THE PRESIDENT HAS A GUN POINTED TO HIS FOOT!!

"Its one thing to shoot oneself in the foot.Just don't reload the gun"-Lindsey Graham

President Buhari's speech to the Nigerian community in South Africa during his visit there set off the alarm bells in my head.Though ours is a nation where most people are quick to tag every senior citizen a Statesman, only a few are befitting of such title.I wouldn't expect a respected elder statesman like Muhammadu Buhari, talk more a President Muhammadu Buhari to utter these words-

"Everybody is repeating what the other person has said instead of to keep their mouth SHUT".

But he did.Mere mortals like us are allowed to speak in such a manner connoting a total disrespect for the audience because we aren't   representing the most populous black nation and it most certainly won't be on the front pages of every newspaper if we did.But asides being President,PMB represents what we have being meant to believe no Nigerian politician is.
I dare say never has a politician being so loved.He has being depicted as the epitome of every positive adjective you can possibly come up with.When a lot of us complained about his age, we were told maturity is what the country needs and not someone who has turned our nation into a playground for him and his cronies.
There are a million other ways of subtly passing that message across, a lot of them sure to elicit a few laughs than outrightly telling your countrymen away in another land to "Keep their mouth SHUT".
The second part which I must say baffled me beyond words read thus:

"I am pleased that Nigerians,wherever they are whether South Africa or Saudi Arabia,Europe or even Alaska for that matter, you will make an impact both positive and NEGATIVE".

Now, whether or not the President should have left it at "Alaska" and not gone on to include the words-"For that matter" is a topic for another day.But the crux certainly is Mr President being pleased with the fact that there are Nigerians making negative impact abroad.This is most shocking.I actually expected to learn some rib cracking jokes from what I thought was an imminent Social media circus but (Un)fortunately there was none.God forbid the day a Nigerian sentenced to the gallows in Malaysia or Indonesia for drug trafficking will tell the world he is dying proud because his President is 'Pleased with the Negative impact' he has made.'Yahoo boys' in the states will start to think of forming an Association down here.No Sir!.You aren't pleased they are making a negative impact.Or better yet, i'm sure you aren't.
After another read and making sure I wasn't in need of more sleep,I switched off the bells in my head.Our parents would try to deter us from going out at night as kids by telling us scary 'Ojuju Calabar' (Masquerade) stories and if you fell ill and blamed it on 'Ojuju', they told you not to.You were just being paranoid. Perhaps I was just being paranoid.There was no cause for alarm, at least not yet.
I chose to focus more on our collective goal-a better Nigeria for all.Only a petty individual would want to run our much heralded 'Messiah' ragged before he has even moved into his office.I even chose to ignore the PR blunder he committed by coming out soon afterwards to talk about us expecting limitations to his capabilities due to his age which many felt was as a result of having rightly thought of his speech as embarrassing.I am quite sure a seasoned media practitioner like Femi Adesina knows the defence he issued on his behalf was merely 'fulfilling his duty' as Senior Special Adviser and nothing more because such stains can hardly be removed no matter how hard you spin the mess.
Then the most ludicrous assertion I have heard in recent times and trust me, I have seen quite a lot.President Muhammadu Buhari,a supposed man of Integrity, honour and self-respect,a few days ago,in a Q&A session in the US while responding to a question on the Niger-Delta particularly Amnesty,Bunkering and Inclusive Development (All sensitive issues if you ask me) said Constituencies that gave him 97% shouldn't expect as much from him as those who gave 5%.That It was fair he showed appreciation and also went on to say they would be justice for all.Whatever that meant if you consider the blatant promise of injustice and adoption of the cardinal rule in the Constitution as amended by the pigs in George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM-"All animals are equal but some are more equal than others".He had already fired the shots at himself.Everything else amounts to massaging a gun shot wound. 
President Buhari ought to know our Constitution specifies the attainment of a certain age before contesting for office.He came across as being too immature to sit on that seat.The northerners complained of marginalization during President Obasanjo's tenure and GEJ's perceived favouritism of his South-South brothers was as brazen as awarding multi-billion dollar Pipeline Security Contracts to glorified touts (Ex-Militants) in what many see as handing the keys to our house over to thieves for safe keeping.Yet they all defended these perceptions of them with all they had.OBJ never agreed with his critics and GEJ did 'give a damn' in that regard.
PMB is by miles not only the oldest President we have ever had but also the most experienced.Maturity is chief among the ingredients of the 'Change' he portends.Certain things are what he should be seen cautioning the younger leaders about and not proclaiming.Spewing such gibberish which ought to be kept inside if at all it exists is most regretable.
Every one irrespective of who they voted for should be treated equally.If that was the yardstick for dispensing the dividends of democracy,then I wonder what sort of nation we would have by 2027.
It doesn't help that his critics had several persuasive points to support their arguments of him being a long standing ethnic and religious bigot in the run-up to the elections and it certainly doesn't help that most of his appointments have been his fellow northerners.Even if he justifies that, a smart leader would know there is a need to appear impartial and the last thing he would do is to indirectly tell the South-South and South-East to expect less in unequivocal terms.To borrow his words-"it is a political reality".
I really don't envy Messrs Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina one bit.PMB is a PR nightmare, a man who has his finger on the trigger of a gun pointed at his foot.He seems to be hell bent on making you forget his huge strides and hate him outright.
I don't think this is an 'Ojuju' case.I am certainly not paranoid.The President's utterances call for concern.

