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It is rude, un-African of Wike calling Atiku a liar, tagging Babangida, Lamido his attack dogs – Eze
… Cautions Wike to play down on public speaking, as he’s overheating polity
… Says his ambition can’t be bigger than PDP
… Appeals to Atiku to reconcile with the governor without succumbing to his evil schemes
Despite his progressive inclination and current political leaning as a foundation member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and member of APC Legacy Projects Media Team, Chief Eze Chukwumeka Eze, has voiced his displeasure over the bizarrely primitive and aggressively self-assertive characteristic of Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, whose notoriety in the use of very harsh condemnatory and fowl languages against perceive political foes and more recently, former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and other notable Nigerians who have made serious sacrifices for the domestication of democracy, nauseate every right thinking member of society.
“Not minding my present political affiliation with APC, as a patriotic Nigerian I cannot stand aloof and watch helplessly as one of the political institutions in Nigeria is decimated and desecrated by Governor Nyesom Wike who was a mere student activist when Atiku Abubakar was playing actively to champion the enthronement of genuine democracy in Nigeria.”
In a statement made available to media houses in Port Harcourt, Chief Eze said Wike’s truculent criticisms and barrage of uncultured invectives since the announcement of the result of the PDP presidential primaries exposes him as a troubled man with a streak of sadism in him.
At times in public utterances, people should be careful and do the best they can to study and understand some of the characters against whom they discuss and stop running down leaders who they know very well they cannot be better than.
Acknowledging whatever Governor Nyesom Wike may have claimed to contribute with public funds in sustaining the PDP, Chief Eze said it is impious for the Governor to allow his dusky garrulousness to take a better part of him, making him to behave like a deposed emperor especially towards a nationalistic political organization like the PDP which he knows very little or nothing about how it was formed.
The Governor cannot scheme the same primitive style of politics he uses in Rivers State where public institutions and very significant individuals including Traditional, Religious and Political Leaders are treated like a conquered species and conditioned to a pattern of behavior peculiar only to the times of slave trade. Such exhibition of lordly disdain and inhuman uppity coupled with an embarrassing entitlement mentality must have to be dismantled and not tolerated at this critical moment of our national life.
Particularly unsettled by the the adjectival phrases deployed by the Governor to describe Atiku Abubakar over his comment on what informed his choice of a running-mate, Eze said for Wike to describe the former Vice President whose inputs towards sustaining the growth of Nigeria’s nascent democracy, especially for fighting the third term Agenda of erstwhile President of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo, as a Liar for stating the obvious, he will live to regret the consequences of his unguarded diatribes.
“Atiku Abubakar is not his age mate or political mate notwithstanding the fact that the situation of things has made him to continue to relate with dubious characters like the Rivers Governor whose style of politics and self-centered leadership model is abhorrent and grossly antithetical to the new Nigeria envisaged in 2023.”
Recall that Chief Eze had earlier-on emphasized that Gov. Wike had nothing to tell Nigerians about Atiku and PDP when he boasted in the public glare that he would speak soon. “I have told the world that Wike has absolutely nothing to tell Nigerians or the world about Atiku Abubakar or PDP that key watchers and political followers in Nigeria do not know yet he went further to ridicule himself and demean the values for which the great people of Rivers State are known.
“What exactly did Atiku say to warrant being called a liar before the general public?” Eze queried. “This is just to show how disgruntled Gov. Nyesom Wike has become. This is not the culture of the good people of Rivers State, not of Africa where we hold elders in high esteem.”
“How can one call great leaders like Sule Lamido and Aliyu Babangida, who were Governors before he dreamt of becoming a Governor “War Dogs of Atiku Abubakar.” This is most sad, unfortunate, UnAfrican and unacceptable. After following his political development these past sixteen years, Eze said he remains highly disappointed with his political maneuvers that have diminished everything remaining of his relevance in the political space.
He recalled how the Governor wasted billions of Rivers money in pursuit of his elsuive Presidential and Vice Presidential ambitions all of which he lost on both counts.
