FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME, WHO REALLY KILLED ALEX BADEH & WHY ARE HIS ALLEGED KILLERS NOT IN COURT?.

From as 'early' as 6 months after the death of immediate past Chief of Defense Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh it was obvious something wasn't right and this is the 3rd time in 2 years i am writing to ask this question-'WHO REALLY KILLED ALEX BADEH & WHY ARE HIS ALLEGED KILLERS NOT IN COURT?.Whether or not Badeh was murdered to prevent him from disclosing the alleged shady dealings of Current Chief of Army Staff, Gen.Tukur Buratai who before becoming COAS had already bought 2 houses in Dubai while Jonathan was President or whether or not he was fed to President Buhari's alleged fulani militia,one thing is clear-Badeh died in highly suspicious circumstances.

The Police on the 27th of December 2018 said it had arrested persons in connection to the killing it didn't want to parade because it could alert the other members of the gang.Later that very same day,a video confession of one of the 5 suspects in custody surfaced.He said they waylaid Badeh on the highway,shot him and took money they had already been told he was going to purchase a new farmland with in Nassarawa.The Badeh family instantly dismissed it as a charade.They said Badeh's bank accounts had all been frozen and that his entitlements had also been stopped.His house in Abuja was littered with trash because he didn't even have money to pay the refuse company.

They went further to say someone asked him for money at his farm to buy drugs and he told the person to take some maize and sell because he was broke.That was 2 years ago.The Buhari administration has blatantly refused to prosecute those it arrested for his murder.What are they hiding?.A day after my first article asking questions was published,another new 14 persons were paraded by the Military as having being arrested in a joint operation with the DSS.They had placed an 'ongoing investigations' sign on the case to buy time but what is really complicated about a case where a suspect voluntarily confessed to killing the victim with a blow by blow account of the roles other named accomplices played?.Except of course they want the matter forgotten over time.

The noise made a while ago about prosecuting his security details and how obtaining their statements wasn't easy was a shabby attempt at evading the real issue; the self-confessed killers in custody.We were told when Badeh was killed that a friend riding with him was taken away by the killers and that he was released only after a ransom was paid.The suspect that spoke never admitted to doing that with his gang and till date,that friend hasn't been identified by anyone.

The Buhari administration has a history of protecting allies it has sacrificed.Notably Lawal Daura, the President's townsman and former DSS boss who was made the scapegoat for the invasion of the National Assembly by the DSS after foreign countries besieged  the villa with calls and visits by their ambassadors to enquire if all was well.Daura had blocked the entrance to the houses of Former Senate President,Bukola Saraki and his deputy,Sen.Ike Ekweremadu just weeks earlier so the Presidency couldn't claim to be unaware of his excesses.Daura was not prosecuted and is rumoured as at this time to have moved overseas.

Then there is also the case of the first lady,Aisha Buhari's former Aide-De-Camp,ASP Sani Baba-Inna who was arrested for fraudulently obtaining N2.5bn from undisclosed persons in her name.Most people said the money was hers and that he may have been punished for getting too greedy.That much was corroborated by Baba-Inna's family members when they met with frontline activist,Deji Adeyanju.They said Baba-Inna's greed got him into trouble and that they know he even bought a house for one of her daughters in Abuja.Its been over 2 years now and nobody from the presidency or the police has told us why Baba-Inna wasn't charged to court.There he will state his version of events and they don't want that.

The fact that a bunch of miscreants are being shielded from prosecution despite having confessed to killing an immediate past Chief of Defense Staff all but says the very powers that be are involved.As a former military man himself,Buhari ordinarily wouldn't risk the stigma amongst the military community (past and present) refusing to prosecute confessed killers of a former Chief of Defense Staff could occasion.Except of course,he knows more about the Badeh killing than his people have been made to tell us.For the third time in 2 years,WHO REALLY KILLED ALEX BADEH AND WHY ARE HIS ALLEGED KILLERS NOT IN COURT?.

LIKE YUSUF,LIKE GANA: THE LESSON WE HAVEN'T LEARNT

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it"-George Santayana

The killing of notorious Benue bandit, Terwase Akwaza alias Gana hasn't drawn much sympathy.No one expected it to.However an article in last Saturday's Vanguard Newspaper which quoted sources as saying he told his foot soldiers to stay in the forest and avenge him if he is killed further justifies the one fear most people had when details of how he died became public; the fear of having to deal with another boko haram situation.The military is saying it won't expantiate on its position that he was killed in a shoot-out with soldiers because it doesn't want to join issues with its 'political masters'.

