THE 2019 ANGLE TO PRESIDENT BUHARI'S ANTI-CORRUPTION WAR

"A cockroach is never safe amongst rats"

A lot of neighbourhoods in Kaduna where I grew up had at least one 'old soldier'.They literally live off their exploits either as soldiers of the biafran army or ones drafted in to help the Nigerian army fight the civil war.They always seem to be under a perpetual illusion of invincibility.They do nothing other than bore you with the same war stories everyday; either at beer parlours or at the  drought game joint.The few that actually chose to pursue a means of livelihood mostly did so as gate men perhaps in line with the 'once a soldier' saying.
President Buhari is playing old soldier and he has something the one in my neighbourhood never had-Power.And like Walter Annenberg rightly said: "The greatest power is not money power but political power".What makes his particularly very easy to weild is the fact that virtually everyone who has ever played a prominent role in government is dirty.
There is always a 99.9% chance of digging up dirt on anyone who has held office so its just a matter of 'point and kill' as far as most Nigerians are concerned. Our 'old soldier at the top' has gone on to silence two of his  fiercest critics-Olisa Metuh, the Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Media/Publicity Director of the Party's Presidential campaign, Femi Fani Kayode with corruption charges.The third and fiercest of them all, Ayo Fayose is barely being protected by the immunity clause as the EFCC till date hasn't furnished us with any proof that it secured a Judge's consent before freezing his account with Zenith bank as stipulated by Section 34 of the EFCC Act.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki's prosecution by the EFCC remains the only one of an APC member and it just so happens that it came after he embarrassed President Buhari in broad day by conspiring with the opposition to have himself voted in as Senate President on a day set aside by PMB to meet with the party's lawmakers.The President's anti-corruption war is largely one-sided so when a top member of his party is pencilled down for investigation, it is more or less an eclipse.The quite 'unusual' investigation of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso for the use of over N3 Billion from his state's joint local government account during his time as governor to fund his Presidential campaign came as a shock.It had me looking deep to carve out an ulterior motive if any and I ended up discovering a pattern.
Apart from serving as a means to decimate critics and weaken the opposition, the war could very much also be serving as a weapon against potential threats to the President's seat .The most potent threats are bound to come from the north and so far, virtually all the sellable northern candidates have been targeted by the EFCC.I'll take it from the very top.
Sometime last year, Isa Yuguda, the former governor of Bauchi state was invited to the EFCC to answer questions as regards an aircraft of the Bauchi state government.He was never charged with any offence and it automatically implies that he is innocent if the matter has not been revisited till date.
Then you also have the case of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau who was accused of sharing in the N950M campaign funds sent to Kano by the Jonathan presidential campaign.After his release, he said someone named him as a N25M recipient but could not state where, how and when.His case seems closed as well.
With a President who has lost so much love in just his first year in office, these ex-governors represent two of the PDP's best possible options for the Presidential ticket come 2019. The PDP will definitely field a northern candidate come  next elections and the 'anti-corruption' channel remains the easiest way to diminish a candidate's popularity.
With Sule Lamido, the ex-governor of Jigawa state technically ruled out as a result of his protracted battle with the EFCC, Ibrahim Shema, the immediate past governor of President Buhari's home state of Katsina stands a better chance than even any of the aforementioned names of flying the party's flag but just last week, a certain Nasir Ingawa, who served as a Special adviser of his,has come out to accuse him of diverting billions of SURE-P funds allocated to Katsina State for political campaigns.He still hasn't fulfilled his promise of providing proof till date and one can't conveniently dismiss it as not part of a plan to taint Gov. Shema's name early or even one to lock him up ahead of the polls.
Senator Kwankwaso represents the best in-house option to President Buhari.He was second at the primaries and performed extraordinarily well as Governor of Kano state and if there is one person the APC can sell to Nigerians in the President's place, it is Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.With the APC shedding some of its formidability as a unit due to internal fighting, the Senator could capitalize on that to upset the President at the primaries and good old EFCC is very well on the path of making him only the second casualty of Buhari's party.I wouldn't be surprised if the matter dies a natural death like others before it.The deaths suggest more than anything that the EFCC has no case against them and that there could be another version of selective prosecution we are just learning about: one to weaken potential threats to his seat.
With most Nigerians fast running out of patience, the President may have devised a means to stay in the game and whether it works or not, time will tell.

5 MOST UNDER-RATED ARTISTES IN NIGERIA

Our mamas always told us quality sells itself and that with the right dose of it, you needn't go the extra mile to grab anyone's attention.But then there is also that line: it ain't what mama said it was gon be.
Its always sad to see great artistes not get a rep commensurate to their talent.The truly outstanding ones who continue to stand outside the A-list despite being as good or even better than the ones on it.
Below are 5 of the most slept-on artistes in Nigeria. 

