Setting the records straight

The recent statement by Dr. Orji Uzor which appeared on some major newspapers that Igbos are their worst own enemies calls for great concern and anyone who knows the Bendel State born politician should call him to order.
Such statement is not only misleading but self-serving, it is quite unfortunate that those who had the opportunity of placing the Igbo race in the world map in terms of good governance when they held sway but failed to achieve anything are now the ones trading blames and explaining why and when the rain began to beat us.
Orji Uzor Kalu contended further, “There were more problems between Bola Tinubu and and Babatunde Fashola, than there were between me and TA Orji but it is the discipline of the yorubas that kept them at bay”. And if Fashola were Igbo he would have betrayed Tinubu using his successor who he single handedly imposed on Abia State as a case study insisting, South East has nobody to blame for their woes in the scheme of things in Nigeria but themselves .
For the records, Fashola was not imposed on Lagosians to serve the bulimic desires of his godfather and family members but rather, was chosen by the people to continue with the blue prints of his predecessor.
Misunderstandings are inevitable as long as human beings are involved, the end point is coming together to achieve a common goal, that was what really kept both god father and son at bay not discipline as contended by Orji Uzor Kalu.
Both father and son were in a race to achieve a common goal, and in such a race, if the son runs ahead of the father, the father may call his son’s attention because both are in no competition but ingenuously in a race to take Lagos State to greater height. And today, Lagos State is better off for it.
In the case of Orji Uzor Kalu and his erstwhile godson, TA Orji, both were never in same race for governance, rather they were in competition of who would be in charge of the Augean stables in the State and the power tussle contributed more in under developing some parts of Abia State. The Augean of mess both of them left is still hunting the State.
Their misunderstandings were more of individual differences and I see no reason why such show of shame should be used to judge South east politicians, their fall out had nothing to do with how politics is played in the South East, the only problem is that South East has not had good god fathers like we have in the West.
Chief Bola Tinubu is one of the most respected elder statesman and political figure not just in the South west but the whole of Nigeria because he invests in the future today and waits for tomorrow to call on it, apart from Fashola, most top politicians, governors and ministers from the West were products of Tinubu’s dynasty and they are doing very well in their respective States, and every other positions they are occupying both at State and national level, that is what qualifies one as a leader, a leader thinks of the future not his immediate returns, that is another difference between Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Orji Uzor Kalu.
It is the desire of an aging father to see a rising son”, Orji Uzor Kalu had the opportunity of discovering a young, intelligent technocrat who would have placed Abia State in world map in terms of good governance just like Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu did in Lagos State with Fashola but he chose a geriatric who he thinks he could control, it led to their fall out and within the space of two years, his party lost two state governors, Abia and Imo State. Today his party, Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) is struggling to stay afloat in politics while that of Chief Tinubu has transformed and metamorphosed over the years into a mega party, and the party, All Progressive Congress (APC) is currently the ruling party in Nigeria.
Those who sleep in and out of EFCC custody for acts bothering on money laundering and financial misappropriation when they were in position of authority does not have what it takes to represent or speak for the Igbo nation in whatever platform. A word is enough for the wise!

