Sokoto Royal Rumble And The Bajaric Show Of Shame

Usama A. Dandare
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby


Nobody answers a dog’s name. Against that backdrop, one man said that when he knew that his mother was going to die was when he called his dog and his mother answered. He called again to ascertain his former disappointment, yet, he was disappointed.

The APC primaries for the January 9, 2016 Local Government elections across the 23 LGAs of Sokoto State, were more or less, a stage managed show of shame and cloddishness, even worst than what we used to witnessed during the PDP era of impunity and electoral manipulations.
For the teeming supporters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the State, the primaries were perhaps, disappointing or rather unfortunate for a party in which they placed lots of hopes and expectations of a better future. Politicians and party leaders sat back in the trenches and strategized on how to have upper hands over the electoral process against all decorum to dictate the tunes in their various local governments. And this power tussle among party leaders in the state led to prolonged crises and several electoral violations which perhaps delayed the electoral proceedings and affirmation in several LGAs.

Among the entire 23 LGAs in the state, only few were able to hold a hitch-free election without generating much tension, of interest is that of Sokoto North Local Government which clearly proved that unity, peace, respect for the rule and party loyalty are more or less that of a dead man, as the party was shamefully divided into two major camps between that of Alh. Abdullahi Hassan and Aminu Ibrahim No-Delay.

The unfortunate drama that unfolded during the exercise has not only exposed the APC in the state as a party bent on mischief, but has gone far to tell the world the level of ignominious democracy we, the people of Sokoto State, are forced to endure in the hand of the ruling APC. The whole scenario surrounding the proceedings in that local government has only succeeded in making an undeniable point that the state APC leadership is not in control of its members and the state party affairs, which in my opinions is the worst tragedy to befall a political party.

Both aspirants, Abdullahi Hassan and Aminu Ibrahim no-delay were the top contestants for the ticket to run on the APC platform in the upcoming January 9, 2016 local governments elections. The former was the immediate past Chairman of the Sokoto North local government while the latter was also the immediate past caretaker chairman of the same local government.

Abdullahi Hassan, being the most performing council chairman ever in the political history of Sokoto State was loved by all and therefore was the masses choice but opposed by the thieving elites while Aminu Ibrahim no-delay, the business as usual master, was overwhelmingly supported by the elites against the interest of the common man. In a nutshell, the primary election was between the masses and the mighty thieving elites.
The drama started in the early hours of Monday morning, shortly after the commencement of ballot counting, when Hon. Malami Bajare - a serving lawmaker in the State House of Assembly and the agent representing Hon. Aminu No-Delay - augured an imminent defeat, Hon. Bajare got furious that the delegates after being paid off as credible sources revealed were out to uphold the people's choice against the interest of his paymasters. He was furious that votes scored by Abdullahi Hassan by far outnumbered that of his candidate as counting continue, and to register his displeasure, Hon. Malami Bajare angrily moved from one end of the stand to the next, before finally displaying his animalistic instinct by grabbing all the counted ballot papers from the hands of the presiding officers and jigsawed them into pieces.

An action that led to exchange of hot words and accusations and counteraccusations, creating havoc and shattering the peace of the entire process which almost began peacefully, with supporters of both candidates taking up arms (matchets, cutlasses and sticks) against one another in a rare show of shame that ended violently in blood. The ballot tearing lawmaker was lucky to escape by the whisker after some state executives whisked him away, while many others were taken to hospitals after sustaining injuries.

To my greatest elucidation, the entirety of this 'bajaric' (new word for defeat aggression madness) show of shame transpired under the watchful eyes of the Police, army and Civil Defence personnels deployed to the venue to maintain peace and order but only watched keenly without rendering any help. The rowdy situation however forced the primaries to a stop, with APC leaders and members of the electoral committee embarking on series of meetings to douse the tensions as well as appealing to delegates, journalists and security agents at the venue to relocate to the party headquarters.

Much as that was good for Bajare and his financiers who seems to be in control of the party, it is unhealthy and disastrous for democracy and also injurious our collective values as a people. And so to say, the APC leadership pretends to be unaware of this development not to mention of taking steps to punish the culprits involved and give honour to whom honour is due. Since then, nothing has been heard from the party and as at the time of writing this piece, the state APC has not declared any winner for the Sokoto North Local Government primaries. Thus prompting suspicions that the party executives are bent on giving their unwanted candidate the victory against the people's choice.

Meanwhile, I don't blame Aminu No-Delay for the delay in announcing the winner of that so-called primary election nor did I blame Bajare for his bajaric show of irresponsibility, but rather, I blame the state APC leadership for using kids gloves while handling the matter and failing to judiciously sanction perpetrators of peace and the rule of law. Also, i blame the entire people of Sokoto North for electing a street nuisance and a mentally retarded thug to represent them at the state assembly.

The state APC leadership must as a matter of urgency and statewide interest take all necessary actions to make sure that the people's victory is given to the rightful owner, Abdullahi Hassan, having been overwhelmingly leading while counting the votes with wide margin before the bajaric barbaric obstruction cuts in. The party should also make sure that Bajare pays heavily for his immorality, and the people of Sokoto North (1) constituency should for the sake of democracy begin all the necessary preparations for the recall of the so-called dishonorable Malami Bajare back from the people's assembly as a non compos and an insane fellow cannot make laws for a morally sane society.

Failure to do the aforementioned will substantiate the palpability that the APC leadership and the state government are solely behind this stage managed exhibition of irresponsibility to rob the people of Sokoto North local government of their mandate, and will further testify that the state government is in war with its people and the change agenda of President Muhammedu Buhari which promise justice, equity and the rule of law.
We tirelessly fought for this change, so we should not allow any vagabond to take our sacrifices for granted. I rest my case! 

Dear Aisha Abubakar: Now That You Are A Minister

Greetings Madam Minister

It is with a deep sense of utmost respect that i write to congratulate you on this milestone achievement after crossing huddles of envy and vested interest to become a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against the wishes of the thieving elites. I salute your doggedness, self control and your ability to remain calm even in the most challenging moments. Let me also congratulate you for breaking the jinx to become the first female minister to come from Sokoto State. You have indeed made history that will be remembered forever.

Madam, as you may pretend not to know, the statewide interest that greeted your nomination as well as the very support most of us rendered to you during your ministerial screening and confirmation was uniquely not born out of the confidence we have in you neither your track records nor your experience, but rather, against the political forces opposing your appointment.
The people's interest is far from your background, academic, competency, or professional credentials. The simple truth is that the entirety of the people of masses that massively rallied behind you have an interest wholly premised against those political forces whom were hell bent on stopping your ministerial appointment and anything short of this is hypocritical.

I and others alike heard little or no information about you but looking at your resume, you possessed nearly all the potentials, the skills, professionalism, experience and the ultimate chance to go down in the annals of history as the best performing minister in this era of change. The path to make this history requires creating an enabling environment for the progress of the people and always protect their interest irrespective of any differences.

Similarly, in order to win the trust and confidence of the masses, you must provide a favorable environment for accountability, motivation, honesty, justice, and more importantly checks and balances which perhaps formed the basics of any serious democracy. Now that you are a minister, exercise your duties from a position of wisdom and uttermost sincerity.

Madam minister, there are some few mundane challenges which a minister should tackle head-on before balancing in office, otherwise, his leadership will never find the real balance to move things in the right direction. These are serious challenges that we are all concerned about, on which we will gauge your performance at the end of the day:
The first challenge awaiting your immediate action is fighting corruption, a menace which has undoubtedly brought the entire nation to chapter 11. As you are very much aware, corruption is simultaneously holding Nigeria to ransom and fighting it has proven to be a very tough challenge. Therefore fighting it straightaway with all the tools at your disposal is of paramount importance if you are to succeed, and there should be no preferential treatment when it comes to sanctioning perpetrators.

The second task you may need to give due diligence is overcoming this vexatious attitude of 'favoritism' which has rotten the flesh and blood of several Nigerians over the years. Only second to corruption, favoritism is fast and silently killing Nigeria without attracting much attention; this was brought about by our insistence on using the wrong people for the wrong jobs because of our escalating insularity, it has almost became like a norm for government officials to view from the prism of tribes, region, religion or states when appointing subordinate staffs. Thus wrecking havoc on the Nigerian states without given due consideration.

Thirdly is workers welfare. No administration can survive longer which does not accept as fundamental the rights of its very own workers. Hence, the need to adequately motivate its staffs is of paramount value, for the success of any policy depends on the conceptual skill of those who are to impose the policy not those who made it. To achieve this, you need to create an atmosphere of approval and security in which your subordinates will feel free to express themselves without fear of censure or ridicule, by encouraging them to participate in the planning and carrying out of those things which directly affect them. You must also be sufficiently sensitive to their needs and motivations, for you to judge the possible reactions to, and outcomes of, various responsibilities they may undertake. The rights of workers to good housing, good medical facilities and basic needs of life must be protected and respected.
Finally, it is often said that experience is the best teacher and this applies to you in some fashion, because you’ve been serving the nation long before now, albeit, in a different capacity. While it is said that experience is the best teacher, it is also believed that a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Therefore you should learn from history, learn to associate yourself with dedicated and patriotic hands only, not those who will pretend to be Jesus Christ (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon Him) in looks while in the actual sense they are Satan in mind. Always learn to look back when taking any decision or formulating any policy, perhaps it is widely agreed that the failure to look back while looking forward was what rubbishes the progress of almost all the ministers in the immediate past government of President Jonathan.  

