Join this movement of the age – Ban all arms to Africa

BY HERBERT EKWE-EKWE

(excerpts from Readings from Reading: Essays on African Politics, Genocide, Literature [pp. 183-194] which you may find helpful as you decide to join the movement)

… It should therefore be stressed that whilst the dichotomy often placed between “legal arms” and “illegal arms” by some observers (in the African militarisation, genocide and war debate) has some analytical credit, its outcome on the ground, particularly in enabling us evaluate the comparative impact that the two categories ultimately pose on African social co-existence and security, always comes as a shock! Contrary to the initial value judgement that most people would make between the “legality” of a particular commodity (in this case, arms) and its “illegality”, it is definitely no comfort at all when it is shown at the end of the exercise that the overwhelming majority of the 15 million killed in Africa’s genocide and wars in the past 45 years were in fact slaughtered with the use of “legal” armaments, operated seemingly legally by the armed forces of the state and their allies. The examples of the Nigerian state in 1966-1970, the Rwandan central government in the 1990s, and the current Arab regime in Khartoum are acutely illustrative of this cataclysmic sequence. In effect, whether “legal” or “illegal”, armaments in Africa, controlled overwhelmingly by the African state and its allies, are used to murder targeted African nations and populations domiciled within these states; the African states, since the Igbo genocide, have deployed armaments in their armouries to murder their peoples most brutally, massively and extensively. These states, starting from Nigeria, have murdered a ghastly total of 15 million Africans in a generation. They are still murdering without let up… They have devastated communities. They have disfigured and traumatised peoples’ lives and aspirations. In the hands of the typical African state, since the Igbo genocide, these armaments, even though classified “conventional”, are indeed weapons of mass destruction. Nothing else, but weapons of mass destruction… In Africa, the pistol, the rifle, the grenade, the rocket, the bazooka, the landmine, the helicopter gunship, the naval gunship, the fighter aircraft, the bomber, the tank – each and every one of these items, imported by and large from abroad, is a killer used primarily by the state to murder targeted peoples within its border. The African state should and must be stopped from murdering peoples within its frontiers. The rest of the world, especially from where weapons to these African states originate, day in and day out, can no longer remain bystanders as this orgy of death is brazenly played out in Africa. Since the Igbo genocide, the African state has been destroying African lives; they are presently destroying African lives; they will continue to destroy African lives until stopped. The African state must surely be stopped from its pursuit of this pulverising mission of death…

… On this score, the ethos that governs the African journey of recovery is the commitment of all Africans and the demand that they need to make to the rest of the world to place a mandatory embargo on all arms sales and transfers to all of Africa, as well as a complete demilitarisation of the continent. Africa needs justice and peace for, and with itself, to enable it embark on the much-vaunted era of reconstruction…

… On this, Africa’s challenge to the rest of the world couldn’t be clearer: those who live outside Africa but “care so much for Africa” should now scale down their multitudinous “aid-ventures for Africa” and turn their incredible talents to lobbying their respective states and other institutions in their countries and elsewhere to ban arms sales/transfers to Africa. This new focus for the world’s leading charities, away from the band-aid syndrome, will surely be more exciting, even less taxing, but definitely more rewarding for the ultimate outcome for Africa and the rest of the world alike. Africa seeks no resources from anyone, not even for one US dollar, to accomplish its current transformative mission to dismantle the genocide state. It is simply asking the world to completely seal off its vast armouries to deny access to the deadly claws of the African genocide state. For once, no one is asking anyone to raise money for Africa! Given the devastating impact of arms, arming, armies, genocide and other armed conflicts on Africa’s tragic history and the present, Africa, today, projects an unwavering signpost for the world’s attention that proclaims: Africa Is An Arms-Free Zone. A demilitarised continent. No More Arms Sales Or Transfers To Africa…

(Why not get a copy of Readings from Reading today, read through the argument and join the movement to ban all arms to Africa. There is no centralising arm of this movement. You are the centre! Form yours today by sharing with family and friends and colleagues everywhere – at discussion/entertainment venues, work, places of worship and spiritual fellowship, union meetings [trades, schools/colleges, family/village/town/district/regional, etc., etc.], next surgery with your electoral ward/precinct/local government representative, member of parliament/congressperson/senator… You can begin and join this movement wherever you are in the world. To ban arms to Africa is at once supporting African wellbeing and that of the rest of humanity. Now is the time!)

U.S. Drug War Expands To Africa, A Newer Hub For Cartels

William Brownfield of the State Department, in Honduras in March, aims to improve nations’ ability to deal with trafficking. Photo: Orlando Sierra/Agence France Presse/Getty Images

By Charlie Savage and Thom Shanker, New York Times

WASHINGTON — In a significant expansion of the war on drugs, the United States has begun training an elite unit of counternarcotics police in Ghana and planning similar units in Nigeria and Kenya as part of an effort to combat the Latin American cartels that are increasingly using Africa to smuggle cocaine into Europe.

The growing American involvement in Africa follows an earlier escalation of antidrug efforts in Central America, according to documents, Congressional testimony and interviews with a range of officials at the State Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pentagon.

In both regions, American officials are responding to fears that crackdowns in more direct staging points for smuggling — like Mexico and Spain — have prompted traffickers to move into smaller and weakly governed states, further corrupting and destabilizing them.

The aggressive response by the United States is also a sign of how greater attention and resources have turned to efforts to fight drugs as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have wound down.

“We see Africa as the new frontier in terms of counterterrorism and counternarcotics issues,” said Jeffrey P. Breeden, the chief of the D.E.A.’s Europe, Asia and Africa section. “It’s a place that we need to get ahead of — we’re already behind the curve in some ways, and we need to catch up.”

The initiatives come amid a surge in successful interdictions in Honduras since May — but also as American officials have been forced to defend their new tactics after a commando-style team of D.E.A. agents participated in at least three lethal interdiction operations alongside a squad of Honduran police officers. In one of those operations, in May, the Honduran police killed four people near the village of Ahuas, and in two others in the past month American agents have shot and killed smuggling suspects.

To date, officials say, the D.E.A. commando team has not been deployed to work with the newly created elite police squads in Africa, where the effort to counter the drug traffickers is said to be about three years behind the one in Central America.

The officials said that if Western security forces did come to play a more direct operational role in Africa, for historical reasons they might be European and not American.

In May, William R. Brownfield, the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, a leading architect of the strategy now on display in Honduras, traveled to Ghana and Liberia to put the finishing touches on a West Africa Cooperative Security Initiative, which will try to replicate across 15 nations the steps taken in battling trafficking groups operating in Central America and Mexico.

Mr. Brownfield said the vision for both regions was to improve the ability of nations to deal with drug trafficking, by building up their own institutions and getting them to cooperate with one another, sharing intelligence and running regional law enforcement training centers.

But because drug traffickers have already moved into Africa, he said, there is also a need for the immediate elite police units that have been trained and vetted.

“We have to be doing operational stuff right now because things are actually happening right now,” Mr. Brownfield said.

Some specialists have expressed skepticism about the approach. Bruce Bagley, a professor at the University of Miami who focuses on Latin America and counternarcotics, said that what had happened in West Africa over the past few years was the latest example of the “Whac-A-Mole” problem, in which making trafficking more difficult in one place simply shifts it to another.

“As they put on the pressure, they are going to detour routes, but they are not going to stop the flow, because the institutions are incredibly weak — I don’t care how much vetting they do,” Professor Bagley said. “And there is always blowback to this. You start killing people in foreign countries — whether criminals or not — and there is going to be fallout.”

American government officials acknowledge the challenges, but they are not as pessimistic about the chances of at least pushing the trafficking organizations out of particular countries. And even if the intervention leads to an increase in violence as organizations that had operated with impunity are challenged, the alternative, they said, is worse.

“There is no such thing as a country that is simply a transit country, for the very simple reason that the drug trafficking organization first pays its network in product, not in cash, and is constantly looking to build a greater market,” Mr. Brownfield said. “Regardless of the name of the country, eventually the transit country becomes a major consumer nation, and at that point they have a more serious problem.”

The United Nations says that cocaine smuggling and consumption in West Africa have soared in recent years, contributing to instability in places like Guinea-Bissau. Several years ago, a South American drug gang tried to bribe the son of the Liberian president to allow it to use the country for smuggling. Instead, he cooperated with the D.E.A., and the case resulted in convictions in the United States.

Even more ominous, according to American officials, was a case in which a militant group called Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb offered three of its operatives to help ship tons of cocaine through North Africa into Europe — all to raise money to finance terrorist attacks. The case ended this past March with conviction and sentencing in federal court in New York.

American counternarcotics assistance for West Africa has totaled about $50 million for each of the past two years — up from just $7.5 million in 2009, according to the State Department. The D.E.A. also is opening its first country office in Senegal, officials said, and the Pentagon has worked with Cape Verde to establish a regional center to detect drug-smuggling ships.

While the agency has not sponsored units in West Africa before, it has long worked with similar teams — which are given training, equipment and pay while being subjected to rigorous drug and polygraph testing — in countries around the world whose security forces are plagued by corruption, including the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama.

