Skewed media practices

by Eze Eluchie

In appraising the role of journalists, particularly of the print media, in formulating discourse and agenda-setting in Nigeria’s skewed socio-political environment, the reaction of some media outlets to two similar events which thankfully occurred near simultaneously, go to expose deep rooted schism that further underline the need for a restructuring and renegotiation of the contraption known and referred to as Nigeria.

The deployment of senior officers by both the Nigeria Army and the Nigeria Police Force is noteworthy. Whilst some media outlets (notoriously The Nation Newspapers) hit the streets with frivolous allegations made by unverifiable and spurious entities against redeployment's made by the Nigerian Army which has Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika, as the Chief of Army Staff, the same media outlets went comatose when the Inspector General of Police, MD Abubakar announced a redeployment of Police officers which was definitely geographically lopsided.

Training hoodlums

by Eze Eluchie

Whilst MD Abubakar and the top brass of the Nigeria Police Force and his cabal of senior insecurity officials adorn themselves with 'sparkling uniforms', the recruits into the Nigeria Police Force are forced to live in sub-human conditions.

Any wonder why at the slightest contact with the civil populace, these recruits, when they end up wearing police officer uniforms, unleash a volley of bullets into the guts of hapless Nigerians? Any wonder why at the slightest confrontation with armed criminals, our insecurity operatives, obviously out-gunned, out-motivated and out-numbered, often times, scamper faster than Usain Bolt would ever have imagined himself capable of.

Who should we really blame for the thousands of extra-judicial killings our police and other insecurity forces commit in Nigeria, The men of the force (who know no better as a result of the quality of training and enlightenment they get whilst at the Training Schools) or the 'top brass' of the insecurity organizations (who develop pot-bellies) as a result of stealing the resources of their various insecurity agencies.

In all these, one doffs his hat for the few gallant cops we still have in the system, who despite seemingly insurmountable odds, stand firm and confront criminality and armed gangs. Some of these gallant personnel of our insecurity agencies, have often paid the supreme price for our common good.

Only a well structured and negotiated federation can ensure accountability of the security agencies and accord its citizenry security.

Lets restructure and renegotiate our contraption.


Picture: Police Barracks, Lagos

Sustaining mediocrity

by Eze Eluchie

Do these characters ruling over our contraption really appreciate what harm they are inflicting?

On the same day that US President Obama is visiting Kindergarten schools to promote government investment in early childhood education and makes a generational statement to the effect that: "the size of your paycheck shouldn't determine your child's future. So let's fix this. Let's make sure none of our kids start out the race of life a step behind", it gets announced that over 81% of primary school teachers in one of the component States of our contraption actually failed ‘mathematics and basic literacy tests’ meant for pupils in 4th grade classes!

Are we readying our contraption for the present? Are we thinking of tomorrow? Are we believing tomorrow will think for itself? Perhaps some miracles will happen and it will all be well?

Let us all realize one fact: unless an apocalyptic event happens, such as the earth opening and swallowing all up, these kids being tutored by illiterate teachers will grow up.
These kids will want to eat!
These kids will want self fulfillment and self actualization!

Rulers, not 'Leaders'!

by Eze Eluchie

Could it have been that in imparting knowledge on their students, English Language Teachers often do not distinguish between the words ‘Leader’ and ‘Ruler’?

From the Professors in our various Universities, to the political thug used to unleash mayhem during election periods; from the heads of civil society/human right/pro-democracy organizations which abound in our polity to hapless youths used to stage all manners of rallies; from the religious gurus milking their congregation to the congregation stupefied into emptying their meager incomes towards the purse of their deities; down to the households, lack of understanding of the use of the terms ‘ruler’ and ‘leader’ seem to have been enshrined into our being.

How in heavens name could The Punch Newspapers (in this instance - most of us engage in this travesty)  have referred to these crop of people who have, in their individual capacities and or as a collective, raped our contraption and its peoples to death – yes, death, not near-death as some are wont to think, as 'leaders'?

When we begin to address our home-grown kleptocrats appropriately, as rulers and not leaders, perhaps and only then, can we begin the process of making progress and returning to the comity of nations.

What the international community is beginning to realize, albeit belatedly, is the nexus between corruption, in for instance Nigeria, and international terrorism and criminality. Cleansing our polity of these crop of rascals ought to be not just of concern to Nigerians but also a priority of the international community.

