Consolidating True Peoples Democracy in the African Union Part 1

               

As we arrive at the midpoint of the year 2011, it will be an understatement for all humanity not to realize that the epicenter of international news and world affairs in the last six months has been resident in the African continent and the Middle East. The only other two global newsworthy incidents that have overshadowed the developments in Africa this year, are the tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan and  the precision strike force execution of Mr. Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. The magnitude of how Africa is affecting recent world events began in Cote D’Ivoire in 2010 with the first round of the presidential elections that took place on October 31st 2010 before the second round elections on November 28th 2010. In 2011, the first continent and the origin of mankind took center stage when Southern Sudanese in a quest for True Peoples Democracy (TPD), partook in a plebiscite exercise from January 9-15th 2011.

However, these human longing for change, self actualization, and collective efficacy did not resonate in the strategic and tactical designs of the so-called African leaders and their supporters from within and without. Instead they became more resolute in their decisions to maintain the Neo-colonization/Recolonization of the African people, raw materials, land, and environment. Thus from Tunisia to Cameroun, from Burkina Faso to Egypt, and from Libya to Djibouti, African rulers and governments schemed on how to continue their hegemony on power and corruption to the detriment of their people. They planned on remaining in political/dictatorial powers by all necessary means and teamed up to support each other in the name of “Pan Africanism.” Through these pathological distortions they channel themselves and their administrations as vessels of the marginalized African people who perennially suffer tragic impunity, unaccountability, corruption, insecurities, and lack of basic amenities.  

Consequently, these rulers were bound to repeat the same mistakes after the gathering in Addis Ababa Ethiopia for the 16th African Union Summit from the 24th -31st of January 2011, in which they largely ignored the situations in Cote D’Ivoire, Tunisia, and Egypt. In a show of shame our pathetic class of rulers convened in Kampala Uganda to witness the coronation of Emperor Dictator Yoweri Museveni on May 12th 2011 after 25years in power. Incredibly this was days after Museveni declared his supreme powers over who uses the streets of his East African country. His proclamations led to the broad day light assault on opposition presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye. The Kampala gathering also occurred just days after approximately 600 African migrants perished near the Libyan coast in rough sea waters while attempting to escape from the horrendous manmade disasters in the continent.

            Encouragingly, it took the government of the tiny African nation of The Gambia to stand up for the African people in the struggle of True Peoples’ Democracy. They refused to recognize the new government of President Alassane Ouattara in Cote D’Ivoire due to principles. The Gambia government came out against the involvement of the colonial French military in Abidjan who operated independently of the United Nations sanctioned troops in Cote D’Ivoire. Although, Dictator Laurent Gbagbo had manipulated the constitution for 10years to disenfranchise Ivorians’ who had one foreign parent, trying to shut out his archrival presidential candidate Mr. Ouattara. The Gambian government was angered by the inability and/or reluctance of the African nations to proffer progressive solutions to the conflicts.

            Interestingly, this small coastal but mainly Muslim country did not pander to the Islamic Ummah (community of nations) in their quest to support True Peoples’ Democracy in Africa. Note to the separatist, anarchist, extremist, and devious practitioners of Islam in Nigeria for example Boko Haram, the Gambian people and government transcended religion in their articulated decision not to support President Alassane Ouattara who is a Muslim. Instead they advocated for a true and tested deliberative, consensus, ostracization, enforcement, and reintegration process that originated from the African continent. Though, we have conveniently sold our birthrights because of greed and colonial mentality (mental slavery) in order to embrace tyranny and the desire to be like others. Many African communities still practice these time tested systems of governance. The Igbo nation in Nigeria refer to it as the Aladinma process and the some in the Ijaw nation call it Polo-Ama both of which take a village to implement and actually means for the “Good of the Land/Community.”             

Nnamdi F. Akwada MSW, BA is a Social Justice Activist

Affiliations

http://www.usafricanculturalfestival.com/

www.nigerianmillionmarch.com

Is Dimeji Bankole the Only Magician or the Solo Scapegoat?

In one of his introspective club banging songs titled “Press” the African International superstar Mr. Timaya repeatedly complained and lamented about the scrutiny of the Nigeria press in his affairs. I am sure that in retrospect Mr. Dimeji Bankole, the former Speaker of the Nigerian House of Assembly (House of Representatives) and fourth official inline to the Presidency, is asking the same questions. The same song is apropos and compelling because there is a reference to Dimeji Bankole for facilitating the first encounter of our musical genius with President Barack Obama of the United States.  The fortunes of the youthful ex-speaker has certainly changed during the month of June 2011, as he finds himself under indictment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while President Goodluck Jonathan visits with President Obama in Washington DC.

            However, the billion-dollar question (wordplay on the allegations of stolen monies against Mr. Bankole) for those of us in the youth wing of international, African, and Nigerian progressive communities; is if we are experiencing turnarounds within the annals of the EFCC. Whilst refusing to shed tears for the ex-Speaker, we want to make sure that he is not a sacrificial lamb that is meant to pacify the larger country and especially some of us involved in social justice activism. Indeed Mr. Bankole should have spent more time caring for the other “plantain boys and girls” (euphemism for hawkers of various items who lack basic amenities and/or education) in the society after his legitimate political palace coup, instead of joining the rankings of perennial African treasury looters.

