Nigerian of the Year 2016 - Mrs. Rose Oruru

by Eze Eluchie,

In a year when the national economy nosedived with inflation spiraling out of control forcing many Nigerians to dispense with their cultural and traditional hospitable nature; when terror elements had a field day blowing up stuff and maiming at will despite bogus claims of the terrorists having been ‘technically defeated’; and when some erstwhile intellectual role models for the youths incredulously somersaulted from Olympian heights to unfathomable depths from which they will most probably not be able to climb out before their demise – one of them who had climbed to prominence via criticizing societal ails turned to abusing the entire population for daring to point out his glaringly silly gaffe concerning electoral outcomes in foreign lands, and the other who had through the course of his life pretended to be interested in true Federalism and supremacy of the constitution turning round, for lucre, to praising brutal attacks by security operatives on the judiciary and mocking the practice of separation of powers upon which our pretense at democracy is hinged; it would ordinarily appear that all hope is lost for the Nigerian contraption and there is none in the land worthy of being singled out as a positive role model, a person of the year.

Far from it! It is in the midst of adversity and tribulations that the goodness in our peoples shone the more. 

People who seem to have comparatively less prove more generous. Families who had a sole bag of grain willingly shared out measures from their store to those less endowed; Cooperatives emerged where none had hitherto existed to soften the economic strain on their members; neighbors anonymously paid for the school fees when they noticed youngsters who ought to be in school loitering around long after their mates had returned to school; Muslim families risked all to harbor and accommodate non-Muslim neighbors when that bout of murderous lust for blood that has become the norm in our northern fringes sets in; Our peoples, in their various localities, live and exhibit the best qualities of humanity, giving lie to the perception their ruler wants the international community to know them by – as a ‘fantastically corrupt’ specie of the human race.

In Year 2016, one woman rose head and shoulders above her country folks to best exposé the virtues of an irrepressible spirit, fearlessness and never-say-die-till-goal-is-achieved attitude imbued in the average Nigerian and qualify to be recognized as the Nigerian of the Year, a role model most worthy of emulation.

When her 14-year old daughter (Ese Oruru) was kidnapped from right under her nose in Yenegoa (Bayelsa State) in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region by a philanderous butcher (Yunusa Dahiru) who disappeared into the uncharted Nigerian wilderness, Mrs. Rose Oruru did not consign herself to wailing and gnashing of teeth. This Amazon, in the face of the usual and most unfortunate failure of the local police authorities to conduct proper investigations apprehend and prosecute culprits, plunged herself head-on into rescuing her daughter. Mrs. Oruru’s personal investigations led her, over a thousand kilometres away, to the Palace of the Islamic ruler of Kano city, the Emir, where her daughter’s kidnapper had taken refuge and where a sham marriage had been conducted to forcefully join the kidnapped under-aged girl in matrimony with her kidnapper.

At great risk to her life, Mrs. Oruru, who was making her very first visit to Kano State, pestered the entrance of the Palace of the Emir of Kano (a huge fortified premises with hundreds of rough thugs serving as a first-layer of security) imploring on anyone who cared to listen to help retrieve her daughter from the kidnapper and his very ‘politically powerful’ overlords. Mrs. Oruru’s uncommon valour and insistence caught the police and state authorities flat-footed with all manners of despicable denials and statements emanating from the various Commands of the Nigerian Police (Bayelsa and Kano State in particular) through whom the kidnap case had passed through without any real actions being taken and the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr. Solomon Arase, who elevated the shame of the Police to  arduous levels when he asserted that though the Police Force knew where the kidnapped girl was being kept, the release of the under-aged girl was dependent on approval by the Emir of Kano, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, (a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria) who was then performing the holy pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. True to the IGP’s words, the under-aged girl was only released to her mother upon the return of Mr. Sanusi to Nigeria a few days later.

As a result of the publicity generated by Mrs. Oruru’s heroism, several other instances of parents (mostly Christians) who were suffering from helplessness at the kidnap and forced ‘marriage’ of their under-aged children under the patronage of Islamic rulers across several cities in Nigeria’s northern region were brought to light. The diabolical pattern of kidnap of under-aged girls and forced ‘marriage’ of such girls to their kidnappers has continued unabated without any efforts at quelling this most inhumane of crimes by Nigerian authorities.

Ese Oruru has since given birth to the product of rape during her ‘forced marriage’ to her kidnapper; The kidnapper of Ese Oruru remains a free man.

For her tenacity of purpose, efforts at self-help which resulted in the rescue of her kidnapped daughter, bringing to limelight the dastard vice of kidnap of under-aged girls and forced marriage under Shari’a which has continued till date in Nigeria, helping others in her situation to come out with their own tales of woes and seek solution, her dexterity, her leadership and serving as a role model worthy of emulation, Mrs. Rose Oruru is the 2016 Nigerian of the Year!

Picture: Mrs Rose Oruru (in red) surrounded by Police Officers. 

The Worst Nigerians of 2016 Awards

by Eze Eluchie,

Often times, the failure of a people is rooted in their inability to identify the causes of their continuing decadence and misfortune. When you recognize your weak points or those factors that retard your growth, there is the likelihood, presuming the society concerned is genuinely interested in moving forward, to isolate and demobilize such minuses, wheresoever they may exist, as an integral process in moving society forward.

In realization of the fact that the Nigerian contraption currently resides far behind where even the most pessimistic had envisioned it to be, the Worst of Nigerian Awards, which is now in its fourth year, is principally geared at identifying the arrowheads amongst our numerous minuses which contributed most negatively to keeping Nigeria in the back woods where we now find her.

Expectedly, in view of the backwards slide in virtually every facet of national life which Nigeria experienced in the past 12 months, numerous worthy nominations were received for the various categories of the Awards on offer. The fact that the current regime of President Buhari is already prosecuting two of the past Awardees in the ‘Worst Minister of the Year’ Awards category – Mr. Abba Moro (Interior Minister for Interior) and Mr. Mohammed Adoke (former Minister of Justice) should serve as indication that our Awards cross political divides. It is only hoped that actions are taking much earlier to right wrongs being caused by the awardees.

The Worst Corporate Entity.

Buoyed on by a palpable desperation on the part of governments to attract and encourage Foreign Direct Investments, corporate entities in Nigeria cashed in on the already weak regulatory mechanisms to exploit the population assured that they can get away with blue murder as the governments would generally look over their crimes/faults under the guise of not scaring away investors

The usual culprits were there once more: British American Tobacco (which in 2016 had the sole distinction of continuing to market its lethal product with more aggressiveness in Nigeria whilst at the same time launching a public advisory to its users in its home-country to desist from consuming cigarettes), the Oil Conglomerates which continued with their lethal production practices that would have earned their Executives long spells behind bars in their home-country’s.

