The Looming Protest: Joe Igbokwe, Bayo Onanuga And The Age Of Unreason

The two individuals that no longer surprise me at all are Citizens Joe Igbokwe and Bayo Onanuga, however in the present instance I wonder what sycophancy and court-jesting have done to their ability to discern the times and by jove incline their hearts to wisdom, apologies to the Holy Book.

Joe Igbokwe in the service of his master decided perhaps without deep research to do the greatest disservice to the present watch. In threatening the Igbo in Lagos and across the Country, Citizen Joe Igbokwe has forgotten that hunger and poverty are indiscriminate of Region, Religion and ethnicity. He has forgotten that unemployment and want are indiscriminate of Creed and Clan. And he has forgotten that playing the ethnic card ala threatening a Tribe in the face of pain, penury and poverty is but an invitation to anarchy. He has forgotten that he who is down needs fear no fall.

Citizen Bayo Onanuga is himself caught by a disease I would call Obi-neurosis, a fear I would call Obi-Phobia, and a complex that fixates him to everything and anything Peter Obi, and the Obidient Movement. I pity him.

The two citizens here mentioned and their fellow travelers in the path of infamy are obsessed with the spoils of power that they cannot see. They are blinded by filthy lucre that they cannot read the times, and their soul is sold to Mammon such that they cannot perceive the ominous tide that romances our space.

They are without an ounce of equivocation Pseudo-Progressives swimming against a deluge. Joe Igbokwe can threaten the Igbo for all he cares. Bayo Onanuga can accuse Peter Obi and the Obidient Movement for all he cares, one infallible fact is that the clock is ticking, that time is running out, and like Kenyans the Gen Zee generation are tired, and have elected to trounce the tranquilizing drug of gradualism choosing proactive action over siddon look.

The Looming Protest has nothing to do with Ethnicity, Region or Religion, deceive yourself for all you care, the Truth is before us. The Looming Protest has nothing to do with Peter Obi or the Obidient Movement, lie to yourselves for all you care, the Truth is lucid. Continue to make matters worse for Tinubu with your sycophancy, continue to gaslight the gullible, and continue to delude and denude the hapless. Truth is that Nigeria is at the precipice and that our Country is hanging dangerously at the tipping edge.

Rather than advise their Master to work the path of caution, discretion and propriety, they sing his praises and nudge him further down the path to Golgotha. They see no wrong in wanton profligacy and wanderlust. They see no wrong in a Presidency that pours out 100m US Dollars for a new Presidential Jet in the face of harrowing poverty. They see no wrong in the spate of job loss and inflation. They see no wrong in the scarcity of food, the hike in price of Fuel, and the suicidal hunger that confronts the Nigerian hoi polloi. All they do is hail their Master as though he is infallible. All they do is blame Buhari as if their Master didn't promise to continue with Buhari's policies that saw Nigeria going in out of inflation, today Nigeria is enmeshed in the worst inflation in our history. Seeing the glaring comeuppance of failure, seeing that the Young are gearing up to challenge for the soul of our nation, Joe Igbokwe, Bayo Onanuga and their cohorts in the cult of Court-jesting are busy shifting the blame, are busy gaslighting the ignorant, and are busy throwing darts at the innocent, but it won't work.

It was Frantz Fanon who said long time ago that every generation out of relative obscurity discovers it's mission, Fulfills or betrays it. If the Gen Zee across Africa have risen, to ethnicise this rising is like pouring water on the Crocodile, I pray Joe Igbokwe, Bayo Onanuga and Co knows this. If the Gen Zee is planning the Nigerian version of the Kenyan uprising, the right thing to do is to begin quickly to address their grievances and proceed with some immediate Reforms and not to threaten, insult, over-awe, harass and harangue them.

I must close this effort with the ageless lines of John F. Kennedy to wit, those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. The Truth is that those threatening the Young people hatching and planning a peaceful protest for the soul of Nigeria come August 1st to August 10th, 2024 are the enemies of democracy, enemies of the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, and the enemies of Nigeria QED. And Nigeria shall most definitely outlive them.

I believe in Nigeria. I believe that the Eagle shall yet Soar. And I believe that this period of darkness shall yet pass.

I'm CHUKWUDUMEBI.

Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr.

Convener COUNTRYFIRST MOVT.

Corruption & 2027: Do Nigerians really have a choice in APC & PDP? – Uzoma Ahamefule

The choice Nigerians have to make between PDP and APC unfortunately is like an option given to a captive by abductors to choose how to be killed, whether by a slow means of being thrown into a cold room till the person’s last breath, or a fast one of being locked up in a room that is ignited to flame till the person burns to ashes. Whichever choice it is, it is tantamount to the same cruelty and excruciating death. That is the exact picture PDP and APC depict in the lives of Nigerians. In a nutshell, for the Nigerian masses APC and PDP represent corruption, failure, sorrow and agony. 

 

The high level of corruption experienced under APC and PDP in Nigeria is unimaginable and it has crippled every business and activity and killed the economy. Members of these two parties have not only supervised corruption to its optimal level but have also engraved it into Nigeria’s system and imbibed it as a culture. The way they are still stealing the collective wealth of the country without any consequence makes the Nigerian youths believe that fraud and ill-gotten wealth pay. This mentality has killed moral value, encouraged fraud (419) and destroyed the future of the young generation. A group of heartless people siphoning public funds meant for maintaining roads, building schools and equipping hospitals etc. – the most common things every government should dutifully provide for her citizens – are wickedly wicked, and such groups ought not to be in the corridor of power. 

 

The only business that is still flourishing optimally, very attractive and rewarding in Nigeria is corruption and Nigerian youths see it very viable and are joining en masse. The menace is so rooted in the country that every government sector has its own ugly style. The deep corrupt practices and indiscipline instilled into Nigerians by these politicians portray the country as one that may never function as a normal society. The whole system has been overwhelmingly messy in bribery and corruption. And if at all we will ever have the opportunity of reversing the vice and the ills, it will definitely not be under these two cancerous parties called PDP and APC as currently constituted.

 

A Nigerian politician will proudly tell Nigerians during election campaigns that he/she will deliver his/her polling booth, constituency or state for his/her political party. Such a rascal and arrogant proclamation is an intimidation to electorates, a threat to a free and fair election and anti-democratic. But the erroneous statement that invokes fear has been unfortunately made to look normal in Nigeria. Truth be told, anyone who makes such a statement should be closely watched, because the person will desperately do everything including falsification of election results in achieving that delivery. How can someone deliver a whole state or LGA to a candidate who is contesting an election if not through the instrumentality of fraud, thuggery and brutality – even killing? No individual has the capacity to singlehandedly deliver any candidate anywhere. Is that person the electorates that will vote? Definitely, if a man has got a good name, has integrity and is respected, he will surely influence people to vote anyone he supports. But to say that he will deliver a state for a candidate is an indirect threat and a warning that he will compromise the election. It is a place like Nigeria that a man will boldly tell people that he delivered his state to a candidate and he is hailed. Contestant’s records should do the delivery and not one criminal and his/her gangs who are good at moving around with armored vehicles and bullet proof cars from ward to ward on election days rewriting results, intimidating and snatching ballot boxes.

 

At this juncture it has become imperative to remind Nigerians that if we must get it right in 2027, we must demand the sack or resignation of the INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. The last election he conducted was a total failure and the worst in the history of Nigeria. Like Obasanjo once said, “We cannot reinforce failure”. If we want a functional society, the votes of citizens must count. Any year that starts to happen will begin our genuine walk to a total political freedom from the cobwebs of some criminal politicians called “godfathers”. It will throw up ample of good candidates with the required capacities and integrity that will patriotically lead for the interests of the people. A Nigerian politician who is evil knows that the day electorates’ votes count, will be the end of his/her reign of brutality and terror in Nigeria's treasury. But these groups of political vultures are shameless and will never give up, at least not willingly. It is either Nigerians accept the status quo or forcefully reject it. The choice is open.

 

APC and PDP members have made politics in Nigeria to be seen as a profession where the more one is horrible, brutal and manipulative, the more the person is recognized, highly respected and encouragingly rewarded with money, political positions or contracts. Additionally, the person could also be forcefully imposed on the people as their elected representative through shabby and manipulated elections. How unscrupulous and deeply corrupt a person is seems to be the standard of measurement set by these people that determine how successful a person will be in Nigerian politics. They reward evil and made corruption so attractive by establishing it as a well-paid flourishing enterprise. This has in return damaged the psyche of Nigerian youths and destroyed patriotism. 