Eze joins His Excellency Sule Lamido the former Governor of Jigawa State to counsel Wike to learn from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan etc and his predecessors in the state, Dr. Peter Odili and Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who showed maturity when they lost the presidential tickets of their parties.
Sule Lamido went further to state, “A day to the PDP’s presidential convention, which Peter Odili of Rivers State was bound to win and was also bound to win the presidential election, he was stopped by the party which went on to nominate President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who did not even show interest.
“He was promised a vice presidential ticket and yet he was not given. He took everything as the mature man he is. “Look at the APC, Vice President Osinbajo was humiliated; the Senate president was also humiliated and even his countryman, Amaechi was given the same treatment; they took it as mature men and did not go about complaining as Wike is doing. This is called maturity.
“Do you know why? This is because the party is supreme. You cannot be bigger than your party. Party is organic. The convention has come and gone. Osinbajo, Lawan and Amaechi have shown maturity because their party has spoken. If Wike is in the APC will he be talking and behaving as he is doing now?
Having pointed out why Wike failed the Presidential ambition and why Atiku Abubakar or any other sound leader cannot make the deadly mistake of accepting him to deputize for them, Chief Eze said should his counsel make no meaning to the Governor, then at least he should read through the recent interview of Ambassador Wali and learn how to conduct himself in his future dealings.
Accordingly, Amb. Aminu Wali highlighted, “Everybody has got his own way of assessing people and trying to see how best they fit into a context. I don’t know Okowa personally. I only met with him at the National Executive Council
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised Nigerian youths to take over leadership positions right now.
Obasanjo said youths should not allow anyone to address them as leaders of tomorrow, saying the tomorrow may never come.
Obasanjo claimed some corrupt leaders would destroy the so-called tomorrow if the younger generation fails to rise and take their future in their hands.
The former president made the assertions on Saturday during a special interview with former Super Eagles star, Segun Odegbami, on his Eagles7 Sports 103.7 FM, Abeokuta.
Fielding questions from Odegbami, Obasanjo said, “My advice for Nigerian youths is, never let anybody tell you that you are the leaders of tomorrow. If you wait for tomorrow before you take over leadership, that tomorrow may not come. They will destroy it.
“This is the time, youths get up and make it happen,” he said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has reacted to the detention of an Akwa Ibom-based human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, by the State Chief Judge, Justice Ekaette Obot.
Effiong was, on Wednesday, sent to one-month imprisonment, for reportedly accusing the Chief Judge of being biased and asking her to recuse herself from a libel suit filed against a fellow lawyer, Leo Ekpenyong, by the state governor, Udom Emmanuel.
The President of the association, Barr. Olumide Akpata, said the association will resist every attempt to intimidate, threaten or harass its members while properly carrying out their professional duties.
Akpata in a series of tweets on Thursday assured that the association was doing everything possible to ensure that the detained lawyer regained his freedom very soon.
He wrote; “I received with great concern the news of the detention of one of our members, @InibeheEffiong, at a correctional facility in Akwa Ibom State, on account of what transpired during proceedings in the court of the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State.
“Since receiving the news, I have been in touch with the Chairman of the NBA Uyo Branch who has mobilized his team to look into & address this. This morning, I also mandated the NBA 1st Vice President to visit Uyo immediately to join ongoing efforts & ensure Mr. Effiong’s release.”
While reiterating that the association will also not condone acts of indiscipline and insubordination against judicial officers from our members no matter the provocation, Akpata said he has mandated the 1st Vice President to conduct a fact-finding investigation to determine what transpired and recommend next steps.
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Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The unfolding anarchy and violence in Nigeria are serious matters, and every attempt must be made to keep the public informed. A documentary that investigates and examines government failures while centering on victims and their families would have done that. Giving boastful, bloodthirsty criminals a global platform serves only two purposes. It provides free publicity for terror and enables the BBC to push viewership figures on social media – By Kadaria Ahmed
IT has simply gotten out of hand.
Journalists and now a global media organisation of repute, the BBC, which should know better, are becoming a tool for terrorists, even if unwittingly, by amplifying the faces, voices and stories of killers and marauders who are still operating with impunity across Nigeria.
