OBLONG MEDIA GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE is where independent minds meet to dissect politics, society, power, and global affairs without fear or filters. This is not mainstream media.
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I am beginning to think very seriously that President Muhammadu Buhari might had very noble intentions for Nigeria, but was mostly sabotaged by those in his Party. Thinking of it, have you wondered how it is that these governors who are today insulting the President over what is arguably his best policy decision in eight years, were the same people who cheered him on when he proposed and implement some very unhealthy policies? How come the President actually increased the amount of money in circulation by more than 100% from what he met in 2015, yet money is scarcer than…
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Ahead of next week’s presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday justified the Naira redesign policy of his administration, saying it has contributed immensely to the the reduction of throwing money around in political season. In a nationwide broadcast, the President also directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release old N200 notes into circulation to co-exist with new N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes for 60 days. While also assuring Nigerians that the elections will go ahead as scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he urged Nigerians to go out without fear and vote for anybody they…
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The billionaire is urging “civilizational diversity” as a hedge against total global collapse Any attempt to create a single world government is a cause for concern, since it could strip humanity of diversity and precipitate the end of civilization, billionaire Elon Musk has told a summit of government officials in Dubai. The SpaceX CEO made a virtual appearance at the 2023 World Government Summit in the UAE on Wednesday. The event is aimed at fostering cooperation between nations, but Musk warned against taking it too far. “We want to avoid creating a civilizational risk by having – and this may…
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Mark Milley talked to the FT after traveling to Brussels to coordinate NATO efforts on shoring up Kiev’s firepower The Ukraine conflict can only end through a negotiated peace deal because neither side is likely to achieve its goals on the battlefield, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday. “It will be almost impossible for the Russians to achieve their political objectives by military means,” Milley claimed without providing specific reasons for his stance. “It is unlikely that Russia is going to overrun Ukraine. It’s just not going to happen.” He…
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China, India and Türkiye have boosted imports to partially offset a drop in Russian crude shipments to the EU, a survey has shown Russian oil exports surged to an all-time high last month despite the Western embargo on the country’s seaborne crude imposed in December, the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed in a report on Wednesday. The country’s oil deliveries jumped by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January compared to the previous month, reaching 8.2 million bpd, proving that product exports are holding steady, according to the IEA. Shipments of petroleum products remained unchanged last month and totaled 3.1…
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‘The epicenter of world politics and economic development has shifted eastwards, towards a more equal and balanced dispensation of power’ The Russian ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, assumed office early in 2022, having worked in the country in various diplomatic capacities for decades. On the occasion of Russian Diplomats’ Day, which was observed at the nation’s missions around the world on February 10, Alipov spoke with RT on a host of issues, ranging from the challenges faced by diplomats following the launch of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, to Indo-Russian defense deals and the journey towards a multipolar world, as well…
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday summoned the Finnish Ambassador, over misinfornation, disinformation, hate speech and incitive comments by a Nigerian-Finnish lawyer and Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, which many fear could derail the peaceful conduct of 2023 general elections. At the meeting with the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama expressed displeasure over the orders given by Simon Ekpa to his teeming followers who consequently embarked on killings, maiming, burning and other destructive activities. The Ekpa-led faction of the outlawed Indigenous People’s of Biafra (IPOB) had reportedly declared that elections will not be allowed to…
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By Law Mefor One of the most challenging things in life is decision-making. It is like being at a crossroads, a point at which a crucial decision must be made which will have far-reaching consequences. A wrong decision at this point can lead to lifelong regrets or bliss. That’s why one has to be careful when at crossroads. The coming presidential election presents such a dilemma to the Southeast. Yes, a dilemma for the Southeast in particular, and Ndigbo in general. Though the rest of Nigeria has to deal with the same decision to varying degrees, no case of any…
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The pipelines were sabotaged because Washington saw Russian-German cooperation as a threat, Sergey Lavrov has claimed. US officials are basically admitting that they were behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which was perpetrated to prevent rapprochement between Moscow and Berlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. “The US decided that we [Russia] have been cooperating too well with Germany over the past 20 or 30 years; or rather, the Germans cooperated with us too well,” he said in an interview published on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Sunday. The “powerful alliance” based on Russian energy resources and…
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By Farooq Kperogi When I opened my WhatsApp on Saturday, I saw a higher than usual volume of messages and forwards from friends. The first one I opened was a riotously uneducated, sidesplittingly error-ridden, indefensibly malapropistic press statement attacking me for calling out the Supreme Court’s bizarre perversion of justice in recognizing Senate President Ahmed Lawan as Yobe North’s APC senatorial candidate when he didn’t participate in a primary election. The statement was such an uproariously juvenile drivel that I sincerely thought it was written by someone who was trying his hand at textual comedy—following the wild success of online…
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Trilateral Commission, organization of private citizens founded in 1973 principally by American banker David Rockefeller to confront challenges posed by the growing interdependence of the United States and its principal allies (Canada, Japan, and the countries of western Europe) and to encourage greater cooperation between them. The Trilateral Commission is headed by three regional chairs (for Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region), who are assisted by several deputies, and an executive committee. The entire membership meets annually (the location rotating among the three regions) to consider reports and debate strategy. Regional and national meetings are held throughout the year. Regional headquarters are in Paris, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo. The…
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The Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973 by private citizens of Japan, North American nations (the U.S. and Canada), and Western European nations to foster substantive political and economic dialogue across the world. The idea of the commission was developed in the early 1970s, a time of considerable discord among the United States and its allies in Western Europe, Japan, and Canada. To quote its founding declaration: • “Growing interdependence is a fact of life of the contemporary world. It transcends and influences national systems… While it is important to develop greater cooperation among all the countries of the world,…