The 'political masters' themselves have not ordered a probe and seem content with just saying he was being brought to the government house to surrender as part of an amnesty programme when the army intercepted the convoy and took him away.This is the boko haram saga replaying itself from the very beginning.

Boko haram started off as a small sect no one knew outside Borno.According to early reports,its members had an altercation with the police that led to the killing of some of them.

They mobilized and started attacking police installations in Bauchi until the authorities launched a full blown offensive that led to the capture of its founder,Mohammed Yusuf who was caught hiding in his in-law's house.The military say they arrested and handed him over to the police who summarily executed him.The sect was in bed with just a few Borno politicians then, the most prominent of them,Governor Ali Modu Sheriff's former commissioner of religious affairs,Alhaji Baba Fui who was also killed.Those politicians were their first source of funding till others keyed into their quest for vengeance and a subsequent islamization agenda for their selfish interests.

Like Yusuf, Gana was also in bed with politicians from his state.Reports have him as saying the only reason he agreed to any amnesty deal is because former Benue governor and serving senator,Gabriel Suswam was part of the arrangement.He is widely believed to be a classic case of what happens after politicians arm thugs to help them win elections.Particularly noteworthy is the fact that in addition to an existing structure with experience in perpetrating mayhem,they have a base in a forest along the Sankera axis of Benue state.It won't require as much effort as boko haram had to devote in its early days to constitute a grave threat.

It is very important that Governor Ortom not only reaches out and wins over Gana's associates in the best interest of his people,he also needs to set up a panel of enquiry.He has to do more than just saying 'I am shocked' and 'all i know is the army took him'.Even if just for the optics because if God forbid a crisis erupts,he will be an easy scapegoat.A proactive President would have long ordered a probe but by now,i don't think there is anyone who expects Buhari to be that reasonable no matter the gravity of implications in play.

Benue lives are at stake and it is important Ortom acts like a leader.He of all people should know we have a President who isn't at all bothered about trying to please nigerians.People in his home state had to protest on the streets before a joint security task force was constituted countless human lives after.A word is enough for the wise.

GHANA: NIGERIA'S FOREIGN POLICY IS NOT WEAK, IT IS NON-EXISTENT

Famed journalist, Dele Momodu told The Punch in an interview published in Sunday's edition of the paper, that Nigeria's foreign policy was at its weakest ever and that President Buhari needs to practice diplomacy of reciprocity otherwise countries will exploit that weakness.Foreign policy in a few words is the sum total of measures put in place by a nation to promote and safeguard its interests in interactions with other nations.

To put it very simply,Nigeria has no foreign policy under Buhari.It just lives every day as it comes.Urging Buhari to employ a diplomacy of reciprocity against nations like Ghana as Mr Momodu did is with all due respect to him, most laughable.Ghanaians are locking down nigerian shops and asking for $1 million levies,how many Ghanaian businesses are here for Buhari to reciprocate that?.

To make demands and ensure compliance,one has to have leverage.Nations that weren't gaining much from us respected the fact that we had superior clout with the big nations overseas but we have to face the reality on ground today which is that we have been a global laughing stock since Buhari came on board.He was in South Africa saying he was proud of Nigerians making positive and NEGATIVE impact across the globe just weeks after being sworn in and a while later,he was in the UK saying our reputation for crime has made us unwelcome in the country.

There were a lot of nigerian criminals abroad under previous governments but those Presidents chose not to amplify that because they understood the weight portrayal carried.They had only encouraging things to say because they had focus on foreign aid and investment.The issue of foreign investment was a potent tool for the Jonathan administration.

When the South African government deported 125 nigerians for not having yellow fever certificates,he reciprocated by sending 85 South African nationals back to their country.An apology came within a week with a firm promise to adjust their immigration policies.Nigeria was the biggest market for some prominent South African corporations and Jonathan had leverage because he did not impose hefty fines for infractions by MTN et al neither did he try to drown them in taxes.They took us very seriously and responded appropriately when xenophobic killings became global knowledge.

What measure of reciprocity can Buhari effectively use against a country like Ghana?.The FG itself said they deported 825 Nigerians from 2018-2019 alone and it was in the news months ago that they had to intercede to save 39 arrested for entering the country illegally.Are there any Ghanaians trying to move to Nigeria?.That is a country that paid electricity bills for the entire period of their lockdown and has now extended the gesture to 2021.They also paid the water bills for everyone during the lockdown and for an extra 3 months after.There are so many nigerian businesses in Ghana,they can't stop thinking about what Ghanaians will gain when they are shut down.There is just no way we can hit back as hard as they have hit us.

