Spokesman of the Borno State Police Command, Victor Isuku, has narrated how a taxi driver picked a female suicide bomber and eventually died along with four others in the taxi cab in Muna Garage, Borno State.
Victor, in a statement confirming the incidence today, Wednesday, said that the explosion occurred around Muna Garage along Maiduguri/Gamboru Ngala Road.
He said that the bomber was suspected to have been picked by the driver on the road, saying: “the suicide bomber, who is reasonably believed to be one of the female casualties, was picked along the road. “The explosion occurred when the taxi was attempting to join the convoy of other vehicles heading to Gamboru town. All the four female passengers and the male driver died in the explosion.” He said that the explosion did not affect the other vehicles on the queues as everybody rushed out after the explosion.
In the statement, Victor Isuku said: “please be informed that at about 0830 today (Wednesday), there was an Improvised Explosive Device explosion on board a Golf 1 motor vehicle with reg. No JERE 349 XA, body S/No RTEAN 7179 taxi colour. The car was carrying five people – four females and a male driver.” [myad]
A new book, ‘How and Why the Yoruba Fought and Lost the Biafra-Nigeria Civil War’ written by Dr. Jimanze Ego-Alowes has been scheduled to be officially presented on the 20th October at the Best Western Starfire Hotel in Ikeja.
The book which focuses on the roles the regions and their lead personages played in the events leading to the civil war of 1967-70, has been dubbed as “controversial,” with a potential to becoming the book of the year 2016.
A statement from the organisers of the launching said that the book re-evaluates the roles of major characters in the war and the events that followed, including Generals Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Yakubu Gowon, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Professors Wole Soyinka, Ben Nwabueze, amongst others.
It said that the consensus amongst previewers is that this is a brave new reinterpretation of our history in the light of strict logic and universally accepted axioms.
The statement said that the launching will attract the cream of Nigeria’s intellectual and journalistic elites, including Gbolagbo Ogunsanwo, Eric Osagie,Odia Ofeimum, Ikeddy Isuguzo,Henry Boyo, Steve Nwosu, Tony Onyima, Onuoha Ukehamongst others.
It Sid that Dr. Jimanze is the author of several books, including the ‘’Minorities as Competitive Overlords” which has been critically well received as a major to contribution knowledge across the several disciplines of sociology, economics and history.
It said that the author has been writing the popular and well-received column, The Turf Game for the Daily Sun newspapers.
The author was quoted as saying that the purpose of the book is to awaken Nigerians to the need of “never finishing the tale.”
He said that no great narrative has an end and that history never finishes. [myad]
I read with profound sadness, the recent self-disgraceful open letter to Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, His Royal Highness, Dr. Ado Ibrahim, by a faceless group called “Igala Vanguard” urging the royal father to call Governor Yahaya Bello to order.
To put the record straight, I had earlier decided to let the past remained as it was and pray for the betterment of the generality of my dear state, after the divine intervention that miraculously terminated the decade-long dehumanising treatments meted on other tribes by our very brothers from the eastern flank of Kogi State. However, the recent vituperation by the said “Igala Vanguard” is too heavy to ignore and has made me to swallow my earlier decision by re-echoing the past iniquities that nearly annihilated Ebira race in the state. For long, our humility and exceeding love for others was mistaken for stupidity. I must also declare that I write this piece as a bonafide member of Kogi state.
Before I respond appropriately to the so-called open letter to our royal father, I would like to first put it in a simple parable, one of our characters that has put us in disarray since the creation of Kogi State in 1991. It goes thus:
One faithful day, an elderly Ebira man, driving an old pick-up car loaded with planks, mistakenly hit a multi-million naira private car moving behind him while trying to manoeuvre his way out of the traffic jam in Okene. As a matter of fact, when the old man realized that he had damaged the car, he took to his heel and the people around the scene spontaneously gave him hot chase, caught up with him and beat him to pulp. The owner of the damaged car who compassionately watched with dismay, pleaded with the irate people to allow the man go. The Hausa man whose car was damaged asked the old man why he decided to run away to which the man replied that it was because he discovered that even if his car and himself were to be sold, the money realized would not buy the damaged car. The Hausa man was shocked whereupon he handed over the key of the car to the old man. He told the man that the car was a gift as a compensation for the injuries he sustained during the beating. Everybody, including those who beat and injured him began to wonder at the irony – a man offering his car to the person that damaged it. This is the only part I need from the story.
What this simple parable teaches us is the way an average Ebira man behaves. Ebira people can fight and kill themselves in defence of strangers or justice. They are very loyal, fearless and fast enough to seek justice instantly when they have the power.
Consequently, it has been this exceeding love for strangers that has caused us the loss of our numerous able young men and nearly annihilated our race from the surface of the earth. Our exceptional love for others pushed us to declare unwavering support for Igala candidates since the state was created in 1991. This was despite the fact that Ebira people were the major pioneer of the state. Records show that the Igala politicians were advocating for Okura state of their own, not Kogi during the time Ebira leaders were working tirelessly to realize the dream State.