This year however, a new kid gets on the block, from an industry that is fast gaining importance and usage with our youthful population. The Awardee for this year treats local regulations with disdain; when caught with its hand in the till, greases palms to minimize fines levied; is under investigation for discrepancies regarding its foreign remittances and cash outflows; charges its users arbitrarily and has one of the worst consumer helplines in the globe.

South African headquartered Mobile Telecommunication Nigeria (MTN), is the Worst Corporate Entity for Year 2016.

The Worst State Governor/Agency

In a year when several State Governors converted huge largesse’s received from the Federation Account in the forms of bailouts to personal uses whilst failing to pay State employees and pensioners or even execute any tangible infrastructural projects, nominations for this category of the Awards was naturally validly varied.

One Governor choose to sink beneath the bounds of civility in maladministration, reducing the population over which he governs in a state of drunken stupor, wondering how they could have missed all the tell tale signs prior to allowing such a sleazy character access to their States treasury and administration. From forcing civil servants and pensioners to sign unto documents forfeiting sizable portions of their salaries in order to get meagre sums; to criminally substandard public infrastructure works (severally collapsed tunnels and buildings); to destroying the traditional and cultural heritage of the people; and grabbing .lands belonging to entire communities for self use; the recipient of this year’s Awards in this category has become a serial awardee, having won the awards twice in the past three years.

The Worst State Governor is Imo State’s Mr. Rochas Okorocha.

The Worst Federal Minister/Agency

From its delay in appointing his Ministers, it was quite clear that Nigeria’s current ruling regime, though it had plans to acquire power as can be discerned from the aggressiveness with which it pursued the cause, simply had no plans for governance. This lack of preparedness has manifested in very poor performances by the Federal Ministers and Agencies. The catalogue of misfortune seems endless. From a Lawyer who was appointed Minister for Works/Power/Housing who is clearly out of his depth as he is clueless about the fundamentals of the issues of the Ministries over which he superintends, to a Finance Minister whose novice status in national economic management and fiscal issues is glaring, to a Technology Minister who has set his sights on producing pencils (Yes PENCILS for writing) for the year 2019. Never have we received such multiplicity and diversity of nominees for this category of the Awards.

One Minister however outshone his colleagues in terms of his idiocy, cluelessness and general lack of understanding of his role. A Minister who once questioned what the country’s soccer team was doing being stranded in the United States in a scheduled pre-Olympic training and wished the team remain abandoned in the US; a Minister who followed up such infamy by revealing that the Federal Government did not anticipate the female national football teams successes at the African Female Nations cup – and as such there was no provision for the teams allowances following their victory at the tournament.

A federal agency was particularly outstanding in the number of nominations it received for this Award. An agency that inherited relatively modest operational guidelines and modalities, that always tried to do things by the books had decided to throw caution to the winds and was openly partisan and incredulously partial in its activities. The Independent National Election Commission (INEC – also known commonly as the Inconclusive National Election Commissions on accounts of the high number of inconclusive elections it had recorded within the short period of its current leadership) has severally, by its opaque umpire role in elections it has thus far conducted, pushed several Nigerian States to a precipice and likelihood of violence.

For the first time ever, we have joint winners of an award under this category. The winners of the Worst Federal Minister/Agency are: Mr. Solomon Dalung (Minister for Youth & Sports) and the Independent National Elections Commission (INEC)!

The Worst Nigeria.

At his assumption of Office in May 2015, the Nigerian economy was rated the fastest growing and largest economy in Africa. By spectacular dint of policy summersaults, vindictive posturing, self-debasement before the international community, palpable ignorance of economic principles and outright cluelessness, the fortunes of the Nigerian contraption was meteorically reversed to an economy in recession, spiralling inflation, the local currency broke all records in the negative directions, unemployment rates skyrocketed and capital flight exceeded all known bounds as all and sundry sought to escape from an impending collapse.

On the social and political fronts, the tenuous fabric which created a semblance of unity of purpose was recklessly shredded as this character pronounced and displayed outright hate for sizable segments of the population, thus engendering separatist agitations across the land;  At the same time, rampaging gangs of vicious herdsmen, buoyed on by the cloak of seeming invincibility accorded by support from federal security and military operatives, exterminate and commit atrocities at will without any fear of being called to account.

As a result of this characters terrible rulership, the only light Nigerians are seeing as they are stuck in the tunnel is that of an oncoming train.  At current rates, something must give come 2017.

The recipient of the Worst Nigerian Award for Year 2017 is the current head of Nigeria's ruling junta, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari.

The ignoble Baddies trophy:

A Cattle Rearing Army?

by Eze Eluchie, 

At a time when brave young Nigerians soldiers fighting terrorists in our North Eastern flanks have featured in a video recording that has gone viral in Nigeria, begging their Commander-in-Chief for food and appropriate enabling environment to exist, talk less of being combat-ready and capable; and when within a space of 2 week Boko Haram terror elements killed several Nigerian soldiers including 4 Lieutenant Colonels; and when millions of dollars (some provided by foreign donor governments and agencies meant for Internally Displaced Persons have been diverted to spurious uses by high ranking government officials; Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai announces that the Army has sent some of its officers to Argentina for training, not to be better soldiers, but to learn ‘cattle rearing’@£#$ and that the Army intends to establish cattle grazing facilities in all its Divisions@#??????

When it is realized that the Federal Government, which coincidentally has a man who has a cattle ranch as President, had not too long ago floated the idea of appropriating lands across the Nigerian contraption to ease transit problems of Fulani herdsmen and the same Federal Government had through one of its Ministers, in addition embarked on the importation of some special specie of grass from Argentina for the cows consumption (Perhaps in importing this special grass, the Agriculture Minister had forgotten that it was not solely the grass that made the Argentine cows so productive. Other factors which this ‘extremely hyper intelligent’ Nigerian government should likewise have included in its import list from Argentina must include Argentine water, Argentine climate, and of course Argentine soil where the cows will trod on); one begins to appreciate the true direction of the Army Chief’s drift towards creating a specialized Cow Herding Brigade or Unit in the Army.

General Buratai, this your Army Cattle Grazing fields hogwash is merely another ruse to appropriate lands owned by others for cattle grazing! This regime has been more about Cows! Cows!! And Cows!!! Without giving a hoot about the people!

Nigerians appreciate the sacrifices of the dedicated soldiers who are doing their very best, even in the absence of necessary equipment's to save the society from terrorists and other criminal elements. But this idea of training soldiers as cattle herdsmen is far, far, far beneath the rank of soldiering or what some of those who volunteered to join the Nigerian Army thought the noble duties of a soldier entails.

What becomes of a soldier ordered/deployed by his commanding officer to the 'Cattle Rearing Brigade of the Nigerian Army who has conscientious objections to such service? Will he be disciplined, subjected to court martial proceedings and or dismissed from service?

Restructuring and Renegotiating the Nigerian contraption will allow for those who prioritize cows over human beings to be at liberty to do what they feel is best in their own context without dragging other peoples down their self-chosen paths.

