We’re in trouble, but that’s not the worst part. The real tragedy is that we don’t know that we don’t know. It took one week and a Senate summons for the Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Professor Ibrahim Garba, to say that Senator Dino Melaye graduated from ABU.
And even then, his testimony left more questions than answers. In response to repeated press enquiries, ABU had promised to take a public position on Wednesday. But for reasons that can only damage the school’s reputation, it made a U-turn, saying it would not make any comment until invited to do so by the Senate Ethics Committee. When Sahara Reporters sent the same enquiry to Harvard University and the London School of Economics, some clerks at the registry responded without dragging any vice chancellor into the matter.
But see the mess we have here – a vice chancellor having sleepless nights over the results of a student who claimed to have graduated less than two decades ago. The lack of transparency in ABU’s handling of the matter creates the impression that the school has something to hide. The vice chancellor chose the easy way out, as I suspect a number of vice chancellors in the country today would do. The records in ABU and elsewhere are in such an appalling state that even if this certificate saga involved a 2016 graduate, ABU might still not be able to say for sure if the graduate was genuine or fake. Until schools and other public institutions begin to take record-keeping seriously, this sort of nonsense will continue. If Professor Garba chose to err on the side of caution – either to fend off any further scrutiny from the press or to avoid any legal battle with Melaye’s army of lawyers – he can be sure that his nightmare is not over yet. Since the matter is in court, he will, at some stage, mount the witness box to explain exactly which Melaye’s result he testified about in the Senate. And he can be sure that on that day, Aje kun iya (Melaye’s latest theme song) will not playing in the background.
Melaye’s convocation gown is not big enough to conceal the lingering doubts about his certificate. If he lied about Harvard and LSE, it’s difficult to believe him about any of his academic qualifications. I’ve heard people say, ‘Come on, what’s the big deal about a higher degree; he doesn’t need it to be eligible as senator.’ That is correct. But if he lied about what he didn’t need, why should we trust him on the important matters?
The Senate of controversy
It’s interesting that while the Senate Ethics Committee decided to summon the ABU vice chancellor to testify on Melaye’s degree, the committee took his word about his O/Level result as holy grail. PUNCH had reported that he had only three credits and was therefore ineligible for a university admission in the first place. Melaye denied the PUNCH report and instead, “tendered” a result showing five credit passes and one ‘A’ as his result. It would be interesting to hear what WAEC has to say. That’s not all. Questions have also been raised about Melaye’s Master’s degree program. ABU could be the only university in the world where a candidate can secure admission to a Master’s degree program with a Third Class, without first obtaining a post-graduate degree. It’s improbable in a number of day schools. And to compound Melaye’s complicated certificate story, his name was neither in the ABU Year Book nor on the school’s alumni roll.
Yet, as Melaye acquires more degrees, which from his performance this week in the Senate must now include a degree in Theatre Arts possibly from the same ABU, we’ll have to take the vice chancellor’s word for it, at least for now.
We are in trouble and Melaye’s certificate saga is just a symptom. I don’t know of any other place where a lawmaker facing a charge of certificate forgery will celebrate his discharge with a video mocking his “foes” and then stage a dramatic entrance into the lawmaking chamber with an academic gown. No one called him to order. Yet, this was the same chamber that threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali, for failing to appear in his uniform.
When Itse Sagay said lawmakers were childish and irresponsible, this was precisely the sort of shenanigans he had in mind. And he certainly won’t be the first to say so, even if saying so drives the lawmakers mad. I don’t know of any other place where lawmakers will insist on the execution of Ibrahim Magu who for over one year – and without a letter of appointment – has worked flat out to fight corruption, insisting that they will not do their constitutional duties until they receive his head on a platter. Sure, the executive has not been sterling, with its own share of Melayes creating the image of a hostage government. But is that what Nigerians deserve – a contest of incompetents who are largely members of the same party? We’re in trouble. It’s not a time for celebratory videos. It’s a time to think, to roll up our sleeves and dig ourselves out this hole. Someone from Kogi West should please let the Melaye Band know that there’s nothing funny about our present dilemma. Nothing.
Source
The Appalling State of Nigerian Airports |By: Tony Ogunlowo
From the 8th of March the Nnamdi Azikwe International airport, in Abuja, Nigeria’s second busiest airport will close for approximately six weeks for repairs. It is to enable the authorities carry out essential maintenance work on the facilities and pot-holed runway. Julius Berger, contracted to do the job, are ready and have promised to have it ready in time.
As an alternative all flights are being re-routed to Kaduna, a small regional airport, about two hundred kilometres away. To try and minimize disruption the government is providing free shuttle buses to and fro with armed police presence along the way as notorious armed robbers and kidnappers are known to prowl the route.
There are currently twenty-six airports in the country ranging from small regional ones to the much bigger international ones such as MMIA in Lagos. Under the auspices of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) a great many of these airports have been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair over the years. It’s not uncommon for these airports to have uncompleted structures, gaping holes in their runways, non-existent sanitary and passenger facilities, constant power failure and security issues. Some airports, like the one in Port Harcourt, are just glorified ramshackle motor parks complete with agberos and other unsavoury characters. Like with most other things in Nigeria there is a lack of constant maintenance. You can’t just close an international airport for six weeks to repair it, maintenance and refurbishment should be an ongoing concern 24/7, 365 days a year. Can you imagine the uproar if Heathrow airport in London or JFK in New York had to close for six weeks? Millions of passengers pass through these terminals every year, not to talk of freight. They don’t even close on Christmas day and they have a dedicated maintenance team that keeps the facilities and runways up to scratch round the clock.
But not in Nigeria, Lagos MMIA and Abuja airports are amongst the worst 10 airports in Africa and the disgrace-of-an-airport in Port Harcourt has been voted the world’s worst one.
You can’t just build an airport and forget about it, expecting it to self-repair itself when the need arises. The FAAN and successive governments have shown a total disregard for the upkeep of the airports. Many airports have uncompleted and abandoned structures, such as Yakubu Gowon or Port Harcourt airports, due to lack of adequate funds to complete the projects( – which could have been allocated and subsequently pilfered ?) putting both planes and passengers at great risk. Pilots are forever complaining about having to negotiate pot-holes on runways and in December 2013 a Saudi Arabian cargo plane damaged its undercarriage landing on a runway in Abuja.
All this is in addition to frequent power cuts which have seen not-so-friendly staff trying to get people on to flights using flashlights. The lack of power also affects navigational aids which are crucial to planes taking off and landing – and that’s if the landing aids are installed in the first place! There’s even been a case where passengers have been forced to use a step ladder to disembark from a plane because portable stairs were not available! Imagine some airports, in the 21st century, still using tents as check-in halls? Disgraceful!