It is indeed, the same love and limitless loyalty for others that led to the long-drawn conflicts in Ebiraland that killed hundreds of our industrious youths. And of course, it is the same love for others and exceptional loyalty that made Governor Yahaya Bello to break the jinx of the hitherto institutionalized culture of appropriating all sensitive and top positions to the ruling tribe in the state. The position of chief of staff and other sensitive ones are ceded to other tribes in the current political settings. I pray, this exceeding love for others would not spell doom for us this time around because Ebira people believe in the sanctity of all human race.
Back to the insensitive open letter to the Royal majesty, Ohinoyi of Ebiraland by the “Igala Vanguard.”
What this letter has revealed is a clear case of an unending greediness and a fatal expression of fear by those who had milked and ruined the state to the detriment of the masses for decades.
Firstly, the group acknowledges that the creation of the state was a joint effort of all tribes. Hmmm…this is very interesting for hearing an Igala group for the first time, recognizing this in the public sphere. Indeed, it really shows that the chickens are coming home to roost. How time flies…
The said group also acknowledges that since 1999, their kinsmen have been ruling the state except for the short period witnessed by the state owing to court decisions that nullified the election of a governor and ordered for rerun which paved way for an Okun man to lead the state for 90 days. But the group in an attempt to justify their long dominant in the state political settings, described it as naturally normal even claiming that their numerical strength put them on the scale of superiority over other ethnic tribes in the state, a numeric strength that never translated to increased internally generated revenue in the state. What a shamefully ruse talk.
Let me quickly expose the hypocritical belief of the said group, a philosophy I believe many of our Igala brothers share because of my personal experience for the four years I spent with them.
It is on record that when Igala people were in Benue state as a minority group, they were never allowed to rule the state because of their numeric weakness just like they did in our current Kogi State until recent divine intervention. Hence, they started advocating for Okura state after fruitless cries and efforts to mount the governorship position in the then Benue state. They saw the system then as unholy and abnormal political setting in Benue state. But now, an Igala group is telling us that such hegemonic political setting is naturally normal because they are now in the position of the so-called majority.
However, this same scenario played out when Ebira people were in Kwara and they were in obvious minority; it was treated differently. The Kwara political leaders saw wisdom in recognizing all sections of the state and deliberately allowed the minority Ebira to govern the state without recourse to what this Igala group describes as naturally normal. No doubt that this humanistic gesture and compromise exhibited by the Kwaras’ politicians laid a solid foundation for Kwara State. Today, Kwara state and Benue state where Ebira and Igala came from to occupying the current Kogi state cannot be compared in terms of development. That is the resultance of a society where greediness and ethnic solidarity cum chauvinism are jettisoned for harmonious living and betterment of all.
The group also claims that most of the Permanent Secretaries and Directors suspended since March and top civil savants transferred by the governor are all Igalas or mostly Igalas. Hmmmm…if this claim is correct, then the group has just shot itself in the foot. This is an indictment against the Igala race. How come that all Permanent Secretaries, Directors and most top civil servants are Igala extraction? Is the state only for Igala? Where were the other tribes which the group acknowledges to be the stakeholders of the state? How come the past leaders appropriated all these positions to one ethnic group? What is the ratio of Igala, Ebira and Okun in all these Permanent secretaries and Directors that were suspended? These are little questions that are begging for answers from the so called “Igala Vanguard” and any other Igala group or person that share the same view.
The group also claims that the screening exercise embarked on by the Yahaya administration is targeting Igala. Oh! This has now made us to understand that almost all civil servants in the state are Igala extraction. Are there no other tribes in the state civil service? Where are the Ebiras? The Okuns? And the rest? Why are they not shouting too? This is indeed, the reeling confession of the economic hitmen in Kogi state. I think the world would now see the reason why Ebira had vigorously cried for justice in this state. Just about one-year leadership by another tribe of the state, an Igala group has already started crying like a baby for help.
The most striking and bizarre alarm raised by the group is the one on the recently instituted judicial panel of inquiry by the governor. Every right thinking living being would definitely be shocked at seeing a group of people raising an objection against the proposed probing of the past administrators of the state who the vast majority assumes to have severely ruined and milked the state dry, which led to its recent position as one of the poorest states in Nigeria. We have seen in recent time how contractors are being mobilized to all the sites of abandoned projects in the state. For thirteen years of Ibro and wada stewardship as governors of the state, I never for once witnessed either of the two coming to my hometown to commission a visibly important project sponsored by the state government from beginning to the end.
I think, only an agent of evil and anti-development would raise an eyebrow against this welcomed decision of probing the past leaders who held sway from 2003 to 2016.
And indeed, if all these crass claims are what the group calling an attempt to victimize or settle scores by an innocent and fearless governor, then the group need to wake up fast to recognize the present of the day break and the divine hand that is currently at work in the new Kogi state. I advise the group to channel their worries, to their political gladiators who deceived them with the concept of numerical strength as the tool that assures the tyranny of the majority.
With this, I would drop my pen till the next time a clown like Igala Vanguard or similar other woofs!
Six students abducted by militants from Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, in Eredo Local Council Development Area of Epe, last Thursday, have been released.
Their release was announced late evening today, Tuesday by security agents without much detail.
A member of the House of Representatives, Wale Raji, had moved a motion last week, under matters of urgent national importance, announcing the kidnap of the students and their teachers by unknown gunmen and called on the security agencies to intensify rescue efforts for the students and their teachers.
