Winding Up The #BringBackOurGirls and #BH Scam

by Eze Eluchie, 

The publicity outfit charged with Nigeria military operations against Boko Haram (PRNigeria) has been announcing with child-like relish, the ‘surrender’ and confessions’ of a so-called BH Commander, Auwal Ismaeela, who amongst other feats, owned up to being part of the terrorists who masterminded and executed dastardly terror attacks amongst which include the Chibok ‘abductions’ (during which over 300 secondary school students were taken away from their school), the massacre at federal Government College, Bunu Yadi (during which 47 male secondary school students were slaughtered). It appears the Military's Directorate of Publicity is 'shy' to announce the 'monumental' feat by itself.

In the Press Release by the media outfit, BH Commander Auwal states: “myself and Abu Hasfat, a Boko Haram Commander, led other squads to abduct the Chibok girls. We led the operation to invade Gwoza, Bama. Limankara Mobile Barracks, Bita, Bosso, Madagali, Chibok, Pulka, Firgi and Mubi”. Continuing, the PRNigeria release states: “in an interview with PRNigeria at a Military facility for the repentant and surrendered Boko Haram members in the Northeast, the ex-terrorist leader said he regretted the atrocities he was forced to commit against humanity”. This Auwal Ismmaeela fellow had virtually owned up to been the Commander of virtually all major Boko Haram operations in Nigeria.

Hurray! Hurray!! The search is over. The perpetrators and leadership of Boko Haram have surrendered and confessed to their sins. We must now forgive all the beheadings, mass rapes and abductions; bombings at public places which killed several hundreds and maimed countless more. We can now all go back to sleep and presume the abductions, the killings, destructions all never took place or were a figment of our joint imaginations.

With this Auwal Ismaeela character in custody, need we look any further? Why bother with any Shekau (spurious BH leader) when we have a bird in hand who has confessed to virtually all the ‘confesables’?

The stark reality is that the ruse of the Chibok ‘abductions’ and other vile terroristic acts perpetuated under the subterfuge of BH has yielded desired political goals. There is thus the need to bring the ‘noise’ generated to an acceptable and plausible end. How else do you do this without a major ‘surrender and confession’?

In the interim, those who are suspected to have orchestrated, funded, instigated, promoted and encouraged the adoption and deployment of terror as a political strategy and means to attainment of political power continue to enjoy the fruits of their ‘labour’ - spoils of the very high political offices they now occupy in Nigeria.  

Hopefully, it will by now have dawned on former US First Lady (Michelle Obama), former UK Prime Minister (Dave Cameron), CNN Anchor (Christian Amanpour) and countless others including several celebrities around the world and hundreds of Nigerians who were sucked into carrying the #BringBackOurGirls placards that they had merely been swindled by a most vicious cabal whose desperation to grab political power in Nigeria knew no bounds, and merely viewed the abduction of innocent school girls and the harm occasioned to the damsels (including the fact that some were wasted) as mere collateral damages in the quest for power.

With the surrender, ‘confession’ of Boko Haram leaders who participated in the Chibok ‘abductions’ and the subsequent enrolment of these scumbags into the Nigerian governments ‘sophisticated’ amnesty and ‘re-education’ program, the curtains are being drawn on the Chibok abductions and the wastage of hundreds of other lives by BH terrorists in several schools and communities across Nigeria’s north-east region.

......and all lived happily ever after? Really?

With all situations where thugs are empowered with weapons by their paymasters, there is always the reality that not all of those thugs will be willing to return the arms they were given at the end of the 'assignment'. Despite Auwal Ismaeela's 'surrender and confessions', there will still be many thugs like him, who having tasted the power derived by unbridled control and use of weapons, will not let go easily of such weapons, even when being coerced with cash, positions and whatsoever.  

There ought to and should be accountability for mass atrocities.

Nigerian newspaper publication on the capture of BH Commander, Auwal Ismaeela

http://thenationonlineng.net/boko-haram-commander-led-chibok-schoolgirls-kidnap/

Picture: Boko Haram logo

America’s Russian-Nightmare Returns Home

by Eze Eluchie,

By his very size, you simply could not ignore him and he was unmistakable – he filled any room he was in.

The ever present boyish grin which adorns his face elicits an endearing smile from whosoever comes into first contact with him – and this obviously opens quite a lot of doors, hearts and secrets for his employers.  

The size and ambience appeared to have worked extremely well for Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.

