I believe that Bishop and pastors, or so called “men of God” should focused on the teachings of the Bible and spirituality when it comes to public funerals, rather than making nonsensical political speeches and taking senseless positions on municipal issues.  

I watched as demonstrative eulogies poured in yesterday at the commendation service organized in honor of the former vice president, late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, at the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu. It was a memorable event, which by all standard is merited for someone who served his country at an executive capacity.

However, another moment that caught my attention was the sermon by the Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province and Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Enugu, the Most Rev Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, hitting hard on Nigerian politicians, and accusing them of being self-centered and so on.

He claimed Nigeria’s filthy politics negated the kind of politics the late Ekwueme played while he was alive – telling the audience that the legion of politicians who were present at the service were playing politics of personal aggrandizement and disgrace. Now this is where “Big D” differs. It’s simply, a wrong speech at the wrong time.

I believe that Bishop and pastors, or so called “men of God” should focused on the teachings of the Bible and spirituality when it comes to public funerals, rather than making nonsensical political speeches and taking senseless positions on municipal issues.

And even as the lavish burial raved on, my only concern was the economic value of spending a Billion Naira to buried a past leader in a society or State where citizens are dying of hunger and cannot afford three basic meals a day.

Again, if I may ask? As a seating Vice president, what federal projects did Chief Ekwueme bring to the Eastern Region for the State to give him such a lavishing burial? And to make it worse, this state government closed down schools while they honored this leader.

By the way, I was in the Eastern Nigeria when Chief Ekwueme was the Vice President and there were no new federal roads built; no federal public buildings, libraries, or even federal hospitals established. When he finally left office, he invested in hotel business called Modotels as his family business. I have heard the argument about how he changed his hometown, Oko, but for goodness sake, this was the Vice President of Nigeria, not Oko.

My take is that Nigerian people are easily gullible, too easily influenced and misled, not by the facts, rather by emotional additions. As an economist, it is my professional opinion that spending a Billion Naira to bury a past leader in a state where the population is hungry is absurd, economically insane and abuse of state resources. If you have issues with my thoughts, hit me back with your own reflections.

♦ Ikeogu (Big D), an economist, writes from Minnesota

“I challenge my Nigerian brethren to a self-renovation of  individually, becoming the change we want. In a democratic culture, we have the right to protest and demand a better government worthy of what we deserve. But it is absurd to elect irresponsible leaders to office and turn around to blame those who rightly identify our self-destructive mindset.”

I have something very common with President Trump. We both say it as it is without sentiments of how individuals react to the reality of commonsense. And now, it is clear that all my articles, thoughts, and reflections about Africa and her total lack of commonsense, finally are vindicated.

Some participants in a meeting Trump held with lawmakers said the president questioned during a discussion of immigration why the United States was accepting people from “shithole countries,” such as nations in Africa, instead of getting more people from places like Norway. The reaction was fierce, with several African countries summoning U.S. envoys to explain the comment and African ambassadors to the United States demanding an apology.

But in my opinion, Mr. Trump’s remark, and the article he was alleged to have written about African’s and Arabs without doubt, underscores the total failure of African leaders to live up to their responsibilities in governance. All along, I knew and have always maintained that Africa and their leaders lack commonsense, and are worse than descendants of SHITHOLE; and indeed, there are no doubts about these assertion.

Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they could from lack of bread. In Africa especially Nigeria, citizens have been pitifully electing ‘SHITHOLES’ as their leaders, representative in governments, and other civic entities; and we could go through the list. Take Nigeria for example, which trotted from Obasingo (twice) to Abacha, through Babaginda – plus Jonathan. Then they capped up their self-destructive atrocities by electing twice, their current President – Buhari.

Please you must not forget that I am not a fan of Donald Trump, but as a realist and a trained economist, I have always aligned with the philosophy that when a Man looks at you in the eyes and gives you a dose of commonsense, you must listen, reflect, and accept the facts. Commonsense has no opposition, hence, the facts remains an inevitable concepts of livelihood.

Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they could from lack of bread. In Africa especially Nigeria, citizens have been pitifully electing ‘SHITHOLES’ as their leaders, representative in governments, and other civic entities; and we could go through the list. Take Nigeria for example, which trotted from Obasingo (twice) to Abacha, through Babaginda – plus Jonathan. Then they capped up their self-destructive atrocities by electing twice, their current President – Buhari.

If I may ask, who elected all of this Leaders? Aliens? In leadership, high expectations are the key to effective delivery. And if I may respectfully ask again, does any of these so called leaders have high expectations of themselves? And if so, what is their outstanding achievements in a country they have taken turns in ruling and perhaps destroying? Could somebody tell me any characteristic these Leaders have in common besides utter failure in their responsibilities to fundamentally govern? Similarly, they created poverty for their constituents, looted the national treasury, led without any economic blue print and worse, ruined their constituents without any measurable vision for the future.

As I conclude my reflections of Trump’s utter “shithole” truth, I challenge my Nigerian brethren to a self-renovation of  individually, becoming the change we want. In a democratic culture, we have the right to protest and demand a better government worthy of what we deserve. But it is absurd to elect irresponsible leaders to office and turn around to blame those who rightly identify our self-destructive mindset. Enough is enough, and also, in case we still do not know this, Trump is right.

♦ Ikeogu (Big D), an economist, writes from Minnesota

Often, the major tests of courage is not to die, but to live.  To all loving IGBOS around the world, we cannot afford to be slaves in our fathers land, neither can we afford to be intimidated into submission. Reform must come from within, not from strangers. We are not minorities.  We are a majority ethnic group and MUST demand and (not ask) for our unchallengeable rights as a full citizens of this nation.   

As usual, offering my little opinion to matters about Nigeria government and governing is my rights of social involvement, and I will not stop exercising that cause. With the crisis going on in the Eastern Nigeria,  we as Igbo’s and indeed other Nigerians must step up with a demand for explanations to those we elected, and probe their level of representation.

Starting with the South East, the Igbo elected leaders; from  governors, senators, to the congress should demand  immediate answers from President Muhammadu Buhari and his federal government on the real objective of  this military exercise. Was there any imminent danger or threat to public safety that justified the latest intimidation and provocations to the Igbos? Perhaps, one would rightly think that was a retaliatory measure; to chastise a region opposed to the schismatic nature of Nigeria’s structure.  If we are seriously practicing democracy, our elected leaders should demand an inquiry and a hearing on why this operation was needed.  

It might be right to think that the undisciplined soldiers that carried out the raids in South East had mandatory orders  from “above” to indiscriminately eliminate certain citizens for protesting their concerns.  Obviously, there is no justification to intimidate Nnamdi Kanu and his group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement. With these disturbing events, my question again would be; with fierce looking solders invading his property, does Kanu have a right of self-defense? Another troubling puzzle is that these Army vandals could plant weapons inside Kanu’s property just to gather enough excuse to subdue his crusade.

The Buhari’s government remains a democratic entity, where Mr. President is answerable to the people. It is illegal and against any democratic standards to order military operations to  unarmed and defenseless children; especially where the President has a duty to protect those individuals.

I would recommend that those affected by this ordeal should file a class action lawsuit against the President, his government, and his army for illegal raids, violation of their rights, and the massacre of their citizens. In every democratic setting, citizens have a right to protest injustice, and Kanu and IPOB did just that. The entire South-South and South-East should protest from all angles, and march all the major cities of Lagos, Abuja, Onitsha , Aba and Port – Harcourt -on the same day to show solidarity and respect for democracy.

Often, the major tests of courage is not to die, but to live.  To all loving IGBOS around the world, we cannot afford to be slaves in our fathers land, neither can we afford to be intimidated into submission. Reform must come from within, not from strangers. We are not minorities.  We are a majority ethnic group and MUST demand and (not ask) for our unchallengeable rights as  full citizens of this nation.   

♦ BIG D – Dominic Ikeogu resides in Minnesota.