It is routine for D.E.A. agents who are assigned to mentor the specially trained and screened units to accompany them on raids, but it has been unusual for Americans to kill suspects. Several former agents said the recent cases in Honduras suggested that the D.E.A. had been at the vanguard of the operations there rather than merely serving as advisers in the background.

By contrast, the effort in West Africa is still at the beginning stages, officials say. But the problems there are the same — and growing. Officials described one instance in which a methamphetamine lab was discovered in Africa, with documents suggesting that it had been set up by a Mexican trafficking organization. William F. Wechsler, the Pentagon’s top counternarcotics officer, said that observing drug traffickers’ advances into West Africa, and the response from American and local authorities, was like watching a rerun of the drug war in this hemisphere in years past.

“West Africa is now facing a situation analogous to the Caribbean in the 1980s, where small, developing, vulnerable countries along major drug-trafficking routes toward rich consumers are vastly under-resourced to deal with the wave of dirty money coming their way,” he said.

South African photographer believes theft was hate crime

By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — It was a most unusual burglary. Thieves got in through the bathroom window and walked past the flat-screen TV, DVD player, expensive camera and a couple of brand-new cellphones. Instead, they took 20 external hard drives and some digital camera memory cards.

It didn't make sense to Zanele Muholi, an art photographer and activist, the victim of the April theft.

Unless …Something cold shifted inside her. Could this be another hate crime against lesbians?

The stolen hard drives, all hidden in different locations around her apartment, were the archive of five years of Muholi's extraordinary work photographing marginalized lesbians in many African countries.

"Seemingly they spent some time searching," Muholi says in a phone interview. "It seemed to be targeted. The content is a major part of my life."

Muholi, a lesbian whose work has been called "immoral" by a government minister, is convinced the theft was designed to suppress her "visual activism," as she calls it.

The 39-year-old is the only black South African artist selected to exhibit her work at the recent Documenta festival in Kassel, Germany, an exhibition featuring hundreds of international artists that is put on every five years. (The other South African chosen was prominent artist William Kentridge.)

Her work on lesbianism and womanhood confronts traditional patriarchal notions of African masculinity and is often perceived as threatening to men in the townships where her subjects live.

Muholi's five years of lost work is a unique record of the lives of black lesbians forced to live underground, in fear of being attacked for being "unnatural" or "un-African," stoned, beaten, even burned. Her photographs celebrate the love and life of black lesbians — and mourn the dead. Muholi documented the funeral of Noxolo Nogwaza, a lesbian raped and killed last year in Kwa-Thema, a township outside Johannesburg.

There's an epidemic of rapes of lesbians in South Africa, disturbingly dubbed "corrective rape," because a victim is told it is to teach her to be a "real woman." Beatings of lesbians, gays and transgender people are commonplace.

The attacks are a blight on South Africa's Constitution, a document that enshrines the right to same-sex marriage, but whose protection for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender is opposed by African traditionalists and fundamental Christians.

Richard Lee of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, an African nongovernmental organization promoting democracy, human rights and good governance, compares the loss of Muholi's work to the theft of a Picasso in Europe.

"There should have been a huge outcry by now. Government ministers and artists and academics and journalists should be shouting from their pulpits, because a unique part of South Africa's cultural heritage was stolen…," Lee writes on the organization's blog. "No one else has taken photos like this. No one else has documented this community with so much understanding and so much force and so much beauty."

After the robbery, Muholi's state is akin to mourning.

If you ask her how she is, she responds, heavily, "It's another day." She lies awake at night, and this or that beautiful image captured during her travels around Africa spins into her head.

"There were pivotal moments that I shared with people. I can't go back to those spaces.

"I am so shocked and traumatized and hurting."

But under the grief, the knowledge that someone has been in her apartment also leaves its trace of fear, given the violent homophobia common in South Africa.

"I don't feel comfortable in my apartment. I might be in danger. You never know when your time will come." Known for her courage, Muholi almost cringes, because she feels as if that's been stolen too. "I used to be brave. Now, I'm weak and I am scared."

Muholi's work has always been intensely political and confrontational. Even the white T-shirt she sometimes wears showing two black women kissing is enough to enrage many South Africans.

She says her motive in photographing lesbians is to give faces and voices to the disempowered communities in Africa, and support victims of hate crimes.

"We have to support them, because you never know, I might be next," she says. Among the stolen images were photographs taken at the funerals of lesbians gang-raped and slain because of their sexual orientation, or who killed themselves in despair.

In 2010, South Africa's then-minister for arts and culture, Lulu Xingwana, who was supposed to speak at an exhibition featuring Muholi's work, walked out, calling the images of black lesbians embracing "immoral, offensive and going against nation-building." Xingwana has since been promoted by the overtly traditionalist president, Jacob Zuma, to minister for women, children and people with disabilities.

Since the Xingwana walkout, South Africa's artistic freedom has come under pressure from politicians more than once, with the ANC calling for a debate on the limits of artistic freedom. In recent weeks, South Africa was convulsed by its fiercest debate on artistic freedom, after a male artist depicted Zuma (a polygamist with more than 20 children) with genitals exposed in a painting called "The Spear."

Supporters have set up a campaign to replace Muholi's equipment. But even if they did manage to raise the money, it wouldn't bring back the lost photographs. And even if she could retrace her steps in the different African countries, she wouldn't find the same images.

"Even if somebody sent me back there," she says, "I would not be able to capture those moments."

Model Of The Week: Mbathio Beye

Mbathio Beye, 21, from Senegal was last month named the first ever Miss Black France among controversies that the pageant was "stupid," "dangerous" and "hostile." However, Beye was officially named the first "Miss Black France" last month in Paris, after being selected from a pool of 1,000 applicants.

NIGERIA: Armed Forces Ready For Any Crisis - Minister

Soldiers operating an armour tank during Combat Arms Training Week at Victor Kure Firing Range in Bauchi on Thursday (17/5/12). NAN Photo

ABUJA—Defence Minister, Dr. Bello Mohammed, said, yesterday, that the Armed Forces were in a state of combat readiness needed to surmount all issues of insecurity, internal or external. He said government has ensured this by funding the requirements of the different arms of the military.

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BIAFRA: On The 45th Anniversary Of The First Shot

"It was clear even to the most undiscerning observer that civil war as Murtala predicted months before, was inevitable...It is true that on July 6th, 1967, Nigeria fired the first formal shot in the civil war.".........Patrick A. Anwunah

"I want see no Red Cross, no caritas, no World Council of Churches, no pope, no missionary and no United Nations delegation. I want to prevent even one Igbo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the center of Igbo territory, we shoot at everything even at things that don't move".........Benjamin Adekunle

It was a shocking realization. It was beyond comprehension. Women were raped. Pregnant women were eviscerated. Men were forced to drink their own urine before being hacked to death. Men were lined up and shot execution style; the ones that escaped drowned. Women, infants and children were desperately starved to death. Churches were burnt down to the ground. Market stalls were were plundered and demolished. When it was over, three million souls had perished...

Most Elegantly Dressed: Imat Akelo-Opio

Ugandan native and currently residing in Australia, Imat Akelo-Opio founded the Otino International, a non-profit organization which provides sustainable development through medicine in post-conflict Africa beginning with Northern Uganda.
Otino's mission statement: Every human is precious and not one shall be left behind, regardless of background, creed or culture. Otino-international is a Christian organization reaching to the greater Africa and the world by changing lives through medicine, education and empowerment for all generations to come.

AFRICA: Sudan War Planes Bomb South Sudan

Sudanese war planes have launched renewed air strikes against South Sudan, violating a United Nations Security Council resolution to end weeks of a bitter border conflict, the South's army said Wednesday.
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Legendary Nigerian Footballer Rashidi Yekini Dead

Series of media reports have noted that Rashidi Yekini known to have scored the first goal for Nigeria in World Cup is dead. He was 49. According to Wikipedia, Yekini was born in Kaduna. After starting his professional career in the Nigerian league, he moved to Côte d'Ivoire to play for Africa Sports National. From there he went to Portugal and Vitória de Setúbal, where he experienced his most memorable years, eventually becoming the Portuguese first division's top scorer, in 1993–94, as his performances (32 matches, 34 goals) earned him the title of African Footballer of the Year in 1993, the first ever from the nation.

In the 1994 summer, Yekini was bought by Olympiacos FC, but did not get along with teammates and left. His career never really got back on track, not even upon a return to Setúbal, which happened after another unassuming spell, in La Liga with Sporting de Gijón. He successively played with FC Zürich, Club Athlétique Bizertin and Al-Shabab Riyadh, before rejoining Africa Sports. In 2003, at 39, he returned to the Nigerian championship with Julius Berger FC.

In 2005, 41-year old Yekini made a short comeback, moving alongside former national teammate Mobi Oparaku to Gateway FC. Scoring 37 goals for Nigeria's national side in 58 appearances, Yekini is the national record goalscorer. He was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup (where he scored Nigeria's first-ever goal in a World Cup, in a 3–0 win against Bulgaria) and the 1998 World Cup.

Additionally, Yekini also helped the Super Eagles win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, where he also topped the goal charts, and participated at Olympic level, in Seoul 1988.