The House heard from Raji how some suspected kidnappers attacked Government Model College, Igbonla, Epe, on Thursday morning just as students were observing early morning prayers in the assembly.
Raji said he was told about the development shortly after the House resumed plenary today and he was compelled to bring it to the attention of the House and, by extension, the country.
“I am just learning that a group of kidnappers struck today in my constituency where they kidnapped students and principals,” Mr. Raji said.
The police spokesperson in Lagos State, Bisi Kolawole, later said that two of the students have been rescued, leaving two more students, a teacher and the school principal.
“We are still on their trail to rescue the others who include the principal, a teacher and two students,” Ms. Kolawole, an assistant commissioner of police, said. [myad]
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has challenged members of the accounting profession to join forces with the current administration in its fight against endemic corruption and to promote accountability and transparency in governance.
The Minister gave the charge on the day two of the 46th Annual Accountants Conference organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Abuja today, Tuesday.
Adeosun said that the accounting body now has greater roles to play in the current dispensation, saying that the era when accountants just offered suggestions was over.
“When things go wrong in the private sector, it affects just one company, but when things go wrong in the public sector, it affects the whole nation and that is why we must raise the bar for public financial management.
“The days when ICAN stayed in the background are gone. That is why I’m challenging ICAN to move from the background to the forefront. We need more accountants at all tiers of government and I think they have a very big role to play.”
She said that the finance ministry under her watch has begun capacity building for the nation’s accountants by ensuring that larger firms partner with smaller and medium scale firms for any assignment.
“We need to build capacity within the smaller and medium-sized practices. In the Ministry of Finance, we have resolved that a large firm must partner with smaller firms for any assignment and the practice has started.”
According to the minister, one of the measures put in place by the current administration was to ensure that the nation’s public finance management was better enhanced. According to her, a lot of lessons have been learnt from past mistakes; hence the implementation of a set of robust public finances management policies.
“One of the things we have done since we came to the office was to ensure that our public finance management is better enhanced. We didn’t really have early warning signals from where we were headed. I think if we had better data, we wouldn’t be here today.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is one of the few countries without risk based independent internal audit. We started with the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit. On assuming office, we found there were little controls, no audit and no reconciliation. These are the basic tools for reconciling expenditure with payroll. As a, result, we found thousands of payroll entries of people who are not supposed to be there. We therefore have to move the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit into formal independent-risk based internal audit.
“We also set up the Efficiency Unit and I have to thank ICAN for its support. We have been able to drive down our costs considerably. The savings are creating head room clearly needed to be invested to fund capital projects which will grow the economy.
The theme of the conference is Accountability. It was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, the Ogun State Governor Senator Ibikunle Amosun and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, among others. [myad]
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (MFCT), Babatope Ajakaiye has vowed to distance himself from journalists whom he described as ‘beggars, but his minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello disagreed saying that Journalists are change agents of the government. The occasion where the two officers of the same ministry expressed these divergent views was the opening ceremony today, Tuesday, of the 2016 Press Week of Federal Capital Territory Chapel of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abuja. The Permanent Secretary stressed that he has no regret not to identify with the journalism profession throughout his career as information officer, and warned information officers in the Administration to distance themselves too from journalists if they are preparing for leadership positions. Ajakaiye also took newspaper publishers to the cleaner, accusing them of giving flimsy awards to politicians as a means of survival. While calling on the Union to close down media organizations that failed to pay journalists, Ajakaiye said: “I am not proud to be a journalist. I want you to de-emphasis your membership of the NUJ which is just optional. They are beggars. You are first, civil servants and information officers, and you must prepare for leadership. I look forward to the time NUJ will fight newspaper houses that do not pay salaries. “Why do we have journalists that are not paid? Why do we have journalists that would have to be begging when they come for an assignment, why is it so? I have no answers. I want information officers to find these answers and tell our colleagues, instead of fighting other members of the society. “I want to see the NUJ closing down the newspaper houses that are not paying. I want to see the NUJ telling publishers who emphasis on awards to make money, that, this is not the practice of the profession,” Ajakaiye said. This was even as the minister tasked journalists to be change agents of the society, calling for synergy between government and the media. Muhammad Bello said: “your important role as change agent cannot be over-emphasized. For instance, it is through strong and virile media advocacy that the motorist will not jump traffic, the commuter or passerby will not litter the environment, the shop owner will not sweep and dump in the gutter in his frontage or a vandal will not decide to steal cables on railway tracks, street lights or even open up manhole to expose all of us to danger. “I am sure that through forum like this, we will be able to achieve greater synergy in tackling most of the challenges of governance by devising ways of opening the minds of our people to turn a new leaf in the ways of doing things.” Realising the damage which his statement had done, the Permanent Secretary, later in the day, refuted the report of his calling journalists beggars, describing journalism as a noble profession. A statement by the Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary in the FCTA, Muhammad Hazat Sule, quoted Ajakaiye as saying that he respects the journalism profession. The Permanent Secretary was quoted as saying that it was journalists that fought for the independence of Nigeria and for the entrenchment of democracy and that the country’s frontline nationalists were mostly journalists. The statement said that what Ajakaiye said was that some media proprietors toil with the remunerations of journalists in their employ and regretted that the non-payment of salaries was turning the honorable profession into a career being seen as beggarly. “The Permanent Secretary therefore enjoined the media proprietors to de-emphasize giving of awards and start taking the welfare of journalists more seriously. “He also urged Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to engage proprietors of media houses in constructive discussions that would bring an end to the delay or non-payment of journalists’ remunerations. “Dr. Ajakaiye wondered why he could have spited the profession to which he proudly belongs; reiterating his deepest regards for the profession. According to him, as an Information Officer for 32 years he never had any problem with journalists and worked harmoniously with all he encountered in the course of his career.” [myad]
The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has procured polio vaccines to vaccinate over 41 million children against polio to contain the recent outbreak of the disease in north-east Nigeria.