Joe Onwukeme
I tweet @unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

An interactive platform has taken the world by storm, and if you are yet to embrace this new media where ever you are in this globe nor make it part of your daily life, it becomes very obvious there is a great ‘disconnect’ between you and the world. You automatically become a relic in a new habitat.
Social media has not already taken over our cyber space; it has also taken over our sanity and space. If you want to know how deep the social media has penetrated into us, try staying out of network for a day or two on all your devices and gadgets then you will understand the difference between in and out of prison.
The social media has created a platform for communication or marketing tool for media houses, corporation, entrepreneurs, cooperate bodies, bloggers, website managers, organizations, institutions and individuals to market their brand or product to the world. Its frequency, usability, accessibility, immediacy and permanence has contributed in exposing and deposing top corrupt government officials across the globe and many are taking advantage of its reach and accessibility to disseminate information through many of its platforms and because of the over dependence on the new media for current happenings, the traffic these media sites get on daily basis not minding the authenticity of the news is mind blowing.
The Social media has come to stay but not without its merits and demerits. Recent happenings especially in our clime have led to this burning question, “How Social Is the Social Media”?
Many information disseminators on the Social media have turned this new media platforms into an avenue for cheap blackmail and is increasingly reputed for propagating falsehood, hardly will a day pass by that one’s attention won’t be drawn to one canard or false publication by those who have constituted themselves as ethnic/ignorant bigots who have taken delectation in publishing or uploading false reports largely about those entrusted with our nation’s wellness.
Some go as far as wishing others dead, the Governor of Imo State; Owelle Anayo Rochas Okorocha is yet to come to terms with why people will in their wildest imagination wish him dead. The reported story about his death is still spreading like wildfire even when the governor is always in the purview of the media. Just last week, in a bid to fan the ember of discord, the social media was awash with the news of the release of Kabiru Sokoto, a notorious Boko Haram King pin and the mastermind of the Madalla Christmas day bombing in 2011 near Abuja and those who have taken criticism as a full time job and those who are increasingly becoming too ethnic to think right wasted no time in sharing and spreading the fake news Social media platforms.
Apart from spreading fake/unverified news, another one that is also trending is gross distortion of people’s comment and many of those in authority have had a fair share of either being quoted out of context or being credited to comments nor press releases that were not issued by them.
Some of these media attacks perfected by some political jobbers are more of political colouration than patriotic inclination—this has led to discord among our leaders, political parties and division within the rank and file of Nigeria’s population. My advice is that we should continue to ignore and close our eyes to their currency.
If this is the best we could make out of our social media platforms, then the question remains: How social is the Social media?
Joe Onwukeme
I tweet @unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

A tsunami of disaster has swept through the rank and file of the Nigerian army and in one fell swoop, army officers who were involved in one crime or the other, ranging from arms procurement scandal, financial misappropriation, and electoral malpractices in the past were relieved of their duties and retired unceremoniously.
This is the first time in the history of our democracy that we are having no fewer than 60 army officers being purged out from the service.
Though the news didn't come as a surprise to many considering the fact that our gallant officers, like vultures stripping the flesh of a dying man, threw the ethics of their profession to the wind and perfected an undemocratic impunity at the behest of politicians of the old corrupt political order.
The probes, panel of enquiries and investigations set up by the government and our anti-graft agencies have been unearthing the political pot of corruption they buried during the last regime of asphyxiating corruption and are being purged out of the institution. Though it’s been lauded as a right step in restoring the confidence and professionalism of our armed forces, which the institution is reputed for in past years, one pertinent question we should be asking is: what is the government doing to avoid a repeated occurrence in future? Those officers may have lost their jobs for total disregard for democratic norms and unprofessional conduct in the discharge of their duties, but we shouldn't be blind to the fact they never acted in isolation, they were strictly acting on orders, which was near impossible to reject at that time.
The leaked Ekitigate tape, which a certain Brigadier General was caught giving out instructions in a commanding tone to his co-perpetrators to rig the governorship election in the state in favour of PDP would be perfected on the orders of the presidency is a case study. How many Brigadier Generals in his position back then would have rejected such a directive considering the permissive nature of the government back then?
It does not just end in purging the system of bad eggs because the institution is designed in such a way that it can easily be influenced by the pettiness in the political pot. It goes beyond probing and finding some officers guilty and relieving them of their duties.
President Buhari might have restored sanity in the ones revered institution by this act but it doesn't guarantee a repeated occurrence in the future. What we have in the person of president Buhari is a strong-willed man, but we don't need a strong man to get things right, what we need are strong institutions, only strong institutions will reduce, if not eradicate partisan politics and government's interferences within the rank and file of our security agencies. Until we promulgate and enforce laws that will make our security agencies to be independent of the executive as practiced in saner climes, I don't see an institution that waits to get orders from the presidency before carrying out its primary duties from being free of what those dismissed army officers were found guilty of.

Joe Onwukeme
Tweets via: @unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