He was reportedly sick for a while . One of Africa’s greatest footballers, he was said to have suffered a neurological illness which hinges on belief that is pathological and held, despite evidence to the contrary.. The two-time African footballer of the year was said to have been walking the streets of Ibadan barefooted, and suffered delusions. Yekini lived alone in his house, had a few tenants and rarely gets visitors. Since his marriage crashed in 1994, he hasn't remarried but has two children who visit him on holidays. Neighbours at his Oni and Sons Ring Road residence in Ibadan,Oyo State, Nigeria say he's been acting strange for some time now, always seen talking to himself. Sources say sometime late in 2010, Yekini, in the full glare of neighbours, brought out his belongings and allegedly set it on fire.

UN-Backed Court at The Hague: Charles Taylor

This Monday, Aug. 11, 2003 file photo shows former Liberian president Charles Taylor, center, flanked by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, left, and President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, right, as Taylor arrived into exile at Abuja international airport, Nigeria. On Thursday April 26, 2012, judges at an international war crimes passed judgment on warlord-turned-Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is accused of sponsoring rebels responsible for untold atrocities, including abetting murder, rape and the forced enlistment of child soldiers during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war in return for so-called blood diamonds. Taylor had been on trial at the UN-backed court in The Hague for almost five years. The historic verdicts at the Special Court for Sierra Leone will mark the first time an international tribunal has reached judgment in the trial of a former head of state since judges in Nuremberg convicted Karl Doenitz, a naval officer who briefly led Germany after Adolf Hitler's suicide. This week the United Nation Special court in The Hague, Netherlands convicted Taylor of war crimes against humanity and would serve 80-years in prison. Image: George Osodi/AP

Malawi: Banda Sworn In As President

VOA News

Malawi's vice president, Joyce Banda, was sworn in as president Saturday in the capital, Lilongwe, following confirmation that President Bingu wa Mutharika died suddenly on Thursday.

Ms. Banda, who is Malawi's first female president, was expelled from the ruling party in 2010. But she kept the vice presidency and now ascends to the presidency by constitutional mandate. In her inaugural speech Saturday she called for unity, saying “there is no room for revenge.”

She said she had a good meeting with the cabinet earlier in the day and called the discussion a starting point for healing the wounds of the nation. And she thanked all Malawians for respecting a peaceful transition to the presidency.

Though President Mutharika had his fatal heart attack on Thursday, the government delayed official confirmation of the death until Saturday, while rumor and unconfirmed reports circulated. The delay gave rise to concerns that the late president's supporters were maneuvering to install a member of the ruling party as president.

President Banda has announced that the nation will observe 10 days of mourning, during which flags will fly at half-staff and broadcasters are asked to play somber music.

Mr. Mutharika died of a heart attack he suffered at home on Thursday, despite emergency treatment at a hospital in the capital, Lilongwe.

He was elected president of Malawi in 2004 and won a second term in 2009. Once hailed as a leader in improving food security in African countries, he fell out of favor after suppressing anti-government protests in July. Nineteen people died in the violence.

An economist by education, Mr. Mutharika was a World Bank official before working his way up through the ranks of Malawi's government. He formed the Democratic Progressive Party, which now has majority control over parliament.

Nigeria: Lagos Black Heritage Festival

Nobel Laureate professor Wole Soyinka, left, and Babatunde Raji Fashola, right, Lagos state Governor attends the Black heritage festival at the freedom park in Lagos, Nigeria on Monday, April 2, 2012. Lagos is hosting its annual Lagos Black Heritage Festival this week, which this year includes a look at relations between Nigeria and Italy, a popular spot with young migrant workers from Africa's most populous nation. Image: Sunday Alamba

2011 In The Books: My Cousin Daniel And All That Stuff

I was not sure what 2011 was to be, beginning on its first night when clearing all the stuff from my head became a major task. I had not made up my mind what I thought would conform with what I had to do in my literary errands and basically on the idea of attempting a book as had been suggested by many of my friends, colleagues and in particular, my die hard fan, my cousin Daniel, who had insisted he would stop listening to me since I have been ignoring a book call until a book pops out showcasing my works, even though I had argued with him insisting what he had been reading over the years from my literature could be the book in question.

But Daniel who wants a book out soon when I had insisted I am not in a hurry to put together a book of sort on which subject or topic, or title I’m yet to contemplate based on the surroundings that probably could facilitate what the title would suggest and how the project logically should make sense corresponding with the items that gives a book the right outlook as in its title and subtitles as the case may be, have not in his own opinion, based on what he thought from reading all my pieces, covering autobiography, biography, criticisms, drama, essays, fiction-poetry, journalism, interviews, documentaries, music analysis, fashion-modeling shows and book reviews; suggested a title, topic and subject to start working on; even if I may have made up my mind and concluded what area of titles, topics and subjects I should be targeting from whichever project that pops up.

Since I have written on a variety of subjects and covered a lot in my exchange of correspondences with friends, family members, well wishers, colleagues in the literary stock and several others from all walks of life, I had thought of a piecemeal take, and on the average, looked for public opinion by way of exploration and on the last call, after all options had been lost, locate Daniel’s ideals since he’d the one who “wants the book out now” rather than leaving crates of unpublished works for posterity.

On what to be expected with regards to my works out there which had been conceived at a time not much had been saved in my literary chest but stories of life’s endeavors growing up and becoming a man, studying and learning every aspect of our societal being. But Daniel wants something to be done real quick but with my own intellectual ambition and the love I have developed for writing, and the passion, I’m not in a hurry, thus working at my pace for the book release and not conformed to any deadline. I hope that works, Daniel.

On this book release stuff, Daniel seems to have been on my case, and I have just been wondering if Daniel wants a gig of our own bad self, pub-crawling the city, or the days two sisters lured us to the church Rev. Hartford Iloputaife was senior pastor, when our heads were still burning from the heavy metal-disco fever-pure funk-decorum rap years we had committed our lives to, not minding the consequences we knew would follow, and a time gone by. Or does Daniel want me to write about the days of the “melting pot” at Suya Spot, Caban Bamboo, Reggae Nights, and the push me, I push you movement when it became a daily hustle to the music at Astor? Maybe, he wants me to tell more stories of the blast when Ruth Ehirim, her brother and friends stormed that hell of a party jam during his visiting days in Los Angeles. There are more stories to tell than he could imagine, after all these years we evolved.

Daniel is now more of a philosopher, of the back years theory with “socio-capital” contract ideals, of which in our arguments I had talked about change, evolution, revolution and applications of different other methods demanded by change, not relying or bent on the status quo I had written off as archaic, backward thinking that never created any impact on the “new world” besides the dangerous politics that comes along with sex and money which I have always avoided.

And Daniel would confirm my attack on Igbo “elite” for not getting things done over the years, insisting the Igbo had at all times been far better off than her counterparts, the Yoruba-Hausa-Fulani stock, in every aspect of life since the fabricated nation’s founding. And, Daniel would agree with my consistent commentary and analysis what Igbo had on purpose ignored over the years after the post-civil war/”reconstruction-era” and supposedly lessons learned from the pogrom Igbos were massacred from every location they could be found

Daniel also agreed with me in what I have written extensively to near exhaustion; the tale of the anti-Igbo pogrom and evidences indicating that, and succumbing finally, “not sucking up to me,” but would concur to straightening up to the facts. Despite that, the book on the waiting list, the telltale would be the real and done deal with Daniel, when found sitting on the shelves in public and, graded with kind gesture from its long wait.

Daniel is waiting.

Having read too many books over the course of twelve months and reading uncountable newspapers, news-magazines and journal articles and texts in the same period, and having seen series of events all around the world one lives in, it shouldn’t take too much probing to elicit testimony that I have read myself to death and listing some of them makes it clearly so. I read Ngozi Achebe’s book “Onaedo: The Blacksmith’s Daughter,” Eeefy Ike’s “Peering Through The Depths Of Life,” and Alretha Thomas’ “Dancing Her Dreams Away.” Going through all the stacks of books I read this year, I found the following African-related books very interesting: Gray Stewart’s classic “Breakout: Profiles In African Rhythm” published in 1992 by the University of Chicago Press as part of my research projects, where the African cultural maestro touched every base of the musical genres that had augured well with African musicians tracing the link of the connections and how it developed, coupled with the formation of Monomono, on a cast of Johnny Haastrup, Ben Okulolo, percussionist Candido Obajimi, guitarist Jimmy Lee Adams and Friday Jumbo. Stewart’s book, “first on African music to examine in-depth” the musicians themselves was a good and fascinating read.

Believe it or not, I read Condoleeza Rice’s “No Higher Honor: A Memoir Of My Years In Washington,” a retelling of what we in the press and public in general have already known from George Bush and his policymakers’ years. I read “Liberia: America’s Footprint In Africa: Making The Cultural, Social, And Political Connections” by Jesse N. Mongrue, where discovering the rich history of Liberia and America, and why Liberia remains relevant today and enriched with interviews of scholars, Liberian community elders and detailed research; “Democracy’s Reconstruction: Thinking Politically With W.E.B. Du Bois” by Laurie Balfour on tales of Du Bois recommending words of his disciple, the Osagefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, saying for “political kingdom which must be sought first, one needed leaders with men and women, who could lead the struggle and expose;” “Life My Story: The Story Of A Girl’s Journey To Womanhood,” by Ebony E. Ferebee, in which Ferebee offers her victory over her own difficult, painful and abuse childhood as an example to offer young women, proving that it is possible to overcome your past and succeed as an adult; “And We Ate The Leopard: Serving In The Belgian Congo” by Margaret Baker-White of 1932, Dr. Lebia baker arrive at a mission hospital far up a tributary of the Congo River in Equator Province and Baker describing the unusual story of her family’s life in the Belgian Congo, and “Mirror Of Our Lives: Voices Of Four Igbo Women - Njide, Nneka, Miss Nelly and Oby - Narrate their stories of passion, deceit, heartache, and strength as they push through life, and each on a unique journey to attain happiness, self respect, and inner peace.