The public interest argument seems to have been misunderstood, some may even say misrepresented, to enable sensationalist reporting that is very unlikely to be allowed on screens in the United Kingdom. By not upholding the same standards as they would in the UK, in their work in Nigeria, the BBC Africa Eye producers in their latest documentary titled ‘The Bandits Warlords of Zamfara’ have provided a global platform to terrorists and can be accused of becoming an accomplice to terror in the name of reporting it.
When Communications Professor at the University of Toronto, Mahmoud Eid, coined the term ‘Terroredia’, in his book ‘Exchanging Terrorism Oxygen for Media Airwaves’, he argues that there is now a ‘relationship between terrorists and media professionals in which acts of terrorism and media coverage are exchanged, influenced, and fuelled by one another.’ Since it was written seven years ago, it would appear the case Eid was trying to make is now quite self-evident, especially in Nigeria where increasingly, propaganda videos and statements by terror groups as well as features on terror leaders are finding their way into mainstream media. We can now easily identify, for example, the faces of the major kingpins responsible for the widespread kidnappings and killings that are occurring on a daily basis in the Northern part of Nigeria, no thanks to having their pictures and videos splashed all over the pages of newspapers and on our television screens almost as if they are Nollywood A-listers.
None of these has ‘helped’ Nigeria’s inept government, led by President Muhamadu Buhari, to find and arrest these blood-thirsty criminals. The ‘pressure’ has also not stopped the administration from playing ostrich and finding an effective way of tackling insecurity. These are some of the public interest arguments put forward by those defending the featuring of predatory criminals on national and now international media platforms.
The arguments also include an assertion that hearing from terrorists helps us better understand the conflicts and therefore come up with solutions. Under the guise of public interest, this is the argument that BBC Africa Eye seems to be presenting, to justify its decision to actively give copious screen time to self-confessed murderers and kidnappers, who are still actively involved in attacking communities, killing, kidnapping, pillaging and generally making life brutish and a living hell for the people of Nigeria’s North-western State of Zamfara and beyond.
The two promotional clips released for the documentary, The Bandits Warlords of Zamfara, feature a marauder who should remain nameless here, confirming that he was part of those who raided Jengebe Girls’ Secondary School in the state, abducting over 300 students with the attendant horror of these sorts of crimes normally entail, and releasing them, after the payment of ransom. Evidently, the BBC Africa Eye team also had no problem utilising footage that appears to have been shot by these self-confessed criminals because this makes it into the second trailer. No media of repute would take this decision because it is generally understood that these sorts of videos are recorded by terrorists for one thing only: propaganda.
Reports on the documentary in national newspapers also quote one of the featured criminals boasting that he only kills, and doesn’t kidnap for ransom. This is the nature of the program that the ‘reputable’ BBC Africa Eye is positioning as having a public interest imperative.
To be clear, the current state of insecurity and all that it entails is the fault of the Federal Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, and he must be held responsible for the carnage and state of anarchy engulfing the nation. That does not however mean irresponsible reporting by the media, which as champion of interest of the common man, should not be challenged.
If terrorists were killing and kidnapping British citizens, especially young children, the BBC would not enable interviews by the perpetrators, particularly if they were still roaming footloose and fancy-free, without an iota of remorse for their crimes and also carrying out many more. The trauma to the psyche of the British public will be unbearable, and the BBC would not be willing to pay that price, or risk the legal consequences sure to ensue.
In the era of the Irish Republican Army, the IRA, for example, the group didn’t make it onto the airwaves of the BBC. Indeed, reporting of the activities of the political party seen as the political arm of the IRA, Sein Fein, was heavily censored. Every time they spoke, the BBC deleted their voices and replaced such with those of actors, in obedience to British Government directives which were put in place because the authorities believed publicity is like air for ‘terrorists’ groups, helping them to grow and thrive. And even though Sein Fein shared what many might argue is only an ideological position with the IRA, they were denied a presence on British airwaves in substantial ways.
Here in Nigeria, concerns about the impact the amplification of terrorists’ voices will have on victims, their families and the public appear to be a secondary consideration to the BBC’s insistence on hearing from the bandits’ first-hand accounts and justification for their murderous activities.