UNICEF, in a statement today, Tuesday, said that the immunization will spread across the Lake Chad Basin area as fleeing populations conflict are on the move within the sub-region, raising concerns that the virus could spread across borders.
It said that about 39,000 health workers have been deployed across Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger, Cameroon and the Central African Republic to deliver polio vaccines in areas at high-risk for the virus during five rounds of coordinated vaccination campaigns across five countries.
UNICEF said that it is procuring the vaccines and engaging the public through mass media and grassroots mobilization.
“The re-emergence of polio after two years with no recorded cases is a huge concern in an area that’s already in crisis,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa. The scale of our response reflects the urgency: we must not allow polio to spread.”
The statement said that the ongoing conflict has now displaced 2.6 million people, devastated provision of healthcare and left more than 4 million people in north-east Nigeria facing crisis and emergency food security levels.
It said that in the three worst-hit Nigerian states, 400,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year.
Polio vaccination teams in parts of Borno state are conducting simultaneous malnutrition screening to identify cases of severe acute malnutrition in children under five and refer malnourished children to treatment programmes. Findings from the first rounds of outreach screening have confirmed high rates of severe acute malnutrition.
“Children are dying and more young lives will be lost unless we scale up our response,” said Fontaine. “Through the polio vaccination drive, we can protect more children from the virus while also reaching children in need with treatment for malnutrition.”
“The third round of the current polio campaign runs from 15-18 October with additional rounds scheduled in November and December. The immunization campaign is being delivered by national governments, with support from UNICEF, the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The coordinated efforts between the polio vaccination campaigns and childhood nutrition screenings are part of UNICEF’s scaled-up response to the crisis. However, UNICEF’s response remains hampered by continued insecurity, especially in areas of Borno state in Nigeria, and by a lack of funding.
Of the US$158 million needed for UNICEF’s emergency response in the region, only US$50.4 million has so far been received. [myad]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the way to create employment is not by direct employment by government. He said that this is why the federal government considers it its business to make sure that it promotes enterprise. Speaking at a forum on job creation, skills and employment at the ongoing 22nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, Prof. Osinbajo stressed that employment can be created by encouraging private sector, saying: “so that is our focus. He assured local manufacturers, business owners and foreign investors that the present administration remains focused on improving the business environment necessary to accelerate Nigeria’s economic growth and job creation through active private sector participation in the economy. Vice President Osinbajo said that the government is seriously tackling issues relating to local production, employment generation and all that would be needed to re-energize the economy. “We are talking practically to everyone, talking to big investors, talking to big businesses, small businesses, to youth groups that are interested in technology, taking to farmers, talking to market women and men, there is a great deal of enthusiasm, everybody knows that this country has tremendous potential and there is so much that can be done. “We are engaging every one of our agencies that are responsible for facilitating trade, facilitating business, they have to be up to scratch, they’ve got to encourage business. “I want to assure everyone that the government is very focused on improving the environment for doing business, increase the opportunities so that we can employ the vast majority of our young people who need employment, encourage big businesses, encourage small businesses, encourage cottage industries, that is our focus and it will remain our focus.” Professor Osinbajo said that though there might be challenges with the present duty waivers and tax regimes, the federal government is working hard to correct the wrongs with the view to encouraging the growth of small businesses and attracting foreign investments. The Vice President said government’s emphasis on agriculture and agro-businesses was premised on its agenda on diversification and self-reliance in food production for domestic consumption. He said that the enormity of the challenge with tax holidays and waivers could not be addressed by a ‘one size, fits-all’ tax holidays initiative, stressing that there were areas that the government would revisit and revise. He said that the Presidential Enabling Business Council, PEBEC, a special initiative of the Federal Government established by the President, in collaboration with the private sector, was looking at incentives and issues related to waivers. The Vice President, who had spoken extensively on the administration’s economic policies on Day 1 of the summit, also emphasized what government was doing to support funding of small businesses in the country. “There are complications around funding and that is why in the short term, intervention funds are what we think might work. “We are looking at intervention funds in agriculture, we have the anchor borrowers’ programme, we are resuscitating the Bank of Agriculture, and recapitalizing it. “We expect that the Bank of Agriculture and a few other banks will be able to provide some cheap funds for agriculture, we are already seeing that in the anchor borrowers’ programme. “We also think that intervention fund in setting up areas like health, before we are able to get the overall monetary environment right, is necessary.” [myad]
Words have meaning. When I called Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump a fascist in a recent article for War Is Boring, I meant it. I did not mean “dictatorial,” though he is. I did not mean “authoritarian,” though he is. I meant fascist — a practitioner of virulent and horrifying ideology that poisons everything it touches.