Also, on the list of my reading for pleasure and knowledge were, among others: “Zanzibar Kira Heri: Farewell Zanzibar” by Patricia K. Polewski, on the 1964 African revolt replacing the Arab Government - on Zanzibar and decreed that no unmarried woman could leave Zanzibar without paying 56,000 shillings; “Withches, Wife Beaters, And Whores: Common Law And Common Folk In Early America” by Elaine Forman Crane - Crane skilfully explores how deeply ingrained understandings of law and legal culture shaped the behavior of ordinary people in early America - whether the victims perpetrators, or neighbors; Kwame Anthony Appiah’s “The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions happen,” and Appiah convingcingly points out, the ruling aristocracy was being superseded by a new class of economically successful men saying the popular press, working-class literacy, and democratic sentiments brought all British citizens into a unified community of shared knowledge and values; and “Dying Education: Necessary Reformation, The Nigerian case” by Alphonsus Emeka Ezeoke, stressing most of Nigerian schools are understaffed, especially schools located in remote towns and villages; that teachers shy away from going to remote or local towns and villages, and that the Nigerian nation must tap from its pluralism, and emphasize benefits therein.

Yes, Daniel is waiting on that book release. He do not want crates and boxes of papers somewhere archived for posterity. He wants it now.

I have collected a lot of materials - photographs covering a wide range of subjects, my own articles (published and unpublished), interviews, press releases, and several other related papers over the years, including correspondences I mentioned earlier, and I had thought the materials should be in shape enough for what Daniel had wanted me to do - “write a book” and nothing else. And as it did happen, I had thought of assuming a book as Daniel wants it, I might end up omitting a whole lot of stuff including what I had wanted to be a trademark kind of, something of its own unique style and stuff I always would be remembered for regardless of its take on commerce, flowing with its original intent and avoiding the intellectual mistakes which could be costly and probably diminish the entire process of my profound ideals.

I had also thought of the music industry, hiring musicologists I could use as consultants in the music machine projects starting from the “unconscious” years the vibes begun pumping into my ears and my eyes could not believe what it saw. And with all that on the trail by listening while suspending in “Limbo,” the obvious over the years I could lay claim on of entirely what had belonged to me knowingly, and what I had been known for from that literary point of view which I’d presume was how it should work, supposedly, as an independent thinker.

Independent thinking does not eradicate or suggest anything void of proper counsel. On that account, mainly, on the East-side bands during the post-civil war-reconstruction-era of which I have been well versed to a point being called a musicologist should not be an exaggeration, or hype, on the ground that, I have, too, written widely on the seventies hippie years of my time and culture in which I have been a living witness.

And I have thought of its compilation on a photo-journal kind of format, inviting Uchenna Ikonne, the vintage Nigerian and African music analyst who runs the Comb and Razor Blog and the Comb and Razor Music Group. Uchenna has done so much everyone would agree with me he deserves a national prize for the fact that he dusted off the Eastside bands’ archives and brought into light, vintage Nigerian sounds worthy of mention.

It doesn’t look good at all when much has been said and written about performing artists on the African continent - Dessoui Bosuma, Diblo Bibata, Doctor Dynamite, C.K. Mann, Nsala Mauzenza, John Nzeze, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Joseph Kabesel, Docteur Nico, Antoine Kolosoi, Antoine Armanso, O.K. Jazz, Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti, Sunny Ade, I’ Orchestre African Fiesta, Remy Ongala, S.E. Rogie, Francis Fuster, nana Ampadu, Babatunde Olatunji, I.K. Dairo, Orlando Julius Ekemode, Kanda Bongo Man, Remy Salohmon, Mimi Kazidonna, and the list goes on and on - and a little or none has been said or written about the casts of the Eastside bands dating back from the 1960s when many of the recording artists, too, featured through the Lagos 60s West African musical digest. Not much is known out there about the era’s Eastside bands' sensations of the time

So, if I should be bent to music, where do I begin? weighing back to the nineteen sixties I had yet to know in actuality any of the East-side bands that had begun before it was credited as an original of its own musical genre even though not understood fully in its surroundings within the West African regional coasts.

However, I had thought of running a full time schedule analyzing and interviewing some of the casts from the Eastside, alive today, which would have been enormous task in its capacity, but good to know an analyst had been around in what I thought was a very good development since I had not much travel time undergoing all the projects alone; that is, assuming I did initiate it in a way to involve others, others as joint group/partnership. I had only attempted putting the package through when I created Samaka Music and the Samaka Studios on the West-side of Los Angeles, sitting on the Washington Corridor, waiting for new acts and talents.

In any case, Uchenna had already developed the idea of Comb and Razor Group/Blog and record label on the trail to compile every sound of the era - 60s, 70s, 80s - that be, introducing the vintage years to a Hip-Hop generation with the blend for possibilities to coining a new musical genre for a generation that had been evolving to something else.

I did write some few lines at the Samaka Music Blog until I found no need for it since Comb and Razor, Likembe, Afro Funk Forum Music Blog, Voodoo Funk, Matsuli Music, Steve Ntwiga, Paris DJs, Benn Loxo, African Music, Pan African All Stars and Wrasse Records were spending quality time providing information on the vintage African collections. That break took me elsewhere to explore other areas. Regardless, I did keep up with the tally; attempts to locate Emma China (Wings), Keni St. George (Ozo), Bob Miga (Strangers), Ani Hofner (One World) and numerous other cats of the day. And also attempts for Emma China to release information on his colleagues at the EMI Recording Studios, Wharf Road, Apapa-Lagos; including Johnny Flemming, Charles Effi, Duke, Arinze Okpala, Dandy, Jerry Demua and Emma Dabro - the original casts of Wings during the post-Spud Nathan years, and the years of prosperity for the Eastside bands, which also included Founders 15, Herald 7, Aktion 13, Supreme Cee Jays, Super Wings and Ben Alaka as the best session man ever to play the drums.

Embarking into another area of research was not easy. I had diverted my attention to do something totally different, and this time around, it would take a lot of work; and it would be time-consuming. It also had to do with quality time to get some of the projects well situated.

So in the research for new directions and getting all the facts in order, especially when I had to deal with persons of interests in related interviews on one-on-one basis extracting information everyone needed to know that has not been told; and which as of its time seemingly had been way overdue and could not be told with time going by fast, and the subjects in question expiring and about to take along with them all the vital information they had. It is, in this way, in many occasions, that datas, archives, stuffs in storage for later future use like crates of papers, newsmagazines of years and decades, and other devices that had been used in keeping records, records most valued for references in centuries to come needed for inclusion into new ideas and lines of thought reexamining the importance of the old and the new reemerging on a totally different platform by way of accepting what had been as a new era surfaces.

I have quite often asked why we humans curiously keep the tabs of inventions and things like that, and all the challenges that demands our engagements. And when I found myself in research institutions and places of that nature, even not having to, but all put in a way that calls for directives for something positively drawn to achieve the intended results, and not to generate a premature publication which might be unnecessary like the kind of research projects that pops out and have nothing new or special to say at the moment, ending up a waste of time and resources.

This is what happens when one locks himself in to commit to do things benefiting humanity, as we all, of course, have been beneficiaries from one theory to another; from one invention to another and from one discovery to another, as the list of the purpose goes on and on.

I have mentioned at length the importance of collecting photographs, tapes and interviews which ultimately has been a work in progress, engaging and looking forward to conclude the series of projects which could be in any category, and while pursuing the project with caution for thoroughness, and at the same time “quiz-survey” the applications and objectives if the materials gathered would be good enough and presentable when released and when the whole idea in the long hurdle, is, eventually, known, accepted, endorsed and taken to be a work worthy.

Besides music, photographs and illustrations of sort in that order, essentially notes on historical figures of political, innovations stock, I had thought of including landmark interviews of persons who had shaped our culture in their time and how what they did changed the course of history. But again, I had thought about time, space, and convenience, coupled with what the people may want from the moment of research and surveying, and from the time of completion to general release.

Notwithstanding, I remember in January of a promising 2011, mapping out some strategy and with a little bit of consultation, worked to the execution of what had been laid down for the year, and while with a handful of moderated plans on the suspended works at Samaka Studios, the continuation of music compilation and a possible tandem with Naija Records run by Mike Egi out of the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota; I had also thought of adding a great number of West African musical icons over time even if it had to take series of volumes to put into perspective, and actually being a major score to a level that depicts paying homage to the acts that had brought West African music to the fore.