            What happens next after Mr. Bankole is prosecuted and presumably convicted for what amounts to treason against the regular folks in the United Nations of Nigeria, whose present and future are stolen due to callous insatiable greed? Is the EFCC willing to continue more trials of current cases and dusting of those files that have been languishing because of political and judicial cover-ups/malfeasance? When are charges going to be brought against the current Nigerian Senate President Mr. Colonel, Senator David Mark whose reelection in April was marred by attempted murder of opposition candidates and party members, and election rigging? Surely the EFCC is aware of these allegations and other contentions of monetary improprieties by Senator Mark.

            Hopefully, the trial of Mr. Dimeji Bankole will embolden the Nigerian investigative and judicial authorities to bring forth charges against other known national criminals. These individuals have been shielded by the government and certain segments of our population to the detriments of the collective civil society. Some examples that stick out like sore tombs include the members of the Northern Military Industry Complex NMIC and their co-conspirators from all nationalities within the United Nations of Nigeria. While countries like Argentina and Chile are busy arresting and arraigning their former rogue rulers, the likes of Dictator Olusegun Obasanjo, Dictator Muhammadu Buhari, and Dictator Ibrahim Babangida are presented with red carpet treatments and allowed to go unscathed in Nigeria. There is a failure to comprehend that Mr. Bankole’s crimes were catalyzed by the realities of the listed precedents of impunity.                

            Moreover, it is indeed disconcerting that foreign judiciaries are more eager to prosecute our corrupt politicians and military heads who have gained international notoriety. Whereas some members of the federal executive and state executive branches of government are busy undermining the judicial branch of government by effectively under-funding/de-funding them and forcing them to go on strikes; cities like London, Geneva, and Paris are shredding there histories of money laundering through prosecutions and restitutions. Hopefully, the tidings from these international hubs of financial abracadabra will motivate our EFCC and judiciary officials to pursue lowlife politicians who have now resorted to handing over the reigns of government before schedule, so that they can abscond with their loot and escape the rule of law.

References

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW6jSsGv_7I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGSQH51bN-Y&feature=related

http://www.usafricanculturalfestival.com/

      

Nnamdi F. Akwada MSW, BA is a Social Justice Activist

A License to Kill Juxtaposed Against the Arab Awakening/Spring

During my attendance of the recent Easter Sunday festivities, I wondered why my fellow Africans were so callous and heartless with African lives. My being was still traumatized by the recent mass murders in Nigeria and a tragic family situation that occurred a decade ago. I was in an Easter Sunday family dinner in the Washington DC metro area were Senegalese and Gambian Muslims had congregated with Nigerians, Ivoirians, and Sierra Leoneans Christians and Traditionalist to break bread with their fellow black Africans irrespective of their religions. Moreover before we completed the referenced feast and actually got to “Item 7” (which is the infamous time for eating in Nigerian program of events), I had to attend the tenth year remembrance of my brother in-law, a young black Sierra Leonean with Islamic beliefs. Mr. Alhaji Yusuf Conteh was murdered on the streets of Landover in Prince Georges County, Maryland, United Stated in April 2001. The paradox of Princes Georges County is that it is the wealthiest African American county in the United States and has notoriety for pockets of high black on black crimes. Mr. Conteh was killed by fellow blacks less than six months after he came to America. He had survived untold horrors in then war-torn Sierra Leone and emerged as a refugee in Guinea. My speculations are that he was slayed because he was (African, had an African accent, dresses differently etc.) different.

            However, as I crisscrossed both gatherings with my children who can be classified as Nigerians, Sierra Leoneans, Americans, and African Americans, I contemplated why my people are so heartless with African humanity. Why are we so filled with pain, animosity, vengeance, selfishness, misinformation, and hate, which are manifested in our ability to take each others lives with impunity and lack of regard? I wondered why despite our sycophantic pronouncements of solidarity and love for each other we tend to get to our demise faster through the doings and workings of each other. My heart raced to the victims of the just concluded national elections in the United Nations of Nigeria. I marveled at why northern Nigerians with Islamic roots are quick to murder and maim their fellow countrywomen and countrymen in the guise of religion? I puzzled about the contradictions of declaring God’s omnipresence while assuming the punitive role of enforcers for the Almighty. The Koran says that it is man’s responsibility to deliver the message and the Bible says judgment is mine says the Lord.

            Notwithstanding, we have governments, rulers, and people in the African continent and the Middle East who are quick to cloth themselves in religion while perpetrating and enforcing brutality on others. Groups like Boko Haram in northern Nigeria are keen to point out the shortcomings of western education whilst importing the primordial elements of Arabic, Persian, and Asian cultures to our shores. These embrace of horrendous pseudo-spiritual colonial subjugation is a mirage that does not address any of the key issues that bemoan the Nigerian and African streets. The pervasive impunity of our elites, the corruptions of the government are not because of the lack of religious dogmas, instead they are functions of a system where religion is politics and is used to hoodwink a traumatized and vulnerable public. The likes of Boko Haram act as though they are oblivious to the ongoing situations in the Arab and Northern African streets.  