On a rather embarrassing note whenever there is harmattan or bad weather over Lagos MMIA flights are diverted to Cotonu, next door, because they have better facilities and navigational aids – and the power doesn’t go! Better facilities, better runway, better navigational aids because the government of a miniscule country called Republic of Benin know the importance of maintaining an airport. In Nigeria, however, more important is the allocation of funds from the budget for the maintenance of the airport which will subsequently disappear into someone’s bank account and no work will be done.
Even the security around the airports is laughable: herders are known to take their cattle to graze on the grassy fields in between runways and armed robbers sometimes try to hijack planes taxiing.
Over fifteen million passengers use Nigerian airports every year and all these people expect these gateways into the country to be pleasant, well-maintained and safe. Using an airport in Nigeria is like catching a bus at the Mile Two bus stop with its non-existent shelters, area boys and agberos ready to prance on you, pot-holed dusty roads and that’s not to talk about the buses themselves which are death-traps on wheels.
The first impression anyone gets when visiting a new country is when they disembark at the airport. And if your airport is full of bolekaja personnel, appalling facilities and services and uncompleted buildings with bandits and herders roaming freely around you are not painting a positive picture of the country. No wonder Nigerian airports are bottom of the list on most travel websites.
Tony blogs at http://www.archangel641. blogspot.co.uk
A Vacation and the Orphaned Country~ By: Wole Aguda
6 days after President Muhammadu Buhari arrived the UK for his extended vacation, a big announcement was made at Harvard – they had acquired unprecedented knowledge of how to convert Hydrogen (a gas) to metal. This might be passing information for multiple Olodos like my humble self on social media but those who possess a little orientation in the sciences know what long term impacts this discovery could have for human living. Back home in Nigeria, the media was festering in a different world while dealing with rumours of an ailing president who, by some accounts was hurriedly rushed to the UK for urgent medical attention. The whispers began and as expected (Nigerian style), our attention as a people had been won to a new subject. While citizens of the developed world analyzed the prospects of a bright future for their next 20 generations via Hydrogen conversion to metal and which will likely be an export item to Africa. We set up e-courts for debates and in some cases rings for electronic defenders of politicians. In Nigeria, we were about the news and not scientific discoveries or waves that could expand our equity or stake in the African continent. Nigeria was not about Nigeria.
After about 50 days in the United Kingdom for an extended vacation, President Buhari this morning landed at the Kaduna Airport and about now should be at the presidential villa. The 50 days have however not been ordinary ones. Nigerians had their dose of melodrama scripted across different divides. The rumour mills grounded at deafening decibels about a president who had passed away and who was in a vegetative state. They were roundly addressed however by the presidential spokesman who transmitted information that suggested that the president in a message to these Nigerians referred to them as “mischief makers” Let me quote him for effect: “Thank you for holding out against mischief makers” Mr. Femi Adesina reported as being the words of Mr. President. While this was ongoing, researchers at the National Health Institute, US, discovered a new molecular mechanism that might be the cause of severe premenstrual syndrome known as PMDD. This led them to a new discovery – they could alter estrogen and progesterone in test subjects and the result? The disappearance of severe symptoms. Our ladies across Nigeria will soon become customers of this wonder discovery which was made while Wailers denigrated the Presidency and “Sai Baba” sycophants farted nonsensical achievements from begrudged anuses to Nigerians. Nigerians were not about Nigeria.
In expected democratic practice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo mounted the saddle as President. Perceived by some to be a more pragmatic leader, his style effused energy and a keenness that promoted a sense of urgency that endeared him to not a few Nigerians. In what was a coincidence of progress, or not, the Naira strengthened against the dollar in what has now become the flagship of his 50 days on the throne. Nigerians of course again swerved the drama. “Mischief makers” did not want a return of Buhari as it seemed that the freshness of interventions from Osinbajo struck the right chords in the far south of Nigeria. The conflict was shared between supporters of President Buhari who, in my opinion, correctly promoted the notion of a united presidency and thus discarding willful suggestions of disparity in the presidency. While this raged, a French Neuroscientist concluded experiments that demonstrated that humankind could now reverse paralysis through implants of electrodes in the human brain – talk about gains for humanity! So while we are about ourselves, the world is about the world, because they seem to own it and have more stake in its development. We have politicians to worship here! Nigeria, the country again was thrown under the bus. We are a nation about personalities.
This brings me to the worrisome observation that prompts this piece. Do we really care about Nigeria the country like we care for the personalities that we elect? While persuasive passions ran over social media for or against a Buhari, I saw a nation bleeding and begging for attention. We have killed allegiance to the Nigerian dream and have slaughtered our nationalism on a slate of partisanship. Who do we think suffers at the end of the day? Energy has been devoted to undermining the presidency in veiled strategies related to 2019. The people now seem to be made for elections rather than election being tools in their hands to achieve positive change. Even when what we have had for the last two years is nothing short of suicidal economics, many are more interested in Buhari or the North completing two tenures with no prioritization of the fatherland as prime. While the nation is just recovering from a highly organized heist that spanned 30 years of our nationhood, we are already rooting for a return of the same political criminals that put us in this mess in the first place. We are no longer about Nigeria and that in itself is a sad commentary on the evolved fragmentation of the Nigerian people.
How President Trump’s Turbulent 30 Days in Office May Lead To His Impeachment |By: Tony Ogunlowo
Every new President in the United States spends his first month in office getting to know and thank the people who elected him into office, talking (politely) to fellow world leaders, selecting his executive team, using the media to get his message out and starts to implement his election campaign policies.
But not President Trump….
In less than 30 days as the President he’s managed to upset nearly everyone in the world – the Chinese, Russians, Mexicans, Iranians, Muslims – he even put the phone down on the Australian Prime Minister!
Unique and unlike any other American President before him he’s an egomaniac, bully and misogynist and not to talk of him being crass; he makes ex-President bush look clever. He sees himself as an Emperor and if care isn’t taken to curb him he has all the makings of a wannabe dictator. I mean what kind of President demeans himself by acting like a juvenile delinquent, on steroids, tweeting his every dissatisfaction on Twitter and having spats with people? Hasn’t he heard of a thing(s) called decency, conduct and protocol? Obviously not!
Breaking with protocol and in a rare display of nepotism, never before seen in American politics, Mr Trump has populated his inner circle with family and cronies – with his daughter, Ivanka, standing in as First Lady In Waiting( – is the real First Lady, Melania, on vacation?)
His election promise to get Muslims from seven countries banned from entering the United States has been overturned by judges who have deemed it unconstitutional and discriminating. He’s still going to build his Mexican wall but now realises America will have to pay for it. He is even reported to be considering the use of more than a force of 100, 000 national guards to hunt down illegal immigrants.
His erratic behaviour is causing a major concern amongst world leaders who are not sure what he’s going to next. This is the man who has got his finger firmly on the nuclear button forcing Russia to step up its game in readiness for an all-out nuclear war should Trump flip.