Musicology, I had thought, in any of my personal endeavors, unless collectively engaged, to be first included either by mentioning it and my fascination with a particular artist or performer, and either from my growing-up-kicking-it days, to the time I had begun to understand music patterns and the genre that accompanied it. Though since what I had originally conceived in January to getting it through as the year winds down, was, a conversion, the blending of music genres to one form kind of display and perhaps with a coinage introducing a revived or new musical genre which would open by testing the market to find out which vibe in what had been a mix would be appropriate and would go with the flow of the time.

When Egi and I had thought about this venture, I had not fancied the idea of “jamming” entirely the old stuff he had propped up when the combination had been realized to the point of adjusting and collaborating with the old stuff, which had to me, become old-fashioned compared to how the changes were wanted to be made. So, too, as Egi had talked about the “revival,” the adage of “old wine in a new bottle” with all that reggae compilation and jazzy tunes I had added to help give the project a different kind of flavor that would meet up with the original composition for our time and an expected blowout on the charts. That in line, I was writing other stuffs of great literature, too, especially, essays and articles related to the political environment of a troubled Nigerian national state, and particularly, the disturbing politically volatile Igbo related states, which happened to be my region of origin. I have written to be exhausted on arising matters in the area, my home state of Imo, and despite the attempt to engage for better management of “governmental” affairs through a compromising deal, it was not hidden that the state was clearly not workable.

Even with my backlog of unfinished and yet to be published essays, articles and journals, I made up time to go through the problems of the Igbo related states, and on the expedition, Imo State in particular, where a new administration/political party won the mandate to run the affairs of state promising a new dawn. We had agreed at a related meeting to be committed and honestly, engaged to make things work from a Diaspora standpoint showing a common bond with the home government for good governance. That aspiration looks more of a mirage and we may never get to find the promised dawn. What we seem to have found had been a continuity of a region still with the desire of state of empire and anarchy, and in retrospect, the very same state that had been previously battered beyond recognition with the hope that lessons would be learned from a regime that patently made it abundantly clear it did not care for the well-being of the state of affairs but rather to go by order of its intent - a succeeding regime to payback its “done deal” guaranteed pledge to hoodlums and political thuggish elements that helped put it in power, which now has the same resemblance by way of its operations - assassinations by contractors and consultants that has tripled in less than ten months of the new regime.

The war apparently is now waged between the state’s self-serving political and landowning classes which includes an “influential Diaspora” bunch that all of a sudden had become the generators of the chaos obviously inflaming the land on the grounds of their own personal interest. They are paying off security agents, night watchmen, the national police forces, their own hired thugs and hoodlums to create and unleash all sorts of mayhem, on purpose, in the state they had once pledged to protect and secure by all necessary means to bring about a governable populace.

Imo State troubles had just begun. When the Los Angeles area Imo Diaspora had gathered on a call for oneness and action for thoroughness of system in the state through its democratic practice, starting all over with a clean slate and with an ideal to make Imo a model of all states among her sister states from a platform allegedly written by its “Diaspora elite” on the basis of the American ideology they are adapting, little was really known that another gangster-like state was about to regroup and rethink its strategies. All the meetings, talks and quests to revive Imo from its bad governing image had been a front by a behind closed doors Diaspora to convince and compel its people that the state’s outrageous record and image was as is, would be a thing of the past.

Imo is a gangster state. The worst had just begun. Governor Okorocha’s hoped for firepower to keep the state in check had been neutralized with emergence of total chaos at an alarming rate and if not apprehended would be disastrously unbearable, and may lead to a state of emergency which could perhaps throw the state into turmoil in its administrative fabric, ushering in a mandate from a federal-run political party, if not a dictatorship by a military junta assigned from Abuja.

The reason I talk about chaos and the possibility of a military junta running the state is drawn from what has been going on in the region over time and as it becomes evidently clear the situation has not shown any sign of getting better rather getting worst and dangerous by the day as all that talk by Okorocha upon being sworn in to make drastic changes for a better Imo State wanes in about eight months that oath of office was taken.

Looking closer at it, Imo has been the worst administered state since the Fourth Republic, and with the combination of twelve years Achike Udenwa-Ikedi Ohakim squandered and an emerged Okorocha that is now full of uncertainties, the people are now concluding the state is going to hell by all accounts, and the assumption Imo was to be a model is definitely wrong and misleading. In as much as Imo has been used on purpose by the machineries that run the affairs of state and in disguise as the ruling party (PDP), in the country since the country’s latest attempt at an experimental democracy when the military juntas ran out of tactical options, Imo has been the guinea pig of the party corrupted from its inception by Obasanjo, it has been clearly understood that the indigenes - Diaspora and homeland - had been the ones to destroy itself, which affects the state, crippling it with the lost of hope and in its condition, no remedy.

By March 2011, every political animal in Imo on a different party affiliation talked about the need to fixing what had been a collapsed state resulting from Ohakim’s-led maladministration even as Abuja would not admit it, and the quest to reclaim the state’s good name from its first cut of the Balkanization process; and the people who made up the place on the set of tearing the Igbo nation apart when all about Imo and Anambra had been intentionally designed as opponents in a knockout game; and the addition of insult to dishonor when Imo had to be torn into two parts, and Anambra, too, having Enugu cut out on a continuation of the balkanization theory, a pattern to create political differences as strategy and a well orchestrated plan for enmity among a people of the same lineage. It was during this time of creating more states in what had been East Central State, even though East Central State, from around it, emerged Rivers State and Cross River State as another plot for division between the minority speaking Igbo states and East Central State that was a full Igbo stock. The confusion, henceforth, would not see an ending.

As very much intended, the March syndrome of being on the crossroads, on the premise of having to put an end to the state’s direction to nowhere, the magic game came into play, which would determine the seriousness of the people when time for the polls draws near to either elect a new governor or have the incumbent continue on the appeal to get the work done on a second term run as concluding part of projects planned to be completed on a “contract” of projected eight years to physically see the work done. It had been the only thing that gave hope to a gullible and vulnerable people, which held them together.

But that hope was an illusion, and with the concept of recycling the same people to run the affairs of state, the much anticipated hope may not come, which is now being seen in Okorocha’s much expected administration of good governance and getting things done in the state; the state’s most indigenes, if not all, gave up and could no longer live on empty promises, counting on Okorocha’s miracles, and that with their predictions of near certainty based on developments around the state, that Okorocha’s miracles of fixing Imo “is just another mirage.” What has been totally confusing is a Diaspora that had waited over the years as bad leadership took its toll on the state. The wait and the hope that all would come to form and play out naturally was a tactic of endurance and playing to the gallery of the handles, of a failed state, deliberately engineered from the center - a folly, inept, and corrupt administration from the moment it commenced operations. And with such attitude, the rest followed the direction of a central government that had no sense of purpose, which is where the center had to be held accountable.

But when Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan isn’t doing much independently to use his sense of judgement as the commander-in-chief of the nation’s armed forces; and, when known that the Islamic murderous gang Boko Haram are composed of people he should know very well, the “untouchable elite” that had thought the nation’s resources including its human capital had been their own personal tool they had every right to use for whatever purpose in demanding what they had wanted, anytime, from the country, and with Jonathan having no clue how to go about a situation only him and his kitchen cabinets could effectively trail and apprehend the moles of the bloodthirsty cannibals harassing the country in its claim of agitation for an Islamic state.

The irony, until the threats which Jonathan’s government should take seriously and the firepower of Boko Haram and other murderous gangs in the country are neutralized, Jonathan’s regime do not have answers, which is wholly mind boggling and, therefore, he should quit so the country can chart a new course. We’ve had enough drama and it’s no longer necessary. I’m sure Daniel would agree on this one while I shop around for publishers.

In my related discourse and exchange of correspondences over the months with Aloysius Duru, on a very old subject, Saint Saviours College and ts alumni that had nothing to show in lifting the image of the school founded in the 1950s by the locals and missionaries. I had argued with Aloy on the same topic that I raised awhile ago at a related forum when a complicated case of misappropriation of funds got into the hands of those trusted with handling of group funds, keeping it intact and viable took the opportunity to embezzle what had been secured with them, keeping funny books, which I questioned.

Aloy had connected me with folks we were all in class/school together at Saint saviours, but the thought of alumni had been distant in their current trend of thoughts - one of the many reasons most of the schools we left behind are in decay. I had contact with all except Malachy Ijemere whose lead somewhere in Alabama I’m yet to locate.

In fact, very few that I have talked to or encountered by other means of communication have I been able to exchange our ideas and intent on addressing the issues of alumni and Alma Mater, and the areas of academic discipline that needs attention from the time of abandonment no one remembers. I had also emphasized on the need to collect data as much as we could, locating “Old Boys” putting it into perspective and, laying out how to go about the projects and keeping up with tracking the conventions as they may arise. As it turned out, the interest was not encouraging and how the problems could be solved on its own and with such manners, beats me.

With education that has gone down the drain over the years as a result of neglect, coupled with a failed state where nothing gets done; and on the contrast, a whole lot could have been done considering the products of Saint Saviours in key positions and professionally accomplished folks all around the world, and yet, no single alumni or project dedication to show for it.

My final suggestion on a deteriorating Saint saviours looked at as “none of my business” kind of issue, and much the most important, time for all Saint Saviours Boys to start collectively and publicly, a network of awareness and intentions of projects ahead that would bring to the fore a standard learning academy fully equipped for broader intellectual development, preparing students for further academic pursuits which would generate the kind of orderly communities typical of organized societies with a resemblance of Igbo Republican ideals of our forebears.