But this hypocrisy is not confined to organizations; they are very prevalent within nation states. We have governments and people in the Middle East and Africa who are quick to cloth themselves in religion while enforcing brutality on others. In Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, and Iran citizens and residents are treated like non-humans because of their desires for human rights, decency, economic emancipation, and true peoples’ democracy. The same governments that is eager to point fingers at the United States for supporting the apartheid regime in Israel, have no hesitations in enthroning carnages on their societies. As a clinician, I thought about the heights of psychosis and neurotic schemes it takes to maintain such cunning ingenuities.  I harkened unto the Niger Delta adage which states that- birds flew from a market place to complain that people were making noises and causing commotion in the market square, however when further investigations were conducted it was revealed that the people causing the nuisance and the birds were one and the same.

Thus, is has become radiantly illuminating and is becoming clearer that the Sunnis in Saudi Arabia and the Shiites in Iran are comfortable with the status quo which disenfranchises large segments of their populations. Both sides are united in maintaining the monstrosity of their authoritarian and Unitarian governmental structures. These oppressors are quick to label and stereotype the demonstrators for true peoples’ democracy as agitators, foreign influenced and unpatriotic elements. One recalls that the great Madiba Nelson Mandela of South Africa was branded as an agitator among other things by the Pretoria governments. There is reluctance and denial as we face modern challengers to see and/or understand the core human aspiration for self-actualization that is devoid of suppression and dictatorship.

Though it is tempting for some in the West to invoke banal interpretations of the situations in northern Nigeria, Africa, and the Middle East, there needs to be objective deductions of the “compoundness” of these problems. For example in the United States the much acclaimed Freedom Riders of the 1960’s were presented with similar terrors that have been manifested in Africa and the Middle East. The young people, who we are still celebrating after 50years, wanted to change the country for the better but were subjected to killings, bombings, tortures, imprisonments, and various untold hardships. As they journeyed from Washington DC to the south, some names that they were called include agitators, the n-word, and n-word lovers.

            Consequently, as we spoke, joked, and snacked in the metropolitan area in 2011, I sought for more empirical understanding of the license to kill syndrome that seems to be inescapable irrespective of geographical boundaries. Before leaving with my family from the family dinner event, I asked my fellow guests who happened to be Muslims from Senegal, about what they thought of the killings in Nigeria. Their report was that religion has become a scapegoat for pure hatred and other masked issues. I thought of how grave the situation is in the Disunited Nations of Nigeria, that foreign reporters are quick to identify the linguistic differences of the southern and northern Nigeria. In that moment of Easter related get-together, there we were Africans in harmony and peace in faraway United States of America. My heart went out to my in-law Alhaji who died too soon, the victims of the carnage in northern Nigeria especially the young youth corpers that were serving their country by acting as election invigilators, and the masses that have been killed in cold blood by their so-called governments in North Africa and the Middle East.

                       Nnamdi F. Akwada MSW, BA is a Social Justice Activist

President Barack Obama and Mogul Donald Trump

Although progressives’ support for President Barack Obama has fizzled consistently as a result of some of his domestic and international policies, it has been instrumental and jarring to watch the nativist pressures from the New York mogul Donald Trump. A situation where Mr. Obama with a Kansan mother would be so maligned with innuendos that he was not born in the United State of America and by default he is an illegitimate president begs the question about what other Caucasian man and/or woman could have been subjected to such utter nonsense. The conservative conglomerates that consist of the Republicans, tea partiers, birthers, the John Birch Society, among others have been relentless in their nefarious attempts at delegitimizing the Obama presidency.

            However, these calculated sinister strategies are not only isolated to President Barack Obama’s administration but they seem to flourish in contemporary times under democratic regimes and fade away when the conservatives are at the helms of authority. For example, President Jimmy Carter was hounded for economic (stagflation) and foreign policies while the Republicans carried out all types of direct and indirect quid pro quo arrangements with the Iranian government in the 1980’s. In President Bill Clinton’s situation the conservative machine hounded him repeatedly about his personal, business, and sexual relationships. Those that had logs in their eyes decided to go after the specks in their neighbors eyes. Consequently, while individuals like former speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. Newt Gingrich, Representative Bob Livingston (L) and Senator Jack Vitter (L) were busy doing more egregious things (like jumping between wives and patronizing prostitutes) they conspired to impeach President Clinton.

            Whereas some might postulate that republicans are regular customers (pay masters) who have a depth at politicking and destroying their political foes, it is worth nothing that the attacks on President Barack Obama has been elevated to feverish xenophobic plateaus. Republicans got a pass from hijacking the country during the 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida. In a situation that would make dictators all around the world proud, the likes of Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris disenfranchised millions of African American minority voters. Ironically, President Barack Obama’s father Mr. Barack Obama Sr. died fighting against tyrants who usurped human and civil rights.  Presidents Bush and Cheney’s (co-presidents) administration also got untold passes from republicans for their failure in protecting the country before the September 11^th 2001 manmade (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/apr/09/september11.alqaida) disaster. But they have been repugnant in their attacks of our Commander in Chief President Obama.  

