Nigeria, we hail thee!!

Reverting to the old national anthem is a complete non-issue to me. I would not have advocated for an anthem change if I was in the national assembly; I would have pushed for the old anthem to be included in a list of patriotic songs that can be sung as major events and functions. Just about anywhere sef

I would have pushed for Timi Dakolo's song 'Great Nation' and a host of songs done by Flavour to be included in the list. In fact, if I was the president, I'll appoint Flavour as the hype-master general of the federation.

The US have their national anthem and they also have 'America the beautiful' which is very popular. Some even tried to give this song an equal status with the star-spangled banner.

Some have asked and continue to ask what the new anthem brings to the table. The answer is nothing. For now, nothing and I wonder why so much hypersensitivity about it. It may stimulate patriotism later, who knows? Some are offended that a British woman composed it. They say it ought not to be regarded over an anthem a Nigerian composed. One fellow commented on X that local content is in the mud. This is good, I hope those offended are equally offended by everything foreign. I hope they do away with everything not 'made in Nigeria,' I hope they drive Nigerian assembled cars and eat only locally grown food instead of clamoring for surplus dollars to import what we already have locally.

What amazes me is how some people are acting as if they never wanted a reversion to the old, now new anthem. The 2014 national confab agreed on a reversion. Since this looks like a fulfillment of what was in that report, I think folks ought to leverage on this to pressure the national assembly and executive to look at what they consider beneficial in that document and effect them. Folks usually talk about how Nigeria already has enough items in white papers that still solve all our problems. We want regional governments, state police, parliamentary system and many other structural changes; let's fight for them instead of just sneering at this recent move. At least it didn't technically cost a kobo to change.

Local content isn't always good. It was a Nigerian who composed the NYSC song. That song itself needs to be wiped away from history. Some are worried that younger Nigerians will find it difficult to learn a new anthem. They don't typically find it difficult to learn the new lyrics of songs that get dropped every week in Nigeria. The new anthem should be considered as a new track and I bet certain Nigerians are already working on remixes and reimaginations that will help Nigerians remember the lyrics.

There's no cause for alarm.

Native land.

Anthems world over are ‘feel good’ songs intended to ignite and fan the flame of patriotism. Many are decades or centuries old. Back in the day, anthems were simply poems adapted to popular hymns or songs. The US anthem is adapted to the music of a British song; words and phrases also got borrowed just to make the anthems good to sing.

It’s amazing that someone who was raised singing the new old Nigerian anthem has now suddenly developed so much disdain for the song. She announced to the children of Desmond she’s helping to virtually raise that she won’t ever be found singing the new anthem and they joined her in announcing their refusal as well. She said she will sing the now old one because it has nothing to do with the colonialists. I wonder who taught the writers and composers of ‘Arise O compatriots’ music. Probably the colonialists?

Madam Oby singled out the phrase ‘Native land’ and the word tribe. She questioned why we should have such “pejorative” words in our anthem in the 21st century and shove it down the throats of Nigerians. Her acolytes cheered her.

During the 2014 National conference, the delegates were reported to have unanimously agreed that Nigeria ought to return to the old anthem. They all stood up during plenary and spontaneously belted out the first stanza of ‘Nigeria we hail thee’ which many of them acknowledged was more fitting for Nigeria than the anthem commissioned by Oby’s former boss Obasanjo in 78.

Many of those who follow Oby are offsprings of EndSARS and obidiency; they are mostly young people who are convinced that the country has nothing for them and are interested in japaing. Most will take any offer to exit Nigeria; I’m certain that Canada is high on the wish list. I wonder if they have looked at the first two lines of the Nigerian anthem.
“Nigeria we hail thee,
Our own dear native land…”. and compared it to the first two lines of the Canadian anthem (originally composed in 1880 and translated in 1906)
“O Canada,
Our home and native land…”
In the 21st century, Canada has pejorative words that connote colonialism in her anthem? Wawuu.

I wonder if these children of Desmond will tell Canadian officials (assuming they have the chance of taking on Canadian citizenship) that they can’t sing the Canadian anthem because Aunty Oby told them ‘native land’ is pejorative and symbolic of colonialism.

It’s not everything over which you should allow your blood to become hot. You will just be at risk of DIC for nothing.

Even Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah but what do I know when madam is anticipating an ideological war.

5/29/24

Nigeria: A nation delayed by fear and ignorance.

In church on Sunday, the preacher in the course of his sermon, talked about a research which concluded that 'christians' are the ones who fall the most for fake news and conspiracy theories. He thereafter quoted Is 8:12 "Do not call conspiracy everything these people call a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear and do not dread it."

The year is 2024 and the volume of information available surpasses every age yet far too many remain arrogant in their ignorance. Artificial intelligence is all over the place; apocalyptic movies are now about how a future generation could be wiped out by AI created by man. This is how dynamic everything is today but we have ignorance prevailing, at a level arguably greater than anytime in history.

PMB ran for office with a pastor yet it was church leaders who were at the forefront of accusing him of having an Islamization agenda. Supposed Christians shared stock images of armed herdsmen from other countries to back their agenda. This was a norm throughout his time as president. We don't get to see those images and stories as much these days.

Every statement made by the man got twisted and agitators sprung up even before he took office. Secessionists met after their preferred candidate lost and threats were sent to the incoming president before his inauguration. The excuse given was that the PMB was going to cancel the deal organized by GEJ and trust the people to side with those who repeatedly sabotaged oil installations for many months.