In the 12 hours since 2016’s second presidential debate on Oct. 9, Trump supporters have employed the common language of fascists and called me a cockroach and a parasite, accused me of harboring an unfair bias against Trump and told me I don’t know what “fascism” even means.
They’re right about my bias. I am against Trump. He’s a unique threat to American democracy — a fascist, wannabe dictator who, even with his plummet in the polls, is entirely too close to the becoming the most powerful person on the planet.
I’m well aware of the full meaning of “fascism.” The label fits Trump perfectly. It’s easy to prove.
When Italian author Umberto Eco wrote: “Ur-Fascism” for The New York Review of Books in 1995, he sought to give the world a guide to recognize the ideology when it reared its ugly head again.
As a child, Eco had a front row seat for Benito Mussolini’s Italy and everything that came after. This was a man who understood fascism’s consequences and vicissitudes. He knew it could return — and he knew people should stand against it.
For Eco, fascism wasn’t a concrete political system, but a collection of behaviors that, taken together, forged something vile. “Fascism was a fuzzy totalitarianism,” he wrote. “A collage of different philosophical and political ideas, a beehive of contradictions.”
Fascism adapts and changes, but some things remain constant.
“Fascism became an all-purpose term because one can eliminate from a fascist regime one or more features, and it will still be recognizable as fascist.”
Late in the essay, Eco made a prescient prediction. “There is in our future a T.V. or internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.”
He was right — and that’s where we are now. Trump’s fascism is new. It’s a reality-T.V. kind of fascism. Uniquely American, born to entertain and fed by the internet. Trump is its prophet.
Feature one — cult of tradition
Despite the fuzzy nature of fascism, it does have features that distinguish it from other political ideologies. Eco described them in his essay. Trumpism lines up with all 14 of Eco’s features of eternal fascism.
The first is a cult of tradition, a hearkening back to an earlier time when everything was better. Republicans have long leaned on this trope, often touting the administration of Pres. Dwight Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961 as particularly wonderful and ignoring the racism, class struggles and systemic sexism of the era.
It was a great time … but only for some Americans. When Trump says he wants to make America great again, he’s saying he wants to pull the country back to a time when everything was great. A time that never really existed.
When Trump holds up his Bible, he’s using Christian morality as a prop. He’s telling his supports he’ll bring America back to a simpler time where the world made sense. Notice how he tells the crowd that, in the old days, people would return lost items. That’s a direct appeal to the cult of tradition.
Next comes a rejection of modernism. Trump loves new technology. He tweets through the night. But a rejection of modernism is not necessarily a rejection of modern technology. The Nazis loved new technology, but eschewed modernism in all its other forms — including art and well, people.
This is where Trump’s fear of the modern comes into play. Equal treatment of women, globalism, free trade deals, the free movement of peoples — these are all thoroughly modern ideas that Trump and his supports reject. When Trump calls globalism a false ideology and insists it’s okay to grab women by their genitals, he’s rejecting the modern world.
This rejection of the modern leads to the irrational desire to act for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection,” Eco wrote. “Thinking is a form of emasculation.”
Hundreds of people have asked Trump to elaborate on his plans for defeating Islamic State and dozens of other issues. His answer is always some refrain on “I’ll handle it and it’ll be great, you’ll see.”
Lately, he’s hidden behind secrecy, saying he doesn’t want America’s enemies to know what his plans are. The truth is, when the time comes to act, Trump will do so without forethought. He’s proven this by unthinkingly tweeting about sex tapes at three o’clock in the morning.
This is a man who believes taking counsel is a weakness and listening to advice is a crutch. Sources close to his campaign constantly leak stories to reporters about his inability to focus, his hatred of debate preparation and his determination to, well, just wing it.
Fascists take action without considering the ramifications. So does Trump.
Fascists cannot stand analytical criticism and refuse to ever accept that they’re wrong. Trump says crime is on the rise. It isn’t. Trump says the inner cities are war zones. They aren’t. Trump claimed global warming was a Chinese hoax, then denied he’d said it. It’s not … and he did.
When caught in a lie or an untruth, Trump doubles down on his assertions and closes his mind to new information. “For Ur-Fascism, disagreement is treason,” Eco explained. Trump has repeatedly taken advantage of the legal system to bully his critics. NBC sat on the Access Hollywood recordings containing Trump’s lewd and predatory comments about women because it feared a lawsuit.
During the second presidential debate, Trump promised to appoint a special prosecutor to pursue criminal charges against his rival Hillary Clinton for a crime the FBI has already reprimanded her for. He wants to jail his political opponent. That’s fascism.
Fascists exploit people’s fear of The Other. They seek to separate people based on cultural and racial differences. This has been a hallmark of the Trump campaign.
He’s labeled Mexicans as rapists, promised the build a wall along the border with Mexico, called for a ban on Muslim immigrants to the United States and questioned a federal judge’s fitness to serve because of his ethnicity.
Trump claims he will unite the American people, but his actions indicate otherwise. This is a real-estate mogul the U.S. Justice Department sued twice for discriminatory practices. Racism, bigotry and xenophobia are the weapons he deploys to energize his base.
