War and Violence

The Collective Mumuism of West African/ ECOWAS Rulers

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Adeola Aderounmu

ECOWAS rulers concluded their meeting in Abuja and through Mr. Goodluck Jonathan they ordered Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast to concede power to Quattara.

My problem with this proclamation is that it was made by a man who was never elected to rule or lead his own country.
Ninety-nine percent of the time when I listen to African rulers, they leave me in shock. I’m like, are these guys sick or crazy or just totally foolish?

In 2007, Dictator General Obasanjo and Liar Maurice Iwu rigged Nigeria’s election while a convicted criminal named James Ibori provided the millions of dollars that was used to bribe the Nigerian judges to tilt the electoral dispute in favour of Late Yar’Adua.

It is this illegal mandate that Mr. Jonathan inherited.

My questions are:

How stupid are West African rulers?

Is Nigeria so strong and powerful that illegality in Nigeria can be overlooked by other West African/ African countries?
Are the other West African rulers also illegal rulers? Ghana nko?

If not, why do they think Jonathan who inherited a stolen mandate is the right person to lead ECOWAS now and in the years ahead?

How does it feel for Jonathan, knowing fully well that he became a ruler through the back door, to announce that Gbagbo should take his exit in Ivory Coast?

West African rulers and indeed African rulers must stop playing the clowns of the world. They should look at one another in the eyes and see how they spread shame and stupidity across the continent and around the world.

Elections are ahead in Nigeria, in April 2011. Mr. Jonathan will get a chance to ascend to the number position in Nigeria through elections.

Some of us will be watching again to see how the events play out. Since 1999 Nigeria has been ruled by civilians who rigged elections and perpetrated violence to intimidate the opposition.

Today as I write people have been killed and lives and property have been destroyed in Oyo State and Akwa Ibom in Nigeria. In a number of places in Nigeria there are volatile situations that could easily trigger violence and massive destructions.

The situation is not different in many places in West Africa. These abnormalities and the selfish attitudes of political figures in this sub region are parts of the reasons for the stalemate in Ivory Coast. The matter is made worse by the interference of the so called useless International community.

Without dragging into unnecessary issues, I think ECOWAS members who met in Abuja should be ashamed of their collective mumuism and shallow mindedness.

It will be hard to know why an illegal occupier like Jonathan is being asked to serve a quit notice to a contender like Gbagbo.

I need help to get over the shock of the low mentalities of these regional robots.

Africa, Never At Ease

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Adeola Aderounmu

It pains me. The turn of events in Africa hurts.

Look at Gadhafi. He’s been there for over 40 years. He’s been the ruler for an entire generation. What would it have cost him to have prepared Libyans for the future, say at worst 20 years ago?

If not democracy, what about a system of governance not close to monarchy? Gadhafi could have left the stage, show his gratitude to Libya and Libyans. He had so much time on his hand but he decided to make himself a messiah. But he is not.

Things have now fallen apart in Libya. Gadhafi will not get a well-deserved exit. It will not be on his terms.
Gadhafi may also well be the victim of the usual international conspiracy. It’s a crazy world totally. You’ll never find a resting place for the blame game.

You can’t find it even in Ivory Coast where one man is claiming victory and he’s backed by the crazy international community. The other is backed by Pan-Africanism. The sum total of all this foolishness and the common madness of men is that their fellow beings are killing one another in the name of loyalties.

It’s sad because if not for madness and stupidity the two Ivorian presidents should meet face to face, discuss the way forward for their fellow citizens, give each other warm embrace, one step down for the other and the other ensure that as the president he ensures such justice that will promote peace and prosperity in Ivory Coast. The greatest service will be to avoid the type of mistakes that led to the present predicament and to ensure that now and in the future that Ivory Coast can solve her problems without the bias intervention of the useless international community.

One of the greatest achievements of the international community is the spread of both disharmony and war. Africa is easy target because of the greed and senselessness of the rulers there. It pains and hurts to come from a continent where foolishness and evil reign over good. It’s disheartening that a lot of things in Africa are decided by people outside of the continent.

One would wish that the changes sweeping through the North of Africa will continue to prosper the people. Yes, prosper. North Africa is prosperous and the leaders have not been totally foolish like other parts of Africa especially Western Africa. Take Nigeria for example and see foolishness of the rulers. Nigeria generates less than 3 000MW of Energy. For a nation of 150m that is probably the most absurd thing on earth. In addition over 15 million dollars have been spent on that project since 1999 with no apparent progress because some people like Gen Obasanjo and his cronies stole the money.