            Were republicans like Mogul Mr. Donald Trump not present when New York was attacked and instead of sending enough forces to fight Al-Qaeda, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney decided to attack Iraq without provocation? I guess “the Donald” thought the nation was on the right track then. How come Mr. Trump never spoke up for the regular folks who lost their homes as a result of the unscrupulous dealings in Wall Street? The reality is that Mr. Trump has antecedents of dabbling in prejudice when it suits his course. In 2005 on his reality television show the Apprentice 4, Mogul Donald Trump placed Rhodes Scholar and Oxford University graduate Mr. Randal Pinkett in negative and compromised positions after he interrupted the final episode celebrations in an attempt to crown dual winners for the show. 

            Hopefully, with the developments in contemporary news cycles such as the release of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and the death of Mr. Osama Bin Laden, the main street media, Mr. Trump and his republican comrades will grow up and address serious matters. Though President Barack Obama deserves credit for ascending to the presidency of the United States of America with his surname and background when his father was unceremoniously kicked out of the country by Harvard University, let the national/political debate revolve around substance. Why is there no comprehensive immigration reform? When are we going to stop the deportation of individuals that have grownup in the United States for the majority of their lives? Where is the compassionate conservatism in the destruction of families? How are we going to cut down on the federal deficits when we are involved in indefinite wars and negotiating more permanent (occupational) military bases? Why are global billion-dollar generating corporations such as oil cartel companies receiving tax breaks? Whose interest are we really protecting when we openly and tacitly support dictators and/or authoritarian regimes? When are Guantanamo Bay and secret prison sites going to be history? When are we going to have national moratorium on home foreclosures?

Nnamdi F. Akwada MSW, BA is a Social Justice Activist          

Carnage in Northern Nigeria

                                 

Amnesty International, one of the premier human rights organizations characterized the incidents in the northern areas of the United Nations of Nigeria as riots and demonstrations. Thus equating the carnage to the demonstrations in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria where people are currently using peaceful and civil means to petition their governments. This mischaracterization is appalling because what took place in northern Nigeria was hundreds of bloodbaths, lynching, burning of innocent human beings, arson, and gross destruction of properties by Dictator Muhammadu Buhari’s supporters. With over 500people dead and close to 50,000 fellow Nigerians displaced, give it up to the perpetrators of inhumanity to remain indifferent. They have mastered the skills of committing mass murders while simultaneously cloaking in victim hood. Similar butchery was the primary reasons behind the Nigerian and Biafran genocidal wars.

Contrary to revisionist historians after the 1966 coup, counter coup d'état, and extinction of some southeastern officers from the ranks of the Nigerian Army, our union was still standing. It was days of similar mass massacres like the world have just witnessed from April 17-18^th 2011, that has continued sporadically from 1960’s until now, that forced the hands of the South-easterners to head back home to peace and safety. In the process they realized that their safety could not be protected in some parts of the Disunited Nations of Nigeria and were forced to declare independence in 1966. Unfortunately these shameless killings have continued unabated since then. The Nigerian and international press always report about these barbaric incidents as though they began after 1999 when the civilians took over from the military.

However, Enough is Enough! How can northerners continue to preach “One Nigeria” only when they are holding on to the presidency? The sad reality is that they have controlled and/or occupied the said position for about 40years within our so-called 50years independence. In their time as rulers, the Northern Military Industrial Complex (NMIC) alias Army Arrangement have legitimatized corruption and mismanaged our national resources. The northern elites have set the country backwards about twenty-five years if not more with their incessant coups and dictatorships. This retardation in developments has been felt in every nook and cranny of the United Nations of Nigeria. With the marginalization of the Niger Delta and the assassination of Dr. Ken Saro Wiwa the veils were finally lifted off the eyes of the South-south. The south west including Awoist (who would like to focus on the prediction of Chief Awolowo that a Niger Delta man would become president someday) are beginning to understand that while the Southeasterners might allegedly play you wayo, some northerners are very willing to exterminate their fellow Nigerians.

            It is one thing to contest the votes/elections and the tabulations of the result but quite another to execute regional killing orgies. These ghastly acts were done to intimidate the masses who came out in droves to cast their votes all over the country. In the north, President Goodluck Jonathan got more than 25% (http://www.inecnigeria.org/results/states.php) of the votes in nearly a dozen states. So the vitriolic Congress for Progressive Change CPC) supported murdering quads wanted to silence the segment of the northern population that have realized that the Presidency is not the panacea to their problems. The CPC supporters wanted to terrorize the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) who conducted a commendable election. These killing thugs wanted to suppress the announcement of the election results. Why did CPC supporters not wait for the pronouncement of the outcome before going out to threaten and arrest our national security?