APC and PDP always go for each other’s throat during elections, but do not be deceived for after every election, whichever party that manipulatively overpowers another, the majority of the members of the subdued party switch allegiance immediately on flimsy excuses and continue the same game of fraud and corruption etc. How many Nigerian politicians have been punished for budget padding? Who was arrested and prosecuted for the scandalous huge amount of monies reported to have been found in a house somewhere in Ikoyi, Lagos State? How many times have they constituted committees to look into allegation of corruption against some of them and how many of their reports saw the light at the end of the day? So, make no mistake of an absolute established fact that there is no difference between PDP and APC. Many of them are stinkingly rotten in corruption. They are the same bitter contents of agony and calamity every patriotic Nigerian is tired of and craves to get rid of. Results of affluence some of them display within short periods of going into politics are testimonies that make many believe the narrative that politics in Nigeria is a dirty that ought to be reserved solely for those without integrity and honor.

 

Typical Nigerian politicians are greedy and politically fraudulent. The moment they become victims of gang ups and evil they incubated, hatched and once enjoyed they ignite sentiments and religion, and gullible Nigerians will jump out like table tennis to defend the thieves. These groups of people are using us. We even sometimes quarrel and have problems with our relatives and friends in their defense. Some people are permanent enemies with some of their family members because of a politician. When are we the ordinary citizens going to stop defending them? The less privileged in the north are suffering like the ones in the south, east and west. Therefore, the problem is not we the ordinary citizens but these politicians who are in authority. When it comes to thieving and sharing our common wealth, their political zones, parties and religious backgrounds become irrelevant. When are we the ordinary Nigerians also going to learn and unite against these small groups of political Buccaneers and parasites for our liberation? How much stolen money have these shameless people who do not care about us invested in our various communities for the benefit of all? Is it not because of their greed and criminality that we do not have constant electricity, standard hospitals/schools and good roads? They have compromised and made kidnapping a lucrative business that forced many to flee their villages for the fear of their lives. Even those who do not have the resources to relocate have been forcefully sacked from their ancestral homes by internationally recognized terrorists but named bandits locally by the Federal Government. Can one justify the silence and inactions of defending us from aggressors by this group of unpatriotic bunch? The effects of the evil perpetrated by APC and PDP against Nigeria and Nigerians are so terrible. They have corrupted every institution even including the judiciary.

 

Since 1999 APC and PDP have been the two cancerous parties holding Nigeria down. It has always been reported that NNPC is one of the most corrupt sectors in Nigeria. Why do we lack the zeal and the patriotism to ask Nigerian past presidents who made themselves ministers of petroleum to give account of the oil Nigeria produced daily under their ministry and where the money went to? How can Nigeria’s soil be said to have uranium and the allegations of mining and theft of the resources by foreigners in collaboration with some indigenous criminals becomes the order of the day and yet we claim to have patriotic leaders?

 

For us to have a prosperous country that functions like a normal society and to be respected internationally APC or PDP is not a choice for Nigeria in 2027.

 

Succinctly, corruption has been embarrassingly institutionalized in Nigeria, stealing and dishonesty shamelessly made trendy and attractive. In a nutshell, Nigeria is a hijacked project and its steering wheels have been been firmly gripped by some sadistic assemblies of criminals in APC and PDP. The majority of these people who are supposed to be chained in different prisons for various offences against Nigerians are sadly in leadership positions dictating what happens in Nigeria’s affairs. It is a tragedy no one – high or low – will escape from.

 

Unless something drastic happens and urgently too, and Nigerians stand up in unity against this bunch of criminal conglomerates, we will continue to gnash our teeth in lamentation in the midst of abundance. My consolation has always been that karma is a bitch, for whatsoever one sows one reaps.

 

My heart bleeds for Nigeria!

 

Uzoma Ahamefule, a concerned patriotic citizen and a refined African traditionalist, writes from Vienna, Austria.

[email protected]

+436607369050 (Please SMS messages only)

Religious Leaders: Unmasking the Tool of White Supremacy in African Contexts - Nigeria as Case study

Nigeria, often referred to as the "most religious country in the world," boasts a staggering number of churches across the nation. However, despite the proliferation of these religious institutions, the country continues to grapple with high crime rates and widespread political corruption. This raises questions about the role of churches in shaping the moral landscape of the nation and their influence on addressing societal challenges.

A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2018 found that 46% of Nigerians attend church services at least once a week. Yet, the same country is plagued by rampant corruption, ranking 149 out of 180 countries on the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index. Additionally, Nigeria faces alarming crime rates, with kidnapping, armed robbery, and other violent crimes remaining pervasive.

Some argue that churches have become overly focused on promoting prosperity theology and accumulating wealth, neglecting their responsibility to address the societal ills that plague the nation. With pastors living lavish lifestyles and amassing fortunes, it is reasonable to question whether these religious leaders are genuinely committed to advancing the well-being of their congregations and communities.

Moreover, churches in Nigeria have historically shied away from directly confronting political corruption, often focusing on spiritual matters while avoiding engagement in political discourse. However, as institutions with significant influence and reach, churches have the potential to serve as powerful platforms for addressing corruption and promoting good governance.

Here are some scriptures that can be relevant to the topic at hand:

Matthew 7:15-16 - "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits."

Romans 16:17-18 - "I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people."

1 Timothy 6:3-5 - "If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain."

As Nigeria navigates its complex challenges, it is crucial for religious institutions to reflect on their role in shaping society and addressing its most pressing issues. By moving beyond a focus on individual prosperity and actively engaging with political and social challenges, churches can become catalysts for positive change and contribute to building a more just and equitable nation.

*I’m Chief Dr Patrick Osagie Eholor otherwise known as Ultimate Equal, President One Love Foundation*

Maize: Will Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Harm You?

 Let's start with the heaviest part: 

You are already consuming a genetically-modified organism as we speak; at least the chances are 9.9 in 10. In fact, it is worse, the one I suspect you're eating was designed using the most potent type of genetic engineering possible - a transgenic modification. 

I am speaking about the TELA maize variety that was developed by Bayer of Germany. The work was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

So, let's lay aside the fear part already. 

I planned going into the nitty gritty of genetic engineering as much as I can in this post but later changed my mind. The full style will not help the average reader much and I think I should just simplify it and cut to the chase. 

TELA came into our space around 2021. I just saw the article in a Nigerian newspaper and it said the crop was developed in ABU Zaria. Well, it's not quite so. ABU is a licensee. The TELA maize has longer roots and here is its story, the brief version, without the scare.

Bill Gates and his friends agreed that Maize (Zea mays) is the most popular crop on earth and if it can be made to yield more, it will go a long way in solving the hunger problem on a global scale. (When you're big, you think global, isn't it?). One of the biggest problem of maize which the Americans call, Corn is that it is susceptible to drought. A little scarcity of water can seriously reduce it's yield. In several parts of Africa, such crop failure is common and it spells hunger for millions. 

In addition, maize is also plagued by the Stem Borer - an insect that lays its eggs on the plant and when they hatch onto larvae, they eat into the maize stem and that's the end of that plant. There is also the Fall Army Worm that inflicts major destruction on maize across the world. The idea here was to develop a variety of maize that can do well on little water and is also resistant to Fall Army Worm and the deadly stem borer disease. This will increase yield and also tame the use of pesticides in controlling the named diseases, saving the farmer crop management costs. 

This is just the way any normal person will think. 

Crop developers had earlier launched a very successful program called Water Efficient Maize for Africa, WEMA. It had been successful at creating a drought resistant maize and it was chosen to be mated with another variety which is resistant to the two diseases earlier mentioned. This level of crop selection and crossbreeding has always been practised for ages. But there was no maize type that was resistant to these diseases so one had to be made using an advanced genetic engineering technique. 

