Masculinity and Feminism in Perspective: 

After a refreshing service that Sunday, I rushed back to my room to prepare a typical student's rice (without meat of course, who meet epp? Hehehehe).
Just as I switched off the burner, ready to munch my hastily prepared delicacy, a heavy knock on the door interrupted the activity. It couldn't had been Bro.C (my usual Sunday visitor, always on time...hehehe), his usual gentle knock left me confused on the identity of the person behind the door.

I was bewildered as I opened the door, two hefty men each with AK 47 riffle gun. I immediately felt a movement in my body, from my head, through my chest down to my legs (a fainting procedure...). I came back to 'life' when one of them flashed his police ID card.
I followed them (like a sheep to the slaughter) alongside three other occupants of the hostel located at Okpuno, Awka. As I saw their van with the inscription: Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), I Wondered what my crime was.

As we proceeded to an undisclosed station, I noticed a white Mercedes Benz 240 C-class trailing our path and direction. I just guessed he would be the complainant. But my worry remains 'what did we do'? The police refused to answer us and the only guy that attempted resisting arrest bleed till we got to the Station. The rest of us had to learn from example (SARS police no dey smile).

Fast forward to the Station:  at Area command police station, they collected our items (phones, wrist watches, clothes etc) we were left with only boxers. Without any interrogation, we were asked to enter the cell, a monster in me was erupted as I heard the word 'cell' (a previous despicable cell experience with a very serious unfortunate situation replayed on my head).

I demanded to see the Divisional Police Officer (D.P.O) at once. When they blatantly refused, I started speaking grammar....shouting and lamenting until a higher officer appeared, I later learnt that he was the District Crime Officer (D.C.O) of the station. I introduced myself, and went ahead and narrated the situation that culminated to our predicament. I added some other ingredients to the narrative in order to engage his emotions ( I didn't lie ooh...lol). But the first thing I demanded from the D.C.O was to tell us our crime.

He consulted the team that arrested us, and came up thus:

That we stole a pair of leather slippers belonging to a man who was said to have visited his girlfriend in our hostel. True to my thoughts, the slippers belonged to the man who drove the white Benz C class.

Chai, I was weakened by that unserious accusation.

The said 'leather slippers' was valued at #10,000 (about #50,000 in today's Buhari economy...lol)
My narrative to the D.C.O only secured us waiver from being cast into the cell. He latter disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace of his whereabouts.

The police insist that we pay for the slippers and an additional #5000 per head for bail.(highest level of injustice. Chai, life can be hard sometimes).

A friend and mentor later showed up and engaged them in war of words for the next two hours. Thanks to him, we were released at about 7.00pm that Sunday.

In retrospect, I analyzed thus:

1. We were over 40 occupants in the hostel of which 80% were female. But when SARS came to arrest suspects, they went for guys (Men)

2. Apart from the fact that I seriously believed that a 'jealous' girl stole the 'leather slippers. I wondered the rationale behind the polices' decision to arrest guys whose room were very far from the 'host' room at which the slippers was stolen from.

3. Why would crime always be associated to male gender?

Last week, I wrote a small article on the increasing negative influence of female feminists' (with the aid of their social media influence) on our girls.
In case you missed it, read up by clicking on the link below
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1924427617573588&id=100000191047882

The post generated different reactions both on the comment section and on my inbox. The average opinion points that feminism is all about 'equality' and fairness' to our women. Some went ahead to enumerate the misdoings and unfair treatment meted on our ladies, depriving them some certain rights and privileges.
I quite agree with them, I sympathize with them and I vehemently sermonize 'fairness' to all genders.

Masculinity comes with its challenges too. Against the popular believe that 'its a mans world' I wish to point out that its not all rosy for 'men'.
A teenage boy will sacrifice his strength to protect his sisters and sustain various forms of injury. If he fails to do that, the society deems him a boy girl

Daily, police arrest innocent 'men' for the crime they didn't commit. Their only crime is 'cos God created them 'male'.
Alot of them have even given their lives to it. You can imagine how many men that have been incarcerated due to indiscriminate arrest made on the streets in Nigeria just because they belong to that 'endangered' specie .

In as much as I don't want to over bloat the men narrative, I just want to emphasis that each gender comes with its challenges. Our society sometimes aren't always fair to either of the gender, we should always learn to contain the ill treatment the society presents while we anticipate a corrective measure to be effected.

African culture is rich with biased gender sentiments, no doubt.

‘Gender equity may not be in the mind of our ancestors when they structured our society, no doubt.

But, they may have gotten a clue from the Bible: when God spoke to Eve
 . . . and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee (Gen.3:16b)

Thank you.

#myopinion

© Ezekute, I.A

FROM A FIRE BRAND CHRISTIAN TO AN ATHEIST: EMMANUEL's STORY

He held his dying father in his arms, he prayed fervently for a healing miracle, he made a vow to forever dedicate his life to the service of God if He intervenes in his father's situation.
He laboured in the place of prayer for about three months, he fasted through out the period, he was shuttling between the hospital and the church, the pastor and top power blazers in the prayer wing were daily interceding on his behalf.
He's full of faith, mustard seed is but a small fraction of the size of his faith.
Bills were pilling up, daily routine drugs were so costly that his pocket appeared like a desert land, his SME business has suffered tremendously to a point that there's nothing left. Thank God for friends and family that still support.