Again, enter the cornered world of a memoir and what had been my take in that regard which would reflect all that one had done in the past, and which had to deal with tales of imagination, worlds of fantasy and, realistically, the simple truth. Checking all that list and a haul of accumulated literary works, a memoir’s almost done in my books when the time approaches, that is, if one had planned it that way which probably would fly with Daniel's demands even if as I intend to overlook the concept of commerce and leave it all for posterity - benefiting humankind. Daniel had agreed on that until lately when he begun the movement for a book now campaign to persuade me take the step and get the whole idea of book publishing rolling.

Meanwhile, I am still thinking about a documentary almost done, and which would cover a great amount of area in its capacity beginning from the pre-West African states, conquest, to the present state of the region and what had changed over time. But Daniel haven’t seen anything yet; he wants a not cozy line of thought for me, and also not one that I loathe; but the thing for me is what I had thought in the works of time dealing with issues of the future had been more important and not the commercial success which isn’t a guarantee, as Daniel Likes it.

As it had happened, again, on March 26, 2011, enter George “Olili” Ilouno’s 50th birthday bash at the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, California, while I had already been in communication with Innocent Osunwa, the radical teacher who talks robust Igbo politics and the trending stuff, he talked much about “me,” the subject, and book release that has been way overdue, and that regardless, the collection of essays and related commentaries binding together. It’s been overwhelming and Daniel had not been the only one on my case to pop out my literary works.

What had happened before Olili’s bash almost made me make a sudden 180-degrees about face to the event, asking myself if indeed my works should be more important to put together, or Olili’s one night, hard partying and joyous festivities. My works are a lifetime thing that goes with the territory.

I would be covering Olili’s party for Life & Time Magazine, and upon arrival, the ballroom had the biggest Igbo cultural crowd I had seen in a minute. I met folks not seen before. While partying with folks and exchanging pleasantries with loved ones, I found myself circled by the Los Angeles area house members, like mobsters who had been on a mission. I have committed a crime, so they say. My crime was an article written in July 2010, about an Igbo club in Greater Los Angeles that couldn't live up to its creed. During the time I was circled and a Case management Conference paper served me by Ifeanyi Ibediro, who allegedly had nothing to do with the lawsuit, these so-called house members were bumping fists, taking up hi-fives, bumping chests and jubilation on a case that’s yet to meet panels on the Case Management Conference and how to resolve whatever was Ephraim Obi’s (Plaintiff) beef with the article that I wrote. An article that did not mention his name in any way. I’m not sure what they did. I left it as is, and did not let it bother me or distract my attention for the purpose of the evening.

Also, what had happened that night, house members circling of a photo-journalist carrying out his assignment, covering Olili’s event, did not surprise me, but laughable considering their mood; high spirits of relief that they have got their victim who had been their nightmare.

“Yes, we got him,” they all would say to each other. “Let him write again, We have neutralized his pen writing firepower. He thinks he’s the only one who can write,” they seem to be saying. Like John the Baptist, in the biblical son of Elizabeth and Zacharias, and before Herod, the ruler of Jewish Palestine under the Roman Empire, was imprisoned and beheaded for blasphemy. Like Socrates, the Greek philosopher whose philosophical ideals was alleged to corrupt the youths and when asked to recant his principles which he wouldn’t, was executed. And like Jesus Christ before the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, seeing no crime that Jesus committed, washing his hands off the trial of Jesus who was crucified by the Jews.

Such was the atmosphere at Olili’s bash, in my case with Ephraim whose motive had been to use me as a guinea pig in his years of unproductive law practice in California, and his Case management Conference call as a litmus test, who was at the gathering and part of the circling culture that poured out to see the decimation of my writing career. As it turned out, Ephraim and his clueless gang of law-suing colleagues who as I may presume had no clue of what they had proffered on the basis of contents of the said write-up, wanting me dead or alive by way of subduing my literary work, in their 2011 quest for Igbo elitism and oppression of peoples and denial of the First Amendment Rights.

2011, so to speak, was a year of ups and downs, of turmoil and triumph, of tragedy and blessings, and of new discoveries and fortunes. I learned some tricks though never would get into it, never; on the British press and News of the World in the scandalous phone hacking burst involving the deputy features editor, Paul McMullen, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. It was a tabloid sensationalism and “gutter-snipping” journalism which told how newspaper publishers goes to any length to get its staff paid handsomely digging out the nastiest news-holes out there on the hangers of its reading public.

For 2012, Daniel wants a logical, intellectual discourse on “What Nigeria Owes Nd’Igbo,” “What Nd’Igbo Are Doing To Themselves,” “What America Owes The Blacks,” and “What The Blacks Are Doing To Themselves In America,” which I had thought should be fascinating and on a firmer ground of argument.

On a year, overall, a world in economic crisis never seen before since the Great Depression; a world changed dramatically in technology; a world we now live in, that has become closer and closer; a world full of uncertainties with crisis in all of its surroundings, and a world now armed with weapons of mass destruction with the capabilities to end time, we surely hope it becomes crisis free, hunger free, full of love and a place we all could dwell together.

And let’s begin on that sound note. One World, One People and One Destiny. Peace and no more wars!

C. Odumegwu Ojukwu on "The Future Of Africa"

“...Colonial state generates a colonial posture. This automates a series of complexes which remain with the African long after the colonial stimulus has ceased to have direct contact. The continuation of these complexes is seen in a state of mind which permits colonialism as a reflex. During this period the remoteness of the stimulus is often misinterpreted as nonexistent, thus generating a false sense of security in the minds of Africans lately out of bondage. The stimulus exists, its virulence undiminished. In fact, what happens is that the imperial power at this time, finding itself undisturbed, conserves energy, spreads its contagion, prepares the ground, and concentrates all its efforts toward the achievement of its main objective--that of economic exploitation.

These were my views as a student, discovered in a pile of my student-days essays. Today, after fifteen years, my views remain sunstantially unchanged. The future of Africa depends entirely on the ability of the African to overcome his own colonial mentality, which permits his erstwhile colonial masters to manage him by impulses generated from a remote control station, usually some European capital.

For the African, therefore, to measure up as a man in the full sense of the word, for him to be truly free, it becomes imperative that he must first understand himself, his psychological disability, then recognize his enemy--still his erstwhile colonial master--recognize the fact of neocolonialism, its destructive potential, and then take urgent and drastic steps to rid himself of this malignant blight which, if left unchecked, will surely destroy him. This is why I believe that the Black man will not emerge until he is able to build modern states based on a compelling African ideology.

The need for an African ideology arises from the fact that the withdrawal of the colonial masters and the effect of a long period under tutelage left most emergent African countries with an ideological vacuum. In order to fill this vacuum, the battle for men’s minds continues in Africa today. The African leaders is often left with very little to choose between one ideology or the other, each designed to serve needs other than his own. It is this that creates in Africa a state of instability, and this instability is bound to continue until Africa generates from within an ideology of equal dynamism that can fill the vacuum and act as a bulwark against foreign imposition. Our struggle, therefore, is African nationalism conscious of itself and fully aware of the powers with which it is contending...”

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Biafra Lodge, Owerri, May 30, 1969

No parole for drug traffickers in Malaysia -Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Nigeria

Nigerian Tribune Interview

When you see a man who is brilliantly excelling in any duty post, that person’s success may not be because of his intellectual capacity or capability to harness logistic alone. There must also be a judicious admixture of passion.

Passion was what the Tribune Tourism Magazine ‘s crew of Wale Ojo-Lanre and Wale Olapade found written all over The High Commissioner of Malaysia in Nigeria, His Excellency, Nik Mustafa Kamal Nik Ahmad, when he granted an interview at the moderately furnished Malaysian House, located on Rio Negros Close, off Yedseram Street, Maitama Abuja.

Nik Ahmad is a journalist’s delight any day. Cool, calm and collected. He logically and sequentially responded to our questions without any ill feelings, no matter how sensitive and provocative the question might be.

“Your country seems to be ruled by wicked people who enact wicked laws, one of which stipulates hanging as a sentence for drug traffickers.”

Instead of him raking on you, the amiable Ambassador would take you on an expository journey of the consequences of the activities of drug traffickers.

The soft-spoken diplomat has a robust understanding of Nigerian and its people “You see, Malaysia and Nigeria are Siamese twins, but the difference is that, one is in West Africa and the other in East Asia.”

And throughout the interview, we could see in him the passion and emotional attachment to the values, culture and norms of his country with equal respect and regard for Nigeria.

He patiently, with the candor and mannerism of a debonair diplomat, discussed how tourism became the number two revenue generator in Malaysia. The issue of Islamic banking, expected behavior of travelers to Malaysia, the drug issue and its attendant consequences, why Malaysia has over 118 airports and their vision of making Malaysia the 20th economy in the world.

By the time you finish reading this interview, you will agree that Nigeria needs to learn and do thorough peer review with Malaysia. Excerpts:

YOU have spent almost two and half years here in Nigeria. You must by now have an impression about your host country?