There is a ubiquitous bacterial named Baccilus thurigiensis (Bt) that lives in the soil all over the world. This bacteria is a clever natural solution to a host of entomological problems because it produces a protein (Bt protein) that kills a selection of insects. What  geneticists did was to modify that protein, copy the section (a codon)  of the bacteria's DNA that codes for it and then zip it into the DNA of maize. This was how two varieties of Bt Maize were born and they are resistant to Fall Army Worm and Stem Borer diseases. These were engineered further with the drought resistant variety to produce a single variety that incorporates all the desired qualities - the TELA  Maize. TELA doesn't mean much; it is the short form of the Latin word, Tutela, which means 'Protect'. When you plant the TELA maize, you can rest assured it is not going to freak out at the first signs of drought and army worm or stem borer won't wipe away your crop. The maize variety is sold strictly to recover production costs, that is, it is sold on a non-profits basis. 

Can you plant the harvested seeds? Yes, but the potency won't be 100%. The seeds are specially produced through a method that does not allow open pollination to keep the quality top shape. This is not abnormal at all in crop development. The other time, I saw a young man speaking confidently against this type of hybridized seed production and I felt sorry for those in his audience who do not know that the gentleman does not know what he is confidently talking about. He was actually scaremongering, which is bad. 

Now that is the end of the good part. 

I have explained in an earlier essay on this how there are two levels of genetic modification of organisms. In that write up (I'll include the link below), I had also noted that what is called GMOs should actually be more correctly called GEO - Genetically Engineered Organisms. That is their true status from a purely scientific point of view and in full disclosure. 

All organisms are genetically modified either through selection, mutation, adaptation and the much more complex and poorly understood processes of Epigenetics. Genetic modification is normal and natural and even identical twins, despite theoretically possessing the same set of genetic codes as offsprings of the same zygote, are still different because their genes have been slightly modified during the stage of cell division where crossovers and linkages take place. 

Engineered organisms however are a different thing entirely. Scientists actually take down the genes, which are sequences of nucleotides that code for how that organism is made and then drag in codes from another organism. The most striking is when the copied codes or genes are from another species. In the Bt Maize -and also the TELA maize you've been eating - the genes are from a different kingdom. It is a gene from the Baccilus thurigiensis bacteria (from the animal kingdom) zipped into a member of the plant kingdom. 

So what's the issue with that?

Well, nothing as such. But it is a little more powerful than nothing. The anxiety comes from the fact that scientists don't fully understand what can be the fallout of this type of genetic work somewhere down the line. The genetic code is the fundamental of creation and zapping it around this way gives everyone who knows the power of genes the chills when they are being honest. Genes are not just chemistry stuff, they are chemicals of life itself and they are capable of self replication. Now everyone reading this quickly remembers that cancer is body cells gone rogue, replicating without control. Those who can connect the dots fear that consuming organisms engineered this way can trigger body cells to go rogue at any time.

Is there any evidence this can happen or has ever happened? 

No. But that doesn't assuage all fears because genes can also lie low for a long time. You must have heard of drug tests taken 20, 40 years down the line. We need the big data report - observations of the effects of these crops not just on the present consumers at the present time, but the effect on their offspring and the descendants of those as well. And the effects could be subtle - it may not be cancer but something more benign. Maybe it will affect some body systems or dial down (or even up!) our brains just a little. 

The consumption of GEO especially the Transgenic (between species) ones can also potentially alter the balance of our body's microbiome. 2% of your bodyweight is bacterial. They are ever present on our skins and mostly in our gut where they function just as a critical part of our bodies. We won't last for more than hours without them as they protect us from harmful microbes. GEO may in some ways affect these organisms by reprogramming them. Imagine writing a string of codes in the programming language of the OS your device is running and then mating it with the OS as an executable sentence. That is how GEOs are in principle. No programmer can say with absolute certainty that the system will continue to function perfectly after that intervention. 

So, are GMOs good or bad?

So far, they are good, but there are no guarantees they cannot turn very bad without warning. All those who carry on genetic engineering work  will agree on this.

John Ogunlela 

The God who rules in the affairs of Wike and Fubara

By Bolaji O. Akinyemi.

Pride they say goes before destruction. Pride is a difficult trait to recognise particularly by those who are proud! Many who are proud are living at the mercy of time for an inevitable destruction that must happen; this of course includes me! May mercy preserve me and you till the day our eyes would be opened to see the seeds of destruction in us, no matter how small and where they are harboured!

 To rid oneself of pride is to accept the humble pie of humility. It is never an easy route but grace can make it easier for a Carmel to pass through the eye of the needle while rich ones proudly stroll in comfort and opulence to hell!

"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad", goes the saying. I am yet to see the manifestation of madness that is worse than pride! Like a mad man, the proud lives in the realm of puffy spiritual clout and status far above the understanding of those around them. Of course, they are deaf to words and immuned to counsel until what should happen happens! Who is more proud than the other between the duo, only time can reveal!

Politics has been generous to Wike since 1999 when he came on the stage as the Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. He was re-elected into the same office in 2003 and completed his 2nd term in 2007!

A very well deserved appointment came his way, having stood with His Exellency Rotimi Amaechi during his political travails. Wike became the Chief of Staff to the Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, a position he held from 2007 to 2011. From here he was nominated by his Principal for the position of a Minister. Perhaps this was Amaechi's greatest political mistake!

 Wike was appointed the minister of State for Education in 2011, a position he held till 2014, though he later served as the substantive Minister in the same ministry. He returned to Rivers State to contest election into the office of the Executive Governor of the state on the platform of PDP, an election he won in 2015!

His working relationship with the Jonathans deepened while he served as the minister of education but when Amaechi decamped to APC and would bring the PDP house in Rivers State down, Wike knew when to re-define political loyalty and re-align political allegiance. The fallout between Amaechi and Jonathan was the opportunity which Wike grabbed with both hands!

The 2023 game rewarded him with the position of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory!

His Exellency Nyesome Wike is not just a political juggernaut; he is an icon in politics by all standards! His rise in the terrain of politics in Rivers State attests to this, from where he took the national landscape by storm!

The idol in him saw to the humiliation of PDP and the rise of APC in the last general election. If Obi's exit from PDP saw to the death of PDP, the game of Wike buried the party for APC!

Prior to the election, the refusal of PDP to zone presidency to the South was the issue. On this, Wike had the support of some governors from the region and other regions; so when he failed to clinch the ticket, he upped his game, stayed in the party, held his alliance to governors and members of the party who were sympathetic to his course till the damage was done to Atiku Abubakar's ambition!

Mr Project, had enough for foes, friends and fans to come to Rivers State to Commission! From President Obasanjo, Buhari, Oshiomhole, etc all made it to Rivers State to commission one project or the other.  His approach to the 2023 game was loud but subtle. Hardly could anyone tell where Wike was ending. We thought his joker was Peter Obi, among the endless of dignitaries that honoured his invitation to commission a project in Rivers State while Wike held sway. Wike was so sublime that Peter Obi was grateful to him for inviting him to commission Nkpolu-Oroworukwo bridge in a community that was traditionally an Igbo, it was a good way to measure the influence of Peter Obi in the state. The crowd was an attestation to Obi's growing political clout as Wike had issues controlling the crowd who were chanting Obi, Obi, Obi. A platform for strategic communication and Wike didn't miss it, he referred to Obi as colleague of traders who came out in several thousands to welcome him. He reassured the crowd in the presence of Obi that he had no plan to dislodge the Igbo and that the bridge project was the reason he was misunderstood. He didn't forget to tell Obi he was invited to witness his good work so that he can tell his party to forget about Rivers State Governorship election 2023, without making any commitment to Peter Obi who attended the occasion in company of his Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr Yusuf Datti. His bait to the Labour party crowd was effective when he sympathized with Obi on why he has to leave PDP, but he promised to stay back in PDP to see what he saw to! Afterwards, speculations of his support for Obi rent the air among the Obidients across the country. Wike's leg on the ball right or left was not known until the election day!

 When he dropped the ACE, Bola Ahmed Tinubu was his candidate! He worked for him within and outside the book to ensure victory in Rivers State!

Soon after the election, it was the turn of incoming President to come over to Rivers  State to commission a project. Tinubu and Wike both threw the public into frenzy with Wike's request and Tinubu's refusal. Wike's appointment put paid to public impression of a disagreement between the duo!

