Well Done, Nigeria

The world is full of uncertainties as we all know. Several countries have been bedeviled with chaos and conflicts at certain times and in all these cases the civilian population bears the brunt of those in power and those fighting to kick them out. Women and children are the most vulnerable when in times of conflict. The African continent is no exception to these upheavals as in several African countries there is chaos and confusion before, during and after general elections.

The Ivory Coast went through such an experience when the incumbent President, Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept the outcome of their general elections and accused the opposition led by Alhassane Outarra of rigging the elections. This further degenerated into a conflict with both sides committing atrocities. Gbagbo had to be forced out and he is now at the International Criminal Court in the Hague facing trial for war crimes.

Whenever there is going to be an election in any African country, the whole world especially the International Community watch with skepticism as to what will happen before, during and after the elections. Some investors tend to relocate their valuable investments from that country after assessing the situation to see whether there will be chaos and confusion after the results have been announced. It is also very rare in Africa for an opposition party to win an election as the ruling party abuses the power of incumbency to the fullest to win the elections. But Nigeria proved the whole world wrong as the opposition party, the APC defeated the ruling party, the PDP for the first time since independence in the 2015 general elections in Nigeria.

It came as no surprise as it happened in Ghana during the 2000 general elections when the opposition NPP defeated the ruling NDC and there was a peaceful transfer of power. Nigeria also picked up from there as the defeated incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan called the newly elected president, Muhammadu Buhari to concede defeat and congratulate him. This single act put the doom sayers to shame as most of the international media were just ready to report anything negative as a result of the outcome of the elections.

Nigerians have really shown maturity and the chairman of the INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega must be highly commended for remaining calm and cool in going about his work. I will like to take this opportunity to wish the new Nigerian  President elect, His Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari all the best in ruling Nigeria.  The world will be shifting their attention to Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Togo, where elections will be held later this year. Lets pray and hope for peaceful, free and fair elections in these countries. I pray and hope all Nigerians will join hands with his government and chart a new course for the country. God bless Nigeria, God bless Africa. Well done, Nigeria, from Ghana, we say "ayeekoo".

Who Killed Boris Nemtsov?

Once again another Russian opposition leader has been assassinated right near the Kremlin and the whole world is very furious with this callous and cowardly act. The question I will like to ask is 'who sanctioned this assassination or who ordered the hit on Boris Nemtsov?' The Kremlin has come out to condemn this act and has promised to conduct a thorough investigation into it and also bring the culprits to book. This assassination bears the hallmarks of a Cold War hit.

Did some over zealous Kremlin official do this without the knowledge of President Vladimir Putin just to shut Nemtsov up once and for all? Or judging from how the hit was carried out, the victim was followed to the point where four bullets were pumped into his chest. Who was the Ukrainian lady he was walking with on that day and why was she there? Was this assassination carried out just to make President Putin look evil in the eyes of the international community if what is alleged to be going on in the Ukraine as being reported by some of the Western media houses? Also, what will President Putin gain by assassinating his fiercest critic whiles his approval ratings are at an all time high?

I smell a serious conspiracy in Boris Nemtsov's assassination and I have a hunch some external hands are involved. Why was that location picked? Why did the lady he was with when questioned denied seeing the assassins? I also suspect this was done to whip up popular discontent and protests against  the Russian government. What also baffles me is that such murders remain unsolved as the killers always cover their tracks and mop up every shred of evidence that will lead to their capture. This means that the hit was carried out by professional assassins. The truth about Nemtsov's murder will surely come out one day.