What mortal sin could Nigeria and Nigerians have committed to deserve this Buhari fellow and his ineptly clueless bunch?

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/nigerian-army-set-cattle-ranches-nationwide/

Picture: A ‘military cow’ – the likely outcome of Nigeria’s efforts to create cattle ranches at all its Divisions.

Foreign Interference in Domestic Elections

by Eze Eluchie,

With the probable exception of levying war on or physical occupation of a country, interference with intent to influence whosoever gets to ascend into leadership, from foreign authorities, on the selection process(es) of any given country’s leadership stands out as the worst disrespect and abuse of sovereignty any country can suffer from another. By seeking to decide for a country who gets to rule over them, the interfering country not only seeks to place itself in the manner of a colonial authority but worse still, it seeks that notorious position whilst at the same time creating an impression on the minds of the nationals of the country whose (s)election process has been interfered with, that the externally imposed stooge is a product of local preferences and processes.

The practice of one State seeking to decide who rules over other States is certainly not a new vocation; it is a vile practice dating back centuries but which has, with increased international interaction and collaboration amongst states, become a common feature of international relations and the so-called ‘new world order’. Countries with a focused and conscious leadership will ordinarily want other countries they share borders with to be governed by entities who are, at the very least, of like minds, or where possible, of a subservient disposition. With increased globalization, the borders of any given country is now far beyond its mere physical borders, extending to countries far removed from its territory but with which it has sizable relationships. As the meaning of ‘borders’ has been stretched under the concept of globalization, so also has the extent to which countries wish to interfere in the leadership (s)election processes been stretched to, in some instances, to virtually any country in the world.

Foreign interference in leadership (s)election processes can be subtle or brazen, intellectual or military or an admixture of several styles. Often times, a majority of the citizens of the territory whose leadership (s)election process is being interfered with by foreign authorities may be unaware of such interferences. For instance, the fact that the erstwhile colonial overlords of African countries have interfered in the leadership (s)election processes of the now ‘independent’ African States has been one of the worst guarded secrets in International Affairs: whilst the British routinely interfere in their former territories (Anglophone African countries), the French play same role in the Francophone African countries.  These interferences usually comes in the form of reports of so-called ‘international election monitoring and observer missions’ which subtly issue real threats when results of polls do not toe the line of the colonial overlords and simply look the other way with such comments as ‘though there were pockets of irregularities, such irregularities do not impugn the integrity of the process’, if the ‘overlords’ preferred was able to emerge victorious despite palpable local wishes to the contrary. At other instances, military interventions and coups are instigated to scuttle a regime deemed not-compliant and ensure the emergence of stooges.

Notorious instances of foreign interference in the leadership (s)election process of countries include the United States and Belgian instigated assassination of Patrice Lumumba of Congo DRC, and the imposition of a stooge, Mobutu Sese Seko in his stead in 1966. Congo DRC is yet to recover from the ensuing disaster unleashed by the foreign interference as war and strive now bedevil what is universally recognized as a country that ought to, on account of its resources, have been a leading and industrial light in the African continent. The scuttling of the electoral victory of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) during the 1991 Algerian elections and the imposition of a more compliant military junta by foreign authorities has served, till date, to deepen distrust of the democratic process by Islamists across Arabia.     

The 2015 Presidential elections in Nigeria is yet a more recent instance of foreign intervention in the leadership (s)election process of countries. In addition to unwarrantedly sending key officials of its administration to ‘caution’ Nigerian authorities over ‘interfering in Nigerian elections’, the United States adopted policies and actions that showed it (and by extension the amorphous ‘international community’) would not accommodate the then incumbent administration if it emerged victorious in the elections. The icing on the ‘foreign interference’ cake during the Nigerian 2015 Presidential elections was the visit, a few days to the 2015 elections, by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, to disrespectfully and flagrantly threaten the incumbent authority in Nigeria with ‘investigation and prosecution’ before the ICC in the event of any post-election violence. The quantum of threats scared the living daylights out of then incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, who did not even bother for definitive results to be released before conceding defeat to his main adversary, despite evidence of widespread debilitating electoral fraud that would have truncated the election process.

It is in the light of the foregoing that one appreciates and understands the angst and indignation expressed by United States President, Barack Obama, and a wide array of US citizens and politicians from diverse political parties and their security establishments in response to credible and highly probably evidence of foreign interference in the 2016 US Presidential elections.  The likelihood that the major global superpower would be ruled by a person who probably got into office not solely on the basis of the desires of the American people but rather with support from elsewhere is most worrisome. The inherent and underlying insult and utter lack of respect of a states sovereignty embedded in foreign interference in the US presidential elections stank to the heavens! This is, however, exactly the same sentiments felt by discerning citizens of those countries whose leadership has been determined by foreign authorities for quite awhile.

The fundamental concept of mutual respect for the sovereignty of states upon which inter-state relations is predicated upon is fatally assaulted when foreign authorities take it upon themselves to interfere in the leadership (s)election processes of other states. It is hoped that states will desist from the urge interfere in the leadership (s)election processes of other states and when such allegations of interfering with other countries electoral process is established, there ought to be an international mechanism to sanction the erring state.

Picture: Patrice Lumumba (victim of 1960 foreign interference in Congo DRC) and Donald Trump (supposed beneficiary of Russian interference in US 2016 presidential elections).

Will A Buhari Ever Concede Defeat in an Election?

by Eze Eluchie,

Ghana’s John Mahama lost the presidential elections and immediately called the winner to concede defeat and express a willingness to work towards the progress of Ghana;

When his predecessor in office, Goodluck Jonathan, had called Buhari to congratulate him on victory at elections that were yet being collated, Buhari, though he welcomed the novel show of sportsmanship, expressed surprise and palpable shock with the former President's conduct;

Can one envisage Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, if he loses the presidential elections in Nigeria, to call the winner to concede defeat and express a willingness to work towards the progress of Nigeria? Or merely threaten that the "blood of monkeys and baboons will flow" as he did with past elections where he lost?  

When one appreciates the desperation and utter shamlessness with which thousands of armed soldiers, policemen and other security personnel were deployed by Nigeria’s ruling junta to intimidate the electorate in local elections which have thus far been organized under its watch, particularly the gubernatorial elections in Edo and serially rescheduled Legislative elections in Rivers States (held on 10th December 2016) and the deliberate mismanagement of the electoral processes by an entity that was supposed to be an impartial organizer, the INEC, to attain pre-desired objectives which were contrary to the aspirations and wishes of the electorate in those localities, it can rightly be presumed that any thoughts or hopes of having any semblance of a free and fair electioneering process come 2019, when the tenure of the current junta expires, can be dispensed with.

From all indications, Nigeria’s current ruler will not voluntarily concede when he is defeated in an election - the wishes of the people must however prevail and nothing, absolutely nothing, should be allowed to stand in the way of fulfilling the wish of the electorate.

