Avoiding The Next Obama

FROM THE ARCHIVES

BY L. E. IKENGA

In times like these, it is tempting to focus only on the issue at hand. But if you do, you do so at your own peril. As I watch what is happening to this great country, I find myself just shaking my head more and more while thinking, Mark Twain was absolutely right: "history does not always repeat itself, but it does often rhyme."

My Igbo parents came to this great country from Nigeria. They arrived a few years after Nigeria's independence from Great Britain. In Nigeria, it was a time of unprecedented cultural and political turmoil, which allowed politicians very much like Barack Obama to continue to seep into Nigeria's political system. These politicians all promised a change from the past. And unfortunately, they ended up fulfilling their promises. What these politicians ended up changing was the very fabric of the African societies, which they had been taught to see as unsophisticated and inferior.

I call these men, who appeared all over Africa in the wake of independence, African Colonial politicians (ACP's). They were the direct offspring of the European Imperialists, imposing radical European leftist political theory on tribal cultures. ACP's and their unscrupulous followers were able to almost completely destroy many African cultures.

For the most part, these ACP's were intellectual frauds, completely unworthy of the honors bestowed upon them. But they sounded and looked good; so the people listened to them. With their fancy Oxbridge degrees, grandiloquent speeches given with perfectly accented "Queen's English", finely tailored European suits, and fabled family histories, ACP's took the masses by storm.

ACP's convinced their constituents that they were as dumb as baboons and did not have what it took to make good decisions for themselves and for the future. They made Africans feel embarrassed about their entire histories and conservative values. They persuaded Africans to follow the "European way" of doing things, and assured that this blueprint for progress was one that could not fail.

The people believed them. And so, over the course of many decades, and by means of the standard instruments of cultural indoctrination that included liberal education, elite professional career paths, and new religious and political paradigms, Africans began to consume ideas and theories that implicitly alienated them from their own roots. Today, many of those Africans and their respective cultures are well on their way to being nothing more than topics for discussion at some freshman anthropology seminar at some elite university.

Colonialism in Africa ended but the ACP remained. He is now a touchstone in African political culture -- and so are his imperialist policies. The ACP will never go away. He dominates all politics, all of the time. His presence is ubiquitous. He is being cloned by the thousands everyday at universities in Africa and in other parts of the world. Marxist mentors rear him in his professional and private life. Thus, he has been taught to see himself as a benevolent Pan-Africanist. Instead, he is an uncontrollable cancer, steadily pushing African cultures to the point of extinction.

This all happened because African conservatives lost their way, took their cultures for granted, and underestimated the cupidity of their wanton politicians. They failed to make adjustments that would have helped to preserve their necessary values. The challenge for any culture is knowing when and how to make these adjustments, because if you do not, you die.

Africans allowed themselves to be hoodwinked by smooth-talking elitist charlatans; they are now paying a very dear price for this.

Politically speaking, most of Africa is now the laughingstock of the world with little to show for all of the progress that was once so intensely promised. In his 1947 essay, Path to Nigerian Freedom, Chief Obafemi Awolowo declared that,

"... the educated elite in Nigeria were qualified by natural rights to lead their fellow nationals into higher political development."

Chief Awolowo, where is that development now?

It is a very painful thing to know that something that you hold dear will soon cease to exist. It is even more painful to know that you are only one of a small few who can actually see that it is happening. This is what I am faced with. My Igbo heritage, passed down especially by my mother, has become a very precious thing to me, particularly because it is something that will soon cease to exist. I am sure that my great-grandchildren's children will have to go to some Museum of Natural History to know who I was, and so I continue to fight to make sure that they have something to see.

All of this is because my ancestors did not make the necessary adjustments. And most importantly, they never saw that there was always a large troupe of African colonial politicians, each impatiently waiting in the wings for the chance to audition for the role of a lifetime. (Obama's 2004 DNC speech was an audition.)

The Barack Obamas of the world helped to kill off so many cultures throughout the African continent. He is now here, with his Bacchic attendants, working hard to kill (conservative) American culture. He is killing everything that this country stands for. He is doing it under the guise of altruism. However, there is nothing altruistic about Obama. Instead, what we are witnessing is the greatest comedy of fateful errors that the world has seen in quite some time. The gods must be laughing like crazy.

The move towards the Euro-style imperialist socialism that has taken over this country has been a long time coming. For decades, oblivious youth have been indoctrinated at American universities to sympathize with far-left values; the entertainment industry is filled with leftist blowhards who wear the mask of intellect; liberals of all stripes have become unselfconscious in mocking (Christian) religious customs, and the juggernaut that is the left-stream media has been sealing the deal for years, helping to make this Republic increasingly vulnerable to demagoguery and despotism.

During the campaign, there was a reason why Obama's handlers kept telling him to say, "We are the ones we have been waiting for!" So many are waiting in the wings for their chance to audition. Obama is now the playing the lead role. But new faces will come and take his place when he is done.

This is why our nation is under siege with "all Obama, all the time". They want you to focus on him so that you do not see what is coming. As difficult as it may be to believe, Obama is probably not the worst that this far-left faction will use to win future elections. There will be others who will be more "eloquent", more charismatic, more racially mixed, more (once) oppressed by "the man"...

In closing, I offer a wish list. If I could go back in time and meet some of my ancestors, here are a few things that I would tell them to watch out for and consider. And to my fellow American Conservatives, here are a few things to help us avoid the next Obama:

Brand name market academics: the killers of common sense

I cannot emphasize enough how these types of people continue to destroy cultures throughout the world. I have seen it happen; I am seeing it happen. Most of their ideas are based on book theories and not reality. They cannot relate to everyday people. Bottom line: if someone needs to tell you where they went to school in order to explain why they voted a certain way, change the subject, or better yet, if you can, just walk away.

Spread your message, especially to the young

One of the biggest mistakes that many Igbos continue to make is not teaching their kids about their ancestry and culture. In the West especially, some of those kids do not speak the language, understand any of the traditions, nor do they have the desire to visit the land of their forefathers. By default, these children have become Igbos in name only. A person without knowledge of their history and culture is like a tree without roots-a shell of a thing that can be easily blown away. Ironically, irreverence towards one's culture and history is always part of a tradition that is passed down from one generation to the next. Be the one to put an end to this tradition.

In praise of patriarchs

The whole truth, not half of it. The Igbos are a patriarchal people, and I grew up listening to fantastic tales of how my great forefathers lived impeccable lives. I understand why this was necessary but some of those tales just bordered on the absurd. I might as well have been reading the Aeneid. Patriarchs are people, and it is equally important that we learn from their successes AND their failures. Avoiding talk of their failures leads to a loss of trust from those who really want to learn. The reality is that many Igbo patriarchs made crucial mistakes, which allowed the Imperialists to gain access and power; this must be acknowledged. The American Founders achieved tremendous goals. The United States Constitution is the Crown Jewel of Western civilization. The Founders paved the way for liberty and justice for all; this was no small feat. But mistakes were still made, and the legacy of some of those mistakes still haunt us today. Telling the whole truth is what sets people free.

Intellectual integrity

The Imperialists let the genie out. It is now up to you to put it back in the bottle. The Igbos allowed many things to be redefined for them by Imperialists who then took these new definitions and ran with them in order to make the Africans feel inferior. One of my favorites is how the Imperialists began calling African medicinal herbalists, "witchdoctors". (I always crack up when I hear this word!)

Something similar is starting to happen with the word racism. The far-lefties are now using this word willy-nilly to defame innocent people. Racism, in my opinion, is something very specific: an assault -- of any kind -- that attacks the humanity of a specific ethnic group. A racist is someone who believes in and sees the good in these attacks. And then there is bigotry; and there are bigots. By thoughtlessly throwing around the word racism we truly dishonor the memory of those who, throughout human history, actually went through the real thing. Imperialists and their liberal offspring, have no real intellectual integrity. They will stoop to any low to get their message across. Do not let these fools tell you what is and what isn't.

