WARDROBE MALFUNCTION OR OUTRIGHT SEDUCTION?

Omoni Oboli and Pres. Jonathan

That is the question Nollywood star Omoni Oboli failed to answer after her movie premiere event which held at the Presidential Banquet Hall, Aso Rock, Abuja, Nigeria. Hear her: "In retrospect, it boils down to that awkward moment when you are all dressed up for your event with your speech in hand, for your mind, you are bam. But when the pictures come out, they say something else. It happens to all of us once in a while. God know say no be so I plan am (Nigerian Pidgin English).”
And the pictures really spoke volumes.

Many are also wondering why such a private inconsequential event should even hold at Aso Rock and with the Commander-in-chief and his Vice in attendance! Especially when there are many very important unresolved national issues the duo should devote their time to. Na wao for Naija. 

PATRICK SAWYER AS A VECTOR

Late Sawyer

Since a Liberian-American Mr. Patrick Sawyer (deceased) ungraciously introduced the deadly Ebola Virus into the Nigerian populace, the country has sadly joined the growing list of panic stricken West African countries battling the epidemic. The death toll has hit four. These include the index case (Mr. Sawyer) and three other persons who had direct contact with him. Two of them were the nurses who took care of him at the hospital he was rushed to in Lagos, Nigeria.

Its been insinuated in some reports and quite correctly it seems that the man Sawyer was on a deadly and purposeful mission when he embarked on the journey to Nigeria that fateful day having earlier lost a sister to the virus and manifesting the symptoms himself. His behaviour at the point of departure, James Sprigg Payne's Airport in Monrovia where he was seen on CCTV to have avoided contact with people shows he was very much aware of his condition before his trip. He was said to have even been warned not to travel by his country's authorities but went ahead in defiance. Why he was ,however, allowed to get on that flight is in itself a very big question. He also exhibited some questionable behaviour at the hospital in Nigeria where he was reported to have intentionally urinated on health workers! But the real reasons for the 'deadly mission' may never be known since he is deceased and cannot offer any explanations.

Decontee Sawyer

The reason offered by his widow, Decontee Sawyer, is nothing but ridiculous and absurd to say the least. According to her the Late Sawyer came to Nigeria in search of better health care than is obtainable in his native Liberia. But knowing that the man also had an American citizenship, one wonders why he did not travel to the United States of America instead. Which better place to get the best medical care than the USA! More so he would have been closer to his family who reside there. But no the man instead chose to come to a country where the health care system is also in shambles. Where the resident doctors in public hospitals had been on strike to press for better remuneration.

The blame for the '"success" of the "Sawyer Mission" does not really rest with him but with both the Liberian and Nigerian Governments. The Liberian Government could have stopped the man from coming to Nigeria but somehow chose not to. The Nigerian Government on their own part as usual failed to be proactive to put measures in place to check people coming into the country since the first case was reported in the West African region several months ago. Describing the man in harsh words like the Nigerian President Jonathan has done is somewhat childish and a bid to cover up for the government's failure in one of its statutory duties to protect the lives of the citizens. According to him " Sawyer that brought this Ebola to Nigeria; his sister died of Ebola. And he started acting somehow, his country asked him not to leave the country, let them observe him, but the crazy man decided to leave and found his way here."

AMERICA FALTERS!

The prisoner swap deal between the U.S and the Taliban in which five Taliban henchmen were exchanged with one U.S army private has left many wondering what is going on. What is the Obama administration really up to this time? The deal has faced immense scrutiny in the U.S. On the Sunday morning talk shows this week, many Republican lawmakers criticized the deal on the grounds that the White House had negotiated with a terrorist group. This, critics charge, will make it more likely that terrorist groups will take U.S. soldiers hostage in the future, in order to squeeze concessions from the United States.

There are also concerns that the five Taliban prisoners who are being released will rejoin the war effort against NATO and its Afghan allies now that they have regained their freedom. Moreover, some members of Congress have questioned the legality of the deal since the administration released five prisoners from Guantanamo without notifying Congress in advance, as was stipulated in legislation passed in an effort to prevent the administration from closing the Cuba-based prison.

Further complicating matters for the Obama administration, many U.S. soldiers, including members of Sgt. Bergdahl’s platoon, have charged the soldier with trying to desert his post. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance five years ago in Afghanistan remain murky. However, as CNN notes, “According to firsthand accounts from soldiers in his platoon, Bergdahl, while on guard duty, shed his weapons and walked off the observation post with nothing more than a compass, a knife, water, a digital camera and a diary.”