If they didn’t steal the money then Nigeria should be experiencing over supply of power by now but right now Nigeria is covered by total darkness. So Africa really pains me. My heart bleeds daily.

Add these wars to diseases, ignorance, illiteracy and the loads of problems in Africa, and then you ask, will Africa ever be at peace or ease?

There are too many problems in Africa and they won’t be solved until Africans wake up and live up to the challenges of the present century. What will trigger this awakening in Africa and make it a general conscious thought along the line of Common Good? When we know the answer, we will get on the right track.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Nigeria: Registration of Voters, Elections and A Season of Assassinations

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By Adeola Aderounmu

This year 2011 Nigerians will go to the polls. At they have always done since 1959 Nigerians will be unprepared for these elections. There are a lot of optimists urging people to go out and register. In a sane country there is no harm for such a call. It is genuine and noble. In Nigeria, in my own opinion, and as I have argued times without number, the call is dubious, unnecessary and stupid. Votes will be counted in manners that will not portray respect for human dignity. Since 1959 Nigerians have wasted their time and energy on votes and elections that have been rigged and doctored. This year will not be different.

As recent as 2007 Mr. Obasanjo urged Nigerians to participate in a do-or-die election. That election ushered in the illegal regime of late Mr. Yar Adua and the beneficiary today is one Goodluck Jonathan whose political career has been steered more by his name than his vision because he doesn’t seem to have any vision in any case. He is now the candidate to be presented by the PDP- the party- that has given corruption his deepest foundation in the history of Nigeria. PDP was founded by crooks and nurtured by well-known corrupt ex-military and ex-civilian gangsters.

In the recent primaries PDP voters sold their souls for porridge and gave the votes to Jonathan. He paid the most with monies stolen from the Nigerian treasury. Nigerian politicians have not seen anything wrong with stealing and looting. And they always get away because it is accepted in Nigeria to be a thief slash politician. The primaries done by most of other political parties are laughable. One useless party has even co-adopted Goodluck as its flag bearer. Nonsense and ingredients!

I continue to advocate for a corrupt-free Nigeria. I will shout to the top of the roof for a government of merit. National character has destroyed the essence of Nigeria. People are called into government for the purpose of looting and cutting of the national cake as they used to joke. But it is not a joke; these fundamental issues must be addressed. Our politics is rubbish.

The charade been prosecuted by INEC is not turning out to be funny at all. In previous essays I have mentioned that the job and machines are not for INEC but for the National Population Commission. We don’t need these useless registration processes. What we need is a genuine population monitoring process. The implication is that we should be receiving voter’s cards by post or at collection centres at home and abroad. This process of registration is more than 2 000 years old, is archaic, irresponsible and absolutely dehumanizing. It reduces humans to animals.

Among millions of dehumanizing examples, one man left his job and for more than 2 days he was unable to register! Some people get lucky after 12 hours on a queue. There are complains across the nation. In some states DDC machines are in homes of politicians and crooks. In Anambra State, some machines were found in the forest or some sort of shrine. When you apply a system that is more than 2 00 years ago and you think it is modern because you use computers to re-enact the same process, you really need to do a reality check on your mentality. I argued that Nigerians are modern in several aspects of their lives but when you tell them to address these issues of elections once and for all, they tell you that they will get there some day. When?

Electoral processes in Nigeria are tragic occurrences. They present us as a people with extremely low intellectual capacity and defective IQs. With the rulers we have, these are no near surprises. I condemn the registration process just the same way I condemn in advance all the malpractices that will come with it.

There is turmoil in Tunisia and it has spread to Egypt. A serious wind of change is blowing across Africa. Ivory Coast is on the brink whether foreign influence or not.. Africans are wondering what is wrong and the world is amazed. The truth is Africa lacks the sort of leadership that is trustworthy and sincere. Those who considered themselves superpowers gave support to oppressive regimes in some parts of Africa. Those regimes will continue to fall as pan-Africanism continues to find its strength. One day Africa will be where it really belongs to as I argue in a previous post.

The real struggle for the emancipation of Africa is gaining momentum. Nigeria will not be left out. Never!

The wind of change will blow and this can be interpreted in different ways depending on who is making the point and from what perspective. People are talking about Register, Select, Vote and Preserve. This could make a lot of sense if it will happen in Nigeria. But serious minded people will tell you that you can’t sow maize and reap cassava. Wishful thinking has taken away the minds of people from the reality of the lives that they lead. If you live in Nigeria, you know how things are done. The parameters for successful elections and sound democracy are missing.

But those who make peaceful change impossible in Tunisia and Egypt are getting a feel of another type of change. I’m so certain that change will come to Nigeria. What I am not certain of is the preservation of the entity called Nigeria.

Indeed there are serious flashpoints as we approach the 2011 elections in Nigeria. Jos and Maiduguri have now overtaken the Niger Delta as potentially fatal and fragile hotspots. From time to time pockets of riots and violence leave hundreds and sometimes scores of people dead. It will be foolishness to ignore the growth and spread of terrorism in Nigeria. Even Abuja can feel the heat.

As this threat grows our politicians continue to improve their personal securities while targeting self-preservation and perpetuation in offices. No one has been formally charged for all the terrorist acts in Nigeria. Boko Haram looks set to take over Northern Nigeria.

No one has yet claimed to be responsible for the killing of a leading governorship candidate in Borno State. Modu Fannami Gubio was gunned downed along with 6 other persons by gunmen on motorbikes. The unfortunate incident took place outside of his home.

As usual when the evils deeds are done security patrols stormed the streets. The Nigerian government has not made adequate provisions for the prevention of these types of assassinations. Over the decades many Nigerians and politicians have been killed because they are in the opposition party, or they are opposed to tyranny or just aspiring for political offices. Usually no arrests are made. On rare occasions the police make false arrests and then we don’t hear anything again.

This political assassination is unfortunate. It is not the first. It adds up to the pile of unsolved murder cases. It’s a sad situation to belong to a helpless system where the focus is on politics and stealing from government.

The rest of us, in all that we do, we must ensure that our actions, comments and body languages are unified in condemning the type of government in present day Nigeria. A government borne of illegality has no moral standard to steer the course of West Africa or Africa. On what moral pedestal is Jonathan championing the military action in Ivory Coast? Who voted for Mr. Jonathan? Do Nigerians have short memories? Or they just chose to ignore the fact that in 2007 Iwu and Obasanjo messed Nigeria and Africa up? Time does not heal illegality. Being sworn in by a corrupt system or a Chief Justice does not translate that votes have been counted. Let us not mix these issues up.

Let us be clear. Those who live in glass houses cannot afford the cost of stone throwing. If you want to make me a dress, I have the right to view the one you are putting on. Nigeria is not fit to lead Africa based on the glories that predate 1960.

We must put our house in order. We still have the time and the opportunity for adjustments. The early signs for the 2011 elections are catastrophic. The price-winner takes it all- remains a recipe for dissent and violent outcomes.
In a country where the rule of men is far above the rule of law, where social justice remains a mirage and where corruption runs side-a-side a generally disorganized electoral process, it will be sheer recklessness to underestimate the consequences of the forthcoming [likely-to-be-fraudulent] elections in Nigeria in April 2011.

The outcome of this year’s elections may bring changes.

One of the greatest fears is, not knowing how the wind of change will blow. From Liberia, to Tunisia, to Egypt-the wind of change has blown and is still blowing across Africa. The forthcoming elections in Nigeria may serve as a whirlwind or catalyst for the needed or even unnecessary changes in Nigeria. Imagine a change influenced or prescribed by Boko Haram and the terrorists from Northern Nigeria. They are on the loose and the helpless government is applying medicine after each death, if you know what I mean.

It will appear that the resiliency of Nigerians is a momentum gathering phase that has lasted for ever. But like a snow ball rolling down a steep slope it must have gathered loads of additional masses on its way. The impacts will definitely be shattering.

We should never wish for a war. But we must support the types of demonstrations that will lead to the fall of fake and illegal governments that have dominated Nigeria since 1999. We must support all voices of reasoning that will ensure that the stolen loots are returned, to the last kobo. We must support all forms of actions that we ensure that all the houses that Nigerian politicians and public servants have abroad are sold and the proceeds returned to people of Nigeria.

We must attempt to reclaim and rebuild Nigeria. Nigeria is the greatest potential of a superpower from Africa but the foreign influences have ensured that we remain subdued and that our heroes never emerged. It is possible to emerge and it is not impossible to reestablish the greatness of the African mind even if we returned to our tents. [Fear of change is the greatest obstacle to our real freedom-Adeola Aderounmu]

aderounmu@gmail.com

War Brewing in West Africa

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Abidjan
In Ivory Coast war is brewing. The two presidents are not yielding grounds. There have been reports of violence, attacks and deaths in Ivory Coast.

I am not an expert on Ivory Coast but I’m not impressed with the experiment that the International community will be carrying out in Ivory Coast if a war breaks out. They will be selling weapons to both sides of the conflicts and my brothers and sisters will be killing one another.

Africa, I beg you. Learn from your past mistakes, lay down your arms and talk some sense.

It doesn’t make sense for two brothers to go to war while a foreigner doubles as both the umpire and the coach.

Wake up Ivory Coast. Where is Drogba and the boys. Go to Ivory Coast now and stop the war. You can do this by negotiation and intervention. Do it anyway you like.

Jos: War can become full blown..!

The recent images of Jos that I saw show that the state may be on the brink of a full scale religious war.

The people of Jos do not trust one another anymore and the situation has seriously deteriorated. Nigerian media houses are not doing enough to report the current situation and the nature of the problems-the complex religious-political volatile mix.

The war is almost certainly going to continue because of the elections coming up this year.

I don’t see how the governor of Plateau state-one clown called Jang-can prevent the forthcoming devastations.

It is a known fact that the military men that are supposed to see to the peace of Jos have been involved in the killing of the citizens of Jos.

Instead of dealing with the war that can eventually destroy the entity called Nigeria, the useless PDP in Nigeria is busy holding primary convention in Abuja.

On several occasions I have mentioned that Jonathan needs to go to Jos and spend 2 weeks or more to dwell among the people of Jos. The solution must be found and for all time.

The war in Jos is still on a small scale. The governor has failed and the Nigerian authorities are treating the war like violence or uprisings. This is a very serious mistake.

A wise man holds the fish by the head.

Terrorism in Nigeria May Lead to Disintegration

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By Adeola Aderounmu

On December 26 2009 I wrote on my blog page that Nigerians are not terrorists. That statement is no longer valid.

Nigeria is now among the league of growing terrorist nations.

On Christmas day in 2009 one over-pampered kid Abdul Mudallab put Nigeria’s name on the global map. He is the famous underpants bomber.

One year later at the end of 2010 there has been series of blasts in Nigeria. From Abuja to Maiduguri to Jos and back to Abuja.

Terror now has its grip on the Nigerian nation.

At about 1730 Nigerian time on the last day of the year 2010 there was a deadly bomb in a busy area in Abuja. Thirty people may have lost their lives with several others injured.

As usual the Nigerian government is quick to point accusing fingers. The blame has been shifted to Boko Haram, a group whose mission is not really clear to the rest of us.

It is cheap and easy to blame Boko Haram because of their attack on the police and civilian populations in Northern parts of Nigeria. People have been killed in Jos in violence related to both religious and political conflicts.

There are insinuations that MEND could also be responsible for the Abuja attacks.

Nigerian security forces need to step up and try to stay ahead of these terrorists whether they are MEND or Boko Haram. Otherwise there will be no solution to the oncoming onslaught of violence and devastations that will hit the rest of the country.

The current pattern indicates a clear motive to disrupt the fragile peace in Nigeria. We know we have political problems and we are aware of the massive corruption and unimaginable social injustices in Nigeria: it is therefore easy for a group or groups with selfish ambitions to penetrate jobless extremists and use them to achieve a sort of destabilization that will usher in the final demise of Nigeria.

That in my opinion is the goal of consecutive bomb blasts and terror attacks. The aim will be to fulfil the predictions that Nigeria will disintegrate before 2015. I thought there are better approaches. When this country becomes ungovernable I look forward to negotiations that will usher in the separations of its parts. The consequences of war we are all familiar with. The Biafran experience should not be an option.

Whichever way, there are going to be many questions from now on. How did we get to this point in Nigeria? Are these attacks preventable? Are these attacks related to bad government and corruption across all the tiers of government in Nigeria? Are these attacks premeditated to make Nigerian ungovernable for a man from the Niger Delta?

There are multitudes of questions. There will not be simple answers. Even in the Scandinavian countries where it seems that the government is almost perfect terrorism is beginning to take firm roots.

The government of Nigeria is now finding itself in a dilemma. So many things and issues have been neglected since 1960 that it will be impossible for us to fathom the reasons for these attacks and the nature of things to come.