            Where were these hooligans, their parents, and their sponsors when Dictator Sani Abacha took the whole nation hostage and ostracized Nigerians from the African and global communities of nations? We could not participate in the African Cup of Nations in South Africa and we were suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations not for resisting imperialism but due to authoritarianism. Where were these miscreants when Dictator Abdulsalami Abubakar handed the presidency to Dictator Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999? Why was there no protest when Mr. Obasanjo and his pal Professor Maurice Iwu gave the post to President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007? But they have the audacity to slaughter law abiding Nigerians. These nonsense needs to stop right now, we have to break the cycle of massacres, we can not compensate our way out of these man made tragedies.

            Notwithstanding the concerns of Amnesty International the Nigerian government has a responsibility to use adequate force to defend law abiding citizens. While the observance of peaceful protest should remain sacrosanct the carnage that we have just witnessed in Nigeria should be prevented and suppressed with commensurable force to safeguard the lives of innocent law abiding citizens. The union of the United Nations of Nigeria can not remain sacrosanct for long when it is a death sentence in northern Nigeria to be suspected of southern ethnicities, an Ancestor worshipper, a Christian, and a Muslim who votes for a Christian. My own sister (a Christian, an Igbo and Ijaw) supported and campaigned for Dictator Muhammadu Buhari, so what would the murderers do in her case?

            Moreover the fact is that people like Mr. Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had sown the seeds of violence before the elections. They purposely used languages like “lynching” and the “inevitability of violence” to ginger up their supporters in preparation of the Saturday April 16, 2011 elections. Hence, Buhari did not see the need to call off his supporters from the streets while the killings went on for more than twenty four hours. Alhaji Abubakar wants to pay lip service to the so-called revered indivisibility of our nation when the lives and property of southerners and fellow northerners who voted their conscience is not guaranteed in the United Nations of Nigeria. Our people are nonchalantly orphaned, our parents are rendered childless through brutality, and others are maimed. The sanctity, safety, and respect of lives should be our primary sacrosanct obligation and not nationhood/religion.    

            Moreover, the Nigerian federal and northern state governments need to bow their heads in shame because of their negligence. They knew that some in northern Nigeria would turn to their tried and true part time of using tyrannical savagery. The stakeholders should have prepared for the worst while hoping for the best which many of us knew was not likely given the antecedents of some northerners. Heads of the Nigerian security apparatus need to immediately tender their resignations. Hopefully, contrary to press reports, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho the Minister of Interior was relieved of his position for the ineptitude in providing security for our young national service coopers and the general public in the north. The expectation is that he was not suspended due to internal political considerations from Imo State. It would be a betrayal of the highest order to the victims if no one takes accountability for this perennial mayhem.

            Never Again should people be victimized in such callous ways with impunity. President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan and the authorities need to establish the Emergency Response Tactical Teams (ERT) in all northern states that have a past history of perpetrating this carnage. The ERTs should train and practice the needed skills to protect the general public and should never be deployed to disrupt non-violent protest. These teams should be able to be organized within 15minutes of any disturbances when the lives and properties of individuals from the United Nations of Nigeria are under attack. Our governments should mandate the ERT to protect our visitors too. We must protect the sanctity of the African lives.           

Nnamdi F. Akwada MSW, BA is a Social Justice Activist

                

Cote d’Ivoire and Libya

African Union and The Economic Community Of West African States

Recent events in Cote d’Ivoire and Libya have exposed the ineffectiveness and obscurity of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS). Both organizations have remained on the sidelines while uncertainty, insecurity, and authoritarians have held the African continent ransom. Indeed Pan-Africanist leaders like George Padmore, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe would be mortified by the paralysis and ineptitude in the most natural endowed continent of the world. So called rulers in sub-Saharan African nations have indolently sat by while Black and Brown Africans are murdered in Libya. In Cote d'Ivoire the situation is at best pathetic and at worse criminal negligence. 

Due to the dictatorial tendencies of our heads of governments who do not seem to be constrained by constitutions and/or term limits, ECOWAS and AU have tacitly allowed Mr. Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan to continue clinging on to power. While stubbornly refusing to handover power after occupying the presidency of Cote d'Ivoire for ten years, Mr. Gbagbo has spearheaded the mass murder of innocent civilians including unarmed women protesters. Sadly this same individual who was once incarcerated and forced out on exile is now the conduit of undue hardship to his people. The Ivorian army has derogated their responsibilities to their citizens while clamoring to maintain the hegemony of a particular sect in the country. Streams of Ivorians are now forced to flee their beloved country to become refugees, paupers, and prostitutes in neighboring countries. 

However, in response to the crisis in Abidjan the ECOWAS countries have allowed their threat to use force with installing President Alassane Ouattara the legitimate winner of the November 28 2010 elections, fall on deaf ears. The African Union (AU) has also been shameful in dealing with contemporary situations in the continent. When they met in Addis Ababa Ethiopia for the just concluded African Union Summit, the AU enshrined Dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea as the next chairman of the organization. The aforementioned tyrant and fraudster who has been in power since 1979 after he executed a bloody coup was charged with the task of resolving the impasse in Cote d’Ivoire. In a continent that is at the precipice of holding elections in one-third of her 55countries, no better choice was made for the chairperson of the AU. As a testament to how out of touch with reality the African Union and our so-called leaders are, they literally rolled out the proverbial red carpet for Dictator Obiang Mbasogo. 