Wanton destruction of lives and properties is now a viable venture in Nigeria. Not only is it viable, it is now a prerequisite to national attention and fame.
Never in the history of Nigeria had we poured so much blood apart from the civil war than in our present democracy. Even the military, with its brutality and high handedness, never governed nor presided over mass of corpses and destruction of our economic assets the way it has turned out to be in our democracy.
During the week, I saw a picture trending on Face book. It was a contrasting picture of the Northern and Niger-Delta regions. The former was a northerner posing on lush grassland and the latter, a young boy from Niger-Delta standing on a depredated area ravaged with oil spills. The pictures were self explanatory.
The renewed insurgency in the Niger Delta, under the aegis of Niger-Delta Avengers has not only worsened Nigeria's economic woes but has continued to worsen the environmental degradation of the area.
Our pipe lines are becoming ‘endangered species’ and like thunder promising storm, the Niger-Delta avengers have been erupting their volcanoes, leaving trail of destruction of our oil facilities in every of their passage with the sole aim of crippling Nigeria's major source of revenue unless their demands are met, looking at their demands; one is forced to ask what exactly the intentions of these avengers are? What do they intend to gain by these extreme environmental damage in their region, considering the deleterious effects of such environmental pollution on humans, plants and animals?
Out of their 10 point demand to president Buhari, the only one that is non-debatable is “Ogoniland and indeed all oil-polluted areas in the Niger-Delta must be cleaned up and compensation paid to all oil producing communities”.
There's no doubt the area had long suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping, pipe line vandalism, oil bunkering and other economic sabotage, but the latest launching/implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme, (UNEP) report on Ogoni land. A clean up of oil spills in the area as recommended by UNEP in 2012, in fulfillment of president Buhari’s electioneering promise to the people of the Niger-Delta is worth commending. A feat the former president of Nigeria, a worthy son of the oil region could not achieve for his people.
For the Niger-Delta avengers, they are on a mission, mission to cripple the already depleted economy of Nigeria unless their demands are met, what demand is worth more than millions of lives that are being exposed to environmental pollution daily? What demand is more important than destroying their green vegetations, farm lands and rivers?
It is very obvious Niger Delta Avengers are out on a vindictive mission to frustrate the government of the day just to for the interest of few individuals and not representing the general interest of Niger Delta. Their actions are not in tune with the present realities and I join others to condemn acts capable of crippling our economy.
In all our struggles/agitations for a better representation, let us not allow the interest of few individuals or the corrosive acids from the mouths of their toxic sponsors lure us into taking the law into our own hands.
The worst may not have been seen about these implacable enemies of the state considering their modus operandi but the Niger Delta avengers should be cognizance of this trending proverb: “He who burns his father’s house inherits the ashes”.
Avenge me not!

Joe Onwukeme
Tweets via @unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

By this time last year, it was wild jubilation, triumph and historic as Nigerians witnessed the triumphant ascension of Muhammadu Buhari to the presidency.
Everyone celebrated him, local and international media beamed their search light on every of his appearance, he became a beacon of hope; his coming to power restored the confidence and patronage of other nations. To many, he was the Moses of our time who had been sent by God to come lead us to the promise land. His inauguration speech was inspiring and convincing. Nigerians rejoiced, tears of joy poured down in torrents. For once, the peoples' vote counted.
In one of my articles last year after president Buhari was declared winner, titled Muhammadu Buhari, the pains and gains, I contended that: “the gains of Buhari's presidency is not an individual thing, but rather, for a greater and better Nigeria for us all.
One year after, the present realities have eroded hope, the burden of expectations is becoming gloomy, mixed reactions have taken over the polity.
Nigerians are becoming disenchanted and the mood of the country is largely becoming crest fallen and despondent. The economy has been biting hard; food stuff is becoming scarce and ostentatious commodity, which even the rich also cry. The struggle to survive has never been this tough.
The mood of the country after one a year of APC led-government is aptly described in a poem written by a Nigerian poet, John Godwill Osward titled, We Must Learn Again To Fly:
Some wound cuts so deep we forget where the pain comes from;
We itch to run from congealed blood, from lakes in rivers deltas into brimless sea
---we forget how to flow.
The first stanza of the poem is an exposition of the current situation we are facing as a nation. Nigeria is in a deep wound with an unbearable pain.
The Augean of mess of the past administration(s) which led to the near-comatose state of our economy the APC government inherited has worsened, one year after, the pain is becoming unbearable. Our nation has been hemorrhaging on all fronts, "from lakes into rivers, and deltas into brimless sea".
Things are biting so hard that the Faustian deal upon which this government rode to power is gradually fading away. Even with the present achievements of the government, especially in the areas of insecurity, and the fight against corruption, the second stanza of the poem summed it all:
"Some hunger grow so steep it cuts the sun and takes away our eyes till we drown, weighed down by the call at sit-bed--- we forget how to awaken.”
Nigerians are in a state of despair, everywhere you go, you can see expression of frustrations written on peoples' faces. They are yet to see any positive change of the APC-led government, a peep at social media sites, public places or public transport will give you a comprehensive summary of different definition of change.
The political consciousness is becoming unimaginable, if we had held our past leaders accountable the way we have done to this present government just one year after, we would have been better off.
One year after, Nigerians are still asking for the change they voted for? We are still paying higher electricity bills for darkness, unemployment is still multiplying like cancerous cells, our markets are becoming as quiet as grave yards as a result of food scarcity and high increase in price of food, ethnic cleansing in the guise of Fulani Herdsmen is becoming uncontrollable and the renewed militancy in the Niger Delta—not forgetting the turbulent state of our economy. But even in the face of all these challenges, rescuing our country from the bottomless mess it had previously been plunged is non-negotiable. I appeal to Nigerians not to give up on this government yet, like they have always pleaded, let's give them time to right the wrongs.
Yet we must learn again to fly!
Joe Onwukeme
I tweet via @unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