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Some governors and chieftains in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are allegedly plotting to go against President Muhammadu Buhari over current policies that they perceive to be targeted against the party. Sources report that the Buhari-led Federal Government had backed the Naira redesign and cash swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The deadline set by the apex bank for the cash swap has resulted in panic among Nigerians as they scramble to get the new notes before the old ones cease to be legal tender. The scarcity of the naira notes and fuel has led to widespread protests, with government…
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The currency redesign and the cash crisis it has engendered have exposed the treacherous nature of Nigeria’s ruling party(APC) and ruling elites. They have sought power and wealth as ends in themselves and not as means to better the society and lots of ordinary Nigerians. Their rallying points are the Nigerian governors who congregate under the amorphous and illegal body called the Nigeria governors forum (NGF). The NGF group is illegal and unconstitutional because they have no such right or mandate; nor is the forum a creation of any law. Some of the governors led by Nasir El Rufai have…
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The Federal Government has said it would obey the ruling of the Supreme Court suspending the February 10 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN on the exchange of naira notes. Recall that the apex court in its ruling on Wednesday, suspended the February 10 deadline on the old naira notes which expires today. The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who confirmed this in an in terview on Arise TV yesterday, said the government was hopeful that the ex parte ruling which expires on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, would be upturned. He said the CBN, which…
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The church recently issued an apology to LGBTQ people for the ‘hostile and homophobic response’ it once gave them The Church of England will offer blessings to same-sex civil unions after its General Synod voted in favor of the measure, its two leaders, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, announced on Thursday. “For the first time, the Church of England will publicly, unreservedly and joyfully welcome same-sex couples in church,” the archbishops said in a statement, while conceding that “the church continues to have deep differences on these questions.” They insisted the Church was “committed to respecting” those “for whom…
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Ukraine began the war in 2014 by targeting civilians in Donbass, the Russian president said Moscow is trying to end the conflict in Ukraine, which was started by Kiev following the 2014 US-backed coup, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “Let me repeat: we did not start the military activities, we are trying to end them,” the president said in a meeting with aviation industry executives in Moscow. Ukrainian nationalists first resorted to force in 2014, with the coup d’etat in Kiev, followed by events in Crimea and in Donbass, he argued. “They started the war,” Putin said. “For eight years, that…
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All eyes are on Nigeria as it prepares for its general election in a fortnight. Has the government convinced Nigerians that their votes, and lives, will be secure? There are some reasons for optimism that the upcoming polls will be an improvement on the 2019 election. First, President Buhari has strongly signaled that he wants a credible, transparent electoral process to be an important part of his legacy. Legal reforms enabled earlier planning and new technology has been deployed to improve voter accreditation and the transmission of results. A surge of new voter registrations, especially among young people, suggests that Nigerians believe the…
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By Prof. Abdullahi Shehu The collapse of the Soviet Union and the decades of the 90s seemed to have reversed the gains made in Africa-Soviet Relations and by extension, in Africa-Russia relations. Understandably, it was a period of politico-ideological downturn and harsh economic realities for Russia, the successor-nation to the Soviet Union. The speech of H. W Bush on December 25, 1991 was clear and unambiguous. He summarized the victory of the value-based American/Western model thus: “This is a victory for democracy and freedom. It is a victory for the moral force of our values. Every American can take pride…
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By Prof Michel Chossudovsky In recent developments, Germany’s Prosecutor General Peter Frank confirmed “there is no evidence to blame Russia for the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines”: “It currently has not been proven (…) The investigation is ongoing (…) We are currently evaluating all this forensically. [The suspicion] that there had been a foreign sabotage act [in this case], has so far not been substantiated”, he said during the interview with Die Welt. If it’s not Russia, Who Did It? “No evidence of foreign sabotage” of an act which has created social havoc and hardship in the European Union, with…
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Hundreds in the dock linked to the mafia clan who feed their enemies to pigs. But the most shocking ‘crime’ in their eyes? The man who ratted them out is a capo’s son Nicola Gratteri, 62, is the prosecutor in the ‘Ndrangheta mobster trials in Italy Nicknamed ‘Signor Untouchable’, he grew up in the mafia-dominated Calabria A total of 355 suspected members of ‘Ndrangheta will take part in a ‘maxi-trial’ It’s Italy’s biggest mafia shakedown since Sicily-based Cosa Nostra trials in 1986 Listening to the recording of a wire-tapped phone call, Nicola Gratteri shuddered at the words: ‘He’s a dead man…
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By Peter Koenig Introduction Remember Bill Gates’ initiative, Agenda ID2020? What we are confronted with now is much worse. It’s Agenda ID2020 on steroids. It’s the worldwide invasion of the QR code – QR coding of everything, including Agenda ID2020 – and all of your most intimate data, health, personal behaviors, habits – track records of where we have been and even where we may be planning to go. Nothing will escape the QR code. Nobody talks about it. It’s been quietly sneaking into our lives, quietly, persistently – but by now almost unavoidably. “What is the infamous ID2020? It’s an…
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By Mike Whitney On February 16, 2022, a full week before Putin sent combat troops into Ukraine, the Ukrainian Army began the heavy bombardment of the area (in east Ukraine) occupied by mainly ethnic Russians.Officials from the Observer Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) were located in the vicinity at the time and kept a record of the shelling as it took place. What the OSCE discovered was that the bombardment dramatically intensified as the week went on until it reached a peak on February 19, when a total of 2,026 artillery strikes were recorded.…
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7 February 2023 By Prof Michel Chossudovsky In recent developments, German Prosecutor General Peter Frank confirmed “there is no evidence to blame Russia for the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines”: “It currently has not been proven (…) The investigation is ongoing (…) We are currently evaluating all this forensically. [The suspicion] that there had been a foreign sabotage act [in this case], has so far not been substantiated”, he said during the interview with Die Welt. No evidence of foreign sabotage of an act which has created social havoc and hardship in the European Union, with rising energy prices? People…