SAMBO DASUKI :CONNECTING THE DOTS

Sadly,most Nigerians weren't in high spirits in the few days leading to one of its most historic events since Independence-May 29th 2015.We were witnessing what was perhaps the worst fuel scarcity ever in our history.I dashed to a bank on May 27th to make a transaction after a lot of them announced they would be closing at 1pm (effective next day) till things got better and met a full hall.
I got into a conversation with a man I was in line with and he said something I found quite intriguing.He felt the 'hardship' was a ploy to lure the military into staging a coup.If the banks and telecommunication companies shut down,the Jonathan Government would have an excuse to postpone its handover date which would then instigate the military into staging a Coup.It sounded plausible but the most part of me didn't think it true.
The DSS raid on the Immediate past National Security Adviser,Sambo Dasuki's residence in Abuja,his father's in Sokoto and the ensuing statement by the DSS made me have a rethink.Perhaps the man was right .

Maybe there was an evil plan that subsisted till that point.The PDP's statements refuting claims by the Buhari administration that we are heavily in debt only lends credence to the whole theory.First they said the Goodluck Jonathan administration left $30 Billion in our treasury and more recently, they questioned the source of the President's bailout to states having problems paying salaries to the tune of 413 Billion naira if indeed our treasury was empty.If what the PDP is claiming is true,then perhaps there are dots to be connected.
It means the GEJ Government had the money to pay the over N200 Billion debt owed the fuel marketers but held back for no obvious genuine reason.From the little I know of how these things work, even a half payment would have swayed them into resuming operations.Bear in mind also that a compromise was later reached without any official notification of money changing hands shortly after the then President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari met with them.
President GEJ never seemed to be bothered.He remained mute in a most trying time and if that wasn't enough to warrant an explanation, then the untold hardship borne by Civil Servants in some states who were being owed several months salaries at the worst possible time definitely was.
The inauguration did hold and the DSS said it placed Sambo Dasuki under surveillance right afterwards and whether or not the full list of items recovered where the ones disclosed, the ones made public are quite disturbing.Sophisticated bullet proof jeeps capable of gaining entrance anywhere without arousing much suspicion to just the required number of high calibre weapons to arm the 'hitters' in any plot to topple the government or cause any chaos capable of leading to such.Dasuki is a fine soldier who quite incidentally happens to be an In-law of one of the most respected ex-intelligence officers in the land, Gen.Aliyu Gusau,who himself,served under GEJ as Minister of Defence.The way President Buhari approached security issues after being sworn-in oozed of wariness and its now clear why.Reports surfaced at some point revealing he wanted the entire Presidential Villa swept and ridded of hidden cameras and bugs which were said to have been planted by an Israeli Company contracted by the DSS on behalf of the previous administration and not because he wanted it renovated as we were meant to believe.He recalled a townsman of his from retirement and installed him as Boss of the DSS in a move suggesting just how distrustful he was of elements in our Security Structure.Only then were the Service Chiefs relieved of their posts in a long anticipated move.If a trial of whatever kind is held, we would know more as the Dasukis have questioned the lawfulness of their detention which in my opinion couldn't be more lawful.Search Warrants were presented and it is noteworthy that most Secret Police worldwide have the 'National Security' clause going for them and that the act of the DSS is fully covered by Section 35 Sub-sections:

B (disobedience of an order imposed by law)  and 

C (the 'Upon Reasonable Suspicion' provision) in the 1999 Constitution as Amended. 

It would take a lot to sponsor a coup or any treasonable act of similar proportions at this stage of democratic rule and the alleged withdrawals made by the Ex-NSA from his official CBN Account further added fuel to the fire of suspicions.The amount of money Dasuki alleged was taken away by his PA's driver ($5 Million) is just the type of money I am talking about.Yes, Sambo Dasuki was detained for about a day in his residence and No, it wasn't for suspicion of having any ties to Boko Haram, it was one for committing treasonable felony.The dots add up real nice even though things aren't always what they seem.We will soon find out more.

BOKO HARAM :NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE COMMITTEES AS A MEANS OF GATHERING INTELLIGENCE

A lot of parents in my neighbourhood looked forward to 'that Saturday' some time in 1997.I recall my mother keeping her invite where she could steal glances at it perhaps to boost her feelings whenever she felt down.It availed her a great opportunity to know and bond better with the people around.It was the major topic of discussion everywhere and you felt some sense of pride knowing your family wasn't left out.Only a rain could bar attendance and luckily,it was dry season.
'That Saturday' was the first meeting of the newly formed Neighbourhood Police Committee; a committee formed as some sort of liaison with the Police where all manner of security threats would be appraised and measures taken hand in hand.

These Committees barely exist in the present day.A lot of people are too preoccupied with trying to stay above ground and have grown to 'trust' the police more.But these same committees could very much prove to be a crucial element in our war against Boko Haram if resuscitated.Like I once said: Intelligence gathering is key at this stage of the war where bombing is the Insurgents' most potent means of wrecking havoc and where the most logical step would be tracking down bomb making factories or buildings and making it difficult for them to set up shop.We can confidently say we have left them little or no camps and safe havens to operate and strategize unhindered.These committees if properly managed, would have the data of everyone in the neighbourhood and be constituted by representatives from every house.
Most buildings used for making bombs or housing armed insurgents are ones belonging to new occupants as raids have revealed.People who have been programmed to portray themselves as responsible family men going about their day to day businesses.There have been some cases of boko haram squatters moving in with members who have lived long in an area as well.It would be much more likelier for the neighbours to detect foul play faster than the police or army would and it would be just great for the authorities to hand them traits to look out for in suspicious new neighbours or old ones turning 'new' and report to them as fast as possible.
The recent spate of bombings across Northern Nigeria is quite disheartening.Moreso after looking at the death toll since May 29th-over 500 at the last count.I wouldn't blame the President in any way because there is actually a lot to this war than a lot of people consider.In a nutshell,if it was something we could make disappear easily,then we wouldn't be a 3rd World Country.He has taken some concrete first steps and the 'Big brother' Countries share that belief and are willing to help.
There have been Commendable strides in the war against Boko Haram,a lot of them made by the previous administration as we are much better off than we were this time last year when the insurgents seized Damboa in Borno.Communities may sleep with one eye open but not under captivity.Wives and mothers may worry about the safety of their spouses and children but anything beats watching them forcefully 'converted' to Boko Haram or slaughtered outright.
But like a wise man once told me-"the only yardstick for measuring meaningful progress in a War is the casualty rate and nothing else".The amount of lives we have lost within the space of one month tells us we still have a huge problem on our hands.In addition to more rigorous search of persons and vehicles and all other security measures adopted in these trying times,we must seriously consider the prospects of restarting Neighbourhood Police Committees if indeed we are serious about curbing the bombing epidemic.
Whether or not our security agencies are capable of consistently sourcing credible intel at the right time is for the Commander-In-Chief and Security Chiefs to answer and I don't intend to undermine the capabilities of our Security operatives in anyway but a committee like the aforementioned could guarantee an endless flow of useful tips while reducing chances of Informants harbouring any fears to the barest minimum as there is a 'togetherness' feel to the whole arrangement.
Besides providing a viable source of obtaining useful information from people in a position to know,it would discourage the Insurgents from just setting up anywhere and the resultant effect would be less blasts and attacks.
Drastic times call for drastic measures.Our Security Operatives need to fashion out new ways to tackle this problem because that is the only thing that can guarantee new results.
I remember a 'Security is Everybody's Business' media campaign they ran years back.They have spoken of the war being a collective fight and on the need to work together at ensuring a peaceful Nigeria a countless number of times.Well,I think they are right.