There is no good argument that can justify the damage this is doing to the public that includes the school girls in Jangebe, who can now in perpetuity, watch the story of their abductions from the mouth of their abductors and relive the attendant trauma of that horrible crime.
For all of these school girls, victims and their families, the BBC Africa Eye has confirmed their attackers’ invincibility. By documenting and handing over on a platter of gold one of the most respected media brands in the world to justify their actions, the BBC has iconised violent men leading marauding militias that are killing, abducting, maiming and leaving terror in their wake across large swathes of Nigeria and who are clearly neither sorry for their crime nor looking to stop anytime soon.
It is hard to see how this will not contribute to deepening fear, mistrust, hopelessness and damage to the national psyche while undoubtedly helping with recruitment, all ingredients that actively contribute to successful outcomes for terror groups.
The public’s right to know is a sacrosanct tenet of journalists who are not and should not be in the job of censoring news. Finding the balance between that and ensuring media platforms do not provide the oxygen of publicity for terrorists and criminals is not easy, but it is at these difficult junctures that good journalism needs to stand its ground.
Recognising the importance of getting it right globally, experts including those at the BBC have taken the trouble to develop guidelines for reporting difficult stories including stories of conflict and terrorism. The German Press Code, for example, says “in reporting actual and threatened acts of violence, the Press should carefully weigh the public’s interest in information against the interest of victims and other people involved. It should report on such incidents in an independent and authentic way, but not allow itself to be made the tool of criminals. Nor should it undertake independent attempts to mediate between criminals and the police. THERE MUST BE NO INTERVIEWS WITH PERPETRATORS DURING ACTS OF VIOLENCE.”
The German guidelines are unequivocal about not giving airtime to criminals involved in ongoing criminal activities and for very good reason. The BBC’s editorial guidelines are more watery, perhaps explaining why the BBC Africa Eye team is able to be cavalier about such a critical issue. But even these guidelines say “any proposal to approach an organisation (or an individual member of an organisation) designated a ‘terrorist group’ by the Home Secretary under the Terrorism Acts, and any proposal to approach individuals or organisations responsible for acts of terror, to participate in our output must be referred in advance to Director Editorial Policy and Standard and also any proposal to broadcast content made by perpetrators of a hijacking, kidnapping, hostage-taking or siege must be referred to a senior editorial figure.’’
The questions to answer therefore include: did senior people in London at the BBC fully understand that they were authorising the recording of terrorists who are still active and who between them have been responsible for the abduction, rape and killings of thousands of people including school children?
There are other questions.
When homeland terrorists committed the inconceivable crime of hacking British soldier Lee Rigby to death in May 2013, would the BBC have considered it in the public interest to interview these terrorists? To compare apples with apples, imagine that hero Rigby’s murderers were never held for their crimes, continued butchering people and collecting seven-figure ransoms, would the BBC dare to send reporters to film the murderers gloating about collecting ransom, and then hold Twitter Spaces and bask in views, clicks and likes?
The answer is NO. The BBC would never dare.
Why then is the BBC okay to fund, then publicise the glorification of practising murderers still butchering hundreds across Nigeria and the Chad Basin? How did this three-year disregard for African lives come about, and why is this acceptable?
By their own admission, the BBC Africa Eye producers claim their reporting occurred over three years. This is clearly well before the crime against the school girls in Jangebe occurred. These bandits and their factions commit cross-border crimes. Therefore, as a matter of urgent national and regional security, other questions which the BBC must answer publicly, in the actual interest of the public include:
In all these years it was conducting these ‘investigations’ of terrorists, did the BBC harbour information on potential criminal or actual crimes that happened and did the BBC withhold this information from the relevant African security authorities?
After the particular interviews in which the murderers admit their collection of ransoms, and committing acts of kidnap, did the BBC hand over any of these footage to the authorities, and do so in a timely manner?
What footage and information has the BBC handed over to law enforcement, since the publication of this documentary?
In covering a subset of criminals for three years, the BBC has brazenly admitted that it was shooting criminals before, during and after the commission of dastardly crimes that have destroyed generations present and unborn.