Wike was the best at the game, playing on the side of Amaechi to outsmart Peter Odili. His hard tackle ended not just the game for Celestine Omehia but his entire political career! Erazing his record and achievements Wike further targeted.  Wike was not just a Governor, he could easily pass for  Monarch with power and influence, marching what was witnessed under ancestral homeland empires! But Wike was a Governor whose terms and tenure were fixated by the constitution. After 8 years in office he must leave power. Our Wike left Office though without leaving Power and the complication of that has engulfed the state in crisis!

The silence and side taking of Abuja on the Rivers crisis is understandable. Those whose portraits are up in less than a year of coming to power for a four year term are already on the road for the 2027 race! Wike of course is not just a necessary evil in the Rivers game. He is a needed one for 2027 in Rivers State!

Goals setting is the way of mortals who should be in gratitude of grace for the day; mortals who are like petals that may not see tomorrow are often found of planning appointments for the day after tomorrow. Inevitably playing God. Wike did, with Sim Fubara, his anointed son in PDP for an election many believed was won by the Labour Party!

 All institutions involved in the election were not just at the call and beckon of Wike, They were at his altar. All indeed of financial oxygen were breathing. Wike is generous to a fault and this worked well for him! 

Wike was very powerful! There was no end to his influence in sight so soon. Or so we thought like mere mortals!

According to Daniel 4:17, But there is a God! I will choose the  EasyEnglish version of the verse; "The angels who watch human people have said this. And this is what they have chosen. So now everyone will know that God rules in the kingdoms of men. He can give kingdoms to anyone that he wants to. And he can cause men who are not important to become kings.”

On whose side the God who rules in the Kingdom of men is; will determine in whose favour the swinging pendulum will hang at the end of the day. 

Has Fubara been silent without any move? no! Though Wike has been loud but Fubara has been deft. The grasses in Rivers State have been the ones suffering in the fight of the Elephant and the its calf!

Structure control is at the heart of this battle while Wike's legs are in and out. Out in APC and in, in PDP, leaving Fubara to grasp for political oxygen in hope of 2027! Fubara shows his master's skills when he reached out to His Exellency Alex Chioma Otti to come over to commission a project in Rivers State. Two things stuck out for me in this move. First, is the performance of LP "without structures" in the last election and the results it produced! Second, is the super performance of the Action Governor that its not just Abians but Nigerians have seen in Otti's handling of Abia State!

Fubara didn't just stop at that, he went further. Obviously attempts at loosening Wike's grip on the state are daily progressing.

A recent dramatic turn of events has shown Governor Fubara's assertion of his authority over the state, dismantling Wike's political stronghold in the process in Rivers State. In the Executive arm this has consumed commissioners and appointees who in the bid to prove their loyalty to Wike had resigned granting Fubara the opportunity to have them replaced by Fubara's loyalists! This, for me is a flawed political move. Politics is local. If Wike had to remain in PDP to damage it from within. Remaining with Fubara would have meant danger from within. The exit for Fubara to fill is minus for the Wike side. Though Wike is in a position to fix them up, that would be in the FCT and the battle is local!

The Legislature is not spared. 25 House of Assembly members who defected are now "homeless politicians," as someone put it. They are at the mercy of the Judiciary seeking its intervention!

The Judiciary to which homeless house of assembly members are looking have seen Wike's ally in the system demoted, forcing resignation, paving the way for Fubara's appointment of his loyalist. If Rivers State was a Yoruba state, I would have requested Fubara to invite King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, KWAM1, to come and commission the foundation laying of the demolished House of Assembly, singing the song from one of his best sellers titled; CONSOLIDATION!

A stormy tide of power is blowing in Rivers State. Which will it uproot? The established Araba tree or the tender Igi Nla? only God who rules over the affairs of men can tell!

The antics and counter are permitted, propaganda is part of the game. Media war is welcome. After all said and done, the God who supervises the destruction of the proud is the same God who gives grace to the humble. "Eni Olorun ba gba fun in the game of power at the end of the day is the champion!

Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.




Email:[email protected]

Facebook: Bolaji Akinyemi.

X: Bolaji O Akinyemi

Instagram: bolajioakinyemi

Phone: +2348033041236

Father’s Day and the essence of fatherhood

By

abiodun KOMOLAFE

Image by Vecteezy

Tomorrow, Sunday, June 16, is ‘Father’s Day 2024!’ Father’s Day, which began as a largely religious observance and recognized in some way dating back to the Middle Ages, is now celebrated in more than 111 countries, with the first of its kind on June 19, 1910.

A traditional Roman Catholic holiday to celebrate fatherhood, Father’s Day is “celebrated on the third Sunday in June each year.” Fairly clearly, the day is meant to recall and recognize the endless efforts, initiatives and contributions of all the fathers around us. It is a mark of the kinship, affection, guidance and patience between fathers on the one hand and their families on the other.

Fathers are the heads of, and the role models for the(ir) families. Even in psychological explanations, it is the father figures who set the moral tones of households. Whenever irritants attempt to test the loyalty of the household, it is the father who risks everything with truly solidified violations to display manly attributes.

Etymologically, ‘husband’ also arose from the word ‘cultivate’, ‘tend’, or ‘nurture’. Therefore, the concept of husband refers to the ‘male head of a household’, the ‘manager’ and the ‘steward’. He is the ‘master of a house’, ‘occupier and tiller of the soil’. Thus, a husband is one who nurtures the wife with pious love, cultivates the wife and family, and tills the soil of the family.

Fathers are no little men. Of course, they are too big to be small. They have muscles in their places with which they not only perform feats of impressiveness but also create new, bigger and stronger foundations for their children. So, it’s only a marginalized group of men that can actually be referred to as irresponsible as most men are struggling. But we know that they can do better!

For quite some time, there has been a lot of negative portrayal of fathers and husbands. But what does an ideal father or husband look like? To begin with, the concept of father actually arises from the Almighty God as Creator. So, every human father is only a derivative, a copy and a limited expression of the ‘Olódùmarè’ (the Creator, Cause and Origin of all Things), ‘Baba wa tí mbe lí òrun’ (Our Father, who art in heaven), the One who’s so compassionate that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us.

In an article, ‘Appreciating a responsible father’, I described a father as “an important source of a child’s genetic makeup” and “his or her first teacher” and that “a father loves his child and provides for him or her as a precious jewel.” Since “children are a heritage from the Lord”, I wrote that “a good father prays for his children and engages them in deep, heart-to-heart conversations that impart more than facts, but teach wisdom.” Fathers are “expected to study and teach God’s Word to their children.” What’s more? “God blesses the children through their fathers.”

According to Wade Boggs, “anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad”. It is interesting to note that many people do have fond memories of their fathers – how their fathers loved, taught, even corrected identified misdemeanors so that they might live well. In remembering my father, Sunday Alaba Komolafe, who died on August 11, 2020 and was buried on September 11, 2020, comparisons are obvious. On a day like this, I remember my father as the one who “gave us (his children) partnership and protection” and as “a peacemaker whose life depicted concrete evidence of an organized future.” Close to 4 years after, I still find it difficult to accept that I have lost ‘Baba Kayode', as my dad was fondly called, to the wild, wicked hands of death at 92! Well, it is well!

Of course, there have been many lame-brains who pretend to be fathers. But then, that does not mean that they are in the majority! Surely certainly, the drunken and the incestuous fathers, wife beaters and deadbeat fathers are in a small minority. Fish or cut bait, we are in a culture where fathers are supposed to be providers, and many people who go into marriage take that aspect of matrimony seriously. So, they will not just abandon those God-given responsibilities only to pursue a career in drinking.

Talking about the African patriarchal culture where some men act as if they own their wives, it must also be noted that the overwhelming majority of men are alive and accountable to their responsibilities. So, Father’s Day is a day to celebrate the ideal father! It is a day to also say that those who are irresponsible most probably came from dysfunctional families where they never had good role models and that they’re only transferring their wounds to the people they got married to or the children they gave birth to!

For their efforts, men need to be encouraged, especially at a time like this when the majority of our men are on the verge of social and mental collapse. In a country where hunger and deprivation are already busting the people’s asses, where the prevailing inflation rate is stifling and asphyxiating, and where many Nigerians are dead before their death, this is not the time to be excoriating or burlesquing fathers.