After a decade of service to his country as its Ambassador to the United States, during which period he developed, explored and sustained contacts with his host country, reaching out to influential elements in US political, business and social circles, Sergey Kislyak, is finally returning to his home country where he is being received as hero who admirably navigated very turbulent waters during the Obama presidency, culminating his tenure by achieving the unthinkable - superintending over a successful Russian interference in US presidential elections.

In the build-up to the November 2016 US Presidential elections, it had been quite clear to all that the Russian Federation had a preference for an identifiable and clear candidate between the two main candidates in the US. The Russian preference was easily discernible and was boldly asserted and shown by Russians of all works of life, from the Kremlin, President Putin all the way through to cab drivers and waiters on the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that subterranean efforts were deployed by Russia through its maze of covert security operatives and agencies, the task of frontally representing the interest of the Russian Federation, and ensuring that the desires of the ‘motherland’ come to fruition, rested on the broad shoulders of Amb. Kislyak.  

In brash, discreet and diplomatically unprecedented moves, Ambassador Kislyak met with and discussed ‘issues’ surrounding the US Presidential elections with key members of the inner caucus of the Presidential Campaign organization of Russia’s preferred candidate, such as Michael Flynn {Former US National Security Adviser}, Jeff Session {current US Attorney General}, Jared Kushner {US Presidents Special Adviser and influential son-in-law} and so on – meetings that have only begun to be revealed several weeks after the US Presidential elections have long been concluded and the deed already done. With each revelation of a clandestine meeting with Ambassador Kislyak, the realization of how deeply engrained the level of Russian interference in selecting the 45^th POTUS became clearer to many Americans.

At one point, it became obvious that politicians in Washington DC were examining their social and private meetings to verify if they had ever come into contact or been in the same room with Ambassador Kislyak. Any previous interaction with Ambassador Kislyak, or even dreams where the Ambassador had featured in, became a source of concern to politicians in the capital city.

An unfortunate outcome of Ambassador Kislyak’s successful tenure in Washington DC., is that any hope of US – Russia collaboration in efforts to defeat extremist Islamist terrorism virtually evaporated as the US establishment now appears to have directed its embarrassment and disgust at the successful Russian interference in US Presidential elections at thwarting any efforts at rapprochement, amity and collaborations between the Trump administration and Kremlin. President Trump is, himself, forced to act against Russian interests in manners in which he ordinarily would have exercised reservations – such as with the attack on the Syrian Air Force base in – in a bid to show ‘independence’ from The Kremlin.

Hopefully with the return of Ambassador Kislyak to his home country, tension will be diffused and it will be possible to downplay the issue of Russian interference in US elections and focus once more shifted towards ensuring that the two main global powers positively engage with themselves and work towards ensuring the extermination of extremist Islamist terrorism and other vices of existential concern to humanity.

Picture: Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.          

Mr. President's Fault-Filled Address

by Eze Eluchie,

Without any apologies for a 100+ days absence from the country over which he is supposed to be presiding as President, the ensuing international odium and embarrassment Nigeria and Nigerians had to contend with on account of their absentee-President, the Nigerian ruler, in his first national broadcast choose the part of filibustering, issuing threats, drawing imaginary red-lines and sanctimoniously projecting his beliefs regarding the Nigerian polity as a fait accompli.

Whoever wrote the address for the Nigerian President needs to go for more training in Presidential speech writing. The address takes off with a fallacy: 'My dear citizens'. Nigerians are not Buhari's 'dear citizens'! Presuming Buhari's citizenship is ascertained, Nigerians are Buhari's fellow citizens! The mindset of a population being mistaken for 'my dear citizens', belonging to the ruler of the contraption, to the 'supreme citizen' of the polity, has often times led to very dire outcomes.  

Whilst we welcome Muhammadu Buhari back to Nigeria from his protracted medical tourism trip to the United Kingdom and wish him more years ahead in good health, it is pertinent in view of the multiple agitations from diverse constituent entities of the Nigerian state, that the following facts are appreciated:

* It is delusional to think of any national borders as not-negotiable.

* Nigerians never decided on discourse of national issues as ‘national red lines’!

* Nigerians are entitled and empowered to engage in national discourse; no statutory bodies whatsoever has exclusive rights to engage in this vocation.

* Buhari’s reference to a so-called discussion he had with late Odumegwu Ojukwu (even if such ever took place) is misplaced and irrelevant.

* Further reference in the address of ‘bringing back order, if necessary with their blood’, is typical, unnecessarily threatening and unfortunate.