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A senior Nigerian politician plotted to transport a street trader to the UK to harvest one of his organs for as much as £7,000 and the promise of a better life, a court has heard. Ike Ekweremadu, 60, allegedly conspired with family members and others to exploit the 21-year-old man in harvesting his kidney. The then-deputy president of the Nigerian Senate is on trial at the Old Bailey alongside his wife Beatrice Ekweremadu, 56, their 25-year-old daughter Sonia and medical ‘middleman’ Dr Obinna Obeta. Sonia Ekweremadu is alleged to have been the intended recipient of the kidney in an £80,000 private transplant operation at the…
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The founder of Russia’s notorious Wagner mercenary group challenged Volodymyr Zelensky to a dogfight on Monday for the control of Bakhmut, as Ukraine braced for a renewed Russian offensive. Yevgeny Prigozhin threw down the gauntlet to the Ukrainian leader in a bizarre video from the cockpit of an SU-24 fighter-bomber, claiming he had just flown a night sortie over the town in the eastern Donbas region. “Volodymyr Oleksandrovych [Zelensky], we have landed. We have bombed Bakhmut,” he said. “I will fly a MiG-29. If you so desire, let’s meet in the skies. If you win, you take Artemivsk (Bakhmut’s Soviet-era name). If not,…
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For many decades, many Nigerians have continued to blindly trust politicians and leaders who appear at every election curve to tell them the things they love to hear. Time and time again, these cruel politicians have continued to unapologetically smash their hopes and aspirations without consequences and the Nigerian situation has only continued to get worse. Nigerian politicians have consistently failed to deliver on the many promises they make over time. A careful look at the campaign promises that have been dished out from political podiums since the 1979 elections shows that the themes and promises are the same: that of constant…
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February 2, 2023 You cannot give what you don’t have they say and that’s a fact. When a clueless leader like President Muhammadu Buhari is allowed to take over the cockpit of a badly worn-out aircraft like Nigeria, the outcome can be very easy to predict. President Buhari, on record, is officially Nigeria’s worst nemesis and if you permit, the worst leader to be produced by the country. This postulation is not in any way trying to suggest that Nigeria has not had a fair share of bad leaders in the past or that her problems started with President Buhari.…
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Regardless of how one chooses to look at it, these are certainly not the best of times for the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The relationship between himself and the man he claims to have made President eight years ago is clearly not the blossoming one that the minions of both individuals have continuously painted for Nigerians. The cordiality of Tinubu’s relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari and some key figures in his party has been nothing close to being excellent. A fortnight ago, Hajia Naja’atu Muhammad who is the director, Civil Society Liaison, in…
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By Farooq Kperogi February 6, 2023 I was awoken on this side of the world by news of the reversal by the Nigerian Supreme Court of Senate President Ahmed Lawan’s primary election loss. I was already mentally prepared for it after the same Supreme Court affirmed Godswill Akpabio’s fraudulent primary win a few days ago. It’s a well-planned judicial choreography. The Nigerian Supreme Court is straight-up the most hopeless Supreme Court in the history of the world’s supreme courts. The same Court violated common sense and the will of voters and gave us a “Supreme Court governor” in Imo State…
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REVEALED: How Aso Rock Cabal Misled Buhari Into Fuel, Naira Crises Over Plot To Make Atiku President
By Alhassan Bello As Nigerians suffer on the crises caused by the fuel scarcity and naira swap, it has been revealed that the Aso Rock cabal led by Mallam Mamman Daura is behind the problem that is making Nigerians to suffer. Credible sources disclosed in Abuja, Katsina, Adamawa and Sokoto states that those who lost the primaries of APC tried to convince Mamman Daura to get President Muhammadu Buhari to change his mind on his support for Bola Ahmed Tinubu. No particular person among the losers was mentioned in the plot, but reports suggest that the plotters sold a dummy…
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All eyes are on Nigeria as it prepares for its general election. Has the government convinced Nigerians that their votes, and lives, will be secure? Nigeria’s 2023 general election is just weeks away. With incumbent President Mohammadu Buhari term-limited, the country will be choosing a new leader. That new president will immediately confront an exhausting array of challenges, from multiple, complex security crises to a disastrously mismanaged economy. In a recent Afrobarometer survey, nearly 89 percent of Nigerians felt that the country was heading in the wrong direction, and 77 percent were dissatisfied with the way their democracy has been performing. There are…
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At a moment of deep generational fracture, the political opposition would seem to be the least of Bola Tinubu’s problems. For some time now, Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition has been the worst kept secret in Nigerian politics. Although his name will technically be appearing on the ballot for the first time in next month’s general election, truth be told, Tinubu has been gunning for the country’s highest political office since he completed his two terms as Governor of Lagos State in 2007. In that regard, only Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer, who has been involved in…
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For Nigeria’s serial presidential candidate, familiarity is both strength and disadvantage. Of the top contenders for Nigeria’s highest political office in next month’s general election, none approaches Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer, in name recognition. Abubakar has been running for the Nigerian presidency since 1993, and there is no presidential race in which he has not been in the mix since he concluded two terms of office as vice president to Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007. Judging by media reports, his spectacular falling out with his former boss (a relationship that, to his credit, he has tried many…
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from January 21 to January 27, 2023. Below is a visualization and description of some of the most significant incidents of political violence in Nigeria from January 21 to January 27, 2023. This update also represents violence related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. These incidents are included in the Nigeria Security Tracker. ©2023 Council on Foreign Relations. All rights reserved.Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
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Whether he wins the presidency or not, Peter Obi has already changed the course of Nigerian politics for good. This time last year, Peter Obi was just one of several politicians gunning for the presidential ticket of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Personally, he was only hoping to go one step further than he had four years ago when he secured the same party’s nomination as running mate to Atiku Abubakar. All that changed in the last week of May when, citingdevelopments within the party which made it “impossible to continue participating and making constructive contributions,” Obi unexpectedly quit the…
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By Ben Norton Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia have rejected requests by the United States and European Union that they send weapons to Ukraine. The commander of the US military’s Southern Command (Southcom), which operates in Latin America and the Caribbean, revealed on January 19 that Washington has been pressuring countries in the region to arm Ukraine. Southcom wants Latin American nations to “replace [their] Russian equipment with United States equipment – if those countries want to donate it to Ukraine”, said Army General Laura J. Richardson. But Latin America’s left-wing leaders have refused, instead maintaining neutrality and urging peace. The socialist…