Yes, times are tough and things are hard! However, men should also avoid taking out their frustrations on their families because we are all in it together! Besides, it is in the nature of man to be persevering, courageous, “stay positive and look for solutions”, just as Caleb and Joshua did when they were asked to spy out the Land of Canaan. For men therefore, this is the time to make sacrifices which, in every possible way, are instinctual for the adult male. In a word, Father’s Day is meant to call for investment, training and retraining, forming and reforming of boys for the critical work of being fathers in the future.

In the past 20 to 30 years, there have been many programmes for the girl child. Actually, 90% of the Funding/Donor Agencies would always tell the world that their programmes were for the woman and/or the girl but there has been very little, if any, for the boy child and young men. We have Ministries of Women Affairs that focus on the woman and the girl child but none to cater for the needs of the boy child and/or young men. In the past, traditional societies also had progammes for initiating boys into adulthood. Lamentably, we’ve lost that and there’s nothing in place to replace it! A few workshops and youth programmes for the boys here and there but that’s not enough!

All said, it’s time well-meaning individuals, private organizations, corporate agencies and religious organizations started programmes aimed at transforming boys into men and young men into husbands, with all the accompanying values and virtues, if we do not want to have beasts and abusive husbands in the future. In a world that derives its oxygen from narcotics and human sacrifices and where brothers are afraid of becoming fathers for obvious reasons, the boy child needs something that will actually lead young men to grow into manhood.

Tragically, Nigeria is stagnated because there haven’t been father figures of the types that she had some 50 to 60 years ago. Is it any wonder why moral re-armament has become a scarce commodity in our clime?

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, give us peace in our time!

 _•[email protected];_ 

 _•08098614418 - SMS only._ 

Hope dashed: Our pains, their gains!

By Bolaji O. Akinyemi 

Tinubu 

My last engagement on this social street was, titled; "as  e dey pain us, e dey sweet them". My intention was to make clear to the masses the hopelessness of looking for hope where none may come from. The crass disparity between the political class and the masses who voted them to power is an institutional separation. Until that wall erected by the political class is brought down, we can as well forget about the dividends of democracy!

 Responses to the said article is very warm and encouraging, the applause is needless if it doesn't initiate aggression and provoke People-centered action at liberating the oppressed from their oppressors!

 The miseries of the masses are the meats of our political elites! So, it is of necessity that they keep creating miseries that will bring meats on their table for sharing!

Creating miseries, this they do in every way possible and by all means achievable!

Is Tinubu the creator of all our miseries? Obviously not! However, the miseries of the masses was at all time high at the exit of Buhari but much was expected from the protagonist of the Renewed Hope agenda. Instead, on the very first day of the inauguration of the Renewed Hope agenda, he created the worst misery ever experienced in the life of the nation called Nigeria, with profound unmistakable statement; *Subsidy* *is gone!* 

The hope Ambassador has not even entered the office when he, by himself, dashed it!

 No thanks to the spirit that took hold of him and put those words in his mouth. We are left at the mercy of an unidentifiable spirit for irresponsibility of an identifiable elected leader!

Hope dashed, he headed for Lagos after creating such a messy misery upon which the floods of inflation has taken over the market. He was driven in his home state in opulence of power, in the words of Omoyele Sowore, "with such unending petro-gas-guzzling convoy" involving well over a hundred vehicles!

His convoy was long enough to add to the list of Guinness world records in our kitty as a nation!

@officialABAT ,  it is sad when leaders act like the poor don't matter. Your Excellency,  the hallmark of a Democrat should be making the difference and setting a standard. You squandered the goodwill of the masses when it mattered! Expecting the populace to endure untold and inhumane hardship that was brought upon them by your policy while your flamboyance is on the tax payers from whom austerity is demanded, is unjust!

 Living large at the expense of people experiencing life-threatening poverty is unfair!

 You must demonstrate that leadership is by example and cut down on your flamboyant abuse of power.

Dear fellow countrymen, we are worse off when our political support to anyone in our political class is tinted by tribe and religion. The social demography of our nation should not be mistaken. There are two tribes socially in Nigeria; we, the oppressed and our oppressors! 

The President has given us a reason to rise, by changing the national anthem that allows serving our fatherland in oppression to our motherland where no one is oppressed!

There are two religions: Godliness and the ungodliness. The traits of ungodliness in our oppressors, no religion in the world supports!

 Their bellies are their gods; not even our lives are sacred in their bid to fill it! 

Supporting Tinubu's government or any other at all costs, irrespective of negative implications of their policies is not a good quality of citizens in need of good governance. If we were in doubt of Buhari's performance, that won't be at the tail end of his administration when it became visible to the blind that horror was upon us as a Country. But Tinubu led the voices from APC of their desire to continue from where Buhari stopped. That his appointees are demonizing Buhari to excuse the failure of this Government is unacceptable and the masses must frown at it!

Sad still, is the failure of the 4th Estate of the realm whose trusted duty to the people has been abdicated for survival. Our society is at an all time low in social advocacy!

 Citizens' consciousness of their rights is practically nonexistent! Voices of Advocacy for decades are silent for morsels or have shamefully cross carpeted to the sides where daily crumbs are guaranteed from the bread of men dressed in purple, rewards of their royal stewardship!

 Grey heads close to the grave are not excused from this hunger survival instinct!

Political education and advocacy is the only hope for good governance going forward. No partisanship ideology is healthy for the masses at this time. Objectivity squarely built on the need of the masses must be placed in the public. Analyses of things as they are and as they affect the people must be our engagement with the masses.

Opinion leaders and influencers must stand with the people whose followership brought them to recognition by politicians who are ready to pay them well to reach the masses who entrusted their loyalty to them!

Silence on the leaked memo allegedly signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to the President for approval is nothing but proof of our pains as the gains of our political leaders!

1billion naira for minimum wage committee is incredibly unbelievable!

 A committee that's largely made up of people in statutory positions like governors, ministers, labour leaders, Nass members etc. whose transportation and accomodations are already being taken care of by their respective authorities and positions!

 How can this be justified! 

Little surprise, that our labour leaders hurriedly left the negotiation table!

 He who takes his share and walks away lives to share another day. One thing is clear, all traditional structures of support on the side of the people have been bought! It is left to the people what to do with themselves. We can no longer cry to the people we used to cry to. No calls on voices of reasoning that are no longer reasonable! There is a clash of class!

 Poor masses must come out of their timidity. Enough of allowing a class to create pains to sustain their own gains.  Time to reorganise ourselves is now!

Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.

Email:[email protected]

Facebook: Bolaji Akinyemi.

X: Bolaji O Akinyemi

Instagram: bolajioakinyemi

Phone: +2348033041236

In preparation for #RevolutionNow in Nigeria, the masses must turn Wike's song to theirs— as e dey pain us, e dey sweet them!

 *As e dey pain us, e dey sweet them!* 

By Bolaji O. Akinyemi.

One of the leading figures of politics in Nigeria is Mr Nyesom Wike, former Governor of Rivers State and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. 

Wike rose through the ranks and files of politics either causing or managing controversies. From jumping between Rotimi Amaechi and Peter Odili, to standing in defence of President Jonathan against Rotimi Amaechi. So deft at controversy management that Former Governor Ayodele Fayose warned Sim Fubara, not to get into controversy with Wike o!

It is no longer news, that the political class in Nigeria doesn't represent the masses neither are they really touched by the pains of the people they are holding the mandate of governance on their behalf!

Controversy is Wike's second name! This can be seen from his fall out with his anointed son, Sim Fubara, who is the present Governor of Rivers State. Controversy with Wike is like a drama series. During the pre-election conflicts, Wike popularised a song; as e de pain dem, e dey sweet us, to tell the story of his advantage of the mismanagement of PDP crisis!

As usual with elections and governance and its turning of table. The table has turned against the people and in favour of the political class who seem united extravagantly in the mysteries of economic woes that is engulfing the masses!

It is an open discussion in markets across Nigeria how the masses can't fathom whatever inspired the 90 billion naira  reckless donation in the midst of our economic challenges without solution in sight. 

