Category: Tony Marinho

Our Girls are missing since April 15 2014. Pray.
Is it true that the APC leadership has asked APC ‘governors’ for funds to run the party? Have we not ‘change’-d? If the money is to be corruptly EXTRACTED FROM STATE as a percent of BUDGETED FUNDS and CONTRACTS, it is a breach of the SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT BUDGET FROM PARTY FUNDING – an essential anticorruption step! Nigeria needs a ‘change’ ‘RETREAT ON ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC ELECTIONS : INDIVIDUAL AND POLITICAL PARTY FUNDING, AND CUTTING COSTS OF ELECTIONS IN 2019’ led by INEC, Transparency International, EFCC and ICPC. To get honest elections Nigeria has just 2 years to move ‘away from stealing IN ORDER to fill MULTIBILLION NAIRA WAR CHESTS for ELECTIONS AND PARTY FUNDING. Nigeria cannot survive MORE POLITICAL THEFT FROM THE BUDGET! Politics and elections will only get CHEAPER if STATE MONEY IS NOT AVAILABLE to be DIVERTED.
THE GLO ADVERT involving a MAN WIELDING A KNIFE against another is disgracefully insensitive, dangerous, mimicking real historic death situations and must be withdrawn. It is no joke! Withdraw it!
So the N7-8,000,000,000 ‘loving donation funded’ Obasanjo Presidential Library, largest worldwide [?], is here. It is a SUPERSTRUCTURE. Past Presidents and Governments cannot be absolved of paradoxical criminal failure to build INFRASTRUCTURE like SCHOOL LIBRARIES UPDATED BY ANNUAL BOOK PURCHASE GRANTS in Nigeria’s educational desert of library-less 80,000 schools which BEGGED THESE SAME PRESIDENTS DURING OFFICE for just N100,000 each x 80,000 = N8,000,000,000 for 100-200 books/school!
FG must instruct Customs to ‘change’, and also not burn, the N2bn of seized ‘substandard’ tyres. Are they a ‘failed deal’ like the past Customs boss with 46 exotic cars – a ‘Custom’ for Customs Chiefs?? The toxic smoke choking the environment from vulcanisers and rioters tyre-burning should encourage the FG/NASS to BAN TYRE-BURNING. Challenge universities and polytechnics to RECYCLE with ALTERNATIVE TYRE USES as competitive entrepreneur projects in Arts, Culture Technology, Science -ACTS. Imagine a 100-feet crazy artwork in 40 universities.
Yes by all means NASS should take away the much abused and multibillion dollar Presidential POWER TO ALLOCATE NIGERIA’S FEW MULTIBILLION NAIRA OIL BLOCKS often allocated after tearful begging without even a 20-25% to the local community. But what right, apart from a proclivity to acquire wealth and hyper-pensions, does NASS claim to undertake leadership in this? Learning from history OIL BLOCKS should be out of bounds to citizens with the Presidency and NASS together allowed to ONLY LEASE FOR 5-10 YEARS TO COMMUNITIES OR ALLOTTEES OR PAYING 10-20-100% TO A SPECIALLY CREATED LOCAL COMMUNITY SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND.
Moved by the evil of apartheid, found by Mandela to be less evil than Nigeria’s political governments, I wrote a story published by SPECTRUM BOOKS IN 1986ish called DEADLY CARGO -the story of the South African Apartheid Government attempt to blow up Lagos Apapa Port with a bomb in a ship and how the attempt was foiled by Nigerians.
Now, we protest XENOPHOBIA OF SOUTH AFRICANS. Nigerians have a modified xenophobia at home! But the Federal Government, NASS and the press hardly protest or provide compensation when 20 or 300 farmers are killed and houses are razed!!! Is it ‘okay’ to kill each other but no foreigners must kill us OOOOO?
But we mistakenly blame the Xenophobia on South Africa’s lack of history. We think they should have learnt of their ‘debt’ to Nigeria and ‘respect Nigerians’ for Nigeria’s multifaceted role as safe-haven for hunted activists, sponsored-by-Nigeria unpaying school and university students, funder of the ANC and an armed, aggressive bastion against apartheid in their anti-apartheid protest at the UN and OAU. Who cares today? It is a new post-apartheid generation of South Africans born in the last 30-35 years – without history.  The new post-apartheid generation of Nigerians struggling for survival abroad because we have forced them to flee Nigeria is equally ignorant of history. Maybe they should visit Obasanjo’s Presidential Library? Foolishly Nigeria has erected no monument or museum for youth to study the Nigerian Anti-Apartheid struggle. So the South Africans are ignorant simply because Nigeria or no-one has gotten media attention about Nigeria’s role.
Colonial countries were made into nations by doctored historical documentation. Unfortunately, Nigeria buried its history in the Congo, elsewhere and ECOMOG in West Africa where 3,000 to 12,000 Nigerian soldiers died, remembered only by their families. Where is the DOCUMENTARY ‘NIGERIA: FRONTLINE STATE AGAINST APARTHEID’? We watch Nollywood historical films like ‘76’ and ‘93 Days’, the story of Dr Adadevoh, Dr Oheiri and other medical colleagues’ heroism against Ebola in Lagos. Who has funded or produced a Nollywood film or interviewed the aging participants in Nigeria, the UN and South Africa about the diary of events, travel routes, diplomatic manoeuvring, spy tactics, dangers and deaths? Who has accessed the Apartheid South Africa Government’s covert ‘Nigeria counterterrorism’ files? Thandi and then to-be President Mbeki were among South Africans passing through Ibadan meeting Mr Ogie Alakija, Dr R Zard and late Mr ED Alalade–ask them. Interview them. This should be the next Nollywood blockbuster!!
We must not allow all Nigerians to be mislabelled as criminals but must not criminalise all South Africa which incidentally has 45,000Mw from their evil apartheid Government while we struggle with 2-4,000Mw from our Past RUBBISH CRIMINAL GOVERNMENTS!
NB: Identify and expose ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for the next election.