Already he’s fired all foreign US ambassadors, fired sally Yates, acting US attorney-general, for opposing his US-ban on Muslims policy. He’s fired six of his White House staff after they failed FBI background checks. Michael Flynn, his top national security official, quit in the wake of secret contacts with Russian spies during his election campaign and the White House is in total disarray.
He’s constantly battling the press, singling out CNN and The Post as his arch-enemies claiming they only publish ‘fake news’ all the time ( – especially when things don’t go his way!).
His reluctant First lady ,Melania, is holed up in Trump Tower in New York most of the time and doesn’t want to seem to come out and leading politicians reckon he needs a psychiatrist on stand-by 24/7 as he’s mentally unstable and could suffer a meltdown.
Also, because he’s a billionaire his business interests conflict with his official duties as President. He claims he has signed over all his business interests over to his sons, who now run his empire, but everybody knows he’s still the power behind the throne. Where will he find the time to run the country?
There have been widespread demonstrations, worldwide, protesting against his stand on Muslim immigrants and travel and his treatment of women.
Finally on the 16th of February he gave a surprise 90 minute press conference claiming he had achieved more in his first few weeks than any of his predecessors saying ‘the White House is running like a fine-tuned machine’, while at the same time taking a swipe at the New York Times and CNN (again!) over his campaign aides links with Russia.
Running a country, the size of America, is not the same as running a business empire or a TV reality programme and the incumbent will have to learn to follow protocol and listen to the wishes of the people who elected him in the first place. At a time when there is a lot of turmoil in the world, America needs a clear headed President to head the world’s most powerful nation something Donald Trump clearly isn’t.
If in the space of less than a month he has managed to alienate himself from the people he’s supposed to lead there’s no saying what he’ll do if he’s allowed to complete his four year tenure. Knowing the Americans they’ll probably impeach him before then or…..
Tony blogs at http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk
I want to go to London… to see Buhari | By: Reuben Abati
When 15 million plus Nigerians voted for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 General elections, their expectation was that he would be available to serve them 24/7/365, and that those who fielded him as their candidate had done their homework to avoid what is curiously becoming the Katsina problem in Nigerian politics. Katsina! But we have now found ourselves in a situation whereby our President is now in London, for more than one month sir, ma, and we are here, and we have an acting President, who according to everybody, including the extremists and the mischievous, and the politically partisan, is beginning to try his best, with his admirers, now praying for the worst.
For that reason alone, we have an emotionally, politically and spiritually divided country on our hands. Don’t mind what they tell you, and don’t deceive yourself, the Nigerian Presidency is in turmoil. It is not our wish. It is not what the voters asked for. But that is how democracy works. You cannot predict the results that democracy produces. Not even in America. Or Russia.
Now that we have found ourselves in this situation, anyway – an absentee President trying to remain relevant and an acting President struggling to put up appearances, and struggling harder not to be seen to be ambitious (sorry, Prof. I was your student but I have something to say sir, I don’t mean any harm – truth be told), where should the Nigerian people stand? For the past one month, we have all been trapped in a post-truth situation, pretending as if all is normal. We should stop pretending.
Those who supported and are supporting the APC that brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power and office cannot talk. They cannot talk due to embarrassment and shame. They are busy putting up a face. But for how long can they do this? The Nigerian media is also on its knees, looking so pitiable, with the exception of a few blogs, newspapers that we can’t even trust, professional media consultants who are in disarray, a few bloggers and then some gentlemen: Pa Ikhide, Farooq Kperogi, Sonala Olumhense, Omoyele Sowore, Pius Adesanmi and Okey Ndibe who have since been specially illuminated as they journeyed to Damascus.
I will return to this subject some other day. But I think right now, we should begin to take the subject of the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari more seriously. Bukola Saraki, our Senate President has visited him in London, twice, within two weeks. I don’t think we should leave this business of visiting the President to party chieftains, the executive and the Federal Legislature. If care is not taken, Senator Saraki may be tempted to visit the President again next week. And the week after and he may even be tempted to travel with all the members of the National Assembly. There must be equity in this matter.
Figure it out as follows: we all know that President Buhari is now in London and he is the man Nigerians chose as their President in 2015. We cannot forsake him. He is in London on working leave, for more than one month now, and we don’t know when that leave will end. We have been told it will end soon. Later. One day. Whenever. We are not God. Let the leave end when it will. But we, the people, have a duty to stand by our President. This is the point of this article. We are Africans. We have traditions. We respect elders. We don’t joke with old age. The time has come, right now, for Nigerians to behave like Africans.
We should therefore, not leave this business of visiting to Senator Busola Saraki alone. Party chieftains have visited Mr. President. The leadership of the National Assembly has also gone to London to be part of President Buhari’s working leave. I think Vice-President-Acting-President Yemi Osinbajo should also visit his boss, this week, next week, or ASAP. Henceforth, he should be in London at least once a week. Let us stop pretending that the President is not in charge. He is. If Aso Villa is now in London, let us make it work. The Acting President and the real President need quality face time. If the acting President must go to London everyday, let him do so, but don’t let us run Nigeria by telephone or DHL Am I making sense? I am not talking about common sense. I mean real sense. So, do I make any sense at all?
After the Acting President’s visit, all former Presidents should also start going to London to see the President. Those former Presidents are not as harmless as they pretend to be. They are projected to the public as advisers but they are more than that: they all left something in Aso Villa that makes them eternally powerful. It is like leaving your DNA in a woman’s body. They should be allowed or perhaps encouraged to visit President Buhari while he is on working leave. I think our Baba in Abeokuta, Ota and Ibogun should be the first to visit. That may negate the order of seniority, but trust the Ebora Owu to return from London with front-page news! After him, the others can start visiting and probably advise on the possibility of holding a Council of State meeting in London. As it were, the Nigerian Constitution does not insist that the Council of State Meeting must be held inside Nigeria. The main subject of that first historic, diaspora, Council of State Meeting should be phrased by OBJ in his own unique way: “Momodu: are you well or sick?”
There is something called the separation of powers. I don’t want to disrespect mi’lords but I think they too should go to London. The National Judicial Council (NJC) should put together a high-powered delegation of judges from every part of the country, from all divisions, and level, to proceed post-haste to London to visit, no, to confer with President Buhari on matters of judicial interest to the nation. But Sirs, don’t go there and talk about the welfare of judges, or the non-payment of your entitlements – if you try that, well, I won’t be in a position to tell you what awaits you on your return. You know mi’lords, as well as I do, that the law in Nigeria is now being made to look truly like an ass!
After the judges, okay may be the Nigerian Bar Association should also send a delegation, but I don’t trust many of our lawyers. They think they know the law, and they could go to London and say things that will disrupt the President’s working leave. To make that impossible, members of the NBA should be booked on an Arik flight to London, please. But if they get there, fine. The next delegation should be that of Permanent Secretaries. These ones should spend more than a week in London with the President. In fact, they can stay with him till he returns. If they also have medical issues, they should use the opportunity to ask for tests, with the condition that they must return immediately the President leaves London, notwithstanding the status of their own medical tests!