Hopefully in the next few months, Nigerians and indeed the people of Sokoto State as a whole will determine whether or not you deserved their trust and confidence.
Now that you are a minister, be God fearing, dedicative, law abiding and always exercise your duties with nothing but absolute truthfulness.
Now that you are a minister, strive hard to succeed where others failed and prove the naysayers wrong.
May He the Almighty everlasting living God sanctify you against all the evil forces, may He also give you the wisdom and the ability to do the right thing.

Usama A. Dandare, a social commentator and an advocate of peace writes from Sokoto. 

The Straw That Broke The Camel's Hump: A Rejoinder To All Enemies Of Change - In Defence Of Aisha Abubakar Alhaji

USAMA DANDARE
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby
October 18, 2015


"Rigar da ba wuya ce zan dunka, kowa yasa ga kai nai ta dace" ~ Hausa Proverb

Since the announcement of Hajiya Aisha Abubakar as a Ministerial candidate representing my beloved Sokoto State, a lot of political brouhaha have been going on regarding the person of Aisha Abubakar. Many individuals have expressed their views either in support or against this nomination, citing numerous reasons to buttress their points.

Well, I intended not to join issues with anyone on this ground but being me a indigen of Sokoto State whom Aisha was nominated to represent, i feel voicing my personal opinion is also imperative. Though i believe all these heated debates either in support or against the nomination of Aisha are for the interest of democracy but to be frank, i found almost all the reactions to be totally baseless, childish and uncalled for.

Basically, what drawn my attention to this whole subject is the political brouhaha going on within and outside the state owing to lack of patroticism, vested interest and ignorance. Some influential figures in the state are all out to assassinate the character of Hajiya Aisha Abubakar and hell-bent on bringing her down against all decorum just to satisfy their selfish interests and that of their paymaster.  
After recruiting some media attack dogs to blackmail and tarnish her credibility, to an extent of requesting her withdrawal from the ministerial nominee list for no define reasons. They hired thugs and unambitious women under the aegis of "Concern Women Group of Sokoto State” to stage shameful protests all in an attempt to disqualify and get her substituted for their low profile political godfather.

The real reason behind these shameful exhibition of ignorance according to a petition they submitted on the floor of the red chamber; they claimed that albeit Aisha Abubakar is from Sokoto state but she is not known by 99% of women in the state and therefore she should be replaced by a more popular choice. This is one of the most callous and pointless reason that can be told only to the marines. When does it became a law that a ministerial nominee must be known by at least 99% of same gender people in his/her state? This is the highest form of ignorance and lack of idea but nonetheless, i blame Senator Gobir for even having the time to entertain such garbage not to mention of submitting it for consideration.  

Another pointless point they raised goes on to say that Aisha Abubakar spent her service years abroad and she never served Sokoto State in any capacity, therefore she's not qualify to represent the state. Although they may be right to some extent, it is true that Aisha never served officially in Sokoto state but whether she served in the state or elsewhere, she has immensely contributed her knowledge, time and energy serving Nigeria for decades and unless you ceded Sokoto out of Nigeria, then Aisha has perhaps ser served the state since it is a Nigerian state. Moreover, which section of the Nigerian constitution mandated that someone must officially served his state before being considered for ministerial appointment? We saw several scenarios where hundreds of Nigerians were called from UK, US and several foreign nations to come back home and take up public appointments just because they are fit for the job. And to the best of my knowledge, Aisha Abubakar spent her entire working career serving Nigeria if not her stay as a Senior Bilateral Cooperation Officer at African Development Bank, Abidjan, Ivory Coas for a period of only four years between 1993 - 1997.

The naysayers went on to state that “her nomination has created a lots of sceptimism and worries among the generality of the people of Sokoto state.” This is not true! I am currently in Sokoto state and i can confirm that this claim is nothing but a lie, as there's no such sceptimism and worries among the peace loving people of Sokoto state, if not for those hired and paid to protest against her nomination.

The bitter truth is that Hajiya Aisha Abubakar is not only an indigen of Sokoto State but from the Sultanate Royal Family, being her among the descendants of the legendary Usmanu Ibn Fodio. Like her or not, but the palpability that she possessed all the educational requirements, experience, dedication, credibility, integrity and exposure to represent any state or even the country anywhere in the world cannot be disputed. She's loyal, humble, educative, religious, caring, honest, charismatic and above all, a technocrat.

It is however idiotic to insist that Aisha didn't deserved to be a minister based on the fact that she never stayed in Sokoto for a long period that will enable her know and mingle with the people. Since the return of democracy in 1999, Sokoto state has been producing as ministers people who served the state in various capacities and people widely known by almost every resident in the state, but I doubt if it exist a single achievement that all these so-called past ministers brought to the development of the state. I stand to be corrected.

Have we forgotten so soon the words of President Muhammadu Buhari while addressing American government in New York just three months back?
The president has came out to tell the world that he would not only appoint patriotic Nigerians but decent and experienced ones as ministers, people who are committed to the progress of Nigeria and clean hands who have never soiled their palms with corruption irrespective of religion, tribe, gender or political inclination. So any claim that Aisha Abubakar has never being a member of the APC or any political party is totally bullshit, Aisha was nominated based on merit not on political ground or compensation. Must you belong to the ruling party or any political party before you can be considered for ministerial appointment?

It is in view of the aforementioned, that any attempt to challenge Buhari's choice of ministers will be perceived by we (the masses) as a fight against our national development, it's also an act of distraction to sabotage the 'change agenda' of President Muhammadu Buhari toward rebuilding a new Nigeria for all to be happy. It is vexatious and absolutely hypocritical for anyone to oppose Buhari's choice of ministers especially those in the APC akin to what is presently going on in Sokoto state, Buhari has made a choice and therefore his choice must be respected. I expect strong opposition if the chosen ministers failed to deliver but as for now, it is uncalled for.

The brain behind this whole brouhaha is nobody rather than a certain siren addicted senator who wants to abandon his senator membership owing to lack of legislative exposure and take up a ministerial role, he's singly the chief sponsor of this conspiracy for some selfish reasons best known to him alone. While all those making noisy protests aren't doing so for any define or articulated reason of their own, rather than to please the selfish and undemocratic desire of a non respected parliamentary commodity in the state.

To make things clear, Aisha Abubakar must not nor does anybody have to obtain an associated degree from the University of Pittsburgh in the United States of America or claim to have Masters degree from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria before qualifying for a ministerial job. She might not be popular in town because she don't go around throwing out wads of naira to the people on the streets in a free-for-all manner which obviously cannot be a reason for her disqualification. She might also not be fit for a ministerial appointment because she don't walk around with thugs causing havoc and chaos to the peace of the masses if that's what the naysayers considered party loyalty.      

The naked truth is that nobody can force the President to appoint someone whom he wouldn't be comfortable working with and when he does, both the president and the naysayers themselves will pay the price of their inability to deliver as promise. The immediate past regime of former President Jonathan which sacrificed merit on the alter of vested interest remains a classical example for anyone wishing to learn. What is more important is that neither the protesters nor their paymaster can falsify the fact that Aisha Abubakar is perhaps fit and qualified for appointment based on nothing but merits.

What is even more alarming is that instead of the APC leaders in Sokoto state and their dubious godfather to hail Buhari's determination to form a cabinet full of technocrats and join the president to deliver his "change agenda" down to the local level, they are now cowardly pressurizing him to appoint political a nuisance into his government, all in their desperation for a safe landing.  

Alas! When merit is sacrificed on the alter of sympathy, compensation or vested interest. Then surely, the inevitability of backwardness is absolutely guaranteed. Aisha Abubakar will deliver, i am optimistic she will give us reasons to be proud of. Indeed, if it is a matter of eating and not of selling, then the hen is better than a horse. 

Celebrating The Nigerian Teacher, With Education In A Total Mess

 Usama A. Dandare
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby

Monday, the 5th of October 2015 was tagged "World Teachers Day" to celebrate the immense contributions of teachers toward shaping the world. In this part of the world, teachers have absolutely made lots of impacts in changing our lives and no doubt, albeit we have all had great teachers in the past who have in one way or the other shaped our lives, we can’t pretend to deny the fact that our educational system is presently in chapter-eleven, with teachers as the focal point. This article will examine from a critical point of view the contributions of Nigerian teachers in making a vibrant educational system, with the intend to answer this fundamental question: does Nigerian teachers deserves to be celebrated?

If the Federal Government itself can agree that over 50% of primary and secondary school teachers in the country have no requisite skills and capacity to impact knowledge, then a deteriorating educational sector cannot be avoided. Thus a factor responsible for mass examination failures in recent times.
The overwhelming majority of Nigerian students who sat for secondary and primary schools final examinations have failed to pass the required marks. Who, or what, is to blame? We may be right to some extent to say that the Nigerian government is giving little or no priority to education at all, but we cannot be fair to ourselves if we put all the blames on the government alone. While the government takes its own percentage from the blames, the teachers must also have their own share.

In any given society, teachers are indeed the first point of call when talking about development being them the most important people in nation-building and therefore, when teachers are bad then the entirety of a nation is also bad. You cannot separate the two.
In the past, we used to have teachers with passion and zeal for teaching. Most of whom were not even trained as teachers but the passion in them to pass knowledge on to others made them go extra mile to make sure the students are well taught and equip with all the basics as far as education is concerned, which was what made them outstanding to a point that today we are now celebrating them.