African Colonial Politicians and Black Liberationist Preachers: Best Friends Forever

This point is more for future African and American generations. ACP's and BLP's go together like peanut butter & jelly. Black Liberation Theology (and all of its strange offshoots) is wreaking havoc in Africa and it will soon do the same here. The pastor and politician work like a tag-team to rob people of their dignity, culture, and political capital. Both teach their congregants/constituents to wear their (imagined) victim status like a badge of honor. By using all sorts of hocus-pocus and mumbo-jumbo techniques, they exact votes, cash, and "AMENS!" from lost and impressionable people. The less of a real history that people have to "cling to" the more they will seek these soothsayer/snake oil sales people out.

Countries like Nigeria most definitely have what I call a "pastor problem", and it looks like America is starting to have one too. As many have already figured out, the Obama-Wright relationship was no chance coincidence. Despite the Showtime at the Apollo theatrics in which they engaged the nation during the election, right now, both are laughing all the way to the bank.

Chukwu duwe anyi (May God be with us).

THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED VIA THE AMERICAN THINKER AT OHUZO, AUGUST 5, 2009

Igbo Can't Be President

 

BY CHIDI NNADI

Former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuka has picked holes on the power rotation principle of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), saying it was designed to keep the Igbo out of power. Chukwuka, a medical doctor and politician of note, who is now based in the United States of America, also spoke on his political antecedents among other issues. CHIDI NNADI brings the excerpts

Political tutelage:

When General Ibrahim Babangida dissolved the 13 political parties formed then, and established the National Republican Convention(NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), being a progressive, I quickly registered in the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where I contested and won the state publicity secretary of the SDP in the old Anambra State. Discharging that position with dexterity and unparallel amiability, I became popular with all governments and served in various capacities both in political parties and the government of my state.

At the Jos convention that produced the late Chief MKO Abiola, I won the post of Assistant National Publicity Secretary, but when the convention was cancelled and the re-run election ordered at Abuja Sheraton Hotel, I lost that opportunity to national limelight to the political organogram of the late Alhaji Shehu Yar’Adua. Not deterred by this, I went back to Anambra State, and was later appointed by Dr. Ezeife as cabinet consultant on Health Matters.

Later Colonel Mike Attah appointed me the director general of Bureau of Information and Culture; then Dr. Mbadinuju as Special Adviser on Lands, Survey and Urban Planning, Media and Publicity and Managing Director of ANSEPA. Later, the then President, Chief Obasanjo appointed me the Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA) when Professor Jerry Gana was the supervising minister. Finally, I worked with Dr. Chris Ngige as Senior Special Assistant on Mobilization and State Orientation.

Passion for politics;

Regrettably, politics has not at all times presented a bed of roses for me. My worst period in politics was when I was dropped as the DG of NOA in Abuja. No sooner was I appointed to the job of orientation than that appointment was lost in a mysterious circumstance which till today remains inexplicable to me. All I know was that my Personal Assistant continued to warn me to hide my intelligence, that Abuja politics is not Anambra politics. Of course, I ignored him to my own detriment.

Yes, Abuja politics is dirty. If you are smart, you will be schemed out of the system. They need idiots, half-baked fools, embryonic politicians that are initiative barren. They hate those who are inherently endowed with visions and dreams to move this nation forward. This is the political quagmire that has for many years stagnated the progress of this nation. Realizing that the orientator has to be orientated in Abuja politics, my PA bought me a book called “The 48 Laws of Power”, which opened my eyes to the fact that my intelligence will soon have a negative impact and cause me to lose my job.

Categorically, he opined that if he was the president of the country, and witnessed what I did at the podium, he would simply drop whoever was the Minister of Information and immediately appoint me in his place. All my pleas to him to take it easy with me fell on deaf ears. He promised to call my minister to remove me as I was after his job. Surprisingly, two days after that encounter, I lost my job in the most mysterious circumstance. No reason was given. That is Abuja politics and I do not regret the impact I made as DG of NOA. If you go to NOA today, I am well respected. My stay in office was barely a year, but the impact was reverberating and the echo and ripple effect were felt in all nooks and crannies of this nation.

So, at what point did you leave the country and why?

Since Dr. Ngige lost his governorship seat in the court in 2006, I travelled to America to study their system, and also disappear from the scene. Having worked in their hospitals, taught in their nursing schools and taught mathematics in their higher schools, I have come to the conclusion that Nigeria is a country endowed with individuals with high acumen. Our children are by far more intelligent than an average American child in secondary school.

Unfortunately, the country is still dangerously verged on a perilous pathway heading to absolute collapse and decay, if something is not done soon. In 2010, I visited my country from USA where I boasted that Nigeria has more agreeable, sagacious and astute politicians who can’t compromise on issues of nation building than the GOP and Democrats in America. But the level of infrastructural deterioration and decay in almost all sectors of the nation is not only humiliating, but an outrageous insensibility on the part of the government to the plights of the common man of this nation that voted them into power.

Impressions about Nigeria;

Let me begin with the road infrastructure. From Shagamu to Benin, Lagos to Ibadan, Enugu to Abuja, Enugu to Onitsha, Enugu to Port-Harcourt, Enugu to Nsukka, Ore to Ondo to Ife to Ibadan, the roads have been ignored by successive governments of this nation is not only criminal, but wicked. I wonder what is in resurfacing a road. Billions of taxpayers’ money are every year appropriated for these roads and yet nothing tangible is done. It is indeed shameful for anyone to call himself a senator or member of House of Representatives, or president, or governor in this nation when these roads are crying and begging for reconstruction. Obviously, our highways have posed terrible nightmares to commuters and road carnages have assumed an unprecedented dimension in the history of this nation. Consequently, I make bold to suggest that all senators, governors and presidents of this nation should as a matter of criminal negligence to their duties resign their positions if they cannot cater for the people and provide adequate amenities for the citizenry.

When Chief Obasanjo came to power he promised that power outage will be a thing of the past within six months of his being in office. Eight years later, he left the country in a comatose state. Power outage became worse than before. As a matter of fact, no nation can develop technologically when electric supply is not predictable. No industries can be sited or built in this nation when power is on and off. The use of computers for global networking and indeed information processing cannot prosper in a paralyzed energy sector.

Today, Nigeria has the most backward police force the world over. Created to control crime and protect the citizens, our police force unlike what I saw in America, is a caricature of crime control mechanics. With shameful roadblocks mounted here and there, sometimes in every kilometer, the police have reduced their status to mere illegal tollgate collectors, and yet everyone ignores this corruptive tendency. As a matter of fact, the road blocks have achieved nothing in crime control.

The Police Force in this nation is begging for reorganization and should be made lucrative. Government should abolish police barracks and allow police to live in neighborhoods for ease of busting and controlling crime. Since the roads are bad and may not be repaired anytime soon, police should now use power bikes to control crime. They should patrol rather than mount road blocks to collect illegal tolls and cause untold hardship to road users. Government should pay police salaries that are commensurate to the job of crime control and the risk involved. This is common sense. Give the police the necessary equipment and tools to perform their duties and reap the imponderable benefits. We can do it. Yes we can, if we have the will and zeal.