APC: All Promises Changed?
The ruling party, All Progressive Congress, (APC) has come under contemptuous criticisms by majority of Nigerians who are disenchanted with the leadership of APC government. The recent increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, (PMS) has worsened the tide and many are increasingly of the opinion that the recent increase in the price of PMS has proven that "all promises of the governing party has either been changed or cancelled".
Has all promises changed? The reason why it seems, the title of this piece has gained traction with the Nigerian people is not necessarily because all promises has changed nor cancelled as being speculated by aggrieved Nigerians who thought APC-led federal government has a magic wand that would turn around our ailing economy immediately they are sworn in.
All promises has not changed, rather what has changed is the endemic corruption entrenched by successive PDP governments—A clear departure from legacy of profligacy, crass impunity, falsehood and financial misappropriation.
If someone comes to you and declare that 5 years from now your life would remain exactly the same, I doubt if you will be happy with such remark. So why are we so afraid of change? What exactly has changed in Nigeria after 16 years of PDP at the helm of affairs?
Change does not come without sacrifice, we can't continue to do things same way and expect different results. When you find yourself in a tight corner where everything is going against you, no one tells you to retreat.
APC-led government is on a retreat, a retreat on some of the promises of change lest the country grinds to a halt. And one of such retreat is its decision to remove the subsidy on petrol.
Today, what many thought impossible is gradually becoming possible, what many politicians avoided for political reasons has finally been laid bare. We are no longer lacking in the midst of plenty courtesy of few faceless cabals who over the years have continued to hold this nation to ransome in the name of petrol subsidy. The removal of subsidy in PMS has not only discouraged smuggling/diversification of PMS to neighbouring countries but has also made the product available across Nigeria, that is one of the major steps in fulfilling the promise of getting PMS sold below #50 a litre.
With perceived sincerity of purpose which has resulted in sea of change in our democratic development, this government has begun the foundation of revitalizing our moribund economy perfidously left in shambles.
The government seems to be in tune with the temporary pains of the people and has continued to beg Nigerians to exercise patience until we find a way out of this economic turbulence facing us on all fronts. While we wait for the much desired and palpable change, especially now the NLC had called off its strike for further negotiations with the government, reality will continue to betray the unwarranted vituperations against this government by anti-democratic forces that have changed APC's acronym to "All Promises Changed". He who refuses to adapt to change will remain bounded in chains.
Joe Onwukeme writes from Enugu
@unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

Labour Day which is observed annually as International Workers’ Day on the 1st of May had its origin in the May 4th 1886 Hay Market massacre. The massacre was as a result of series of protest for a better welfare package and conducive working conditions including an 8-hour work day. The 4th May, 1886 demonstration later turned into a riot after an unidentified person threw a bomb at the police on the scene, the bomb blast and the ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of about 8 police officers and undetermined numbers of the protesting workers injured. The Hay Market incident was viewed as a setback for the organized Labour movement in America, which was fighting for the rights of workers.
At the same time, the men convicted in connection with the riot who were later sentenced to death were viewed by many in the labour movement as martyrs. According to Encyclopedia of Chicago, the trial and conviction of the 8 Labour Union leaders is still considered as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American history.
Inspired by the American movement for a shorter work day, Labour Unions all over the world began celebrating May 1st as an International workers’ holiday and the Hay market tragedy is still remembered throughout the world and is marked as Labour Day.
The story of workers demanding for their rights is not alien to the employees of the Nigerian government, The Nigerian civil servants have over the years been playing important roles in ensuring that government policies result in tangible services for Nigerians and the various Labour unions under the two major umbrella bodies of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have demonstrated maximum tenacity in demanding for the rights of Nigerian workers and whenever negotiations fail, peaceful demonstrations, protests and strikes had always been inevitable. During the era of military regime, when there were worst confrontations and face off with the military governments which led to the dissolution of the body on two occasions, it never deterred the Labour unions from seeking a better welfare package from the government.
It takes one who is a civil servant or whose parents/guardians are civil servants to appreciate this day. I fell in the latter category; my parents (now senior citizens) were among the civil servants who despite the lean resources never compromised in the discharge of their duties. On this day, I remember those who died in active service, those who died waiting for their retirement benefits, the senior citizens and those in active service.
As the organized Labour unions have proposed for a new minimum wage, my prayer is that the government will not only approve such proposal but will also reform the civil service to be in tune with their counter parts in developed world.
To the civil servants and other employees of the government whose staying power and tenacity have been unimpeachable in the discharge of their duties despite the lean resources worsened by the decline in the economy and myriads of other challenges, I say congratulations to you all on your day.
Happy Workers’ Day!