The Obama administration has sought to defend the deal by pointing to the U.S. government’s responsibility for the safety of U.S. soldiers. Moreover, they have pointed to Bergdahl’s apparent declining health as a reason why they were willing to negotiate with the Taliban, as well as release Guantanamo prisoners without first notifying Congress. They have also acknowledged the charges that Bergdahl might have been a deserter at the time of his capture but have said that is an issue that will be dealt with in due time.

All these issues are undoubtedly important. Nonetheless, they miss the strategic logic behind the deal. Namely, the main reason for the deal appears to be a desire on the part of the Taliban and the U.S. to reinvigorate their long-stalled diplomatic talks in the context of a post-Karzai Afghanistan and NATO’s troop withdrawal.

Which leads directly to the paradox that the situation has become!  The U.S has negotiated with a group it had labeled "terrorists" against its well known hard stance in the contrary. One now wonders what degree of bad precedence this world leader has set and what overall effect it will have on the global war on terror? What are the less powerful countries like Nigeria which are presently under serious terrorist bombardment supposed to do? I guess the U.S has let all of them down.  

THE VISIT

A former Nigerian Minister of  Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode last week Tuesday paid a 'courtsey' visit to President Jonathan at his official residence- the Aso Rock Villa. While it came as a huge shock to quite a few people, many others have merely seen it as part of the political maneuvering that has become the order of the day in Nigeria recently. This is considering the fact that the visitor has been a well known voice in the opposition who has never missed any opportunity to cast aspersions on the present administration.

But perhaps more worrisome to me is the fact that this 'visitor' is currently being tried for embezzlement of public funds while in office as a Minister. And like the biblical Zacheus, he has dined with the 'master'. However one cannot help but wonder why on earth should such a meeting hold. What could Mr. President or his administration stand to gain meeting with a man with a doubtful integrity and no political clout especially now that the country is facing very serious and challenging issues like insecurity and terrorism. What has the former minister got to offer to this administration that he probably forgot to proffer when he was in office?

On his visit, the former minister was quoted as saying : “This is a Presidential Villa, the President is a President of Nigeria and every single person in this country that is a Nigerian is entitled to come here from time to time, when the doors are open to come and pay their respect to the wonderful people that are here. As a Nigerian, I have done that today and I am delighted to be here.”

Perhaps the insane, criminals and drug addicts are equally welcomed to Aso Rock!

NORTHERN NIGERIA: ON A PATH OF SELF DESTRUCTION

North-eastern Nigeria has been the base of the terrorist group known as Boko Haram since the group declared war on anybody or anything that has anything to do with western education. What started out as attacks targeted at law enforcement agents has now further degenerated into some senseless and inexplicable massacre of innocent civilians and, most recently, school children! The leaders of tomorrow. The hope of a people! Northern Nigeria is surely treading a very pathetic path of self destruction all in the bid to "make the country ungovernable" for the President who is a Southerner.

The long term effect of this very unfortunate development is that in no distant future the Northern part of Nigeria will be further relegated to the dust bin of history without any hope of its people  ever making any meaningful progress. They will not have the capacity to make any positive impact on the rest of the country and the world at large as by then they would have been done with slaughtering their hopes, dreams and aspirations on the altar of religious rascalism and senselessness.

Only a fool will expect to eat his cake and still have it.

WHAT A SHAME! ALL IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM AND EQUALITY

Two men got married to each other recently! Watch this very shameful and disgusting act in the video below. All in the name of freedom and equality!!

STELLA HAS FINALLY LOST HER GROOVE

The long awaited sack of the Nigerian Aviation Minister, Mrs Stella Oduah has finally come today as she was reported to have 'resigned' alongside three other Ministers. It will be recalled that following the scandalous armored vehicles purchase which rocked her Ministry last October, a lot of calls from different quarters demanded her immediate removal from office. But somehow she has managed to stay till now. Though it had been speculated by many that she was very close to the President, it was also a strong conviction of a knowledgeable few that it was only a matter of time before she would be given a soft landing.

However, if this was really a resignation, it only means one thing: she still has her groove and probably is being groomed for an elected political office when Nigeria go to the polls next year.