Igbo president project in 2015:

The Igbo are finished politically in this nation. It will be difficult in the present political dispensation for an Igbo man to be the president of this country. The present political computation and permutation as arranged by Chief Obasanjo of the PDP does not favour the Igbo who have been marginalized by Obasanjo’s crafty political equation of South South plus South West plus North Central plus North West equal to a win-win for him. That is why in the PDP National Working Committee, no Igbo man is even appointed a sweeper or a messenger. However, all hope is not lost since the Igbo man is as incompressible as water. We surely will rebound at the appropriate time. We have the capacity, capabilities, ingenuity, sagacity and political maneuver to scale this political man-made hurdle and reintegrate ourselves into the national political stream. We refuse to be condemned and confined to the present political incarceration. Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo should wake up and lead appropriately.

ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED AT OHUZO VIA SUN NEWS ON AUGUST 31, 2011

Open Letter To Former Junta Muhammadu Buhari Concerning Governance In A Democracy

Muhammadu Buhari. Image: Youtube via BBC


My dear Muhammadu Buhari,


I am not a usual letter writer, and I must admit, I barely complain for many reasons. It would make no sense to complain since nobody likely would listen, especially you, Buhari, knowing you for your extreme views and the preservation of Islamic fundamentalism, and your utmost desire to silence the press from around which you have a track record as a junta, remember?

It's not that you're so powerful and tough as permanently battered Nigerian citizens may seem to believe; it's just that you've taken advantage of what made you a junta, in the first place, when your colleague of juntas wrestled power and dissolved the 2nd Republic, positioning you as "head-of-state", a figure head, and besides, Tunde Idiagbon, who sat as your side kick and made draconian laws which covered you up and saved you the embarrassments of a weakling soldier from the public eye, and only if they had known you were nothing but a wimp. It did not take much sweat to erase you from its roster inside the Dodan Barracks commands, just like that; remember?

You only lasted as a junta because Idiagbon was there on your side, and protected you, and covered your weaknesses until another junta, Ibrahim Babangida, took care of you. Upon Idiagbon's trip to Mecca, so dumb of an admired junta who lost his sense of purpose, in its critical time, Babangida getting rid of you was like a rat, and it was done quietly, without any form of resistance, and locked you up, indefinitely; remember?

Of all the ugly decrees that your junta lead promulgated, you clamped on the press, and also murdered folks who did not commit any crime, save for what you did, all of a sudden, backdating the said draconian law to reflect time of crime on folks who only were trying to do their best out of bad situations, which shouldn't be justified, though, in a country you and your junta league hijacked. Do you remember?

I agree those you killed on drug charges committed crimes on moral grounds not on existing laws to be murdered the way you did, and despite the world's outcry, the international community, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other causes, worthy of note, you went ahead and ignored that, and executed them by firing squad. Their blood is in your hands.

The case of Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson and a list of journalists you had targeted to silence and proscribe its newspaper outlets is still very fresh in our minds, and it's only in an avalanche of insanity like Nigeria that the citizens can be permanently disabled, because you had barrels of the gun in your possession and could always use it to harass and intimidate the citizens you were assigned to protect its territories as a soldier.

On April 17, 1984, your retroactive decree was out there for all to see, sorting out media organizations you found detrimental to your brutal regime. You closed down the Imo Statesman, leaving it in a state of coma, never to be fully up again, and sent the journalists in that little statement the unique state had, packing, for the fact that its view had questioned the imprisonment of Alex Ekwueme while Shehu Shagari was under house arrest. You detained Niyi Onigoro, Idowu Odeyemi, Haroun Adamu and others, under Decree 4, crafted by the "Idiagbon-Buhari tandem", putting deep scars to the fourth estate and conquering the panicking press that admired the junta in the name of reform. You had no conscience, and despite all the atrocities under your handle, you still had the guts to run the country aground, again.

A little step back to reflect your past deeds, I have been compelled to drop you this missive as I felt disturbed on the happenings in that troubled country under your leadership, in mufti, since you discarded your khaki uniform, for the flowing robe and confessed to Nigerians that you have reformed yourself, and now a good man for the better, and a would be democrat to respect the rule of law, and uphold democracy; and that you have been destined to build bridges and make the country safe, and a better place for all with a thorough system based on the constitutional prescription of separation of powers; though there's none that exists at the moment, because, what you have is a fabricated document concocted by your colleagues of juntas who hijacked the peoples mandate over thirty years ago, and declined to let the civilian structure run a full course of its administrative duties as required without interference by your men in khaki uniform.

The military and guns consists of everything that is wrong with Nigeria. They beat up and arrest civilians on the streets. They mount road blocks and collect bribes before motorists can get their way and continue with a journey another roadblock stands a mile or so away, staged by uniformed men in the name of enforcing a law that is made up. They invade citizens' homes as armed robbers and take away all their belongings, and in some cases, kill them in the most brutal of circumstances. They gang up with their civilian counterparts and collect unnecessary levies, then share the proceeds as the cycle continues. Under your watch, the citizens now live in a state of empire and anarchy, even when you were so desperate and had begged to be allowed another chance to implement your ideals that would revive the country. The country is disappointed in you because you ate up your own words. You had vowed to make corruption a thing of the past the moment you step into Aso Rock. You also said you will stamp out Boko Haram and terrorism, while I have the hunch you're one of the kingpins, if not, why is Boko Haram still very much around? You completed your first term and Boko Haram was still out there causing all kinds of havoc. What explains that? Now the country is trapped with all the accumulated mess upon your assuming the mantle of leadership.

Remember you had promised Nigerians of a fair deal in governance when in 2003 Presidential election you lost on a very wide margin to your fellow junta Olusegun Obasanjo, whose administration then was the worst any could imagine? You did not take it lightly, and it kept bothering you since your enemies had always been your target whenever the opportunity knocks.

 In 2007, you surfaced again, in your second attempt for the presidency and lost to Shehu Yar'Adua who was handpicked by Obasanjo to continue with his 3rd Term agenda, and you complained about being rigged out, and blamed everything on those you claimed were enemies of the state who didn't want the country to move forward. As if you'll give up from the frustration and run around involving the presidential campaigns and its dubious nature, you picked up courage and never gave up, switching political parties, leaving the All Nigeria Peoples Party, the ANPP, for the Congress for Progressive Change, the CPC, under a platform you had vowed to wipe out corruption in its entirety, and delete the immunity clause your fellow junta had included in a fabricated constitution. You lost that election to Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, the PDP, which erupted violence and wanton killings incited by your inflammatory remarks in which scores of Southern Christians and members of the National Youth Service Corps on election assignments were massacred by the Northern Islamic Jihadists. After the mayhem of a post election following your threat, Nigerians did not learn from the danger of electing you president.

However, nobody took you serious when you started your campaign to be president, switching parties and soliciting for funds to help boost your presidential campaign drive, which frustrated your efforts after three attempts until Bola Tinubu, another desperate politician who also wants to be president,  formed a new party from parts of other existing parties, and gave you the torch to take the lead. Actually, nobody knew that Tinubu himself was setting you as a front to propel his desire for the throne at Aso Rock, which he figured you in particular must be used in order to achieve his dreams. Tinubu, himself, would find out, eventually.

I am not short of memory to recount your trails of a bad military combat as transport officer, an ineffectual military governor, an embezzling petroleum minister, and as the list goes on, your first instance of joining politics and your quest for president. And, I'm pretty sure you recall what had generated the move for you to come back in disguise, in the form of an ordinary civilian. But, with all said and done, you got the ticket, finally, and nobody cried wolf about rigging. Your opponent conceded and called immediately to congratulate you for victory to respect the foundations of democracy, something you patently declined to acknowledge when you lost in the three previous presidential elections.

Nigerians still did not learn the danger upon all that. They reelected you again.

And here, we are.

But you must bear in mind that you are no longer a dictator, You are not an absolute ruler. It doesn't exist in a democracy. In order to run the affairs of state in a democratic fabric, the legislative organ of a country makes the laws, and not you, Buhari, and I'm not sure if you have been told that. You must recognize and defend democracy which you vowed to uphold when you took the oath of office. It is a fundamental value and a universal human right where it is practiced.