On that fateful day, the surgery was successful. The dim light at the end of the tunnel has started glowing. He called brethren for a high powered prophetic praise, it was all full of testimonies. What an awesome God he exclaimed.
The hospital bill amounted to #800,000. Brethren gathered up to #400,000. He wasn't perturbed about the balance, for him, his father is going to live. That's all that mattered. Otito diri Jisus, Praise God.

Two days later, he went to Aba in bid to offset the bill, his uncles promised to help, he's confident of one thing, that's he's coming back to Awka with the complete money. True to their words, his uncles complied, what a joyous day for him, faithful God, he quipped!!
He didn't notice the recklessness of the driver, he was just humming and praising God with songs through his journey back, he picked up his phone that has been in his pocket to call his only sister and to hear his father's voice once more, he was consequently interrupted with an SMS from same sister, oh, the spirit is one, he muttered. The text read, 'FATHER IS DEAD'

He was blank for the next 30minutes of the journey, a typically example for the biblical description, 'and the earth was without form and void'. He lost touch with the material world until he saw the mortician working on his father's body. Oh Gooooooooooood where art thou, he screamed with a loud voice. He was led out of the mortuary, brethren were apt in their consoling response.
They sang praises, shared words of encouragement, prayed fervently, but Emmanuel was just full of eyes, filled with misery and was totally disconnected from the reality on ground.

A month later, burial rites has been concluded, he trekked to Pastor Ike's residence, walked up to him,  looked him in the face and asked, My name is Emmanuel, meaning, 'God with us' kedu ebe Chukwu ahu no?, where is the God? Pastor Ikechukwu aptly brought out his bible, started searching the scriptures, Emma dropped a heavy sigh and left. That was the last time he was seen in the church premises.

Days passed,
Weeks passed,
Months followed,
Even years....

Bro. Emmanuel has become an atheist. Full blown one!!!

He knows the scriptures.
He quotes Paul's epistles.
He sings the psalms.
He still loves ecclesiastical matters.

But he doesn't believe in God.

Emmanuel fought hard, but he lost.
Emmanuel lost touch with God.
Emmanuel lost the battle of the mind.

Emmanuel has no idea that sometimes, Gods blessings are not in what He gives; but in what He takes away. He knows best.

No wonder Joyce Meyer said, "battles are fought in our minds every day. When we begin to feel the battle is just too difficult and want to give up, we must choose to resist negative thoughts and be determined to rise above our problems. We must decide that when we're bombarded with doubts and fears, we must take a stand and say: 'I will never give up! God's on my side, He loves me, and He's helping me! I'm going to make it!'".

For the Emmanuels' in our society today, 'BE ENCOURAGED'

FRIENDS, LET'S NOT GIVE UP ON THEM.

WE MUST CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THEM!

Its going to be well...

#basedonatruestory
#wordoffaith

Ezekute, I.A ©

KEEP FEMINISM AT A BAY

I tapped her on the shoulder, pointing at a cooler of Nigerian jellof rice. she immediately whispered to my ear, 'I will not share the food, I should be served just like any other guy seated here'.
I wasn't surprised though, owing to her recent indoctrination to the biased feminist movement.
One week later, she demanded I help her lift a 25kg bag of rice she bought down the street.
I smiled, whispered to her ears, 'I have two hands, you have got same, or didn't they teach you that in your class?' She opened her mouth in amazement. I helped her still (as nwa chineke) but I guess she got the message.

That's  how a well trained girl with a wonderful mother will come to Facebook and have her mindset deprogrammed by the so called female media influencers.

This decade has witnessed an upsurge of hardcore feminist, who  will stop at nothing until they turn all our ladies against the societal norms. These social media 'celebrities' have become so influential that subtly they have penetrated the hearts of our girls making mockery of the value system enshrined in their hearts and the labours of their mothers.

Someone will now think that am tending towards male chauvinism, hell no!! My close friends will tell you how I encourage young girls to engage actively in entrepreneurial and creative venture capable of making them financially independent.
I tell them that men are not superior to them but there's this unique leadership role bestowed on men by divinity which they should esteem.
I also inform them that Africa has a biased cultural value in favour of 'men', which validates the outcry for women emancipation, but they should not masquerade their effort with a gender switch.
I tell them that women are stronger than men, that they should not seek equality when they possess an admirable strength.
I don't mean physical muscle or the strength in their tongue, but in terms of endurance, tolerance and managerial skills.

My dear female friends, do not heed to the deception flying around which is fast turning you against the society. Be informed that most of the proponents of this ideology are casualties of 'war', instead of  going through the normal healing process, they took to social media to infect our unsuspecting girls.
I will talk about this 'war' later.

They will tell you that men are trash but could it be that their sexual orientation are quite unnatural?
Feminism is not entirely bad, but keep those extremist tendencies at bay. Take charge of your life and don't allow the labours of our mothers to be in vain.

Be guided!!!

#myopinion

Ezekute, I.A ©

Nasir El-Rufai, Pastor Tunde Bakare and the Groove From Timex Social Club

By Reno Omokri

Now to brass tacks. I never thought I would live to see the day that Sahara Reporters would publish a story alleging, together with supporting documents, that a person reputed to be one of its benefactors, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the under performing Governor of Kaduna state, has been systematically engaging in acts of corruption by way of awarding over invoices contracts to his fronts, family, friends and cronies, without passing  these contracts through the due process of tendering and public advertising.