Yes. I do. Nigeria is a great and wonderful country blessed with innumerable resources and stocked with a mass of pristinely intelligent people. We have a lot also to learn from each other. The reality is that Nigeria and Malaysia share a lot in common. In fact, I used to say they are Siamese twins but unfortunately, however, one is surviving in East Asia and the other is coping in West Africa. Both have the same colonial experience. They both belong to many international associations .Their history of formation is the same. They are countries of mega-diverse cultural and multi-linguistic entities. So we have a lot to learn from each other.

But despite all these diversities, Malaysia seems to be more united than ever?

It is a function of governmental structure and determination to survive together. As I told you, Malaysia is a country of 27 million population, made up of 13 states and three federal territories. We have on ground a federal constitutional monarch. The monarch takes care of the ceremonial aspects of country while the Prime Minister takes care of the running of the government business. In Malaysia, despite the fact that we have different languages, different culture, different ethnic groups, different nationalities, different religions, we never allow these to becloud our sense of reasoning as one indivisible people with a common destiny, hope and vision, while our government functionaries harp on those factors that harmonize us rather than fanning embers of disunity. We realized that in unity we stand. We never allow mutual suspicion or ethnic jingoism to rule our national psyche and/or as determinant factor in appropriation of issues, assets or consideration. It is also in our sub-consciousness that many nations that were hitherto strong and enviable some decades ago are now broken down to smaller territories now.

We don’t want Malaysia to be so. Hence, we daily see those things that unite us, and what we have to gain being united. Malaysia will like to be like Switzerland, not like the former USSR, Ceylon, or like the defunct Yugoslavia or the latest, Sudan. You can see the terrible consequences of fragmentation. We don’t want that in Malaysia and I don’t think it is expedient for any country. Our mega diversity is our pot of unity. And we will defend it till eternity.

Malaysia is one of the first; if not the first, Islamic countries to be called a developed economy. What is the miracle?

It is true. Malaysia achieved this through proper planning, vision-driven strategy and prompt response to diversification. Our vision is to become one of the first 20 economies in the world. Hence, anything we set our minds on, we implement to the letter. This is why we launched our own vision 2020 in 1990. We have not derailed. Also, our ability to read the global economy in the early 80 which forced us to diversify our revenue generation factors, helped us a lot.

You know that in the pre and early post independence, Malaysia was world’s No 1 producer of rubber and tin, but we realized that to lead the world as intended, we must do some extra work. We then diversified into the manufacturing of electronics, and tourism.

As of today, manufacturing is the highest revenue earner for the country, followed by tourism, then petrol, palm oil and timber.

Then what happened to tin and rubber?

You know in the early 80s, there was this economic recession which affected the prices of tin, rubber and oil. As we set ourselves a goal of becoming no 20 of the world economy, we decided to diversify. So we embarked on massive development of the manufacturing sector with specialization in electronics and electrical. We also realized the enormous potentialities in the tourism sector. We quickly commenced the development of the infrastructure necessary for the enhancement of the tourism sector. Nigeria too is heavily blessed with a lot of tourism potentialities. Now, because of the insight and strict adherence to policy implementation, tourism is the second revenue generator for Malaysia, second to manufacturing, while oil takes a distant third followed by palm oil, timber and others. And I want to tell you that 20 million tourist visited Malaysia in 2010.

So what happened to tin and the mining gorges?

This was where creativity and seriousness came into play. In other countries where heavy mining activities were carried out, the gorges and lakes created environmental problems, but do you know what? We turned all of them into resort sites and tourist attractions. The large mining lakes that have continued to attract massive inflow of tourists all over the world are in Malaysia. That is through tourism. We turned sites that should been liabilities and environmental hazards into money making, wealth creation, employment generator sites.

Also, these former mining sites are now locations for Bollywood film makers. In fact, James Bond, Ian Flemings, shot one of his films in our country.

I am using this opportunity to call our Nollywood giants to visit Malaysia and use the resorts as locations to shoot films. It will be interesting also to let you know that some of the medical tourism sites which Malaysia is famous for are also planted within the mining sites!

So how did other resources fare?

We did not relegate any into the background. We also tuned them inward; to keep the industries working, That is why we have been able to reduce the poverty level and unemployment drastically. Let it be known that any country that exports its minerals and material resources in the crude and raw form may never grow and developed rapidly. In Malaysia, we processed all our mineral and materials resources. No timber leaves our shores without being processed. The tin is not only processed but used to produce our ancestral sword, which some Malays hold so dear to their hearts. Imagine what the scenario will be, if Nigeria processes all its exports commodities? This would drastically reduce the poverty level, inflation, unemployment, dearth of fund, and increase the GDP.

Let’s go back to tourism. What is the miracle?

We had a clear vision of what type of tourism we wanted. We realized that we are in the middle of great countries; Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Vietnam, Brunei. These countries attract a deluge of tourists and travelers. These tourists used Malaysia as a transit post. We decided to tap into this, if only to just attract and lure five per cent of these tourists.

So, our government embarked on tourism promotion taking cognizance of the 3S of tourism, Sun, Sand and Sex. These we don’t desire. We now focus on the rain forests, some of which are over 130 million years old, national parks, where we have the largest numbers of ancient elephants, tigers and orangutan, which is only found in Malaysia. Also since we don’t have the pyramids like Egypt, nor the Taj Mahal like India, we have the people, the Portuguese, the Chinese, the Indians and others whose mode of living are unique and interesting. We packaged and promoted our Home Stay Program, whereby an international tourist, even city dwellers, would visit and stay with the rural dweller in their homes and do things the way they do.

What are the tourism incentives?

Tourism is about infrastructure. It is about promotion. It is about packaging. With our 27 million population, we have 118 Airports, six are international. We have 22 seaports and harbors and road network that covers 98,721 kilometers (61,342 mi) and includes 1,821 kilometers (1,132 mi) of expressways. (The longest highway of the country, the North-South Expressway, extends over 800 kilometers. We generate 24,00 megawatts whereas we need only 20.We also keep our road sane. Road repairs are carried out in the night, not during the day time. And during the peak hours, long vehicles and articulated trucks are barred from entering the city which is from 6- 10 am and 4-6pm.

Let’s talk about Nigerians in Malaysia. How many are in jail?

I do not know how many Nigerians are in jail in Malaysia. There are many Nigerians in Malaysia. Last year alone, we issued over 12,000 visas. Right now, over 7000 are studying in various institutions. Sometimes, there is a problem of identity assumption. For instance, last year, there was a report that a Nigerian committed suicide in a hostel. When I read the news, I quickly made an investigation into the case. I was surprised to find out that the deceased was not a Nigerian but a Guinean! However, I was also embarrassed last year when another report came out that a Nigerian had been kidnapped by another Nigerian, both of them students. When I looked into the issue, I found out that it was a fact! It was like a set up by one of them to farm more money from his rich parents. The majority of the few Nigerian bad eggs in Malaysia are from well to do families who resorted to misbehavior out of indulgence. For I don’t see the justification; why some parents will be paying their children over a thousand dollars every month in a country like Malaysia It is too much. There is no way such a student will not misbehave.

There is this issue of Islamic banking which is a little controversial. What is your view on this?

There should be nothing controversial in this issue of Islamic banking, which I will say is good for Nigeria. I understand the fact that people might be uninformed or have too little knowledge of its operation. What we should try to do is for everybody to have an open mind on the issue and then look at the inherent advantage and opportunities in the system before we say 1234. Islamic banking should not be confused with religion. It is a process of banking being conducted in line with the way of Allah. Allah, the most compassionate, the beneficent, the merciful, who abhors exploitation. If we are sincere with ourselves, the formal banking system is heavily exploitative, pro–rich, and breeds poverty when it comes to lending and granting credit facilities.

How ?

This is because, one, the banks charge interest; two, the interest rate is often too high. Three, there must be collateral, which you have to forfeit in case you did not make profit; four, profit or not, the bank will collect the agreed interest. But in Islamic banking, the bank will lend you money to execute a project or finance a business without any interest. The business must not be those against Islamic injunctions. The bank will not leave you to your fate as it will be a participant in the business. The profit will be shared at the end of the day. And if there is no profit you will not forfeit your property or anything personal effect or loss, which you did not plead in the first instant because there is no collateral needed in this form of credit facility. Allah is against exploitation not dividends.

But you said ‘the business must not be against Islamic injunction is that not infusing religion into it?

Well. It is simple. I am a Muslim and you want me to participate in a concern that it is against my faith, I will not. For instance, asking me to finance or participate is such enterprises that promote prostitution alcoholism, piggery and others. This is not a new concept.

Your country is having one of the crudest penalties for drug trafficking, that is death by hanging. Don’t you think it is high time for change?

To the ordinary fellow on the street who does not appreciate the consequences of drug trafficking. It will look so. But to us who know the import of these acts, we cannot treat the offender with kid gloves. A drug trafficker is a mass murderer. He does not care a hoot for the consequences of his actions. He only cares for his dirty money. Such a kind of a fellow does not deserves mercy. He does not deserve to live. He is worse than an animal. That is why we always urge applicants for Malaysia visa to read and assimilate our rules, laws and policy very well before they set their foot on Malaysia’s soil.

Don’t you think there should be parole for some people on compassionate ground?