It is increasingly becoming clear that means other than the present jaundiced pretense at democratic elections orchestrated by his crony, Mahmood Yakubu who presides over the ‘Independent’ National Elections Commission (INEC), will have to be deployed to extract the Nigerian polity from the vice grip of the head of Nigeria’s current ruling junta, a junta that has thus far in its astonishingly short period of less than 2 years in office at the helms of Nigeria’s affairs, managed to destroy and or damage virtually all facets of national life and endeavor: from the economy, to sports, to social and ethnic cohesion, to even the basic thoughts of continued sustainability and existence of Nigeria.

Let the Nigerian contraption be restructured and Renegotiated whilst there is yet time.

Picture: Nigeria’s ruler, Muhammadu Buhari and his appointee as INEC Chairperson, Mahmood Yakubu.

State Complicity In Atrocities by Fulani Herdsmen/Terrorists.

by Eze Eluchie,

First, the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar who happens to be Fulani, announces with relish, that the Fulani herdsmen/terrorists on a killing rampage across several States in Nigeria are foreigners from other West African countries;

Now the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, who also happens to be Fulani and a very close confidant of Nigeria's ruler, announces that the murderous Fulani herdsmen/terrorists are from identifiable countries, have specific grievances against their victims and that his government has paid some monies to these terrorists to prevent further attacks#%*. Paid monies to terrorists to stop killings that continue with more viciousness by the day? - Its either Mr. el-Rufai thinks his audience are dumb or that he is invincible.

When one recollects the statement by the sly governor of Kaduna Statement on his twitter account on the 15^th of November 2012 to the effect that: “we will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not, that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable no matter how long it takes”, it begins to dawn on even the most optimistic, that the killings being effected now are really part of the payback, loan repayment, Mr. El-Rufai had assured would happen.

Yet the Department of State Security remains silent in the face of all these murders? Yet, the Immigration and Customs Services, the Police or other security authorities have not informed the polity of any massive failures at the borders.

When the Fulani herdsmen/terrorists embark on their killing sprees, there is usually no interference from the law enforcement agencies for howsoever long these killing sprees last. But the moment the herdsmen/terrorists are through with their dastardly acts, security operatives from virtually all the security agencies inclusive of the military descend on the already vanquished territories and peoples under the mien of ‘safe-guarding’ the victims. Evidence abounds, particularly in the Fulani attacks against the peoples of Uzo-Uwani in Enugu State and Uzo-Item in Abia State that State security authorities were sufficiently warned by the local authorities about imminent attacks and that the State security agencies, inclusive of the military authorities, failed to provide security and only came in after much damages and killings have been effected.

The unfortunate lack of condemnation of the genocidal and terroristic activities of the herdsmen/terrorists by Nigeria’s ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, who himself also happens to be a Fulani, serves to provide state cover for the impunity with which the killings, which in some instances have been described as acts of ethnic cleansing, are carried out.

CONCLUSION: The Fulani herdsmen/terrorists are known to the State. The Fulani herdsmen/terrorists are well paid and protected by the State, under the present rulerships, to carry out their vile killing sprees.

The interest of posterity and the peoples of Nigeria will be best served if the Nigerian contraption is Restructured and Renegotiated as soon as possible, to address fundamental faults in its structure and composition.

Governor el-Rufai of Kaduna State admits to paying herdsmen/terrorists (vanguard newspapers)  http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/weve-paid-fulani-stop-killings-southern-kaduna-el-rufai/

Picture: Armed Fulani herdsmen with their livestock

As Buhari Unleashes Soldiers on the South East Region.

by Eze Eluchie, 

Ostensibly in response to scathing reports from international human rights organizations evidencing the fact that the Nigerian military has been engaged in monstrous acts of mass atrocities against pro-Biafra activists, the ruling government in Nigeria, headed by a man who not only played an active role in the Biafra genocide (as a military officer on the perpetrators side – 1967 – 1970) but has recently, from his insider knowledge of the atrocities committed, placed the death toll in the Biafra genocide at over 2 million persons, has most unfortunately, decided to up the stakes in its efforts to strangulate any aspiration for the universally acknowledged right to self-determination for which pro-Biafra activists are agitating.  

In the wake of the yuletide and end of year seasons, when the Igbo’s who are indigenous to Nigeria’s south-east region usually travel to their homelands in their millions, the Buhari regime in a most devious manner, announced the launch of what it cynically refers to as ‘Operation Python Dance’ under which soldiers will be deployed across the southeast region on, as the representative of the regime (Nigeria Army Deputy Director, Public relations, Col. Sagir Musa) of puts it, ‘internal security measures and deal with secessionists as appropriate’ and address ‘robbery, kidnapping, herdsmen-farmers clash, communal clashes, amongst others’. The falsehood inherent in the army’s excuse for deploying troops to the south east region is exposed by the fact that in ‘National Human Development Report for Nigeria 2016’ published by the United Nations Development Program earlier in the year, the south east region of Nigeria had been declared the “most human security secured geopolitical zone of Nigeria”.

When one recollects the deplorable records of the Nigeria military in its engagement with civil society and the civilian population, and the often stated resolve by the ruling junta in Nigeria to integrate ‘reformed’ Islamist terrorists and the civilian militia in our northern regions into the Nigerian military, it becomes easier to appreciate the apprehension felt by peoples of the south east region over the unwarranted deployment of soldiers in the region.

As the provocative deployment of ‘Operation Python Dance’ to the south east region of Nigeria commences from the 27^th of November 2016, residents in the region are encouraged to recognize the deployment for what it is, a bait to violent reaction; and thus exercise utmost restraint, where possible, whenever they encounter these soldiers on the street of the various cities, towns and villages of the region. In the event of the expected, those in the vicinity are encouraged to document whatsoever atrocities are committed, and share same as widely as possible (preferably on social media)  – pending when a dedicated channel will be set up.

The disdain, bothering on a dire psychological situation, for the people of the south east which spews out from the very persona of the head of the ruling junta in Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, perhaps explains why in over one-and-a-half years (18 months) of his ascension into Office of President of Nigeria, Mr. Buhari has not bothered to visit any of the states of the South East region of Nigeria – an area which he expressly stated during a visit to the United States Institute of Peace that he must treat unjustly, or at the very least cannot be expected to treat in the same as he treats other parts of Nigeria. 

The United States is hereby called upon, in all its dealings with the present Nigerian rulership (we don’t have a leadership in Nigeria), particularly in the areas of sale and supply of military hardware to be mindful of the Leahy Law and its abhorrence of US military equipment being used to arm or beef up the arsenal of countries or entities who use such weapons against their domestic civilian populations and violate human rights with impunity. Western allies of the US and the overall international community should likewise be mindful of the use to which national security apparatus is being deployed in Nigeria. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the ECOWAS Court on Human Rights and all other multi-State and international mass atrocity adjudicatory, investigatory, adjudicatory and punishment authorities, and international human rights organizations are also called upon to take special and particular interest in the unfolding activities of Mr. Buhari’s ‘Operation Python Dance’ in Nigeria’s south east region.