Not only did I never think I would see such a day, I also did not believe that El-Rufai would turn around and accuse the website he had celebrated of lying and practicing gutter journalism. Wonders shall never cease to happen!

But I have issues with El-Rufai's contretemps with Sahara Reporters after his many long years of nuptial bliss with the notorious site.

My issue is not that El-Rufai spoke, tweeted and facebooked against former President Jonathan and even my humble self during those times like a parrot that swallowed a dictionary of curse words!

Both Dr. Jonathan and I have since moved on. Jonathan to international statesman status, me to a bestselling book. No, my issue is that having used and promoted many slanderous Sahara Reporters story against the former President and I, this mischievous and femininely vindictive character now wants the world to join him in his unholy crusade to delegitimize that medium.

El-Rufai's actions are pitiable. Obviously, he has never read the words of Nabi Suleiman (King Solomon in Christendom) which says "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it"-Proverbs 26:27.

That El-Rufai, the notorious liar who has lied about almost every noteworthy Nigerian that has held influence in the federal government at one time or the other, should call Sahara Reporters liars is rich, very rich indeed.

El-Rufai seems to think that you can sleep with a prostitute at night and deny her in the morning. That will be a very difficult venture for El-Rufai seeing as his fondness for the prostitute led to sweet and carnal moaning from their love nest which were so loud that all Nigerians could hear.

There are also some dots we can connect in this whole saga. Sahara Reporters's exposition of El-Rufai's alleged sordid corruption and his labyrinthine scheme (according to Sahara Reporters, not me) is coming as news that a major telecommunications firm is facing serious money troubles became public knowledge.

One can only hope that those who may or may not have lost huge sums of money in this telecommunications firm are not desperate to recover their lost monies from whatever avenues they can find.

I do not know who is or was behind a certain failed newspaper or this telecommunications outfit that is failing right before our very eyes, but assuming I was behind both ventures, I would not be in a position to boast about having any managerial or business acumen. Especially if I have made a mess of my present office and turned a once peaceful enclave to the most murderous place on planet earth.

Of course, I have been speaking hypothetically. Do not let your imaginations run wild!

And while we are on the subject of El-Rufai, I would like to talk about his very close friend, Tunde Bakare's recent not so subtle attacks on the acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who he accused of trying to outdo his 'benefactor'.

Said Bakare, “The king may be cold, the king may need warmth, but the final authority is still in his hands. All the actors in the corridor of power can keep acting, but the residual power is still in the man who is cold.”

Not content he also said Adonijahs confuse birthright with leadership rights, and “assume that the next in line is automatically the next king, whenever the current king is no more”.

He then concluded by warning that Adonijah is more strategic than Absalom, that he connects himself with “Emirs, Kabiyesis, Obis…the chief of army staff,” but often has a hole in his armour, adding that the next in line is a "show off".

For those not familiar with Tunde Bakare, let me introduce you to him. He is the man who famously prophesied that the prophetic axe would fall on former President Olusegun Obasanjo before his swearing in on May 29, 1999.

His exact words on March 7, 1999 were:

"Rejoice not oh land, or your joy will be temporary. For I am bringing the nation - Nigeria, the rulers, the priests and the prophets there to my threshing floor. I will judge Saul and his comrades, and after I have finished my purging, then I will restore to you permanent joy" Obasanjo is not your messiah. He is King Agag and the prophetic axe will fall upon his head before May 29.

It is not my place to question Mr. Bakare's prophecies. Romans 14:4 says "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand."

However, my response to Tunde Bakare on his shading of acting President Osinbajo is this: If Osinbajo's 'show off' is leading to the appreciation of the Naira, the reduction in the price of diesel, the availability of petrol and the prompt payment of salaries, then not only Osinbajo, but every elected politician should show off.

By the way, Muhammadu Buhari ran with Tunde Bakare and lost, then he ran with Osinbajo and won. Maybe if Tunde Bakare had "shown off" he would not have lost the election for Buhari!

Tunde Bakare perhaps can now see that he may have not been wrong when he said in the The Punch Newspapers of Monday October 2, 2006 that “Let me tell you the truth by the Spirit of God, neither OBJ, Atiku, IBB and this tall one, Buhari are part of the new. They are part of the old that is decaying. That old one is passing away. The new is emerging and these ones are not part of that new.”

Bakare himself confessed with his mouth that President Muhammadu Buhari is not "part of the new". He says the Holy Spirit told him this. If what he said in 2006 was indeed given to him by the Holy Spirit, as he claims, then why is he in 2017 fighting for the man that the Holy Spirit, according to him, revealed was part of Nigeria's "decaying" past? Why is he fighting against a new political blood like the acting President?

When you marry what Tunde Bakare said in 2006 with what he said last Sunday (June 18, 2017), there is a disconnect, there are discrepancies, there are contradictions. And what does the word of God say in 1 Corinthians 14:33? "God is not the author of confusion."

How can the Holy Spirit reveal Muhammadu Buhari to you as part of Nigeria's decaying past and you, the vehicle through whom The Holy Spirit gave us this message, are trying to shove the decaying matter (according to Bakare not Mr) down our throats?

Is Tunde Bakare in the habit of feeding his own children food that is rotten, "old" and "decaying"? I am guessing no. Then why does he want us to eat what he does not feed his children?

