Attention to detail: Minister still on government website over a year after he resigned and seems Jonathan's aides can't spell either.....

Editor's Pet Peeve

Nigeria's former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate seemingly still has his profile on the website of the Nigerian government even though he resigned from his post over a year ago.

Ironically enough, that same page has the correct profile of the current Health Minister, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu.

Dr. Pate was a one-time Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

He resigned his position on July 24 2013 to join Duke University’s Global Health Institute in the United States.

The current occupant of Dr. Pate's former office is Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, a former Director of Medical Services and Public Health at the Ministry of Health.

Such lack of attention-to-detail and general sense of disorganization can generally be seen across various structures of the Jonathan administration.

A website update to include an image upload of the current occupant of the office should be rather easy, but then again, with the laissez-faire disposition one has come to associate with most things in the halls of government in Nigeria, this should come as no surprise.

Even on President Goodluck Jonathan's LinkedIn page, the word 'Federal' is spelled as both 'Fedral' and 'Federal' in the same sentence.

It would seem that none of the president's '36 connections' thought much of the apparent error on a professional page of the leader of the most populous and influential black nation on earth, enough to bring it to his attention.  

On the other hand, when your connections include the likes of Asari Dokubo (Mr. 'he no fit), it becomes easy to see why that obvious 'anomaly' has been there since Jonathan assumed office. 

Honourable Minister of State Health Dr Muhammad Ali Pate

PROFILE:Dr Muhammad Ali Pate (Born 6 September 1968) is Minister for State for Health in Nigeria. His appointment in July 2011 follows his success as the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in Abuja, Nigeria.He also serves on the agenda committee of the World Economic Forum.Dr Pate is an American Board-Certified MD in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, with an MBA (Health Sector Concentration) from Duke University USA.He also has a Masters in Health System Management from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Global Health of the Duke University Global Health Institute. He is also a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Vaccination and Humanitarian Emergencies at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva.

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Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

Leader at Fedral Republic Of Nigeria

Nigeria

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Current	Fedral Republic Of Nigeria,  Office: President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria

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Credits: LinkedIn, nigeria.gov.ng

Quitting with style and brand distinction.....

Michael Peggs - MichaelPeggs.com

Editor-in-Chief

In a still soft economy and under an administration that has been anything but business-friendly, many are finding ways to distinguish themselves and take "branded risks", with a view to exploring what is out there.

One such person is Michael Peggs, a former strategic partner of development at Google.

In the age of Obama (no political pun intended), while some are leery to either leave their current employment or take the entrepreneurial leap-of-faith, many like Michael, are saying adieu with class and brand distinction (no pun intended either).

In this roughly 3 minute video (set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way") , Michael not only says goodbye from the premises of his much-loved former employer, but also cuts a rather relaxed, composed and jovial demeanor in the process.

More and more, many are finding unique ways to stay ahead of the game and as Michael rightly intimated in this video, you can't win if you don't play.

The video currently has almost 300,000 views.

Outrage! Probation officer at Oscar Pistorius' sentencing hearing recommends house arrest and community service?

Oscar Pistorius

CC Legal Minute

A probation officer appearing for the defense at the sentencing hearing of Oscar Pistorius, has recommended that the Olympic blade-runner should not face jail time, but instead serve community service and house arrest.

Now, that is just plain egregious and again speaks to the unbecoming arrogance of Pistorius and his defense team.

As expected, the family of the murdered Reeva Steenkamp as well as the prosecutor Gerrie Nel were extremely angry with the latter describing the suggestion as "shockingly inappropriate".

You can follow the Pistorius sentencing here.

Source: BBC News Africa

God loves Nigeria.....

Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode

By Femi Fani-Kayode

God loves Nigeria so much. They created Ebola in their demonic labs for bio weapons. 

They sent the disease to our shores through an insane Liberian but the Lord defended us and refused to allow it to take root in our shores.

The watchers prayed “return to sender” and Ebola was sent back to Houston through another insane Liberian. 

Now they seek to learn lessons from the Nigeria they seek to destroy about how to “contain Ebola."