As evidenced by the video below of European borders over the past 1000 years, national borders are transient and liable to amendments at the will of the people and depending on several factors – they are not, and can never be, permanent.

Nigeria must be Restructured & Renegotiated – time to do this peacefully is fast ebbing away!

Video: Very dynamic borders of European countries over the past 1000 years:
http://ow.ly/rGdx30eyh1r


Picture: Nigeria's President Buhari, during a nationwide broadcast after staying away from Nigeria for medical reasons for 106 days.

The TRANSAQUA Project – Nigeria's Federal Government Surreptitiously Spearheads Africa’s Whitest Elephant Scam

By Eze Eluchie,

Was this ‘Bridge-across-the-Atlantic’ project, transporting water across over 2,400 kilometres from Congo River basin to Lake Chad under the guise of beefing up the quantity of water in the Lake (a natural phenomenon attributable to climate change and desertification), which the Nigeria Government is the major funder, reflected in the 2017 Budget?

What will Nigeria benefit from wasting Billions of Dollars in this Transaqua project?

Was appropriate Environmental Impact Assessment carried out?

Were adequate psychiatric evaluations of the promoters of the project undertaken?

Whoever crafted the idea that refilling Lake Chad (if ever this is feasible) would enhance economic prospects and thus directly reduce extremist Islamist terrorism which seems to have taken hold in the region seems oblivious of the fact that the Gulf Arab countries where the major Islamist terror groups were founded and headquartered are very wealthy states.

  

At a time when millions of Nigerians are starving to death, basic childhood killer diseases and high maternal mortality is decimating the population, some smart alecs in the Nigerian government and its bureaucracy have found a novel means of looting the treasury dry and burdening the future generations with insurmountable debts via a multi-billion dollar TRANSAQUA project.

The shroud of secrecy foisted over and been accorded the Projects and the signing of an ‘agreement to collaborate’ in this wasteful drain-pipe endeavour between Italian engineering firm (Bonfica) and one of China’s largest multinational conglomerates (China Power) which took place in Hangzhou, China, on the 8th day of June 2017, in the presence of officials of the Governments concerned should sure be a source of worry. More particularly as the TRANSAQUA project is being embarked upon at a time when the Nigerian Government is foot-dragging in efforts to clean-up the Niger Delta region, claiming that paucity of funds was preventing commencement of Clean-up operations and other protracted projects in Nigeria such as the dredging of Rivers Niger and Benue, extension of Rail Tracks to the South Eastern States and a Highway linking Nigeria to Cameroun, amongst other practical projects.

What next will they come up with to deplete and pauperize the State? An underwater tunnel from Nigeria to Australia?  

It appears that diverse forces are utilizing the absence of a President in office in Nigeria to perpetuate all manners of scams in the name of the Nigerian State.

Picture: Lake Chad  

Nigeria: Disincentivizing Education

by Eze Eluchie,

Shame of the Nigerian contraption:

Prize for Multina Family Dance competition – N10,000,000.00 + SUV (approx US$67,000.00)

Prize for Gulder Ultimate Search competition – N15,000,000.00 + SUV (approx US$84,000.00)

Prize for Cowbelll Mathematics competition – N100,000.00 (approx US$334)

Prize from GTBank to Best Graduating Medical student – N10,000.00 (approx US$34)

The banner on which the N10,000.00 mock cheque is printed actually cost more than N10,000.00!

GTBank should be ashamed of itself for mocking academic excellence. This perfidy is akin to the boast of the so-called ‘richest man in Africa’, Aliko Dangote, that PhD Degree holders applied to be Articulated vehicle Operators (Drivers) in his company......and we are still wondering why we are where we are whilst the rest of the world keeps on forging ahead?

Ruled by a brood of vipers who take delight in sending their children to foreign universities with funds looted from state resources whilst ensuring that local educational institutions remain decrepit and unfit, Nigerian youths are deliberately being schemed out of being positively relevant to the global economy. The rulers of the Nigerian contraption are hell-bent on disincentivizing education – discouraging the Nigerian population from venturing into the pursuit of academic excellence and rather promote mundane vocations and ignorance.

The socio-political structure of Nigeria and the quality of rulers such structure elevates to high political offices enthrones mediocrity, ignorance and ultimately an unproductive population. To have any hope of a meaningful existence, the present order has to be drained and replaced with a radically new crop at the helm.

Time however appears to be running out for the Nigerian state to right itself.

Picture: A GTBank Director proudly mocking education by presenting the N10,000 (under US$34) prize to the Best Graduating Student of the College of Medicine.