High-level corruption, of the quantum prevalent in most of sub-Saharan Africa, is indeed a crime against humanity punishable under international laws.


http://www.punchng.com/news/nigerian-leaders-stole-n3tn-in-10-years-report/


Picture: The relationship between the ruler and the people

Nigeria Senate sentences its own members...

by Eze Eluchie

These characters we have ruling over our contraption have just passed their death warrants without probably realizing it. It will be interesting if the House of representative follows suit and Jonathan assents thereto.

By the definition accorded to ‘act of terrorist’ under Section 1 subsection 2 (a), (b)ii, (b)iii and (b)iv of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011, the majority of characters parading themselves as elected representatives of the people, be they at the various State legislative houses or National Assembly or Executive positions, qualify as Terrorists and are thus deserving of death upon being found guilty.

The sections provide as follows:
1(2) In this section. "act of terrorism" means an act which is deliberately done with malice, aforethought and which:
(a) may seriously harm or damage a country or an international
organization;

Colloquium on Genocides, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

As the international community begins to crystallize its resolve that Never Again, I look forward to welcoming you all to the International Colloquium on Genocides, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, scheduled for McDonough Hall, Georgetown University, Washington DC on Friday, 1st March 2013.

Efforts will be made to livestream (web-cast) the event – details for this will be made available through this media, prior to the event.

The theme for the inaugural session is: The Forgotten Genocides.

The denial of episodes of genocides is in itself abominable. Such denials mean that no lessons have been internalized from previous mass killings and portend the likelihood of repeats.

Let us all join the resolve that NEVER AGAIN!

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/oneillinstitute/
RSVP: http://www.hra-ai.org/rsvp
Follow us on FB: http://on.fb.me/VHEJw9
Twitter: @inhumanities
#forgottengenocides


Picture: Never Again! (c) Colloquium On Genocides, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

We have trode this path before, with dire consequences.

by Eze Eluchie

The men being forced to lie on dirty grounds by combined team of armed military and police personnel are traders at the Ladipo Market, Lagos, which was recently shut down by the Lagos State Government purportedly over issues with ‘environmental sanitation’ – and we all know where they hail from. Why treat them as mere criminals – for goodness sake, these are men whose wares have been seized/locked up and they are now being paraded as mere criminals!

Anybody familiar with the Lagos terrain knows quite well that the reasons’ being advanced by the Government is hogwash!

Saints from hell

by Eze Eluchie

One really wonders what was on Oby Ezekwesili’s mind when she was reeling out her accusations against the Yar’Adua/Jonathan administration.

Did Ms. Oby Ezekwesili expect Nigerians to believe that Obasanjo and his gang of 40 thieves with whom he ruined Nigeria would have left behind the sum of U.S.$67 Billion whilst departing from office? Did Ms. Oby Ezekwesili expect Nigerians to jump up and applaud her for exposing the monumental graft going on in the name of rulership in Nigeria? These people actually hold Nigerians in absolute contempt!

Justice redefined

by Eze Eluchie

Is there any reason on earth, why this character, Abubakar Talba, who parades as a judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, should not be charged as an accomplice to the death of the several pensioners, some of who died whilst queuing up, waiting for their due pensions from the Police Pension authorities?

(Justice?) Abubakar Talba has just delivered what will perhaps qualify as one of the most dense, unjust, infantile and nonsensical High Court judgement any judicial system in the world may ever have the misfortune of staining its record books.

A thief and director of the Police Pension Office, Mr. John Yusuf, who admitted guilt to stealing N32.8billion (or $203 Million) was sentenced by Abubakar Talba, to a mere 2 years in prison or an option of N750,000 ($4,500) and the forfeiture of some properties.

Sociopaths as rulers

by Eze Eluchie

Criminal psychologists inform us that part of the joy a thief derives from stealing is the aura of ‘invincibility’, the ability to steal without being detected or identified. If one is stealing and the people you are stealing from are aware of your thievery, the 'kicks' will simply not be there any longer.

Now that we have ascertained beyond all reasonable doubt that the goons who rule over us are daily bleeding our contraption dry with their insatiable appetite for loot, what ‘joy’ can these characters possibly derive from their continued criminality?

What goes through the warped minds of these rulers as their siren blaring convoys guarded by ill-trained armed bozos, speed through our streets, zipping past citizens who already know that a highly placed felon is passing through?