In as much as we continue to criticize the government for not doing enough to revamp our ailing educational system, we must also blame the teachers for making the studying atmosphere unconducive for learning. Apart from the menace of teacher absenteeism which costs Nigeria billions yearly, there’s also an institutionalized problem with student-teacher relationships in most of our schools especially the public institutions. Teachers are revered authorities whose job is to discipline and punish. The classroom atmosphere is authoritarian and students are encouraged to be afraid of teachers. This culture of fear in the classroom puts teachers on a pedestal as horrors instead of seeing them as mentors! This missing bond of affection between teachers and their students most often led to students loosing interest in a particular subject or the teacher himself.

The more extreme forms of this classroom authoritarianism are corporal punishment and sexual abuse. Even more common than sexual abuse is corporal punishment. We have had instances where students were beaten to coma and some disabled as a result of injuries caused by punishment in school. There was this case also where a school teacher caned a student, resulting in an uproar where relatives of the student took revenge and beat up the teacher. We cannot be fair to generalize but Nigerian teachers all have one believe in common, "spare the cane, spoil the child." One wonders how excited a Nigerian child will be about Teacher’s Day when he go to school everyday fearing that morning cane. What does Teacher’s Day mean to students who’ve silently suffered sexual abuses that may traumatized them for the rest of their lives?

The caliber of teachers we are having today aren't comparable to those we had in the past. Before, we had passionate teachers with the impetus and momentum to deliver, they were teachers whom were proud to be address with their name - teachers, they were teachers who regarded teaching as a profession not a part-time job to hold on to before getting a white-collar job. But today, things are no longer what they used to be, those saddled with the responsibilities of impacting knowledge lacks the knowledge themselves. All we now have are crooks charging money from parents to allow their children and wards to cheats during exams, and, of course provide them with answers where necessary. We saw instances where more than half of primary school teachers in Kaduna state failed an examination prepared for primary six pupils, and in Edo state where a secondary schools teacher failed to read what was written on her own certificate. Are these the kind of teachers we are celebrating today?

Unlike in the past where students excelled with untrained teachers, 90% of what we have today are trained teachers having either the National Certificate of Education (NCE), or a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) but yet, there is still an unimaginable decrease in the quality and standard of teaching, which perhaps can be seen from the mass failure of senior secondary schools students. Yes, we may have trained and qualified teachers, but the passion and enthusiasm for teaching is no-more there in them. The fact that a teacher has an NCE or B.Ed certificate does not really portray into his ability to impact knowledge irrespective of their courses of study, the passion for teaching matters the most.

Nigerian teachers today aren't only unqualified but non-teachable commodities, most of whom are products of the same dilapidated educational system akin to what we are saying today. A vast majority of teachers nowadays bribed their lecturers either in cash or in mind to pass exams, thus graduating half baked. Some bought out the certificates they were employed to teach with while others didn't possessed the minimum teaching requirements for employment, but found their way into the teaching profession through connection and bribe. I personally knew a guy who sat for WAEC in 1999, he got only one E8 out of nine subjects and failed all the remaining eight but today, believe me that guy is a primary school teacher today and to matters worst, he's not only an ordinary teacher but head of a department. It is worrisome, are these the kind of teachers we are celebrating today?

In a nutshell, an average Nigerian teacher is nothing to celebrate until we take a step in the right direction with a complete overhaul of the teaching profession, and to achieve this: authorities at all level of governments should convene as a matter of necessity a summit to strategize on how the educational system could be resuscitated and integrated. Akin to the practice of other developed nations elsewhere in the world, where constants and periodic review of schools’ curricula is done at regular intervals with the sole aim of updating the educational sector to meet up with the current challenges. Unlike in this part of the world where almost all sections of the schools' curriculum used in the 80s and 90s is still being in use today.

The fact that most Nigerian teachers are untrained should not be neglected, the government should take advantage of the information and communications technology (ICT) and upgrade the system through training and retraining of teachers in order to meet up with challenges and realities of modern teaching and learning. How could anyone expect Nigerian students to be educationally exceptional when we continue to teach them almost the same things their grandparents were taught?
ALAS, only then we might have some reasons to engage in celebrating the ritual of October 5th.

Biafra's Prospects Of Sovereignty: An Analytical Theorization

Usama A. Dandare
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby

Many decades gone by since ending the Nigerian civil war in which government troops fought and defeated fighters of the Republic of Biafra, a self-acclaimed nation - under the control of Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the then Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria - which unilaterally declared independence and ceded from Nigeria on 30th May 1967. After about two-and-a-half years of bloody war, Biafran forces agreed to a ceasefire with the Nigerian Military Government and was reintegrated back into Nigeria on 15 January 1970. The Nigerian civil war left in its wake devastating memories and sorrows to remember, during which over a million civilians were killed in fighting and from famine, but yet, the ghost of Biafra has not been laid to rest and the dream of an independent Igboland has not completely died.

Today, many Igbos complain of being punished economically because of the war and still speak of being marginalized, the gullible ones are awash with political sentiment, religious bigotry, ethnicity and ignorance, with majority of them still dreaming of a possible break-up from Nigeria. As days gone by, the prospect of an independent Igboland is seemingly becoming impossible, especially as secessionists would want Nigeria's lucrative oil fields while those publicly clamoring for independence are a very small minority for some ethnic, political and material interest. But nonetheless, these continuous and renewed agitations for a Biafran entity ought to be of great concern to the government of Nigeria.

But before then, the possibility of realizing this dream of an independent Igboland ought to be properly analyze before renewing such agitations and most importantly, its legality in the face of the law. A number of geopolitical entities have declared statehood and have sought recognition as de jure sovereign states as in the case of Biafra. In the past, similar entities have existed. As of 2015 there are entities claiming independence, often with de facto control of their territory, with recognition ranging from complete non-recognition to complete recognition by all states.

There are two traditional doctrines that provide indicia of when a de jure sovereign state should be recognize as a member of the international community: the "declarative" theory defines a state as a person in international law if it meets the following criteria: a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and a capacity to enter into relations with other states.
According to declarative theory, an entity's statehood is independent of its recognition by other states. By contrast, the "constitutive" theory defines a state as a person of international law if it is recognized as such by another state that is already a member of the international community.

Literally, the question of recognition of a Biafran Nation involves complex legal and policy issues. This article will examine whether Biafra, as a matter of international law, have met the requirements for independence. In particular, we will focus on this fundamental question: does the Biafran entity satisfy the traditional criteria for statehood?

Clearly, if the Biafran entity fails to satisfy the traditional legal criteria for statehood, it cannot be recognized as a sovereign state. Eligibility for recognition does not depend on whether an entity ought to satisfy the criteria for statehood, but on whether it meets those standards as a matter of fact and law.

It is a well established principle that unless an entity can show that, in practice, it meets the indicia of statehood, recognition must be withheld. International law has traditionally required that four separate criteria be satisfied before the recognition of an entity as an independent sovereign state can be considered:
* The entity must exercise effective and independent governmental control.
* The entity must possess a defined territory over which it exercises such control.
* The entity must have the capacity to freely engage in foreign relations.
* There must be effective and independent governmental control over a permanent population.

Only if Biafra satisfies the traditional criteria for statehood by exercising independent and sovereign governmental control (including the capacity to freely engage in foreign relations) over a permanent population in a defined territory over which it has possession, can its recognition as a sovereign state be considered.
The Biafran entity does not become a state under international law merely by a unilateral declaration to that effect by an individual or some selfish groups. To be eligible for recognition, it must satisfy specific legal criteria. Indeed, under international law, the recognition of an entity which clearly fails to meet these criteria constitutes an unlawful and invalid act.

Effective and Independent Governmental Control

An entity claiming to be a state must possess an effective and independent government. It must exercise all the powers of a state independently of any outside governmental authority.

The Biafran entity does not function as an independent government. It has no define powers nor an established authority, the Federal Government of Nigeria has the total power and control over Biafra. Indeed, it is Nigeria that retains overriding residual authority in the Biafran territory.
A Biafran claim to statehood can only be valid with respect to those areas over which it exercises effective and independent control. Such control is lacking in virtually all the areas under the so-called Biafran republic, while all extensive powers and responsibilities are those of the Nigerian Authority. The absence of the requisite degree of control is all the more evident in all South Eastern states, which are Biafran jurisdiction, and over which Nigeria continues to exercise total authority. Similarly, a Biafran declaration of statehood which purported to include parts of the South South states would be legally meaningless in light of the absence of any Biafran authority over Nigeria.

The Possession of Defined Territory

International law requires that a state be able to show that it has sovereign title over the territory in question and that the territory is adequately defined.

The Biafran entity would not be able to show that sovereignty is vested in its hands. It would also be unable to demonstrate that the territory in which it occupies is adequately defined. While international law does not require that the boundaries of a nascent state be accurately delimited in their entirety, the territory must have a sufficient consistency which is conducive to independent governmental control. At present, the areas/states under the so-called Biafra are highly fragmented and non-contiguous, and Biafra has no definite powers that correspond to these portions of territory; it has no responsibilities in areas under its territory and lacks same in areas which are not.

The Capacity to Freely Engage in Foreign Relations

Unless an entity can engage in foreign relations in an unrestricted and independent manner it cannot claim to be a nation.

In our case, the issue of foreign relations is solemnly the responsibility of the Nigerian government, Biafra have no powers or responsibilities in the sphere of foreign relations as presently the situation is both theoretically and practically, and as a matter of practice, Biafra is incapable of engaging in foreign relations with any other states.

Effective Control Over a Permanent Population

Under international law this criterion of statehood requires that the permanent population of the territory be under the effective and independent control of its own government.

As noted, while Biafra does not exercise significant powers over the South-East and South-South residents, its jurisdiction cannot be regarded as independent or comprehensive. Moreover, it has been held that where, as in this case, there are doubts as to the territorial scope of an entity, its claim to a permanent population is necessarily also in doubt.