Our economy is in a free fall and bilateral agreements are not as common a sight as they used to be despite Buhari's record-setting foreign trips.The famed number one military in Africa were shit on by Chad when they shot a video of troops led by their President waiting for our soldiers to come and reclaim our territories.The Chadians have every reason to not disclose their mission to us based on very obvious suspicions.Our President releases the terrorists they are fighting and even sends a military aircraft to bring them back from other countries.

The whole world was watching and applauding their offensive and instead of Big Brother Nigeria to save face by calling to make enquires as to how we can co-ordinate to ensure boko haram has no hiding place,we sat and acted like nothing was happening.The closest thing to an acknowledgment was a denial by our military that the Chadians were waiting for us to reclaim our territories.The Chadian President was so annoyed,he vowed never to let any of his soldiers fight outside Chad; a very hot slap on our face.We have condescended to being ridiculed by a country like Chad.

Foreign policy under Buhari (if at all you can call it that) is in tatters.The question on the role of youths he messed up at the 74th United Nations General Assembly was perhaps necessitated by his 'some lazy youths' comment.Reading out a prepared speech on weather climate in response to that question may just have been what saved him from embarrassing us further.

As far as international relations go,we are in a deep mess.What reciprocity and against who?.The same ECOWAS countries that now borrow us grains to feed?.

TOP 10 SONGS AND 3 ALBUMS OF 2ND QUARTER 2020

TOP 10 SONGS

1. WETTIN DEY SUP-BURNA BOY 

2. ENJOY YOURSELF REMIX-POP SMOKE FEAT BURNA BOY

3. BALANCIO-NIFTY BOI

4. 1 SCALE-YOUNG DOLPH FEAT G HERBO / IMPERFECTIONS-POP SMOKE

5. YEA YEA-BLUEFACE FEAT COYOTE

6. BROKE OR NOT-DAVE EAST

7. GOD ONLY KNOWS-FIREBOY DML

8. BARAWO-AJEBO HUSTLERS / LAGBAJA-PERUZZI

9. DAMN-OMAH LAY / LO LO-OMAH LAY / PARANOIA-POP SMOKE FEAT GUNNA & YOUNG THUG

10. MAKE IT RAIN-POP SMOKE FEAT ROWDY REBEL / TUNNEL VISION-POP SMOKE

TOP 3 ALBUMS/EPs

1.SHOOT FOR THE STARS AIM FOR THE MOON-POP SMOKE

2.THREE-PATORANKING / KARMA 3-DAVE EAST

3.KING'S DISEASE-NAS / APOLLO-FIREBOY

$6.1BN FOR POWER SUPPLY: OF 'PARTNERS' AND 'FUNDING'..

It was disheartening to read the Minister of Power Resources' carefully spun narrative on securing a $6.1bn 'funding' to improve power supply with the World Bank,the AFDB and JICA named as 'partners'.They very carefully ommitted the word 'loan' because of the backlash it would attract and i must say that was a deft touch considering that just a day before,the President's Special Assistant on New Media,Bashir Ahmad was passing off our polio-free status as a Buhari achievement when infact the whole of Africa was polio-free for almost a year before Buhari became President.It was under him polio returned to Nigeria in 2016.

More and more nigerians are asking what exactly the huge amounts we borrow are being sunk into that no one sees and as such,the Buhari administration has learnt to describe lending entities as 'partners' and the loans they provide, 'funding' in evasive press releases.Our debt profile contrary to what many believe was not N12trn as at the time Buhari assumed office in 2015.His transition committee chairman,Ahmed Joda said himself that the Jonathan administration left a liability of N7trn.

Subsequent loans by Buhari after the Debt Management Office's last official figure of N28trn has taken us way past the N30trn mark.That is more than 3 times what Buhari met.We know electricity tariff will increase on September 1st and not next year as we had been earlier told because according to reports,it is a condition given to us by the World Bank before we can access any loan for power.

What has Buhari done with all he has been borrowing?.$6.1bn adds up to N2.3trn.For the umpteenth time,What has Buhari done with all he has been borrowing?.How many of our hospitals have been upgraded to world class?.How many roads have been completed?.How many schools have been built?.How many young nigerians have benefitted from skill acquisition schemes since jobs are not available?.How many of our refineries are at optimum capacity?.

As far as the issue of power is concerned,we have had to sit and watch him and his cronies reel out some very outrageous sums.Vice-President Osinbajo said the government spent N1.5trn on that from 2017-2019.El Rufai was reeling out another figure of N1.7trn just months later.What significant improvement has Nigeria seen as regards power supply to justify all that spent money?.Just days ago,an investigation by a reputable news outlet revealed that the power sector lost N468.4bn from January-August 21 and also that 33,122MWs wasn't utilized in that period.