Political contamination

by Eze Eluchie

In my book, 'Reign of Evil’, I did quote Nigeria's ex-Military Dictator, General Muhammadu Buhari’s dictum on Nigeria being our only country and our having to remain in it and ‘salvage it together’.

Though inability to effectively cleanse the polity when he had the opportunity and the lopsided nature of activities of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) under his watch during the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha remain dark, unfortunate and touchy spots, it is however quite worrisome  that the Nigeria political terrain will force such a man to hobnob with vile characters in his quest to attain political office to sanitize our polity. 

Each time characters like the roguish Nasir el-Rufai and sly Bola Ahmed Tinubu come within 100 meters of General Buhari, talk less of posing for pictures with the General, they further pollute the ambiance around Buhari and stain his character.

With regards to the purported efforts at a coalition with Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Buhari will do himself and his person a world of good to learn from the experience of an opportunist, Nuhu Ribadu, who was comically paraded around Nigeria as a Presidential candidate during the 2011 general elections by the ACN only to be traded off in one of the most despicable acts of political treachery and foolery ever witnessed.

I believe the General remains a good product being wrongly packaged. With the continued romance with impure characters, the product risks contamination.  

Picture: Rtd. Gen. Muhammed Buhari and Bola Tinubu 

Media hags on the prowl

by Eze Eluchie

The myopic editorial slant of Bola Tinubu’s (and by extension, the Action Congress of Nigeria’s) The Nation newspapers is symptomatic of the Nigerian malady.

Clear efforts to play the ethnicity card and hype regional sentiments, in of all places the Military establishment, is further indication that we are headed for a looming apocalypse in Nigeria.

The pedestrian write-up is so filled with incredulous innuendos whilst at the same time quoting extensively from so-called petitions from unnamed sources.

To think that some of the characters behind this publication are scamming to form a coalition that will rule Nigeria is pathetic!

Let’s restructure and renegotiate our contraption whilst there is yet time.

That time is fast running out!

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/petitions-flood-national-assembly-over-alleged-lopsided-promotions-in-the-army/

Corruption gets increasing recognition as Crime Against Humanity

by Eze Eluchie

I salute the Editorial Board of Nigeria’s The Sun Newspapers for joining the push towards recognizing the looting public treasury as an international crime.

For the very first time, a major newspaper in our part of the world is keying into efforts to ensure that corruption is investigated, prosecuted and punished as a Crime Against Humanity.

The journey has begun. We should all get on board and ensure that the miscreants who pollute our environments with their pathetic greed and lack of leadership and corruption get the judgment they deserve.

Corruption is indeed a Crime Against Humanity as stipulated in Article 7.1(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

I hope the goons manning our contraption are taking note? These kleptocrats will realize that their days are numbered. There will be no hiding place for these rascals.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/opinion/treat-greed-in-africa-as-a-war-crime/

Picture: International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands.

When Players Pray

by Eze Eluchie

What in heaven’s name could these people be doing in a place supposedly meant for the worship of God? With of all people an Obasanjo ‘bowing’ his bald head and leading ‘prayers’? Obasanjo, Jonathan, Otedola?

Oops, guess the Aso Rock chapel in the Nigeria Presidential Villa is not really a place of worship, but a place of showmanship and deceit.

Guess what the prayer points will be:

1. deity, blind the people from discovering our deceit and thievery

2. deity, allow us to continue to use tools of ethnicity and religious bigotry to continue to hoodwink and fool the people whilst we rob them blind

3. deity, may the seeds of confusion we are trying to sow amongst the Nigerian population be sufficient to keep them from uniting to ask for our blood for having misruled them so harshly

4. deity, deliver all our facebook and social media critics unto our hands so we can teach them one lesson or the other

And the people shall say: Shame.

Confessions of a rogue public servant

by Eze Eluchie

Will someone tell this character that what he is referring to as ‘huge mistakes in his Presidency’ regarding Obasanjo’s misrule of Nigeria are actually criminal acts punishable under Nigerian laws and the legal codes of most countries.