A woman roasting corn on the roadside and offering the smallest piece of corn on her wares for ₦300 said, there was no corn at Oke Odo Market, I have to take ₦1000 transport to Ifo Market and another ₦1000 back to buy this little stuff am roasting to sell. She went further; even at Ifo situation with food items is not better, 10 pieces of tomatos is ₦2500, she reminded everyone it was ₦250 only under Buhari. Garri has jumped from ₦800 to ₦2000 for paint plastic. Beans that used to be all comers meal, a derica from Buhari to Tinubu went from ₦350 to ₦1200.

A driver who is a Muslim, but nicknamed Holy father for his uprightness in transaction pleaded with me for assistance, if he can be empowered with the 8 million naira for Hajj, to upgrade his transportation business, he assured me he will comfortably fund his Hajj in 5 years. Islam he said is absolutely in support of helping the poor, but never to help them perform Hajj. There is no reward in Islam for the venture that Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Alhaji Kashim Shettima has committed themselves to. He went further to cite an Islamic cleric he referred to as Chief Imam of Offa.

It is outrightly made clear that the poor is not about to breathe under this government across the country as news monitored online reports that no fewer than 30 state governments of the federation have spent ₦986.64b on recurrent expenditures, including refreshments, sitting allowances, travelling, utilities amongst others in the first three months of 2024!

The states’ budget implementation reports, which were obtained from Open Nigerian States, a website supported by BudgIT that acts as a repository for public budget data, were analysed for the first three quarters of the year.

Punch examined budget implementation data from thirty states. Data for six states were not available.

Benue, Imo, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto and Yobe States were the ones without Q 1, 2024 data!

According to the report, 30 states spent ₦5.1bn on refreshments for guests, ₦4.67bn on sitting allowances to government officials, ₦34.63bn on local and foreign travel expenses, and ₦5.64bn on utility bills, amounting to ₦50.02bn in the first three months of 2024!

The general utilities include electricity, internet, telephone charges, water rates, and sewerage charges, among others.

The sub-nationals also paid ₦405.77bn as salaries to their workers.

Other recurrent spending items covered in the report included the amount spent on foreign and domestic travels, internet access fees, entertainment, foodstuff, honorarium/sitting allowance, wardrobe allowances, telephone bills, electricity charges, stationery, anniversaries/special days, welfare, aircraft maintenance, and more.

In the first three months of 2024, Abia State spent ₦10.92bn on its recurrent expenditures, including ₦165.38m on refreshments and feeding, ₦39.26m on utilities, ₦214.57m on sitting allowances, ₦127.1m on local and foreign travels, among miscellaneous expenses.

During this period, Adamawa State expended ₦23.7bn on recurrent expenditures with ₦287.61m spent on refreshments and feeding, ₦109.62m on utilities, ₦79.57m on sitting allowances, ₦768.77m on local and foreign travels.

For Akwa Ibom State, recurrent expenditure gulped ₦46.85bn, which included N4.46m on refreshments and feeding, ₦223.32m on utilities, ₦6m on sitting allowances, ₦214.61m on local and foreign travels.

Anambra State disbursed N9.91bn for recurring expenses with ₦78.18m on refreshments and feeding, ₦32.52m on utilities, ₦42.09m on sitting allowances, ₦188.39m on local and foreign travels.

Also, recurrent expenditures cost Bauchi State Government ₦35.75bn with ₦397.58m going to utilities, ₦50.8m on refreshments, ₦287.11m on allowances, and ₦413.56m on trips.

Bayelsa State spent ₦35.1bn on recurrent expenditures, comprising ₦28.4m on utilities, ₦156.14m on refreshments and ₦279.99m on trips.

Similarly, Lagos State disbursed ₦189.62bn for recurrent expenditures, including ₦1.21m for refreshments, ₦383.12m for utilities, sitting allowances costing ₦52.79m and ₦633.37m on travels.

Borno spent ₦18.79bn, Cross Rivers (₦17.44bn), Delta (₦68.68bn), Ebonyi (₦14.95bn), Edo (₦32.32bn), Ekiti (₦32.8bn), Enugu (₦7.51bn) and Gombe with ₦20.89bn.

Within the same period, Jigawa State spent N15.52bn on the recurrent expenditures, Kaduna expended ₦34.69bn, Kano (₦34.41bn), Katsina (₦21.87bn), Kebbi (₦11.67bn), Kogi (₦37.4bn), Kwara (₦24.34bn), Nasarawa (₦18.61bn), Ogun (₦47.12bn), Ondo (₦31.12bn), Osun (₦24.39bn), Oyo (₦40.12bn), Plateau (₦24.70bn), Zamfara (₦13.46bn), and Taraba (₦20.93bn)!

To imagine that NLC and TUC will agree to a 'go for now, we will see you later' to call off the strike is unbelievable!

The old national anthem made new would obviously have cost implication to Tax payers, an indication that the party  extravaganza is not limited to state's houses; National Assembly and the Presidency are not left behind. Our new song should not just be the national anthem, the masses must turn Wike's song to theirs, in preparation for #RevolutionNow  for as e dey pain us, e dey sweet them! How long this will continue will be determined by our pain's threshold!

Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.

Email:[email protected]

Facebook: Bolaji Akinyemi.

X: Bolaji O Akinyemi

Instagram: bolajioakinyemi

Phone: +2348033041236

Re-BAD News: A Thanksgiving, An Update — Chiedu Ezeanah

 Well, we thank God Chiedu Ezeanah is no longer in harm's way. It was a close call.

Details below from the poet 

Good morning! Thanks. Just posted Below is my abridged version of the last Sunday incident.

Re-BAD News: A Thanksgiving,An Update 

Chiedu Ezeanah

I am out of harm's way. I am grateful to God. I also commend the vigilance of the two proactive estate policemen who preempted the two state security agents from effecting what is now commonplace news in our failed state that's sliding dangerously into a fascist pit where any dissenting voice can be flung into and forgotten by criminal politicians ruining us all. 

I thank you all my friends and family here and beyond for all the notifications of reactions to my earlier post all praying for my safety, and also amplifying the issue by your unmistakable outrage at this latest instance of the assault on a citizen's right to free speech and freedom of movement.

 Thank you very much for asking those unsettling questions of our misrulers.

II--'It Comes With The Territory'

It comes with the territory, that was how he related his recent similar experience to me on phone. Dayo Aiyetan, great friend and highly regarded investigative journalist, who had a hideous brush with the authorities over a week ago and was illegally detained for days alongside his lawyer and correspondent who investigated some police bosses for being involved in some compromising land transactions, would stoically not want to be too bothered by it to the point on losing focus on the onerous task at hand: a full and unyielding scrutiny on the governing class.

It comes with the territory: corrupt power must do everything to the death to suppress information on their corrupt rule. The journalist's job is to reveal the hidden and the suppressed story. This cat and mouse game can be deadly,sometimes. Recent examples:

1) The terrible case of the disappearance of Abubakar Idris Dadiyata, a journalist and social critic, who was declared missing over 5 years ago in Kaduna under Ex Governor El Rufai...

2) The PUNCH 6 May 2024: "Abductions, detentions: Echoes of Abacha-era media clampdown resound under Tinubu" ...The PUNCH named four journalists affected: Segun Olatunji, Kasaradu Aniagolu, Godwin Tsa and Daniel Ojukwu"

3) Premium Times 14 October 2019:"19 Journalists Attacked In Nigeria Within 9 Months"

Dayo, it's scary statistics. Yes, it does come with the territory of a failed state sliding dangerously into a fascist state ...

I can also recall my rather short time in Portharcourt during the heady days of the Ken Saro Wiwa struggle for minority rights and environmental justice in the Niger Delta under the despotic Abacha regime that finally had him murdered. I was Head of Eastern Bureau of the News Magazine and had this detached building Off Aba Road as office and home. One evening after eating at a restaurant nearby just about a few meters back to the office, a regular street fellow walked up to me and pleaded: "I am looking for CHIEF Ezeanah"... Of course, I knew they had come for me without knowing my face. No Facebook in 1994. So, I played along with the guy who was looking for CHIEF Ezeanah not Chiedu Ezeanah. I told him he had left the Chief's home by almost 2 kilometers: go right to the end of the road, the first turning left, then another turning to the left, left again and then ask for this very well known chief. He thanked me profusely. But I knew he was sent by some fellows watching from the shadows, so I went past my office before turning back to pack my stuff and hit the Lagos Park same night. Lagos here I come. Farewell to the great hunter of CHIEF Ezeanah.