In more recent international practice, several additional criteria have come to be viewed as prerequisites for statehood. Under these contemporary criteria, in addition to satisfying the traditional elements of statehood outlined above, an entity claiming to be eligible for recognition must also show that it has not been established as the result of illegality, that it is willing and able to abide by international law, that it constitutes a viable entity, and that its claim to statehood is compatible with the right to self-determination.
If an entity claiming to be a state has emerged as the result of illegality it is not eligible for recognition. In fact, under international law, states are under a specific legal duty not to grant recognition to such an entity.

Finally, the entirety of Biafran entity does not appear to satisfy the traditional criteria for statehood. As a matter of law, Biafra does not have the capacity to function as an independent and sovereign state, nor does it actually exercise such powers in practice. It does not possess independent and effective governmental control; it does not hold sovereign title over a clearly defined portion of territory; and it lacks the competence to freely engage in foreign relations.

Moreover, any Biafran attempt to unilaterally acquire the attributes of statehood is a violation of the rule of law and therefore constitutes unlawful conduct and as such, it should peacefully or forcefully be dealt with at once. As a matter of fact, the Biafran agitation is treasonable, therefore the Nigerian government must rate the threat level of Biafra to the highest, those clamoring for it should be arrested and prosecuted for undermining the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with no regret.

Nigeria And The Scourge Of Damnable Followership

 Usama A. Dandare
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby


The inability of Nigeria's People's Democratic Party (PDP) to set the country on the right track in its sixteen years of leadership is indeed a reasons for one to be bewildered of being a Nigerian. Despite spending billions of dollars, there's little or no visible achievement to justify how PDP led-government spent at least 15-20% of the total budgetary allocation since the return of democracy in 1999. Nigeria with all its goodwills and fortunes kept sliding back in all areas of developmental indexes, thus forcing the electorate to try a different leadership which perhaps prompted the election of President Muhammadu Buhari from the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC).
The newly elected government of President Buhari, undoubtedly breeds optimism and hopes of a more improve nation but unfortunately, there remain several number of frustrating areas where Nigerians would like to see changes. These include critical areas affecting the life of the common man, such as; absence of standard educational system, a demoralized health sector, insecurity, unemployment, as well as an undesirable rate of corruption and impunity which has almost broken the whole country apart.

Apart from expendable and incapacitated leadership, Nigeria is pitifully blessed with the most stupidest and idiotic followers on earth. A highly rich nation that has all it takes to be the envy of the world is lacking behind in all aspects of human and social endevours, as a result of an unchecked corruption that has virtually taken over the affairs of the entire country. In short, the best way to define Nigeria is; a country with greedy and idiotic leaders, voted in by stupid followers. The poor masses in Nigerians are perhaps more devilish than their leaders.

In our Nigeria of today, the easiest way of buying insult is to talks about what a particular leader is doing or did wrongly, all his tribal people will rain abuses on you nonstop and will even be willing to fight you to death because the leader is from their tribe. I wonder how leaders will change when the followers cannot differentiate their heads from their anus. Nigeria is the only country where this ridiculous stupidity, and gross ignorance is being practice while the common masses appears more like animals than humans.

The plethora of attacks by supporters of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) against anyone who dare talk about any corrupt APC leader is simply disgusting, vexatious and hypocritical. In recent days, much of the stories making headlines were either exposing fraudulent activities of one APC leader or the other, just as it was the case with those from the opposite side since the swearing-in of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29. When PDP officials were being accused of corruption, my fellow APC fans jubilates but now that the clock has turned around, they are busy insulting and calling people all sorts of names, akin to how the brainless Jonathanians were once acting when it comes to defending the woeful failures of the then President Jonathan.    

I find it idiotic when people go all out to defend a politician, even abruptly trying to stop others from asking questions or voicing their own opinions, similar to what played out few weeks back when Rotimi Ameachi was accused of diverting about N70bn belonging to the people of Rivers. And also in the case of Babatunde Fashola whom was alleged to have constructed two bore-holes and a car park at a whopping sum of over N736m. Instead of my APC friends to support President Buhari's anti-corruption crusade by calling on Fashola and Ameachi to publicly come out and clear their names, we are now ignorantly castigating those that are doing what we ought to do (demanding accountability) and yet, we think we are showing love or support to the present regime by defending suspected looters. The motives that might have prompted these allegations against Ameachi and Fashola shouldn't be giving much emphasis, the need for both men to prove their innocence should be our top priority not stopping others from demanding answers to issues of national importance. We can not be selective in our crusade against corruption, even the accused happens to best performing public or civil servant.

Probing those we admires or supports and asking them to account for all their deeds in office isn't in any way a disgrace, in fact, it even strengthens their integrity and make others develop interest in them, only if found to be innocent. We cannot be ranting all-over calling for the prosecution of some groups or persons while excluding a particular politician because he's our party leader or he's being hunted by political opponents, and at same time claiming to be fighting corruption. It is silly and absolutely hypocritical. How can we move forward if we only want others to face justice while ours should not despite committing same atrocities?
Defending any APC politician on corruption charges won't do anything good to us nor our country but rather, it will only expose our monumental hypocrisy, when we address Jonathan and his government officials as thieves and even went on to demand for their prosecution but failed to accept the fact there several APC leaders that equally embezzled public funds and also deserved to face justice. Why are we sounding more like the wailing wailers?

We should come to terms with the reality that electioneering periods are over, it is now time to focus on the progress of Nigeria and the ordinary Nigerians. Believe me or not, almost all those in APC today are former PDP members and were involved in siphoning the nation's wealth before cross-carpeting to APC after fallen short of rapport with former President Jonathan, therefore, an unbiased analyst will weigh most APC leaders on the same standard with their PDP counterparts when it comes to corruption. Most of my fellow progressives are sympathetic to one APC leader or the other, insisting that someone should be spared of corruption probe being him/she among those that made Buhari became the president. Though it may be true to some extent but this market women theory is completely laughable and out of point, it's undeniable that the unprecedented goodwill on which APC rod to victory wasn't for APC as party but for President Buhari as a person, coupled with the conscience and conviction of Nigerians to throw Jonathan's government out to deter him from taking the nation to it grave earlier than time.

If truly we are the change agents we mockingly called ourselves, then I see no reason why we should be perturbed if any of ours is being called to give account or clear himself of corruption charges but jubilate when others were being sent to jail. Therefore, whatever Sule Lamido was docked for, Aliyu Wamakko must not be applauded for it. Whatever Godswill Orubebe was investigated for, Ameachi shouldn't be exempted unless proven otherwise by the court. Whatever Diazeni was being castigated for, Murtala Nyako shouldn't become a saint. Is time we move on from this sentimental politics of ours in which the interest of some few elites supersedes national interest and put that of the nation first before any other thing.  

President Buhari's current fight against corruption knows no boundary, it cuts across all sections irrespective of tribe, gender, age or religion. It is a fight not between Buhari and Jonathan or PDP but rather, a fight between Nigeria and the ruling elites whom have nearly took the nation to the land of no return. It is simply a 'masses' versus 'elites' war and definitely, the latter must fire back with all possible and even impossible means. Therefore, in order to compliment and encourage President Buhari's war against corruption, we must learn to ask questions and demand accountability from those we hired to serve us and whoever fails to account for his actions, the full wrath of the law should take it course no matter his influence or his closeness to us. Only then would the thieving elites wake up from their power intoxicating euphoria and realize we are no more the fools they used to know.

Proudly, Nigeria now have a responsible and well disciplined government, a promising and coordinated leadership, under the governance of an incorruptible, active, honest and a non-nonsense gentleman but alas, the same cursed followers are still doing what they knows best, our stupidity and foolishness is rampantly on the rise. I rest my case!

Between Merit, Nigerians And The Outrageous Defence Of Ethnic Jingoism

Usama A. Dandare
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby
September 30, 2014

"When merit is sacrificed on the alter of ethnicity, age, gender, region or religion. Then surely, the inevitability of backwardness is absolutely guaranteed" ~ Anonymous

President Muhammadu Buhari's efforts to do away with ethnicity in public appointments in line with the new 'agenda of change' are already causing distress among some gullible few who - in their selfish imagination in search of cheap political points - are hopelessly challenging the president to sacrifice merit on the altar of ethnicity and religion. Going back to our political history, almost all public appointments since the return of democracy in 1999, were purely made not on merit but ethnic or religious grounds, but what happened next? Calamities, unending miseries, poverty, hunger, death, corruption, impunity and national embarrassment above all.
The latest brouhaha arose as the presidency announces six fresh appointments into the newly sworn administration of President Buhari. Though the appointments favoured one region but were purely made on merit and qualifications.

What is alarming here is that instead of these hate-mongers and agents of ethnic division to welcome Buhari's boldness in abolishing the dangerous trend of ethno-religious division, they are now accusing him of leaving out members of other tribes and religion.
Whenever a public appointment is made, i always got marveled by the eyebrows raised virtually instinctively especially when it didn't favour some section of the Southern Region (south-east to be precise)! It reminds me constantly of how powerful the hypocrisy of tribal/regional sentiments has enslaved our conscience as a people.

The damn brutal truth is that we, Nigerians, are hopelessly tribal, irresponsibly so. In our thoughts. In our talk. In our actions. Our outlook is heavily fashioned by tribal stupidity. We wail how tribal so and so is. Yet that is the one characteristic that symbolize many of us the most.
We mewl about how employers overlooked merit and prefer tribal affinity. Yet we expect “our own” to naturally favour us when in positions of power. We rant how this or that president loaded government with his kinsmen. Yet, the primary motivation for supporting our tribal dons is the expectation that they will load us in their government when in power. Indeed, we are such an empire of ethnic bigots and political hypocrites!