That’s why prominent white nationalist David Duke and thousands of other racists say Trump speaks for them.
“One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups,” Eco wrote. “In our time, when the old ‘proletarians’ are becoming petty bourgeois … the fascism of tomorrow will find its audience in this new majority.”
Trump operates as Eco predicted. He has rallied that new majority around him.
Trump appeals to voters from America’s frustrated middle class — the highly-skilled and poorly-educated men and women left behind by globalism who feel ignored by political elites. These people deserve better than the lot they’ve drawn — and they deserve better than Trump.
Fascists obsess over international plots against their party and country. Sure enough, Trump tells his supports the U.S. political system is rigged against them and that China and Mexico are beating American on trade deals.
“The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia,” Eco explained. “But the plot must also come from the inside: Jews are usually the best target because they have the advantage of being at the same time inside and outside.”
Trump’s form of this feature is different. He doesn’t just obsess over bankers, but also political elites, who he insists have failed the American people and rigged the system in their own favor. This is, in my mind, one of the most dangerous features of Trumpism, because it promises to live on if he loses the election in November.
Trump is, in advance, blaming a conspiracy for his likely, eventually loss. Some of his followers have already pledged to take to the streets after election day. There could be violence.
“The followers must feel humiliated by the ostentatious wealth and force of their enemies,” Eco wrote. “However, the followers must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
When talking globalization and trade, Trump tells his supporters that other countries are laughing at America. “China’s taking the minerals on the other side,” he told the National Press Club in 2014. “How is it possible that we can be so stupid?”
In Trump’s view, the United States is suffering humiliation at the hands of an ascendant China. Once he’s in power, he promises to fix the problem by renegotiating all the deals. We’re told America will win so hard that we’ll get tired of it.
How will we he do this? See feature three.
Trump has promised to commit war crimes if he’s elected. He’s said he won’t risk war with Russia over Syria, but he’s promised to murder the families of suspected terrorists, fill up Guantanamo Bay with prisoners and double down on torture. Ex-president George W. Bush’s global war on terror is one with no end, and Trump is eager to escalate it.
“For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle,” Eco wrote. “Thus pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. It is bad because life is permanent warfare.”
It is important to note that, after 15 years of war, this portion of fascist ideology has become ingrained in the American public. The long years of warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq have changed us — and not for the better. This is a fascist virtue Clinton also extols.
Trump calls his opponents losers, haters and failures. He despises weakness in all its forms. That’s fascist. He routinely says his supporters are the best in the world, the best of all Americans. He makes them feel special, promises he’ll take care of them and make them strong again, while at the same time spitting on his rivals.
“Ur-Fascism can only advocate a popular elitism,” Eco explained. “Every citizen belongs to the best people of the world, the members of the party are the best among the citizens, every citizen can (or ought to) become a member of the party.”
When a fellow Republican fails to support Trump or even withdraws support, Trump turns on them. Even his running mate Mike Pence isn’t safe from his wrath. During the second debate, Trump said he hadn’t spoken with Pence and did not agree with him about Russian aggression in Syria.
In Trump’s eyes, his closest Republican ally is one step away from being a total loser.
Trump supporters feel special. They’re not just voting in an election, but participating in a movement. Trump makes them feel like heroes. He’s empowering them to take back their country.
The clearest example of this comes from Trump’s campaign website, where he entreats his supporters to sign up to be poll-watchers. This is a terrible idea with a gross historical legacy. Poll-watchers often intimidate voters and corrupt the electoral process.
That doesn’t matter to Trump. He wants everyone to be a hero, and being a poll-watcher is an easy way to fight against the allegedly rigged system he so despises.
“Everybody is educated to become a hero,” Eco explained. “In every mythology the hero is an exceptional being, but in Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”
“Since both permanent war and heroism are difficult games to play, the Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters,” Eco continued.
“This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons — doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.”
Trump doesn’t need weapons to subsidize his virility, he’s got huge towers instead. He has said he would sleep with his daughter were she not related to him, assured the American people of the hefty size of his penis and bragged on tape about sexually assaulting women.
For Trump, sexuality is nothing but another means of dominating others and exercise his will to power. He makes a beautiful thing — sex — ugly.
Trump claims he is the voice of the American people and that only he can fix the corrupt system that, in fact, he has benefited from his entire life. During his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination, he vowed to work on behalf of the American people to destroy the country’s political elites.
“Wherever a politician casts doubt on the legitimacy of a parliament because it no longer represents the Voice of the People, we can smell Ur-Fascism,” Eco wrote.
This dangerous orange creature has undermined a large portion of the American public’s faith in democracy. He wants to control a system he does not believe in. He wants to use the system to destroy itself.
Eco’s final feature of fascism is Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning. But we must be ready to identify other kinds of Newspeak, even if they take the apparently innocent form of a popular talk show.”
Trump is the American T.V. fascist Eco warned us about in 1995. He uses a childish and confusing speech pattern to entertain his followers and confuse his enemies. Like some Orwellian villain, he also deploys softball terms to blunt the edge of his wilder plans. A Muslim ban becomes “extreme vetting.” Internment camps are “safe zones.” Authoritarian domination of trade partners is “winning.”