Once the Permanent Secretaries have been fully accommodated in London, the Ministers, those who were once dismissed by their own employer as “noise-makers”, and who have proven to be no better, should also visit London. They can go ahead and make as much noise as they wish in London and even enjoy the benefit of a full Federal Executive Council Meeting. I suspect that this will be a particularly productive FEC meeting. If the people in the Foreign Affairs Ministry know what they are doing, however, they would arrange ahead of that meeting in London, a special meeting with Theresa May, Prime Minister of Great Britain, followed by a dinner with Her Majesty the Queen of England, with a proviso, please, please, please, that nobody should bring up the issue of Biafra or Southern Kaduna after shaking the Queen’s hand, and there should be a strict guarantee that President Buhari will be accompanied by his extremely beautiful wife, Aisha, and he will not, meeting the Queen, no matter how excited, make the mistake of referring to “za oza room”.
Stop laughing, my friend; this is how you people cause problems for innocent writers. What I am now trying to add having made all these points above, is that the Governors’ Forum should also visit President Buhari in London. The Governors have already signified their intention to do so and that seems to be fine with the Nigerian public. The Governors should therefore appoint representatives who should proceed to London. When they meet with the President, they should hold a special prayer session with three prayer points: one, that President Buhari will not work for another person to come and eat; two: that the demons of Aso Rock will spare and forgive him and his family; three: that President Buhari will return to Nigeria with his two feet. The Governor to lead the prayer should be Peter Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State.
If he starts sounding as he has been sounding in recent times, Nasir el-Rufai should be asked to take the microphone from him. And if Nasir sounds like he is playing politics, as he has been doing, Adams Oshiomhole who will like to be there anyway, as a Governor ex-officio, should be given the microphone and asked to pray for the President as best as he can or as best as Trotsky could.
I have left out some people. In the past month, some Imams and ulamas and concerned relatives have been reported in the media, holding prayer sessions for a hale and hearty President who is just in London to enjoy the weather and do some quality check-ups, private and public. These prayer warriors have prayed and prayed in Abuja, Daura, Borno and everywhere else. The matter is so serious that nobody should be surprised if Rochas Okorocha or James Ibori organizes a prayer session for Muhammadu Buhari. This is the biggest business in Nigeria at this moment.
I think, therefore, that we should also encourage the ulamas and the imams to visit. Let them go to London and pray for their President. We have been told they have been sending prayers through skype, whatsapp and the air, the same channels that GSM service providers in Nigeria now want to block. Let the imams go to London then and let the verses of the Holy Quoran rain down. It will be unfair not to allow Christian leaders to go to London too. They are also anxious to go to London. Pastor Tunde Bakare, my beloved, secondary school senior should lead that team. His job should be to screen out any Pastor with Biafra, or Southern Kaduna or pro-PDP blood in him or her. I mean Pastors like Reno Omokri, Ebun Adegboruwa…. you get what I am saying? The prayer should be commissioned!
Traditional rulers, bloggers, public intellectuals, trolls, and journalists! Oh, I almost forgot. I think we should also be invited to London to have tea with the President. I volunteer to lead that team but if I am considered unpopular, since they say I am not one of them, let @ikhide, @akaebube, or @dejiadeyanju, @realFFK, or @YeleSowore, be the team leader. But please, make sure we have on that list, @lindaikeji, @SDimokoKORKUS, @emepretty1, @bellanaija, @omojuwa, @ChiomaChuka, @AbangMercy, @toyeenb, @MrStanleyNwabia and… and… My friend, STFU! I am not planning a special episode of #bbnaija. I just want to go to London and see …my President.
2Baba And His Ajebota Generation |By: Dele Momodu
Fellow Nigerians, let me confess straightaway that I have a special space for 2BABA formally known as TUFACE IDIBIA. It is impossible to meet this perfect gentleman and not fall for him. I’ve come to know him reasonably well since his days with the Plantashion Boyz when I invited and took some of the hottest artistes to the Obafemi Awolowo University for the biggest show ever, the Ovation Concert. It was a night to remember for many students who were fortunate to attend the event that evening. One thing that always stands 2BABA out is his humility. He is humble to a fault. He has of course been very nice to me generally. Our paths have crossed in far-flung places like Canada and Australia and the love and respect between us is always palpable.
Therefore, when news broke about two weeks ago that he was planning to lead a nationwide protest against the Buhari government, I was genuinely and seriously stunned. Never did 2BABA cut the image of a radical in my view. At best, I knew him to sing love songs and offer subtle criticism of government policies or human suffering. He is one of the most comfortable singers in Africa and my opinion was that he could not be expected to risk anything that would jeopardise his comfort zone. But after watching his recorded videos concerning the planned protest which had gone viral on social media, my incredulity started turning to credulity and credibility. So 2BABA was going to do what some of us had attempted in the past, activity that had landed me in detention at CID Alagbon detention centre Ikoyi, and later forced me to exile in London for three solid years under the dreaded regime of General Sani Abacha, I soliloquised.
Holy Jesus, I screamed. This was it and let’s see how it would play out, I thought aloud as I journeyed around Africa in connection with my job. As days climbed days, we his admirers waited with bated breath. Will government listen to the cries of the people or will government get angry and summarily massacre the citizens in a shooting spree? I doubted such possibility at this time and age and knew 2BABA to be too gentle to cause unnecessary mayhem in the land of his birth, or indeed anywhere else. I decided to encourage and support him him with my modest social media presence. Something needed to be established once and for all; that no Nigerian should be deprived of his right to participate in a peaceful demonstration in our dear country. Freedom of expression and association continue to be fundamental and inalienable rights of every citizen in our democracy and, more importantly, under our Constitution.
Anyway, the dream of witnessing a revolution led by 2BABA, the most unlikely candidate for such venture, opened my eyes to fresh realities. I was cocksure that 2BABA and company would never be deterred or scared by the fear of some armed security guys. It was not I thought going to be a protest that would die with only a whimper, ending up as all noise and sound but no fury. I also trusted that those organising the peaceful demonstration would have to do something about the real risk of breakdown of law and order by hoodlums and political flunkies who would be manipulated to disrupt and distort the noble aims of the organisers.
Barely hours to the start of the protests, news filtered in again that 2BABA and his friends had called off the demonstrations. Who was pulling my legs, I imagined/ The news soon spread like wildfire. There were speculations that 2BABA had been threatened by some government agents. No one could verify the authenticity of all the conspiracy theories. The video lackadaisical video that 2BABA put out did nothing to dispel the views and theories, one way or the other. What was important was that another opportunity to galvanise Nigerian youths into taking their destinies in their own hands had just evaporated into thin air. 2BABA came out in yet another broadcast to warn his friends not to come out on the streets. Many of those who expected some action were obviously disappointed. Some even attacked him as a lily-livered man who promised what he could not deliver. As for me and my house, I knew all the things that could have transpired and how tough it would have been for many of the silver-spoon kids who were largely his followers to follow through on their threats.