Our tribal instinct actually feeds our most base fears, and nourishes the overpowering sense of ethnic mistrust and contempt that poison our relations. Ours has been reduced to a society defined by chronic hypocrisy and sheer irresponsibility. The result is that this tribal orientation defines virtually all our national endeavours. It has transformed our politics into a messy ethnic battle field, with tribe as the focal point for political mobilization, instead of distinctive ideological platforms. Inciting tribal emotions is accordingly more premium than appealing to any sense of objectivity. This was how Nigeria was nurtured right from the start and to my greatest elucidation, we still intends to continue this way despite several years of untold hardship.

Ethno-religious sentiments has completely distorted our key national agendas like the war on corruption and terrorism. Some selected 'yam eating goats' routinely robs our nation's treasury but when caught, they run to their tribal folks screaming "we are being witch-hunted because we are not from this or that region, we are being targeted because we came from the minority tribe, they want to finish us," cleverly turning individual culpability into communal liability. Akin to what we witnessed in the immediate past regime of impunity, where a female Minister bought two BMW cars at a miraculous price of a 'fairly used jet' but when investigations were drawn, her kinsmen began tagging those against the national fraud as 'Igbo hatters.' It was pitiful, as justice was habitually sacrificed at the altar of ethnic jingoism.

The simple truth is that nobody can force the President to appoint those he would not be comfortable working with and when he does, the same hate-mongers will later blame the President if he fails to lead upto expectations. The immediate past regime remains a classical example for anyone wishing to learn. The wailing wailers can only keep on wailing, I don't give a damn. What is more important is that non among them can falsify the fact that all these new appointees were appointed based on nothing but merits.

Our ethnic diversity is potentially a major asset. But unlike other nations that have successfully succeeded in gluing different tribes into one cohesive unit with primary allegiance to national unity, peace and progress. We have turned ours into a curse, we pay lip service against it, yet we practice it foolishly. The resultant venom is a perpetual national tragedy that will rob the country of its goodwill, resources, merit, talents, fairness and positive growth. To paraphrase Martin Luther King, we judge each other by the letters of their surname instead of the content of their character.

We disunited our national unity long ago, the almagamated Nigeria has since been divided, and missed a glorious opportunity to reclaim our lost spirit of brotherliness with six wasted years in the hands of the "shoeless president without balls" (apologies to Femi Fani-Kayode), whom rather than uniting his country, he even went ahead to disunite it the more. Thus glorifying ethnic and religious bigotry as one of his cardinal principle of gaining cheap popularity, because ethnic jingoism truly lies in his heart and mind. This further confirmed the wise saying of Mahatma Gandhi, “a man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”

In a nutshell, Nigerians should wake up and embrace the de javu realities if only if we ain't against the progress of our fatherland, and stop beating the ethnic drums. A patriotic and well-meaningful Nigerian would only want to see appointments based on merit but not ethnically or religiously based. Let's come together and make a conscious decision to protect the change we want to see in Nigeria, since we will never wish each other away. Anyway, why not commend President Buhari's efforts to take our dear nation to the high mountains of national unity?

It is almost impossible to await success when we mix merit and ethnicity; these are two different anomaly that can never bond as one. The former represents the quality of being extremely good or worthy to serve in the best collective interest of all and sundry, while the latter connotes to an individual wanting only to serve or protect the interest of his cultural background or where he came from. Ethnicity and merit are parallel and cannot go along, you must sacrifice the former when going for the latter, vice versa. We must halt this ugly habit of celebrating people whenever they pander to our ethnic prejudice, but when they don't, we condemn them. Could a society get more ridiculous and idiotic than ours? really!

To fix Nigeria, we must learn from our past mistakes in which appointments were sentimentally made on ethnicity and religion, not for national service but to satisfy the selfish interest of some few. A sentimental practice that brought Nigeria to its knees. Can we risk our future again just because of ethnic differences? Have we forgotten so soon our dark cursed days of impunity and mismanagement, where merit was thrown to the baboons on the alter of ethnicity? Absolutely no, not even in this era of hope and national rebirth.
Alas! We must set aside whatever differences that lies between us, accept the bitter truth and collectively live together as one, or perish together as fools. A word to the wise is enough. I rest my case!

Behold, The New Face Of Evil

Usama A. Dandare
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby

Since after the historic failure of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to retain power in the just concluded March 28 Presidential polls. The whereabouts of the monstrous Abubakar Shekau, the pitiless leader of the demonic Boko Haram sect remain a subject of questioning, nothing has been heard from him since the last video he released before the general election in which he promised fire and brimstone against the Nigerian State.

The complex, paradoxical man - part-theologian Shekau, was said to have been killed by security forces in 2009, only for him to resurrect in a videos tape posted on the internet. Similar, all subsequent claims of his death in 2011 and 2014 also turned out to be false. But based on security intelligence reports, the barbaric monster is now assumed to have died as Cameroonian forces found dead body of a man believed to be Shekau in the suburbs of Gwarzo town, killed while fleeing from a heavy aerial bombardment as the city - which Boko Haram declared the headquarter of their so-called 'Islamic Republic' - fell to Multi-national Forces backed by Nigerian, Chadian and Cameroonian military. Shekau has not featured in the last three recent videos released by the group, something that has never happened since his emergence in 2009, thus confirming speculations on his fate.

Both local and international intelligent reports and also findings by Chad's President Idriss Deby have confirmed the carcass to be that of Shekau, and with the sudden announcement of the replacement of the late Shekau via a recent footage released by the satanic sect, Nigeria and indeed all its neighboring countries may now have a sigh of relief though it is not yet time to tango because another bloodthirsty and more brutal radical has emerged as Shekau's replacement. Mahamat Daoud is perhaps the new face of evil.
Mahamat Daoud is a much younger but more radical homogeneous of Shekau. The 'Butcher of Mubi' - as he is nicknamed - being the commander who led Boko Haram offensive against Mobile Police Garrison and Military base in the conquest of Mubi and personally beheaded sixteen female mobile police officers. Mahamat Daoud is fingered as the most ruthless, cruel and one in a kind terrorist, his brutal and barbaric nature makes Shekau look like a kindergarten pupil. He's indeed a rare devil in the comity of devils and should therefore be confronted without kids gloves.

A much more unknown and quiet Boko Haram general, Mahamat Daoud is said to be less charismatic but even more blood thirsty and brutal than Shekau. He is rated to be the inspiration behind Boko Haram's success in establishing a Female Suicide Bombing Brigade and is also the mastermind behind latest Boko Haram video that showed an assault on a police outpost which culminated in the horrendous beheading of a Police Corporal on YouTube. Indeed a merciless progeny of Satan is now at the helm of Boko Haram affairs.
Mahamat Daoud has fully taken control of the dreaded and bloodthirsty Boko Haram sect and to further establish his government, he has reached out to various regional Governments proclaiming his arrival, thus he is the man they have to deal with urgently. And his first overture was a call for ceasefire and the opening up of negotiations with the affected governments - though experts believes the existence of another factional group of Boko Haram in oppose of Mahamat emergence. His call for dialogue is indeed a deceit being planned for his foot soldiers to gain some rest from the current offensive against them led by the new Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Burutai; so that government forces will retreat back and give the insurgents a breathing space to regroup amidst a crushing crackdown.

I am and will always continue to be a staunch opposition to negotiating a ceasefire deal with terrorists especially in a rather unfortunate situation like ours where we have monsters whom lacks neither magnitude nor direction, not to mention of religious knowledge. You don’t negotiate with terrorists, that is the convention all over the world and ours shouldn’t be an exception. These demons claimed to be fighting for an Islamic Caliphate and no amount of negotiation can convince them to change their believe, and as long as you aren't ready to meet their demand, i think no truce can be agreed. Why should government dialogue with individuals who are only interested in killing and maiming innocent people?  

A co-devil like Mahamat cannot and should never be trusted, he is clever and more smarter than all his predecessors, so dining with him required a lot more consciousness as the clever devil will want to measure his cleverness against our collective psyche, and uphold his demonic practice of "sharing people's blood in Borno" (apologies to Mama Peace) and Nigeria as a whole. Mahamat must never be trusted for any negotiations unless if proven to be fully prepared for peace; bringing back our Chibok girls plus other thousands innocent citizens held hostage and a total ceasefire will give us some sense of confidence that he's out for peace, laying down and forfeiting all his group's armaments to the government and willingness to go for mandatory rehabilitation should also form the basics of the so-called truce if at all any will hold, and anything short of these must not be compromised.

Fire-for-fire is what Boko Haram deserves, Mahamat and his moronic touts has nothing to talk about apart from violence and they should be given that which they bargained for. The Nigerian military now has all its takes to crush the insurgents, what they only need is proper motivation for the task. And with the current progress being made so far in the ongoing offensive against Boko Haram, Mahamat and his co-idiots will soon meet the anger of President Muhammadu Buhari and the firepower of gallantry General Burutai. Alas, they will soon join Shekau and Mohammed Yusuf in the creeks of 'Saqara' (the hottest of all hell-fires).

Biafra, Ndigbo And The Rest Of Us

 USAMA A. DANDARE
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby


It is over forty-five years after the end of the bloody Nigerian civil war in which government troops fought and defeated Biafran secessionists, the ghost of Biafra has not been laid to rest and the dream of an independent South-East has not completely died. Several Ndigbo whom were awash with political sentiment, religious intolerance, ethnicity and ignorance are still dreaming of a possible break-up from Nigeria.