These acts:

1. Stealing government funds to fund the ‘purchase’ of government assets for personal use

2. The Tenure elongation fiasco

3. The Obasanjo Library scam, and

4. The mass killings against the peoples of Odi (Bayelsa State) and Zaki Biam (Benue State)

were crimes Nigerians and the international community had long known Obasanjo and his cohorts committed during the ‘Reign of Evil’. The only laughable part of Nasir el-Rufai’s write up is where he says himself and some lackeys of Obasanjo had ‘resisted’/’opposed’ the criminal activities of Nigeria’s former maximum ruler.

It is at times like this that one really appreciates the criminal acumen inherent in a man who ensures that he is succeeded in office by a character who lacks focus or courage.

Two thoughts that readily come to mind:

1. Why is former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, so bereft of courage that he cannot muster the guts to confess as el-Rufai is thankfully doing? and

2. If she were not the Minister for Finance in the present government, will Okonjo-Iweala not be making the accusations that Oby Ezekwesili is making against the Yar’Adua/Jonathan regime?

Only a restructured and renegotiated polity will cause a cease of these high level criminality. 

http://www.punchng.com/news/obasanjo-made-four-huge-mistakes-in-office-el-rufai/

Picture: Nasir el-Rufai

Patching the unpatchable

by Eze Eluchie

The so-called merger agreement between the ACN, ANPP, APGA and CPC is not only fraudulent, it also misses the point.

The signatory on behalf of APGA is suspect. The offer of the alliance as a ‘recipe for peace and prosperity’ is disingenuous. The alliance is a recycling of the old – putting old wine into recycled (not new) bottle

The problem with Nigeria is structural and fundamental.

Any hopes based on the present fraudulent 1999 Constitution will only prolong the misery of the populace and allow a new breed of characters (who have thus far in the governance of the various States under their control, have not shown much difference from the PDP which administers the rot at the federal level) to continue to milk and rob the people.

The APC alliance is all about access to the spoils of battle and has absolutely nothing to do with the people, their welfare, prosperity or wellbeing!

Let’s restructure and renegotiate the contraption whilst there is yet time!

Back to the trenches! 



Picture: Purported APC 'merger agreement'

Tell-tale signals

by Eze Eluchie

News that the several dead bodies found floating along the Ezzu River, in Nigeria's southeastern State of Anambra, are members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) who had earlier been arrested by a combined team of the Nigerian army, police and State Security Service men is most shocking, quite worrisome and indicative of dire situations onwards!

Officials of the Nigerian contraption must be held responsible for these and the several systemic mass killings which is unfortunately beginning to characterize the Nigerian polity.

Time for constructive reconstruction and renegotiation of our contraption is fast ebbing away!

Picture: Members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) murdered by Nigeria security agents.

 

Continuation of genocide.....

by Eze Eluchie

Do we still have a National Human Right Commission in Nigeria?

Is there still a Nigeria Police Force which ought to be responsible for securing life and property in Nigeria?

Is there still a Government in Nigeria?

The silence of the Jonathan Presidency, the State Security Service, the Inspector General of police and the entire insecurity apparatus of the Nigerian contraption on the killing of activists of Igbo ethnic nationality whose bodies were dumped into a local river in Anambra State tantamount to official complicity in this most tragic episode.

Would this dangerous descent along the path that led to the Biafran genocide of 1967 - 1970 have been avoided if adequate recognition of past errors and safe-guards to address same had been implemented?

Let's restructure and renegotiate our contraption whilst the windows of opportunity are still open!

Picture: Corpses floating on Ezzu River, Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria (2013).

Quota System = Quota Failure

by Eze Eluchie

The only reason why Nigeria was able to clinch the African Cup of nation’s trophy in South Africa today was because the Coach of the national Team was allowed to select the best players available for the team – there was no ‘quota system’ applied

Under Nigeria’s fraudulent Constitution, it would have been mandatory to have each and every tribe or ethnic bloc represented in the team, which would have given rise to persons who would not be able to bounce a soccer ball trice, even if their lives depended upon the ability to bounce balls, being compulsorily imposed on the national team.

Disconnect in governance

by Eze Eluchie

The outcry over the comments by erstwhile missing-in-action Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, who after over 140 days absence from the State without as much as bothering to formally hand over to his deputy or inform the people of his State of his whereabouts, that he owed nobody any apology for his absence is quite pitiable.

Its either we do not yet get it or we have chosen to, like the Ostrich; bury our heads in the sands in the face of a fraudulent national Constitution which ensures that the rulers owe the ruled absolutely nothing.