Furthermore, the AU banded together with their opaque notion of solidarity and ignoring other pressing issues in the continent. Ironically, people in Sudan, Tunisia, and Egypt were voting and protesting against the “recolonialization” of their nations by rulers and systems who view their countries as personal properties and wealth mines. As Egypt was burning and true peoples’ democracy attempted to wrestle power from Dictator Hosni Mubarak, our dear AU kept mute and instead accepted his delegates to the summit in neighboring Ethiopia. This deafening silence and apathy have continued with the developments in Tripoli Libya. The AU and ECOWAS have stood by as sub-Saharan Black African have been stereotyped, brutalized, and murdered by both Dictator Muammar Gaddafi and some in the pro-democracy movement of this North Africa nation.

Press reports indicate that there are thousands of Black Africans stranded in the Libyan-Tunisia, Libyan-Egyptian, and Libyan-Algerian borders. Individuals and families with children have been relatively abandoned as refugees in faraway lands to fend for themselves. There does not appear to be any progressive (proactive) logistic plans to get the Nigerians, Ghanaians, and Malians who are the majority of strained Black African refugees back home. The powers that be in ECOWAS and by extension sub-Saharan Africa have not thought it wise to send out their presidential jet fleets to liberate their people. The governments in Abuja and Accra appear to be incognito in regional and global affairs that demand accelerated response from them. Until now no statements and/or ultimatums have been issued to the Libyan government and people to protect and preserve the lives of Black Africans who are victims, caught up in these ongoing North African disputes. Neither has transparent diplomatic channels and pressures been brought to bear on the mad Dictator in Tripoli.                   

--
Nnamdi Frank Akwada, MSW, BA
Social Justice Activist

African Progressives

While supporting the People of Libya in their prerogative to seek true representation in their national government we also condemn all xenophobic comments and tendencies of the Libyan government and people. Black Africans should not be used as scapegoats by both Gaddafi and the Libyan people. For decades Colonel Gaddafi had paid lip service to Pan-Africanism while encouraging wars in several African countries and filling his jails with Black Africans. The Libyan People should be mindful of the divide and rule strategies of Colonel Gaddafi and the Western powers. The pro democracy movement should not be co-opted and used as a means to sustain other hegemonies, racism, discrimination, and warfare. There have been several massacres in the African continent and the Mid-east which did not receive any attention, interventions, and strong condemnations from Western nations. While condemning the horrific killings by Gaddafi in Libya, we do not encourage any interventions that would be viewed as an annexation due to other considerations such natural resources and imperialism. Let the Libyan People become their own heroes in their revolution.

International Social Justice Activist: Developments in Africa

International Social Justice Activist: Developments in Africa: "The African Union, European Union, and United States need to condemn the massacres in Libya. The African Union also needs to support the Pro..."

Developments in Africa

The African Union, European Union, and United States need to condemn the massacres in Libya. The African Union also needs to support the Pro-Democracy movements in Libya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. With the avalanche of true democracy sweeping the African continent major attention should be directed to autocratic rulers in Uganda and other African countries

We Salute the Egyptian People

After 30years of servitude we welcome the dawn of a new era in North Africa and the Arab streets. The Young People inspired a whole region and remained steadfast to achieve their goals. Peace and Justice to all.

My Nigerian Story- Vestiges of a Cuckoo Nation Part 2

In exploring my recent trip to the United Nations of Nigeria and the “Cuckoo nation” which we are presented with, it would be tempting to maintain the status quo and ignore the obvious problems. Therein lies the crux of the matter, as this would only suit the narratives of some Nigerians like President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan and members of the Building Up Nigeria Project. Nevertheless, longstanding and contemporary situations do not get resolved through these means because self-censorship is not a panacea to our national plight. According to the renowned singer, actor, social justice activist, and Pan-Africanist Harry Belafonte, not speaking truth to power is tantamount to becoming a patriotic traitor. It is my assertion that inaction and keeping quiet ultimately results in the historical circumstances that we have witnessed and are all witnessing in the African nations of Sudan, Tunisia, and Egypt.

                Our situation in the United Nations of Nigeria is such that some of us fail to realize the difference between expecting gratuity (tips) after rendering the designated services than out rightly canvassing for bribes before the commission of the task. For example, while boarding the bus from Lagos to Owerri the bus company bag handlers (paid employed staffs) did not want to assist and demanded for some monies in advance. When they failed to convince me to that effect, they again tried to proposition me on how to circumvent the bag weighing process by paying them on the side to put my belongings on the scale for half the fee.

Moreover, these types of behaviors are not limited to the regular strata of our society, as most federal, state, and local government officials are controlled through the “pay to play” dogma. Our current do or die politicking is largely due to individuals and groups that are engrained in the scratch my back and I go scratch yours mentally. In his exclusive interview with www.pointblanknews.com, General Babangida spoke about the fact that corruption and mismanagement of public funds had skyrocketed after his 8year rule. This is quite true, except that in his characteristic intellectual and political dishonesty, the General failed to point out that some of the corrupt rulers that have emerged in the United Nations of Nigeria are his mentees and political allies. For instance Chief Dr. Peter Odili the erstwhile Governor of Rivers State and Colonel/Senator David A.B. Mark the current Senate President. The members of the Nigerian National Assembly and Colonel/Senator David A.B. Mark with their refusals to declare their wages while appropriating retirement funds for ex- autocrats and their families are knee deep in the “pay to play” mentally.