Never in the history of this nation when the entire people of Eastern Nigeria unanimously reached a consensus to go for independence and part ways with Nigeria. All we've been witnessing was a movement of some few greedy political and military nuisance from the Eastern part of Nigeria who sought to take advantage of the shift in the base of nation's new found wealth, from the export agriculture to the emerging oil economy. These same elite, once they realized that they could still partake in the sharing of the oil revenues equally with the political elite from the rest of the country, they sought accommodation within one Nigeria.
But the ideological manipulation anchored on the cries of marginalization still remains a potent tool for elite bargaining and sometimes blackmail within the context of regional distribution of resources and elite accumulation.

All the major regions of Nigeria have something they hold outside the desire to be in one Nigeria, as a bargaining chip once they perceive some unevenness in the distribution of prebends. Which is why every part of Nigeria has its own story of marginalization, etc, vis-a-vis the other parts. What these greedy elites normally do whenever government fails to satisfy their greed, was to capitalize on the gullibility of some few ignoramus and ethnic bigots to get cheap attention or endorsement and create an avenue of wealth accumulation, just like the way Niger Delta Militants and OPC have had theirs. This is exactly what Nnamdi Kanu of Radio-Biafra is upto, far away from London.

Radio Biafra - an online seditious pirate radio station broadcasting illegally from London - have been heating up the polity with inflammatory and unsavoury hate messages in recent time, since PDP's monumental defeat in the March 28 presidential polls to be precise. The illegal radio station under the leadership of one Nnamdi Kanu preaches nothing but ethnic jingoism and hatred designed to create disunity among Nigerians and mislead Igbo youths in a deliberate act of subversion, to undermine the sovereignty of the federal republic. But to my ultimate trepidation, the same political elite from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria that were very venomous in attacking the North and its leaders for not loudly condemning the activities of Boko Haram insurgents and mobilizing to stop them on their tracks, are surprisingly dead silent in relation to the activities of Radio Biafra and sundry Biafran "activists" at home and abroad.
This is quite strange, chiefly because the kind of hate speech and "weaponisation" of the airwaves associated with this latter day Biafra agitation is potentially even more lethal than Boko Haram insurgency, if the experience of countries like Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia is anything to go by. (Apologies to Dr. Yakub Aliyu)

Obviously, the international statutes has guaranteed the right to self-determination but there is a process- a peaceful one of course. Analogously, the Nigerian Constitution duly protects the right of citizens to self expression by all and sundry. Yet, such rights are never open-ended on issues of peaceful co-existence or when the touch on national security. The same international statutes and the Nigerian constitution also kick-against anything that could trigger conflicts with potential for violent disruption of civic life.

It is time for the political, religious and economic elite from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria to come forward with a stand on this very obvious menace called Radio Biafra. Is either they publicly condemn Radio Biafra or they will be considered co-conspirators. It is necessary because that would assure Nigeria, Africa and the world that what is going on is just the ranting of some scrupulous elements. They should up the game, learn the necessary lessons, and do better than their Northern counterpart that they have so maligned on account of Boko Haram, realizing also that it was our inability to nip Boko Haram extremists on time that led us to this mess we are in. They should bear in mind that Boko Haram is a relatively isolated case when compared with this brazen affront on the entire Nigerian nation. Their intervention will save us a lot from the distractions and the stress of direct confrontation with the state which as the Boko Haram is inevitable with all the accompanying bitter consequences for the rest of us, peace loving Nigerians.
The people of the South-East fought a war of self-determination between 1967-1970 and lost, thus leading to the death of about one million innocent citizens and perhaps properties worth billions of Dollars, which was indeed a huge price for the unity of this country. Having paid this monumental supreme price, I think the so-called Biafrans should agitate for the unity of this country on the basis of social justice, equity and fair play, to avoid a repeat of another bloody war for their own good.

The reality is that those from the Eastern part are all over Nigeria; in fact it is rare to find a community across the length and breadth of this country that does not shelter people from the South-East; Nigeria provides a conducive atmosphere for people from the Eastern part (Igbo precisely) to scope their branches, explore, excel and blossom. The South-East is too small for this highly mobile and dynamic people to pursue their commercial activities.
It's on record that the Ndigbo control about 60% to 70% of all the imports in Nigeria while other tribes in the country provide the huge market for the mobile Igbos and big time traders. If their dream of an independent Biafra come alive, who will constitute the chunk of consumers to patronize their commodities?

The bitter truth is that Radio Biafra decided to ratchet up its war propagandas and source huge sums of funds to do just that only after the so-called pro-Igbo Goodluck Jonathan was flushed out of power. This throws up a lot of questions, such as; why such agitation completely quenched during Jonathan regime and suddenly came to live after Jonathan? Does Radio Biafra’s current villainy and demonic activities have anything to do with PDP’s almighty failure? Is it another political tactic that seeks to gain relevance from threatening the peace and security of the nation?      

On the other hand, the federal government should as a matter of urgency discuss and promptly address some pressing issues affecting the livelihood of the people of South-East like; infrastructure, farming, industrialization, education, employment and more importantly provide a conducive atmosphere for business opportunities and growth. But ignoring the South-Eastern region similar to what we witnessed during Goodluck Jonathan's reign of impunity will absolutely birth another serious security challenges in a more violent nature. The federal government should systematically device a holistic approach to get hold of Nnamdi Kanu and force him to pay severely for his stupidity, arrogance and immorality. "Radio Biafra is the opportunistic lizard that takes advantage of the crack in the wall to enter one’s house. Killing the lizard will not stop other Lizards from getting into the house; mending the cracked wall will."

If anyone come shouting Biafra, let that person avail us with the consensus reached by the entire people of Eastern Nigeria that they should break away from Nigeria. And how they intended to go about it. If there was no empirical evidence to that effect then forget about freedom of expression or Human rights, that person is simply a trouble maker, wanting to reap where he did not sow.

Almost all the Igbo youths of today were not born to witness the Nigerian civil war, perhaps this was why most of them are beating war drums but I am sure they must all have an idea of what is going on in the Boko Haram troubled region of North-East, they should remember not to forget that "when the rain falls, it does not fall on one roof alone." The truth is that the South-East deserves developmental projects (likewise all the regions in Nigeria) but not the enrichment of a few scrupulous elements and bloodsuckers whom are uncomfortable with the nation's peaceful coexistence.
It is on record that almost all previous administrations especially that of Goodluck Jonathan neglected Ndigbo and South-Eastern region with no visible development unless on papers, the thieving ruling class and the so-called political elites are also guilty of sucking the entire region dry including traditional rulers.
If these so-called Igbo freedom fighters succeeded in birthing another civil war, it is only the poor people of the South-East that will suffer just like the case in North-East where only the poor masses have been the very victims of Boko Haram insurgency for several years. Nnamdi Kanu and cohorts lives in far away United Kingdom, so it is only the poor Ndigbo residing in Nigeria will fall victims of the civil war and pay the price of what Nnamdi Kanu bargained for.
So Ndigbo are free to put up a fight against Nigeria at their own peril and bring the nation down if they can, it won’t affect anybody or any region but Ndigbo and the South-East region in general. Whatever the outcome will be as a result of this politically motivated agitation, Ndigbo should have nobody to blame but themselves for the cane that was used to beat the first wife is on the roof top for the second wife.

Between Wammakko And Sokoto State IPP: Seven Wily Years In Search Of 38megawatts, By Usama Dandare

Just like Lagos and Kano, Sokoto is unequivocally in the rank of Nigeria's most luckiest states when it comes to rapid development and democratic dividends. Whoever left Sokoto state and returns after ten years must acknowledge the fact that the state has indeed attained a significant level of development, especially in infrastructure.
Since the return of democracy in 1999, the state have been witnessing stupendous developments with both previous governors putting in a marvelous performance in positively moving the state forward. From 1999 to date, several astounding projects numbering hundreds were executed in all areas of development; one of such developmental project is the construction of an Independent Power Plant embarked upon by the immediate past administration of Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wammakko.

It is seven years now since construction work began at the site of the Sokoto state Independent Power Plant, the state government had in 2008, signed a contract with a United States based energy company, Vulcan Capital Energy, to build an Independent Power Project (IPP) which will boost power supply by 38MW at the cost of ₦3.8billion (approximately ₦100million per megawatt), and the initial plan was to complete the project within six months but contrary to other successful projects in the state, the power project kept moving lackadaisically and it's now seemingly becoming a monumental fraud.

The project, located at Arkilla area of Sokoto metropolis, is to generate 38MW of electricity to the state, and was to be executed through an Abuja based firm, Vulcan Elvaton Limited, a subsidiary partner to Vulcan Capital Energy. The plant was initially scheduled for completion in early 2009 but having failed to meet the deadline, the completion period was for the first time shifted to September 2009, later to December 2010 and again to July 2011, it's again extended to September 2013 and to August 2014 and since then, nothing concrete has been heard from those in authority. In this fashion, the so-called completion period kept jumping from this month to the next, due to some foreseen or unforeseen circumstances.        

According to the terms of this fraudulent project, the gas turbine plant is designed to run using the very expensive 'black oil' which will definitely add another financial burden on the state and would therefore hold the people of Sokoto state to ransom for life. The task of maintaining a gas turbine power plant must surely consume millions of Naira monthly, and will possibly birth another new avenue to loot the state treasury in the name of buying black oil. Why gas turbine when there are other less expensive and easy to maintain sources like hydro, solar or wind?