There should and will be consequences for mass atrocities...

The Nigerian contraption simply must be restructured before the building conflagration consumes more than necessary.

                                                  

Amesty International Video on atrocities of the Buhari regime:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_oid2s9fxQ

Video of Nigeria’s ruler, Buhari, affirming resolve not to treat regions of Nigeria (the South East region which also constitute the area of the Biafra region) at the United States Institute of Peace , Washington DC:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYUBTU2ZgFY

Pictures: Flag of the erstwhile separatist Republic of Biafra and Nigeria’s current ruler, Muhammadu Buhari.

In Nigeria, The Trump-Effect Kicks In.

by Eze Eluchie,

Prior to the emergence of Donald Trump as President-elect, several massacres and mass killings committed by the Buhari-led junta in its short period of existence, had, to the astonishment of most Nigerians and observers at the international level, gone virtually unmentioned by the US Embassy in Nigeria. Such events as the massacre of pro-Biafra agitators across the South Eastern states (in one instance, pro-Biafra agitators who had gathered in a field in Aba for prayers, were surrounded and several killed by Nigerian soldiers), the earlier mass killings of Shiites in Zaria (in which over 1000 members of the Shiite sect were mowed down by Nigerian soldiers at the behest of Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, General Buratai) and the ongoing Fulani herdsmen ethnic cleansing in Nigeria’s middle belt region (the continuing pogrom where so-called Fulani herdsmen/militia sacked entire communities, killing at will with virtually no response from Nigeria’s military authorities until each killing episode has ended) seemed of not  much concern to the global leader of democracy and justice.

To the chagrin of discerning Nigerians, in the face of the myriad killings; abuse of people’s rights; outright avowals by the head of Nigeria’s ruling junta to reject court orders that were not in support of the Government; extreme nepotism, ethnocentrism and partiality in the administration of national affairs and assets; and bare-faced horrendous acts of monumental corruption involving key officials of the Buhari-led junta; the message that emanated from the White House, personally pronounced on at least two occasions by out-going President Barack Obama himself, was that the head of Nigeria’s ruling junta, a former dictator who had the blood of innocents on his hand, a man who emerged President in a skewed process and felt no qualms about flaunting partisanship and other impure traits in the governance of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society was that: 'Nigeria was being ruled by “a man who comes with a reputation of integrity”'.

Clearly, with its swift response condemning the dastardly slaughter of several Shiites in Kano by Police authorities last week, the US Embassy in Nigeria that Nigerians have come to know and cherish as a sure and tested voice and partner in the advancement, protection and enforcement of human rights and democratic values, is reasserting itself. Thank you, America. https://nigeria.usembassy.gov/pr_11172016.html

No doubt, this new direction can be traced to the new leadership that will assume authority in the White House come 20^th January 2017.  Had it not been for the tumultuous outcomes of the November 8^th US Presidential elections, it is my assumption that the continuing extrajudicial killings being committed with increasing impunity by the ruling junta in Nigeria would not have elicited the response contained in the Press Release by the US Embassy in Nigeria on the 17th of November 2017 on the killings in Kano. On the converse, one would not have been surprised if there had been, rather than a rebuke of the excesses of the ruling junta, a second special visit by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, or other equally high-ranking Obama administration official, directly to the palace of the principal head of Muslims and the Islamic faith in Nigeria (the Sultan of Sokoto) to commiserate with the Sultanate over the recent death of Alhaji Dasuki, a former Sultan - a visit that will, as previous ones before it, elicit domestic tension.

One cannot but imagine the unlikely scenario of the ‘rapport’ that is bound to ‘develop’ between the present Nigerian ruler and the incoming US President – One strives to visualize the two men exchanging locker-room banters over a game of cards, with one First lady locked away in 'the other room' (the location where the Nigerian ruler informed the world his wife belongs to) and the other championing positive causes across the world. As the incoming Donald Trump administration readies itself to assume control of affairs, considering the appointments announced so far and persons being considered for other offices, it should rightly have dawned on the incumbent Nigerian Government and those of its ilk across Sub-Sahara Africa, who got away with blue-murder in the past, that it is not likely to be business as usual.

Let there be no misunderstanding that the author of this piece believes a Trump presidency will overly focus on African affairs. To the contrary, there are indications that the African continent and its people's will not factor highly in the incoming administrations considerations. It is however far better that the continent and its people's are left to sort themselves out, at their own terms, than for a super-power state to weigh in on domestic issues in a partial and slanted manner indicative of outright support for an identifiable religion or ethnic grouping. 

A new dawn sets...

Pictures: Mr. Muhammadu Buhari and Mr. Donald Trump.

America, On Your ‘Independence’, Congratulations!

by Eze Eluchie,

No one gave him a chance, but he was real;

When the odds were stacked against him, he bombastically ploughed his way through;

In the crunch of the democratic process, he said what had to be said (no matter how distasteful) to ensure victory at the polls.

And now, finally, after what has proved to be the most divisive, expensive and unruly presidential electioneering processes in the history of the United States has ever witnessed, Mr. Donald John Trump finally emerged victorious and will be the 45th President of the United States.

No doubt, many across the world had not expected a Trump victory. Senior government officials in supposedly strong allies of the United States (such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the European Union) had taken turns to pour invective's on Trump in the expectation that Trump had no chance to becoming President;  Rogue rulers of diverse states, who had become enmeshed in thwarting the very ideals for which the United States had gained respect and admiration from peoples across the world and clandestinely hobnobbed and received public praises from the incumbent US establishment; Free loader States across the world who had banked on US weapons, troops and blood for their security will now be faced with the prospect of paying for their peace and prosperity;  All will soon enough realize that a new dawn had set in and it would no longer be business as usual - There is a new powerful kid on the block who has indicated that he would not play ball by the old skewed rules: Changes in the old order will be inevitable!

The American ideal and dream had been misrepresented across the world and become confusing to the discerning.  

Such values as Leadership, Strength of character, Certainty and Consistency for which the US had been known were gradually replaced with Followership, Weakness of character, Uncertainty and Inconsistency.

Perhaps in no other part of the world was the confusion over the ‘leader of the free world’ more pronounced as in Sub Sahara Africa. African States watched in consternation as there was confusion in the US on the following issues: what amounted to a Military Coup (Egypt); what amounted to a Terrorist group (the failure to declare Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist organization); actively partaking in the destabilization of a State in a manner that would directly lead to the proliferation of extremist Islamist terrorism across the sub-region (Libya);  and disingenuous interference in governance and electoral affairs of a thriving African State which eventually led to the destruction of a once thriving economy (Nigeria).