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By Barbara Nimri Aziz Commentators are busy speculating how the American president’s promise – endorsed by the country as enthusiastically as Zelensky himself– of M1 Abram tanks to Ukraine will affect the war that grinds on in Ukraine. Many assume that gifts of fighter jets will follow shortly. What disturbs me is the semantics of Biden’s announcement of the gift, rationalized and neatly summed up by, “We all want an end to this war.” I wonder if Joe Biden is aware that his statement comes in the very week that marks 50 years since the inglorious end of the U.S. war in Vietnam, (noted more…
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Realizing NATO’s war with Russia will likely end unfavorably, the US is test-driving an exit offer. But why should Moscow take indirect proposals seriously, especially on the eve of its new military advance and while it is in the winning seat? Those behind the Throne are never more dangerous than when they have their backs against the wall. Their power is slipping away, fast: Militarily, via NATO’s progressive humiliation in Ukraine; Financially, sooner rather than later, most of the Global South will want nothing to do with the currency of a bankrupt rogue giant; Politically, the global majority is taking…
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By Mac Slavo Bill Gates has warned that the next pandemic will be worse than COVID-19 and it’ll also be “man-made.” The Microsoft co-founder said that the next one will be “much more brutal” than the mild cold symptoms experienced with the coronavirus. Gates told the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney on Monday that the ruling class needs to set aside their “differences “and work together to control the public to prepare for the next virus. He called for greater global cooperation using the Covid-19 pandemic as an example of how countries could improve their stranglehold on humanity and…
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Healing will always naturally come where there is justice and hence whenever justice is denied, any efforts made at chasing peace and reconciliation will thus always end up an exercise in futility. The question is; does Nigeria want genuine healing that can help it eventually lay events of the last 63 years to rest? The answer is simply embedded in her body language which is a screaming No. The avoidable deaths of more than three million people as a result of the brutal genocide which took place between 1967 -1970 is one that can never be swept under the carpet. This genocide…
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“Was Tinubu planning to be the president of the living or the dead?…” Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known for his opposition to the Nazi regime during the late 1930s and his widely quoted 1946 poem featured on the United States Holocaust Memorial, it reads: “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out -because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews,…
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Part II Recent Developments. We are at a Dangerous Crossroads While there are divisions within NATO, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) (January 25, 2022), that Germany and its allies [NATO] are at war with Russia: In mid-November 2022, Der Spiegel published a leaked German Defense Ministry document [68 pages], revealing that the Bundeswehr is preparing for war with Russia [See below] The secret draft titled “Operational guidelines for the Armed Forces” was authored Germany’s Chief of Staff, General Eberhard Zorn himself. For further details, documents, and analysis see detailed article below: Turkey is both a “NATO Heavyweight” as well as…
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Part I Introduction In the course of the last 11 months, I have been reviewing on a daily basis numerous carefully documented articles on the unfolding war in Ukraine, The evolving consensus — after eleven months which emanates from the senior ranks of the US military and intelligence establishment — is that Ukraine “has lost the war”. What strikes me in this ingenuous assessment is something which should have been obvious to analysts from the very outset of Russia’s “Special Operation”. Ukraine Had Lost the War Before it Even Started I will start with the obvious, much of which has been confirmed by official sources and analysis. From Day…
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31 January 2023 By Dr. Russell Blaylock The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most manipulated infectious disease events in history, characterized by official lies in an unending stream lead by government bureaucracies, medical associations, medical boards, the media, and international agencies.[3 , 6 , 57] We have witnessed a long list of unprecedented intrusions into medical practice, including attacks on medical experts, destruction of medical careers among doctors refusing to participate in killing their patients and a massive regimentation of health care, led by non-qualified individuals with enormous wealth, power and influence. For the first time in American history…
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1 February 2023 By Jacob G. Hornberger President Kennedy had a unique ability that Pentagon generals did not have. He was able to analyze an international crisis by placing himself in the shoes of his adversary in an attempt to understand his adversary’s motives. Doing that enabled him to figure a way out of the crisis that did not involve war. The response of the generals and the Pentagon was always the same: invade, bomb, kill, and destroy. Today’s generals are no different from their counterparts back in the early 1960s. They are unable to step into the shoes of…
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31 January 2023 By Prof Michel Chossudovsky Introduction At no point since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, has humanity been closer to the unthinkable. All the safeguards of the Cold War era, which categorized the nuclear bomb as “a weapon of last resort”, have been scrapped. Vladimir Putin’s statement on February 21st, 2022 was a response to US threats to use nuclear weapons on a preemptive basis against Russia, despite Joe Biden’s “reassurance” that the US would not be resorting to “A first strike” nuclear attack against an enemy of America: “Let me [Putin] explain that U.S. strategic planning…
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31 January 2023 By F. William Engdahl Since the creation of the US Federal Reserve over a century ago, every major financial market collapse has been deliberately triggered for political motives by the central bank. The situation is no different today, as clearly the US Fed is acting with its interest rate weapon to crash what is the greatest speculative financial bubble in human history, a bubble it created. Global crash events always begin on the periphery, such as with the 1931 Austrian Creditanstalt or the Lehman Bros. failure in September 2008. The June 15 decision by the Fed to impose…
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We gather around the school in Mariupol. All windows without exception are broken. The rooms inside are fully demolished. The Ukrainian have used the school and its surrounding as defense position. At 09:00 in the morning, humanitarian aid will be distributed. We start talking with Mariupol’s locals. ‘The Azov Battalions have bombarded our house’ The biggest and most urgent problem is housing. A great number of houses and building are in a shape they cannot even be accessed. The Azov Battalions have occupied the houses, forced part of the inhabitants to leave and go to the cellars, while keeping others…
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IT was always obvious to keen, disinterested observers that Bola Tinubu’s gamble in helping Buhari to ascend to power won’t pay off in the end; that his opportunistic political love affair with Buhari won’t be requited; and that the brittle, delicately thin thread that held their relational dynamic would snap sooner or later. I wrote countless columns on this. Tinubu won the nomination of the APC not because of Buhari and the cabal of provincial power brokers that prop himbut in spite of them. Tinubu was compelled to ventilate his famously impassioned “emi lo kan” outburst in Abeokuta (in the…