The short-term project originally touted to be completed and produce power within six months has surprisingly stretched to over seven years and still counting with no realistic date for now. A visit to the construction site must undoubtedly leave one in dilemma and cold feet based on the slow phase at which the project has been moving since inception, despite various promises of completion and inauguration. Both Governor Wammakko, his cohorts and the construction firm have been issuing fraudulent word of honor and certainty of completing the power plant but to my uttermost disillusionment, the Plant is yet to show any signs of completion not to mention of commissioning.          

Vogue and multifarious promises kept pouring in while the people of Sokoto keep waiting and waiting and waiting, but to no avail; all the dubious promises to complete the power plant as planned dust off and varnished into the sky. To set records straight for the emphasis of history, below are few among the series of dubious promises made by the government of Governor Wammakko and the contractors to complete and commission the power plant in due time;
  
Worried by the lackadaisical nature of the project, in 2013, Daily Trust queued up questions to the Chief Operations Officer of Vulcan Elvaton Ltd, Prince Franklyn, who assured that all the major equipments needed to complete the project were 100% on ground and that the company will promptly finish the project by the end of 2013, and will get it ready for commissioning by the first quarter of 2014. He claimed that all the turbines and generators have been installed successfully, a concrete foundation has also been built and what only remained before commissioning was for the coolant foundation to be strong enough before mounting the coolant which will possibly be ready in about 17 days as at then. I really wonder if Mr. Prince Franklyn was not mistaken 17 years for 17 days, it's 7 years now and yet, the concrete foundation is still not strong?
  
In the same vein, the people's hope of a stable and improved power supply was further guaranteed by the then state Governor, Aliyu Wamakko, on May 1, 2013, while inspecting the last consignment comprising electrical components at the IPP site, Wammakko reaffirmed; that the ongoing ₦3.8 billion Independent Power Project (IPP) in the state would be a reality in the next one month (meaning June 2013) but to my dismay, over two years now and the IPP isn't only faraway from reality but seemingly unrealistic.

In the series of dubious promises, Governor Aliyu Wamakko, while speaking during a traditional sallah homage paid to him by the Sultan, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III on August 10, 2013, again revealed that the Sokoto Independent Power Plant (IPP) was to undergo a test-run in the following month of September. And as usual, Wammakko's disclosure turnout to be another deceit because as of today; the IPP has never been tested not even for a second. The people of Sokoto state can confirm this.

While addressing newsmen in Abuja on March 11, 2014, a media consultant to the Sokoto state government, Alhaji Ibrahim Jirgi disclosed that the Independent Power Project (IPP) that is being developed by the state is about 80% completed and will be commission in the next two months. Here we are, almost a year and half gone and no sign of completing the project less to talk of commissioning.

Speaking shortly after inspecting the last batch of equipments for the power project - a 50 MVA transformer and its accessories - on April 23, 2014, Alhaji Sahabi Isa Gada, Secretary to the Sokoto state government and chairman implementation committee of the state’s IPP, expressed optimism and promised that the state's independent power plant would commence operation by May of 2014. More than a years gone and the whole project is still as it was in 2009.
 
Again on July 19, 2014, Governor Aliyu Wamakko while speaking at the graduation ceremony of 125 youths trained in shoe- making and the distributions of Ramadan package to the needy reassured the general public that the "Sokoto State Independent Power Project (IPP) is to commence operation by the end of August 2014."

On July 24, 2014, Governor Aliyu Wamakko having forgotten what he promised in 2013 moved on to again reassure the public that arrangements have been concluded for the take-off of the state’s Independent Power Project (IPP) and that it will commence operation very soon. At this point, one must begin to wonder why Governor Wammakko keeps on repeating promises that were meant to be false and what obstacle could be responsible for the delay in commissioning the power project despite all these promises of completion dating back to 2009?

Above are just few in the series of countless lies of the pervasive greed, fraud, and corruption sold-out daily by both Governor Wammakko and his co-travelers, all in pretense of establishing a dubious power plant while in reality, the project was mainly initiated to rob the taxpayers of their hard earned wealth and nothing but a fraud.
As i pen down this piece, the so-called Independent Power Project is nowhere near completion, the only visible things within the entire mise en scène of the project as at today is; one large-size generator, a red tank constructed for storing black oil that will run the power plant, two mango trees, two uniform military men and two civil defense officers on guard. In all sense of fairness, this is how the outlook of the locus where the so-called power plant is situated and has been this way for over two years now.
It appears a major fraud is being perpetrated against the hard-working people of Sokoto State in the construction of this Independent Power Plant (IPP), the people of Sokoto State should not be misled by stories that progress was or have being made at the job site, nothing commendable has been achieved so far and all the equipments are not new but second-hand, dated, used, and not up to standard; whoever hope of a stable electricity from this power plant should simply put it where it rightly belong (into the dustbin), the nature of work put in place isn't what the people of Sokoto State bargained for or what they were promised.

Though there are several petitions inviting the Economic and Financial Crime Commission to come investigate the power project for alleged financial misappropriation, there's still the need for the present government of RT. Hon. Aminu Waziri to revisit every single move involving the project in the spirit of change, and to right the wrong of the previous regime if only if the anti-corruption slogan of the APC led-government is really for the masses benefits.

Empty Treasury And The Outrageous Defence Of Impunity: A Rejoinder To Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, By Usama Dandare

 It is no more news that the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has undoubtedly squandered Nigeria's goodwill and left the nation in Chapter 11. The tumultous widespread and unchecked corruption, impunity, scandals in the oil sector, and delinquency put on public ballyhoo during the last six years with Jonathan on the mantle were perhaps the genesis of today's fiscal difficulties ravaging the Nigerian states coupled with dwindling oil prices in the global market. It is clear even to the blind that Nigeria as a nation has gone extremely broke, leaving several states governments and federal agencies unable to pay workers salary for several months and beyond.

Controversies and rejoinders trails the June 22 declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari that his government inherited a 'virtually empty treasury' from the past notorious regime of Goodluck Jonathan, one of interest was the plain denial by one Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, an ex-Minister and Deputy Chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC) in which he claimed that the Jonathan government left ₦6trn (US$30bn) in the nation's treasury for the new regime of President Buhari as at May 29. Insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari's statements are “unscientific and unfair,” saying ex-President Jonathan “left behind close to US$30 billion.” And on this i set to opine; that the ex-minister isn't only misleading the gullible population but making mockery of our collective sense of reasoning.

In clarification, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, a former Minister and Vice President of the World Bank, and also the co-founder of Transparency International, gave more insight into the raging controversy in a series of tweets, she said: the $30bn claimed by the ex-minister were the "balance of whatever Oil Revenue Dollars, Federal Government did not "sell" to CBN to get Naira that it save as Excess Crude Account and that Jonathan administration left only $2B" not $30bn in the ECA against Dr. Sulaiman claims. She elaborated that "when the Federal Government earns Oil Revenue Dollars, the government may not immediately hand over everything to CBN to give it Naira value and such balance is saved as Excess Crude Account (ECA). Mrs. Oby further queried who that ex-Minister could be who doesn't know that the $30Billion CBN reserve is no longer available for the Federal Government as it has already being collected and spent as Naira?"

Going by Dr. Sulaiman's recent outburst, it's veraciously clear that the ex-minister was either endeavoring to score some cheap political points or striving to bulwark those goats that ate our yams and garrison the series of financial devilments of the Jonathan administration or both. If not under the influence of some toxic substance, it's astonishing how any psychologically fit human who is conversant with happenings within the government domain will agree that the past regime of Goodluck Jonathan can leave behind a huge sum of ₦6trn in the nation's treasury, when in fact the regime left over ₦7.6trn (US$35bn) deficit?

It's on record that the Jonathan government was extremely broke that it had to borrow ₦473bn to pay workers salary for the months of April and May in particular. If there was ₦6trn in the nation's treasury as claimed by Dr. Sulaiman, why would the government borrow to pay salaries?

http:/www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/nigeria-borrows-to-pay-salaries-with-cash-crunch-worsening/

Is Dr. Sulaiman aware that at the end of May, Nigeria's External Reserve was far below $30bn? Then how possible could it be for a government that failed to strengthen the nation's foreign reserve to save such a huge sum of $30bn? As usual, the invisible achievements of the Jonathan government always and only exists on papers.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigeria-s-external-reserves-fall-below-30-billion/205171/

Does it make sense for any responsible government to borrow $1bn when it have $30bn at it disposal? Can Dr. Sulaiman also put in plain English why the Jonathan government acquired a loan of $1bn to fight insurgency in the north-east if at all there was $30bn in its coffers?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28343074

Just of recent in January of 2015 and few weeks to the end of the immediate past regime, the then President Goodluck Jonathan requested to borrow ₦2.97trn (US$5.7bn) from several development partners to finance some of the remaining projects his government has started as he claimed. How can Dr. Sulaiman convince Nigerians that Jonathan government has ₦6trn (US$30bn) in its exchequers and at same time opted for a loan of just ₦2.97trn (US$5.7)?  
http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/oil-slump-fg-may-borrow-from-wbank-others/

Moreover, the former President (Goodluck Jonathan) should have cut it short by clearing the air on the country's financial standings before leaving office which could have saved Dr. Sulaiman from unearthing his gross insincerity and dishonesty to the public domain. The ex-president could have at least - in his handing over speech or note - declared publicly how much was in the governments' accounts and how much was the government owing as at the expiration of his reign to ward off controversies and heated debates but howbeit, Jonathan was never known for accountability and as things stands, it's possible that the former President wasn't even aware of the actual figures or amounts of funds that his administration left behind in government treasury. If Jonathan can forenamed that he can't elucidate how trillions of Naira were spent in the ongoing fight against the bloodthirsty Boko Haram terrorists because 'he isn't incharge' of the Ministry of Defence, it's possible for him to be unaware of the nation's financial standings since he wasn't incharge of the Minister of Finance either.