When I was a boy, there was a major hit song titled 'Rumors' performed by a group known as 'Timex Social Club'.

Some of the lyrics of the song went thus:

'How do rumors get started, they're started by the jealous people and they get mad seein' somethin' they had and somebody else is holdin'

I highly recommend this song to Tunde Bakare. It was tailor made for him. He is starting a rumor about the acting President wanting to usurp the Presidency by outperforming his boss and "benefactor".

Why is he doing it? Because, he wanted to be Vice President to Muhammadu Buhari but unfortunately their joint ticket lost in 2011.

Why is he jealous? Because the acting President has something he wanted but did not get.

Thank you Timex Social Club for simplifying what would have been very difficult for some to understand.

The funniest thing to me is that had it been that the acting President had not done all the consultations he has been and is still doing in the wake of the quit notice given to the Igbos, it is precisely characters like Tunde Bakare that would have criticized him for being inept and letting down his 'benefactor', but now that he has shown that he is up to the task of leadership, he is being accused of outshining his boss. Let me however assure Tunde Bakare et al that it is not hard to 'outperform' President Buhari. I have a 12 year old daughter. I bet she can also outperform him.

Now, I am a known admirer of the acting President, but I must say this to him. When  Professor Yemi Osinbajo warns that the Federal Government will deal with those making hate speech, I hope the acting President knows his boss and "benefactor" is guilty?

President Muhammadu Buhari's 5% versus 97% D.C. speech marked the beginning of hate speeches in this dispensation.  Before that he was guilty of hate speech when he threatened that both the "baboon and the dog will be soaked in blood".

Fish starts to get rotten from the head. When a nation is led by a hate speaker, should anyone be surprised when the led begin to act like him?

And let me close this piece with the way I began, with Sahara Reporters.

Lai Mohammed says President  Muhammadu Buhari talks to acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo everyday meanwhile Sahara Reporters, once Lai Mohammed and the All Progressive Congress' favorite news media, reported recently that President Buhari has not spoken to Osinbajo since he left Nigeria for London, U.K. on the 7th of May, 2017.

Who do Nigerians now believe between Lai and Sahara Reporters? I would like to believe Lai, but my mind finds it hard to believe a man who said that President Buhari has fulfilled his campaign promises or that the Whistle Blower policy has generated $8 billion within two months or that the President is 'hale and hearty' or that dressing up a single masquerade can provides a thousand jobs or that the herdsmen killing Nigerians are from Mauritius. The truth is that even when I want to believe Lai he makes it hard for me to do so.

And yes, you read me right. Lai Mohammed actually claimed that the Whistle Blower policy has generated $8 billion within two months.

In fact his exact words were "within two months of our whistle blower policy, we retrieved $8 billion".

Lai, easy with these lies, remember YOU ARE FASTING! If not that The Bible established that Satan is the father of lies, I would have thought that Lai was Lie's father and wished him a happy Father's Day yesterday! I think it is high time we do a DNA testing on lies to determine who is their real biological father between Lai Mohammed and satan.

Reno Omokri is a Christian TV talk show host and founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and the Helen and Bemigho Sanctuary for orphans. He is the author of the worldwide amazon bestseller Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years: Chibok, 2015 and Other Conspiracies and three books, Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, Why Jesus Wept and Apples of Gold: A Book of Godly Wisdom.

NIGERIA CANNOT DO WITHOUT THE IGBOS BY FEMI ARIBISALA

Among the different ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo are without a doubt, one of the most remarkable. So remarkable, indeed, that some have even traced their ancestry to biblical Israel, as the far-flung descendants of Jacob, the Jewish patriarch.
Gad, Jacob’s seventh son, is said to have had three sons who settled in South-eastern Nigeria. These sons; Eri, Arodi and Areli, are believed to have fathered clans in Igbo-land and to have founded such Igbo towns as Aguleri, Arochukwu, Owerri and Umuleri.

Igbo genius
Even the bitterest adversaries of the Igbo cannot but admit that, as a people, they are very resourceful and ingenious. Indeed, this has often been the cause of their envy and dislike by others. However, more enlightened non-Igbo Nigerians see this as a cause for celebration. While today, the centre-point of Nigeria’s manufacturing is situated in the Lagos/Ogun axis, there is no doubt that the real locomotive of Nigeria’s indigenous industrialization lies farther afield in Aba and in the mushrooming cottage-industries of the Igbo heartland. In one of the paradoxes of Nigerian history, the terrible civil war provoked homespun industrialization in the South-East. Military blockade left the Igbo with little alternative than to be inventive in a hurry. While Nigeria as a nation failed woefully to harness this profitably after the war, it has nevertheless ensured that the Igbo are at the forefront of Nigeria’s economic development today. Indeed, the way we disregard “made in Aba” today is the same way we disregarded “made in Japan” yesterday. For those of us who believe against the odds that Nigeria is the China of tomorrow, we equally recognize that the ingenuity of the Igbo is an indelible part of the actualization of that manifest destiny.