In other parts of the world, ‘red lines’ were ruled in the sand (use of chemical weapons in the wars in Syria); lavish kowtows that exceeded the bounds of diplomatic civility were extended by the supposed head of the free-world to tyrants presiding over brutal repressive regimes (Saudi Arabia); unnecessary and extremely dangerously provocative unfriendly gestures were extended to equally endowed countries in manners that risked global security (Russia and China). All such acts cummulated in a more insecure world and a degradation of the esteem in which the US had been previously held.

By electing Donald Trump, the US electorate extinguished the worry of a continuation of the dwindling role of and expectation from the US in global affairs and begun a process to rehabilitate and restore the US to maximize its potentials at the international level.

Without doubt, healing domestic wounds after such a fractious electoral process would take a lot of political reengineering, which is a domestic issue only for Americans to resolve. FREEMIND is basically concerned with what happens at and affects the international realm, with obvious concern for Sub Sahara Africa.

Welcome back, the United States; Congratulations on your, as President-elect Donald J. Trump calls it, 'Independence'.

Picture: The incoming 45^th President of The United States, Donald J. Trump.

Continuing Abduction of Christian Girls By Muslim Men In Nigeria.

by Eze Eluchie,

A most worrisome trend is gradually attaining the status of a norm in Nigeria – the abduction of Christian girls by Muslims with the patronage of state and under the watch of security authorities. This worrisome situation falls very much in line with a much touted policy of Islamization of the Nigerian contraption.

From the Chibok ‘abductions’ (98% of the girls ‘abducted’ in Chibok were Christians) to the abduction of Ese Oruru from Bayelsa State to Kano State under the patronage of the Islamic ruler (Emir) of Kano, to the kidnap of Habiba Isyaku (under the patronage of the Islamic ruler {Emir} of Katsina), thousands of under-age and young Christian girls are routinely kidnapped/’abducted’, forcefully married by their captors, and when the State and security authorities are approached by the helpless parents and guardians of these girls to rescue the girls, such pleas are met with contempt, disdain and at times blunt refusal to assist to recover kidnapped/’abducted’ minors.

In the case of Ese Oruru, Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police (head of the Police Force) had categorically stated that the release of the abducted minor would only be when the Islamic ruler (Emir) of Kano gave his go ahead. Ese Oruru remained with her abductors until the return from pilgrimage to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) of the said Emir of Kano, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who ironically is well educated and had served as Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor.  

Whilst the Muhammadu Buhari led junta keeps on feigning angst at the ‘abduction’ of girls at Chibok Secondary School, young Christian girls continue to be kidnapped/abducted by identifiable persons who have protection of the State and police authorities.

Prior to the ascendance into office by the Buhari-led junta, there had been the apprehension, based on the antecedents, activities and pronouncements of Mr. Muhammadu Buhari in the period between his first stint as a Dictator in Nigeria (1983) and Buhari’s foray into partisan politics, that efforts will be hastened towards the Islamization of the Nigerian polity and according greater State protection to Islamic policies and practices. The increased rate of kidnap and abduction of Christian girls and the unwillingness of State authorities to intervene to rescue these under-aged victims gives credence that what had been suspected was now materializing.

The unwillingness of the Nigerian State to investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of what is clearly a systematic practice of abduction, forceful marriage and rape of an identifiable segment of the Nigerian population has attained the level of crime against humanity deserving of international attention.

Video clip of Habiba mother before national television in Nigeria pleading for State and police rescue of her daughter:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-CwsxPZefw

Picture: 2 kidnapped Christian girls Ese Oruru (kidnapped and rescued after strident efforts by her mother and Nigerians) and Habiba Isyaku (currently still in the custody of her abductors)

Like Mosul, Like Aleppo

by Eze Eluchie,

The humanitarian disaster that will unfold in Mosul in the coming days is projected to be unprecedented in modern history. With the over 2 million residents of Mosul in its firm grip, the Islamic State (ISIS), notorious for its brutality in treating its hostages, appears set to go down in a blaze of infamy, drowning itself in the blood of innocent civilians under its control. Already, the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations operating in the area, have confirmed reports of mass killings of civilians, dumping bodies of decapitated children and women in rivers and other bestial acts as the liberation forces continue the sure and steady march towards liberating Mosul.

As the progress towards liberating Mosul continues, more evidence of the crimes against humanity being committed by ISIS in Mosul will be unearthed. The situation is made more delicate with the discovery of huge stockpiles of bombs tipped with chemical weapon delivery devices in some of the liberated towns around Mosul – a clear indication that ISIS has chemical weapons in its arsenal and will surely use same with devastating consequences as its control of the city is directly threatened.

With the array of military jets and thousands of tanks and ground troops assembled for the final assault on Mosul, the landscape and skyline of what was previously the second largest city of Iraq will certainly bear a grim resemblance to what has become the Syrian city of Alepppo. The resemblance Mosul will have with Aleppo does not end with merely the physical; it also extends to the tactics adopted by the combating units, the make-up of the combating units and the overriding end result that must be achieved at all costs.  

Like in Mosul where ISIS terrorists are holding the civilian population hostage and using them as shield against attacks from legitimate efforts at liberation, Al Nusra front and other Al Qeida linked terrorist are preventing civilians from leaving Aleppo, using such innocent civilians as human shield and as further fodder to vilify legitimate efforts at liberating Aleppo. Also, like in Mosul, the AQ-linked terrorist organizations (ignorantly referred to as ‘rebels’ in some media outlets) have been shown, in a United Nations sanctioned report, to have deployed chemical weapons in their ongoing quest to oust the Al-Assad regime – deployment which caused much sufferings and loss of civilian lives and a mistaken accusation against the Syrian government for using such weapons against its own people.

Also like in Mosul, the battle for Aleppo pits extremist Islamist terror groups against internationally recognized governments, in a manner that the international community must never allow the terrorists to claim victory. Just as Mosul must be liberated at all costs, Aleppo must likewise be liberated at all costs. The world cannot afford one inch of territory in the control of terrorists.

Picture: Mosul, just before it becomes like Aleppo.

Release of Chibok 'Abductees' - The Great Cover-Up Begins

by Eze Eluchie,

According to Nigeria’s appropriately named Minister for Information, Mr. Lai (Lie) Mohammed, after holding several hundred school girls from Chibok for over 900 days, dreaded Boko Haram terrorists, after ‘extensive negotiations’ with Nigerian authorities simply dropped off 21 of the school girls they had in their custody somewhere near the border with Cameroun and informed state authorities where to pick the young ladies!

In his own version of what is fast turning out to be an avalanche of spurious suspect tales being churned out by officials of Nigeria’s current ruling junta, the Vice President, supposedly a Professor of Law, Yemi Osibajo, informed a Press Conference that there had been no swap of prisoners to effect the release of the girls and that “God truly helped us in the negotiations” – one will truly wonder what precise role(s) this god played in touching the heart of terrorists to unconditionally release girls they have held for over 2 years.