Joe Onwukeme
@unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

Fulani Herdsmen: A Road Not Taken

The title of this piece “Road Not Taken” was the name of Robert Frost’s poem written in 1916. The narrator regrets not following a particular branch to his destination, after choosing another road, the narrator tells himself that he would come back to this branch one day in order to try the other road. However, he realizes that it is unlikely that he will ever have the opportunity to come back to this specific point in time because his choice of path will simply lead to other branches in the road (and other decisions). The narrator ends on a nostalgic note, wondering how different things would have been had he chosen the other path.
Same way the writer ended on a nostalgic end for the road not taken is the way Nigerians who underestimated the savagery of the Fulani Herds men are living in regrets for granting them access to their communities. The Fulani Herdsmen have been a pain in our communities. There’s no State or region that would say they have not had their own bitter tales with the Fulani Herdsmen bothering on land dispute and grazing issues. On every of their murderous appearance, they have been leaving tears and blood behind. From the North Central states of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Niger and Taraba State to North West, South West and South south zones, the story remains the same. Their latest casualty is Enugu State and the once peaceful community of Uzo Uwani LGA woke up Monday morning to behold the gory sight perpetrated by the nomads with graceful impunity. The attack was so bloody that the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on his visit to the community broke down in tears as he watched helplessly the lifeless bodies of innocent people that were massacred in their sleep by the Fulani Herdsmen.
It’s painful what these pastoralists do to their host communities, they are not acting in isolation, our security agencies are yet to tell us the mission of these murderous errands in human form.
The Federal government’s complicity on these utmost savageries also validates this quote by Martin Luther king Jnr, “The deepest part of hell is reserved for those leaders who kept silent in the face of evil”. This is the time for the government to break their undignified silence and act preemptively to ensure the safety of the public from this ethnic cleansing that is threatening our nation.
For how long are we going to continue to suffer these killings from outsiders in our communities? For how long are we going to leave in regret for “the road not taken”? Yesterday it was Benue, today its Enugu, who knows whose turn it might be tomorrow?
There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people -Howard Zinn.
Joe Onwukeme writes from Enugu
@unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

Who Is Corrupt In Nigeria? By Joe Onwukeme

Corruption which can be defined as dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefits, has become a subject of negative controversy in our nation.
And the one which has become the bane of all corruption is political corruption, clearly defined as the abuse of public trust, power, office, or resources by elected government officials for personal gain, by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes. The beneficiaries of corruption mostly view it from the binoculars of using or taking advantage of public office to empower oneself and his cronies.
Political corruption has over the years been the exclusive preserve of majority of the political class. They don’t only use their position to fleece the state of our collective patrimony; they influence the system in such a way that even after they have gone, the system in turn helps them get away with their crime. When damning evidence of corruption is hung around their necks, they can afford trailer loads of senior lawyers to defend them in court.
To the accused, nothing is impossible in Nigeria, justice must be bought, and he starts making the necessary contacts, including frustrating court process to get as many adjournments as possible. If you are fortunate to be a high ranking senator, then consider yourself lucky, on every court appearance, you are not only going with army of SANs, your fellow senators are there with you in the spirit of solidarity including paid agents who pose as your supporters.
Their families, colleagues and supporters are also not left out in this debacle; no matter the gravity of the accusation, their beneficiaries would always tag it a witch hunt, insisting it is more of personal than national interest. The reverberating tone is always; he is being prosecuted because he is not a loyal party man, some in defense would ask, why must he be the one to be prosecuted, is he the first that has occupied such a juicy position in the past? What of his predecessors? Why haven’t they been prosecuted? Some had boasted publicly in the past that nothing would come out of such trials and their predictions came to past.
The grand corruption cases that are springing up daily and the verbal slugfest that emanates afterwards from paid agents of those indicted absolving their principals of corruption leaves a lot to the imagination. Are there institutions or sectors that could be absolved of corruption? Is it the police man who the only guaranteed way to remain at the check point is by making returns to his superiors or our Judges, most of whom have thrown the ethics of their profession at the behest of the higher bidder? Not forgetting our teeming unemployed youths who have resorted to crimes as a means to an end. Corruption has turned our nation into a Frankenstein’s monster that is now threatening our collective existence as a nation and even in the era of progressive politics, no one (among our political class) is yet to be convicted of corruption. This leaves an average Nigerian with the question, “who exactly is corrupt in Nigeria”?
Joe Onwukeme
@unjoerated
Unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