Be well and I hope you can revise your mindset, and become effective in what the people had demanded.

Signed:

Ambrose Ehirim,
Development and Editorial Board,
Igbo Journal Review

How A Fabricated Nation-State And Its Junta Understands Democracy

BY AMBROSE EHIRIM

 Queen Elizabeth in Nigeria: Olubunmi Jibowu bows and looks at the camera as she presents a bouquet to the Queen during her visit to Nigeria to inaugurate the Federal Court in Lagos. Image: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Getty, February 1956.



The Queen supervised the transition process for sovereignty from colonial administration to independence, undertaken by the constitutional conferences. Nigeria would gain her independence on October 1, 1960, on a Parliamentary set up, which paved way for the Prime Minister to run the affairs of state on party platform based on majority rule. What was projected to lead the continent in its political process and the sound human capital to her credit, would be overwhelmed by widespread scandals of bribery and corruption, coupled by internal strife, and a loophole that gave the military every reason to usurp power in an array of power play within the juntas for nearly 30 years.

Meanwhile, the Pogrom of the Igbo would erupt upon assassination of Aguiyi Ironsi, in what had begun the junta, leading to the Biafran War and the 'Economic Blockade' orchestrated by Obafemi Awolowo, which desperately starved Biafran women and children to death in which the international community worried that an ethnic group was being wiped out, called for help to arrest the situation from around which British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and his genocidal allies had agreed it was justified for its position to be firm on Nigeria, even if it has to cost millions of lives..

In its take, following how the world had reacted to the Pogrom, Senator Edward Kennedy, in dinner with Nobel Laureate, Rene Cassin, at the International League for the Right of Man, at the New York Hilton Hotel, December 6, 1968, called for massive assistance to the desperately starved Biafran women and children urging President Lyndon Johnson to name a special representative to supervise the Biafran tragedy. Johnson did nothing.

Richard Nixon's White House did, and had been made known and, the worry had begun to show when the National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, sent an urgent memorandum to President Richard Nixon dated January 28, 1969, acknowledging an ongoing genocide, thus, demanding swift measures to save the children of Biafra. Kissinger writes;

"There are no exact numbers on the scale of the human tragedy gathering in Biafra. But all our sources do agree that more than a million people are likely to be in danger of starvation... There would be no question about evacuating the 5500 U.S. citizens or sacrificing the $300 million private investment on the Federal side if these stood in the way of relief. The heart of our dilemma, however, is that our instinctive moral concern and involvement with this tragedy cannot be separated from the political tangle."

 The junta continues with its dictatorship upon armistice and end to the Biafran War with promises of transition to civilian rule which is often delayed while another junta stages a coup and refreshes its mandate with assurances a legitimate process would conduct free and fair elections and reinstate a democratic fabric to the republic.
 A 2nd Republic is established, short-lived, and the junta wrestles power from the subdued civilians, again. A trend follows, and the "Army Arrangement" continued apace, from the lot of the Muhammadu Buhari  murderous junta, to the Ibrahim Babaginda criminal mafia operations, and subsequently, the Sani Abacha death squad and reign of terror, in its final play, the ordinary civilian was brain dead, and would be confused, and would not know what democracy had meant, learning nothing at all from its first stage as the colonists left it, and thus begun the 4th Republic and a nation still run by the junta in continuity.

In what was widely thought to be a nation's coup culture, the "soldier go, soldier come," and business as usual kind of thing, on affairs of state run by the military, as its citizens never bothered, even though a population had been immuned, and all the bad stuff and bullying by the juntas that came along with it, getting used to pain, from constant whooping and ultimate hijack of the peoples mandate, which dealt the civilian structure a big blow.

Regardless of the "bloody civilian" slogan by a half-baked, bad military trained nihilists and hoodlums, which left an ugly mark on the civilian order, there were no qualms in dealing with the situation, and a population that had succumbed to dictatorship and, a lasting wound on the ordinary citizen that would be permanently disfigured, and a sustained military existence, henceforth.

But a noted few had resisted tyranny and the unreasonable nature of the juntas by way of their expression in music, art, writings, and other forms of activism, in which nothing could convince them a dance or dialogue with the military brass was a normal affair. The stages of the junta had been a nightmare, subduing the private citizen, who had been perpetually battered and silenced, losing all of its sanity and having no choice but being insane to adopt and applaud a military dictatorship with its high profile personnel part of governance that destroyed all aspects of civil liberties.

All the civilian personnel engaged in the Yakubu Gowon junta to the Abdulsalami Abubakar military regime, so-called transition to democracy, were all part of the conspiracy, finding it comfortable, working with the junta. In some cases, a resistance and challenge to the junta had ominous consequences drawn from the Olusegun Obasanjo panicking junta that closed down Chris Okolie's New Breed Magazine for stories the junta had thought threatened the military machines and a procedure not accepted in totalitarian regimes. Obasanjo's predecessor, Murtala Mohammed, however, was more brutal in his executions of military power. The drug addled, reckless tyrant, who all of a sudden, became a national hero, mercilessly dealt with the civilian structure in its administrative order, and sacked civil servants from public office with "immediate effect" on no prior notice. A spooky event, and funny enough, he was applauded and seen as the nation's champion for reform..

The military and the civilian structure are two different institutions with each assigned its specific roles. The military has no business in the affairs of state. But in Nigeria and elsewhere on the African continent, the junta and brigade of arms bumps into the people and wrestle power from them, in collaboration with their pick of civilians they have cowed into obeying the last orders and accept what is offered them without resistance. They are then set up as stooges, collecting fat checks from bogus accounts, fabricating manpower, embezzling money meant for infrastructure, bellyful but won't hesitate or complain, or decline to any requests to be part of draconian laws against the people, rather they find themselves enjoyably good, while the junta keeps up with decrees that silences the people in every aspect of life. They have become stationery puppets and would do anything the junta had asked to implement as the "bloody civilians" becomes their tool for any operation that spells anarchy and policed in the kind of the gestapo.

The draconian laws never changes or modified in consideration to the plight of a subdued population, battered beyond recognition to have lost every sense of purpose in basic human rights, the ultimate of free press in a democratic fabric and respecting the rule of law. That was never in existence; the junta had turned a sovereign nation into a banana republic. and controlled from the barrels of the gun. Shoot at sight was the method of operation in what they had seen as threat in their continued rule with brutality and underground killings.

Such was the situation of presumably a nation known for its enormous human capital and abundant natural resources, and in high expectations to be productive with its materials and operate effectively. It had been a case of sad reality. Nothing had worked with the junta running the affairs of state while citizens were treated like animals, ordered around like a zombie, and so disturbing no one knew when the nightmare would end to pave way for a sound democratic fabric, as in all organized societies, even when the juntas had promised over and over again, to end military rule and hand over power to civilians. It had been a coup culture, and each junta that wrestles power promises not to keep power for long until overthrown by another set of junta that keeps the same rules with added damning decrees, the draconian laws that prohibits free movement of people and total abuse of human rights.

As it would happen, we were driving, and poking around town in Lagos, on Sunday, October 19, 1986, on a fun-filled seeking evening to end a rusty week, the junta handling of state, and months of uncertainties getting used to the nations coup culture, while the DJs at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, the FRCN, were at work spinning the tracks from albums that were the smash hits of the day, when the news break was brought in announcing the fatal killing of Newswatch founding member, Dele Giwa.