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Never mind, I once referred to him as ‘Rebel Leader’! That was the appropriate language of the official perception of his role at that time, during the Nigerian Civil War; but he was His Excellency, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu – Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria. However, i can testify that he was not only a remarkable and interesting man, he was also a brave and courageous Soldier – Statesman. I say this because i knew him as a colleague and he was my friend. However, owing to the fact that we were on opposing sides of the civil war, many…
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Growing up, there was this expression we took both as a joke and a rebuke for one exaggerating: no one who examines him or herself has ever failed. This maxim filled the mind while hearing or reading President Muhammadu Buhari score himself as excellent. Mr. President came away with the ‘A’ for his scorecard, unabashedly claiming: “I have not failed Nigerians “. Haba Mr. Presido! The President did not however state the aspects of governance where his promises to Nigerians scaled so excellently for him to thump his chest so loudly and come away with such an amazing grade. One…
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After a careful research to find the meaning and implications of the term “multipolar world” often used these days, the freedictionary and englopedia offer insights as a system of world order in which the majority of global leading powers coordinate and commonly agree on economic, political and cultural influence and mutually acceptable directions. Both dictionaries further explain that countries have multipolar approaches to foreign policy. Participating countries necessarily conceive multiple centers of power or influence in the world, have a multipolar approach to foreign policy. Multipolar world could mean the various differences in thoughts, views and ideas regarding anything in…
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By Kester Kenn Klomegah Russian Presidential Special Representative for Middle East and Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov, in an April 2022 interview to Interfax news agency, offered an insight into aspects of Russia’s policy objectives, initiatives and future prospects in Africa. He highlighted a few obstacles for Russia’s inability to realize its set goals and tasks during the past several years. What is spectacularly interesting in the interview text concerns Soviet and Russian education for Africans. Bogdanov authoritatively told the interviewer, Ksenia Baygarova, that Africa has always been an important region from the point of view of foreign policy of the Russian Federation.…
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January 22, 2023 at 11:00 PM CST Full story here. After years of stop-and-go litigation, Nigeria could be on the hook for a debilitating $11 billion payout if a trial which started on Monday in a London court doesn’t go its way. The Nigerian government urged the UK high court to stop the hedge fund-backed firm Process & Industrial Development Ltd. from collecting a massive arbitration award that was handed down in 2017 following a failed — and allegedly fraudulent — gas deal. That amount equals almost a third of Nigeria’s forex reserves, and its payout would deal a huge…
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A very objective assessment of the Buhari administration Sunday, Jan 22, 2023 Few weeks ago, he turned 80. At that, he is the oldest Nigerian to serve as the leader of this country. He is unarguably one of the luckiest Nigerians. Besides Olusegun Obasanjo who became Nigeria’s democratically-elected President, having served as military Head of State, no other person has been as lucky as President Muhammadu Buhari, not only for twice emerging as Nigeria’s leader, but more because on both occasions, he landed the presidency of the country on a platter of gold. Even when he emerged as Military Head…
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After a chaotic early period after the starter’s gun was fired, things have settled and the picture of the choice of potential or prospective candidates has now emerged. But what exactly do Nigerians want from their elected leaders? Nigerians, like any other people, want what they have always wanted: consistent electricity supply, adequate safety and security, good health service and education, properly functioning institutions, and decent infrastructure all of which make for human flourishing. Each election cycle promises change which never happens. What many do not realise is that democracy is not really about the government of the people, even…
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Nigerians say they want credible, responsive, responsible and accountable leadership. They also need security, critical infrastructure, ease of business, job security, top notch health facilties, quality educational institutions, constant electricity supply, affordable homes etc. For decades, these have been the cravings and desires of every average Nigerian. A major concept in economics is the concept of wants and needs. Our current challenges spring from an inability to identify the difference between wants and needs. Until a balance is created between human wants and needs, the situation may never be different from what a bird goes through when it perches on…
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19th January, 2023. Press Statement. ……Calls on their Constituents to ensure they are voted out in the forthcoming general elections. The PDP Candidate for Imo East Senatorial District, Hon. Barr. Uche Onyeagocha strongly condemns Imo Lawmakers for voting against the proposed financial autonomy of legislature, judiciary and local Governments. legislative and local government financial autonomy. These lawmakers who voted against financial autonomy of legislature and judiciary acted in bad faith; Hon. Eddy Obinna, Hon. Samuel Otuibe, Hon. Emeka Nduka, Hon. Arthur Egwim, Hon. Johnson Duru, Hon. Michael Onyemaechi, Hon. Uche Ogbuagu, Hon. Chiji Collins-Isiala, Hon. Ngozi Obiefule Hon. Uju Onwudiwe,…
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By Peter Koenig The World Economic Forum (WEF) has reached a new climax. It apparently has become a hub for high-flier and high-priced prostitution, pardon, “Escort Services”. Like never before. This is amply covered by the international media. With exception of a few, the major Swiss media remain silent. Why? Why is Switzerland still hosting this new Sodom and Gomorrah? Politely called the Chaos of Davos? The citizens of Davos dislike the WEF meeting ever more vehemently. It destroys not just their tranquility, but also their winter sport pleasure and business. Tourists stay away. They do not want to be…
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By Dr. Joseph Mercola There’s a new COVID variant making the rounds, and it’s said to be “the most transmissible” variant to date. The new variant, XBB.1.5, was quickly dubbed the “Kraken,” which is a moniker referring to a legendary sea beast that could not be defeated But there’s nothing particularly noteworthy, and certainly nothing scary, about this new variant. It’s more transmissible but causes milder disease than previous Omicron variants. Most experience only mild cold symptoms Behavioral scientists have long known that fear of contagion makes people both intolerant toward others and compliant with authority. As such, fear is…
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By Steve Kirsch I bet $1M that the vax causes strokes. Any takers? They knew this at the very start of the vaccination campaign if they were paying attention to the adverse event reports. I’ll show you how they knew. Executive summary The COVID vaccines cause strokes. There is no doubt about it. In fact, I’m so sure of this, I will bet anyone $1M that I got it right and the CDC got it wrong by dismissing the signal. I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is. Are any of the drug companies willing to do that?…
