Nigeria blasts US Congressman @RepTomMarino: Your Flight of fancy is not grounded in REALITY!

The US Congressman @Rep Tom Marino is internet savvy, he has been on Twitter since 2011, and has a modest followership of over 15,000 there, with over 7,000 fans on his Facebook Page, in spite of all these, he goofed like the typical ignorant Republican fantasy rumour-peddling politician. Let’s thank Nigeria’s information minister, Lai Mohammed who exposed the underbelly of Tom Marino’s “selective” amnesia about the true state of Buhari’s administration and Nigerian security. Reading through NANnews reel, all we can say is: REP. MARINO, TELL YOUR CONCOCTED LIES TO THE MARINES!

Tom Marino, member of the US House of Representatives has been hammered by Nigeria’s government for being out of tune with the Nigerian reality.

Nigeria’s reaction followed Marino’s letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, asking the US to withhold security assistance to Nigeria on the strength of some imaginary infraction by the Buhari Administration.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Congressman Marino was poorly informed about the issues he commented on, wondering why he did not take the pains to get first hand information from the US Embassy in Nigeria or any other credible source before engaging in what is nothing but a ‘propaganda of his own imagination’.

The Minister said by asking the US to refrain from selling warplanes and other military equipment to Nigeria based on a faulty premise, the Congressman has demonstrated a poor understanding of global security issues.

‘’Insecurity anywhere is insecurity everywhere. Had Congressman Marino understood this, he would not have made the kind of call he made concerning the US security assistance to Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency that Nigeria has decisively dealt with under President Muhammadu Buhari is not just a Nigerian problem but a regional and international crisis,’’ he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said Congressman Marino definitely did not have Nigeria in mind when he wrote that the US should withhold security assistance to Nigeria until President Buhari ‘demonstrates a commitment to inclusive government and the most basic tenets of democracy: freedom to assemble and freedom of speech’.

”An Administration that operates purely on the basis of respect for the rule of law and a strict adherence to constitutional order is not one to deny the citizens of their constitutionally-guaranteed rights. This Administration therefore does not need the goading of Congressman Marino or anyone for that matter to do what is right.

”Concerning running an inclusive government, had Congressman Marino done his home work before dispatching his letter, he would have realized that no part of the country is left out in the distribution of political appointments, for example, or in the appointment of Ministers, which was done in accordance with the Constitution that mandates that the President must appoint at least one minister from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

”Had the Congressman sought information from credible sources before engaging in a flight of fancy, he would have been presented with a comprehensive information on the appointment of CEOs for Federal Government’s parastatals, agencies and commissions that shows that the appointments were almost evenly matched along the line of the six geo-political zones in the country: With the North West having 51, North Central 46, North East 45, South East 41, South West 45 and South South 45,’’ he said. ‘’The Congressman may wish to note that each geo-political zone comprises 6 states, with the exception of North West (7) and South East (5).’’

The Minister described Congressman Marino’s description of the Administration’s anti-corruption efforts as ‘selective’ as a tired argument that clearly shows that the US lawmaker must have appended his signature to someone’s concocted line.

”That line was invented by those seeking to cause an unnecessary distraction from the Administration’s anti-corruption efforts, and it has been roundly rejected. Congressman Marino’s decision to exhume the dead postulation without an iota of proof is a reflection of whose side he has taken in the ongoing efforts to rid Nigeria of corrupt elements. Needless to say that the anti-corruption battle will continue unhindered, irrespective of whose ox is gored. And in this fight, only the guilty needs be afraid,’’ he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said Nigeria is delighted that US Secretary of State John Kerry, to whom the Congressman addressed his letter, is more knowledgeable, better briefed and definitely more hands on concerning Nigerian issues.

Glean: Osun Defender 

African Gaming League formally Established in Harcourt, Uyo and Abuja

Established in 2015, the African Gaming League , a Nigerian company led by Amaete Umanah, saw the need to build a community of gamers, centred around eSport challenges.

As such, the African Gaming League’s mission is to host live and online tournaments open to all players of any skill level in Sub-Saharan African.

Competitive gaming has become a thing since 1980 where the legendary games production company, Atari, hosted a Space Invaders Championship that saw over 10,000 participants from all over the United States of America. However, it was the rise of the Internet and digital media channels like YouTube, and more recently Twitch.tv, that allowed these gaming tournaments to not only be seen but also streamed live to an audience of millions.

The African Gaming League hoped take a cue from there, leveraging the internet to bring a whole new kind of excitement, particularly to Nigerian game lovers. Umanah and his team were well aware of the challenges; gaming is still viewed as a contentious hobby in this part of the world and often struggles to command respect amongst other entertainment media.

Unshaken by the obstacles, however, they surged ahead. On Saturday, August 20th, 2016, the African Gaming League formally launched in 4 Nigerian cities — Lagos, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Abuja – with players playing with intense concentration.

The events went well and ranged from ‘glitzy and flashy’ in Abuja and Port Harcourt, to a more intimate setting in Lagos. But everyone came ready to kick some digital behind.

In other countries, eSports leagues get bigger sponsorship, offer bigger prize money, have bigger crowds and in some countries, like (South) Korea, have their participants become huge celebrities and icons. Games like DOTA, Starcraft and League of Legends all have prize pots in the tens of millions of dollars. What was once a childish hobby is now a legitimate profession for some people.

This is partly the goal for Amaete Umanah — to build a wider gaming culture in Nigeria where professional gamers can thrive like those Korean icons.

Umanah himself is a gamer and uses it to relieve stress. “There are gamers in Nigeria,” he says,“this soft-launch proved that there are gamers and the potential for a vibrant gaming culture in Nigeria, but the scene is also unstructured.”