That is why I have started out in my headline by describing this generation of youths as an ajebota one, youths who grew up on bread and butter and not village-trained ones who fed on dusty rough meals like us. We should not have expected them to have the kind of tenacity we enjoyed in our time from secondary school, through to University and teaching, when we confronted tear gas and bullets on the streets. This particular generation is blessed with computers, smartphones and social media. They can hide behind some tiny screens to throw darts and arrows at their perceived enemies. We were being stupidly optimistic to have expected so much more from them. However, I was not too surprised or utterly disappointed. I was happy 2BABA had stirred the hornets’ nests and for whatever it is worth, my belief is that it is going to wake up the Buhari government from its deep slumber and seeming reticence or complacency, whatever word you can find in the lexicon. The time has come to, at least, tickle this government and hope that something good can still come out of them.
That symbolic act for me was still an achievement. The future of Nigeria lies in the hands of the youths. I’m not so interested in their street protests but in the efficacy of their votes. For far too long, the Nigerian youths have failed to make use of the power and strength of their majority population to affect their nation positively. I am in a way part of a guilty generation of youths that failed our nation in that way. Another generation is now behind ours. All we continue to hear is that the ancient generation has refused to hand over power, firstly to us, and now, to them. But they studiously forget that they have to go all out to wrestle for power. The youths of Nigeria have always suffered from self-doubt by singing the same endless chorus of “It is not possible, it is not possible for us to take power…” However, we must be reminded that this ancient generation that we speak about did wrestle power from the colonialists in their youth.
The youths don’t seem to realise that when one of their own comes out to contest, they are the first to shoot him down and say he lacks experience. However, what they call “experience” is mainly the ability to have looted enough funds while serving in one government position or the other and coming back years later to buy everyone with this loot. If elections were held tomorrow, I won’t be surprised if our youths vote again for men in their seventies under one excuse or the other. I can speak authoritatively on this as someone who came out genuinely to champion the cause of the younger generation a few years ago. Everyone else was qualified to run for presidential election but not a publisher. A Soldier, Police officer, Customs officer, Teacher, and others were eligible because they had somehow served in one government or the other but not an international Publisher who on account of his job had been able to be close to governance in many countries. Many, in fact, took delight in poking fun rather than look objectively at the credentials and programmes of each candidate objectively, thoroughly and dispassionately. They did not consider any guiding principle or ideology. They were hoodwinked and mesmerised by the old foxes who had amassed wealth legally or illegally. At the end of the day, they were sorely disappointed.
The story of Nigeria is not about age or generation alone. President Goodluck Jonathan, if we are to believe his official records, was not that old when he became President. He is easily the most experienced leader Nigeria could ever have in terms of service at the highest level of each tier of government. He rose through the ranks going through the gamut of governance as Lecturer, Agency Director, Deputy Governor, Acting Governor, Governor, Vice President, Acting President and substantive President. What more could we have asked from a candidate? But he still could not take us to the promised land. After him, we have now tried a man with the age and wisdom of Methuselah in President Muhammadu Buhari but it is still no longer at ease. What then is the solution and what is the future of Nigeria?
As always, I will propose a few things. My humble thesis that while it might not really matter in all instances, a country like Nigeria once again deserves some injection of youthfulness in governance. It seems that we have once again returned to the nascent days of our struggle for independence from our colonial masters, except that the independence that we now seek is from a corrupt, incompetent and twisted gerontocratic oligarchy. Anyone above 60 to 65 may soon become a liability to the nation. Those who made retirement age to stand at 60 and, with certain exceptions 65, were not stupid. The law of diminishing return begins to set in once you cross that age barrier.
I wish and hope that Nigerians would support some bright and smart Nigerians in the next dispensation.
Buhari for a variety of reasons does not deserve to run again but it is his prerogative to run if he so chooses. If he does not, then within his party, the coast should be clear for younger folks to run. The baton could go to the likes of Yemi Osinbajo, the current Vice President, Bukola Saraki, the current Senate President, Nasr El Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode. From PDP
I can think of Godswill Akpabio and Ben Bruce and from the currently non-aligned, Oby Ezekwesili, Donald Duke and Fola Adeola stand out. There are so many others from APC, PDP and the other fringe parties.
Running a nation is not rocket science. What matters most is performance over and above our obsession with fighting corruption. Corruption would reduce when we bring on board competent and hardworking men and women who love their country and are willing to perform and not just attain power for self-aggrandizement and the fun of it.
Please, note that I can’t be bothered about party affiliation for now. I’m more interested in performance only. I’m also disinterested in zoning formula. I don’t really care where our next President comes from.
We have wasted enough time and resources on primordial sentiments and we should move forward or perish in the process of sticking to our old ways of doing things. If we truly wish to get Nigeria out of this quagmire, we should be prepared to do the unusual and go for radical reforms. We all seem to know what is wrong with Nigeria but refuse to do the needful. This is one of the reasons I am happy with the Ajebota generation as they seem to care less about those primordial ethnic and religious feelings that have for so long been a huge divisive setback to our progress as a nation.
We must seek very modern, well-educated, urbane, civilised, exposed, energetic, accomplished, detribalised, visionaries as leaders. Please, note that I did not say a saint because we are not likely to find one anywhere. Murtala Mohammed was no saint but in the few months that he governed he brought discipline, respect and performance to Nigeria. Enough of experimenting dangerously as time has already left us behind. We need to search critically and frantically from every part of Nigeria and beyond since God has blessed us with incredible talents.
Next we must reduce the cost of governance drastically because our country is haemorrhaging heavily and it is being killed quickly. The atrocious resources we waste on public office holders can never augur well for our nation. Under President Buhari, a man who is well known for frugality, the cost of running the presidential villa has been most disappointing and embarrassing. Nigeria needs to declare a state of emergency on the current spending spree or collapse under the weight of our reckless profligacy.
The next leader must demonstrate practical ways of bringing our infrastructural deficit to a reasonable level. It has become obvious that a typical politician would only come to waste four to eight years and this is not the type of leaders we need. If we fail to act and only succeed in bringing another ceremonial leader to Aso Rock, then it means Nigeria is jinxed, doomed and sentenced to eternal damnation and perdition. We should then blame no one for our woes but ourselves…
Two Faces Of The Nigerian Army | By: Mariam C. Mohammed
What kind of face exactly does the Nigerian army really want to present to us? Good or bad? Beautiful or ugly? Friend or enemy? Protective or abusive?
Forgive my rant. But these days, every time I read the newspapers, watch the local news or check my social media timelines, it seems there’s always some news about the Nigerian army or its personnel: some of them disturbing; others cheering.
