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)