Hall of fame
 The Igbo have been a great credit to Nigeria. They have given us a great number of our favourite sons, including international statesman Nnamdi Azikiwe; military leader Odumegwu Ojukwu; regional leader Michael Okpara; vice-president Alex Ekwueme; mathematical genius Chike Obi; literary icon Chinua Achebe; world-class economist Pius Okigbo; world boxing champion Dick Tiger; international statesman Emeka Anyaoku; and world-class artist Ben Enwonwu. Pemit me to include in this illustrious list even some of my very good Igbo friends: Pat Utomi, Ojo Madueke, Olisa Agbakoba, Joy Ogwu, and Stanley Macebuh. Let us get one thing straight: Nigeria would be a much poorer country without the Igbo. Indeed, Nigeria would not be Nigeria without them. Can you imagine the Super Eagles without the Igbo? Not likely! Who can forget Nwankwo Kanu, Jay Jay Okocha and our very own Emmanuel Amuneke? Can you imagine Nollywood without the Igbo? Impossible! Just think of Stella Damascus-Aboderin; Rita Dominic and Mike Ezuruonye. And then there are the diaspora Igbo who many are unaware are of Igbo descent, including concert singer and actor Paul Robeson; Oscar award-winner Forest Whitaker; mega-pastor T.D. Jakes; Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu; and BAFTA actor award-winner Chiwetel Ejiofor. You may well wonder why I have found it necessary to present this small litany of Igbo who-is-who. I think it is important to emphasise how the Igbo have been very vital to the Nigerian project. They have more than represented Nigeria creditably in virtually all walks of life. This makes it all the more absurd that this same people have been consistently denied the position of executive president of the country in all but six months of Nigeria’s 54 year history.

Civil-war legacy
Of course, a major reason for this was the 1967-1970 civil-war which had the Igbo on the losing side. But that was over 40 years ago. If there is really to be “no victor, no vanquished” in anything more than mere rhetoric, then the rehabilitation of the Igbo back into post civil-war Nigeria will not be complete until an Igbo man finally becomes president of the country. That imperative should be of interest to every Nigerian nationalist, committed to the creation of one Nigeria where everyone has a deep sense of belonging. The problem, however, is that the Igbo themselves seem to be their own worst enemies in this regard. They appear to be doing their very best to ensure that this inevitable eventuality continues to be denied and delayed. The Igbo need to forgive Nigerians. No one who lived through the horrors that precipitated the secession of Biafra and led to the civil-war cannot but admit that the Igbo were abused and mal-treated in one of the worst pogroms ever. It was not just that they were senselessly massacred in their own country; it was that they were butchered. I remember vividly gory pictures of scores and scores of the Igbo with hands chopped up and with legs amputated. And then there were the ravages of the three-year civil-war itself, resulting in the death of millions of Igbo; many through starvation and attrition. The end of the war brought no respite, as the Igbo were pauperized by fiscal decrees that wiped out their savings and their properties were blatantly sequestered by opportunists. All this is more than enough to destroy the spirit of any group of people. But God has been on the side of the Igbo. It is a testament to their resilience that, in spite of this terrible affliction, they have survived, bounced back and have even triumphed in Nigeria. Forty years have now gone by. The Igbo may never forget what happened to them and, indeed, should never forget. But it is past time for them to forgive.

We are sorry
This is one voice in the Nigerian wilderness saying to the Igbo from the depth of his heart: we are sorry. We are sorry for the way we mistreated you. We are sorry for the way we abused you. We are sorry for starving your children to death. We are sorry for killing your loved ones. We are sorry for stealing your properties. We are sorry for making you feel unwanted in your own country. Please forgive us. It is time to forgive us. It is way past time for the Igbo to forgive Nigerians. We beg you in the name of God. There was a civil war in the United States, but the defeated South rose from the ashes. Five of the last nine presidents of the United States have been from the South, including Jimmy Carter from Georgia, George Bush from Texas and Bill Clinton from Arkansas. The time is overdue for an Igbo president of Nigeria, but it is not going to happen as long as the Igbo continue to hold a grudge against Nigeria and Nigerians. There is no question about it: the Ibos cannot elect a president of Nigeria on their own. To do so, they have to join forces with others. They have to form alliances with people from other parts of Nigeria. That is not going to happen as long as the Igbo continue to bear a grudge against practically everybody else. The Igbo have a gripe against virtually all the people they need. They have this tendency to antagonise their possible alliance partners. They keep dredging up the past, refusing to let sleeping dogs lie. Until they drop these gripes, they are not likely to realise their dreams.

 Demonising Yorubas.
 For example, the Igbo have this tendency to demonise the Yorubas. It is alarming when reading the Vanguard blogs today to see the animosity often expressed between Igbo and Yoruba contributors. The hatred is most unhealthy. Insults are traded with abandon. What is the point of this? For how long will the Igbo demand emotional retribution from every Yoruba for the betrayal of Awolowo? Most of the contributors were not even born when the civil-war took place more than a generation ago. There is now even transferred aggression against Babatunde Fashola, who made the blunder of repatriating some destitute Igbo from Lagos back to their home-states. The man has apologised for the infraction. He should be forgiven. Blunders are not the exclusive preserve of the non-Igbo. The Igbo have made more than a few themselves and will yet make others. Paradoxically, the redemption of the Igbos to prominent national office moved apace under President Obasanjo; a Yoruba man. Recognising that Igbos are some of the most seasoned, competent and experienced public-servants, Obasanjo relied heavily on their expertise. Thanks to him, we got Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at Finance, Charles Soludo at Central Bank, Obiageli Ezekwesili at Education, Ndidi Okereke at the Stock Exchange, and Dora Akunyili at NAFDAC. Indeed, Igbo statesmen came into more prominence under Obasanjo than did Yoruba statesmen. But for some strange reason, this does not seem to have succeeded in assuaging the ill-feeling of the Igbos toward the Yorubas.