If the offense is drug trafficking, the law is clear on that, there is no parole .It is death by hanging. This penalty is not discriminatory. It applies to anyone found guilty of drug trafficking. If a Malay is caught today, Insha Allah, he must face the consequence. So, it will be difficult for any government to plead clemency for its citizens if they are caught in the web. This is equity. This is fairness. This is justice. And as for us in Malaysia, we cannot tolerate drug trafficking, prostitution and terrorism because we want to remain truly Asia, the best of the East.

America's Quest For Africa

By Brian Beyer, Antiwar

Africa has been thrusted into the spotlight yet again thanks to the Libyan intervention. Due to the power vacuum in Libya, weapon depots have been looted dry and weapons of all sorts from Libya have been turning up on the black market. Fear of Islamists taking charge in Tripoli has been exacerbated by near hysteria over al-Shabaab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Africa seems to be engulfed in crisis–nothing new here.

Terrorism of any kind, no matter how irrelevant to the US or its interests is now seen as a greater threat than the Red Scare. The United States, of course, must and will act. Or so says AFRICOM commander General Carter Ham. General Ham considers al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, terrorist groups with mostly domestic grievances, to be very similar to AQIM, a group with a distinctly international flavor.

“Each of those three independently, I think, presents a significant threat not only in the nations in which they primarily operate but regionally and … to the United States,” Ham told defense reporters on Wednesday. “Those three organizations have very explicitly and publicly voiced an intent to target Westerners and the U.S. specifically.”

Ham’s assessment of Boko Haram and al-Shabaab’s targets is extremely misguided. Al-Shabaab has only once attacked outside of Somalia, which was in Uganda in response to the country’s peacekeeping operations in Somalia. As Jeremy Scahill noted, American policy was counterproductive in that it radicalized many Somalis:

Rather than working with the Somali government to address what Somalia experts considered a relatively minor threat, the United States turned to warlords like Qanyare, and went down a path that would lead to an almost unthinkable rise in the influence and power of Al Qaeda and the Shabab.

Additionally, Boko Haram attacked its first international target just three weeks ago, the UN mission in Abuja. Even this attack, though directed at Westerners and a western organization–Boko Haram’s ideology stems from complete opposition to western education–was within Nigerian borders. While the precision, efficacy, and hardware used in the bombing was certainly characteristic of al-Qaeda, the links between the two organizations is still very difficult to connect. Despite the lack of hard evidence, Ham is ready to act:

“The Africans are better at addressing this [terrorism] than we are. In some cases they need some assistance and where we can provide that, we seek to do so,” he said, citing the example of Mali, where the United States has provided training and equipment to help them counter AQIM.

The effort in Mali was done under the guise of the Pan Sahel Initiative (PSI), an effort to combat terrorism and secure borders in Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad, signed into law by the Bush administration in November 2002. In reality, the initiative focused on training and equipping American compliant armies as “[k]ey aspects of the training include basic marksmanship, planning, communications, land navigation, patrolling and medical care. This foreign internal defense training, officials said, will help the countries involved better protect their own borders and regions.” The PSI was a relatively small effort of $7 million, but laid the essential framework of which a much larger and more important counterterrorism initiative would be based: the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP).

The TSCTP was established during the Bush administration as a 5 year, $500 million project and is now under the authority of the fledgling AFRICOM, which is a mere 4 years old and is currently headed by General Carter Ham (the Department of Defense, USAID, the FBI, and Department of the Treasury also assist in the effort, as does the African Union and the Union of West African States). The goals of TSCTP are not surprising considering how terrorism of all kinds, even that unrelated to the United States, is looked upon in a paranoid fashion:

The Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) is a multi-faceted, multi-year U.S. Government (USG) program aimed at defeating terrorist organizations by:

• strengthening regional counterterrorism capabilities,

• enhancing and institutionalizing cooperation among the region’s security forces,

• promoting democratic governance,

• discrediting terrorist ideology, and

• reinforcing bilateral military ties with the United States.

As this laundry list of objectives indicates, it appears that the US is approaching terrorism in Africa from many different perspectives. Mirroring America’s foreign policy, however, the TSCTP places too much emphasis on hard rather than soft power. An American diplomat from Senegal explains:

The current TSCTP program focuses too much on military and security assistance… [W]e believe that in Senegal the bulk of our TSCTP activities should be these &soft8 programs rather than military ones… In Senegal, the objective is to prevent terrorist attacks. We are not at the stage yet where we need to find, fix and destroy terrorists.

The diplomat’s assessment is spot on: what sense does it make to approach terrorism militarily when the threat of terrorism against the United States by African groups is next to nonexistent? It’s also worth questioning why America even cares one iota about terrorism in Senegal or Burkina Faso. Neither country has ever experienced a terrorist attack, nor is either predisposed to terrorism.

The military component of the program is very troublesome. Known as “Operation Enduring Freedom Trans Sahara” (OEF-TS), this little known military initiative is said to reinforce bilateral military ties among its ten members: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Tunisia, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal.

Given the past actions of the US, which has shown complete willingness to exert control over militaries and security agencies all over the globe, this is hardly surprising.

OEF-TS explicitly states that its role is advisory, emphasis mine: “OEF-TS fosters collaboration and communication among participating countries. Furthermore, OEF-TS strengthens counterterrorism and border security, promotes democratic governance,reinforces bilateral military ties, and enhances development and institution building.”

Likewise, the TSCTP site makes clear that the US is participating from the sidelines, “The overall goals are to enhance the indigenous capacities of governments in the Pan-Sahel…to confront the challenge posed by terrorist organizations in the region.”

Recent events, however, have called into question American dedication to taking a backseat role, especially with the hysterical calls of danger coming from General Ham.

The recent bombing in of the UN mission in Abuja, Nigeria by Boko Haram saw heavy handed American involvement. The FBI was promptly on the ground assisting in operations, though many Nigerians balked at this and declared that they had not only run roughshod over Nigerian investigators, but had completely taken over the investigation. There is no better way to “foster collaboration and communication” than to hijack an investigation.

For all the talk of encouraging cooperation and respect among allies in order to eradicate terrorism, American calls for good faith seem to be, more than anything, a disguise for commanding around foreign countries. Cables obtained by Wikileaks show that the US continues to use one of the oldest tricks in the book for those not fully cooperating with the TSCTP: the power of the purse and well monied insiders.

The American friendly Ben Ali regime, when compared to other members of the TSCTP, was not doing all that well.

We will want to emphasize to Grira that while we value our relationship with Tunisia, shrinking resources will be prioritized for those countries that are willing to work with the U.S., particularly in regional security efforts such as the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Program (TSCTP) and NATO’s Operation Active Endeavor. Tunisia’s Foreign Military Financing (FMF) will drop from $15 million in FY-2010 to $4.9 million in FY-2011.

Congress was also unimpressed with Tunisia’s performance as a partner in counterterrorism, and “would need to see concrete benefits coming from the assistance… [and] a willingness to increase engagement…” in order to receive more funding. But perhaps what irked the United States the most, and really threw a wrench in the gears of the military component of TSCTP, Operation Enduring Freedom Trans-Sahara (OEF-TS), was the lack of a status of force agreement between the US and Tunisia.

As they stood up to depart, the DCMA told the Defense Minister that the U.S. was still interested in establishing a SOFA [status of force agreement] for U.S. military forces in Tunisia and that Congress considers a SOFA very important in judging the strength of a relationship. Grira said that he was aware of the issue, but that the Tunisians were waiting for the U.S. to respond to their proposal for text changes.

The US, yet again, was more focused on responding to terrorism rather than preventing it.

The policy of leading from behind has also seemed to have been abandoned in Mauritania. The government of Mauritania unveiled a plan called “Social and Economic Aspects of the National Strategy Against Terror.” Rather than supplementing the strategy already established, the TSCTP “parallels the GIRM’s [Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania] SNLT [Strategie Nationale de Lutte contre le Terrorisme], but goes a step further.” In little Mauritania, American policy has supplanted that of the host country. Leading from behind? Hardly.

The man responsible for Mauritania and America’s close “cooperation” is “Ministry of Economy and Finance Director for Cooperation Mohedyne Sidi Baba, who has been the Mission’s primary counterpart on USAID’s Trans Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership.” Baba’s is indebted to and very comfortable with the financial organizations of all kinds:

Mohedyne Ould Sidi Baba has been a vital player in building Mauritania’s relations with the IMF, World Bank and donors. His tireless work was instrumental to Mauritania’s consideration for the MCC [Millennium Challenge Corporation] and re-establishing confidence with the IMF.

Baba, in other words, has shown so much willingness to act on the behalf of the United States because they keep the money flowing to poverty stricken Mauritania.

The recent establishment of AFRICOM, TSCTP and OEF-TS were created in the aftermath of 9/11 paranoia. Any threat of terrorism, real or otherwise, had to be scrutinized and, whenever possible, acted upon. While al-Qaeda had attacked US interests in Kenya and Tanzania years before, there was never once an existential threat to the US from African terrorist groups. American officials, in their crusade to destroy a war tactic, are now onto Africa.

It looks as though Africa is being colonized yet again, but not by those searching for diamonds or by loan sharks from the IMF. Rather, the United States, acting as a partner in the War on Terror, seems dedicated to crafting and shaping malleable countries throughout the turbulent and eternally hopeless continent.