Our girls are still missing since April 15 2014.Will they return home? Trump’s new customs regulation? Prove you are a ‘lactating woman’. Na wa O!

The hardship meted out to Nigerians in the name of unachieved poor development since 1970s deserves Political Science research and documentation at this time of protest against Buhari’s governance. Nigerians seem not satisfied with a President and team which largely does not, steal, or give handouts. The government certainly failed Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Things are really bad but did Buhari make them bad or worse? They say we should not look back but forward. But Buhari was given an iced national cake with the inside ripped out by massive corruption and political abuses of his predecessors. Now that hollow cake has melted and collapsed in his hands in the hot sun in full view of a starving public with fickle opinion. This is compounded by a world economic slowdown and an oil price collapse that has cut profits in many oil companies by 60%.

Buhari is holding the ‘dead cake’ and past governments are thanking that their rape of the economy and their political and monetary malfeasance are blamed on Buhari, not them. However all political parties are guilty of the political financial arrogance that is National Assembly, (NASS), state governors, state assemblies and LGAs -‘NIGERIA’S POLITICAL EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY’. Blame goes to our failed past rulers who allocate RETIREMENT CHOP-CHOP and national honours for ‘ZERO RESULT’.

Becoming a Head of State or governor by coup or corruption, selection or election is not enough. PERFORMANCE MATTERS and the abysmal state of Nigeria’s infrastructure show that we have lacked that driven, visionary and practical leadership PERFORMANCE that could have propelled us into the 21st century. Nigeria always had money but never enough to 1] Steal more than 10% or misappropriate; and 2] Develop at the same time. So leaders and their acolytes’ stopped development instead creating highly developed families with money and shares and stakes in everything and these families are the ‘new development’ and legacies. The negative impact on development is paralytic.

Governments establishing underfunded universities is not a legacy but a burden on the unfortunate students sent to study therein but forced to spend extra years while strikes strike and cash-strapped teachers sell cement and teach the ‘theory’ with no infrastructure because someone has stolen or misappropriated funds. Criminal consequences of nationalised corruption!
The smuggling of 661 pump-action weapons, ‘ArmsGate2‘ seized by Customs is a mega-normous covert operation.