III)Last Sunday Incident & Post-Incident Assessment 

Last Sunday's incident was a bit different: the approach was to flatter me with their indecent compliment. Both female and male looking like a couple inside the small car, the female in the driver's seat. I was taking a walk around 3pm(?). The weather was good as it rained heavily earlier in the morning. As I left the Estate Security Gate, two policemen were seated by their vehicle having a banter. I greeted and walked past. About 20 meters away were my latest hunters. The indecent compliment: are you Wole Soyinka? You look like Wole Soyinka. Both of them mouthed their well-rehearsed chorus. I greeted them calmly and looked at them closely and said: I am Chiedu Ezeanah. I am sure I am the one you are looking for, not Wole Soyinka. And, I continued, may I have yours complimentary card please? The man didn't fall for that. He said no, they had none with them. That I could take their Whatsapp number. He called it out and I called the MTN line. It rang. I told them bye...and walked on. I checked the WhatsApp profile: it confirmed my suspicion. Even though I was apprehensive of imminent danger, I summoned up the pluck to get back to the two policemen after swiftly walking past "the hunters" still waiting for what inside the car? The two policemen accompanied me to see them. They asked for their identity cards. They refused to show it. They then told them to leave immediately. They refused. The policemen turned to me and confirmed my hunch and told me to delete their Whatsapp number immediately from my phone. The hunters heard and knocked off my phone, my phone was deactivated before I could delete their Whatsapp number. They drove off immediately. Who are you to chase them? Since then the phone is still dead, knocked off, deactivated, useless.

IV) Vigilance Is Still The Price Of Liberty 

So, I moved swiftly to post "Bad News" even taking a risk by stating the address with my second phone long abandoned, now the super tool. Some of my friends did not know that I very recently changed address. Two of such friends landed alongside one who knew. Great friends, beloved brothers. We had a Post-Incident Assessment. It was decided that I should leave the house immediately and leave the two phones behind so that I would not be tracked by my hunters. Since then until early yesterday, Wednesday, I had been literally phoneless.

Secondly, it was decided that the incident be reported to the relevant authorities, which was also the earnest advice by a poet-lawyer friend. That too has been done.

Reading between the lines, these are a few of the reasons I cannot offer any more information until all the above have been processed and investigated by the relevant authorities. My friends also advised, finally, to keep away from making calls as they reasoned that anyone powerful enough to send State Security Agents to order this illegal action of spying on, deactivating a citizen's phone, and ultimately assault his rights to speech and movement by illegal abduction, journalist or not, could also track the second phone and wreak worse havoc. You could sense paranoir, for good reason.  

It has been a physically draining and psychologically exacting time.

Beloved family and friends, do forgive me for not giving you an earlier update. I treaded on the path of caution against the agents of a State whose rogue head respects neither rules of law nor rules of decency. I saw all the missed calls and the numerous messages via Meta. Will surely respond to them after this update. 

Vigilance is still the price we all have to pay for liberty in this our once cherished territory where every hue of lawlessness now swarms at us to blind us into submission...

Dem don fail and fall before dem start o...

E no go werk o...

Thank you ALL.

~Chiedu Ezeanah:

We must thank God that as Woke Soyinka advanced age, he remains mentally sharp, avoiding the dementia that often plagues the elderly — Chief Joe Umezulike

 Dear Fellow Nigerians,

Soyinka 

I want to share some reflections on the state of our nation, particularly focusing on the contributions and legacy of our esteemed elder, Professor Wole Soyinka. Prof. Soyinka has been a beacon of intellectual prowess and activism, greatly contributing to the development of Nigeria from a young age. By 35, he had already achieved remarkable feats, elevating Nigeria's name on the global stage. We must thank God that at his advanced age, he remains mentally sharp, avoiding the dementia that often plagues the elderly.

In Nigeria, respecting our elders is a deeply rooted value, and we must uphold this tradition. Any remarks or actions by Prof. Soyinka that may seem out of character should be viewed with forgiveness and understanding. Aging brings various challenges, and we should honor his lifetime of service to our nation.

Contrasting the legacy of Prof. Soyinka, it's disheartening to see many of today's youths indulging in harmful behaviors. The prevalence of substance abuse, domestic violence, and general apathy among our young people is alarming. These actions not only damage their lives but also contribute to the broader societal decay.

We have historical examples of young leaders who took on monumental responsibilities. General Yakubu Gowon became Head of State at 29 and even got married in the government house. Similarly, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu took on significant leadership roles at a young age. These leaders faced immense challenges head-on, shaping the course of our nation's history.

When former President Muhammadu Buhari remarked that Nigerian youths are lazy, it sparked anger, but upon reflection, there is a truth we must confront. Many youths today are engrossed in frivolous activities—playing games on their phones, binge-watching Netflix, frequenting nightclubs, and engaging in immoral acts. This diversion from meaningful engagement leaves a void in the fight against corruption and societal decay.

Our country desperately needs able-bodied youths to rise and challenge the corrupt political class. The cycle where becoming a governor translates to instant and perpetual wealth must be broken. We need accountability and active participation from our younger generation to demand better governance.

It is time for a revival of the spirit of patriotism and responsibility among our youths. We must channel our energies towards constructive actions, questioning injustices, and working towards a better Nigeria. Let us honor the legacies of our elders by building on their achievements and striving for a brighter future.

Chief Joe Daniels Umezulike.

05/06/2024

OPINION: FG can pay and Sustain N494k as minimum wage

 

*N494k is $325.* That amount does not fuel a Minister's convoy in a week. Attempting to pay N60k to Nigerian workers ($39) as monthly salary, is gross insensitivity when those that rigged elections are living in luxury with their families.

Children are paid £102 monthly (N188k) in the UK just for being children. If you were working but stopped, Ireland pay €232 weekly as job seeker's allowances. A month is €928 (N1.41m) for being jobless! That is the meaning of 'distribution of common wealth'. These are countries that do not have what Nigeria has in terms of natural resources. What they mostly have is good leadership and people-oriented policies.

Meanwhile, in these difficult times, apart from wardrobe allowances and other luxuries, our senators receive N1.2m monthly as newspaper allowances. Is this not demonic corruption?

You will never understand how wicked Nigerian rulers/RUINERS are, if you don't travel abroad to normal countries with normal leaders.That is why Nigerians in diaspora are angrier that our compatriots back home. They have seen both sides of the world and they know that Nigeria is directly opposite of what happens in normal societies. Sadly, those back home seem to have conditioned themselves to the uncommon hardship. They only complain online and sing "na so we see am o. Na wetin we go do na?" A people that fight their activists and attack their co-sufferers!

They throw pittance at Nigerians like dogs in the name of palliatives. They publicize their God-forsaken palliatives as if they are doing you some special favour from public wealth.

Oh, how I hate that word in Nigeria: PALLIATIVES!! 

Many of them made so much money during covid-19 when the world mourned and paid their people salaries while they stayed at home. From the gains of palliatives, your ruiners built mansions. Now, they are forcing you to sing "Nigeria, We Hail Thee".

They hugely inflate the cost of the so-called palliatives because they turn every pain to gain. They desperately struggle to get all they can and can all they get! 

The ones you gladly call 'Excellency'😤 

Your 'Leader... '

Your 'Chairmo...'

Your 'Honourable...'

Only a massive revolution will reset Nigeria when Nigerians are ready to take back their country.

*THE NLC STRIKE IS A VERY WELCOMED DEVELOPMENT AND WE HOPE THAT THEY SUSTAIN IT*.😤

@Comrade Frederick Odorige

Minimum Wage Struggle: A Symptom of Wider Problems in Nigeria’s Political System — Ultimate Equal

According to Channels TV, National Assembly Budget Office Revelation, each senator is entitled to a Wardrobe Allowance of ₦621,061.37 and a Recess Allowance of ₦240,424.55, totaling over ₦860,000 ($2,600) in additional monthly allowances.

This revelation has drawn widespread condemnation from many Nigerians who see it as an affront to the country’s economic struggles. The minimum wage in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have been called upon to remain resolute in their demand for a living wage for workers.

The disparity between the minimum wage and the allowances received by legislators has highlighted the widening gap between the political elites and the majority of Nigerians who struggle to make ends meet.

