IS SHEKAU DEAD OR ALIVE?

  Sometime last week, I brought out a chilled bottle of Champagne, reserved for very special occasions to celebrate the death of Boko Haram Spokesperson and the man who no doubt to me, is my most hated person on planet earth, Abubakar Shekau, who was alleged to have been killed by the Nigerian Military in their successful onslaught over Boko Haram in Kodunga, one of the towns in the north East hitherto in the hands of the Boko Haram. To further justify this claim, a picture of the alleged remains of the villain went viral over the newspapers and all other media outlets.

   In most of the pictures of the alleged deceased, a distinctive circle was drawn around a peculiar bump the said Shekau had on his forehead in comparison with his photograph of when he was alive. The information of the situation leading to his death was scanty and somewhat frivolous; to avoid saying that indeed it was unbelievable and suspicious. He was said to have been invited over by some captured Boko Haram fighters under the instructions of the Nigerian army, on the pretence that they (his men) had conquered the Nigerian army in Kodunga and on appearing, he was shot by the Nigerian army.

  A lot of skeptics argued then that such a highly ranked member of the sect, with so much privileged information at his domain was better to be captured alive to help avail our security services with many more useful information that could help them resolve this issue of Boko Haram. In the same public disparage of government that unfortunately appears to have become tradition within and outside our country, some people began to suspect a foul play in the presumed killing of Shekau, saying that he was instantly killed to stop him from implicating some influential persons in the country….. but for me, the mad dog was dead and that was what was important, so I popped my champagne with excitement, Even though that it was not the first time that the Nigeria military was certifying this villain dead.   

     

  Days later, a video of a hail and hearty Shekau has returned tormenting us on Youtube, denying any claim of his death and ranting as usual with more threats, saying that they were the ones who gunned down the missing Nigerian fighter Jet (NAF 466) and all that…..  

  The Nigerian military has immediately come out to refute this claim and also to reconfirm the death of Shekau, faulting the authenticity of the video which makes one begin to ask questions like, is Boko Haram shooting a pre-produced video in anticipation of government measures against them to boost their propaganda agenda? If Shekau is really dead why can´t the group acknowledge his death like all other terrorist groups does and possibly announce his successor? And on the part of the government, why would they claim they have killed a public enemy number 1 if they have not killed him? Really, it beats my sane understanding. The fact remains that one of the two groups involved in this melee, is not telling the whole truth. I want to believe that the lying group is Boko Haram.    

WHICH WAY NIGERIA?

  Honestly, I would prefer to meet Nigerians who come all out to say they hate Nigeria than see everybody claiming to love her yet someone/some persons or everybody is responsible for her dying state and nobody appears to truly love her enough to want to stop her killers.

  The normal pomp and pageantry to mark our independence anniversary is over, and now what? Where do we go from here? I wished yesterday marked the end of corruption, ineptitude, impunity, injustice, favoritism, tribalism, mediocrity, terrorism, insecurity, greed ….. in Nigeria.

  I wished that yesterday 1^st of October 2014 would mark a real new beginning of greatness for our country and that when people say that they love Nigeria, I can look at them in the eyes and believe them and believe that they will also believe me when I say the same thing.  

DEMOCRACY WITHOUT A PATRIOT

  The only Nigerian political party that will be worth my vote is the one who will promise to defend the secularity of our nation and respect every religion with equal fervor; The one whose president will be seen to show the same amount of consideration and comfort inside the Mosque, the church and inside the shrine. The one who will truly be seen to fighting corruption in its entire ramification, who will begin to infiltrate the churches, the mosques and even the depth of our tradition in order to checkmate corrupt custodians of religions in our nation as well as nip the excesses and fundamentalist religious teachings in the bud before they breed terrorism, the one who will ensure that impunity is no longer tradition in Nigeria. The one who will ensure that the works of religious leaders in Nigeria is categorized as a profession and as a result subjected to tax payment which will then be used to ameliorate the sufferings of gullible followers, victims of religions or on the contrary a demonstrated proof by these money-making religions that indeed they are involved in projects that guarantees their giving back to the society to cushion the sufferings of a great number of our population. The party that will ensure that the judiciary is truly independent and just in its duty, that will begin to treat corruption in government with the gravity it really demands and ensuring that all corrupt administrators are truly jailed if not sentenced to death.

  Can the PDP do all these? Can the APC, APGA and the Labor Party do that? …… your vote is your power, use it wisely. Begin to ask questions, make demands and ensure that campaign promises are fulfilled. Power under a true democratic dispensation belong to the people, you.  

    

THE CHIBOK GIRLS ARE STILL MISSING.....

  IMAGINE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESCUEING THE KIDNAPPED CHIBOK GIRLS TODAY AND PERESENTING THEM ALONGSIDE THE PRESIDENTIAL INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY SPEECH TO ALL NIGERIANS, THAT INDEED WOULD HAVE BEEN MY HAPPIEST MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS IN NIGERIA. AS IT IS RIGHT NOW, I PREFER AND MAINTAIN THAT THE EVENT SHOULD BE A LOW KEYED ONE. CELEBRATING OUR INDEPENDENCE WOULD MAKE NO REAL MEANING UNTIL EVERY NIGERIAN IS FREE AND FREE INDEED.

  

THE NIGERIAN POLITICAL DRAMA

  I do not understand why some people are kicking against the idea of having some Nollywood actors and people in the Nigerian entertainment industry go into politics in Nigeria. If you ask my candid opinion, I think that there are no better qualified persons to join the train of the Nigerian political drama than well tested Nollywood actors.