Bad politicians
 Within the framework of Nigerian politics, the Igbo also have a fundamental problem. Out of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo have by far the worst politicians. They have no recognizable leaders, and have no discernible strategy as to how to negotiate power at the centre. As a result, the Igbo have tended to be short-changed at the federal level. Traditionally, the inconsequential ministries, such as the Ministry of Information, have been zoned to them. The Igbo need to work out a plan that will take them to Aso Rock. First, they need to choose and groom a de-tribalised leader of the Azikiwe mould who can be sold to non-Igbos. Then, they need to give him undiluted support. At the moment the internal politics of the Igbo militates against this. The Igbo seem to hate themselves as much as they hate others. They seem to fight themselves with as much venom as they fight others. Every potential Igbo leader seems to have more enemies within than without. This must not be allowed to continue. The Igbo need to help themselves in order that their friends can help them. In this centenary of Nigeria’s amalgamation, as we embark on the arduous process of crafting our future through a National Conference, we salute the Igbo for their fortitude and implore them to stake their claim in Nigeria. Nigeria cannot survive without the Igbo.

Source: Vanguard news

NGER DELTA ISSUES QUIT NOTICE FOR NORTHERNERS

Niger Delta militants have issued an October 1 ultimatum for northerners to leave their region, in response to the quit notice given to the Igbo by some Arewa youth groups.

The militants also said the federal government should hand over all oil blocs controlled by northerners to the people of Niger Delta.

In a joint statement released on Friday, the coalition of Niger Delta militants said they will declare the independence of the region on October 1.

A communiqué was signed to this effect by ‘General’ John Duku (Niger Delta Watchdogs and Convener: Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators), ‘General’ Ekpo Ekpo (Niger Delta Volunteers), ‘General’ Osarolor Nedam (Niger Delta Warriors), and ‘Major-Gen.’ Henry Okon Etete (Niger Delta Peoples Fighters), ‘Major-Gen.’ Asukwo Henshaw (Bakassi Freedom Fighters), ‘Major-Gen.’ Ibinabo Horsfall (Niger Delta Movement for Justice), ‘Major-Gen.’ Duke Emmanson (Niger Delta Fighters Network), and ‘Major-Gen.’ Inibeghe Adams (Niger Delta Freedom Mandate).

“A coalition of the Niger Delta militants met today in Port Harcourt to review the recent call by the Arewa Youths groups that the Ndigbo should vacate all the Northern states within three months,” it read.

“We see the declaration by Arewa Youths as a declaration which the northern elders, leaders, political elite, security heads from the North and governors were fully aware of.

“We demand 100 per cent control of our resources. We demand that the Federal Government should hand over all oil blocs owned by northerners to Niger Delta indigenes. All the companies operating in such oil blocs/wells should vacate within three months.”

The militants further said that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be relocated to the Niger Delta region.

“The Federal Government should immediately relocate NNPC and all the offices that have to do with oil/gas sector back to Niger Delta states and immediately replace the Group Managing Director with an indigene of Niger Delta,” the communique further read.

“All northern indigenes working in NNPC and any other board that has anything to do with oil/gas should be sacked with immediate effect.

“We demand an independent and sovereign Republic of Niger Delta. We are tired of living with the North under Nigeria. We are tired of the President’s sentiments against the Niger Delta people.

“The President can have time to receive the Chibok girls but could not have time to meet with the representatives of the Niger Delta agitators. Our money has been used to fund Boko Haram, a problem created by the Northerners in order to use it as conduit pipe to siphon the resources of Niger Delta.

“On October 1, 2017 we shall declare our independence come rain, come shine. We shall take our destiny in our hands and free ourselves from the slavery of the North as they are tired of one Nigeria.

“From October 1, 2017, we don’t want to see any northerner close to (the) Niger Delta; any attempt to penetrate shall meet fierce resistance. This time, we are not going to play defence, but attack.”

Source: thecableng

 Nigerians decide for Nigeria, not the north 
– Reno Omokri On May 20, 2017

Let me start this piece by congratulating former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida on the marriage of his daughter, Halima, to her beau, Auwal Abdullahi. It goes without saying that the wedding would be the talk of Nigeria for aeons to come because of the kind of crowd it pulled.

In case you missed the news, let me inform you that no fewer than thirty private jets landed at Minna airport last weekend on account of this wedding that locked down Nigeria! Thirty private jets. I do not even know what to exclaim! This is more than wow! Gosh does not even come close to the exclamation I wanted to express when I first read of this private jet convention in Minna! Gobsmacked is the only word that comes close, but even it does not quite capture the reaction I had.

Thank God former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was amongst the wedding guests, does not have a private jet, because that would have been the major topic of the day. The propaganda loving All Progressive Congress would have capitalized on that to rubbish Jonathan. Lai Mohammed would have been hyper ventilating with excitement at the character assassination possibilities if such had been the case.

But the lesson Nigerians may want to take from this is that few, very few of those who arrived Minna in private jets have any sort of productive business venture that generates and sustains jobs in Nigeria. Yes, there were a couple of folks made rich by oil and gas at the Minna private jet convention, but these are not people that did anything constructive, productive or job creating that gave them wealth.

