Nigeria needs understanding, not ultimatums!

by Eze Eluchie

At times one really wonders what the foreign policy objective of the Obama administration is regarding Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa generally.

After frustrating efforts of the Nigerian Government to acquire military assets that would have tilted the course of Nigeria's war against terror against the terrorists, the US Secretary of State has the temerity to express 'displeasure' against the decision independently arrived at by Nigeria's electoral umpires, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to postpone the general elections on grounds of the rising insecurity occasioned by sustained BH onslaughts?

The statement contained in the Press Release by the State Department to the effect that 'The United States underscores the importance of ensuring that there are no further delays' should be totally discountenanced as unnecessary interference in the workings of our INEC. Let it now be known that there yet exists, under our Constitution, room for further extension if our domestic circumstances so demands. INEC is mandated to ensure that elections must be held not more than 30 days to the handover date of May 29 2015 - theoretically speaking, a further extension can be validly accommodated if INEC deems such necessary.
   
Is there veiled efforts to ensure the destabilization of Africa's most populous country and largest economy? And has the consequences of such vocation been well thought out?

Nigerians are committed to ensuring a free, transparent and credible electoral process within the ambit of our laws recognizing that the lives and safety of our citizenry is of paramount concern. As has become clear to all Nigerians in the course of our war against terror, Nigerians, and mainly Nigerians are the victims. We have to sort these issues by and for ourselves.

In these crucial periods, Nigeria needs the understanding and support of its friends, not veiled threats and ultimatums.

Nigeria will eventually prevail!


US State Department Press Statement on postponement of elections in Nigeria.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/02/237290.htm#.VNdc7vL0thA.twitter


Picture: US Secretary of State, John Kerry {Listen, Nigeria needs understanding, not ultimatums}

Nigeria's War On Terror - The Chadian Connection

by Eze Eluchie

In Central African Republic, the Chadian Army had to be booted out of the United Nations Peace Keeping Mission when it was discovered that Chadian soldiers were aiding the Seleka (Islamist) militia in perpetuating various mass killings and to fight against the authorities of Central African Republic (C.A.R.)

Prior to the Boko Haram attack on Baga, the Chadian Army contingent to the multi-national forces in Baga surreptitiously withdrew approximately 2 days to the BH attack on Baga, leaving the Nigerian troops totally outnumbered and ill-prepared for what was a premeditated assault on Baga by BH.

A great majority of BH terrorists captured or killed in their various engagements with the Nigerian military are of Chadian origin. The President of Chad, actively participated in and served as broker/host of ‘ceasefire negotiation’ between Nigeria and BH, negotiations which basically served to malign the Nigerian State and his Nigerian counterpart, whilst affording BH greater public relations mileage.

That this same Chadian Army is now sending a full battalion to ‘join the war against BH’ should be a clear source of concerned to all that the war against BH may be about to take a horrifying exponential escalation – Nigeria may now not only be fighting Islamist insurgents, but in addition, and as of now probably a national army.

Ordinarily, the Chadian military would not pose problems for their Nigerian counterparts – but when an Army is infused with an amorphous terrorist entity, the situation becomes without precedence and the rules of engagement quite murky. The situation for the Nigeria military is made more precarious when one considers the seeming willingness of some agencies to allege all manners of imagined and probable infringement of international conflict protocols against our military.

It gets worse before it gets better.

Picture: Chadian soldiers readying for a deployment.

Auschwitz, 70 years on - no lessons learnt.

by Eze Eluchie

As the world commemorates the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, one cannot but recognize the important role of memorialization and remembrances in keeping at bay the likelihood of a repeat of acts of mass atrocities and crimes against humanity.

The memory of the lives of the millions of Jews whose lives were put to a gory end by Nazi Germany forces continues to reverberate and speak their anguish and sufferings to mankind as a result of the efforts made to keep their voices and pain alive.

Unfortunately for humanity, despite the loud voices and sufferings emanating from Auschwitz, 70 years on, religious and national extremism in various parts of the world, make it glaring that we, mankind, have not sufficiently learnt from the past,  stoking the possibility of repeats of Auschwitz across the world.

From carefully crafted and well executed acts of genocidal ethnic cleansing against so-called minority ethnic groups in Nigeria’s Middle-Belt region, to the targeting of Jews in France; from the rise of extremist right-wing political parties across Europe to palpable racism in the United States; from vicious Islamist jihadist whose prime motive is mass murder and shocking all with their bestiality to increased warmongering amongst erstwhile arch-enemies in the Far-east; increase in widespread hatred against identifiable peoples, which gives rise to genocides and other mass atrocities, continues to rise exponentially giving notice to all who care to know, that sooner rather than later, an explosion will occur; that an Auschwitz will be repeated.

At whatsoever costs, we must all ensure Never Again!

Picture: Corpses of some of the over 1.5 million Jews murdered in Auschwitz in the background.