Nigeria lost revenue, there was a global economic problem and many governors couldn't pay salaries. All these got ignored and the government was expected to perform magic. PMB got attacked from every angle, one fellow on Twitter even prayed for his plane to drop from the skies. A group of men gathered on Facebook to fantasize about what they would have done if they were the first responders to the scene of Yusuf's bike accident. Preachers gave homilies about how he was cloned and how his people were 'born to rule.' I wonder what portions of Nigeria have been overrun by Islam because of the Sukuk bond.

They joined forces with Atiku in 2019 but he didn't win so they went full force in 2023 behind the one who told the church to wake up and take back their country. The people despite all their education continued to believe that PBAT did not attend Chicago State University. Nothing could convince them otherwise. They held on to the Muslim-Muslim ticket to try to outmaneuver the front runner but they failed.

They had tried to use the EndSARS protest of 2020 to cancel PBAT because they knew he would most likely declare to run. They accused him of ordering soldiers to shoot at the toll gate; they tried to convince us to see what was not evident on the Instagram live videos they continue to still hold on to. They accused him of wielding power in Lagos yet their candidate who was the governor of Anambra when some of the worst cases of SARS atrocities happened was given a pass. They said he didn't control the police as a governor but a man who had been out of office for about 13 years was accused of giving the order in October 2020.

We have a group of supposed adults who have allowed infantile influencers to think for them. They tell them what to do, what to believe and who to cancel and they don't ask questions. They told me to look at soldiers firing at people draped in the Nigerian flag and singing the anthem on their live videos. I watched every video I could find but I didn't see what they claimed was there. One girl said she crawled as soldiers were shooting picking up bullets and shell casings to use as evidence. Another said she was dodging bullets as the soldiers were firing and as soldiers were about to get her, one unknown male jumped on her back and took the bullet. They all had phones but could not capture how they carried the bodies of the fallen to the feet of the soldiers. How did educated people take all these in without asking serious questions?

I asked questions and what did I get? Emotional blackmail, curses and insults. Those who were supposed to have discerning spirits helped to push various obituaries that week. Many opted for wokeness that season until they fell out with those who eventually differentiated into the obidient movement.

Atiku knows he's just about done so his people are giving it a final push after their Illinois expedition went bust. They decided to go after the Samoa agreement; they pushed their propaganda to northern Nigeria as they are convinced that they can cut off whatever northern backing he got in 2023. They played the religious sentimental card and claimed the Samoa agreement was to yield the country over to the EU gender agenda. Even 'Christians' believed this even when they didn't bother to read the document for themselves.

Those in the pitobi camp just went with the flow; on one hand, they held the gender claim as true and on the other hand, they mocked the northern propagandists for backing a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Hungary is part of the EU and that nation has some of the most intense opposition to gender rights and all associated modern day liberties. Hungary did not agree to sign the Samoa agreement until they got assurances that their sovereignty and laws would not be undermined by signing. Stuff like this get pointed out but far too many people are not bothered about searching things out for themselves. It is whatever fits their prejudices they run with. One newspaper reported a story in a certain way, at least two others countered the report but they get accused of being paid by government to defend the indefensible.

One fellow who's offended by the administration described it as a devilish agreement. No explanations went through his ears. If we refuse such deals from the EU or the US because of a morbid religious fear of alphabets, who will we be able to meet for assistance? If we go to 'Christian' or Jewish nations, won't Muslims be offended and vice versa. If we go to Russia or China; others within and without will be offended so why don't we just go everywhere possible. It's not as if these negotiations are rushed and take place under duress.

The propagandists have done what they think will work for them; same tactics used very recently which didn't quite work out. Let's see how things will go. The exchanges that have followed the Samoa agreement propaganda on social media has unfortunately caused an ethno-religious schism with threats and counter-threats flying around. The kind of falling out that happened in the early months of PMB's reign when German slaps were threatened and those offended because they didn't reap despite their support for the winner boasted that they would remove the one they installed.

There's nothing new under the sun; how some people continue to miss the obvious still baffles me.

To those who genuinely want to be on the side of truth; don't yield to fear, judge right judgements and admit to what really is your source of pain instead of hiding behind a surgical mask of pseudo-objectivity.

07/12/24

THE SENIOR BROTHER.

“Our passport is weak” they lament. They curse and blame Nigeria when they get profiled or delayed at airports in other countries. They curse the green passport and blame the leaders exclusively for all that is wrong with the country.

A YouTube travel blogger, TA recently gave those angry at Nigeria material to intensify their animosity towards the country. He reminded his followers on X about the foreign passport he bought to facilitate his hustle. He actually published a video about this subject in January 2024, so he was basically rehashing his story which was basically a promo for the Dubai based company that he partnered with to get the deal done in late 2023.

TA’s YouTube video appeared to me like a well calculated project to give the impression that he chronicled the process from the decided to get a new passport to the final day it was delivered. I think he just wrote a script and acted things out as if the footages he used were recorded in real time to make his documentary. I think the entire thing was like a paid commercial for the benefit of the Dubai outfit. It looked more like reenactments we see in some crime documentaries. I may be wrong though.

In his documentary, TA complained about getting harassed and assaulted in two African countries, Ethiopia and Tanzania. He said he was accused of having drugs in his gut one time and accused of fraud in the other. He questioned visiting certain fellow African countries like Namibia, Tanzania, Egypt and Morocco was difficult due to the delays with visa applications and associated demand for documents. TA said the final straw for him was getting denied a visa to travel to Dubai despite being invited for a function in 2022.