Some were given oil blocks or allocations, others were given allocations to import petroleum products. Even a monkey would prosper if given such oligarchic opportunities. But how does that sort of business create jobs or adds value to Nigerians? Others amongst them are government contractors, supplying sundry items to the various governments at federal, state and local government level. They are basically suppliers. They buy and resell to the government. But how does that sort of business create jobs and adds value to Nigerians? Yet, they have private jets, private jetties, private yachts and even private body guards!

Nigeria has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, tax to GDP ratio in the world. In a country of 190 million people, only 214 individuals in the entire country pay tax of 20 million naira or more. This is according to the very latest official figures from the Federal Inland Revenue Service. Norway has a population of just 5.2 million people yet they have more than 100 times the amount of people paying tax of $65,000 of more (the equivalent of 20 million naira). But the story does not end there. Norway has never had a private party or private wedding or any private celebration that attracted 30 private jets!

The funniest thing is that Norway gives Nigeria financial aid every year! We have a political and economic elite that are so rapacious and parasitic and who only think of what they can suck from Nigeria and could not careless that they are surrounded by some of the poorest people in the world according to official figures from the 2016 United Nations Human Development Index released on the 21st of March, 2017.

Norway is number 1 on that list. Nigeria is 152 out of 188 nations. Libya (102) and Iraq (121) both of which are war torn nations, outrank Nigeria. But most embarrassingly, Syria that has been enmeshed in probably the worst humanitarian crisis the world has seen in at least 10 years also outranks Nigeria (149)! And almost all our elites are involved in this. President Muhammadu Buhari likes to be seen as the only good person in Nigeria but we have not forgotten so soon how, according to Daily Trust (which also happens to be the President’s favorite paper) his own daughter, Zahra Buhari, received pre wedding gifts worth 47 million Naira from her then suitor and now husband, Ahmed Indimi.

This same Ahmed Indimi likes to fly in private jets, pictures of which dot Nigeria’s social media landscape. I can assure you that Ahmed Indimi is not one of the 214 Nigerians who pay tax of over 20 million Naira. Yet right there in Indimi’s Borno state, right there in Maiduguri where their palatial family house is a sprawling tourist attraction, there are millions of Internally Displaced Persons without food to eat and medicine for their ailments.

Perhaps it is this sort of wickedness that Mohammed Yusuf saw and which made him conclude that Boko (book) must be Haram, if it can make people so oblivious to the suffering around them. It is this same Indimi family that likes to marry and be married to Nigeria’s high and mighty (President Ibrahim Babangida was also once their in-law via the marriage of Mohammed Babangida, his first son, to Rahama Indimi).

Many Nigerians are not aware that if you isolate Borno state from the rest of Nigeria, that state becomes the poorest region on planet earth BAR NONE! Borno has the highest unemployment rate in Nigeria and the second lowest primary school enrollment rate in Nigeria. What has her private jet loving, high and mighty marrying elite done to change that?

I was in Anambra once and the type of community spirit I saw there impressed me. They may not have a lot of private jets in Anambra, but in Anambra, they have community associations that give scholarships and business grants to those who are commercially inclined. There is NO poverty in Nnewi, one of the communities where this community spirit is most prevalent. They build their own primary and secondary schools through community effort. I am dead serious. If you go there you will not believe your eyes! They have well tarred modern roads that were built through their private efforts. All over Anambra, the various towns and villages copy the Nnewi model.

I daresay that there is more evidence of private and community development in Anambra than there is of any type of federal government presence. Anambra does not even have an airport! Borno does. Anambra does not even have a publicly built federal university! The only so called Federal University in Anambra, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, was built by the state government with contributions from private citizens and then compulsorily taken over by the military government of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida via Decree No. 34 of July 15, 1992.

But in Borno, they have a massive federal university WHOLLY built with Federal Government funds. If any state deserves to be poor from lack of Federal Government presence, that state is Anambra. If any state deserves to be rich by reason of the existence of Federal Government presence, that state is Borno. But Borno is poor while Anambra is rich! Why?

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are sponsoring immunization and other medical interventions in Borno state. They are together the richest people on earth. Yet their life styles is nowhere near as lavish as Nigeria’s private jet loving parasitic elite. Both Gates and Buffet are known for their frugality. Both of them have shown more concern for Nigeria’s poor than any of the owners or leasers of the 30 private jets that converged in Minna last week.

In fact, Bill Gates has personally visited with many of the poorest Nigerians and has administered vaccines to their children with his own hands! If those thirty private jet owners or leasers could do in their communities what Nnewi people do in theirs, then most assuredly Nigeria would not be in recession today.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon is worth $67 billion, Mark Zuckerberg is worth $55.5 billion. Both of them are young people who made their money by dint of hardwork, yet none of these two billionaires had a wedding as spectacularly opulent as either Zahra Buhari’s or Halima Babangida’s weddings. Mark Zuckerberg actually got married at a simple ceremony in the backyard of his home in Palo Alto, California in front of 100 guests.

The British charity, Oxfam, recently released a report on inequality in Nigeria. According to Oxfam, the combined wealth of the five richest Nigerians, put at about $29.9 billion, could end extreme poverty in the country! According to Oxfam, in recent years the number of millionaires in Nigeria has increased by 44% while the number of those living in poverty has increased by 69%! And instead of the shameless Federal Government of Nigeria to appreciate Oxfam, not just for its years of charity work in Nigeria, but for this new report which distills the issues militating against Nigeria’s efforts to increase human development, it turns around to condemn the report and accuse Oxfam of ‘inciting’ Nigerians against her elite!