"Unbelievable, and it could not be true," I'd say, "because, I had talked to Austen Oghuma earlier in the day and no such thing popped up in our discussion," as we drove along the streets for hang outs, while the 1980s sensational theme vibrated from the airwaves. Oghuma was the staff writer, news reporter and researcher for Newswatch Magazine, and we always had met on Sundays for talks over lager at his Alagbon Towers residence in Ikoyi, and sometimes on a more engaging evening at the Ikoyi Hotel, on discussions about junta proclaimed Babaginda's "democratic regime," when the junta had made it known he was a democrat, a term the foreign press had adored, even when the declared "evil genius" had been on a murdering spree of its citizens, especially silencing the press, institutionalizing corruption and destroying every aspect of civil liberties.

Following the radio announcement and a prime time event of the brutal assassination of Dele Giwa, with a sophisticated letter bomb at his Ikeja residence, about a year and some fractions the junta Babangida had overthrown the Buhari-led junta on inexplicable events, Babaginda had blamed his predecessors of all kinds of problems that had worsened situations in the country, especially, on press freedom and free movement of peoples, and on Buhari's sidekick in the regime, with more authority, Tunde Idiagbon, who was then Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, of the junta, he had blamed for using the arms of the military regime as his own personal tool when arguments had heated up between the rank and file, and leaders of the authoritarian government, and the kingpin responsible for the state's criminal mafia.

Babangida who had self acclaimed himself a democrat, had carried out underground killings of his military opponents and adversaries who disagreed with his dictatorship. He had gotten away with all kinds of offenses against the state including institutionalizing corruption. He was the "evil genius." He was the nation's "Niccolo Machiavelli." He was the "Maradona" of Nigerian politics, a nick name given to him by the Nigerian press for wizard dribbling of his friends and foe. He was the "Don" of every crime in the land using his military power to legitimize it. He conquered the soul of the gullible and vulnerable civilian population with the impetus to deal with his subjects summarily without resistance. He had locked up journalists without bringing charges before them. He had ransacked the offices of the National Security Organization, the NSO, removing his personal files for any implications to his brutal rule and killings, and drug trafficking, and other related abnormal behavior to human nature.

He dissolved the NSO upon that; making sure there were no tracks of any trace, and created his own watchdog and, death squad, with divisions, the State Security Service, SSS, to monitor every event with the civilian puppets he had appointed to discharge duties on his orders. He created fictitious and uncountable bank accounts with conduits that channeled stolen funds to foreign banks in which none could be traced and eventually lost, and attested by Obasanjo, urging Nigerians to prove where the funds can be located for prosecution of the "evil genius,"

 He was everything bad in description. Not even a clue of who had murdered Giwa. All in all, he was free of charge and had the desire to run the country again in civilian outfit just like his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, had done in a cycle that would surface the present agbada wearing former junta, Buhari, and rerun of his murderous years, and clamp on the press.

Despite all the damages and havoc caused by the military, they remain in power, in its quasi-democracy, recreating itself of the past in typical military fashion which tells how stupid and confused Nigerians were when they gave Buhari their vote after the former junta's four attempts to fulfill his goal and agenda of what had been unfolding since he felt accomplished, and a second time around to deal with his subjects by reinstating dictatorship. To add more insult to dishonor, a blindfolded Nigerians reelected him, and now the same set of clowns, of a banana republic, are complaining of misrule by the former junta whose purpose was to complete his agenda and validate Islamic republic.

But it's quite clear, the overwhelming issue of a conquered population has been that of fear; the fear to pull the bull by the horn and take a radical step, taking back what belongs to them, giving its legislature ultimatum to cease and desist, effective immediately, a fabricated document put together by the juntas, and create its own document on a pattern that conforms to its standard as in all organized societies and effective democracies.

Buhari is now a nightmare. He resurrected himself. He declined to listen, and going by no rules that spells democracy. He has done it before, in army uniform, which gave him all the power he needed to make draconian laws, backpedaled, and execute them, on those targeted as warning shots to a "bloody civilian" structure.

Nigeria ain't seen nothing yet!



References;

1). Dinner Conference, International League for the Right of Man, New York Hilton Hotel; Associated Press, December 6, 1968

2). White House Memorandum to President Richard Nixon, January, 28, 1969

3). "IBB Where is the SSS File" by Austen Oghuma, 2010

BIAFRA: The S. Elizabeth Bird Interview

Professor S. Elizabeth Bird interviewing Chief Esananjo Awolo in Asaba. Image: S. Elizabeth Bird

S. Elizabeth Bird is University of South Florida's Professor Emerita in Anthropology. She has authored many books and published numerous articles. She has been a visiting Fellow at the Annenberg School for Communications, University of Pennsylvania, and served on several editorial boards. She was awarded an American Council for Learned Societies Collaborative Fellowship with Fraser Ottanelli, to fund research on the Asaba Massacre of the Nigeria-Biafra War, in which over one hundred witnesses and survivors were interviewed. The book, "The Asaba Massacre: Trauma, Memory and the Nigerian Civil War," won the 2018 Book Award from the Oral History Society. She most recently co-wrote "Surviving Biafra: A Niger Wife's Story" with Rosina Umelo. In this interview, she gives account of her work and research project on The Pogrom, and other related events emphasizing that the Nigerian-Biafran Story "should be told primarily by Nigerians."

EXCERPT

Ambrose Ehirim: How important is your research and endeavor especially the in-depth work on the facts and logic about the Biafra-Nigeria War, from around which you developed the idea and publication of two books--one after the other--and I'm quite sure there's more to come.

Prof. S. Elizabeth Bird: I think the major importance of my work is its focus on the experiences of civilians in the war, an area that is neglected in “big picture” studies. At the same time, we tried to put that experience in context. For instance, the work on the Asaba Massacre (with Fraser Ottanelli) is not just about the suffering of the people in Asaba (although that is of course the center of it), but also about how an understanding of this awful event sheds light on the way the war developed, the role of Britain and other outside powers, and the long-term impact of such traumatic events.

In terms of Asaba especially, the Nigerian government has always taken the position that their troops were well-trained and disciplined, and that civilian casualties were rare and unfortunate. Asaba shows that this is not at all what happened on the ground – innocent civilians were killed in large numbers, by ill-disciplined troops. At the same time, the picture is more nuanced than that – not all the soldiers in Asaba participated in the atrocity, and some tried to stop it, or save civilians. These were honorable professionals. It is a complicated story, and that is what we wanted to show. Many accounts of the war, especially those written by former military and government people, are biased and unreliable, intended to show the writer in the best light. As far as possible, we aimed to understand what happened from the ground up, using as many sources as we could, so that our account would be seen as trustworthy. While we worked with people in Asaba, who helped us gain access to find witnesses and survivors, we never sought or accepted financial help, because we wanted to maintain our independence as researchers.

At this point, I am not sure if I will write more about Nigeria/Biafra. This history has become very important to me, but I would need to have something new to say.

What had influenced the project?

Growing up in Britain, I was aware of the war, and about the starvation in Biafra, but knew little about the details. And my academic research since moving to the U.S. was mostly about media and popular culture, with some work on local history. I came to the work in Nigeria somewhat by chance, through a colleague who was doing some unrelated work there, some years ago. I did not plan to spend 10 years working in Nigeria! However, the more I found out (through the interviews my colleague and I did, and the extensive archival work and background reading), the more we realized there was an important, untold story here. Like many other non-Nigerians, I realized how little I had known, and I grew more and more engaged, especially as I heard first-hand the terrible stories of what happened in Asaba in 1967. More broadly, I believe that Asaba was a pivotal moment in the war that was not previously understood, as we describe in the book.

The second book spun off from the first, and I was able to use some of the same background work. The Asaba work does not really address the war as it unfolded from mid-1968 until the end in 1970. Surviving Biafra: A Nigerwife’s Story, is based on the first-hand account of Rosina Umelo, which takes the story to the end and beyond. It seemed to be a natural progression.