After the Dubai snub, he sought a new 'pali' with more visa free destinations than the 45 his green passport had. According to the Henley Passport index, Nigeria is joint 95th alongside, Iran, Lebanon and Sudan. TA said he envied his friends with British and US passports because they have access to many more nations visa-free. UK is joint 3rd [192] and the US is joint 6th [189]. Some Nigerians on social media hailed their new champion against the government because a weak passport is enough fodder to burn down the nation they despise.

Anyone who tried to point them in the direction of Nigerians who have smeared the country’s reputatio6n over many decades because of their conduct received abuse. Only the politicians according to them have caused the problem. Only they are responsible for the added scrutiny they give our travel documents and stories. I was denied a UK visa when I was student at the Dental school in Ibadan. I had an invitation from King’s college London to visit their dental school for about a week or two, I don’t remember. I did not blame Nigeria for the denial; I was upset than the Visa people probably thought that a young man with a fresh passport was looking for a one-way trip out of Nigeria.

I got my first UK visa in 2012 and another in 2013. My 2012 trip with family was uneventful. We landed at London city airport on that trip and the Border control agent just asked us what we had in our luggage before letting us go. My 2013 trip was solo and I was supposed to be in and out in a week. I grabbed my luggage, passed the passport check and was about to turn right to join the train out of Heathrow when a border control agent asked me to step aside. I guess a young man travelling alone with a travel bag and a return date of less than a week triggered their ossicles. The fellow asked me to open my bag but the padlock I had on it was damaged by the baggage handlers so it appeared to the man that I was fidgeting with the lock. He asked if he could cut it off and I told him to indulge himself. He cut it and used their whiskered probe to check for drugs. I just looked at him as he did his worked. It must have been about 15 minutes and I was on my way to Victoria Station. I did not blame Nigeria or having a green passport for getting profiled.

I have had stopovers in Amsterdam, Madrid, Frankfurt, Dubai and Istanbul; I did not get harassed in any of these airports because I had a green passport. When I had a forced stopover in Sofia due to bad weather, I was not permitted to exit the airport like most of the other passengers who had ‘stronger’ passports. A few of us had to sleep inside the airport for about 2 days eating dry sandwiches and chocolate. I was the only non-European in the group; the treatment in Sofia was far from ideal but I did not blame Nigeria or regret having a green passport. Life happened and I moved on.

When it was time to be interviewed for a US visa in Canada, I witnessed the grilling of a Chinese woman who was ahead of me. It was as if they had intel that she was an undercover agent seeking a visa for espionage duties. On the same line was an Australian man seeking a work visa and he was also grilled. When it was my turn, I presented my documents and answered my interviewer’s questions. The visa got stamped on my passport in a few days. Did the Chinese lady before me get grilled because she possessed a ‘weak’ passport? Technically, the Chinese passport is weak relative to the strong passports. 62nd on the log with access to just 88 nations visa-free; weaker than the passports of South Africa and Peru.

Back to the Youtuber who bought a Saint Kitts and Nevis passport. This Caribbean passport is 26th with access to 156 nations stress free. In TA’s video, he mentioned that he did not have USD150,000 which was the minimum donation possible at the time to buy the passport. He had a friend on the phone who told him to find 149 additional people who would give him $1000 each. TA said he resorted to doing what he knows how to do best to raise the money; travelling and publishing his videos. I don’t know how many months he did his thing, but between May 2022 and November 2023, he was able to donate the $150,000 and got his passport mailed probably in January 2024 or late 2023.

The lowest amount that one requires to buy a Saint Kitts passport is now $250,000 for a single applicant; investment opportunities range $250,000 to $800,000. $250,000 for Public benefit projects, $400,000 for a condo and $800,000 for a single family home. These changes were effected in July 2023 and purchased homes have to be held for 7 years before selling them on. TA essentially donated $150,000 to the Saint Kitts economy and got in return citizenship with access to 156 visa-free countries. He would still need visas to enter USA, Canada, UAE, Morocco and Egypt but should most likely be able to get those visas without much stress. TA mentioned that the entire process when he did it lasted about 8 months. Today, it appears the Caribbean nation requires more time to vet applicants as this is demanded by more powerful nations like the US to ensure shady people do not fall through the cracks.

TA acknowledged his almost 900,000 subscribers for helping him get the required funds. He urged them to consider partnering with the Dubai based agency to get their own Caribbean citizenships by investment. He had a promo code available for them to get a discount with the company. He is now able to plan ahead without waiting for visas and without fear of denials. Based on his documentary, the first place he visited using his new passport which he tagged the ‘senior brother’ of his green passport was London. He claimed that he was “anxious and nervous” as he approached border control. He passed through without getting asked any questions but I wonder why someone with a passport of a nation whose monarch is King Charles was anxious about passing through border control when he had visited the country before with his green passport. Maybe it was just PTSD.

He then said he would try his passport in the US but did not show how that process went. He met up with a friend who has a US passport who insinuated that using a green passport in the US attracted disdain from the immigration officers and delays for questioning. I guess they had to de-market Nigeria and the green passport to convince subscribers to find $250,000 to join the league of foreign passport owners.