The BBC Africa Eye documentaries series have been designed specifically for release on social media platforms (Facebook and YouTube). Given the programme’s track record of dubious editorial decisions and accusations of unethical behaviour including by local reporters who worked with them, BBC managers in London should also explain if the decision to put this documentary out on social media was designed to ensure its producers are not held to the high global broadcast standards the BBC is known for and which are applicable to content broadcast within the UK?
When BBC Africa Eye did a story on drug addiction in Nigeria, there were attempts by a producer to sensationalise some of the reporting, to make it more gripping. On that occasion, he was working with a seasoned and brave journalist who pushed back.
When they did a story on Sex for Grades, the two reporters responsible for the story ended up trading blame on social media over sex for by-line allegations. Again, the producers didn’t come out smelling of roses.
An investigative report by them on a popular talk show host in Nigeria who is revered by millions saw the journalist who did that reporting fleeing his home together with his family as a result of threats to his life.
The BBC failed in its duty of care to this local journalist and in the end fellow journalists had to rally around to provide him with safe spaces.
In all, the team at BBC Africa Eye appears to be striving to do reporting that would be unacceptable in the UK for being unethical and transparently against public interest.
The problem is they have capitalised on the justified anger of the people and the inconceivable failure of the government, to once again resurrect the ugliest vestiges of colonialism, which one had hoped were long buried.
The unfolding anarchy and violence in Nigeria are serious matters, and every attempt must be made to keep the public informed. A documentary that investigates and examines government failures while centering victims and their families would have done that.
Giving boastful, bloodthirsty criminals a global platform serves only two purposes. It provides free publicity for terror and enables the BBC to push viewership figures on social media.
It does nothing for public service. Even if it does not realise it, the BBC’s reputation for stellar public service journalism is being damaged.
Black lives, their humanity and national security should matter more than clicks.
Hopefully, someone in London will take note.
**Kadaria Ahmed, a former Senior Producer at the BBC in London, is now CEO at Radio Now 95.3FM Lagos
YUSUF ABUBAKAR GAMBO NARRATES HIS DREAMS
Arewa! You see that, Peter Obi? I don’t even like him. I may not like either his tribe; Igbo or his religion. When I think of the challenges of governing Nigeria, I would imagine a man of steel and toughness, not one with a feminine voice like Peter Obi.
After performing Tahajjud (Islamic night prayer), I followed up with deep meditations on Allah’s words. I went to sleep as I had done other nights. Never been involved in many revelations, so I consider each, a privilege not just because of its scarcity, but also for its symbolism.
On this night in a revelation, I was thrown into and abandoned in a deep well filled with scorpions by a violent mob.
Struggling to climb out under the heavy venomous scorpions’ attacks and losing hope, I heard that familiar but uniquely funny voice scream; hold unto my hand. Relief and tears. I could not believe it.
Who did I see trying to pull me out of the scorpions-infested well? Peter Obi! At this point, did I have to care he was someone I did not like? Who can resist life at the point of death? I woke up wondering what just happened.
I sat down and started thinking about what I have just seen in this revelation. Deep in my thoughts, I was imagining; If my beloved pregnant wife were to be in need of emergency healthcare in the middle of the night – trust Nigeria’s hospitals when they ask you to deposit 100k or no treatment, If I watched my wife dying and someone tapped at my back and offered to pay, would I reject such a gesture and watched my wife die because it was coming from someone I didn’t like? If that help came from Peter Obi and I rejected it, what would you do to me as your brother, father, son, in-law or friend?
After this incident, I vowed to rather vote for someone I don’t like but am very competent and honest than someone who I like, but steals from me and kills me.
After going through Peter Obi’s records and plans for Nigeria, we can only deceive ourselves if we think the North does not need help.