What's the most interesting you have learned from the research work on Biafra and the Pogrom including the face-to-face interviews and encounter with the survivors and the natives who witnessed the Asaba Massacre?

It’s really hard to say what is most interesting, because everything fits together. What will stay with me are the first-hand accounts of what happened in Asaba. For some people, this was the first time they had spoken publically, and it was clearly hard for many. The pain of losing multiple family members is still fresh. It became very important to preserve these accounts.

One of the most striking things I learned was that many Nigerians know very little about the war. I have spoken to younger people who were stunned when they heard some of these stories. I have also spoken to former military people who deny that such things ever happened. I attended the Ake literary festival in Lagos last year, and spoke with a former army officer, who told me that the Asaba Massacre never happened, or at most was greatly exaggerated. He also said that the numbers who died in Biafra were exaggerated. Evidence apparently meant nothing to him.


You have written thrilling masterpieces on a conflict you had nothing at all to do with but based on research and investigative assignments. How were you able to convince your colleagues that the subject-matter was story worthy?

One of the great things about being a full-time academic is that you are expected to produce substantial research, but no-one really tells you what subject you should study. We were not assigned by anyone to do the work; it was a choice. This gave me great freedom; I did not have to convince anyone at my university that this was important work. Indeed, I received great support from my university and colleagues.

On the other hand, funding research is another matter. The university pays one’s salary, but does not provide funds to do research. It is up to us to write grants to cover all the travel, equipment, and so on. From the time the project started, in 2009, to the books coming out, I had to keep writing grant proposals. Many were turned down, sometimes multiple times! This is where one has to convince people that the work is worthwhile, so they will fund it. It was crucial to make a case that our research was needed to put the record straight, and to increase understanding not only of the war, but also of the long-term impact of trauma on communities and nations. We did manage to secure some university grants (most universities have competitive funding opportunities that faculty members can apply for). And our biggest success was securing an American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) fellowship, which provided money for the last two research visits to Nigeria. That was tremendously important. ACLS funds only about 5% of the applications, so we must have been successful in convincing their judges that the work was important!

The Imperial War Museum Dept. of Documents should be thanked immensely for keeping the transcripts of Rosina Umelo intact and safe. What took you to the Museum?

As part of my research on the Asaba Massacre, I visited many archives that had information about the War. These included the UK National Archives in London; special collections in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; special collections at Michigan State University; the archives of the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia – and the Imperial War Museum. It seemed a good possibility for material, and some time before I happened to meet someone at a conference who said she had seen an interesting old “diary” there.

The IWM did not have an extensive collection of Biafra-related material. But it did have the typewritten manuscript by “Mrs. R. Umelo,” which described her life in Biafra; I am sure that was the document I had been told about. It wasn’t a “diary,” but a narrative written during and immediately after the war. I found it fascinating, and although it was not particularly relevant to the Asaba work, I made a note to myself to come back to it when the first book was done. I thought it deserved publication in some form, as one of the very few accounts of the war written at the time, not years after, and by a civilian, not an Army officer or politician. In late 2017 I followed up with the IWM. She had loaned the manuscript to them in the 1970s, and they didn’t know where Mrs. Umelo was now. I eventually found her through the Nigerian Nostalgia Project Facebook page. We connected by email, met in London, and agreed to collaborate. I secured a book contract from Hurst Publishers in London, and this eventually resulted in the book, Surviving Biafra: A Nigerwife’s Story.

What ran through your mind of a story like Umelo and a war Starvation and Economic Blockade were used as weapon that would desperately starve infants, children and women to death?

This is still the most shocking aspect of the war. Months into the war, people in Biafra were already beginning to starve, although little was known about this outside the country. But by the spring of 1968, images of starvation were being seen all over Europe and North America, and outrage was developing. I think what was lost in the increasing media coverage was that this was not some unexplained famine, but was a direct result of the Federal government’s blockade, and that foreign governments, especially Britain, were aiding and abetting this, with their continued supply of weapons. I find it appalling that this was allowed to continue for another two years.

I am not convinced that the Federal government set out to commit genocide against the Igbo. I believe that at the beginning, there was an expectation that this would be a short war – that the military action and the blockade would quickly end the “rebellion” (as they termed it). But they under-estimated Biafran capacity to run an efficient government and to mount a serious campaign. At the same time, Ojukwu was expecting more support from other nations, both in Africa and elsewhere – support that did not come, and defeat for Biafra became inevitable. I do believe he should have capitulated sooner, when it became apparent that the cause was lost.

However, it is also clear that the Biafrans held out so long because of a genuine fear that they would be exterminated if they surrendered. And this fear was completely understandable, because of the way the war was conducted by at least some of the Federal military – notably the Second Division in the early stages of the war. In spite of a formal Code of Conduct for military interaction with civilians, there were numerous atrocities against civilians as Division 2, under Murtala Muhammed, swept back through the Midwest. Asaba was the worst, but hundreds were also killed in Benin, Warri, Sapele, Isheagu, and later in Onitsha. This continued later with mass killings of civilians in Calabar and elsewhere, under Col. Adekunle. It isn’t surprising that people in Biafra feared they would be wiped out. Again, I do not believe this was a premeditated plan by the Gowon government, but control of commanders in the field was weak, and there was strong anti-Igbo sentiment among some of the officers and troops. And certainly some in the government believed that starvation was a legitimate weapon of war, which is an unforgivable position.

If the Federal military had conducted themselves correctly, and if Britain had intervened once the terrible civilian toll became apparent (such as by cutting off arms supplies and insisting on negotiations), maybe a peace agreement could have been reached sooner. Instead, the horror continued.

In Africa, the two most blood soaked events are the Anti-Igbo Pogrom and the Rwandan Genocide. In the case of Rwanda, it was swift; an estimate of 800,000 people were slaughtered in a very short period of time. Any thoughts of a Rwandan Genocide project?

I have not considered writing about the awful events in Rwanda. For one thing, many scholars have written excellent work on it. To look at Rwanda, I would need to do a huge amount of work on a totally different country and culture, and I doubt I could add anything new. Rwanda is actually much better known internationally than Biafra, partly because it happened much more recently, at a time when there was more media coverage and greater awareness.

I have been wandering why nobody had questioned the events as it occurred in the Islamic north of Nigeria when the Pogrom erupted and what the Islamic northern nihilists and hoodlums did to the Igbo in the northern cities without image capture and recordings as it happened, which had left little or no records save for oral stories as told by the victims. What explains the disappearance?

As you say, this was a time when media coverage of such things was very poor. Nigerian media certainly didn’t want to cover it, and there were very few international correspondents on the ground. There were some reports in the foreign press, such as in the New York Times and Time Magazine, but generally very little news seems to have come out at the time. I think it also reflects a basic racism in the international news media; the pogroms were seen as some inexplicable “tribal” conflict that was an internal problem and not relevant to the outside world. This wave of violence and massive population movement was largely ignored. After the war, the Nigerian government preferred to “move on,” rather than address the history of what happened before and during the conflict. Now, decades later, there is little record of the Northern pogroms left, although there are certainly some photos and accounts of the violence, which were made at the time and preserved.

I saw you had moments with Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka in Asaba during your visits. What's your take on him and folks of his era and the development of literature in Nigeria?

It was a great thrill to meet Wole Soyinka, who participated in the 50th anniversary commemorations in 2017 in Asaba, where our book was launched. I had corresponded with him previously, and he had expressed support for our work, but this was the only time I met him. His work, such as The Man Died, which addressed the war, was very important to us, as well as his writings on the significance of memory. Of course Achebe’s work was so important in understanding both Igbo culture and the impact of colonialism. I’m not a literary scholar, so it’s probably not my place to make critical judgments about Nigerian literature! But I’m sure it’s safe to say that both these giants, along with eminent writers like J.P. Clark and Buchi Echemata, established Nigeria as the leading source of literary excellence in Africa, and this continues today.