Last year Buhari promised to chase and catch a 'previous administration' that claimed to have spent $16bn (N3trn) on power (the Obasanjo administration did).Nothing has come out of that probe.As a matter of fact,they have stayed mute and wished it out of our consciousness.If Buhari really probes that expenditure,it would also draw attention to how much he has spent on power since 2015 and he doesn't want that.He and his people have grown scared of being straight with Nigerians and have started referring to our lenders as 'partners' and their loans as 'funding' because it has become simply impossible to explain how all that is being borrowed is used to improve nigerian lives.

An extra N2.3trn is going to be spent on power in addition to a figure that is already more than what Buhari wants to probe another administration for frittering away.The scariest part of it all is that this man has 3 more years to do as he pleases.God help us.

ALBUM REVIEW: BURNA BOY'S TWICE AS TALL DOESN'T MEET UP TO SET STANDARDS

Burna boy had cracked the international market and the Grammys no longer seemed a tall order.What better way to move than have Diddy co-produce this album.This project promised to be a taller Burna boy going all out for the kill but what quite sadly,what we see on Twice As Tall is an artiste that wipes the smirk off our faces.At perhaps the most crucial point in his career,Burna boy simply didn't turn up.

You know OluwaBurna being out of sorts is an understatement when his most vital attribute is glaringly missing-structured composition.His ability to make every detail come together so well is what has always stood him out from the rest and that quality is largely missing here as quite a number of songs that could have been great turned out stop-start experiences.

The opening and album title track with Senegalese legend,Youssou N'dour best exemplifies Burna's creative waywardness.There was a total lack of synergy between the dour instrumental,Burna boy's lifeless vocals and N'dour's soulful rendition.Alarm Clock badly needed some dexterity in vocal display to spread the sauce to parts other than the 'This Early Morning' chorus and ensure a balance with the heavy instrumentation.

Alarm Clock and 23 were two attempts at re-enacting the Ye global magic and while Alarm Clock has a repetitive catchiness amidst regressing factors, 23 is a pleasant vibe with no real cutting edge.

Different off the African Giant album featuring Angelique Kidjo and Damien  Marley was a fabulous socio-conscious effort i believe deserves special praise and Burna goes that route again on Monsters You Made with perhaps a more thought-provoking content.Monsters You Made is quite easily one of the good songs of this album that had the potential to be much more.Coldplay's Chris Martin sets you on a high with a mesmerizing chorus and then Burna jumps at it with a great delivery but then by the time he steps in for the second verse with the very same delivery,the monotonic feel ensures you don't get higher than you already are.

Without an Angelique Kidjo and Damien Marley to fuse width,Burna ought to have utilized Chris Martin a bit more; at the very least get a verse in between.The stop-start factor also robs Time flies featuring Sauti Sol of the ideal effect.Burna does some breath-taking singing and has the swahili chorus sitting pretty on the track but in as much as the Kenyans put up a nice display themselves,they fail to complement each other and leave the listener to revel in a little too much of everything.

As far as combining with his guests go,no song on this album measures up to his collaboration with another duo,legendary American hip hop group Naughty By Nature on a song with that title.The Don Guorgon's vocal ingenuity comes to the fore and is perfectly matched by some effortless golden era rap to give a flawless ride all through.Real Life with Stormzy has to be the worst of his international collaborations as all there is to like is Stormzy on the chorus.

On the Afro front,Comma and Onyeka exemplify the ordinary levels Burna boy's artistry has sunk to.Bebo is a quite presentable effort but ladies and gentlemen, Wettin Dey Sup illustrates class is permanent and that even on the worst days,there is always a hint of that.Burna thumps through his in a way only he can to remind us he is capable of just about anything and why he is so enigmatic we allowed him pick a genre for himself.

Bank On It is made on the same template as Calm Down,the most underrated song of his 2018 classic Outside album which opens with a slow introspection that transits smoothly into an exquisite ballad.Burna's quality is not in doubt,he just has to deploy it to better use.A product's quality ultimately sells it but the way this album was brought forth points to just how less co-ordinated Burna boy has gotten.

When he slayed the Jerusalema remix and got massive props for it,he put out Wonderful on the dance/electronic format to appeal to the international audience.It was left to stand as the sole single even when the reception wasn't encouraging.No Fit Vex, a sublime effort which cryptically references the beef with Davido and preaches harmony is a publicity gold mine that could have been best exploited by making it a second pre-album single.Anticipation would have translated to more pre-orders globally if he had teased the Chris Martin chorus on Monsters You Madewith a part of his verse on social media.