It’s a motley of reports: complaints and commendations; ridicule and praise; contempt and admiration; and it goes on. Sometimes it gets inundating. It’s like the army has become two faced; something like a shape shifter.
And it gets me worried; and I think the top hierarchy of the force should too.
In recent times, we’ve read so much about the heroics of the Nigerian army in beating back the threat of Boko Haram and decimating their ranks and capacities to launch any serious attacks.
But why are a few members of the army bent on rubbishing these proud records and tainting the good works under the commendable leadership of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai? And what is the army doing about it to ensure Nigerians don’t have a permanent negative view of the men in green?
Allow me to bore you a little with the details.
In a new video that went viral on the vibrant Nigerian social media web space, Nigerians recoiled in shock and disbelief as they watched footages of Nigerian soldiers mercilessly beating a crippled man in Onitsha for daring to wear a military fatigue.
The video showed onlookers watching helplessly as the man on wheelchairs received rains of blows and lashes of the whip from the uniformed men. The disabled man rolled in the mud and writhed in pains.
Nigerians are familiar with military brutality, but flogging a defenseless man on a wheelchair for the ‘crime’ of wearing a military camouflage? Now that’s a new level of impunity.
Earlier in January, one Jewel Infinity, a Nollywood actress narrated how she was assaulted by soldiers manning a checkpoint in Port Harcourt while driving to Onitsha for allegedly “gossiping” about one of the men with another lady beside her in the vehicle.
Still in Port Harcourt, another soldier reportedly smashed the windscreen of a man for “disturbing him with the loud noise” from his car radio!
There were a few other random cases where soldiers took the law into their own hands and unilaterally served punishment to members of the public, took pictures or allowed others to take them and post on the Internet.
Talk about gross impunity, crass indiscipline and utter disdain for the public they are meant to protect!
Don’t these band of misfits in the force take a moment to ponder why the American public so much revere its military? Why they fondly call them the US marines? Or feel mightily protected and proud when they talk about its special force, the Navy Seals?
Well, it’s because unlike its average Nigerian counterpart, a US marine inspires patriotism, devotion, admiration, respect and a sense of safety — not fear and contempt.
I’m not exactly holding brief for these allegedly wronged citizens; as we know some Nigerians simply love trouble and deliberately break the law, so they could run off to a judgmental mob on Twitter and Instagram and bay for blood of the supposed aggressor. But that’s a matter for another day.
Gen. Buratai’s quiet military revolution
Let me at this juncture acknowledge the responsiveness and sensitivity of the top hierarchy of the force in dealing with the public outcries that trailed these cases and similar ones.
In the case of the crippled man in a wheelchair in Onitsha, the erring soldiers have reportedly been demoted and jailed; while the assaulted man, Chijioke Raphael Uraku was compensated with cash gift and clothes by the army.
In the same vein, the army summoned Suleiman Olamilekan, the soldier that reportedly assaulted the Nollywood actress, Infinity Jewel in Port Harcourt, along with a guard commander and punished them accordingly.
That demonstration of empathy, warmth and public rapport typifies the new face the top hierarchy of the army is now trying to present to us all. And perhaps no one represents that evolving image more than the head of the force himself, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai.
The Biu, Borno-born military officer has come to cut the image of a fine gentlemen and a soldier’s soldier with a fierce reputation for taking out the enemy with brutal fatality and effective clear-outs.
Yet, and strikingly so, Gen. Buratai’s unassuming personality and soft-spoken mien bellies that fire and steely determination of this crack general to make a mark and lay a solid foundation for the Nigerian army.
Many a time I have imagined being at Lt. Gen. Buratai’s favourite mammy market joint, having a drink with the quintessential general. *winks*
“…My vision on assumption of office (is) to have a professionally responsive Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles,” Lt. Gen Buratai had said during 2016 Regimental Sergeant Majors (RSMs) Convention at the Army Resource Centre, Abuja.
And how he’s matching words with action!
Such is his non-nonsense attitude and the magnitude of impact he’s made on the force since he came into office in July 2015 that Boko Haram terrorists probably never knew what hit them and never recovered as Gen. Buratai and his motivated men in just under two years dealt them blow after blow and reduced them to a demoralised and fast thinning band of ragtag bandits.
As soon as he was appointed COAS, Buratai went down to the business of dismantling Boko Haram; and, unlike his predecessors, spent more time on the dangerous frontlines in Bornu and Yobe than in Abuja.
Giving a hint of what to expect, in September 2015, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai made a morale-boosting trip to the field troops and toured the battle grounds traveling up to Gamboru-Ngala in the border area of Borno.
There, he supervised the dismantling of Boko Haram flags and insignia and hoisted the Nigerian flag in its place.
He passed the night in the cold open weather; disregarding the possibility Boko Haram could be lurking around and lying in wait for him with land mines. He simply was giving the men on the field good lessons and the courage of a true soldier.
He spoke with each soldier and listened to them on their demands, challenges and even advice on how to win the asymmetric war. He ordered that a bon fire be made and troops were jubilant and screamed with excitement all night.
It was military leadership at its finest.
However, more needs to be done, as some soldiers especially at the lower ranks appear bent on prolonging a long tradition of invoking fear and hate among the populace and treating them as “bloody civilians.”
But what the army needs now isn’t to force fear and hate in the citizenry. It is to inspire respect, love and admiration in them.
This is where Gen. Buratai needs to invest a lot more effort and strategy so his quiet, commendable revolutionary isn’t rubbished or stained by the indiscretions and old habits of a few members of the force.
This article was written by Mariam C. Mohammed, publisher of Maktoub Magazine.
This Is The “Change” We Voted For|By: Godwin Amadi
Some people glamourize regret as if regret is a virtue or an endowment. All some posers need to do to remain relevant on social media is to say they regret voting Buhari. Others less imaginative ask, “Is this the change we voted for?” Whenever I hear these, I am reminded that loyalty is a high-price commodity.
What are you regretting? IF you really voted “Change”, what did you have in mind? Instead of reveling in your ignorance, should you not be ashamed that you lacked the basic understanding of what you espoused? At your age and with your level of education you still dance to every beat? Shame!
This is the “Change” I campaigned and voted for. From inception, I know real, lasting change comes at a high cost and discomfort. Have you ever attempted to change your life, weight, values or complexion? Did it come cheap or easy? Why do many people fail to live up to their New Year resolutions? Genuine change at any level is tough and cruel at first. Nigeria will not be an exception.
What happens when corporate organizations decide to change processes and procedures in the workplace? It is usually resisted because most people prefer the status quo. Corporate changes like mergers, acquisitions and reconstructions create imbalance and uncertainties in the concerned entities. I know a man whose workforce reduced by 75% when he restructured (or effected change in) his company. Today, the same man is shouting his voice hoarse that Buhari’s change is draconian and insensitive. Hypocrite!