I stumbled on a video by another Youtuber who talked about how his work associate and friend from Egypt bought his Saint Kitts passport. The Egyptian man talked about his frustrations with seeking visas. Both men highlighted the limitations of the Egyptian passport [Egypt is joint 87th with access to 55 nations] but what upset the Egyptian most was his inability to see his family in Egypt. He hoped to return to Egypt with a foreign passport and avoid getting conscripted for national military service. His hope was however dashed when the agent organizing his visit to Egypt informed him that someone in the same situation was denied entry into Egypt because he did not present an Egyptian travel document. He abandoned his Egypt trip and instead visited Saint Kitts for the first time.

Can you imagine what would happen if Nigerians were denied entry into Nigeria like the Egyptians did to their own citizen? The outrage. My Indian friend told me about how she cannot operate bank accounts within India because all Indians overseas are regarded as Non-resident and thus have to close resident savings accounts and open non-resident accounts if they want to transact business within their home nation. Can you imagine if the Nigerian authorities stop me from using my GTB and UBA accounts simply because I do not reside in Nigeria full-time? I have seen foreigners experience difficulties here and there, but I have not heard or seen them rubbishing their nations because of any hardships they experience. Even when they acquire residency or citizenship statuses elsewhere, they will not be caught putting their nations down. It amazing how those who complain about getting profiled, assaulted and discriminated against in other climes are the loudest especially on social media in ridiculing their country.

I agree that Nigerian leaders should do better; I agree that the standards should be set very high but are we as a people prepared to face the truth and pay the price? We say government is bad, but it is Nigerians who help their children to cheat during entrance examinations. Nigerians compromise our borders and allow smuggled goods and weapons in. Nigerians frustrate other Nigerians at government offices and institutions; Nigerian professors are the ones violating people’s children for grades and Nigerian religious leaders are the ones allowed to take advantage of vulnerable people. All these do not matter as long as we have politicians to take the fall.

I do not think the majority of YouTube subscribers have $250,000 to donate to Saint Kitts or a minimum of $200,000 for other Caribbean nations. Those who show up with the funds would likely steal or spend money belonging to other people. Your favorite political or religious leader may just venture to get documents for his or her entire family member; after all Nigeria is no longer good and everyone deserves a chance to leave. There are cheaper options though, it should not cost more than 10% of what Saint Kitts demands to qualify a small family for Canadian permanent residency. $130,000 can be donated to Vanuatu and you will get your citizenship within 2 months with few questions asked. If your taste is exotic, you can take €1million to Malta or $100million to Slovakia; this is possible as only those in support of the government are seeing 'shege' and crying of hunger. Those who support the one backed by the church dwell in abundance. Their man is so wealthy, he should be able to hand his acolytes checks from his stashed funds in the British Virgin Island.

Do not let anyone conscript you into despising and ridiculing your nation. This is what TA does not seem to understand. He acknowledged that he started his travel vlogging by visiting several sites within Nigeria in 2017. He moved to travelling across Africa but his taste buds are now hyperplastic; he now has a senior brother Saint Kitts passport that can take him where his green passport cannot. He enjoys patronage from sponsors worldwide, so it is time to thrash Nigeria as if She and local brands never did anything for him. This is the place you should never get to. When people call out TA for putting down Nigeria, do not just abuse them and accuse them of jealousy but try to see things from their perspectives. You can pursue your 'japa' dreams without abusing people and cursing your origin. Leave Nigeria alone and face her troublers within according to your ability. Do your business however you can; get your papers and you do not even need to acknowledge or hail Nigeria. What you should not do is sit in the seat of scoffers and think you are the blessed one(s).

You are free to sing the chorus about a weak passport; there are issues we should deal with and hopefully get a better rating with time. In the bottom 10 of the ranking are nations battling serious issues and terrorism. North Korea is also there. India is 81st, this I believe is not helped by the actions of a group that was made up of mostly Indian nationals who carried out a $22.5million gold heist right inside the main airport in Toronto last year. The gold vanished and one of the thieves was caught trying to smuggle weapons into Canada from the US. Internet fraud, drugs and other vices affect this ranking. Let us do better as a people.

June 13, 2024

10K and other monies.

Some intelligent people say Buhari and Osinbajo are buying votes with 10K to traders across the country. They add some spice to this narrative by saying Permanent voter's cards are also collected by the government before the recipients get their money. Some who are more intelligent have told us that only the PVC numbers were collected.

I don't know who can help me with some answers. Please how does collecting a PVC from a bought or potential APC voter guarantee APC votes in February 2019? Is it that the APC took these cards or the numbers as hostages? Do these voters not need these cards on election days to get accredited before the actual voting starts?

Can a potential voter simply walk to his polling unit on election morning without a card and expect to be accredited because his name is on the register? Are these intelligent people suggesting that some APC agents would be at each polling center all over the nation where voters have been allegedly bought with 10k to ensure that INEC officials allow them to get accredited to vote? Perhaps the APC is collecting cards now so that they can redistribute them across the country to all those who got 10k just before the election.

I don't understand how some Nigerians reason anymore especially those who got some education. It is these same folks who persist with this Sudan theory as well as other inanities. 

Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of poor people and they rejoiced. They complain that people are hungry and jobs have been lost but when they hear about relatively small amounts given or loaned to young graduates, petty traders or vulnerable old people, they begin to convulse and abuse the government. These same people probably didn't complain when far fewer individuals were each awarded millions of Naira as part of Jonathan's YouWin program.

They insist that it's vote buying; some ask what ordinary ten thousand can buy or do. How many of them can readily dash another 10k without flinching? How many of them can borrow a small scale trader or artisan 10K and not suffer a nervous breakdown if the fellow is unable to pay or absconds? 