They refused to label Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation until we begged them to do so and until they had killed 25,000 Nigerians.

They refused to sell us arms to fight the Haramites and when we approached other nations to do so they told them to turn us down.

Yet God was with us, we sourced those arms ourselves and ever since then the tied has turned and our gallant soldiers are winning the war against Boko Haram.

What on earth have we done that they seek to bring us to our knees and decimate our country with terror and disease? Have we not played the fool to them enough and have we not bowed to them on bended knees for the last 54 years? 

Yet they seek to effect their prophecy that chaos must envelop Nigeria and that our country must break up by 2015.

They seek to ensure that we are enveloped in a sea of carnage and fratricidal butchery. In the light of all this numerous questions must be asked? Who is really behind Boko Haram and how come they have more sophisticated arms than the Nigerian military? Who supplies them with those arms and all that training? Is it the same forces that covertly train, arm and supply ISIS, Al Nusra and Daesh and that used them in Syria to topple Bashar Al Assad and in Iraq to push Nouri Al Malaki out of power?

Is it the same forces that created Al Qaeda and commissioned Osama Bin Ladin to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan? Yet whoever these forces are and whatever their evil intentions are for Nigeria one thing is clear- despite all our complexities, self-hate, self-doubt and eccentricities God loves us dearly and we shall not go the way of Iraq, Syria or Libya.

After all this is the land of the Ameyo Adadevoh’s and other brave souls. This is the land where the watchers pray through the night and stand in the gap for their beloved nation and their compatriots. This is the land where, though we pretend to hate one another and we bicker morning, night and day, know the meaning of the word patriotism and whose people know how to worship and praise the one true God. 

The emissaries of the devil, no matter how powerful, how rich and how connected will never destroy us and neither shall the counsel of Satan prevail in our land. Each time they throw a bomb at us. like Ebola, it shall return to sender. Each time they refuse to sell us arms to enable us to defend our people the Lord shall raise others who shall do it in their stead.

The bottom line is as follows: you may hate us and seek to shame and humiliate us but God loves Nigeria and His purpose for our nation, whether you like it or not, shall surely come to pass.

Should blacks be grateful to whites for slavery? Seems the Bible may actually say so.....

CC Video Insight

This guy absolutely does not hold back and it is definitely a video you need to watch, listen to and imbibe with an open mind.

Makes you pause and think for a minute, no question about it.

China overtakes US as world's largest economy

CC Economic News

The International Monetary Fund says China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest economy, according to a report.

The IMF estimates that the size of the US economy is $17.4 trillion, while the Chinese economy comes in at $17.6 trillion, Business Insider reports.

China's share of the global economy is 16.48 per cent, while the United States accounts for 16.28 per cent, the IMF said Tuesday as part of its outlook for the world economic growth.

These figures are adjusted for the relative costs of living in both countries, known as “purchasing power parity.”

As recently as 2005, the Chinese economy was less than half the size of the US economy.

Moreover, the IMF projects that China's economy will be 20 per cent bigger than that of the US by 2019.

China remains the biggest foreign holder of US government debt, holding an estimated $1.27 billion in US Treasury bonds, about 10.6% of the $12 trillion U.S. Treasury market.

The United States accuses China of lowering the price of its exports by manipulating its currency.

Earlier this year, China and Russia agreed to a measure to undercut the domination of the US dollar as the international reserve currency by paying each other in domestic currencies.

Source: PRESS TV 

Nigeria says cash for arms seized in South Africa was 'legitimate' business transaction

President G.E. Jonathan

CC Global News

ABUJA - Nigeria said on Wednesday that $15 million that had been seized by South African authorities in two separate incidents was money for 'legitimate' arms deals, and it urged its rival African power to release the funds.

South Africa froze $5.7 million worth of funds that it had been alerted to as suspicious by Standard Bank, money which was purportedly to buy arms including 50 M-75 cannons and 200,000 rounds of ammunition.

The move followed the seizure last month of $9.3 million in cash from a private jet carrying two Nigerians and an Israeli.