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20 January 2023 Let’s start with three interconnected multipolar-driven facts. First: One of the key take aways from the World Economic Forum annual shindig in Davos, Switzerland is when Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan, on a panel on “Saudi Arabia’s Transformation,” made it clear that Riyadh “will consider trading in currencies other than the US dollar.” So is the petroyuan finally at hand? Possibly, but Al-Jadaan wisely opted for careful hedging: “We enjoy a very strategic relationship with China and we enjoy that same strategic relationship with other nations including the US and we want to develop that with Europe and other countries.” Second: The…
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20 January 2023 By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts As a participant in the 20th century Cold War, I can tell you that the Cuban Missile Crisis had the effect of convincing the leaders of the US and the USSR that trust had to be created between the two nuclear superpowers in order resolve differences and prevent a reoccurrence of tensions at the level of the Cuban Missile Crisis. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev worked together independently of their military/security bureaucracies to resolve the issue. Both paid a price. President Kennedy was murdered by the CIA and Joint Chiefs of…
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15 January 2023 By Prof. Yakov M. Rabkin and Prof. Samir Saul The war in the Ukraine has revived Western plans of dismembering Russia and, in the words of the promoters of this idea, to complete the dismantlement of the Soviet Union. Active efforts, including ample funds, are being spent on fomenting ethnic nationalism among Russia’s many ethnic groups. Meetings are convened outside Russia in order to stimulate separatism along ethnic lines. The plan of breaking up the country is sometimes labelled “decolonization of Russia”. Since most fervent opposition to Russia is articulated by political groups that consider themselves progressive (such as…
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By Mike Whitney Billionaire elites are using their power over the media, the political class and public opinion to coerce Joe Biden into sending US troops to Ukraine to prevent a Russian victory. Idiot conservatives think the media is actually doing their job for once by accurately reporting Biden’s alleged transgressions. But, the fact is, the media is simply showing that it can switch sides at any time in order to pursue the elitist agenda. No one should be surprised that Joe Biden’s ‘classified documents problem’ has emerged at the same time a key city in Ukraine (Soledar) has been…
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To: Anya Ndi-Igbo and other Igbo elite groups c/o Chidi OsuagwuFrom: ChinweizuDate: 12 January 2023 Subject: Contingency planning for the 2023 election results There is a possibility that the Peter Obi campaign result, if not properly handled, could be disastrous for Ndi-Igbo. I therefore suggest you guys at Anya-Ndi-Igbo should do contingency planning on ways to handle it to avoid the dangers. Consider these three scenarios and the dangers they pose: Case #1: Peter Obi is declared winner by INECNdi-Igbo have a track record of not knowing how to behave safely in victory or what looks like their approaching victory.…
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By Law Mefor Prof ABC Nwosu just resigned his membership on the PDP Board of Trustees, protesting jettisoning of the zoning principle by the main opposition PDP. The value of his resignation needs to be calculated by interrogating his role in the Ortom zoning committee. History is a bitch and the burden of it can hardly be shaken off by those who fall on the wrong side. As a reminder, Prof Nwosu represented Anambra state in the Governor Samuel Ortom Committee on the zoning of the Presidential ticket of the main opposition Party, PDP. The 37-member zoning committee, which included…
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(An Open Letter to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former head of state, former President, Federal Republic of Nigeria) Dear General, I sincerely hope this letter meets you in your usual high spirits. A boy advising his father is rather a very difficult task. His effort can easily suffer ad hominem (the advice being misconstrued as directed against the person rather than the position they are maintaining). In traditional Nigerian society also, a son cannot chide his father openly. An Igbo adage states, If a boy lifts his father his sight will be covered by the old man (his father)’s scrotum. However,…
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His failure to bring peace or prosperity offers lessons for his successor Jan 9th 2023 “Buhari has given us very big wahala (trouble),” says Usama Sani, a student in Kano, the biggest city in northern Nigeria. “There is insecurity and unemployment,” he complains, before shouting: “We are going to kick Buhari aside!” President Muhammadu Buhari used to be popular in Kano; he won landslide support there in two presidential elections. Now, says another student, Umar Garba Umar, “we are so hungry for change.” Even members of Mr Buhari’s own All Progressives Congress (apc) are down on the outgoing president. Kashim…
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By Peter Omonua; Sahara Reporters, January 6, 2023. Sometime in early 2021, news filtered out that Bola Ahmed Tinubu had assured the northern APC leaders that he would sell a Muslim/Muslim ticket to the Southwest and they would buy it. The report has it that at the meeting where the commitment was made, they asked him how he was going to convince the Southeast to vote for the same ticket. He was alleged to have responded that the Southeast did not really matter in the calculation, that as long as he could convince his people in Yoruba land and they…
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Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, Sunday, 8th Jan 2023 The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety)* is deeply dismayed by new postings announced by the authorities of the Nigerian Army. The authorities of the Nigerian Army and the Presidency have continued to collapse the High Command cadre of the Army in the hands of Northerners particularly members of the Northern Muslim population; thereby scornfully and magisterially treating the general and privileged populations of the country and the country’s civil and military spaces as if they permanently belong to “a homogenous theocratic Islamic State”. Intersociety is shocked at the…
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The presidential candidate has enjoyed a rapid rise from outsider to election frontrunner. Is his country ready? Richard Assheton, LagosSaturday January 07 2023, The Sunday Times In Lagos there is no arguing with traffic. So when crowds backing a smiling, mild-mannered outsider for president brought gridlock to Nigeria’s teeming megacity late last year, it proved that their man had arrived as a force to be reckoned with. Afrobeats music ringing in their ears, thousands of supporters of Peter Obi filled the streets. Many converged near the Lekki tollgate, where in 2020 soldiers had massacred people protesting against the same corruption…
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January 5, 2023 Peter Obi has rekindled hope in the fact that the North actually holds a vital key to Nigeria’s future prosperity. In recent times, it has been generally acknowledged that no personality has stirred the nation’s political space as much as Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party since he took the bold step of contesting Nigeria’s presidency. As the phenomenon continues to unfold, those who gave Peter Obi very minimal attention are coming to terms with the realization that it is not a fluke after all. Once described as “a group of four young…