Taking into account how desperate President Jonathan and his co-travelers were when it comes to accepting credits even for what they did not do and if at all the $30bn Dr. Sulaiman claimed his boss left in the nation's treasury were actually there. One must wonder why Jonathan's vuvuzelas formed deaf ears and decided not to say a bit in the whole controversy, neither Doyin Okupe nor Marilyn Ogar or any other Jonathan attack dogs was bold and courageous enough to counter-fact President Buhari's claims except one second-rated byproduct who's trivial throughout the Jonathan administration.

In a nutshell, Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman should take some chilled water to digest his bitterness or hate against Nigeria's development and always speak with fact and figures to elude further fallacious claims. And by the same token, President Buhari must realize the gigantic task ahead and the burden of high expectations on him and therefore, Nigerians will not accept any excuse of inheriting an empty treasury, i expect the president not to capitalize on this reason (though I am confident he won't) and should head straight into action. Despite inhering an empty treasury, I strongly believed that by now Nigeria has earned enough revenue to takeoff governance and as such, Nigerians are expecting immediate actions from the people's president henceforth.

Scientifically Proven Benefits Of Ramadan Fast, By Usama Dandare

 Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Holy Quran to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and this annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Fasting is fardh ("obligatory") for adult Muslims, except those who are suffering from an illness, travelers, the elderly, pregnant women, nursing mothers and those going through menstrual bleeding.
While fasting from dawn until sunset, Muslims refrain from consuming food, drinks, smoking, backbiting, long arguments, lying, fighting and engaging in sexual relations; Muslims are also mandated to refrain from other behavior that could be perceived as sinful, such as swearing, engaging in disagreements, and unnecessary noise-making.

Several Muslims around the world observe fast between dawn to sunset in the month of Ramadan, they do so not for losing fat or any medical value, but for spiritual benefits as it is ordained by the Holy Quran in 'Q 2:183' which says:

"O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you, as it was prescribed for those before you (i.e. Jews, & Christians) so that you may (learn) self-restraint."

But while fasting during the holy month remains an avenue for introspection and spiritual renewal for all Muslims around the world, fasting has several health benefits which was why even non-Muslims are encouraged to observe: during Ramadan, lunch is basically missed and take an early hour breakfast and do not eat until dusk. Abstinence from water for 12 or so hours is necessary for concentration of all fluids within the body, thus producing slight dehydration. The body has its own water conservation mechanism; in fact, it has been shown that slight dehydration and water conservation, improve longevity.

The physiological effect of fasting includes lowering of blood sugar, lowering of cholesterol and lowering of the systolic blood pressure. In fact, Ramadan fasting would be an ideal recommendation for the treatment of mild to moderate, stable, non-insulin diabetes, obesity, and essential hypertension but on the other hand, patients who are suffering from severe diseases, whether type 1 diabetes or coronary artery disease, kidney stones, etc., are exempted and should therefore not be allowed to fast.

When fasting, you give rest to the gastro-intestinal tract, the sexual organs, the tongue, the eyes and ears, etc. The transit time for a bolus of food from the mouth to the end of the large intestine, called colon, is about 12 to 14 hours. In fact, fasting is an additional safety device for the regenerative processes of the body. The repair processes of the body and the brain, including the memory molecules which take place when the body is at rest, especially during the stage of deep sleep. Sleeping during Ramadan is much deeper than in other times. Two hours of sleep during Ramadan are more satisfying and refreshing than more hours of sleep otherwise.

Fasting significantly increases deep sleep and reduces the dreaming time, which takes place during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) in sleep, thus making it more beneficial for the elderly to fast because their normal hours of deep sleep in the non-fasting state are much less.

Through the beneficial effects of magnesium, fasting prevents the formation of atheroma as well as dissolves atheromatous plaques which are responsible for heart attacks and strokes. Hence, fasting takes an active part in the rejuvenating processes of the body through many channels.
Ramadan fast puts a healthy mind into a healthy body because fasting increased secretion of the growth hormone by the pituitary gland.. It is an anabolic hormone for synthesis of proteins and collagen, which produces a positive nitrogen balance. It also stimulates erythropoiesis, as well as collagen synthesis.

During the exercise of fasting, prayers and different spiritual experiences of Ramadan, certain endogenous substances are released by the brain and spinal-cord into the body called opioids, which include enkephalins and endorphins. These are responsible for euphoria, tranquility and serenity during such periods. Endorphins and enkephalins are natural painkillers. Endorphins may be responsible for the "feel nice" effects, experienced by many people after rigorous exercise. Endorphins and enkephalins are derived from beta-lipotropin. On release, it is cleaved to form three major active products: called met-enkephalin, gamma-endorphin, and beta-endorphin. Beta-endorphin is most active, and is about 20 times as potent as morphine. In addition to their pain killing properties, the narcoticanalgesics cause a profound feeling of well-being (euphoria). It is this feeling that is in part responsible for the psychological drive of certain persons who are fasting.

Muslims who have been fasting regularly since childhood have been exposed to different sleep/wake and light/darkness cycles on a daily basis in one annual lunar month. Hence, it may be easier for such persons to synchronize at a faster rate their circadian, circa-lunar and circa-annual bio-rhythms, under difficult conditions. Therefore, it is expected that Muslims who fast regularly would least suffer from jet lag and that health problems in Muslim shift-workers would be minimal.

Moreover, the social contact during taraweeh or qiyam (long night prayers) and other social spiritual activities should act as a zeitgeber (from German 'time-giver') which regulates any desynchronized biological rhythm. This amounts to gentle physical exercise, involving each and every muscle in the body and the night prayers utilized approximately, 200 calories. Perhaps, more additional exercise utilizes several extra calories ingested at iftar (meal for breaking the fast) approximately 1-2 hours earlier. Simultaneously, the blood glucose is steadily rising in the blood from the ingested nutrients; the circulating glucose isoxidized to CO2 and H20 during the prayers.

The physical movements during qiyam prayers also improve flexibility, co-ordination and relaxation response. It again reduces stress-related autonomic responses in normal persons and relieves anxiety and depression. Adrenaline and noradrenalin are secreted during the physical exercise of qiyam. They are responsible for the consequent dynamism, which now combines with the tranquility and the serenity, due to the secretion of enkephalins, endorphins, dynorphins and others.

The strain put on the forearm, during prostration in lifting the body from the ground, increases the bone mineral content of the forearm. The varying load during the different postures causes a lubricating effect and a protective flow of synovial fluid into the joint cavity. The reinforcement of the calf muscle pump by active ankle movements prevents deep veinthrombosis, which is a common cause of chronic ulcers of the legs in the elderly.
Exercise of qiyam improves mood, thought and behavior. Memory for short-term events deteriorates with old age. Prayers improve memory in the elderly, forshort-term events, by keeping the memory pathways in the brain open and communicating with each other, especially with constant repetition of the verses from The Holy Qur'an and other supplications of Allah (swt's) glory. This also helps to screen the mind from other incoming thoughts.
There are also psychological effects of fasting as well. There is peace and tranquility for those who fast during the month of Ramadan as personal hostility is at a minimum, and the crime rate decreases. Aggression across borders in some countries is at a stand-still due to Ramadan because Muslims take advice from the Prophet (saw) who said, "If one slanders you or aggresses against you, say I am fasting."

Understanding what Ramadan is and the sanctity of the fast is of paramount importance to all of us whether we are Muslim or non-Muslims. The goal of fasting is to teach patience, discipline, modesty and spirituality. Whoever is observing a lengthy period of fasting must stay healthy, eat wisely and sleep enough.

It is an effective detoxification therapy as toxins will break down and pass out of the body. Also, fasting is ideal for both the overweight and underweight. Fo rthe overweight, deposited fat gets used and burns down, facilitating weight loss. For the underweight, fasting also normalizes the digestive system and equips a body to digest and assimilate nutrients. Fasting can also clear many skin problems. This is because of the elimination of toxic materials. Fasting also has advantages in getting rid of addictions and habits like smoking and drinking alcohol.

Conclusively, these few tips below may help one maintain a balance and healthy life throughout this holy month of Ramadan and beyond:
* Avoid eating an excess of carbohydrates.
* Avoid an intake of excessive sugary and spicy food, and also stay away from caffeine drinks such as coke, coffee or tea.
* Avoid snacks high in salt like chips or nuts.
*  Take dinner only before Ishaa and after Taraweeh prayers, so the time afterwards is spent in Ibaadah, prayers and dhikr.
* Women should not be made to cook all day: hence, keep the meals simple and humble, so they too can get the time to engage in equal Ibaadah and prayers, during their day, and post-Iftaar as well.
* When considering dinner, it's very important to include food varieties like: Meat/Bean, Bread/Cereal, Milk, Vegetable, Fruits among others.

Finally, i wish all my readers, friends, well-wishers, colleagues, family and the entire Muslim umma a blissful, bountiful, glorious and a happy Ramadan fast. May the Almighty Allah - the God of Muhammed, the God of Jesus Christ, the God of Moses and the God of Abraham - accept all our Ibaadah and spare our lives to witness more and more Ramadans ahead.

Reference:
www​.khanapakana.com
www​.masjidtucson.org
www​.islam-usa.com
www​.nature.com
www​.nhs.uk