The African Gaming League hopes to unify all the disparate communities, and bring a structure that makes it more appealing to foreign investment.”

There were a few to-be-expected teething issues, but ultimately Umanah and his team felt proud of what they achieved. “This is a huge achievement,” he said, “it wasn’t perfect but we executed; we did something that most people just talk about, and on a shoe-string budget too.”

Glean: Techpoint

Foremost African scholar and novelist from Nigeria, Isidore Okpewho dies at 74

Foremost African scholar of Oral Literature and award-winning novelist, Prof. Isidore Okpewho, has passed on at 74.

The Distinguished Professor at State University of New York, died peacefully on Sunday, September 4th, surrounded by family members at a hospital in Binghamton, a town in Upstate New York where he had lived and taught since 1991. 

His teaching career spanned University of New York at Buffalo (1974-76), University of Ibadan (1976-90), Harvard University (1990-91), and State University of New York at Binghamton. 

Born on November 9, 1941 in Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria, Okpewho grew up in Asaba, his maternal hometown, where he attended St Patrick’s College, Asaba. He proceeded to the University College, Ibadan, for his university education. He graduated with a First Class Honours in Classics, and moved on to launch a glorious career: first in publishing at Longman Publishers, and then as an academic after obtaining his PhD from the University of Denver, USA. He crowned his certification with a D.Litt from University of London.

He was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 1982, Alezander von Humboldt Foundation in 1982, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1988, the W.E.B Du Bois Institute in 1990, National Humanities Center in 1997, 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship/

Okpewho won the 1976 African Arts Prize for Literature and 1993 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book Africa. His four novels, The Victims, The Last Duty, Tides, and Call me by my Rightful Name are widely studied in Africa and other parts of the world, with some of them translated into major world languages.

Glean: Linda Ikeji

Ammunition All Over Nigeria

D anger lurks around the corner all over the country which is already facing challenges from all manner of militants, terrorists and criminals. At this perilous period of strangulated economy, weapons are in the hands of people who are in a position to use them to create even deeper crisis.

This, of course, should worry the Federal Government. At the recently concluded National Consultation on Physical Security and Stockpile Management [PSSM] held in Abuja, there were frightening revelations by the Director of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa [UNREC], Olatokunbo Ige.

She said: “The illicit proliferation of SALW[Small Arms and Light Weapons] has had a dramatic impact on peace and security in Africa, threatening not only the existence of the state, but also the livelihood of millions of people across the continent.”

She was specific. “Nigeria is one of the countries experiencing some of the most devastating effects of the proliferation of SALW as a result of spillover effect of the recent crises in Libya and Mali as well as unresolved internal conflicts in different parts of the country especially in the North East, Niger Delta and Southern regions,” Ige added.

In figures , the United Nations official disclosed that “ while reliable data on the numbers of these weapons circulating freely in the country is unavailable, ana-lysts have in recent times estimated that of the about 500 million weapons that might be circulating in West Africa in 2010, some 70 per cent of these could be found in Nigeria.”

This boils down to about 350 million SALW in the hands of different shades of people in country with a population of 150 million. That is alarming to the extent that the whole nation is highly militarized with various ethnic militia springing up daily. There is the 1959 Firearms Act which regulates the use of weapons.

This law that came into being prior to Independence is what is still in place today. For a country that went through Civil War be-tween 1967 and 1970, a lot has changed. The challenges of today were not envisaged during the donkey years of British colonial rule.

The Federal Government must also believe that the country is in danger. It will make no sense to presume that with all these weapons flying around in free hands, the Armed Forces will enjoy a walk over in any crisis that emerges. These Small Arms and Light Weapons can keep even a ragtag army in business for a long while.

The military have the advantage of air cover as well as artillery and armoured tanks. This has not translated into an easy ride. Boko Haram fighters have relied majorly on light weapons to annex towns and villages in the North East. Fighter jets and bombers have not stopped them from keeping the war alive.

The proliferation of arms explains the rising wave of militancy and criminality. From Niger Delta militants, there are new groups emerging in areas that were hitherto inactive. Boko Haram became even more dangerous following the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddaffi in 2010.

At the end of that ugly revolution arms flooded the North providing a huge market for the terror organization. Recent robbery attacks especially in the South West show that criminals have more weapons than the Nigeria Police Force.

These dare devil robbers destroy bullion vans , attack police teams and even dare soldiers. They blow up bank vaults, terrorise communities and boldly abduct monarchs. These weapons do not come cheap. They cost quite some fortune.

How the entire system became full of arms and ammunition is what everyone must be worried about. A man carrying an AK-47 assault rifle which goes for close to half a million naira will not in anyway settle for a job that will fetch him our 18,000 Naira minimum wage.

And the jobs some of the militants who dropped their guns got do not yield over 100,000 naira at the end of the month. It is therefore obvious that many of those who embraced amnesty did so without dropping all the weapons in their possession.

Since Nigeria’s population is about 150 million, it is inconceivable that each compatriot possesses a gun . Even at that, we will be talking of 150 million guns. To have 350 million SALW calls for concern. It shows that some citizens have a lot in their armoury.

When new groups emerge threatening to blow up pipelines or declare independence, government should not dismiss them with such bamboozling military slogans as ‘we will crush them like Boko Haram’. Some of these men are as experienced in weapon handling as our regular troops.

President Muhammadu Buhari must therefore fix the economy so that militancy and terrorism will become less attractive. When there are no jobs for millions of Nigerians, the best job for the desperate ones is the available alternative.

Definitely one AK-47 is worth more than bread and butter. While we support the fight against corruption , we also advise Mr. President to wage a more serious war on unemployment for a hungry man is an angry man. An armed angry man is not just a threat to national security, he is a bomb waiting to explode. Nigeria could do with less weapons.

Glean: New Telegraph