Some brainy folks try to avoid questioning the program directly, they instead question the timing. "Why didn't they start since 2015 or 2016, why now?" There is nothing that can impress these folks. Should the program have been delayed and be made a campaign promise for the next election? These brains would have mocked them silly. 

If 10K to traders is vote buying, then school feeding is vote buying. N-Power is definitely purchasing votes, so is the pensions and arrears paid to laid off workers like those from the defunct Nigerian airways, those from Biafra and any other group that had previously been forgotten. 

Unfortunately for some of our elites, there won't be any ONSA-Dasuki funds to share to the Afeniferes of this world and to religious mercenaries. Just 10K each is available if they don't mind. Osinbajo will be in a market near them, they can join the queue with their PVCs in hand if they don't think 10K is too small.

GOOD OVER EVIL.

President Muhammadu Buhari [PMB] was recently in Poland where he participated in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice. Some intellectual Nigerians have made it a habit of insulting the president and they would have done same if he did not show up in Poland. They would have called him an analog president oblivious of global trends and asked what he was doing when other world leaders were gathered in one place.

One cannot deny Buhari’s antagonizers their fix; a few of them used social media to express their rage at one of the activities performed by Mr. President while in Poland. PMB met with the leaders of Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Netherlands and Estonia; discussions were largely about Trade, Investment and Agriculture. His meeting with the Dutch Prime minister was a follow-up meeting while it was about Global Politics with the PM of Estonia. Stuff like these did not resonate with certain Nigerians, it was his visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum where he laid a wreath in tribute to Holocaust Victims that irked them.

One fellow explained her disapproval by linking the Holocaust to Biafra while another was angry that he could visit a memorial but not states plagued by Boko Haram. I am still trying to find out which states she referred to. I confronted a friend on Facebook who had shared the post about Buhari’s wreath and the states hit by Boko Haram; I wanted to know the justification for criticizing the President for doing something that political leaders and diplomats do all over the world. I informed those pushing these stories that President Jonathan laid a wreath five years ago at the Yad Vashern Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem and I asked them if they had posts on social media condemning the man.

My friend decided to justify himself when I told him his activities on social media against PMB were borne out of hate for the man. He claimed it was not hate but that he could not trust the man who visited Qatar, a nation that has open channels with Hamas. He said Buhari’s wreath laying was dishonest.

How does one discern honesty by looking at photographs of a diplomatic activity? What does honesty have to do with anything? Was Theresa May being honest when she danced on her recent tour of some African countries? Should anyone really care if she danced with or without honesty? Queen Elizabeth II visited the United Arab Emirates in November 2010. She visited a tomb and the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi where she donned a scarf and took off her shoes. The Supreme Governor of the Church of England wore a scarf and went without shoes into a Mosque. 

Elizabeth II without shoes in Abu Dhabi

What if that happened in Nigeria? Our super-religious folks would have had plenty to trend with on social media. I am a ‘religious’ person and I arrived at my position almost 25 years ago without any parental guidance or societal coercion. I have observed [based on their expressed thoughts] the political ideology of many who have the same faith as I do, and I have found it difficult to explain. I refuse to believe that the shameless expression of hate towards a certain human being comes from truly spiritual people.

Some prayed death his way and one fellow earned plenty retweets when he announced that he was exiting the Redeemed Christian Church of God because he could not fathom how Vice President Osinbajo who is a Professor and a Pastor could be in Buhari’s camp. What wrong did Buhari or Osinbajo do to them? Most of the things they reel out as evidence against the men are flimsy and just broadcasts of what some paid anarchists pushed out to earn political advantage. Those who ridiculed an entire ethnicity, region or religion because of the man they have been trained to despise have now openly or ‘codedly’ declared for someone who is like him because their revered spiritual leaders have tilted in that direction. They have quickly forgotten all their profiling and curses; they now lay claim to divine backing to end slavery and poverty in the land. One court jester who happens to be a senator was recently recorded dancing and singing in front of an exotic car parked in what appears to be part of his living room. The irony of his action is that he was singing about poverty and hunger in the land and how Buhari was the cause.

How does someone despise PMB because he met with Qatar and voted against Israel with respect to Palestine? Is there a written code somewhere that Nigeria must support Israel in whatever that nation does? Is Israel backed by every nation in the world? Does voting against Israel in some issues mean we cannot still have diplomatic ties with them? Canada have diplomatic relations with Qatar just like many others do. The Clinton Foundation got $1million from Qatar when Hilary was US Secretary of State, do the Clintons not know that Qatar has ties with Hamas? The United States and Britain use an air-base in Qatar for some of their military operations in the region. The people we think are ‘defenders of the faith’ have their hands soiled and cover up matters from time to time. The world is evil and yet good; atrocities have happened and will continue to happen. Crimes do not have any unique religious, national or racial coloration, even those we look up to are imperfect with many neck-deep in committing, aiding or covering up crime against fellow men.

The United States of America have Saudi Arabia as a strong ally and not even the recent gruesome murder and dismembering of Jamal Khashoggi is able to affect this romance. What is the difference between what happened to Khashoggi and the many atrocities that have been linked to the USA? Was the CIA not involved in toppling Nkrumah? What about the execution of Fabrice Lumumba or the events that preceded the Vietnam war? Should we talk about the Iran-Contra affair? What about the Slave Trade and the atrocities that accompanied colonization which has left the previously colonized still suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? In the mid-1980s, Ronald Reagan and some top officials in his government were caught in a mess that involved money and weapons in Nicaragua, Iran, Israel and Lebanon. USA supplied military hardware to Iran prior to the Revolution there. An arms embargo followed which President Reagan supported and continued when he assumed office. Reagan was also in support of the move by the Contras to topple the Socialist government in Nicaragua.