This is excellent, your work is thorough, and I thank you so much for the time!

Thank you for your interest. My final points are these: First, people must continue to fill out the story of the war, and this story should be told primarily by Nigerians, not by foreigners like us. As I mentioned, many Nigerians know little or nothing about it, and it should be recognized for what it was – a turning point in the nation’s history. If it wasn’t for the coups and the war, Nigeria might not have had to endure years of repressive military governments, and the country might be better off today. If we don’t know history, we can’t learn from it.

Second, I want to stress that my work (with both Fraser Ottanelli and Rosina Umelo), was not intended to be political. Of course we cannot ignore the political realities that produced the crisis. Without colonialism, “Nigeria” would never have been created, forcing disparate cultures to co-exist in a structure that was designed to be unfair. But we do not take a position on whether Biafra should have seceded, and our work is not “pro-Biafra.” The one advantage about our “outsider” status is that we can make our best attempt to be impartial, and go where the evidence takes us. Generally, we don’t appreciate our work being used by contemporary Biafra resurgence movements, while we understand that once it is public, people will make of it what they will.

Our main focus was on the experience of the innocent civilians who suffered and died. The powerful, whether Gowon, Ojukwu or other high-ranking people on both sides, came through the war unscathed, after making decisions that cost millions of lives. Ordinary people were left to pick up the pieces, and many families and communities never recovered. We need to understand and acknowledge that, while vowing that it never happens again.

Nigerian Military Is Seen As Losing Support

(FROM THE ARCHIVES)

By Clifforn D. May

New York Times, May 1, 1984

Buhari Image By William Campbell, January 1984

LAGOS, NIGERIA, (NEW YORK TIMES) — Four months after seizing power, Nigeria's military leaders appear to be suffering an erosion of popular support.

Last Dec. 31, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhari led a group of young officers in a coup against the civilian Government of President Shehu Shagari, saying the takeover was necessary to save Nigeria, Africa's richest and most populous nation, from economic collapse.

The military intervention appeared at the time to enjoy enthusiastic support from a broad range of Nigeria's population.

Many intellectuals argued that the corruption and incompetence of the Shagari administration had made drastic action both necessary and inevitable. Traders, merchants and people in the streets welcomed the soldiers and looked forward to a quick improvement in their standard of living.

Growing Disappointment

Recently, however, there seems to be growing disappointment with both the military Government's approach and pace.

''Since coming to power, this Government has not found a single problem,'' said Dr. Olu Onagoruwa, a prominent lawyer and a longtime opponent of the Shagari administration. ''But it has managed to alienate the judiciary, the press, labor and students - all the groups that supported it just a few months ago.''

Critics of the military Government point out that it has yet to present its budget. Loan negotiations with the International Monetary Fund continue but Western economists say that Nigeria and the I.M.F. appear to be further apart now than during the final days of the Shagari administration.

Early indications that General Buhari would agree to devalue Nigeria's currency, liberalize trade and reduce domestic petroleum subsidies have so far not materialized. Prices Have Climbed

In addition, prices for food and other essential commodities, which fell in the first weeks after the coup largely because of the presence of soldiers in the marketplaces, have now returned to or exceeded their levels before the coup. Unemployment has been rising, and many of the imported raw materials and spare parts needed to keep factories running have been lacking.

Critics note further that political activity and even debate have been banned and some students organizations have been outlawed. There has been a clampdown on Nigeria's press, and the country's traditionally independent judiciary has also seen its role sharply diminished.

''At the moment we're looking at a clear movement toward authoritarian dictatorship,'' said Stanley N. Macebuh, executive editor of The Guardian, an independent newspaper that had often taken the Shagari administration to task. ''It's a trend that disturbs a lot of people, not least those who welcomed the change of government.''

Spokesmen for the military leadership maintain that they know what they are doing and refuse to be rushed. They deny the charges of inaction, saying that steps have been taken. Trials Being Prepared

The Government, they say, has put much energy into investigating the corruption of the Shagari administration and in preparing tribunals to try the accused, close to 500 of whom are now under detention.

Officials say about 2,000 illegal aliens have been ejected from the country and several thousand people have been detained in a crackdown on suspected criminals and Moslem extremists.

They say Nigeria's bloated bureaucracy has been streamlined through the dismissal of thousands of officials and civil servants.

Three weeks ago an agreement was reached in London on converting a part of Nigeria's uninsured trade debts into loans.

The Government's critics respond that the economic initiatives treat symptoms rather than causes and aid the larger issue of how to restructure Nigeria's economy.

A Western diplomat said General Buhari ''could have accomplished so much if he had moved quickly and boldly in the early days when his popularity was still so high and when he could have credibly blamed everything on Shagari.''

"February 14": A Troubled Nation And Jega's Mathematical Errors

BY AMBROSE EHIRIM

Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Attahiru Jega, speaks during a news conference Saturday night, February 2, 2015 as the Nigerian Elections postponement is announced in the city of Abuja. Image: Olamikan Gbemiga/AP



The postponement of the February 14 Presidential and Legislative elections did not come to Nigerians as a surprise; it was expected as the speculations about shift in date had already gone viral within the Nigerian social media, even though the Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission, the INEC, was in denial about the voters card and distribution, in addition to the security forces engaged in combat with the bloodthirsty cannibals, Boko Haram, and the inability to guarantee voters' safety on the northeast that is home to the terrorist organization. Jega had long before now been convinced and totally sure that he had it gripped in his hands and have calculated with certainty his January 24, 2014 announcement date for February 14, 2015 presidential and legislative election schedules was firm and would not be changed despite the doubts in his accuracy. He had assured Nigerians that there'd be no way elections would not be held on Saturday, February 14, 2015 until the late, late hour, when he had realized the impossibilities of the guaranteed February 14th date to which he hurriedly went on air to announce Saturday night, February 7, that there's a shift, and it would take another 6 weeks before such election could be possible, rescheduling the first part of the elections to Saturday, March 28. I had questioned Jega's pronouncement with certainty that his calculation for February 14 would not be changed, not even considering the effects of Boko Haram and the instability overwhelming the northeast, the Islamic Jihadists terrorists stronghold.

Jega had assumed one year notice to general elections was adequate and appropriate from his scheduling in what would be the decision for Nigerian electorates on who becomes the next president of Nigeria if Goodluck Jonathan is not reelected in which he also had guaranteed the best outcome in the history of Nigeria elections, beginning the First Republic. From that announcement to hold elections on February 14, Jega also came with lots of assurances that past electoral mistakes had been corrected, putting INEC platforms into perspective that gets the job done for freer and fair elections through time -- with references from the Anambra State Guber elections seen as smoother than previously held, and, as an example, to much better results in the future.

Jega was wrong. Jega was not only wrong; he had knew there was no way he could meet up with the February 14 date, while he kept lying about it's certainty and a guaranteed historical election; to be marked as the freest and fairest election ever to be held in the country. With a date suddenly moved, all about Jega and his declarations, and his authenticity toward the Presidential and National Assembly elections are now questionable with the errors difficult to be erased.

The Wiki Link tells us Jega was born on January 11, 1957, and had attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, earning a degree in political science, and later proceeded to Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, where he wrote his thesis, earning his doctorate in political science before returning back to Nigeria and joining the Political Science Faculty at the Bayero University. He was nominated by President Jonathan in June 2010 as the new Chair to the INEC, in a meeting (National Council of State) presided by the president himself with former heads of state Shehu Shagari, Ernest Shonekan, Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar in attendance. At the meeting was also the Senate President David Mark, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Oladimeji Bankole, and a majority of the state governors. Jega was unanimously approved, and had replaced the outgoing Maurice Iwu.