1.CDQ
It was always going to take a great talent to share the spotlight with Olamide and Reminisce and I must say Orile's finest fits the bill perfectly well.
CDQ has a very potent raw element to his game and that has endeared him to quite a lot of fans.A classic example is how in a style reminiscent of the days we slotted in our lyrics in place of ones we didn't understand as kids,he played Young Thug on his version of Tyga's HOOKAH titled WADANMIWO.The freestyle blew up his fan base in no small measure and that in a nutshell has been CDQ's story so far.He connects effortlessly with the streets.
The slangs 'Woss'....'Wobi' are coming to a hood near you soon if they already haven't thanks to CDQyeayea.While a lot of people may be of the opinion that toning down on the realness and adding a more vicious pop edge would do him more good, it certainly doesn't change the fact that CDQ is doing what he does well in a largely over-crowded market.

2.DI'JA
If you ask me, this lady has a much huger potential for mainstream success than any of her other Mavin 2.0 colleagues.If Don Jazzy commits just as much time to her career as he does Korede Bello and Reekado Banks, the story might just change.She just returned from a 'pregnancy leave' and who knows?.With Reekado still sounding like an underground middleweight and Korede doing nothing to disprove the one hit wonder notion, Jazzy might just start to explore the 'Di'Ja' avenue better than he previously did.What stands her apart from her peers is simply talent.She isn't your regular afro-pop artiste who drops a killer chorus and bores you all through the verses till the hook comes back on, she pays extra attention to her lyrics as well.The ingenuity and wittiness involved wows to no end.Whats more?.She has a voice to die for.

3.ZORO
Contrary to what a lot of people think, Zoro has been banging hard on the door way before his current hit single-OGENE featuring Flavour and the smash remix featuring Lil Kesh and Ycee.He already had really good songs like 042 and one of my personal favourites-OTU (Onitsha State Of Mind) in his discography.
He has a more meaner delivery than Phyno and is probably the first indigenous rap purist outta the East.There is no soft side to his game and it pleases that he is commercializing his sound without worrying too much about that.
He is the only viable competition Phyno has to contend with and come to think of it, Ibo rap has indeed grown to a point where there are more than a few fans who love it hard and not on the rocks (Pun Intended).
You are missing out on a lot if you think Phyno is the only rapper from the East worth your time.

4. Mz KISS
A good Femcee stands a much better chance of hitting it big than her male counterpart in Nigeria.The best publicity gets everyone talking and being a female rapper alone guarantees you that.You just need to be good enough to hold onto the attention you get.
Even if there weren't few indigenous female rappers around, it would still take something out of this world to yank the throne from Mz Kiss.Gal has got Yaba mad skills.
For dark days, she can be a brawler on wax as evidenced by her latest single- IKILO featuring label boss, Illbliss and for bright weather days, she can make you laugh just as hard as you nod.Her remix to Ycee's monster hit-JAGABAN alongside Tipsy is by far the best version out there.Indigenous rap sells faster down here and I hope the Queen is accorded the props due to her real soon.

5. ERIGGA
The Nigerian rapper with the most credible street cred and certainly, the only bonafide pidgin hardcore lyricist.Erigga is a blessing to every Nigerian who truly appreciates rap music.To hear a guy get on some beastly word play and punchlines in our unconventional lingua franca is inexplicably exhilarating.He has scored major collabos with Olamide,Harrysong,Oritsefemi and dropped his sophomore album-OKORONWATA as a much more established artiste than when he did his debut.
From PASS DAT to MONKEY KILL MONKEY, there are always lines to blow you and make you wonder why the only reason to dispute Yung 6ix's King Of The South proclamation isn't getting the love he deserves.To borrow some of his lines, we need to "shine our torch and comot our leg for high tension".