Nigeria, which says it needs the arms to fight an Islamist insurgency raging in the northeast, said both payments were intended for deals between private companies procuring weapons for Nigerian forces.

South Africa's National Prosecutor said in a statement on Tuesday that the latest seizure covered armaments considered 'controlled items', and the deal was being conducted without relevant permits.

The office of Nigeria's National Security Advisor (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, the country's highest security authority, rejected the charge, the latest in a long run of diplomatic spats between Africa's two biggest economies that has soured relations.

"We want to state clearly that a business transaction actually took place between a legitimate company in Nigeria and another legitimate one in South Africa through the bank," NSA spokesman Karounwi Adekunle said in a statement.

He said that the company had not been able to obtain the arms and so tried to refund the money.

South Africa has named the company as Cerberus Risk Solutions. It was not immediately possible to obtain comment from the firm.

The row comes as South Africa and Nigeria are also at loggerheads over the death of 115 South Africans last month in the collapse of a guesthouse attached to a Nigerian church owned by televangelist TB Joshua on Sept 12.

South Africa says Nigeria has refused access to the bodies of the deceased for DNA testing or burial ever since the tragedy, a charge the Nigerians have not responded to.

Source: Reuters

2015 Mercedes-Benz S-Class S600 - Exterior and Interior Walkaround

CC Autodetail

Impressive through and through. German technology, excellence and perfection at its absolute best.

Hopefully, it was not assembled in Alabama. Just kidding.....

Mercedes-Benz S 500 Intelligent Self Driving Car

CC Autoview

On first impression, a great concept brought to reality. But then again, in light of our human antecedents, the hurdles and challenges from several standpoints (legal, technointel continuum etc) remain.....

Patrick Kluivert on shortlist for Ghana coaching job

Patrick Kluivert

CC Global Sports

While Nigeria continues to bask in the mediocrity of Stephen Keshi's tenure as coach of the Super Eagles, the Black Stars of Ghana continue to attract marquee names for its vacant coaching job.

Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert is on the Ghana Football Association's (GFA) five-man shortlist to be the new coach.

The Black Stars have been without a coach since Kwesi Appiah left in September.

The other candidates are ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant, former Italy midfielder Marco Tardelli, Swiss Michel Pont and Spaniard Juan Ignacio Jimenez.

"Pont, Kluivert and Tardelli will be interviewed in Accra on 17 October, Grant and Jimenez will be interviewed on 18 October," said the GFA.

Former Ajax and Barcelona striker Kluivert, who scored 40 goals for his country in 79 appearances, left his post as Netherlands assistant coach after the World Cup.

The 38-year-old began his coaching career in 2011 at Dutch side Twente, where he looked after the youth and reserve teams.

A year later he became assistant to Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal and the pair led the team to third place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Grant has a wealth of management experience, including a four-year spell in charge of his home country Israel and a year as Chelsea coach.

Italian Tardelli is perhaps most famous for his ecstatic goal celebration in the 1982 World Cup final victory over West Germany. He has since coached, among others, Egypt and was also assistant coach of the Republic of Ireland.

Pont and Jimenez are lesser known names globally. Pont has been Switzerland assistant coach, while the most recent role for Jimenez was coach of Spanish side Valladolid.

The GFA also said two coaches, German Bernd Schuster and Argentine Ricardo Gareca, have been named on standby and will be drafted in the event any of the chosen shortlist is not readily available.

Maxwell Konadu is in charge of the Black Stars in a caretaker capacity and will oversee the team for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers double header against Guinea.

They will play at the Syli Nationale on 11 October in Casablanca, Morocco before hosting the return leg four days later.

Talk about poor taste: New Malaysia Airlines ad asks customers "what they'd like to do before they die....."

CC Cautionary Tale

Malaysia Airlines has provoked a storm of controversy by asking customers to list the things they would most like to do before they die. The airline, which lost two planes this year in disasters that claimed 537 lives, committed the marketing gaffe when it launched a "My Ultimate Bucket List" campaign on Monday.

The campaign called on Australian and New Zealand residents to write their own bucket list and enter it into a competition to win flights to Malaysia and iPads.