He’s a fascist. Plain and simple. When I sat down to write this article, go through the checklist and find supporting documentation, I didn’t realize it would be so easy — nor did I think Trump would meet all 14 criteria.
He does.
Pulling up clips depicting Trump saying horrible things, expressing racist sentiments, shit-talking America and explaining how much better its enemies are … didn’t take much digging.
Also note that many of the videos of Trump doing and saying horrible things come from pro-Trump YouTube channels. His fans love that he’s a fascist. It’s what they want — a strong man who will take care of them, scare off the bad people and tell them what to do.
This is important because it means Trumpism won’t die with his likely defeat in November. Trumpism will survive, and Trump himself more likely than not will double down on his own sick ideology. He may do something as benign as start a new television network or something as deplorable as call for an armed revolution, but he will take action.
President Muhammadu Buhari has confessed that the main challenge his government is facing now is the issue of Niger Delta militants. He declared that the security challenge in the North-east of the country is under control, with Boko Haram largely defeated, “but another serious form of insecurity has reared its head in the Niger Delta. The objective is to colonize the country economically by sabotaging oil and gas installations. We are trying to speak with their leaders, to know how many groups there are, and we are also working with the oil companies.” “The militants engage in sophisticated sabotage, using skills they had gained from training either by government or the oil companies, to vandalize installations deep in the sea. We need to understand who the real agitators are, and engage with them, so that confidence can be restored in the region.” President Buhari spoke today, Monday during an audience with the Foreign Minister of Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Frank-Walters Steinmeier, at State House, Abuja. The President insisted that the Niger Delta situation is more complex, since the militants had no central command, and some of them are mere extortioners. Buhari, who promised that a lasting solution would be found to the unrest soon, appealed to Germany to help Nigeria in its effort to curb oil theft, adding that such help could come in the areas of equipment, training, and sharing of intelligence with the Nigeria Navy. “Nigeria’s oil is stolen, and taken away through the Gulf of Guinea. Adequate training and equipping of our navy will prevent this.” Responding, Dr. Steinmeier, said that Germany is happy to hear of the strides taken by the Buhari administration against insurgents in the North-east. He said that his country is willing to lend a helping hand in resolving the crisis in the Niger Delta even as he applauded the war against corruption. Dr. Steinmeier said that Nigeria would have his country’s support and that they are also interested in investing in renewable energy, gas exploration, mining, among others, to boost Nigeria’s economy. “Germany will support development in Nigeria. We want closer cooperation on migration issues, urbanization, and supporting the navy with equipment, training and intelligence.” [myad]
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (MFCT), Babatope Ajakaiye has vowed to distance himself from journalists whom he described as ‘beggars, but his minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello disagreed saying that Journalists are change agents of the government.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the way to create employment is not by direct employment by government. He said that this is why the federal government considers it its business to make sure that it promotes enterprise.
President Muhammadu Buhari has confessed that the main challenge his government is facing now is the issue of Niger Delta militants.
Sorry Igala Vanguard, It’s Too Early To Cry, By Deen Adavize
I read with profound sadness, the recent self-disgraceful open letter to Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, His Royal Highness, Dr. Ado Ibrahim, by a faceless group called “Igala Vanguard” urging the royal father to call Governor Yahaya Bello to order.
To put the record straight, I had earlier decided to let the past remained as it was and pray for the betterment of the generality of my dear state, after the divine intervention that miraculously terminated the decade-long dehumanising treatments meted on other tribes by our very brothers from the eastern flank of Kogi State. However, the recent vituperation by the said “Igala Vanguard” is too heavy to ignore and has made me to swallow my earlier decision by re-echoing the past iniquities that nearly annihilated Ebira race in the state. For long, our humility and exceeding love for others was mistaken for stupidity. I must also declare that I write this piece as a bonafide member of Kogi state.
Before I respond appropriately to the so-called open letter to our royal father, I would like to first put it in a simple parable, one of our characters that has put us in disarray since the creation of Kogi State in 1991. It goes thus:
One faithful day, an elderly Ebira man, driving an old pick-up car loaded with planks, mistakenly hit a multi-million naira private car moving behind him while trying to manoeuvre his way out of the traffic jam in Okene. As a matter of fact, when the old man realized that he had damaged the car, he took to his heel and the people around the scene spontaneously gave him hot chase, caught up with him and beat him to pulp. The owner of the damaged car who compassionately watched with dismay, pleaded with the irate people to allow the man go. The Hausa man whose car was damaged asked the old man why he decided to run away to which the man replied that it was because he discovered that even if his car and himself were to be sold, the money realized would not buy the damaged car. The Hausa man was shocked whereupon he handed over the key of the car to the old man. He told the man that the car was a gift as a compensation for the injuries he sustained during the beating. Everybody, including those who beat and injured him began to wonder at the irony – a man offering his car to the person that damaged it. This is the only part I need from the story.
What this simple parable teaches us is the way an average Ebira man behaves. Ebira people can fight and kill themselves in defence of strangers or justice. They are very loyal, fearless and fast enough to seek justice instantly when they have the power.
Consequently, it has been this exceeding love for strangers that has caused us the loss of our numerous able young men and nearly annihilated our race from the surface of the earth. Our exceptional love for others pushed us to declare unwavering support for Igala candidates since the state was created in 1991. This was despite the fact that Ebira people were the major pioneer of the state. Records show that the Igala politicians were advocating for Okura state of their own, not Kogi during the time Ebira leaders were working tirelessly to realize the dream State.