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𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 (𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟏 -𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟒) 𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟏-𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟐: The Anglo-Aro wars to subdue the domination of the Aro hegemony. Military Garrison established in Owerri. 𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟑: Owerri Native Court established. 𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟔: Owerri becomes Divisional Headquarters in the Eastern Province. Egerton disapproves the proposed Owerri-Isiokpo railway. 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟎: The proposed Itu-Ikot Ekpene-Owerri-Oguta Railway project, declined by the colonial authorities. 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟐: E.O Okoroji from Aro appointed Court clerk in Sogho Native Court, Ogoni. 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟓: Sierra-Leonians, Liberians Ghanians and other educated Africans dominate/pioneer clerical services, contracts, commercial firms in the city of Port-Harcourt. 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟑: Port-Harcourt established on the banks of the Bonny River to export coal from Enugu…
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Nothing speaks better to a time like this than the message embedded in ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’. Particularly in the Southeast. I have deployed the 18th century poem by German writer and politician, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe several times on this page. It tells a compelling story that begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving an apprentice with chores to perform. The apprentice, who had apparently observed his master at work, enchants a broomstick to help him with the task of fetching water, deploying a magic he was not yet fully trained in. Although the magic instantly began to…
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This article by learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Muiz Banire, gives an overview of extent of the violence and insecurity that has encompassed practically all parts of the country, and chastises Politicians for being more interested in the upcoming elections of 2023, rather than being part of the solution to our present problems; reminding us about Somalia, Liberia and Rwanda, wondering if perhaps, there will be anything left to govern in 2023 if things are allowed to continue like this Introduction The security situation in Nigeria, has become wholly intractable. What started as an isolated case of insurgency in…
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‘Nearly all men can stand adversity.If you want to test a man’s character, give him power.’– Abraham Lincoln President Muhammadu Buhari says, for the umpteenth time, that he cannot wait for the end of his term. He says he plans to live as far away from Abuja as he can when he serves his two terms out.Recently, he was specific in preferring Daura, his hometown, where he will live in peace without being troubled by anyone. In recent days, he had lamented that he has not been as appreciated as he should have been, in spite of doing his best.…
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Research has revealed that the richest person of all time lived in the 14th century in West Africa and went by many names, including Kankan Musa Keita, Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata and the Lion of Mali II, but today he is usually referred to as Mansa Musa. Adjusting his wealth to modern values, he was worth about an estimated $400 billion as the Sultan of ancient Mali, which controlled the trade routes across the Sahara Desert.Mali empire was a central to several key trading routes in the world, and with the support…
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Bernard Arnault, the CEO and chair of LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is now the world’s richest man after toppling Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk. According to Forbes Real Time ranking of the richest, Arnault’s net worth is $180.8 billion. Elon Musk’s net worth dropped to $137.5 billion, from about $200 billion, following the crash of Tesla stocks. Tesla has seen 69% of its value vanish amid Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and related online antics. On Tuesday, the stock plummeted by 11 percent. The latest crash came amid news that the company planned to suspend production at its Shanghai factory in…
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150 years from now, none of us reading this post today will be alive. 70 percent to 100 percent of everything we are fighting over right now will be totally forgotten. Underline the word, TOTALLY. If we go back memory lane to 150 years before us, that will be 1872, none of those that carried the world on their heads then are alive today. Almost all of us reading this will find it difficult to picture anybody’s face of that era. Pause for a while and imagine how some of them betrayed their relatives and sold them as slaves for…
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In Colonial Lagos , Lady Oyinkan Ajasa (Lady Oyinkan Abayomi) was born daughter of Sir Kitoye Ajasa, a Yoruba aristocrat who was the first Nigerian to be knighted by the British, and Lucretia Olayinka Moore, a princess of Egba royal family, in Lagos, was born on March 6, 1897. She schooled at the Anglican Girls’ Seminary in Lagos and graduated in 1909. From there to Young Ladies Academy at Ryford Hall, Gloucestershire. In 1917, she attended the Royal Academy of Music in London. She moved back to Lagos in 1920 and became a music teacher at the Anglican Girls’ Seminary.…
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A. NigerDock is the largest ship fabrication yard in West Africa sub region. When it was sold, its Ex-MD Engr. Nkpubre Okon, openly stated how “Mr Job Creator” ignored the Transport Ministry then to Open bid for NigerDock. Atiku’s preferred bidder, ‘Global Energy’ that agreed to increase NigerDock’s workforce from 4,800 to 6,000 as part of privatization agreement dismissed 2,200 immediately it took ownership. Jagal Group that took over after Global Energy lost out on power play also sacked 1,400. B. Nigeria Port Authority reform was purely contrived to grab landed properties. 10,000 workers were sacked & 133 bids opened…
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Recently, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen carelessly revealed the devastating cost of the Ukraine war. “It is estimated that more than 20,000 civilians and 100,000 Ukrainian military personnel have died to date,” she said. The comment drew sharp backlash and the E.C. later deleted the comments from video recordings of the address. The censorship was left unexplained and demonstrated the confusion of the purveyors of the approved narrative. If Von der Leyen’s estimate is true, that is nearly ten times the number of dead Ukrainian soldiers reported by the Ukrainian government. The E.C. president’s remark shows that even the strongest backers…
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Dmitry Trenin: Post-Soviet Russia is dead, but what will replace the West as the country’s primary inspiration? Entering a new period of turbulence in 2022, Russia will change beyond recognition, but we have yet to know precisely how. To describe in one word what 2022 has been for Russia? I would say – transformative. This is nothing new. Wars invariably reconstruct the foundations of those who wage them. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is not a minor operation. Even after only ten months, its impact appears to be far bigger than that of the Crimean War of the mid-19th century…
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How exactly does the mind of Tinubu supporters work? What is their thought process, really? Are they supporting Tinubu because they genuinely believe he is mentally and physically sound to preside over Nigeria or they just want to punish the over 200 million of us? Here is a man whose real name you don’t even know. His academic record, age and ancestry are all shrouded in mystery. 20 years of his life was practically deleted from history. Health-wise, he is not good and you don’t even need a doctor to confirm that. Mentally, he is not in a good place.…