No matter whether it was a nationalistic tip-off or a disgruntled ‘you did not pay me enough bribe’ tip off, please go through the Nollywood blockbuster steps. Start by immersing yourself, family or office colleagues in an ‘Arms Buying Game’. Ask and answer the questions: ‘Let’s arm ourselves or others’, ‘Why?’, ‘Where do we get arms?’, ‘Have we got enough money? Let us squeeze that man, he owes us and his money is in Asia buying Chinese doors. Maybe we can put the guns in the doors.’, ‘Haha, don’t be silly.

The Chinese manufacturer will not agree’, ’Don’t’ worry, Dora Akunyili is dead, we can have fake doors now!’, ‘Which arms dealer will sell to us after the last Armsgate?’ ‘This is not government business, no probe‘, ‘Who should we use?’, ‘What type of arms should we get, single, double barrel, Uzi, AK47?’ ‘No, ‘Pump Action Rifle’. ’I have a friend…’, ‘How many arms can we bring in?’, ‘Should we bring the arms in singly or in bulk?’, ‘I know one Customs chap’. ‘I know two’, ‘I know ten’ and the especially Niga question ‘why buy new weapons and not Tokunbo- second hand as we normally buy for government and repaint to look like new?’. ‘Oga go kill you O, I no de.’
The questions Nigerians ask are, ‘Is this the total shipment or the first, middle or last container as part of a larger arms shipment in the same or other containers on the same or other ships?’ ‘Are these all the arms or is this a part of a larger shipment, and where is the rest of the shipment, has it already gone through?’ And remember the guns need ammunition. Is that supplied from Gadhafi-land? Are the weapons being supplied without ammunition? Is the ammunition in other two or 10 container loads of Chinese doors or Indian windows this time? Has the ammunition already gone through? Destination questions arise. Which part of Nigeria? Was the routed destination a decoy for the truck to be high-jacked to the real destination? Has the company ordering the consignment of Chinese doors been interrogated or exonerated and have the destination people been apprehended before the seizure? Were the guns put in at the Chinese door factory or elsewhere?
There must be thousands of people involved in this Armsgate2 Affair from ‘respectable’ banks paying huge sums around the world, to Customs to labourers and administrators. Let us add to the cost of this project at a landing undercover and blackmail cost of maybe $2,000-3,500 mix the 661=$1.3-2.3m=N520,000,000 to N920,000,000. Including worldwide bribes, =N1billion+ black-market arms trade deal prices. This excludes the price of the metal doors, tens of millions. It suggests maybe N1-2billion. Who paid and why? Where is the paper trail? Look at your metal doors differently. But who can put their finger on the kingpins?
NB: Identify and expose to the public ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for the next election.