It is indeed, the same love and limitless loyalty for others that led to the long-drawn conflicts in Ebiraland that killed hundreds of our industrious youths. And of course, it is the same love for others and exceptional loyalty that made Governor Yahaya Bello to break the jinx of the hitherto institutionalized culture of appropriating all sensitive and top positions to the ruling tribe in the state. The position of chief of staff and other sensitive ones are ceded to other tribes in the current political settings. I pray, this exceeding love for others would not spell doom for us this time around because Ebira people believe in the sanctity of all human race.
Back to the insensitive open letter to the Royal majesty, Ohinoyi of Ebiraland by the “Igala Vanguard.”
What this letter has revealed is a clear case of an unending greediness and a fatal expression of fear by those who had milked and ruined the state to the detriment of the masses for decades.
Firstly, the group acknowledges that the creation of the state was a joint effort of all tribes. Hmmm…this is very interesting for hearing an Igala group for the first time, recognizing this in the public sphere. Indeed, it really shows that the chickens are coming home to roost. How time flies…
The said group also acknowledges that since 1999, their kinsmen have been ruling the state except for the short period witnessed by the state owing to court decisions that nullified the election of a governor and ordered for rerun which paved way for an Okun man to lead the state for 90 days. But the group in an attempt to justify their long dominant in the state political settings, described it as naturally normal even claiming that their numerical strength put them on the scale of superiority over other ethnic tribes in the state, a numeric strength that never translated to increased internally generated revenue in the state. What a shamefully ruse talk.
Let me quickly expose the hypocritical belief of the said group, a philosophy I believe many of our Igala brothers share because of my personal experience for the four years I spent with them.
It is on record that when Igala people were in Benue state as a minority group, they were never allowed to rule the state because of their numeric weakness just like they did in our current Kogi State until recent divine intervention. Hence, they started advocating for Okura state after fruitless cries and efforts to mount the governorship position in the then Benue state. They saw the system then as unholy and abnormal political setting in Benue state. But now, an Igala group is telling us that such hegemonic political setting is naturally normal because they are now in the position of the so-called majority.
However, this same scenario played out when Ebira people were in Kwara and they were in obvious minority; it was treated differently. The Kwara political leaders saw wisdom in recognizing all sections of the state and deliberately allowed the minority Ebira to govern the state without recourse to what this Igala group describes as naturally normal. No doubt that this humanistic gesture and compromise exhibited by the Kwaras’ politicians laid a solid foundation for Kwara State. Today, Kwara state and Benue state where Ebira and Igala came from to occupying the current Kogi state cannot be compared in terms of development. That is the resultance of a society where greediness and ethnic solidarity cum chauvinism are jettisoned for harmonious living and betterment of all.
The group also claims that most of the Permanent Secretaries and Directors suspended since March and top civil savants transferred by the governor are all Igalas or mostly Igalas. Hmmmm…if this claim is correct, then the group has just shot itself in the foot. This is an indictment against the Igala race. How come that all Permanent Secretaries, Directors and most top civil servants are Igala extraction? Is the state only for Igala? Where were the other tribes which the group acknowledges to be the stakeholders of the state? How come the past leaders appropriated all these positions to one ethnic group? What is the ratio of Igala, Ebira and Okun in all these Permanent secretaries and Directors that were suspended? These are little questions that are begging for answers from the so called “Igala Vanguard” and any other Igala group or person that share the same view.
The group also claims that the screening exercise embarked on by the Yahaya administration is targeting Igala. Oh! This has now made us to understand that almost all civil servants in the state are Igala extraction. Are there no other tribes in the state civil service? Where are the Ebiras? The Okuns? And the rest? Why are they not shouting too? This is indeed, the reeling confession of the economic hitmen in Kogi state. I think the world would now see the reason why Ebira had vigorously cried for justice in this state. Just about one-year leadership by another tribe of the state, an Igala group has already started crying like a baby for help.
The most striking and bizarre alarm raised by the group is the one on the recently instituted judicial panel of inquiry by the governor. Every right thinking living being would definitely be shocked at seeing a group of people raising an objection against the proposed probing of the past administrators of the state who the vast majority assumes to have severely ruined and milked the state dry, which led to its recent position as one of the poorest states in Nigeria. We have seen in recent time how contractors are being mobilized to all the sites of abandoned projects in the state. For thirteen years of Ibro and wada stewardship as governors of the state, I never for once witnessed either of the two coming to my hometown to commission a visibly important project sponsored by the state government from beginning to the end.
I think, only an agent of evil and anti-development would raise an eyebrow against this welcomed decision of probing the past leaders who held sway from 2003 to 2016.
And indeed, if all these crass claims are what the group calling an attempt to victimize or settle scores by an innocent and fearless governor, then the group need to wake up fast to recognize the present of the day break and the divine hand that is currently at work in the new Kogi state. I advise the group to channel their worries, to their political gladiators who deceived them with the concept of numerical strength as the tool that assures the tyranny of the majority.
With this, I would drop my pen till the next time a clown like Igala Vanguard or similar other woofs!