How do we become self-sufficient in food production? The answer is simple: make heavy investments in agriculture and ban importation of foods that deplete our foreign reserve. Take rice for instance. As long as there are no restrictions on the importation of rice, local farmers will not grow rice and our exotic taste buds will not be retrained. If I were Buhari, I would put a total ban on the importation of rice.
Take cars, fabrics and wines (and spirits) for another instance. Something drastic needed to be done about our appetite for cars, clothes and wines. The cumulative costs of importing this trio into Nigeria consumed a substantial share of our foreign reserve. Buhari says NO. He argues that if you must use these imports, then be ready to pay a premium price for them. This is simple logic and economics. This is especially so since global oil price has dwindled and tempers are high in the Niger Delta.
Goods are more expensive in Nigeria today because Buhari insists that most of the products we import can and should be produced locally. By so doing, he has flung open unending investment and job opportunities for Nigerians especially. While reserving limited foreign exchange for some critical sectors of the economy, Buhari is urging them to make hay while the sun shines. Buhari is CHANGING the way we live, and the pains we now experience are his instruments of CHANGE. You can only take it, but you can’t reject it.
Why is Buhari putting these strategic restrictions on our consumption patterns? If you are PDP or a hater, these restrictions are to punish Nigerians. But to the dispassionate observer, Buhari’s stance is the most effective route to Nigeria’s escape from economic doldrums festered by inordinate importation of all and every product. Some countries in Asia, Africa and North America have provided infallible precedents to what Buhari has set out to do.
What has happened so far? Buhari is in a mad hurry to fix the refineries. About 6 states are now producing rice in commercial quantities. Cross River state has almost completed what is arguably the largest textile mill in Africa. Buhari is challenging Nigerians to introspect and unleash their creative geniuses. Unfortunately, politics is providing a distracting counter-intuition to these breath-taking developments.
Where will Nigeria be in 10 years if we continue (or forced to continue) to look inwards? Imagine what will happen if we continue to produce a larger chunk of what we eat, wear and drink. Imagine when Aba, Sokoto, Nnewi, Kano, Ondo, Osun, Benue and Nasarawa turn natural endowments into skills. Imagine when our universities and polytechnics wake up. Imagine when our industries and blue-chip companies begin to produce. Only a bold step like Buhari’s CHANGE will give form to these imaginations.
If you did not understand Buhari’s change, it is not Buhari’s fault. Regretting voting Buhari says so much about your character. Asking “Is this the change we voted for?” is the clearest indication that you must never be taken seriously again. You are a plastic supporter, and we will not need you in 2019.
Source
Is Cross-Dressing the New fashion Craze? | By: Tony Ogunlowo
Our youths are always importing fashions and habits from abroad, copying trends and adopting them as their own. The end result is that sometimes they often look ridiculous and out of place.
The latest fashion craze some men have copied from abroad is cross-dressing. Call me old-fashion or old but where I come from men wear trousers and shirts and women wear dresses and make-up; not the other way round (-unless for religious reasons!)
Cross dressing was alien to most Nigerians until the OAP and entertainer Denrele burst on to the scene with his wild Afro hair, platform shoes and flamboyant feminine outfits. And with his androgynous features he could be either sex. Now while one might consider Denrele’s cross-dressing as a prop or a costume – an extension of his entertainment personality – in the same way comedians Eddie Izzard or Dame Edna would dress would dress up and once the show is over it’ll all come off. That is the belief. But recently some men who are not in the entertainment industry have taken to cross-dressing as a normality.
If you’re a man and wear a dress when I was growing up your father would grab his koboko and beat that nonsense out of you.
Nowadays parents don’t seem to care.
If you’re a man who wears make-up and a dress, like Bobrisky or Seun the Diva, because you want to either tune into your feminine side or think it’s fashionable, you’re gay! Either that or you’ve got some serious mental issues that need addressing!
There are those who suggest men should tune into their feminine side, once in a while(?).Perhaps. But not to the extent that you start piling make-up on to your face. No real man wears make-up – let alone wear a dress! What would your mother say (- and the rest of the family?) And how are you going to find a girlfriend (- you probably don’t need one unless she – or he – wouldn’t mind sharing their make-up and clothes with you!)
Now if you’re a cross-dresser who isn’t gay then they’re on their first steps to becoming trans genders. Bruce Jenner might have had his male bits removed to become Caitlyn Marie but he’s still a man. It doesn’t matter that he’s grown boobs and had a vagina surgically put in, wears expensive designer dresses – and makeup. He’s still a man because he can’t do the one thing women do every month – menstruate!(- or experience menopause at his age!)
Again call me old-fashion but a cross-dresser is a fantasist. You’re either a man or woman – you can’t be both. And it’s not fashionable or desirable to the eye – a cross dresser to me looks like a character out of a horror movie!
Perhaps its insecurity that makes some men cross-dress. For some reason or another they are not happy being the ugly person they are and believe they have to create a make believe personality. If you’re unhappy with yourself go and see a psychiatrist or better still pop into one of the many mushroom churches and let them pray for you and sprinkle Holy water on to your stupid head! If you still want to cross dress after all this please keep it to your bedroom! I have no intention of sitting next to a man dressed as a woman in the bus!
Since in my opinion cross-dressers are gay and in an attempt to circumvent the draconian Nigerian ant-gays laws they pretend to look like women. I don’t think a police officer is that blind not to notice what a man looks like in a dress when he catches him with his boyfriend! I’m not homophobic and I don’t think a lot of people are so instead of cross-dressing why don’t you simply come out? (- hopefully you won’t get arrested or stoned!).
Cross-dressers on the other hand will probably argue that women have been cross-dressing for centuries wearing trousers, suits – even agbadas recently – and nobody said a word. And that you even have tomboys that like to replicate a man’s look right down to haircuts and walk. Perhaps. But it’s not the same. A woman may look great in trousers or a suit but the appeal is the opposite when a man wears a dress or makeup. Our highly conservative society can accept a woman dressing like a man but not the other way round.
Even in Western countries, where people are more liberal, men who cross-dress are still looked down upon on as being weird and out of place. And unless it’s for entertainment purposes then the general assumption is that they are gay.
Perhaps cross-dressing is colourful: a new trend by some brave men trying to prove they can wear it better than women. Perhaps they are showing their hidden homosexuality hoping they’ll be accepted as transgenders rather than straight-forward gay.
Already society has begun to frown at cross-dressing, especially in the sharia strict North who recently jailed a cross-dresser for indecency under their strict moral laws. Again what message does it send out to the young impressionable children growing up in their wake? That it’s O.K for a man to dress up as a woman?
Most of our cultures see the man as a leader of his family and the community, wearing a dress will relegate him down to the ranks of the women who can only cook, clean and make babies.
So for all cross-dressers out there it’s time to stop shaving your hairy legs and eyebrows and stop the wearing of make-up. Time to start wearing trousers and shirts again instead of dresses with butt-pads. And enough of the fake funny feminine accents and skin bleaching! You’re a Man and not a Woman, deal with it!