The World In Crisis

As i sit down and write this piece, i realized how fast the year 2014 has gone by, and we are left with only four more days for the year to end and we will be ushering in the year 2015. A lot has happened on the international scene and for that matter the global arena with all sorts of power play going on. But the highlights of 2014 to me will be the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 with almost 239 passengers on board, Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Ukrainian crisis and the alleged shooting down of another Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine also killing almost 300 innocent passengers. The shooting of unarmed blacks in the US could also be something worth mentioning as protests are seriously going on in some of the US cities to bring to the fore the senseless killings. The US Senate also released the much dreaded CIA Torture Report and the world was taken aback by the details of the report with some people calling for the officials in charge of such gross human rights abuses to be brought to book, but hey, who cares? Its the US the so called bastion of Western Democracy and they do as they please, so we just shut up and watch as the report gathers dust on the shelves.

In my opinion, coupled with other major events that took place in the year 2014, like the imposition of sanctions on Russia by the EU and the US the world is seriously in crisis. The reduction of the price of crude oil  on the world market is having far more repercussions  than it was imagined. The economies of some of the major OPEC countries is suffering as a result of this reduction. The Russian currency, the Rouble is in a serious decline and Nigeria's Naira is facing the same problem as the government had to devalue the currency. The sanctions imposed on Russia is also affecting the EU countries badly and it seems they do not want to admit it.

the year 2015 will definitely be a challenging year and we must all avoid plunging the world into a major crisis. Dialogue must be used to settle conflicts, human rights of people must be respected and the hypocrisy must end on the international scene. The world is truly and really is in a crisis judging by what went on during the year 2014.

The "Spatula" Revolution of Burkina Faso

The people of Burkina Faso have spoken with their voices and the former President, Blaise Compoare has listened to the voice of reason. He has finally handed in his resignation and the country's Armed Forces have taken charge of the reins of power.

It all started some few days ago as thousands of Burkinabe men and women marched in protest against the decision of the president to table a motion in the country's parliament. He wanted to amend the constitution so that he will stay in power for another five years. The men and women waved spatulas as they protested against Blaise Compoare's 27 year rule. The Parliament building was set ablaze and some shops in the capital Ouagadougou were also vandalized and looted and some of them set ablaze. The security forces responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters and in the process two of the protesters have been confirmed dead and scores injured. It seems the dead and injured Burkinabes have really paid the ultimate price.

So after ruling Burkina Faso for 27 years, what has the former president achieved for his country? What was his role in the death of his former friend and Head of State, Thomas Sankara? Since Blaise Compoare was a staunch ally of the US and France, what did these two governments do to make sure he was stopped in his tracks in his attempt to amend the country's constitution for him to prolong his stay in power? Why do some African leaders decide to stay in power for a long time?

I presume by now the transitional government that has been put in place will start looking for the former president's assets that he has accumulated so far during his 27 year  rule. Why did the UN, ECOWAS, AU allow him to continue to stay in power for all this while and not prevailing on him to step down. What is it with power that some leaders find it difficult to step down when their time is up?

Right now the people of Burkina Faso have spoken and long live the Spatula Revolution. I can imagine Thomas Sankara's ghost hovering around in the Burkinabe capital. I hope the transitional government will do what is expected of them and usher the country into a proper democratic dispensation.

The World At The Crossroads

The world as we see today is really at the crossroads of turmoil and survival due to certain happenings threatening the survival of the human race. The Ebola Virus spread in Africa and the threat of terrorist groups like ISIS, Al Qaeeda and Boko Haram. These groups and the Ebola Virus is really making the world unsafe for humankind. But there are more questions to be answered about these terrorist groups and the Ebola Virus.

Are we being told the truth about the Ebola Virus? Was the virus created to get rid of some races? Why was the Ebola Virus patented and who was the one who patented it? Why is it that the Ebola experimental drug only works on whites and cant be used to cure any blackman? Why are they sending troops to West Africa instead of medical doctors to contain the spread of the disease? When was this experimental ZMapp drug manufactured and by which pharmaceutical firm? Once again, the whole world has been made to believe that the recent spread of the Ebola virus solely began in West Africa. The world wants to know the truth about this dreaded disease.