Weapons were sold to Iran despite the embargo and the money obtained was used to fund rebel activities in the South American nation. When some American citizens got taken in Lebanon by Hezbollah, the narrative was directed to involve Israel and a move to source for Iranians to help rescue the kidnapped. It appears Israel related with Iran on America’s behalf and this hostage situation was what Reagan used to explain his actions to sell arms. An Israeli adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Amiram Nir played a role in this affair. He was apparently hung out to dry and was going to sell his story about the scandal to the press. One name was mentioned, George H. W. Bush who was said to have been briefed by Nir. Bush denied knowledge, Reagan’s rating had dropped, and Bush was busy running for president in late 1988. Nir died in December 1988 following a plane crash in Mexico but his death remains controversial with more than a few conspiracy theories. These are some of the evils that accompany politics and power.

Religious folks are not spared from these types of situations even though such should not happen. Should we act as if some of the Nigerian religious leaders haven’t erred alongside politicians? Some have helped to launder images and monies to foreign lands, should we deny these? As much as people insist that these leaders must be respected, and their actions or inaction not questioned, I find it rather weird to keep quiet when these people in vantage positions speak untruths about Nigeria, her people and her politics. Some of the things that have been said are worse than what set some nations alight and cannot be proved to me to be words from a deity. I might ignore heresies but half-truths or full-lies about Nigeria and utterances which are of the supremacist nature are some of the things that irritate me. We should be the ones pushing for transparency and demanding restitution instead of the cover-ups that we now assume is the godly thing to do. Let us not act like the Australian pastor who knew about his father's crimes but failed to act for many years despite being in the position to only for the matter to return now when his father is long gone. 

It is dangerous politics that is being played in some Nigerian states and Benue is one of such. It seems everything is all about ‘militia herdsmen’ there. The governor as reported in a September 1 2018 story published by Punch Newspapers told the state Chapter of the Christian association of Nigeria that the people of the state should arm themselves by obtaining their Permanent Voter’s Cards in order to resist further invasion of Benue land by herdsmen under the guise of grazing. How will voting for him ensure ‘herdsmen’ are resisted? He takes every opportunity he gets to talk about the state’s enemies and how some other parties that favor herdsmen are conniving to take over the state. There is also the case of Jimi Agbaje in Lagos who took to Twitter to express the same rhetoric about Igbos in Lagos which failed him in 2015. He or whoever is responsible for his social media platforms described the situation as antisemitism. I don’t understand these people anymore.

What is Good over Evil? There is a tussle within many people, to do good or allow oneself to drift with evil currents. The urge to constantly spread lies about Muhammadu Buhari knowingly or otherwise cannot be termed as good. You mock a man for having a modest number of cattle, but you celebrate those whose resources you cannot justify because it aligns with your sentiments. You profile entire groups and you are convinced you are expressing faith? Before you utter the next word or share that jaundiced post, ask yourself if you fact-checked and if what you are going to release will build-up or destroy. Don’t let arrogance or ignorance bring embarrassment your way, let it end in 2018. One fellow who described himself as a physician tweeted that certain anti-hypertensive medications had been recalled and urged people not to take them. He soon had over 5,000 retweets and 2000 likes but the problem was that he followed up the main tweet with information about a specific brand of the drug. Trust Nigerians to activate panic and WhatsApp sharing modes. It was clear that many ran with the root tweet which had no specifics. Other Twitter users noticed the problem and advised the young man to delete the first tweet which had caused confusion for many. Many Nigerians do not look beyond the superficial and those who read the first tweet ran with it as gospel. The problem was not that this man tweeted something misleading, he categorically said that he was not responsible for people failing to read his follow-up tweets. Despite the pleas from others to realize the danger his tweet had caused, he remained defiant.

Please do not think your actions or inaction are without consequence. There is life beyond social media and your supporters club. Do not let religiosity cripple you so badly that you endorse untruth and fiction as truth. Do not let evil cause you to hate your fellow man because society, history or your name tell you to. There is good in you, let it triumph over the evil that lurks. The President of the UAE owns significant real estate in Seychelles and gets to transfuse that nation with monetary fluids from time to time, I wonder if our people would refuse such gestures if we had the chance. 

NO TIME FOR JOKES.

I got to watch a lot of British television shows as a child courtesy of the Nigerian Television Authority. We got a steady dose of shows like Pigeon Street, Terrahawks, Tom Grattan’s War, The Prince and the Pauper, Yes Prime Minister, ‘Allo ‘Allo, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Jane Eyre, Dempsey and Makepeace, Rentaghost and many others. One show was a source of science fiction entertainment and it starred Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor Who. The 13^th series of this show aired in 1975 and it had ‘Terror of the Zygons’ as its first serial.

Zygons were an alien race capable of shape-shifting; they captured humans and used them as templates to take up human forms in order to infiltrate and conquer earth. Another serial from this season of Doctor Who was ‘The Android Invasion’ where another alien race [Kraals] attempted to use 'androids' to take the place of humans.