The ‘expertise’ being exhibited by those negotiating on behalf of Nigeria’s ruling junta in their negotiations with ISIS-linked Boko Haram will sure be required by the International Community as efforts are made to route out ISIS from Mosul. Perhaps the Nigerian negotiators, who ‘succeeded’ in pricing out 21 ‘abducted’ girls from ISIS-linked Boko Haram with no conditions attached, may consider organizing a crash-course for Iraqi and the United States-led Coalition Forces presently assembling around Mosul so that the world may be spared the ensuing bloodbath efforts to liberate Mosul will certainly turn out to be.

The really sad and worrisome aspect of the shambolic release of the 21 Chibok girls is the haste with which the Nigerian Government, in a bid to exploit what they must have reasoned was a PR opportunity, hurriedly transported the ‘released’ girls to Abuja for a photo-shoot event with the Presidency and thrust the vanquished and vulnerable girls before what was clearly a traumatizing array of journalists and flashlights. Less than 12 hours after the girls were supposedly ‘released’ from the hold of terrorists who held them for over 900 days, without any opportunity to be with their immediate families and or professional counselling, the girls were being aggressively showcased in a manner that left many of them in tears and visibly reclining deeper.

The release of 21 of the girls is obviously a kite being flown. International reaction to this initial phase will go a long way to determine if more will be released or whether the ensuing focus and attention will be considered too burdensome, thus necessitating the expiration of any of the remaining girls..

The world was shocked by the news of the Chibok abductions; the international community was made to carry posters with the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag; The Nigerian Government must thus be forthcoming with explanations when required of it over these releases, and over the entire Chibok 'abduction' fiasco for that matter.

Time for accountability over the Chibok ‘abductions’ is nigh!

Picture: Nigeria’s Vice President, Mr. Osinbajo, addressing the ‘released’ Chibok girls shortly after they were flown for the photo-opportunity in Abuja.

Let Al-Assad Be, For Now.

by Eze Eluchie, 

Any objective observer of Arab and Middle Eastern affairs will affirm that foreign induced change of rulers in the region has always been a recipe for prolonged and violent pogroms. The very recent examples of the overthrow and murder of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Muammar Qhadaffi and the continuing mayhem and destruction foisted on not only that region but with the blood spilling globally, should have ordinarily served as trite warning to outsiders who meddle in what they least know about - to desist therefrom.

From its very inception in the wake of the Arab Spring series of revolutions which engulfed Arabia and the Middle East some 5 years ago, sectarian and ethnically influenced efforts to oust the Al-Assad regime in Syria (which served, alongside the very shaky government in Lebanon, as liberal regimes in the Middle East where Muslims, Christians and persons of divers ethnic origins had access to high political offices with women accorded tangible freedoms and equal rights) elicited much greater interest from across the world than earlier episodes of the Arab Spring which in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya, which had largely been considered as internal affairs of those countries. With benefit of hindsight of the outcomes of what had been erroneously considered populist mass-led revolutions in other parts of the Middle East, particularly the revolutions in Iraq and Libya which had replaced stable, though authoritarian leaders, with mob-rule and territories largely ungovernable which now serve as breeding grounds for international terror syndicates, there was a felt need by some in the international community, particularly UN Security council veto-vote wielding countries Russia and China, to prevent a repeat of the ugly situations now existing across much of Arabia.

Fears that an ouster of the Al-Assad regime would have led to sectarian exterminations against Christians and other religious minorities, ethnic genocide against Alawite tribes and the enthronement of extremist Islamists in Syria, a whittling away of the erstwhile liberal society that had existed in Syria and retrogression of gender and people’s rights has been further brought to the fore by the reality that the so-called rebel forces striving to oust Al-Assad, inclusive of the Free Syrian Army, derives much of their fighting stamina from either the Al-Nusra Front and other Al Qeida linked terrorists organizations. The war in Syria long ceased to be a civil war as much of the so-called rebel fighting force is populated by foreign fighters from as far flung territories as Tunisia, the Russian caucuses and other areas where jihadist elements were imported to fight an extremist Islamist cause. In the event that the Al-Assad regime had been overthrown, Syria would certainly have gone the way of Libya, Iraq and Egypt (under the Brotherhood) – back into damnation and a period where women in accord with extremist Islamic philosophies, disappear from public view and become mere chattels of their menfolk.

It was, is and continues to be right and appropriate in the interest of the peoples of Syria and their neighbours and the international community in general, that for now and the foreseeable future to heal the wounds of the debilitating battles, the Al-Assad regime and its structures continue to superintend over Syria. The United States and its allies can for now forget their untenable insistence on ousting the current Syrian regime – previous regime change has left the Middle Eastern countries where such has occurred, and the Middle East region generally, far worse off.

Should the assertion in the foregoing paragraph be mistaken as an approval of all tactics used in prosecuting the war against the ‘rebels’, ‘moderate extremist Islamists’ and terrorists?  Certainly not! Wars by themselves are necessarily bloody, moreso when the war is being prosecuted against terror elements who adopt such unconventional tactics as suicide bombings, chemical weapon attacks, use civilians and civilian-structures as hostages and other quite lethal and effective means to gain whatever advantages they need to, without the slightest of reservations.

As the Syrian war crosses the 5 year mark with daily reports of heart rendering fatalities and battles and wastages to which entire communities and several millions have been subjected to, it has become pertinent in the interest of Syrians and overall humanity that an immediate or expedited end be put to the wars in Syria. The following steps are recommended:

1. A ceasefire to allow for safe and free passage of civilians from the war zones, particularly Aleppo and its adjacent territories into areas where they can be adequately protected and given much needed humanitarian assistance.

2. Armed combatants in Aleppo and other rebel held territories should be encouraged to lay down their weapons, surrender. The instrumentality of the United Nations can then be adopted to superintend over reconciliation and rebuilding efforts and other transitional arrangements.

3. Efforts will thereafter be focused to extinguish Islamist terrorists, ISIS and Al Qeida and their affiliates.

At an appropriate time, issues of who committed which war crime or crime against humanity against whom in the course of the ‘Arab Spring’ across Arabia and the Middle East, inclusive of crimes against the peoples of Libya, Iraq, Bahrain and Syria will then be objectively addressed – raising such issues now appears to be deliberate ploy to continue the sufferings of the peoples of Syria in particular and the Middle East whilst allowing extremist Islamist terror elements a crack through which to flourish and establish their horrendous strangle hold over that region.

Picture: Pictorial comparison of parts of Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo, before and during the war.

After Finally Affirming Saudi Government Culpability for 9-11, What Next?

by Eze Eluchie,

Almost 15 years to the day Islamist Terror visited America, United States authorities (at least the Congress) have finally begun genuine effort to address the root cause of the dastardly attacks of 9^th September 2001. By its passage of a Bill which identified Saudi Arabia as the origin of the 9-11 attacks and making it possible for victims of the 9-11 attacks to sue the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for losses suffered therefrom, common sense and good judgement appears to be finally taking root in US response to terror.