But with the world still reeling from the twin catastrophes of the MH370 and MH17 crashes, social media users swiftly began mocking the marketing ploy.

It has since been re-branded around "your ultimate to-do list".

"The competition had earlier been approved as it was themed around a common phrase that is used in both countries," the airline said in a statement.

"The airline appreciates and respects the sentiments of the public and in no way did it intend to offend any parties."

Often associated with the terminally ill, a "bucket list" refers to the places one wants to visit or the experiences one wishes to have before they die.

The aftermath of the twin crashes has reportedly crippled the company financially, with plummeting share prices, near-empty flights and the axing of 6000 jobs fuelling speculation that the company is contemplating filing for bankruptcy.

But the airline described bankruptcy talk as "completely false", saying it would "emerge stronger" after privatisation and restructuring.

Source: Sidney Morning Herald

A pervading culture of gangsterism, lack of accountability and unbecoming arrogance from Aso Rock

President G.E. Jonathan

By The Editor-in-Chief

An adage says that a nation gets the leadership it deserves. In the case of Nigeria, a nation with so much promise, but with so little of it realized thus far, it could not be more apt.

Most neutral observers would however argue that the overwhelming majority of Nigerians are principled, honest and hardworking and thus deserve better.

For over half-a-century since the Federal Republic of Nigeria got its independence from Britain, the country has vacillated between democracy and anarchy, but has somehow managed to steady the ship while still tinkering on the edges of total chaos and ultimate collapse.

When Goodluck Jonathan was sworn-in as Nigeria's 4th democratically-elected President (preceded along those lines by Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo and Umar Yar' Adua) and its 14th Head of State, there was so much hope from Nigerians across a divergent spectrum of ethnic nationalities and socio-economic strata.

Unfortunately, three years into Jonathan's reign, the wheels of hope, transparency and progress have essentially fallen off the rickety wagon he (Jonathan) had sold to Nigerians as a sturdy vehicle of purpose, conscience and promise.

There is no questioning the fact that this is the lowest at which Nigeria and the Nigerian psyche have ever been, regardless of the rejigged economic numbers and scattered successes in sports, business as well as the arts and sciences.

While Nigerians are a resourceful and resilient lot, there is a limit to which a people can continually aspire to greatness in all fields of worthy human endeavor with debilitating and spuriously corrupt leadership at the helm.

In Nigeria's over 50 years of existence as a sovereign nation, this President (Jonathan) is without question the most corrupt, inept and repressive the nation has ever been saddled with as a civilian administration, second only to the tyrannical Abacha mal-administration in terms of its repressive and brutish disposition.

Whether it is related to the Boko Haram uprising that has seen a more violent upsurge since Jonathan came into power with over 13,000 Nigerians killed thus far, State Gubernatorial elections, elections into sports associations such as the Nigeria Football Federation, dealing with the opposition or the press, Jonathan's approach has been to misuse organs of State power such as the State Security Service (Secret Police) and Military Intelligence to terrorize and in some cases, silence adversarial voices for good.

Under Jonathan's watch, we have a 'democratically-elected' governor (sponsored and supported by Jonathan's ruling PDP) supervising the physical beating of a judge enshrined with the office of jurisprudence and the legitimate President of the Nigeria Football Federation arrested, humiliated and detained several times by the Secret Police (at the urging of Jonathan's Minister for Sports with obvious orders from Aso Rock), among other innumerable actions that would serve to brand Jonathan as essentially a dictator.

Under Jonathan, the politics of gangsterism has become the daily staple and Nigerians have been the worse for it.

Jonathan must however realize that sooner than later, the winds of corrective recourse and natural retribution will catch up with the perpetrators of injustice and wickedness.

The sooner he pauses to think for a moment with a view to changing course onto a road less traveled but much travailed by men and women of purpose and wise conviction, the better for his diminishing legacy and the future of Nigeria as a corporate entity.

The last thing Jonathan would want to be a signature on his legacy, I believe, is that he was the man that led Nigeria into the abyss of anarchy..... one the nation may never recover from and may ultimately lead to the disintegration of that great nation.