It is becoming clearer and clearer that Nigeria, as currently designed, can hardly produce young people with the mindset of Bezos or Zuckerberg. You see, if we do not redesign Nigeria and ensure that the wealth of the nation is more equitably redistributed, we will find out soon enough that Nigeria, as it is currently designed, is designed to fail. Nigeria has such a high unemployment rate because the wealth of the nation is trapped in the hands of carpetbaggers, rent seekers and influence paddlers who flaunt their wealth at the masses without even giving them token employment.

And it is not as if Nigerians are not willing to work. We are. Strive Masiyiwa, the Zimbabwean founder of Econet, famously revealed how stunned he was when he found out how willing Nigerians were to work. When he came to Nigeria in 2001 and wanted to hire staff for his new company, Econet Wireless Nigeria, he advertised for jobs seeking people with telecommunications experience who had electronic engineering degrees and a minimum of five years relevant experience. Mr. Masiyiwa, a dollar billionaire with experience working all over the world was stunned at the response.

Let me allow him tell his story because I cannot possibly tell it better than him. “I came into the office to find postal bags, piled to the ceiling! “I only want to see the applications from people who meet our requirements, and not from chancers who aren’t qualified,” I complained. “Sir, these are the ones we have vetted.” “What?! You mean there were more than this?” “Thousands, sir.” Then I came up with an idea: “Why don’t you separate for me, the most qualified academically. Set aside people with MBAs, and even PHDs.” A day later, another postal bag of applications was delivered to my office. I was staggered! There were thousands of people with qualifications in just this one discipline with MBAs and PHDs! Many had qualified in the best universities around the world. There were also GSM-qualified Nigerians working internationally, including in America and Europe, wanting to return home! I was blown away by the qualifications. I thought to myself: “You can start almost any business or industry here. I wish investors would one day discover the wealth of this nation.”

Whenever I hear people talk about the wealth of Nigeria in terms of oil, I shake my head to say: “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” The true wealth of Nigeria is its extraordinary human capital, and passion for education. Unleash that and no one can stop them!” The funniest thing is that Strive Masiyiwa, a dollar billionaire who made his money from a productive industry like the telecommunications sector and who provided enduring jobs for literarily tens of thousands of Nigerians, does not live as large as many Nigerian elite.

No wonder that the exploitative carpetbagging elite of Nigeria chased him out of Nigeria! Strive Masiyiwa is the antithesis of the exploitative Nigerian elite who epitomize at least six of the seven deadly social sins: Wealth without work. Pleasure without conscience. Knowledge without character. Commerce without morality. Science without humanity. Religion without sacrifice. Politics without principle. The only one they do not epitomize is Science without humanity because that involves work and intellectual and creative abilities which many of our elite lack. If it were cleverness and guile, they would supersede even the best!

Ango Abdullahi has no basis for saying that the North would not allow Professor Yemi Osinbajo succeed Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. The North does not decide for Nigeria. Nigerians decide for Nigeria. What Ango Abdullahi seems to have forgotten is that it was Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that God used to make Muhammadu Buhari President in 2015. If the Northern Elders Forum could have made Buhari President, they would have done so in 2003, 2007 and 2011 when Buhari tried unsuccessfully to become President. Nigeria has changed.

Unfortunately, people like Ango Abdullahi and Junaid Mohammed, who add very little value to Nigeria and exist only to make provocative statements should realize that should their words precipitate crisis today or in 2019, both they and those they represent will be the biggest losers because they have more to gain from a united and peaceful Nigeria founded on the rule of law than others. Nigerians will famously remember Ango Abdullahi as the liar who said that money from the North was used to develop the oil industry in the South. His exact words in 2014 were as follows: “It is the North that developed the present day oil industry in this country. It is Northern money; it is the Northern leadership that developed the oil industry.”

Since Ango Abdullahi purports to be a professor and since he is from the North, let me use the words of another Northerner who happens to be a professor to respond to him. On Saturday the 6th of May 2017, Farooq Kperogi wrote thus: That money from the North funded oil exploration in the South. Professor Ango Abdullahi actually repeated this lie recently. He said this, ironically, while exhorting Emir Sanusi II to “go and read history.” The truth is that not a dime of northern Nigeria’s money contributed to oil exploration in the Niger Delta. When oil was discovered in commercial quantities in Oloibiri in 1956, Shell bore the financial burden for the exploration. Other Euro-American oil companies later joined in oil exploration. It wasn’t until 1973 that the Nigerian federal government acquired 30 percent shares in oil companies. By 1973, Northern Nigeria had ceased to exist; it had been divided into states.

In any case, colonial records show that the biggest motivation for amalgamating northern and southern Nigeria was because northern Nigeria wasn’t financially self-sustaining and the British Imperial Government said it would never subsidize colonial administration anywhere in Africa. So Lord Lugard amalgamated the two regions and used the surplus from the south to sustain the north. It’s illogical to say that a region that wasn’t financially self-sustaining financed oil exploration in the Niger Delta. It is a very sad day when a character like Ango Abdullahi is called an elder statesman. I think a better word for his ilk would be an agbaya! Professor (?) Abdullahi can ask Farook Kperogi to tell him the meaning of that word!

Source: vanguard news