Are we going to say no because a good man we don’t like wants to save us? Let us be wise
1. Ike Ekweremadu didn’t engage in any organ trafficking, to start with.
2. He needs a transplant for his daughter.
3. Travel arrangements were planned after seeing a willing donor in Nigeria.
4. Ike Ekweremadu did convey the matter in writing to the British High Commission in December last year.
5. The patient and the donor both travelled to the UK.
6. Contrary to what many people are claiming, the donor is a man, age 21. She is not a girl or a minor.
7. As it turned out, the organ did not even match.
8. Not wanting to return to Nigeria, the donor went to report that he was trafficked to London for possible organ harvest, believing the same would guarantee him asylum.
9. The two have now been called for an investigation into the matter.
Young people always conduct research before sharing information… Fake news is fatal.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have denounced the purported arrest and wrongful incarceration of Igbo people in Kenji, Niger State’s Wawa military base, which they claim was carried out on the Federal Government of Nigeria’s orders.
The separatist group appealed to the world community for support in gaining the release of these Igbo persons who had been wrongfully detained and incarcerated.
These were disclosed by IPOB on Thursday in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful.
The statement partly reads, “We the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU wish to condemn the continued and unlawful detention of Igbo youths, fathers and mothers in Imo State, Anambra State, Enugu State, Abia state and Ebonyi State detention facilities in the North more especially in Wawa military barracks at Kenji (Kainji) Niger State.
“We appeal to the International community to prevail on Nigeria Government and its security agents to discharge all the Igbo people unlawfully arrested without trial from the above mentioned States, because this act is a pure “human rights violation of a particular race” “racial profiling, violation of freedom of worship, discrimination and persecution”.
“IPOB now watches with keen interest going forward on discriminatory treatment and crimes against Biafrans and Igbos in particular. We are everywhere and our eyes and ears are everywhere as well. Igbos are the most law abiding race within our space, we are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters that has high regard for lives, therefore, we warn the Nigerian Armed forces and Police to desist from killing Igbos untimely otherwise it will bounce back to them harshly.
“The Biafra restoration project has crossed the Rubicon and can no longer be stopped and it would be achieved in no distant time.
“Nigeria military should dignify themselves by releasing the Igbos under incarceration in various confinement facilities including those in Wawa military detention center in Niger State and other Northern states Nigeria.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Mr Peter Obi informed Nigerians via Twitter on Tuesday, June 14th, 2022, of his trip to Egypt, to study how the third-largest economy in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria increased its power generation from 20,000 Megawatts to over 40,000 Megawatts in four years. For four decades, Nigeria has been fixated on 4,000 megawatts.
Photos below show Former Governor Peter Obi interacting with the top Executives and Engineers of the New Capital Power Plant in New Cairo, Egypt. The plant currently generates 4800 megawatts of electricity.
Other pictures: visit Egyptian power generating facilities
Mugu don pay, shout halleluiah!!!, so goes the lines of one of the newest melodies on the Nigerian airwaves, a song by hitherto little known Kelly Handsome, a US based Nigerian youngster who has suddenly catapulted into the status of a celebrity following the dropping of his hit single Maga Don Pay.
Beyond the great production, wonderful sound mix and I dare say, intelligence that went into the packaging of the song, is a huge moral question-one that seems the biggest bane to the advancement my generation and by extension constitutes the greatest impediment to the eventual emancipation of our dear country by we the future leaders.
The song is a testimony to the fact that we now not only do fraud, we take pride in celebrating it.
It reminds one of Nkem Owoh’s I go chop your dollar and Olu Maintain’s Yahoozee both of which enjoyed great listenership among youths. In both cases as in this, the artists denied having a first line intension of promoting fraud, claiming they did what they did for the love of music and the arts. I am a great fan of Nigerian music and I appreciate creativity a lot, but I wish to disagree with the artists on this.
Music is a strong medium of communication which holds a strong influence on the people. From time immemorial, people have used music to pass a wide range of messages across, the more popular ones being messages against issues that affect the course of humanity negatively. For example Michael Jackson’s Earth song drew the world’s attention to the degradation and bastardization of the earth as a fall out of various human activities. Closer home, Fela’s many afro beat hits which remain ever fresh in our minds were a series of constructive criticism of bad leadership and a constant advocator for good governance.