Jonathan is probably at his very core a 'good' man (although prone to parochial and inordinate tendencies), but he is surrounded by ravenous wolves and charlatans.

It is imperative that he acquires the much needed wisdom to change course while time (though preciously little) is still on his and Nigeria's side.

Jonathan's address to the 69th UN General Assembly

CC Videorama

Again, one would have expected a more definitive and directed speech from the leader of the number one economy in Africa and the most populous black nation on earth.

When one considers how the UN has increasingly become the "fifth estate" (an organ of neo-colonialism), Jonathan should have asserted the non-negotiable independence and right to self-determination of the African continent and a renewed commitment to transparent and purposeful leadership.

Nigeria needs a strong and visionary leader that understands the importance of Nigeria to the African continent and the furthering of the agenda of meaningful development for the continent.

His speech (below) was not only lacking in specifics, but lacked conviction as well.

Obama urges UN to act faster to curb Ebola outbreak

U.S. President Barack Obama (AFP PHOTO/Saul Loeb)

CC News

President Barack Obama said the world is making progress in fighting the Ebola outbreak, but far more needs to be done by every nation. 

“This is progress, and it is encouraging, but we need to be honest with ourselves, it’s not enough,” Obama said speaking at the United Nations High Level Meeting on Ebola Thursday. “There’s still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be.”

The deadly Ebola virus has spread through Africa, and some American doctors doing mission work also got the disease.

“We know from experience that the response to an outbreak of this magnitude needs to be both fast and sustained – like a marathon, but run at the pace of a sprint,” the president continued. “That’s only possible if every nation and every organization does its part. And everybody here has to do more.”

Obama explained how the world responds could make the difference in how many thousands will die.

“The outbreak at this point, more people will die,” Obama said. “But slope of the curve depends on how fast we can arrest it, how quickly we can contain it, if we move fast, even if imperfectly, that can mean the difference in 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 100,000 lives. This is not a time for wrangling and people waiting see who’s doing what first.”

Obama repeatedly asserted that combatting the spread of Ebola is a major national security priority for the United States, but sternly told delegations from around the world gathered in New York, “Do not stand by and think that because of what we’ve done it’s taken care of. It’s not.”

Obama said that the United States is training thousands of health workers from around the world to deal with Ebola in Africa, distributing supplies and information kits hundreds of thousands of families to help them protect themselves and building new treatment units in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. He added that the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to bring the world body’s humanitarian resources to fight the epidemic.

Back in Washington on Friday, Obama will host 44 nations for a meeting on global health security to be ready for not only Ebola, but the next potential health crisis as well, he said.

“Thousands of men, women and children have died,” Obama told the UN. “Thousands more are infected. If unchecked, this epidemic could kill hundreds of thousands of people in the coming months. Hundreds of thousands.”

Atiku declares for Nigerian Presidency in 2015 elections

Former Nigerian Vice-President Atiku Abubakar

By John Alechenu and Ade Adesomoju

A former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has formally declared his intention to contest the 2015 Presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar, at a ceremony held at the Yar'Adua Centre in Abuja on Wednesday, explained that his desire to become President was born out of the need to give back to the nation.

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and the Publisher of Leadership, Sam Nda-Isaiah, had also declared interest in the APC presidential ticket.

A former Head of State and National Leader of the APC, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, have been reported to also have interest in the ticket.

A confident Abubakar told his supporters during the ceremony that he had the capacity to bring people together and turn things around for the better in the country.

He pointed out that the glaring mismatch between "our potential and our achievements provides a golden opportunity" for him to lead Nigerians to rekindle their innovative instinct and turn the Nigerian dream into a reality.

He explained that in spite of many challenges faced by Nigerians, they had refused to give up on the country.

The former Vice-President said the 2015 elections were about Nigerian youths and the nation's future.

He stressed that the nation, under the current administration, had failed to provide the required environment for the youth to reach their full potential.