The initial knee-jerk reaction of attacking, overthrowing and eventually killing President Saddam Hussein of Iraq had been based on a near-childish resolve of then President George Bush to ‘finish off the job his father had not finished’ and well orchestrated lies and deceit that the Iraqi authorities were acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction which they will use to hurt US interests. This reaction has irreversibly destabilized the Middle East, institutionalized extremist Islamist terrorism as a fad and preferred option for thousands of misguided Muslim youths across the world, and unfortunately served to garner and deepen enmity against Western values by survivors of the atrocities unleashed against the Middle East.

The rush to vilify and condemn what was obviously one of the most liberal regimes in the Middle East (in terms of its ability to be all inclusive, allowing some level of equity amongst religious sects and appreciative of all genders) has since proved to be one of the most unwise steps ever taken in the anal of human history.  Blinded by pecuniary interests in the Black gold and a felt need to continue the maintenance of a suspect friendship with a most repressive dictatorial regime, the US had in its initial response to 9-11, incredulously opted to dispense with critical evidence that linked the perpetrators of 9-11 to the Saudi regime and mysteriously focused its arsenal on the Saddam regime that loathed Al Qeida to its core, a regime that should have served as a ready and willing partner in efforts to contain Osama bin Laden and his followers.

Will properly identifying the enemy 15 years down the line serve any useful purpose? Considering the damage already occasioned to the entire region resulting from the wrongs of the past 15 years: inclusive of the horrendous fatalities in Iraq, continuing bleeding of Libya, Saudi involvement in the civil war in Yemen, and of course the devastation Syria has now become, it will be extremely difficult to expect a mere token, the recognition of where guilt rightly laid for 9-11 attacks, to make much impact in the process – one cannot even refer to it as the ‘healing process’ or corrections as the expectations of the US Congress in declaring the Saudi Government culpable for 9-11 losses is again focused on pecuniary issues and in no way related towards addressing underlying issues.

The recognition of the culpability of the Saudi Government is however a step forward as it, in the very least, recognizes truth, a critical element in the healing process for any hurts. Yet another timeless historically error will be made if the recognition of the Saudi Governments culpability in 9-11 is viewed only in terms of the pecuniary rewards litigants may extort from the Kingdom. The US Congress Bill should, when passed into law, serve as a pedestal upon which genuine reconciliation may begin, starting obviously with apologies and redress (the damages done to these peoples is far and above what can be compensated for) to peoples whose countries and psyche has been destroyed in some instances, irreparably, particularly the Iraqis.

With the commencement of the processes of such reconciliation and redress, it will then be possible to come together and extinguish the vermin of extremist Islamist terrorism which is principally founded on the perception of the perpetuation of wrongs.

Picture:  Members of Saudi Royalty with the burning twin-towers in the backdrop.

Airstrikes Against Peace In Syria.

by Eze Eluchie,

One is really beginning to pity the people of Syria over the seemingly unending depreciation of their lives, country and future they have been made to endure these past 5 years. Without any doubts, there might have been genuine grievances against the Al-Assad regime which led to the commencement of efforts at revolt in 2011, at the same time the Arab world was engulfed in the now infamous Arab Spring. What has since become clear now is that foreign forces are now using the different sides in the Syrian conflict as pawns in a most atrocious proxy war which is leaving Syria and its people utterly devastated.

More worrisome is the unfolding reality that the conflict in Syria, going by observed trends, may continue in perpetuity, at least for the foreseeable future. This worry is rooted in the fact that any efforts at addressing critical issues in the conflict or opportunities to arbitrate or attain meaningful ceasefires are deliberately undermined in such a manner that encourages the various combatants in the conflict to dig deeper into their trenches.

Two instances of these ‘dashing-of-hopes-for-peace’ instances readily come to mind. Firstly, the Turkey shoot-down of a Russian Air Force jet at a time when ISIS and other collateral terrorists in the Syrian conflict were feeling the dire impact of sustained Russian air-power. The downing of the Russian jet by a NATO member-state, which was obviously hiding under the cloak of collective security offered by NATO membership, served to dampen Russian efforts at strafing ISIS out of existence and created a crack in the resolve by the international community to destroy ISIS. 

The more recent scuttling of the Syrian ceasefire agreement painstakingly arrived at in the course of several meetings between the Foreign Ministers of the United States and Russia, via lethal airstrikes by US soldiers which killed over 60 Syrian soldiers in the area around the Deit al-Zour, is particularly unfortunate. The US airstrikes in question, attacks which accorded opposition/terrorist elements some advantage over the Syrian Government positions prior to the inception of the ceasefire, occurred barely 48 hours to occurrence of an important milestone in the ceasefire processes - the 7-day observance of cessation of hostilities, a milestone that would have for the first time witnessed the harmonization of intelligence capabilities of the US and Russian militaries towards confronting an identified adversary, extremist Islamist terrorist organizations. The world did indeed miss out on an opportunity to unify resources and efforts against ISIS, and by extension, global Islamist terrorism.

The US airstrikes against Syrian soldiers practically ended the ceasefire agreement. Feeble excuses of mistakes in targeting rendered by US authorities were rightly discountenanced – mistaken mass murders indeed! The official announcement of the end of the ceasefire agreement some 24 hours later by the Syrian Government was expected by all except the undiscerning. Once more, a unique opportunity to end the Syrian war and its attendant humanitarian crisis had been lost. The declaration of the end of the ceasefire was immediately followed by a most dastardly attack on the convoy conveying much needed United Nations humanitarian supplies to the besieged people of Aleppo, an attack which killed several humanitarian workers and volunteers.   

Opinions have been expressed in some quarters that the attack on the aid convoy and the killings of humanitarian workers therein amounts to war crimes. There is nothing wrong with that line of thought, so long as it also accepts that the perpetrators of the precipitating factor of the attack, the airstrikes on the Syrian soldiers in Deir al-Zour, should likewise be held accountable as accomplices to the crime.

It appears quite clear that forces outside of Syria and the control of Syrians are intent on ensuring the continuation of  war in Syria, and bombing this most historic of countries back into the dark ages. To end the multiplicity of conflicts raging concurrently in Syria, it is incumbent on the sitting Government of Bashir al-Assad to begin to exercise genuine leadership by firstly requesting all foreign forces not in sync with its authority to depart from Syrian territory and follow up with spirited extermination of the ISIS forces in its territory. Genuine peace overtures should thereafter be extended to the myriad of warring elements operating in Syria, some of which are affiliated to extremist Islamist entities, with a view to getting them on board a ‘transitional unity government’. The current Syrian Government and those willing to work in collaboration with it should not be deterred in frontally confronting any forces, internal or external, which continues to meddle in Syrian affairs after the olive-branch had been offered to all concerned.

The continuing carnage in Syria is a shame on all humanity.

The Syrian Government under Bashir al-Assad have a duty to stop, as soon as possible, the continuing bleeding of Syria and its peoples.

Picture: Continuing devastation in Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city.