Zygon (wikipedia)

Nigeria has recently become a source of comic material for some TV show hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Trevor Noah, with both men making time to talk about Mr. President being a clone. This kite was first flown by the secession advocate and Jew, Nnamdi Kanu who had previously promised to deliver the head of Muhammadu Buhari to his followers. Mr. President was sick and away for a while prompting many to wish and pray death for him. Kanu said the real Buhari wasn’t the one who returned after his convalescence; a doppelgänger deployed from Sudan returned in his place.

It makes a lot of sense that thousands of Kanu’s acolytes believe this theory; they made sense of his directives “to burn down the zoo” and found nothing wrong with his requests for financial aid to buy weapons to ensure Biafra’s sun rose again. They have used laterally inverted images of Buhari writing with both hands and his seemingly defective left ear lobe as evidence. They have also claimed his palm and finger prints have changed. These people cannot be helped; I am tempted to infer that it is not the country that failed them, I do not know what or who did. Kanu soliciting for funds

There are those intellectual ones on social media who are delighted that Buhari has become the butt of the joke on the international scene; they have posted about how his ‘failure’ to respond to suggestions that he was either cloned or replaced by a body double has brought embarrassment to the country. These individuals are probably fans of the orange-tanned tweeting president but they expect their president to respond to an inane subject the way they want to hear it. It is these technology savvy people who have been broadcasting daft theories about cloning and Jubril from Sudan while tagging international news media outfits, developed nations and the United Nations to their posts but it is the man who doesn’t bother about kindergarten matters raised by a certain Jew who has caused us embarrassment. There are also those who try to sound brainy regarding this matter. They say stuff like, “the stories are most likely not true but Buhari should speak to dispel the rumours.” It is either one believes that the President is the original or a double; there are no buts. What is apparent is that certain individuals have found it difficult to separate their reasoning from their prejudices; their attempt to mask their bigotry with grammar fools no one.

I could publish a fictional article in a newspaper tomorrow and title it “Aliens from Pluto take Aisha hostage, Replace Buhari in Aso rock” and I will rest assured that some preachers will in no time use the manuscript to preach sermons to tens of thousands. This is what present day Nigeria has become where certain men will tell tales of how Zygons and Kraals are involved in plundering Nigeria, striking fear and sowing seeds of discord in the hearts of the people. We have heard calls to Christians to spill blood, offer heads to God as offerings and open Hades but some people want us to embrace the bearers of these messages and continue to lift holy hands. No sir/ ma! No one is perfect, but I don’t subscribe to any brand of supremacist ideology or stereotyping of any group. Fake news thrives in the land and even the more established media outfits are not spared. How does one explain a Channels TV news editor inserting an unrelated image of Ibrahim Magu into a story about an APC event which was broadcast across the country? The owner issued an apology and Premium times that ran a story based on this news report retracted their hurriedly written tale about Magu attending a party event he was no where near. Are we supposed to believe that what the Channels TV editor did was simply an error like his boss explained?  Channels and Magu

Some Nigerians want us to be like developed countries. They want our politics to be about issues, but they become febrile when they hear campaign is about roads, rail, primary health care, empowering small business etc. They always demand that we step up to the global terrain but what they forget is that these so-called developed countries didn’t become what they are now overnight. Their past politicians once campaigned to build roads and provide basic healthcare, things modern Nigerians scoff at now. Do we have the infrastructure required to move on to greater talking points?

Some Nigerians have ridiculed the government’s policies to grant loans to small business; the People’s Democratic Party have termed it vote buying for 2019. Which one did the PDP give to the poorest Nigerians from 1999 to 2015? They have a problem with N10,000 to traders, school feeding and stipends for vulnerable people but they didn’t find any issue with fewer people benefiting from the YouWin program initiated by President Jonathan. They have called PMB a dictator and attacked all his attempts to ensure that those who had not benefited anything significant from past governments now do so. They somehow prefer elitist private sector-controlled ventures. Saraki was heard in an audio recording assuring his supporters in Ilorin that an Atiku presidency would restore their fortunes. He lamented that he could not get his people juicy appointments where contracts of N1 or 2 million could have been signed for them to be able to get benefits to buy lands, build houses and buy cars. These are the people complaining that there is no food in the land and angry that APC is buying votes with TraderMoni. These same individuals have a certain Dino Melaye in their camp, a fellow with many exotic vehicles in his garage and they are egging on a man who moved about $40,000,000 dollars to the United States of America through his wife. They have even said that he is more Fulani than Muhammadu Buhari who cannot speak Fulfude. Atiku more Fulani

Atiku tweeted that Nigeria was better off under PDP from 1999 to 2015. This is a party he left twice after throwing many jabs at them. Nigeria was so good in early 2007 that he had a knee surgery in London; he had it so great that Obasanjo withdrew the presidential jet that was supposed to fly him to USA in December 2006 because of their rift. I must have lost at least two years to Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] strikes during the PDP years. I travelled back and forth on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway for seven years as a student of the University of Ibadan and that road was not fixed; that is how good we had it then. If we mention Yelwa, Langtang North, Jos, Ajegunle, Odi, Warri, Zaki Biam, Dogo Nahawa, Tim-Tim, Kuru Karama, Zonkwa, Kafanchan, Matsirga etc, they will ask if we are in a mortality census competition, so I won’t mention them. They say more Nigerians have died in the past three years than ever before but that is a fat lie.  Human Rights Watch reported that over 15,700 people were killed in just Kaduna state from inter-communal, political and sectarian violence from 1999 to 2011. Should we mention the bomb blasts or talk about what happened in Buni Yadi? Why do some people think they can rewrite history and get away with it? In any case, Atiku Abubakar and his Dubai squad are playing their politics, let us see if they will have the aces come February. Human Rights Watch 2011