When you listen and sing along to these songs, you find your self-beyond the movement of your body in a dance-reflecting on the wordings. Believe it or not what you hear has a huge influence on you. For example in the early 90’s, the explosion of American rap music in Nigeria and the orchestrating of the then Tu-pac Vs Notorious BIG rivalry contributed chiefly in the introduction of gangsterism among youths in Nigeria and a subsequent explosion of cultism on our campuses.
We appreciate the fact-shamefully though- that Nigeria is today known world over as a country of fraudsters, scammers, dupes and internet tricksters. It’s no more news that internet fraud has now become the major occupation of many youths. Daily, young men (and women) sit around in cyber cafe or even in the comfort of their bed rooms with the provision of internet service by most telecom operators, doing one thing- employing their intelligence and ingenuity in seeking ways to get other innocent internet users part with their money or materials.
Those who succeed go about living a life of luxury-one only obtainable from someone who didn’t sweat to make the money- and we see them around in our streets and on our campuses, driving expensive cars and playing their car CD so loud as if to announce to every one around that “hey a big boy is aroundâ€. The painful part is that we-the host of those who have either not made it or who do not even engage in it, hail them, discuss them, and by our reverence turn them into celebrities.
That is already bad enough. The EFCC may or may not be winning the fight against cyber crimes-we wish them well- but it becomes a different issue altogether when we become the vanguards of this despicable way of life by using Music to celebrate it.
What Kelly Handsome just did was to provide a song for our morally bankrupt internet tricksters popularly known as yahoo-yahoo boys to, in company of their kinds, wine dine and celebrate their evil activities. While this leaves him-Kelly Hanson- smiling to the bank, it leaves us more morally bankrupt and sinks us further in the murky waters of international disgrace and ridicule.
How does one even associate such an issue as fraud with a religious word like halleluiah? Mugu-a victim- don pay-has fallen prey-and you celebrate it by shouting halleluiah. Does this in any way suggest a heavenly acknowledgement of the success? Don’t we think we are reducing this special-spiritual- word to nothingness by associating it with such soiled and tainted exploits as internet fraud?
Wole Soyinka once acknowledged that his was a wasted Generation. It is painful to admit now that my own generation is not faring better. We are raising a people who have not only closely copied their leaders but are fast fashioning ways of even outdoing them. Carry out a poll of a hundred youths and 99.9% of them will admit-without shame- that when they get into power they will also steal.
My claim finds credence in our eagerness to cut corners and obtain things free and fraudulently. Two weeks ago, the whole country was thrown into frenzy as people went even into refuge dumps scavenging for used MTN recharge cards, in order to cash in on a technical problem MTN was experiencing. So many loaded free units and boasted about it gleefully. What does this say of us as a people?
While I don’t have any thing against Kelly Hanson, if anything, I think he is a pack of talents, I have everything against his song. I disagree with him on promoting fraud and celebrating internet scammers. I insist that there are many more issues to sing about and make money order than fraud. I hold very strongly that his song is a bad influence on our youths and if we want to turn this country around, we must have less of his type of music on the airwaves.
This call goes out not only to musicians; it also goes out to our nollywood directors and publishers of Society magazines. Stop celebrating affluence as if that is all there is to life. Stop promoting thievery of any form. Stop making it look as though we all have to do the same thing to succeed. Stop toying with the fleeting sensibilities of our extremely gullible youths. The effects of these are overwhelming and we all are victims of it.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
AFRICAN Giant Leader, President of Rwanda General Paul Kagame has ordered for the immediate deportation of 18 Chinese nationals, “the 18 investors were found guilty of mistreating Rwandan workers and grubbing land on which they operated their business”. President Kagame said.
Chinese investors exploited Rwandan people and also took advantage of them by making them work abnormal hours like slaves. “Africa is for Africans. We can’t be slaves in Africa. We don’t tolerate the nonsense of discrimination here” General Kagame added
“Rwanda is for Africans and those who mean well for us. I am directing the 18 Chinese investors to leave Rwanda immediately and must never return back. Rwandan people must enjoy their rights in their country. Let this be a lesson to the remaining Chinese investors” President Kagame warned
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