The cry of the oppressed is not always the just, but if you don’t listen to it, you will never know what justice is— Howard Zinn.

In Rivers State, the cry of the oppressed has been resonating because the garden city that was over flowing with peace and serenity in the not too distant past has been over taken by the blood of the innocent souls whose only crime were not keeping quiet in the face of tyranny.
When a son is sent by his father to steal, he does not go about it secretly, but rather, executes the act openly. The primitive justice of our apex court has sealed official stamp of thuggery, militancy, armed robbery, maiming, and kidnapping in Rivers State and the blood of those who have refused to conform to such unrestrained impunity have been over flowing in the Rivers of Blood while those whose blood they couldn’t spill have been living in a near state of perdition.
There is a proverb that says when you raise a leopard; you shouldn’t be upset when it eats your goat. When the change agents were campaigning and begging Rivers State electorates to heed to the voice of reason and embrace progressive politics in the State in the last general election, many viewed it from the prism of sentiments rather than performance, While those in the camp of APC shouted themselves hoarse to convince their people to vote for the APC governorship candidate, those in the camp of PDP felt it’s payback time to the former governor, Rotimi Amaechi, they joined identifiable killer vices to commit the worst form of genocide in the State just to ensure Nyesom Wike was elected governor.
Its been10 months since Rivers State mortgaged the future of their children at the altar of vindictive politics and the State is yet to know peace, politically motivated killings have taken over governance in Rivers State and as write, the garden city has been “Somalized” and there seem to be no end in sight to the wanton destruction of lives and properties of political opponents by the “apostles of banditry” who have taken over the reign of governance in River State. Those who swore to protect lives and properties have turned their State into day light night mare in their unquenchable quest for power and they have never failed to tell whoever cares to listen that the State does not have room for opposition politics, you either join them or like vandalized pipeline, allow your blood flow in the Rivers of blood, that’s what governance has been reduced to. To Emperor Wike, Rivers State can go to blazes, after all, he owes nobody any apology, his mandate was empowered by the Supreme Court, not the people. Until all the PVCs in Rivers State are converted to AK47 rifles, the Brick House empowered brigandage may never stop the Rivers of blood from flowing.
The APC led Federal government’s head in the sand attitude towards the macabre disaster in Rivers State has not helped issues, the earlier they harken to the hue and cry of the people in the State and save them from power inebriated politicians and their murderous errands who have taken over the streets, looking for political opponents to devour, the better for the State, that maybe the only solution to the end of Rivers of blood that has washed away the souls of so many people in the State.