The situation calls for a serious rethink of Nigeria’s political system and its relationship with the people. A more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities is crucial for the country’s economic and social development.

In response to the ongoing calls for a minimum wage increase, the Federal Government has stated that the current minimum wage of ₦494,000 is not sustainable, given the country’s economic challenges.

This claim, however, has been met with skepticism by me, who point to the lavish allowances received by public officials as evidence that the government is more concerned with enriching itself than supporting its citizens.

The Nigerian Government’s stance has further fueled the resentment and frustration among workers, who are already grappling with soaring inflation and the rising cost of living.

Nigerian economist, Professor Pat Utomi, speaking on the matter said, "The gap between the rich and the poor in our society is too wide, and the government’s refusal to increase the minimum wage is a reflection of their disregard for the plight of ordinary citizens."

In light of this, some have called for a boycott of tax payments until the government addresses the needs of the working class.

Historically, Nigeria has faced similar issues in the past. The Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, set up in 1994, was supposed to use a fraction of the country’s oil revenue to fund development projects. However, the fund was eventually revealed to have been mismanaged, with billions of naira going unaccounted for.

A similar situation occurred during the sale of national assets in the 1980s, where the proceeds were meant to be invested in infrastructure development but were allegedly diverted for other purposes.

The continued pattern of mismanagement of public resources in Nigeria has contributed to a deep mistrust of the government among the populace.

In light of these past events, it is crucial for the Nigerian government to prioritize the welfare of its citizens, particularly the working class, and take steps to address the economic disparities that exist in the country.

The call for a fair minimum wage is not just about money; it is about dignity, justice, and a government that listens to and cares about the people it represents.

_Chief Dr Patrick Osagie Eholor otherwise known as Ultimate Equal.

Ajaero And Osifo Trojans Of Now: Thanks To NLC and TUC For Raising The Progressive Bar

Let no one call them names, they have raised the Progressive Bar remarkably high, perhaps the highest since the 2012 Ojota Fuel Hike protestation. Yours sincerely was heavily involved in that siege against Jonathan's Administration (in fact I addressed the rally in Ojota several times through the near two weeks of that popular action), a siege that was supported in cash and kind by the present watchman President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Against formidable attrition and debauchery, against the threat of jail and imprisonment, against a government that is squandamania oriented, and against a government sold to propaganda and gaslighting, they rose, they mobilized and shut down the nation with intent to call government to address the need for living wage, and they did so effectively, effectually and efficiently for 48 hours. I'm impressed and enamoured by the commitment of the NLC and the TUC to Take Back Our Country for good with the call for Living Wage as veritable weapon. Kudos.

Also impressive is the suspension of the Strike (Industrial Action) with a timeline. In 5 days time if the negotiation for Living Wage for Nigerian Workers remains a hard-call for government, the Civil Society, the Progressive left and the Nigerian Studentry must join forces with organized Labour to rescue the soul of our nation from the hoard of rampaging buccaneers feasting on our collective patrimony with reckless abandon.

In the one year of the present watch, the government has shown an uncanny predilection to wastage and wanderlust. See instances and questions that dominate the social media space and ask yourself why the government is slow about the need for a healthy minimum wage for the Nigerian worker whereas on all fronts it has shown an unbriddled penchant for profligacy. READ..

® N90B for Hajj.

-N4B Cars for BAT.

-N2B Cars for RAT.

-N58B SUVs for NASS.

-N37m Monthly for NASS

-N7B for Shettima's House.

-500m for each NASS member.

-N3TN budget padding by NASS.

But you say the NLC doesn't deserve at least N150,000 monthly salary? - Author Unknown.

Reading further one would wonder why the present watch appears impervious to logic, they appear completely focussed on mendacious inveigle and perfidy, with soulless propaganda as chief BUT I'm glad for Trojans Ajaero and Osifo, and I'm thankful to providence that hurricane TUC and NLC is here. READ...

©In as much as I believe the 1000% minimum wage increment that NLC is seeking is outrageous and untenable, the FG needs to answer some vital questions:

1. What are we doing with a bi-camera legislature? Why do we need the Senate and the House of Representatives?

2. What are we doing with a Presidential Yacht, and why do we need a Presidential fleet of 10 airplanes?

3. Why was there a 300% increment on the salaries of Federal Judges, and why did the FG need to buy new SUVs for Ministers, Senators and Members of HoR?

4. Where did the FG get over ₦80 billion to finance the needless foreign trips of the President and his Vice within a year?

5. Where did the FG get the ₦100 billion used to finance the Muslim pilgrimage in 2024?

Until the FG is able to provide answers to these pertinent questions, they have no right or moral justification not to increase the minimum wage by at least 200%. Credit: Femi Falana SAN.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, we must therefore rise up and organize rather than agonize. We must close ranks and forge ahead with the NLC and TUC rather than break ranks. We must show to those who criticize and oppose our cause that the Hallmark of Patriotism is a critical mass, and proactive opposition. Once again I salute organized Labour for rising to be counted.

'E Soweto E Africa... Solidarity Forever!!

Prof Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr.

Convener COUNTRYFIRST MOVEMENT.

Religions and the plundering of Nigeria

By Bolaji O. Akinyemi.

Tinubu 

It is no longer news that the magnanimity of BAT doled out 90 billion naira to support Hajj Operations this year 2024. May I on behalf of the homeless and hungry Muslims who will not benefit from the fund say rankadede to Mr President, and on behalf of those who will benefit by association and strategic positioning say may your days be long on the throne for many more joyful Hajj to the holylands, insha Allah!

Sir, your determination to fight corruption is commendable,even though we are yet to see any meaningful results. Also is the examplary leadership of the Vice President who took a clue from you and transparently announced the amount you gave to the Muslim Community to support 2024 Hajj Operations. May such slip of tongue be the portion of all strategic officers; elected or appointed in your administration in the mighty name of Jesus.

Sir, may I on behalf of Christians plead with you to let us know how much you gave to the Christians in support of this year's pilgrimage. We had expected that by now the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Board, His Lordship Bishop STV Adegbite would have announced like the Vice President how much we were given. Sir, this becomes necessary for transparency and accountability. As we may need to advise his office on better use of the money for the much needed capacity building for displaced Christians from their ancestral homeland across our Northern axis.

Adegbite's attempt to structure Christianity after the pattern of Islam is no longer hidden. Christian pilgrimage will now take after the pattern of lesser and higher Hajj. While one serves Ramadan the other holds during Eid-el Kabir. Christian pilgrimage will now be twice a year, one for Easter and the other for Christmas I supposed. An Easter Pilgrimage according to him will take place in the month of June. The plundering of money allocated for pilgrimage is so paramount to him that the safety of Nigerian Christians is not put to consideration. Adegbite probably have prayed and the God of Israel "fighting" in Gaza has assured him that Nigerian Christians will be safe in Gaza.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Bishop Stephen Adegbite, has assured that Nigerian pilgrims will be safe in Israel.

He made this disclosure during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday; May 8, 2024.

“By the grace of God, Nigerian pilgrims will be safe in Israel,” Bishop Adegbite said.

“We will travel for the Easter Pilgrimage and we will be safe. It will be a journey for reawakening and rejuvenation, not a jamboree.” 

He added that the pilgrims will experience the glory of God by the end of the pilgrimage exercise.

The NCPC boss announced that the Easter pilgrimage exercise will commence in June, and preparations are in top gears for a hitch-free exercise.

He revealed that the Commission has approved a calendar of activities for its annual pilgrimage program, stating that pilgrimage is now more structured and no longer done haphazardly every month.

According to him, the Easter pilgrimage", (should I say lesser pilgrimage) "runs from April to July, while the main pilgrimage exercise" (higher) "begins from November and ends in February.

Bishop Adegbite condemned the ongoing carnage in Gaza, calling for an end to the war".

Must any Nigerian be led anywhere near Gaza, the place of his condemnation at this time? President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the only one who can speak about the safety of Nigerians outside Nigeria.

Adegbite further hinted; "The cost for the Easter pilgrimage exercise will be released next week after considering some variables. It is important that Adegbite declares how many billions the Commission has received, is it N90Billion or more; before announcing what it will cost to partake in the lesser and the higher Pilgrimages.

Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.

Email:[email protected]

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Phone: +2348033041236