Who is ISIS? Who are their main sponsors? Which nationalities make up ISIS? Who are the main sponsors of Boko Haram? Why is the world so silent about the abduction of the Chibok girls? I hope to get answers to most of these questions i am asking. The world really is at the crossroads and something drastic must be done to avert the looming disaster that is about to rear its ugly head.

When Innocent People Loose Their Lives ( The Case of the Malaysian Airliner MH17)

The world is really becoming scary with each passing day. Planes with hundreds of passengers disappearing without trace and innocent lives being lost due to people's greed for power and the determination to ascend to the highest level of power. I just don't understand the tragedies that has befallen the people of Malaysia. Who would have thought they would have lost two jet liners with almost more than 500 passengers together with the crew members within a period not less than 5 months.

The first Malaysian Airliner MH370 got missing in flight together with 239 passengers and crew and the whole world still can't track the location of the plane. The second tragedy was the Malaysian Airliner MH17 which was allegedly shot down by only God knows who, over Eastern Ukraine closer to the Russian border. This plane had 298 passengers and crew. This flight was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia when it was allegedly shot down. Now the question is, who shot the plane down? This is where my conspiracy theory comes in.

Firstly, the region in question is a "No Fly Zone" as the Ukrainian Government Forces are battling rebels who are fighting for a separate country in Eastern Ukraine, and the region is a war zone. Were the air traffic controllers not  aware of this situation before allowing that flight path to be chosen? The moment the tragedy happened, the Ukrainian Government was quick to accuse the rebels of shooting down the jet liner. The rebels also have denied shooting down the plane. Now the weapon allegedly used in this act was the Buk Missile which was being used by the Ukrainian Military and was supplied by Russia. Now the natural thing to do is to blame Russia for this tragedy as the weapon allegedly used originated from Moscow, but the Ukrainian  Government must also bear in mind that these weapons were seized from their military installations in Eastern Ukraine when the rebels launched their offensive against the Kiev government.

It becomes more interesting as the West is still not happy with Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, so it could also be that lets create a situation whereby Russia will be accused of an atrocity, then lets pile up sanctions on Moscow, isolate her and make her feel powerless and also make her vulnerable to attacks from all fronts in Europe. But in all these, who suffers most? Its the innocent people who are the worst hit. Until the conclusion of investigations into what actually happened to the MH17, whether it was shot down or it was due to a mechanical fault, lets hold our horses and not jump to conclusions. For any hasty conclusion and irrational decisions taken due to this tragedy might further escalate tensions in the region and if care is not taken might lead to a Third World War. 

My condolences and sympathies goes out to the families of the innocent lives lost in this tragedy.

The Palestinian Question (When Innocent People Suffer)

Once again the Middle East is in a sort of turmoil due to the conflict that has started between the Hamas militants in Gaza and the Israeli Government. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have resolved to bomb the Hamas rocket launch sites in Gaza. The Hamas militants who are regarded as terrorists by both the US, Britain and the Israelis have also made up their mind never to relent in their efforts to resist the Israeli occupation of their land. Both parties are claiming ownership of several territories in Palestine. It seems the one with so much power and the ability to defeat the other party always emerges the winner. For the past one week or so, both Hamas and the IDF have been firing rockets and bombs at each other with the IDF causing more harm and damage to Hamas held areas of Gaza. When at all will these senseless killings end?  Why can't these two parties sit down and dialogue and reach an amicable peace settlement?

More innocent women and children are being killed as the bombs and rockets rain down on both Gaza and the Israeli cities. It seems the UN Security Council have totally lost its voice and it is in mute mode. Both sides have to be condemned as the death toll keeps on rising. As usual, the hypocrisy of the world powers is being seen clearly. So when will the innocent women and children in Palestine stop suffering and also live in a land where they can move around without fear of being killed by an Israeli bomb or a Hamas rocket attack. Both sides must be held accountable for these senseless death. Will the so called world powers call the two parties to order or bring them to the peace table for the world is fed up with the Palestinian Question which sees no end in sight? Posterity will judge us all, for an eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind.