13 Years A Prisoner

November 1, 2014November 1, 2014 / Adeola / Leave a comment

I cannot actually overemphasize that the case of Isaak Dawit is an embarrassment to the human race. Isaias Afewerki cannot be above all of humanity unless we have all gone crazy.

13 Years A Prisoner

Isaak Dawit

By Adeola Aderounmu

Isaak Dawit has been in jail in Eritrea since September 23 2001. He was born in the same country on the 27th of October 1964. He is now 50 years old, with one-fourth of his life spent in jail.

Isaak Dawit fled the war in Eritrea in 1987 and lived in Sweden. He became a Swedish citizen in 1992 but he also held on to his Eritrean citizenship.

When Eritrea became independent Isaak Dawit returned to Eritrea to work as a journalist.

He may have written stories or articles that the dictator Isaias Afewerki found threatening to his one-party state. He may have associated with groups seeking to ensure that the rights of the people are respected and sustained in a new emerging country.

But he was on the other side of the court as Mr. Afewerki, so he was arrested and imprisoned.

Isaak Dawit has not been brought to a court of law. No charges have been brought against him. It is not on any record that Isaak has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Why is he sitting in prison for more than 13 years?

The worst tragedies in the world are not only hideous; they have also proven to be mostly unspoken of.

How can the rest of humanity look away when a man is locked up for 13 years? Have we no compassion for his family and children?

Since independence in 1993, Eritrea has been held in captive and extreme bondage by one man, a dictator called Isaias Afewerki.

In plain terms Mr. Isaias Afewerki told the world to go to “hell”, that he would do whatever he likes with Isaak. The question is, in the absence of a proof of life, “what has he actually done with Isaak Dawit?

Few years ago, Isaak went missing from his cell prompting fears about his whereabouts and an unconfirmed story that he was dead.

Many of the people arrested alongside with Isaak Dawit are dead or have been killed. The fears are genuine but lack of official comment keeps the hope of Dawit’s existence burning till today.

One of Isak’s daughters Ms. Bethlehem spoke recently and expresses optimism that her father is alive. It is this optimism and hope that should be given impetus now.

The Swedish government adopted the so-called silent diplomacy in the case of Isaak Dawit and it has been a total catastrophe so far. It remains futile.

Individuals, groups and organizations have demonstrated and lent their voices to the campaign to free Isaak. All have proven to be ineffective.

What has been done outside of Eritrea is probably not reaching Eritreans at home in terms of awareness.

Sadly too the chant to free Isaak Dawit will not be echoed in Eritrea.

The country is locked down by one man. Eritrea is closed to the rest of the world because there are no independent news media in the country.

Eritreans are not free. They need help!

While I do not support interference with the sovereignty of any nation, the case of Isaak Dawit brings me to a point of compromise. The utterances of Isaias Afewerki even on Swedish television left no one in doubt that there is a lunatic in power in Eritrea.

The campaign for the freedom of Isaak Dawit must take up a new dimension outside of Eritrea. The pressure should then be taken inside to free the people of Eritrea.

Every country deserves independent press and the people deserve freedom of speech and association.

The table needs to be turn around. The campaign slogans should move from free Dawit to:

“Free Eritreans”

“Arrest And Prosecute Isaias Afewerki Now”

Eritreans abroad must come together on this one. This is their fight.

They need to bring the rest of the world to the awareness of the sufferings and demeaning of their lives within and outside the boundary of Eritrea by Isaias Afewerki.

There should be no limit to the amount of pressure that should be applied on this wicked and heartless dictator.

After putting away a journalist for 13 years without trial, the world should NEVER let Isaias Afewerki have a moment of rest. This much Eritreans owe Isaak Dawit.

Isaias Afewerki holds all of Eritrea in bondage in a one-party state. He has no regards for the people of Eritrea.

Who does he think he is?

If he has killed Isaak Dawit, the people should rise and sack him by force. They also need to demand his arrest and prosecution.

If Isaak Dawit is alive, he should be released without further delay.

Isaias Afewerki cannot be above all of humanity unless we have all gone crazy.

What is the priority of the Swedish government in foreign diplomacy?

What is wrong with Sweden?

Only foolish people repeat stupid history. Raoul Wallenberg never returned to Sweden, he was never found. Now it is Isaak Dawit. Does this story line sound too familiar?

If finding Isaak Dawit means bringing down the Eritrean dictatorship so be it.

Isaak’s mother died in 2010 asking the question: why did they take my son away from me?

His children are grown, still growing, denied of the company of their loving father because of one stupid dictator in the horn of Africa.

In the end this is a shame not only to Sweden, but also to Europe and the world as a whole. We all stood by and watch like spectators and let one lunatic send another man to jail for 13 years without trial.

I cannot actually overemphasize that the case of Isaak Dawit is an embarrassment to the human race.

With all our claim of civility, social justice and freedom, we let one man (and definitely many other men and women) rot in prison for several years without trials and we look the other way.

aderounmu@gmail.com

The Cost Of Freedom

October 5, 2014 / Adeola / 1 Comment

Unless a country or a group of people are willingly to genuinely give their today in the name of true freedom, their children will never be free tomorrow.

The Cost Of Freedom

Which Way Nigeria?

By Adeola Aderounmu

Nigeria’s 54th year as a so-called independent country was marked in several ways. One headline that caught my attention was the one that stated that poverty in Nigeria has been reduced by 50%.

The headline is first class fraud.

Statistics was one of my favourite subjects during my first and second degrees at the University of Lagos. It is one of those subjects that I really felt comfortable doing. At Idiaraba it was Medical Statistics and oh, how I enjoyed every bit of it and the lecturer was awesome.

Poverty may have been reduced by 50%, it depends on the sample size or the part of the population where you draw your samples from.

So I can conclude that if we take the population of the follow-follow people flocking Aso Rock since the inception of Jonathan’s administration, he has successfully tackled the poverty among 50% of the ass-lickers including the expanding society of Aso Rock Bull Dogs.

If I cast my dragnets at the places that I know like Oshodi, Ojuelegba or Okokomaiko, my data will produce a result that will make nonsense of the results produced by some drunkards in Aso Rock. More than 90% of the people will be below poverty level and living on less than N500 a day.

For more than ever before majority of Nigerians groan under an increasingly senseless and insensitive government. Increasing the death rate and lowering the life expectancy of a population does not mean that poverty has been reduced.

In several essays I have depicted the nature, spread and characteristics of poverty in Nigeria as one of the worst hidden tragedies in the world. I have also been very quick to dismiss the claims of the few people who escaped the threshold of poverty sometimes through luck or unmerited opportunities that their situations cannot be used as the yardstick.

The title of this essay came as a result of my feelings in recent months. I’ll approach it.

I do know, and convincingly too that there are a few people in Sweden who have cultivated the habits of reading my articles, not because they want to be “my readers” but because they “enjoy” this culture of gossiping about “what did he write this week”?

I am happy for them, that they found a weekly delight.

I’ll keep them in the dark by not defining their range but amongst them are people who need to understand though that I have the right to my views about Nigeria no matter what they think or feel.

I cannot help those who found out too late that they had been talking to someone who has been writing about Nigeria since 2001.

One of my pictures on Facebook must have tilted the table over. I had a T-shirt with the inscription Oduduwa republic on my mind. It is one of my ideas of freedom. The image must have gone viral among some folks. I am still happy for them and I hope they get a pat on the back when they make their reports.

I wonder how much shock my Swedish-Nigerian readers suffered in the last 4 weeks when I had written stories about love. I will choose love any day over a failed country under the bondage of crazy and deaf rulers.

The love stories came to me after a recent trip to Finland. I think my ancestors love nature and they prefer the solitude of a calm sea to bring me teachings and guidance.

Today I wanted to write a story about “The Dreamer Boy” but I thought some people will like to know if I am still in tune with Nigeria and how the drunkards have reduced poverty by 50%.

What is more interesting than this blatant lie is the growth and spread of individuals, groups and associations that are intensifying their doubts about their continuous recognitions as Nigerians.

They are weighing the options of bailing out of a jaga-jaga Nigeria. There are many t-shirts nowadays with a lot of messages and one boy even tore his green passport and posted it on YouTube.

I have a lot of reflections on this emerging trend especially among “Nigerians” who are far away from their regions in Nigeria, based mostly in Europe, Asia and America.

For the Nigeria we have today became a total mess as a result of our collective failures as citizens and participants or onlookers in the successive corrupt and useless governments in Nigeria over the years and even to this day in October 2014.

The Nigeria of today was not the dream of the men and women who fought collectively to wrestle the country from the colonialists.

The reason we write or recite or even highlights repeatedly our failures as a country is because some people need the education at some point on what has happened and what we expected. Where Nigeria is today on the scale of human development and quality of life is a complete disgrace to the intellectual abilities of the African race.

One failed government blames the other and the cycle of idiocy rotates as nobody tackles the menaces of corruption, federal character (yes, it is a menace), nepotism and tribalism.

It was the greed in Nigerians and the corruption in their veins that exposed the madness of the colonialists who married different nations into one entity. “Irreconcilable differences” is an expression made in Nigeria. The crazy rulers destroyed the institutions of governance and many crazy people in government stole for themselves, their friends and their unborn generations-even to this day.

Since the mid-1960s, no government has made efforts to return power and freedom to the regions just the way it was when education, health and technological developments were functional until greed and outright stupidity reared their ugly heads.

The process of divide and rule, looting and total disregard for the rules of law continued and reached a new dimension since the inception of pseudo-democracy in 1999.

For Nigeria I have oscillated between hope and hopelessness and my understanding of statistics says it is time to try something else.

I am all for the freedom and the emancipation of the people who are currently enslaved in Nigeria.

It is imperative to define the modalities and the cost of freedom so that the sycophants and the major players of today do not ruin the future of our children and grandchildren the same way they ruined our parents lives and displaced us to different places around the globe.

I wish that all the groups and associations around the world will emerge from their clandestine positions and start to talk openly. The Scottish people just had a vote. The outcome was not as important as the action they took but it will define the things to come in the future. Their children will grow up feeling more secured.

It is old fashioned to seek freedom in the dark rooms. It is very primitive to seek independence through confidential emails or social media closed groups.

If you want something, make it open, make it plain. Go for it and carry the people who need the change along.

Healthy debates, open groups, open discussions and other form of transparent dealings may help to check some of my personal fears regarding the stakeholders in all these clandestine groups scattered around the world.

What is the cost of freedom?

The cost of freedom lies in service to humanity. It is not looting the treasury and telling stupid lies about security and poverty.

The cost of freedom in public service lies in willingness to die at the altar of truth. It is not in building houses of gold on the polluted land across Nigeria.

The cost of freedom is the deprivation that comes with the belief that humanity comes before self.

The cost of freedom will be correlated to conventional free thinking and explorative mindedness.

It will not be locked to dying for the sake of acquiring virgins in an imaginary place. It will not have anything to do with deadly assembly at the feet of gangster mortals called prophets. The cost of freedom will rid a nation of the defenders of evil.

Unless a country or a group of people are willingly to genuinely give their today in the name of true freedom, their children will never be free tomorrow.

For the nations entangled in Nigeria these sacrifices are non-negotiable. Along with the irrepressible truth, they will be the ultimate cost of freedom.

aderounmu@gmail.com

ICC And the Dilemma of African Rulers

September 26, 2013 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

Kenya may be pulling out of ICC. Many African countries may follow suit.

The ICC was supposed to be a place to bring criminals to judgement irrespective of continents or affiliations.

Unfortunately it has turned out to be a place primarily for the prosecution of war criminals from Africa. These criminals are serving and ex-dictators or rulers from Africa.

It’s sad because whilst it serves as a deterrent or likely deterrent for future war crimes, it is essentially a discriminatory or racial institution.

Why have war criminals from Britain and America not been prosecuted or even served warrant of arrest? Are some race or countries more equal than others? The answer is yes if we go by the standard by which this world is run.

Not that I like any stupid dictator from Africa (an inch). I think the problems from Africa are obvious because of the stupid ways many of the continent dictators and civilian rulers plunder their countries. That makes their crimes too obvious but not more serious than the drones and rockets that have sent children and other people to their early graves in countries targeted by NATO, Britain and America.

If ICC will stand the test of time, the prosecution of war criminals and those who committed crimes against humanity must be across board. If a British Prime Minister or an American president cannot be prosecuted for war crimes then the ICC should be scrapped immediately. As it is now, it is a useless organisation and a racial instrument.

Between Obama, Ghana and Nigeria

July 10, 2009July 10, 2009 / Adeola / 6 Comments

Between Obama, Ghana and Nigeria

By Adeola Aderounmu

I have no problems with Obama going to Ghana. My problem is the hypocritical stance of the US government. Democracy is on a strong footing in Ghana. Ghana is a model of good governance and Ghana might as well (to some extent) represent some of the hopes that we have for Africa. Therefore this visit to Ghana is in order.

However I will like to take Obama to task on some issues that affects Nigeria. There are serious allegations against Obama’s United States that the US is a major contributor to the corruption and bad leadership in Nigeria. Nigeria is a leading producer of crude oil and the United States has been implicated in the crises rocking the Nigerian corrupt government and the genocides that have been perpetrated in the Niger Delta.

I want Mr. Obama the president of the United States to take these allegations seriously because if he is not going to Nigeria, it might perhaps also be as a result of the shame resulting from the activities and the role of the United States in the government of Nigeria and the Niger Delta oil crises.

In 1993, Nigeria conducted the best election in her history. The winner of that election was denied of his mandate. As a matter of historical fact MKO Abiola, the winner of that election was killed in prison when he received visitors from Obama’s United States. It remains a mystery why such an act was committed in the presence of the representatives of Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton was the president of the United States and our own president-in-waiting died when delegates from Bill were visiting.

I will like Mr. Obama to respond to the situation. Let him take a look at the history books and also a run through the list of the United States delegate. What is America’s story in the death of the hope of millions of Nigeria-MKO Abiola? Former Nigerian military gangster Abdusalami Abubakar was charged to court for this murder. Was he standing trial then on behalf of the US? President Obama should tell us what happened.

There is an allegation that the US always support any presidential candidate in Nigeria who will oppress the people if necessary just to ensure that the oil quota that goes to the US from the Niger Delta remain constant or that such a candidate promises a prospect of increase. Nigeria’s former dictator wiped out en entire community for the sake of the black gold and the US or the UN does not see that as a crime against humanity. The US did not press for the trial of Gen Obasanjo. Instead Gen Obasanjo was rewarded with a UN job to Congo. What a world!

This year, Mr Yar’ Adua who was selected as Nigeria’s leader 2007 in the worst election ever in human history has also committed genocide in the same Niger Delta region. The British and the US have not condemned such act. In fact Britain through Gordon Brown is a major arms supplier to Yar’Adua. Yar Adua had committed genocide and he is killing civilians including women and children. Mr. Obama has never condemned the genocide and Gordon Brown will rather talk about Mugabe.

The US was very slow to codemn the elections that brought Yar’Adua to power because they know that he is there to protect their interest in the Niger Delta. George Bush wanted the US marine in the Delta, almost setting up an African center. American interest in Nigeria is primarily the oil and not the welfare of the people.

Really, I don’t blame the United States at all. In my native language, we say that if the wall if not open, the lizard will not find a space to hide. Nigeria is a corrupt country no doubt and the rulers are just there to line their stomach and pockets. These notorious acts serve any imperialist perfectly. They need block heads and looters to sustain their own interests.

Therefore Mr. Obama should go to Ghana in peace and stop telling us why he is going to Ghana. The US can siphon our oil and give aids to Ghana. Nigeria does not need aid!! Ten Nigerian politicians can give 20 billion US dollars to Africa. With people like Babangida, Yar Adua, Obasanjo, Odili, Ibori, Anenih, Tafa Balogun, Gbenga Daniels, Bukola Saraki, Dimeji Bankole and David Mark just to mention a few, 20 billion dollars is a piece of cake in Nigeria!

Obama should watch out for Nigeria politicians in Ghana, they may be approaching him with loads of Ghana-must-go bags! They will surely contain dollars enough to entice Obama to Nigeria as early as next week.
My pain is that with 140m people, only a few hundred gangsters have taken us into perpetual slavery. When illegitimate and corrupt governments in Nigeria are backed by the British and the United States, the Nigerian masses are invariably helpless.

The destiny of Nigeria lies in the hands of Nigerians.

CONGO; Foolish and Senseless..!

November 12, 2008November 12, 2008 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu.

Everyone knows that it is easier to prevent the war than to stop it. But what the world leaders are always doing is to stop the war and NEVER to prevent it. There must be wicked reasons for that. That’s why the wars keep coming back

The African continent would like to be projected in a good image. But how many good things are we radiating from within Africa. Agreed again that there are many useless conflicts and wars going on around the world… the Middle East is troubled no doubts. There is war in Iraq and there is war in Afghanistan and so on.

No war is good and no war is desirable. But when Africa countries start their own conflicts and wars, the human toll is always immeasurable. Rape, looting, senseless killings, child soldiers, child abuse, beheading, mutilating, tongue cutting, genocide and several other vices that cannot be described have been perpetrated endlessly in the last 2 decades in Africa. In Sierra Leone, in Liberia, in Congo, in Rwanda, Angola….

Even in countries where there are no wars, the internal conflicts and tensions have resulted in the deaths of civilians in no small measure. Take the case of Nigerian under Obasanjo, Zimbabwe under Mugabe and Kenya under Kibaki as examples.

Congo is at it again. This is a country that may have lost over 5 million souls to war in the last decade. More than 250 000 are presently displaced. Children are suffering and dying. Pregnant women are undergoing the greatest trauma of their lives. Hunger pervades the land; suffering has become a way of life. No hope in sight!

Those idiots, the rebels and the governments are at it again. The craziest thing is that the minerals and the resources that should unite these morons is what they or someone is using against them. Congo like many other African countries is blessed and endowed with resources including Gold. Sometimes, I cannot stop thinking that the level of intelligence of these war lords and their corrupt government is below zero.

The negativity of their minds and their intelligence is what has denied Africa the true greatness she deserved. All the western news agencies are having a swell time showing the rot and stupidity going on in Congo. This is definitely the type of news that they love to show case. War, hunger, conflicts and madness especially from Africa.

What they are not showing or telling however is the countries and the international conspirators who are fuelling this war in Congo. Which countries are supplying arms to the rebels? Which countries or organizations are supplying arms to the government of Congo? Which countries and which organization are buying the resources that the rebels are using to finance this crazy war that has killed several children and women? Computer software and mobile phone companies and their major/minor suppliers should be investigated and they should be named. They must stop buying blood resources. The blood is from children and women and helpless men.

It will be nice if CNN, BBC and Skynews can lead the pack to expose the evil machineries behind the escalating war in Congo. They should extend the investigation to Darfur and other places. Obviously they will not do that. It gives them pleasure to report bad news, so there is no point seeking the end of bad news from Africa. Oh, what a failed continent!

How easy for the United Kingdom to arrive in Congo the other week. What pretense is behind the interest of UK, US and other European infiltrators? The international community should stop deceiving themselves. Who are the beneficiaries of the ongoing wars in Africa? They should be exposed if only to save the dying children.

To show how unserious the UN is about this situation, they are sending Obasanjo from Nigeria to mediate in the war. What signals are they sending to the rebels and the rest of the world? It is people like Obasanjo who are destroying democratic structures in Africa and the way to reward or recognize a man destroying democracy is to send him to a country in dire need of proper democracy? The UN must be a scandalous organization! Nonsense!

What is Obasanjo going to preach in Congo? How he rigged election 3 times in a row in 9 years of failed governance? How he advised Odinga to accept a government of National Unity in Kenya after innocent people have been slaughtered at the altar of democracy? The UN is not serious at all. I pity those innocent children of Congo; I pity their pregnant women and weak adults. I pity those people who will soon be wiped away by genocidal instinct of the crazy and mad rebels.

One thing I know for certain, the rest of the world takes pleasure to see Africa suffers and they begin to send aid, soldiers and peace keepers. As stated, this favours some people and countries-they get richer and they make deals with rebels and governments and then they rule by neo-colonialism. The intelligence of the African leader is always in question. The sell out continues.

Congo, what a way to go…. It’s a crazy world indeed