Tony blogs at http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk
Opinion: Of Trump, Hitler and World History|By:Ogbonna Nwuke
It wasn’t really supposed to be easy either for America or for a world order that has evolved over time.
The signs had been there right from the time the new sheriff in town bared his fangs on the campaign trail.Now America and a bewildered world are stuck with a situation that is unclear, an international system likely to be under siege soon, and a future that appears uncertain. Isolationism and protectionism had long taken a strong bashing as the world, secure in its dream for the emergence of a global village, marched in the direction of globalization.
Of course, there has always been the threat posed to world peace by the cold war between the east and west, between the United States and Russia if you like. But skillful diplomacy as well as the cautious optimism of world leaders have helped to reduce the risk of a global war. Side by side, the world has witnessed the spirited expansion of frontiers of trade through carefully documented treaties and agreements. On the home front, America has been a country of immigrants built on a liberal philosophy which allows anyone who meets the rigorous requirements for citizenship to pursue what has come to be seen as the American dream.
The flexibility of such a system anchored on basic freedoms which say all men are born equal basically created the opportunity for the forebears of Donald Trump whose home country, Germany, went to war with the rest of the world, including the United States, to migrate into America. America in turn has benefited from immigration, transforming into one of the greatest countries in the world, and holding such a promise for all who seek to escape persecution; who wishes to make a new home from home; and who desire to exploit the bountiful and latent energy life offers without any limitations.
In so many ways, the tale of America and a changing world have become intertwined, with America providing the moral fibre and leadership for most of the change that has characterized the notion of a free world. So the promise of a United States has impacted positively on the concept of an European Union which now enjoys a common currency and engages in joint collaborative action in most areas, including free movement and immigration.The birth of the African Union was ideally tailored along these lines as well. The fact that in order to bond closely, create huge markets, develop science, technology and infrastructure. And enhance cooperation essentially among African countries; Africa had to take advantage of some of the finest principles that are driving human progress.
Somehow, under the Trump administration, the world stares in unbelief as what some people are beginning to tag a new world order makes its forced entry. The fight to evolve a new psyche, a new world view, a new pecking order and new national perspectives for the world or for the people of the United States by the Trump government isn’t coming without a strong challenge.Outside of America world leaders are raising indignant voices as they try to make sense of the orders that are rolling out of Washington like German panzers.
It is as if nazism which strives on a culture of superiority, race, hate and extreme rightist ideals has been reborn. It is rather strange that it has chosen America described as the land of freedom to reincarnate under the watch of a German American. When Hitler realized his aspiration to be German Chancellor, he unleashed a wave of German nationalism just as Trump seeks to do now by pretending to reawaken American consciousness.
Hitler, the records show, followed up the demonstration of a nationalistic leadership with the repudiation of international agreements, including that which had committed Germany to paying reparations for its role in World War I.
In no time Germany was overrun by the nazi culture. Not even the German army known for its prowess and discipline was spared the control of the nazi movement. The rest is history and not many nations, especially Israel and the Jews can forget what happened during World War II. Although it is early in the life of the Trump administration, I can see some parallels between Trump and Hitler whose coming Nastrodamus foretold.
Nastrodamus had predicted a third global war. Is it possible that the actions and reactions of President Trump have the capacity to create room for the advent of the Prince of the house of Mohammed?
In his predictions that have never failed to come true, America’s defence systems which Nastrodamus saw, failed to intercept what may be today’s nuclear warheads fired by the Arabian Prince described as the third anti-Christ.
Trump denies targeting Islam, but the arguments flowing back and forth doesn’t suggest that the world is struck by the truth of what he says.
Trump has spoken favourably about torture, a veritable tool that Hitler and his henchmen promoted to an art. He has spoken in derogatory terms with leaders of countries with which America has friendly ties like Mexico and Australia. He has ordered soldiers into action and began to cultivate the worst kind of propaganda that the American people have never seen like the Germans did under Goebels and Hitler.
I wish my heart could trust Trump, wish that Trump would have the wish to make the world a more peaceful and habitable place. But the signs aren’t in any way near here.Dreams of an indomitable Germany under Hitler spiralled out of control and led to the death of millions of men, women and children. Will the dream to make America great again turn out to be another smokescreen for dealing a deadly blow on humanity?
Trump didn’t catch my fancy from the outset. Even now, his remarks as the strongest president on earth make me ill at ease. I followed his campaign speeches, his remarks about President Barack Obama the first black to occupy the White House, his proven track record for discriminating against blacks, and the snobbishness conveyed by the way he spoke while soliciting for votes. And I came off with a great feeling of trepidation that unrest in America and war abroad might be the ultimate outcome of a Trump presidency.
How I wish I would be wrong. How I wish that this President would help lay the foundation for a thousand years of peace as predicted by Nastrodamus. How I really wish.
There is no doubt that America has what it needs, going by Trump’s victory via the Electoral College. But the vast majority who cast more popular votes for the protection of rights that are coming under threat early in the Trump era cannot stand it.
Right from inauguration day, they have been on the streets protesting the new face of America and the entry of a rawhide cowboy with a smoking gun who appears determined to reinvent Red Indian territory that ought to be conquered.
More Americans, worried by the turn of events,are joining the ongoing debate. Not many agree that in targeting Muslims, Trump would succeed in keeping America safe.The American court system hasn’t demonstrated any understanding for the presidential order which securely shut the door in the face of citizens of some Muslim nations or those from such countries who are already carrying valid US visas.
It is doubtful US courts ever will, given the uproar in America and the fear that the presidential orders may indeed be at variance with the tenets of their Constitution.
In the court of public opinion, among experienced diplomats and world leaders, Trump doesn’t seem to have secured mainstream support for cancelling trade agreements entered into by the United States and other countries.
Many Americans are beginning to think about the consequential effects of the decisions of a president who appears to be unduly ego driven. I am not a psychologist but I have a strong feeling that this president might be held hostage by a kind of dogma inherited from the formative stages of his life. Office, the decorum and protocols that go with it are supposed to shape the attitude of leaders or the position of leadership on a wide range of issues and interests. Somehow, these do not appear to have any moderating influence on a President who continues to taunt perceived enemies and opponents even in a manner that no president before him has done.
The trouble is, Trump carries a huge responsibility. He needs to find a way out of the deepening cleavage that threatens America and the established world order in which Washington is a prominent player.
He needs to wake up to the reality that America cannot afford to act irresponsibly in a changing world that is faced with so many challenges.Above all, he needs to come to terms with the fact that running a country cannot be the same as operating a business where one can easily say to an employee, “you are fired!”
Can Trump settle down to the reality of these facts in time to lead the free world?
Only time will tell.
Ogbonna Nwuke sent in this piece from Port Harcourt, Rivers State