The former vice-president said, "It is inspiring that despite difficulties and growing anxiety over the future of our country, our people have refused to succumb to despair and hopelessness.

"This never-say-die attitude gives me immense hope and it is one of the reasons why I can never give up on Nigeria."

Reacting to the agitation for generational shift, he said his generation owed younger Nigerians the responsibility of offering its political shoulders to them to climb upon.

This, he said, was necessary to improve their vision and expand their horizon.

He noted that it was this trans-generational collaboration and partnership that represented the best model to create the future that the nation desired and deserved.

Nigeria, he said, should never again be subjected to leadership experimentation or learning on the job.

He recalled that the Olusegun Obasanjo administration which he was a part of successfully reformed some critical sectors of the economy such as telecommunications and the capital market.

Abubakar said, "As Vice-President from 1999 to 2007, I worked closely with my boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a passionate defender of Nigerian unity.

"We focused on macro-economic stability and transforming critical areas such as banking, insurance, oil and gas, telecommunications, pension and the civil service.

"We created institutions that should lay the foundation for good governance and accountability such as the Bureau of Public Procurement, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, SERVICOM, whose golden rule is 'Serve others as you would like to be served.' Sadly, most of these institutions are now mere shadows of themselves."

He said the Obasanjo administration was able to deliver because it had vision, commitment and dedication.

The former Vice-President expressed sadness that rather than pay down the nation's debts, "our borrowing has been on the increase even at a time the price of oil has consistently been above $100 per barrel since the inception of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.''

He argued that resentment, disillusionment and hopelessness were the factors on which insecurity and disharmony thrived.

Nigeria, he said, was more divided today than at any other time since the civil war, adding that there was a disturbing rise in ethnic nationalism and religious bigotry because "we have a governance deficit."

The aspirant said, "Our country seems to be on auto pilot with no one in charge. Nigeria now more than ever before, needs a strong, dynamic, decisive, competent and visionary leadership that can halt the current drift of the ship of state. Corruption needs to be fought, jobs need to be created, our infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, social services need to be provided and insecurity needs to be tackled in a decisive, robust and multi-pronged way."

While commending the leadership of the APC for adopting the modified open primaries in selecting its flag bearers at all levels, Abubakar said the party remained the most potent political force to end years of PDP's dominance of the political space.

The leader of the National Assembly caucus of the APC, Senator George Akume, who spoke on behalf of other party leaders at the event, said the APC has within its ranks, the men and women who have what it takes to rebuild Nigeria.

Why the United States is hampering Nigeria's fight against Boko Haram

U.S. President Barack H. Obama

By Michael Nnebe 

Since the recent brouhaha involving the use of Ayo Oritsejafor's private jet loaded with $9.3 million in cash on a covert arms run to South Africa, many Nigerian military generals have spoken out publicly on how the United States has continued to hinder Nigeria's efforts to procure arms from the U.S. and their western allies. 

Surely these arms are needed by the Nigerian army if they must defeat the dreaded terrorist group that have caused so much havoc in the northeast of Nigeria and elsewhere. 

On the face of it, it sounds like an improbable argument to make against the United States, after all, it is in American interest for Nigeria to defeat the Boko Haram. How can America then be hindering our fight if indeed they now have some of their men on the ground gathering intelligence and their drones hovering non-stop over the sambisa forest in search of the same Boko Haram terrorists. The answer to this question is a lot more complicated than it seems, but it boils down to how America is constrained by the rule of law while Nigeria isn't.

In spite of Obama's promises to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram, rescue the Chibok girls, and provide all the weapons necessary to achieve these things, one thing remain. Every weapon that is procured from the United States goes through Congress for vetting. This has been a long standing practice that predates Nigeria's problem with Boko Haram. 

For Congress to vet these arms purchases means that politicians in Washington DC have put many conditions that would virtually make it impossible for countries like Nigeria to directly procure arms from the United States government. It would have been easier for America to donate these arms to Nigeria, as they have done through the years to countries like Pakistan than for us to be purchasing them. In scrutinizing these arms deals, things like human right abuses, extra judicial killings by the police and the army become the hindering issues for countries like Nigeria to overcome before the US Congress.