Our Girls are still missing since April 15th 2014. Watch Trump for entertainment and ‘reality TV’. Anambra State’s clampdown on thugs collecting illegal levies is ‘photocopy-able’ nationwide. Governors must save citizens from Government 419 and illegal taxation from LGAs staff and Ex-staff ‘419ers’. Lagos State Employment Trust Fund gives loans of N1b for SMEs. Good. Please investigate East Uganda’s $19m solar farm with 32,000 panels across 30 acres providing 10Mw to 40,000 homes and offices. Even SUN Nigerians refuse to utilise!
Malcom Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’ mentions Alan Shoenfeld, Berkeley Maths Professor who found the more maths you do the better you get. Simple? I remember failing maths in St Gregory’s College. In Form 5 with WASC looming, I fearfully sat Past Question Papers (PQPs) for 2½-3 hours. Self-marked, I got a F9, 33%. During the next six months, by working PQPs 1-2 hours/day, I got better achieving a ‘C‘ in Maths in WASC. Tell Nigeria’s children: ‘MATHS PRACTICE MAKES MATHS SEMI-PERFECT’. Maths requires a Martin Luther King’s ‘I shall Overcome’ Attitude not prayers. Maths practice is ‘Maths Practicals’ and for weak students is DIY, Do It Yourself, at HOME and DAILY AND PRACTICAL MENTAL ARITHMETIC!
Lest we forget and before we forgive, add up the INCALCULABLE COST on our ‘Nigeria’s Violent Dead (VD) Calculator’ of our dead and injured in this boastful ‘power dark’ country. ‘THE MATHS OF WAR CASUALTIES is simple = DEATH: INJURY: DISPLACEMENT’– 1 DEAD: 10 INJURED: 20-100 DISPLACED from – BOW/ARROWS, BAYONETS/MACHETES, BIKE, BULLETS, BOMB, BIOLOGICAL WARFARE-typhoid, cholera etc. Start with the Civil War 1+million dead. The ‘revelation’ of 10-20,000 dead in Southern Kaduna require ethnic and religious breakdown. Government underestimates by 50-200%, suggesting that 50,000 are dead. Since Deaths: Injuries are 1:10 then the injured, psychological and physical, amount to 500,000 from Southern Kaduna and IDPs in hundreds of thousands, many have fled nationwide. Add the 30,000 dead and 3,000,000 IDPs from Fulani herdsmen: Farmers, also murderous in Southern Kaduna, and the 30,000 dead and 3,000,000 displaced by Boko Haram, including University of Maiduguri mosque murdered and the 10,000+ kidnapped. The ‘Nigeria’s VD Calculator’ has post-slavery dead of 1,100,000 dead and five million IDPs without adding the dead from government incompetence–the pothole and power failure dead- the fuel explosions, generator fumes, remember Jesse’s 1,000 and dead from scooping fuel from punctured or corroded pipelines or crashed tankers, and from military and government extremism exemplified by murdered Ken Saro Wiwa, Uncle Bola Ige, Funsho Williams, Odi’s 100, coup plots -real and imagined-, ECOMOG, et cetera. Add ‘one chance’ victims of public transport kidnapped or ritually murdered for body part concoctions to ‘guarantee success’ in studies, business, politics and love, the victims of student cultism e.g. ‘The Ife 7’ and the murdered lecturers in Ilorin and the police killed in robberies and police killings by ‘accidental [-ly on purpose] discharge’. ‘All present and correct’-ly dead! Add 30,000 ‘Deaths by Politics’. Add 100,000 deaths and 1,000,000 physical and psychological injuries by the political class supporting the Okada Epidemic infecting even your family.
Even ‘Nigeria’s Violent Dead Calculator’ cannot calculate the death of the 1960 Nigerian Independence Dream to live and love Nigeria ‘In A Great Country Turned Into A Great Nation By Great Leaders’. The Martin Luther King’s I had a Dream and the American Dream may dominate Hollywood but we have had a dream and desire for Nigeria’s greatness from our St Gregory’s days in the early 1960s with Johnny Uku, Tokunbo Marinho. The dream survived coups, conflicts of conscience, and the Nigerian Civil War when my best friends were ‘First In Class’ Pius Idigo and Charles Hammond and the yet-to-be Great Fela was our idol and Sunday Jump our home. It grew into a patriotic raging bull in the University of Ibadan with great medical student friends like Cyril Etomi, Funso Onafowokan, Wale Kabiawo and Wole Ogunseiyinde in the late 1960s- early 1970s. It became a huge badge of pride during NYSC in Jos/Lafia in 1975/6 and in the late 1970s-early 1980s, when the naira was Baba Dollar and the Green Passport was ‘The Passport to Beat’ and UCH was UCH and members of The Group notably Dele Fawole and friends like Tobi Aken’Ova made families into families. Later ethnic and military politics, time and circumstance cut every dream into mere harmattan mist and I have lamented in 1,000+ articles and with friends like Toks Abiose and Banwo Smith the Murder and Death of the Nigerian Dream. I mention these wonderful people as representational of true Nigerians so that you may know that we are many, legion, hands chaffed, clothes bloodstained and hopes dashed at the barricades of moral rectitude and integrity. We are assailed daily by a spiteful greedy ‘POLITICAL EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY’ which charges so highly for services of questionable quality and pays itself outrageously, while failing every leadership test. We witness the looting of treasuries and erection of empires while we work, with bare hands, at nation-building on farms raided by Fulani herdsmen.
Dream shattered, true Nigerians may not be rich by Nigeria’s outrageous rich-political thieving standards, but we are rich in the spirit dampened by naira, political, fuel and power failures. Nigeria must stop THE UGLY MATHS OF NIGERIA’S SELF-HARM -VIOLENCE AGAINST ITSELF! I dare to modify Wole Soyinka/Tunji Oyelana’s chant for Nigeria@57¼ to ‘I love my country I no go lie, na inside am I don de die’. Find and raise Political Leaders Who LOVE NIGERIA!