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(Published on Monday, 19 December, 2022) Muhammadu Buhari started his presidency with “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.” Will he end as a nobody’s man? Sometimes, and for some, it is gracious to maintain one’s lane, listen to your own vision, single, unattached. French statesman, Charles de Gaulle, who holds the copyright of “I am a man who belongs to nobody and who belongs to everybody” deeply said on another occasion that “If Joan of Arc had married, she would no longer have been Joan of Arc.” Whatever that means – Joan was 15th century France’s iron…
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Believed to be Nigeria’s First Millionaire, Candido da Rocha (1860–1959) was so rich that he frequently sent his dirty clothes from Lagos to be washed by a laundry man in the United Kingdom. Da Rocha was a rich entrepreneur, businessman, landowner and creditor who owned Water House or Casa d’Agua on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, Lagos. It was named Water House because it was the first and only house in Lagos in those days to have a borehole and in turn sell water to the residents. Candido Da Rocha, a native of Ilesha, present-day Osun State, was born to the…
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Leader of the ‘unseen’ persons ruling us, Alhaji Mamman Daura, spoke last week. He said enough of turn-by-turn presidency for Nigeria. He decreed that North-South rotation of the presidency of Nigeria should be dead; from 2023, the most competent among contenders would be put in the Presidential Villa. Post script (We are begining to see the signs of the Competence Concept with the Senate Presidents reference to Shettima as President and Shettimas claim of his official entitlement in Office as Vice President) The Afenifere reacted sharply; the North is silent; the Ohanaeze spoke hard. Leaders of the Niger Delta also…
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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) are the two most dominant political parties that do not need introduction in Nigeria. The two parties have woefully piloted the affairs of the supposedly giant of Africa since 1999 to a state of regrettable moribund it is today as a sleeping giant. The names of these two parties sound cancerous, tragic, depict failure and activate horror to the ears of many Nigerians. The reasons are not farfetched. Under PDP and APC every part of Nigeria bleeds, and nothing functions properly except corruption. With these two parties at the helm of…
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“Conscious of this (Northern) hegemony and the fact that it does not have to be incompatible with the progress of Nigeria I have always argued that Northern hegemony per se is not the problem of Nigeria. It is the double jeopardy indicated in its abuse and wanton mismanagement that is the problem”. Whenever I write on the subject of Northern hegemony in Nigerian politics, I have always found the need to enter this rider to guarantee a fulsome understanding of my premises on the subject matter.An underlying theme of the post independent political history of Nigeria is what has come…
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As Nigerians await the thrilling year of 2023 to see who succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock, Nigerians in Diaspora can make impactful contributions by blackmailing, arm twisting their wards to shun cultic partisanship and vote to elect the right Individual as president come 2023. Our votes are going to count and there is proper planning ongoing to ensure every Nigerian home and abroad will contribute to voting the right individuals. Diasporans seem not to understand the mighty power of influence they have over the recipients of their sustaining largesse. Every diasporan has direct influence over not less than…
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On the 9 of June 1991, at the Iwuanyanwu Glass House, Ugwuorji, Owerri, elders of the State of the time with honour and integrity recommended that for equity, fairness and justice, democratic processes regarding to the office of the Executive Governor of Imo State shall be by rotation. Some notable elders from Owerri zone who appended their signatures to the agreement included Chief Engr. E.C. Iwuanyanwu, Chief Evan Enwerem, J.C. Odunna, Barr. B.S.C Nzenwa, Chief Onyenso Nwachukwu, Chief R.O. Onyenobi, Chief B.A Nwanne, Prof. Roland Anyanwu, Dr. F.U Ukoha, Barr. R.C Azuatalam, Chief Engr. R.O Ugorji. Dr. A.C Ohashiegbula and…
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Only a world united by common goals can act on the challenges it faces, the Russian President said. The West and its allies are playing a “dirty game,” the prize in which is global dominance, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. However, the US and its allies are not safe from the consequences of their own actions, he added. “Power over the world is what the West has put at stake in the game it plays. This game is certainly dangerous, bloody and I would call it dirty.” The Russian president’s comments came at a Valdai Discussion Club meeting outside…
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For the first time in its modern democratic political history, Nigeria is experiencing a presidential candidacy that is supremely equipped to furnish the country with a transformational leadership. Since its independence in 1960, Nigeria has been described as having enormous potential, but the potential has remained largely unrealized due to poor leadership. If Nigeria makes the best political leadership choice right now—the effect on the country’s socio-economic profile would be transformational. It would set the country on the path to finally realizing its potential. Many Nigerians, especially the youth and countless other citizens who are tired of remaining in the…
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Peter Obi’s enemies are very clever and audacious. They are determined to ruin him and the promise of his movement. Imagine, they appointed for him a certain Mr. John Ezeigbe Ughulu as his campaign coordinator for Lagos State. Lagos is a Yoruba state in the South-West. Yoruba don’t bear Ughulu. It is an Igbo name. Only an enemy of an Igbo-born presidential candidate with a lot of promise would tuck such a combustible contraband, a lighted roll of weed in his electoral pocket. The enemies are not done with Obi. They went to Sokoto, seat of the caliphate, and planted…
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(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 24 October, 2022) The Washington Post of May 29, 1979 reported an exchange between President Idi Amin Dada of Uganda and an agent of a British money-printing firm. The Ugandan dictator asked the man to help him print two million Ugandan shillings worth of 100 shilling notes. The Briton accepted the offer but “gingerly” asked Idi Amin how he was going to be paid for his services. “Print three million and take one million for yourself” was Amin’s answer. The Ugandan leader had a minister of foreign exchange. Before Idi Amin’s engagement with…
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Nigeria’s problems are essentially civilizational. Contrary to permutations that the 2023 presidential election will be significantly different from the past ones, it is still niche-carving, cult-following, and primordial sentiments that will produce Nigeria’s next president. The 2023 Presidential Election is upon us and surely it will be peculiar in many respects but much more will remain the same. Initially, the 2023 general election was perceived as a two-horse race between the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which is quite determined to return to power. However, the emergence of Mr. Peter Obi…
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Slave trade in the U.S. remains a complicated period in history that continues to negatively affect Africans and African Americans alike. The transatlantic slave trade saw about two million people enslaved in the U.S. Most of them were Africans who were uprooted from their homes. Through their harrowing experiences on the ships, many of these enslaved Africans even died before reaching their new homes. For the many who survived, it was the beginning of sleepless nights, several hours of work on plantations on empty stomachs and the constant reminder that in their new lives they were nothing but a commodity…
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