Just as recent as October 2010, we wasted over N20b celebrating a useless anniversary. We made the biggest cake in the history of man. There are over 100m Nigerians who are poor and impoverished. They have no hope and no option to a life of poverty. Yet we wasted so much money for nothing! Stupid people making useless decisions!

The Nigerian politicians continue to steal and loot across all levels. The presidency, the executive arm, the National Assembly, the state government and all places where politicians reign across Nigeria it has been stealing, looting and enrichments as usual.

Our legislators earn the most money in the world. We complained that they should review their salaries to what civil servants take home, all in vain.

In Nigeria there is no electricity. Where I live in Nigeria we have 4 generators and run 24-7 on them. There is no public power supply. We don’t have water from the government. Our roads are bad and we drive at average speed of 30km/ hr or less.

Public Schools are becoming historic. We pay high fees to keep our children in schools. Education is now a luxury. Foods are expensive, quality and standard of living are terrible and unacceptable!

Pensioners are suffering and people get laid off indiscriminately. NITEL staffs were dismissed without the benefits of continuous pensions. What a wicked government! So silly!

Nigerian politicians keep their families abroad while they suffer us at home.

When you add all of these woes together you get a failed country. Nigeria is a failed country. Therefore it appears as a golden opportunity for those who believe in violence. It doesn’t even matter if the stimulating or sponsoring agents are within or outside Nigeria. The fact is that they have found cracks in the wall and it is therefore too easy to penetrate and destabilize the country and the government.

The government of Nigeria will be at a dilemma and crossroad for sometime to come. How do you begin to know the elements or characters that are so angry they only resolved to kill innocent people? The Nigerian politicians have a way to protect themselves and their families. The victims of the attacks in Jos, Maiduguri and Abuja are people or individuals like me. We have no means to protect ourselves and the security provided by the Nigerian government is almost non-existence. Usually troops lined the streets after the evil has been done. Sometimes this fans the violence and lead to more deaths.

Who will save our souls? Evil is on the rise. The government has failed the people. For fifty years, public servants and politicians stole and stole. They are still in Nigeria. Nothing has been done to them. They ruined our lives. They stole our future and they took our hopes away. Until this day the story is the same.

The new found love of terrorism in Nigeria is an additional plague that we will now have to live with. It has taken 50 years to destroy this country. It will take more than 100 years to fix it.

Nevertheless we must start to build this country now. This is a country with vast potentials. The task of reclaiming the glory of Nigeria is before all of us. It should not really matter who becomes the president if we established a sound foundation for our democracy. What matters is that the likes of Atiku, IBB and even Jonathan should be sent to face trials for the mis-governance they have participated in. I see no hope in the present crop of looters and thieves that are in Aso Rock then and now.

If Nigerians think that they have democracy now, they really need to wake up from that nightmare. Democratic structures run on institutions and not individuals. Democracy runs on the rule of law which no one is above. In Nigeria, several people are above the laws of the land. This has made it possible for impunity to reign supreme. Our political parties are so useless they have no clear cut goals and objectives. Their dream is to capture power and loot the treasuries nationwide.

We really need to sit down in this country and think. We can’t afford to get it wrong this time.

The first ingredient for our future attempt at progress and development will be to find a genuine democratic process.

When we do, we must begin to address the issues relating to the rule of law and the promotion of social justice and state welfare. There is a need to form political parties based on ideology and good governance. We need to promote literate participation with the attempt to eliminate thuggery and insanity from our politics.

The people must know that they have government and governance that works.

The Judiciary must be independent and have the possibility to work with the police to wipe corruption once and for all.

Nigerians must start to probe the sources of wealth. People are stealing in government and private businesses. The nation is sinking because of the actions of a few men and women.

We must rebuild all public institutions, not physically but mentally. Nigeria must now tap deep into the cognitivity of its intellectuals with a view to promoting merit over national character. There is an urgent need to revive nationalistic movements that will carry everyone along. A massive re-orientation along the line of nation building is urgent. The goal will be to save this sinking nation.

The other option is to allow it to continue with the status quo and pretend that all is well while the nation sinks. Such pretentions will allow terrorism to take a firm root and grip on Nigeria. One day a new group will declare once and for all “to your tent O’ Isreal!”

At that point, the prediction of the disintegration of Nigeria would come to pass. Our lives are in our hands.