GEJ, SAMBO AND DEZIANI: THE BIGGEST COWS ARE SACRED

We already knew it would be hard to recoup every penny stolen from us.Asides the fact that some no longer have it, others went the extra mile to cover their tracks well.Proving a case against them would be next-to-impossible and a plea bargain deal via shrewd interrogation techniques is as good as a victory in court in such instances.However, it would also be next-to-impossible for the EFCC and other relevant agencies to convince me that there are no  sacred cows in the war against corruption.
What is particularly alarming is the calibre of these 'cows'.They are the biggest of the lot with too much of our 'grass' in their systems for anyone not to notice.I am talking about people like ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, his vice; Namadi Sambo and Deziani Allison Madueke, the former petroleum minister.
While Sambo seems to be holidaying some where, Jonathan seems to be enjoying his hobbies of mediating, speaking and observing elections very much; the attendant benefits of his new status as elder statesman of world repute.The only thing we know about Deziani as at this moment is that she is battling cancer.A cancer that chose a most convenient time to deteriorate.There is no way a just war would get fully underway without these 'untouchables' having at least three cases each to answer.President Buhari himself told us he wasn't going to spare anyone irrespective of the amounts they returned.When he declared the late Gen.Sani Abacha innocent of all looting allegations, he put his honor up for debate.Not a few people started to lower their expectations then. Abacha's loots are still being returned to Nigeria today by good samaritan countries and that was even after Ngozi Okonjo Iweala had revealed that Sambo Dasuki, the embattled former NSA got $322 million to tackle insecurity from part of the returned Abacha loot.Buhari has not proved a man of his word so far.Jonathan has been mentioned twice by at least 2 suspects in the alleged Dasuki arms deal scam.First by the former NSA himself who said GEJ authorized all withdrawals and also by his SSA on media, Chief Doyin Okupe who named him as well during the course of investigations.The EFCC did not as much as invite him for questioning on any of the aforementioned occasions.Like I said while stating my concerns over Buhari's seeming ethnic bias before the general elections when I mentioned his detention of ousted Vice-President Alex Ekwueme in kirikiri prisons while placing President Shehu Shagari under house arrest-the subordinate cannot be guiltier than the principal.
There is no way Jonathan can be exonerated of any wrongdoing in the midst of colossal stealing by his subordinates.He came out on a number of occasions to publicly defend them.He feigned ignorance of the fact that Deziani Allison Madueke had gone to court to invalidate an invitation to the National Assembly to defend the waste of taxpayers money on private jets and of course, he took us to school on how stealing wasn't corruption.
Even if Jonathan didn't loot as much as those around him, there are bound to be withdrawals and transfers that required his authorization or at the very least, ones that wouldn't escape his eye.Watching him elevate his post-election status from hero to a world acknowledged super one that meets with the President in the villa any time he chooses to intimate him of his latest strides is killing.
No one can say for sure if Namadi Sambo is reaping off PMB's excess love for his northern brothers or is part of a plea bargain arrangement but what is not in question is the fact that allegations have been made against him that the authorities seem to be shying away from.
The most annoying of the pack has to be the lukewarm attitude of the authorities towards nabbing and prosecuting Madueke; allegedly the most corrupt minister this country has ever had.
Fine, she got Dele Momodu to show us pictures of her cancer-stricken body and there was initial movement towards liasing with Interpol and the british authorities but that was where it ended.Reports of her arrest proved unsubstantiated.The most rational conclusion would be she has struck a deal to return part of the loot and walk free.Without an iota of doubt, the money stolen from the petroleum industry is much more than any agency of government and i don't see much enthusiasm on the part of our authorities to probe previous activities there extensively.A lot of people were too alarmed by that to rejoice over news that a number of people including Madueke and a close ally of hers, Jide Omokoro (who is reportedly the real target) were charged to court for money laundering and procurement fraud.Justice Nyako of the Federal High Court has since ordered that she be struck off the charge since she is not present.That cleared my doubts as to whether or not this government was serious about bringing her to book.It doesn't seem like there would be any spirited effort to get the expert analysis of an independent medical practitioner to verify claims that she is incapacitated and if she really is, when she will be fit enough to come down here to answer our questions.i have always thought the timing too convenient.Even though it was no secret she was battling cancer as a minister under GEJ,  it never stopped her from overseeing a monumental looting scheme and even going ahead to become OPEC president in the twilight of the administration.
If it was a strategy, then it worked.She has successfully boxed PMB and his anti-corruption troops into a corner of pessimism and pity which might have necessitated a lenient plea bargain deal. No matter how much she returns,anything other than jail time for this lady is the deal of a lifetime. The $115 Million election bribery scandal which she is a pivotal part of will end up at the cemetery if her presence isn't secured.Not only that but every allegation of wrongdoing that has Deziani Allison Madueke attached to it as well.
For all his tough talk on corruption, I must say I won't deem Buhari's war a victory if it doesn't consume any of GEJ, Sambo and Madueke.History will forever remember it as one where the biggest looters had enough to tempt the authorities into entering deals with them while the lesser ones bore the brunt.Instead of passing a strong message of deterrence, we are telling the world it is okay to loot but just have enough to earn you a seat at the plea bargain table.God help us.