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people —Howard Zinn

Joe Onwukeme

@unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@yahoo.com

Gov. Fayose and His Fellow Travelers

When relics of uncivilized, primitive and medieval men who are not fit for the consumption of the modern man are elevated to positions of authority, the people bear the brunt. Today, relics of barbarism have found their way into our nation’s political space. They include but not limited to PDP disabled remnants who fraudulently got into office using wide spread rigging and violence and recently, Supreme Court electoral violators’ beneficiaries. They have sacrificed good governance at the altar of propaganda.
While other State governors are busy squeezing water out of the rocks to ensure they meet up with the burden of expectations of their people, Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesome Wike are more at home with controversies.
Gov. Ayodele Fayose whose proclivity for gaffe knows no bounds has taken it as a duty to harangue and discredit every policy of the ruling government.
The case of Gov. Nyesome Wike is very pathetic! It’s been 10 months since he was sworn in as governor of Rivers State after proven cases of wide spread rigging and violence which the Supreme Court recently proved otherwise, he is yet to make any meaningful impact in the State. Wike is yet to differentiate between violence and the acts of governance; ever since his victory at the apex court, Rivers State has known no peace; thuggery, militancy and armed robbery have taken up permanent residence in the garden city.
Those who have done little or nothing to alleviate the sufferings in their states should not be in the leading position in firing bullets of unjust criticisms to the APC led Federal Government.
If it were in saner climes, the damning report by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the European Union that indicted Ekiti State (the fountain of knowledge) as the State with the highest number of residents, among Nigerian states, who defecate openly, is enough for a responsible and responsive governor to abdicate his seat but not for Gov. Fayose. While other States are busy investing massively in infrastructure and placing their States on world tourism map, their Ekiti State counterpart, while neglecting basic amenities in his State, is directly investing in open defecation. He does not give an iota of damn over such embarrassing report.
Rather, he has found delectation in using Mr. President as his daily subject of contemptuous criticism, taking analgesic for any journey Mr. President embarks upon. That is the only way he can advertise his terrifying ignorance and remain relevant in progressive politics.
The best time to tell our resurgent opposition governors the harmful truth is now. The recent description of the duo of Fayose and Wike as “apostles of banditry” by APC, Rivers State chapter, has validated this quote by Thomas Man, “A harmful truth is better than a useful lie”.
Gov. Fayose and his fellow travelers should be at home with the harmful truth; it will go a long way in freeing them from executive vacuity while facing the business of governance- major reason why they were elected.
Joe Onwukeme
unjoeratedjoe@yahoo.com
@unjoerated

Could This Be The End of Tompolo?

One person of interest, an Aso-empowered militant, Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, a former militant leader, like a wounded telltale, has been in the dock of public opinion for acts bothering on corruption, fraud, money laundering and sabotage on the nation's economy.
Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo, (born 1971), is a Nigerian militant commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, (MEND). For years Ekpemupolo commanded various guerrilla groups in the Niger Delta and with his vast wealth, aided in the proliferation of arms in the region.
Tompolo and his culprits-in-chiefs’ meteoric rise to national attention was made possible in the past through series of uncoordinated attacks in the creeks of Niger Delta, ranging from pipe line vandalism, oil bunkering, setting up illegal refineries, kidnapping of expatriates and other acts of sabotage under the guise of agitating against the insensitivity of the Federal Government and the international oil companies towards the exploitation and degradation of the Niger Delta.
The amnesty programme in 2009 in the Niger Delta led to the end of the unrest in the region and also elevated all manner of knaves to the sanctum sanctorum of national attention under the asphyxiating corruption of the immediate past administration.
When the immediate past permissive president, Jonathan held sway, the office of the president was reduced to cesspool of corruption and incompetence; those identified with corruption were carefully selected to the Augean stable at the sit of power, including Ekpemupolo Tompolo, who ones declared himself enemy of the State. Tompolo's access to the presidency was not only unrestricted, he also had access of the proximity to the national treasury. He instantly became a house hold name in the Niger Delta and a stake holder in the affairs of the nation. He was elevated to an elder statesman, mentor, role model and whatever befitting status one could think of.
He was untouchable, feared by all, revered by our security institutions, courted by the high and mighty for political and pecuniary reasons and had a cult following among the youths of the Niger Delta.
In one fell swoop, the ones fearless, revered and tenacious Tompolo who rose from the creeks of the Niger Delta to stupendous wealth and properties worth billions of naira in Nigeria and beyond has become a wanted fugitive.

His recent disappearance following a warrant of arrest for failing to honour repeated invitations to appear before the EFCC for questioning over a multi billion naira fraud at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA has unearthed the political pot of corruption he and his brotherhood of looters buried in their grave yards of personal ambitions.
Like frog underneath the coconut shell, Tompolo and his cahoots have suddenly realized the coconut shell they have been incubating in is not really the world.
With an order for the confiscation of all his assets, moveable and immovable by a Federal High Court judge in Lagos, following his recent disappearance, is Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, on the verge of being consigned to the dustbin of history with massive ignominy?
Could this be the end of Tompolo?

Joe Onwukeme
@unjoerated
unjoeratedjoe@yahoo.com