                In digressing, I should report that despite the K-street lobbyist and the money in Washington DC, most politicians here know what lines they are not to traverse. Those that operate with impunity like their Nigerian counterparts such as Mr. Tom Delay of Texas, Jack Abramoff, and Mr. William Jefferson of Louisiana (who had connections to former Vice President and Deputy Director of Customs and Excise Atiku Abubakar) were arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated. People actually go to jail unlike what transpires through the dictates of our so-called Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke. Thus, If colonialism and imperialism are akin to natural disasters for the African continent then the corruption, impunity, and injustice that we experience from our rulers are equivalent to some of the most costly man-made disasters. 

                When I arrived at Owerri Imo State, I was confronted by some major man-made problems that had nothing to do with the prevalent problems of land erosion. With all the insecurities and kidnappings in South Eastern Nigeria, I entered Owerri with some hesitations and resolutions. My younger brother had been the victim to a ghastly shooting near the Federal University of Technology Owerri when so-called indigenes attacked students in 2008 under the guise of indigenes/settlers dichotomy. Instead of resolving differences with the school administrators and students the surrounding communities attacked our Nigerian children. The absurdity of the indigenes/settlers problem is that an Mbaise (closest local government area or county to Owerri) young man who resides in Port-Harcourt is shot by people from Owerri in his native Imo State.

                As someone who attended primary and secondary school on university campuses in Port-Harcourt I also know that the Owerri campus like others in the country have thrived more in anti-social activities hence the deteriorating standards of education in the country. We have organizations/fraternities (student secret cults) that focus on criminality and youthful exorbitant instead of challenging the corrupt societal structures. Members of the Pyrates, Vikings, Black Axe, Buccaneers, Klan’s Konfratenity and others maim and kill each other with Western inspired organizational names, political/economic sponsors, and their cult colors while abandoning pro-social activities. There is a failure of imagination to realize that Nobel Laureates like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Professor Wole Soyinka were former fraternity members that focused their energies on social justice issues instead of negativity. For example in my final term of secondary school an attempt was made by two cult members to capture me on the streets of Port-Harcourt due to a personal rift with my late classmate. However, this cuckoo act resulted in recruitment request by rival groups. Please listen to MI’s (Nigerian musician Mr. Incredible) song “Craze” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wqE4y2uImc for more insights.    

At Owerri, I witnessed young people in the prime of their lives who may have been betrayed by our so-called leaders. For the first time in my life, I was in a room with so many smokers and had to exit due to the contamination from second hand smoke. My wife a biologist and public health specialist informed me that she had read an article about the dumping of cigarettes in Nigeria because of the strict regulations in Western nations and the quest for virgin markets. Then I realized that cancer would definitely be a cause of concern in about 20years for our contemporary youth population. On a much lighter note, I also saw many young men “sagging” their trousers. Sagging refers to wearing your pants in an incomplete manner. This youth culture originated from the jails of America before spreading into her urban cities. I saw more people practicing this trend in Owerri than I have on any given day in Washington DC, New York, and California.

In Imo State, I was confronted with the unfortunate reality that one of the booming industries is electioneering politics. His Excellency Mr. Ikedi Ohakim was the number one protagonist in this sector. There were blizzards of posters with campaign information about him but nothing visible and tangible to show for his stewardship from Owerri to Mbaise. I also came across several posters of people that had no educational qualifications and real life experiences with community service. At the Sam Mbakwe International cargo airport the edifice was more like a small dormitory building. However, that did not stop the airport authority from collecting entrance (tolls) fees. I intend to address the problems with our airports, immigration officers, and indigenes/settlers disputes in the final (Part 3) commentary on My Nigerian Story with special emphasis on Port-Harcourt Rivers State the pulse of the Niger Delta.

 Nnamdi Frank Akwada, MSW, BA Social Community Activist and Blogger

 Masters of Social Work (2010)  

 Bachelors in Criminology and Criminal Justice (2001)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

International Social Activist: True Democracy in Sudan, Tunisia, and Egypt

International Social Activist: True Democracy in Sudan, Tunisia, and Egypt: "As the Drums of True Democracy and Justice Beats on the African and Arabian streets we have to encourage and endorse the will of the people...."

True Democracy in Sudan, Tunisia, and Egypt

As the Drums of True Democracy and Justice Beats on the African and Arabian streets we have to encourage and endorse the will of the people.

Indeed True Democracy should not be curtailed and/or co-opted by the Western Powers, African Union, Arab League, Organization of Islamic Conference, Western Corporations, Eastern Corporations, Religious factions, and the African and Global elitists.

People and True Democracy is the panacea to hegemonies, terrorism, apartheid, classism, racism, tribalism, sexism, and religious intolerance.