Some of our religious leaders have joined politicians to help announce hunger in the land. I wonder how some of them know and what they have done to truly help the people. What I have observed is mostly eye-service and self-preservation, the breeze of poverty and hardship hardly blows in their direction. This is the reason why gossip and newspaper satirical articles have now become scripture to announce freedom from slavery. I am open to anyone joining politics and I think everyone should be educated on this irrespective of religious or educational backgrounds. I think one or two religious leaders should take the plunge into full-blown politics, at least to show good and godly example. The least most should do is to preach unity and encourage their people to aspire for political offices in order to serve. There are a few church leaders that were part of parliament in the First Republic so let’s not be too quick to disapprove. The love of money has corrupted the landscape, perhaps we need to encourage more men and women with updated self-control to help turn things around.

We say we want Nigeria to be like America, Canada, UK, Scandinavia etc. but we don’t want to count the cost and pay the price. We want to keep papering over our cracks and exploiting our weaknesses. Perhaps Nigerians, especially our church leaders and politicians can learn a thing or two from the man who was voted in a 2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation poll as the Greatest Canadian.

Thomas (Tommy) Douglas [1904-1986] was Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944-1961. He was a Baptist preacher who ventured into politics in 1935 after witnessing firsthand what Canadians had to face during the Great depression of the 1930s. The nation had economic trouble, the people lacked but there was money to fund a war. He buried young people who died because of causes that could have been prevented and he didn’t complete his Sociology PhD program because of the painful realities before him. He embraced a Socialist ideology and joined a party with same. He started with the House of Commons before leading his party to defy all odds and take control of the province. He was opposed by the top capitalists of that era; those from the Oil and Mining industries were against him, the top retail business also did. Some likened his ideology to Hitler’s and the people were warned that he would become dictatorial. Mortgage companies threatened farmers with foreclosures because he promised to protect them. The media also turned against him all to prevent his party’s win.

Tommy Douglas

Douglas pushed for free medical and Hospital care for pensioners, cancer patients and those who were on government support. Although his Masters thesis favored eugenics and how only mentally certified people alone should be permitted to marry, his time as premier contrasted his younger years. He protected the physically and mentally challenged instead. He pressed for Universal medical insurance to remove the divide between the healthcare providers and the people. This was met with resistance especially from the doctors who thought they would be financially shortchanged. A strike ensued but the program became reality in 1962 after he had stepped down. In other words, Douglas’ proposal on healthcare is a template that spread across Canada and got copied across the globe. The man is credited with many other feats such as Employment Insurance, Paid Vacation, Minimum Wage, Pensions and the Charter of Rights which was a first in North America. Electricity and paved roads were some of the things he did to stimulate agriculture in his province and improve the economy. If we want to be like these developed countries, should be not adopt some of the things they did and still do? These countries have all sorts of benefits for the elderly, children, indigenous people and immigrants. They ensure taxes are collected and nobody shouts, “witch hunt.” Douglas ran for the Country’s top job; he was not successful but his perseverance and authenticity reverberated through a country he adopted as his home and he was deemed worthy to be crowned the greatest Canadian ever edging out people like Alexander Graham Bell [telephone], Terry Fox [ran across Canada with one leg], David Suzuki [Professor of Genetics], Frederick Banting [ensured Insulin is not beyond the reach of those who need it after co-discovering it] and Pierre Trudeau [15th Prime Minister] among others. He may not have any National monument or heavyweight title in his honor, but the man lived and did his best. We may not be too familiar with the name Tommy Douglas but I’m certain we know his grandson, President Thomas Kirkman of the Netflix series ‘Designated Survivor’ a.k.a Jack Bauer [Kiefer Sutherland].

Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau had to deal with what can be regarded as one of the toughest periods in Canada’s existence. He was Prime Minister at a time Quebec which was also his province of origin threatened to break away from the Union because of carried over animosity from the French-British war. By 1970, The Quebec Liberation Front [FLQ] had already morphed into a terrorism group to force the issue. A British diplomat and Pierre Laporte [the Minister of Labour in Quebec] were kidnapped with Laporte getting killed days later. Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act and the Police had powers to arrest and detain without bail while soldiers were deployed. When people tell you, certain things cannot happen in developed climes, please pay no attention to them. No serious government will watch on as arsonists destroy the land. I think the interests of the majority on certain issues such as security, healthcare and economy should be protected despite what the fat cats think.

There are those who secretly support those who divide us as Nigerians because of their pride or selfish interests. There are those who previously hated any old Fulani Muslim man but who now dance to the tunes of one who fits this profile. There are those who still run with the cloning theory, 'Islamization' agenda and no WAEC certificate theories because they think they know better. You all are entitled to your positions but all I am interested in is the final retirement of those whose wealth we cannot explain and the silencing of their diviners. If you insist on believing tales by moonlight like Doctor Who fighting against androids and shape-shifting aliens that have replaced humans, against sound logic and commonsense, your religion and your background have failed you. I believe the decluttering process is yet to be complete after which the playing field will be made level for serious folks to lead us from where Buhari stops. If there is a major wound with dead tissue and all sorts of foreign bodies, a debridement is required before any type of dressing or management can progress. We are in the final debridement phase, it’s not going to be by sorcery but sheer hard work.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria and all Nigerians. Don't let hate and bigotry destroy the humanity in you.

What is your genuine reason for hating this man?