To put it frankly,4 great songs out of 15 and disjointed flashes of brilliance mean Burna Boy's Twice As Tall is not a good album.

REPS SHOULD ORDER THE ARREST OF EMEFIELE,KYARI & BALA USMAN NOT PETITION BUHARI

All the 'Acting' MD of the NDDC,Prof.Kemebradikumo Pondei had to do was appear before the House of Representatives' probe committee and 'faint'.Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila was waiting in the wings to announce that he will no longer appear before the committee while the public was busy reacting to what happened.

Its a lot like when the Buhari administration ignored several calls to place travel restrictions when coronavirus was forcing far more advanced countries to shut down and he refused.When they were to embarrased to announce 5 new cases at the same time from the UK and the US, they announced restrictions and then the new cases about an hour later.Nigerians were too pre-occupied with the news of the ban to notice and blame Buhari for his inaction.The 'Acting' NDDC boss,Pondei will be the butt of jokes for a while but more importantly,he will get off thanks to Gbajabiamila; the lawyer accused in the United States of stealing a client's $25,000.It was very cleanly executed.

Gbaja and his fellow rubber stamp senior colleague at the Senate,Ahmed Lawan are being said to have been issued a N37bn allocation for renovation of the NASS complex to help keep as many of their boys happy.Little wonder why even a PDP lawmaker like Wole Oke, who was accused by his former colleague,Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin of receiving from Dasuki's arms loot, would order the clerk of the house committee investigating financial irregularities linked to them to write the President over the refusal of top government officials to appear before them instead of issuing an arrest warrant as stipulated by law.

These officials include Godwin Emefiele-Governor of the Central Bank,Mele Kyari-the Group Managing Director of NNPC,Hadiza Bala Usman-the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority and Alex Okoh-the Director of the Bureau for Public Enterprises.The CBN,NPA and NNPC particularly have featured greatly in public discussions after the NDDC show of shame with many Nigerians wondering what would be discovered in these agencies that deal with way more money than the NDDC.

As should be expected,the heads of these agencies are scared of any probe and have refused to respond to valid summons issued by the House of Representatives.The thing is no one gets to do that.Section 89 (1)(d) of the Nigerian constitution mandates the House (operative word 'shall') to not only issue a warrant of arrest against anyone who disobeys a summons to appear before it but to also have them cover the costs incurred in executing that arrest.That section also bequeaths a power to impose a fine if prescribed in a secondary legislation.No where in the Constitution or Legislative Houses Act (which also stipulates arrest for defiance of a summon),is it stated that a letter should be written to the President if his appointees refuse to honour an invitation by the House of Representatives.

The legislature exists primarily to make laws and act as a check on the executive,it does not exist to service its whims.So what will happen if Buhari doesn't order the invitees to attend?.The probe will be put to bed?.The President is known to fiercely protect his corrupt cronies till he no longer can.He stuck to Ibrahim Magu as EFCC boss and didn't toss him to the side till he had fallen out with his Attorney General and refused to reach out to him despite knowing fully well that Magu had been indicted for living in a N20M per annum residence paid for by highly suspicious persons and also that he was found guilty of tampering with EFCC files by the Police Service Commission in 2010.

Former SGF,Babachir Lawal was absolved of any wrong-doing after a sham of a probe by his Attorney General and only got penalized when public outcry became unbearable.The House of Reps should under no circumstance, ever subject what is right to the discretion of a man like Buhari who not only oversees the most corrupt nigerian government in recent times but relies on a man like Abubakar Malami to handle legal affairs.Malami was saying just days ago that the clause waiving sovereignty to China in a loan agreement COULD mean waiving our 'sovereignty to a contractual obligation'.

Malami,who is Chief Law officer and is supposed to study all agreements entered into by this country, isn't himself sure what we have gotten ourselves into.He is guessing.To clarifiy,that clause specifically allows us retain military and diplomatic assets over what is ceded to the Chinese.How he came about the nonsense on 'sovereign contractual obligation',only he knows.The same constitution which confers on the House of Reps power to compel attendance is what the man honestly believed gave him the power to disobey valid court orders; what even a first year law student would find preposterous.

Following the NDDC drama, corrupt government officials will try as much as possible to evade public hearings,the truth is they have no choice but to attend and it is imperative that the National Assembly orders the arrest of anyone who doesn't.