True Democracy enables communalism, cultural exchanges, economic development, community empowerment, and equity.

True Democracy shuns corruption, impunity, autocracies, plutocracies, corporate greed and mismanagement, pseudo security while spurring accountability, responsibility, civility, security, togetherness, human development, and justice.  

True Democracy

Let us call on President Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton, and the US administration to support the will of the Egyptian People. Let us support True Democracy in motion.

9-11, Community Center, and Immigration

September 11^th!!! In Support of Park 51 and Comprehensive Immigration Reform

As a Methodist Christian, during the process of joining my Islamic sisters and brothers in the month long Ramadan fast, I have come to the realization that more progressive voices are needed in the current debate about the New York community center and the comprehensive immigration overhaul in the United States. However, my decision to speak out is not borne out of some epiphany and/or altruistic liberal virtue. On the contrary, I am speaking out of the basic human instinct of survival, morals and principles. My decision to fast does require more self examination because it was motivated by solidarity with others and the need to take charge of my health and well-being. The last time I experienced this difficult consecutive fasting exercise was a teenage born-again evangelical Christian. When I look around the United States I realize how some on the right of the political spectrum have decided to demonize “the other,” “the different,” “the foreign,” and “those cultures” etcetera etcetera.

Consequently, I have come to the unique but honest realization that the same fringe and evolving contemporary conservative movement on the right might one day single out my offspring for discrimination due to political convenience. The protestation about the Islamic center and the clamor to deport immigrants are both political avenues of sowing discord in society in this climate of economic recession. Conservatives are in an intermediary era, with a president that they are refusing to identify with, acknowledge and/or respect. They are afraid of change and would like to maintain the status quo, hence their decision to dwell on divisive propagandas and exploit our so-called differences. Examples of their misinformation are that President Obama was born in Kenya and he is a secret Muslim. Would they have supported him if he was a Muslim? The more bigoted premise is that affiliation with the Islamic faith is grounds for disqualification from elected/appointed positions in the United States of America.

Since, it is politically incorrect to cast aspersions about race; the next line of attack is to conveniently question Mr. Obama’s national origin (place of birth) and religion. It is worth noting that while President W. Bush and Cheney were in office the current hatred for Muslims and Immigrants that we are currently experiencing in the United States from the Republicans, did not reach this feverish pitch. Did the Bush administration take advantage of the fears of “the other” after September 11^th, 2001, the answer is absolutely yes. Bush and Cheney lied and deceived the country into a war in Iraq. They transposed Osama bin Laden’s transgressions and Al-Qaeda’s declaration of war to Saddam Hussein and Iraq respectively. Bush did not want us to blame the 1.5billion Muslims for the war declaration on September 11^th, 2001, however he substitute one Arabic name for another and Hussein became Osama.

Coincidentally, my children have recent immigrant heritages and their middle names are Arabic. They are citizens of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the United States. In my humble opinion they are citizens of the world and their allegiances should be extended to make the planet a better place for all. My son’s name is Nnaji Yusuf. Nnaji is his Igbo name which means (Our Lord is holding) and Yusuf is his Arabic name which means the (The Lord Increases). My son’s middle name is a tribute to his uncle the late Alhaji Yusuf Conteh who arrived from war torn Sierra Leone and met his untimely death in Prince Georges County, Maryland. In objectively analyzing the current debate with regards to the Islamic community center and the insistence by some in the Republican Party to target Latinos in the immigration situation, I can not help but think that similar methodologies would be utilized against my children in the future.

            Moreover, some fools might decide to question my children on the legitimacy of their birth certificates, and whether they were actually born in Silver Spring Maryland. Their Nigerian heritage and/or Arabic middle names are going to become an issue, if we keep quiet and do not speak out at this juncture in history. Some in the future would definitely suggest and/or attempt to invalidate their United States citizenship. While others may think that this is impossible and can not happen in America, I would like to remind them that there is already a movement to denial citizenship to children who are born within the American territory. This debate is going on despite the fact that the citizenship provision of the United States constitution is one of the bedrock of the 14^th amendment. If conservatives have the audacity to challenge the Citizenship clause of the amendment that allows African Americans and all persons born in the United States to be naturalized citizens, then my supposition is very feasible.

            However, enough is enough! Progressives and people of good conscience need to stand up to confront the likes of Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, and Newt Gingrich. We need to counter them in their attempt to derail this nation in transition. The freedom to freely express religious beliefs is enshrined in the constitution and should not be trampled with. The Park 51 project should proceed and be a testament of our resolve to appreciate diversity and inclusion. Recent immigrants should be provided with a path to citizenship just like it was the case in the past for other generations of immigrants. We should make a commitment to organize and vote out of office those who use religious intolerant and immigration as discordant political issues. Let us stand up against the bigotry of the majority from individuals and groups that want to rescind freedom of association and religious liberty. Those that site public opinion polls and try to intimate others with antics like the Koran burning should be called out. Truth tellers should remind our society that the same public opinion polls could have continued the patriarchy hegemony of this country with Jim Crow segregation and racism still in place.