Apparently persistent accusations by several human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other agencies have finally caught up with Nigeria, and many Nigerians are now crying foul. Some have said that the US does not have the moral right to impose such standards on Nigeria. Well, if you look at the Abu Ghraib incidence in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and ongoing police abuses across America, one can easily understand why any Nigerian might accuse America of playing double standards. But there is one remarkable difference; the rule of law always prevail in America, and when these things wash up in the surface the law must be seen to take its course. 

The US army and police can sometimes be a bunch of rednecks behaving as if they own the world, but once their violation of the law is made public, then they are often prosecuted to the fullest weight of the law. Even if their bosses wish to cover these things up, the ever-prying American media and the public will protest until these people are brought to justice. Civilization does not begin and end in driving fancy cars and living in big modern homes, it also requires the acquisition of sensibilities that can easily be offended by behaviors outside the acceptable norms.

In a place like Nigeria, most citizens do not give a damn if the police are killing criminals in droves and dumping them in the forest or river somewhere. We always justify these killings by assuring ourselves that these are good riddance. We always keep a blind eye in Nigeria, as long as our relatives are not the victims of these extra-judicial killings. This, I found out, is a huge problem in Nigeria. The average Nigerian is unlikely to rise up and protest extra-judicial killings or torture. 

It has for long been an open secret in Nigeria that the police sometimes eliminate threats of armed robbery and kidnapping simply by killing some of the detainees in their stations. I do not wish to become a crusader for suspected armed robbers and kidnappers, and if you have been a victim of either, you would most likely be glad to know that police officers are finally getting rid of the bad guys. 

But there is one problem. Several hundreds, perhaps thousands of suspects have been eliminated by the police and the army in the past few years, yet neither armed robbery nor kidnapping has decreased around the country. Some police officers, especially SARS would privately argue that such elimination is an effective way of carrying out justice. That to do otherwise will likely put those useless suspects before the Nigerian judiciary, probably awaiting trial for 5 to 10 years without any resolution.

Expedience is never the answer especially when a man's life is involved. Lately, many of these human rights organizations have paraded Nigerians on television testifying of various types of torture on them in different Nigeria police stations. Recently I saw a video on facebook that showed the most horrific scenes of Nigerian soldiers that lined up some Boko Haram suspects. 

They made these guys dig their own graves, and then shot them one by one and simply push them into those graves. I am not a saint, but nothing offended my sensibilities more than watching that video. It is true that I have seen worse by ISIS and Boko Haram, but this was a video of Nigerian army officers, and that was just unbearable to me. There must be a difference between a terrorist group and a national army. 

The US has presented this tape to the Nigerian military, but they are still taking their time to investigate. What utter nonsense, especially when the video of their officers is rather clear. This is the same Nigerian army that rushed to publicly try a bunch of junior officers for mutiny, and handed down a verdict of guilty punishable by death on firing squad.

I'm sure that the Nigerian military can act quickly if they wish to do so, but they cannot drag their feet and still expect America to simply ship arms to them without asking appropriate questions. In February last year, I wrote an article on extra-judicial killings in Nigeria, (A conspiracy of silence…the silence of our politicians on extra-judicial killings) indicting the SARS wing of the Nigerian police. I received quite a few threats after that article, but I wasn't bothered at all. 

It is really up to us Nigerians to stand up and speak up against these injustices on our people. America can only refuse our military arms, which they can easily buy from willing markets like Russia, China, South Africa, and others, but it is our own outcries that will put pressure on these police and military officers from acting with impunity and getting away with it. 

And to those military generals who are whining that America is hindering their fight against Boko Haram, perhaps it is time you all learn to operate an army worthy of the 21st century Nigeria. And in the meantime, kudos to our military for killing Abubakar Shakau once again or was it his imposter?

Michael Nnebe is a former Wall Street Investment Banker and the Author of several novels, including; Every Dream Has A Price, Riverside Park, Blood Covenant, Gloomy Shadows, Passing wishes, Prime Suspect, and others.