  The Nigeria political scenario oftentimes appear like a prolongation of nollywood, with actors playing their roles with a very high level of vehemence but within the stipulated confines and the dictates of the script and the exigencies of the directors (the cabals) who often times act from behind the camera calling out the shots in a situation pari passu with what is applicable in movie locations.

 I think that the question should really not be whether or not people in the show business should endeavor into politics, Nigeria has really never had trained leaders who have been formally trained to assume leadership roles in the country, just anybody assume the role as long as they have influential godfathers, even persons who cannot properly administer themselves are then given the task to administer a nation of over 166 million persons.  

    What we should be more concerned about is whether these crop of distinguished entertainers can bring something new to the table, whether they can dare to improvise at key moments of our day to day political razzle-dazzle, whether they can question the irrationality of the script handed to them from time to time by the directors and even dare to permit themselves the effrontery of the usage of adlibs outside the concessional and readymade script.  

  Rather than begin to just condemn the advent of entertainers into politics, I honestly believe that our worries should be the following; Is anybody trying to capitalize on the popularity of these entertainers who may not have personal resolve and conviction for politics and politicking? Who are the real persons behind the masquerade and what are their intentions? Does being a successful entertainer mean that one has what it takes to delve into politics and make the much needed difference? Are they going to get there like the many others before them who have since conveniently become even with the decayed rank and file of our political claptrap?  I hope they won´t begin to tell us pretty soon that government issues are more complex than what is presumed from the outside.

  On a very serious note, if you know you cannot be the solution to the many problems facing our nation, this audition is not for you. Nigeria needs capable and highly capacitated developers, who are just not going into politics to test their popularity or to satisfy a lifelong or a childish ambition but persons who already have feasible developmental framework in place to bring to the table. Since the real intention of everyman does not precede him, I want to welcome as many youths as are willing to come on board, convinced that they have the tools to turn things around for the better in Nigeria.  

NICHOLAS IBEKWE DESERVE A NATIONAL AWARD

  Do Nigerians really know what they want? This question might sound very simple and even stupid, but the answer will be very helpful to catapulting our nation into the El-dorado of our dream. A young journalist by the name Nicholas Ibekwe did something we have been clamoring for in our nation and from its citizens from time immemorial, especially those in the professional sector of our nation, whose services are determinant if our nation is to survive the onslaught of this cankerworm that has eaten deep into the very foundation of our nation. The young man honorably turned down a N50, 000 bribe, often called “brown envelope” by the corrupt wing of the Nigerian press.

  The moment a man receives any form of incentive from those who are not his employers and those who are directly involved in the case he intends to inform the general public about, his report ceases to be genuine, unbiased and unadulterated. Unfortunately, as is often the case in our dear country, rather than praise this young man for his conviction and good professional ethics, a lot of Nigerians especially the bamboozled slaves of self-styled “gods of men” have come upon him with all sorts of criticisms for doing something noble by divulging the bribery scandal involving Prophet TB Joshua and some corrupt group of journalists to the tune of N770, 000 on the premise that they reported the catastrophe in which more than 80 people have so far lost their lives, without the needed and the necessary journalism objectivity.

  Rather than recommend that the federal government include the name of this brave young man, Nicholas Ibekwe for a national meritorious award, we are allowing a group of brainwashed Nigerians to insult and threaten a noble man who has emerged from the normal Nigerian box to prove that 170 million people cannot all be tagged as corrupt persons. In fact, apart from the necessary investigation to be carried out to determine the real cause of the collapse of the building and the compulsory indictment of Prophet TB Joshua if found guilty of any wrongdoing, especially in the area of the post-rehabilitation of the building without the necessary legal urban developmental and construction permit of the Lagos State government, a parallel investigation should be carried out to clarify the alleged bribe issue to ascertain that no crime was committed.        

SUFFER NOT ONE BOKO HARAM TO LIVE

  Many people might not like my take on this issue but the destruction that the Boko Haram sect has done to our nation and the pains it has caused the citizens of our great nation is unquantifiable, I will be very disappointed if any Nigerian government decides for any reason to extend mercy/amnesty or any form of pardon to these undesirable elements and soldiers of the devil known as Boko Haram.

  For so many years, we have heard our government invite them to a dialogue and a peaceful settlement to no avail, the constant image of one or various sons of a dog who calls himself/themselves Abubakar Shekau threatening the elected democratic government of our nation and the entirety of our citizens on youtube and daring to proclaim a caliphate on any part of our great nation makes the crimes of these dumb heads unpardonable.

  They should not be treated as repentant criminals or captured war soldiers but dangerous criminals and killers who had the opportunity of allowing peace to reign but chose to continue to terrorize our peace loving citizens, killing and maiming many, including babies and pregnant women until our military had them rounded up. They should be wiped out in their entirety to send the signals and serve as a deterrent to any more sons of dogs in any part of the country thinking of disrupting the peaceful coexistence of our people.

  The Boko Haram sect has mocked the strength of our armed forces, jeopardized economic activities in our country, especially in the north eastern part of our nation and even threatened the unity of our nation and does not deserve any discreet or tactful treatment other than a death sentence for all its members.

  I will not like to end my particular opinion on this very important issue without thanking our brave men and women in the Nigerian armed forces for their convincing and very high level of patriotism, we crave their indulgence to pardon us because some of us have put their professionalism and commitments to doubt at some key points in this ordeal. We implore them to continue to work diligently for the protection and the defense of our sovereign territory.