Jega takes over and had gone to work to implement electoral reforms with much anticipations the 2015 elections would have no hiccups by the time it arrives and from the assumption of Jega's clean slate.

While Jega was so sure of an election that would hold on a date he had guaranteed, his thinking did not direct him to a certain disturbance in the country where militants had called home and have continued with the quest in their agitation for an Islamic republic, on the premise nothing else could be held other than the Islamic faith and the doctrine of Mohammed, their Messiah, observed through bloodletting in which the militants haven't stopped, and in which they have consistently carried out their terrorist activities with sustained accuracy, indicating the groups' organizational effectiveness.

Not even President Jonathan's last attempt from exhausting all of his options when on May 14, 2013, the president used his executive privileges to enact an executive order, the "Doctrine of Extraordinary Measures" for national interest giving the military and security details orders on the guidelines of the "Rules of Engagement" to combat Boko Haram, with the backing and support of numerous union heads and the people in general as the bloodlust Islamic Jihadists threatens the security and sovereignty of the nation.

Before the bloodthirsty cannibals, the Boko Haram Terrorists resurrected from a number of previous attacks of previous governments, they have not been known until eruption of the Sharia Debacle in 2000 during the Obasanjo administration. Henceforth, Boko Haram started to cause the havoc that would not allow any political play into the nation's political landscape except Sharia and why Islam matters to the republic from around which those who object becomes target as opposed to Islam.

Jonathan's "Doctrine of Extraordinary Measures" was just another slap on the face, and adding insult to dishonor, Boko Haram would strike in numerous occasions even when a new chief of defense staff had been appointed to handle the case of the Islamic Jihad murderous nihilists.

Jonathan had appointed Air Vice Marshall Alex Badeh as the Chief of Defense Staff January 2014 with all hopes that Badeh who happens to come from the northeast should be able to identify with his Boko Haram kins and resolve what had been a national nightmare, with reports of who had been the brains behind the funding and operatives of the terrorists. Keeping hopes alive and reason why Nigerians should applaud him, Badeh assured the nation that Boko Haram would be history in three months of his appointment as Chief of Defense Staff. Within 72 hours Badeh had run his mouth of containing Boko Haram, a market in Borno State was bombed and a Catholic church in his hometown, allegedly his parish in Adamawa, also bombed to send a strong message to the air marshall that it wasn't time for kiddie stuff, that they had meant business and should be taken seriously.

With the bombing of the Catholic church in Adamawa, Badeh had nothing else to say, had no other options, at all, until the worst of cases started popping up. More bombings which questioned the strength of the Nigeria military continued apace, through the kidnap of the Chibok Girls that received a global attention, and a time for global concerns to act swiftly in rescue of the over 200 plus-girls abducted from their dorms in the woods of Chibok. Every other tactic failed and a new hashtag was born, #BringBackOurGirls.

In my article June 8, 2013 titled "Jonathan's Doctrine of Extraordinary Measures and Nigeria's Political Future," I had said Boko Haram was far from over because the capitalist class, the bunch with the cash that keeps the operation of the terrorists alive still have the influence and resources to train and arm the insurgents even with a US bounty of $7 million on information that would lead to arrest of their leader Abubakar Shekau.

Again, we understand Jega's INEC has shifted the elections to March 28, and the question remains what I had asked way before the social media catapulted what was wrong in Jega's date and a realistic terrorists in the northeast where the elections are still questionable and why the elections may not finally hold.

Clippers' Blake Griffin Slam Dunk

Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin Powered By The Red Bull Energy Beverage That 'Gives You Wings,' Slam Dunks The Lofts. Griffin, Born March 16, 1989, Was Selected First Overall By The Clippers And Has Been An All-Star Every Season He Has Played And Has Helped Make The Clippers Perennial Playoff Contenders. His Power Play Has Made Him A Commercial Success. Ehirim Files Images

After Christmas In The City Of Angels

The spirit of Christmas was felt all around the city

The lightnings and decorations

On the trees and landmarks

And down on the Avenues

Like Fat Larry's Band

Every soul has departed with some help

But the chilling weather isn't over yet

Freezes and frosts won't just leave

The cold wind still blowing

And the trees can be seen by its effect

-------Ambrose Ehirim

Lagos Jungle Blues, 1984

A party all around the city and we had partied hard
We walked through the army barracks, the signals
It had been all guarded by the juntas
Guns can be seen all around their shoulders
Waiting for orders and the last command
It breezed in when we all had gone to sleep
We had expected the president's new year message
It never came,
Martial music had filled the air waves
Up and in much anticipation, we had guessed
The possibilities of the military juntas
Wrestling power from the people, again
Civilians had begun to celebrate and,
Chants welcoming the juntas filled the air;
The president and the 2nd Republic
Had been toppled

The mood was one full of uncertainties
The juntas only wanted to make the people blue
The khaki boys announced why they took power
A widespread scandals of bribery and corruption
And a nation overwhelmed by disobedient
And reckless, bloody civilians
A one-star general had announced on the radio
Proclaiming dictatorship and absolute power
A new head of the juntas popped up
With chopped up measures and decrees
Which destroyed all aspects of civil liberties
And had become the order of the day and time
I was not really worried of Totalitarianism
Because I had not played any part in either
Of the military and civilian administration
To be charged for any wrongdoing

It was business as usual with no prohibition
Life was very normal and didn't make any difference
Only what I witnesed could differ
I saw a killing by firing squad for drug peddling
I saw an artist slammed for carrying alien money
I saw journalists ripped off their pants and caned
I saw people of the media sent to the gulag
And I had seen a slammed for the juntas' leaks
The decrees had been disturbing as
The juntas never stopped harassing the people
People started to disappear inexplicably
Which had made the place spooky
Without changes or any improvements
We could only see a change of hands
Between the military juntas,
And the thieving civilian politicians

They locked up all their subjects
And charged them with all sorts of crimes
Asserting the country had been ruined
By we they called 'bloody civilians'
Making all of us nervous as we panicked
While they duped the people
And raped the treasury empty, and
Institutionalized corruption
With a series of tricks and games
Pushed and shoved it in our face
As we carried the nation's burden
Which they tarnished while we looked bad
Bribery and corruption had continued apace
Even though the juntas said,
They came to set the priorities right
It was all a gimmick, in the long run


---------------------Ambrose Ehirim

Troy Surrenders To Mormon Country Youths

Oh what a game

You like the Trojans?

Yes, I live down the street

Trojans got to win

Yes, they have regained the lead

Against the Mormon Country Youths

Touchdown with 17 seconds

On the clock;

Mormon Country Youths now leads 23-21

Against the Trojans

Call reversed

Trojans 21-Mormon Country Youths 17

10 seconds on the clock;

Touchdown

Mormon Country on fire

Jubilation all over

Another one bites the dust

A Troy fall

French Novelist Patrick Modiano Wins Nobel Prize In Literature

French novelist Patrick Modiano has been awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation". Most of Modiano's work were focused on the Holocaust. The 2010 release of the German translation of La Place de l'Étoile won Modiano the German Preis der SWR-Bestenliste (Prize of the Southwest Radio Best-of List) from the Südwestrundfunk radio station, which hails the book as a major Post-Holocaust work. In 1973, Modiano co-wrote the screenplay of Lacombe Lucien, a movie directed by Louis Malle which focuses on the involvement of a boy in the "French Gestapo." Image: Nicolas Hidiroglou, Paris, 2007