of the Nigerian civil war in institutions of higher learning and discouraged meaningful discussions regarding it and the deaths of millions of people in Biafra.”
He called for an open conversation of what happened during the war to be had in Nigeria with the government involvement as one step towards healing the pain, anguish and sorrow still on the minds of generations of Ndigbo.

“One major way to stop the mindless killings taking place all over our dear country Nigeria today is to engage in honest and serious conversations regarding all the sad, painful, and shameful areas of our collective past and present. There is an urgent and immediate need for such conversations. But it must be a conversation guided by honesty, truth, justice, fairness, mutual respect for one another, equity, love and compassion. Finally, just like Agwu Okpanku, we hold these annual Biafra Memorial Events in order to give voice to the deaths of millions of our brethren that died in Biafra.”

In her speech, the President of the Nigeria Canadian Association (NCA) Mrs. Kemi Amusan called for a greater collaboration among Nigerians irrespective of ethnicity as a way forward in building trust again among Nigerians.

“I am happy that today in Canada we are leading by example and at the NCA we live as one family from one country. I believe that is what is needed in Nigeria to strengthen the unity we have as a country and people.”

Brampton City Councillor, Charmaine Williams, who represented the Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, called on the Nigeria community to increase their participation in governance in Ontario and Canada.

“Even as we remember those that died, there is need for the Nigeria community to participate in issues that concerns governance. You have the opportunity to educate and get involved in your community and go for elective offices. That is one way of building a greater nation and encouraging great patriotism.”

There was a presentation of the annual scholarship to students who gained admission to higher learning and the 2019 recipient, Mr. Nkemdilim Onyemah was handed a cheque for $1000. The presentation was made by the former recipients of the award, Miss Chika Oruiwa. Nkemdilim, who got admitted into the University of Waterloo, was very appreciative of the honour bestowed on him and promised to make the Igbo community proud.

Highlight of the occasion was the bestowing of a Chieftaincy title of Onye Udo Ndigbo Toronto, Canada to the ICCA Board chairman, Chief Pastor Ben Allison and his wife. The honour which was done through an order from the ancient Igbo Kingdom of Nri, saw the recipient dressed in traditional chieftaincy title with his traditional fan bearing his title