STOPPING NONSENSE! A Collection of Writings and Thoughts of Olisaemeka Akukwe Edited by Vivian Akukwe Nnamdi Okose Copyright© 2021 Vivian Akukwe All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodies in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. ISBN: 978-978-992-410-3 Published by Vivian Akukwe [email protected] www.olisaemekaakukwe.org Cover Picture by i_am_zews/shuttershock.com Cover Design by Friday Ogbali Davis Stopping Nonsense! TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents List of Abbreviation Foreword Introduction 01 PART 1 05 Vision 2020 and the New Society 06 Don’t Blame Emefiele, Blame Buhari 19 Igbo Enwe Eze 23 National Character Vs Federal Character: World Cup Lessons 28 Christmas Message to Ndi Igbo 32 My Fear 40 Nigeria’s Health System and National Well Being 57 Rethinking the National Health Insurance Scheme 61 Ostrich Nation 72 Radical Islam and the Globalization of Terror 75 Syllabus of Deceit (The Truth about the First Coup) 81 Who will tell the President? 86 Why Biafra will not go away (Part One) 91 Why Biafra will not go away (Part Two) 97 Facts Don’t Lie: Reign of Error 109 i Stopping Nonsense! Reign of Error: The Public Sector 121 Wounded Hope: Elections in Nigeria 132 Lead Us Not Into Temptation 137 Damascus Experience Continues 142 Atiku/Obi – An Excellent Choice 145 Hand Me Down Policy 149 It’s Morning Yet 152 Oge Adiro – Politics for Re-Structuring 160 Rigging for Dummies: The Playbook 164 Rigging is not ‘Uncommon’ in America 169 Turkey is the Template 176 Why Jerusalem? … The diplomatic Golgotha Part 1 181 Why Jerusalem? … The diplomatic Golgotha Part 2 185 On Biafra … Ka Akpaa ya Akpa 193 Theory of Black Swan Events 196 Public-Private Partnership and Vision 2020 198 Mass Housing Initiative: An Approach 205 Democracy: The Electoral Process We Deserve 227 The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church in Nigeria 238 One Easter Day in Enugu 245 Can’t Cope, Mbok! 249 PART 2 ii Stopping Nonsense! INTERJECTIONS 252 Pondei Syndrome and the Balm of Gilead 253 Single Narrative Syndrome 254 Look in the Mirror People. Single Narrative is Dangerous 257 The Clock is Ticking 258 In Remembrance 260 … Still on Changing the Narrative 262 Pot calling Saucer Black 265 … Trending Tale 267 Waiting for the Cat to Bark 269 Are you done talking? 270 My answer to a post on ‘Political Islam’ 272 Move Forward! 274 Start Work in Earnest 275 It’s a Natural Extension! 276 The Vultures are Gathering 277 Boycott will Not Force Government to Negotiate 278 Why Celebrate? 280 Ka a Kpaa Ya Akpa! 281 Categories of Biafran Supporters 282 March of Folly 284 The Damascus Experience 286 #Dasukigate: May it not be inconclusive 287 Far from Uhuru 289 The Trending List 291 iii Stopping Nonsense! Good morning Chuba! 292 1st October… 296 Bilie VS IPOB – O Gini Na Ese? 297 Census 299 Ndi Igbo, Ikuku kuo, afu ike okuku 301 Why the North made Obasanjo President in 1999 303 Response to a Yoruba Friend 306 Terrorism Dynamics 309 Kindergarten Society 311 Let Merit Ring! 313 CBN is the problem, NOT Importers. 314 There they go again 317 Nothing wrong in borrowing brilliance! 319 Nke a bu nke anyi 320 ABOUT OLISAEMEKA 321 iv Stopping Nonsense! LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS GDP Gross Domestic Product b.p.d barrels per day SW South West SE South East NC North Central NW North West SS South South NE North East VP Vice President SP Senate President GEJ Goodluck Ebele Jonathan PDP Peoples’ Democratic Party APC All Progressive Congress APGA All Progressive Grand alliance CJ Chief Judge CJN Chief Justice of Nigeria rtd Retired Gen General AEPB Abuja Environmental Protection Board ICJ International Court of Justice UN United Nations EFCC Economic and Financial Crimes Commission v Stopping Nonsense! HOA House of Assembly HOR House of Representatives ACN Action Congress of Nigeria AC Action Congress US United States BH Boko Haram EU European Union PPP Public Private Partnership CBN Central Bank of Nigeria INEC Independent National Electoral Commission FEDECO Federal Electoral Commission NEC National Electoral Commission IPOB Indigenous People Of Biafra MASSOB Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra FG Federal Government DSS Department of State Services NPF Nigeria Police Force OIC Organization of Islamic Cooperation NCNC National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons NPP Nigerian Peoples’ Party NASS National Assembly CIA Central Intelligence Agency vi Stopping Nonsense! UPN Unity Party of Nigeria NPN National Party of Nigeria GNPP Great Nigeria People’s Party FCT Federal Capital Territory PMB President Muhammadu Buhari NHIS National Health Insurance Scheme HMO Health Maintenance Organisation NHS National Health Service AG Action Group NEPU Northern Elements Progressive Union FIRS Federal Inland Revenue Service VAT Value-added Tax NBS National Bureau of Statistics PMS Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) FDI Foreign Direct Investment OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprises LGA Local Government Area EVS Electronic Voting Systems vii Stopping Nonsense! FOREWORD bout five months before the passing on of Olisaemeka Francis Akukwe, I had a difficult Adiscussion with him. The discussion was difficult for one reason and I had mulled over it for a long time before I finally had the courage to raise it. I asked him if he had given thought to collecting his writings and publishing them. I told him that it would be a shame that these thoughts disappear and can no longer be found. His wife was there and partook in the long silence which followed my question. In the simplicity of my question, I had somewhat broached the issue of death. Being quite ill at that time, I believe that the reality or possibility of death was quite palpable to him and to me. He broke the silence by saying simply that it would be a good idea. We spoke of the scattered mediums, from Facebook to newspapers where his thoughts on various topics had been published. It dawned on me after this discussion that this was a task I was willing to put off for as long as it takes. Perhaps, by putting off this gathering of some of his words in one bushel, feelings about his mortality would become less tangible. viii Stopping Nonsense! The reality of his passing on re-ignited a quest that had been chosen and a promise that had been made. But it was Vivian Akukwe, who had for long been his faithful typist that the onus of this compilation would lie on. The labour of love of seeking out the scattered pieces of the memories of her husband was hers to claim. This compilation is therefore mostly her doing. These writings however do not do justice to the extensiveness of the writings of Olisaemeka Akukwe. It is my hope that as years pass by, and as more of his writings continue to surface, the public will be availed of the thoughts of this brilliant mind. Though he wrote for his country mostly, his outlook was beyond it. His visions drew their inspiration from different fields of knowledge where he was more than a mere spectator. Though this work is not meant to be sold, it would be great if the reader can seek out and donate to the Olisaemeka Akukwe Center for Imaging and Knowledge. This will ensure that Nigerian researchers of all ages will have access to his massive collection of rare books. Nnamdi Okose ix Stopping Nonsense! Introduction here are millions of books, probably, speaking to the socio cultural problems of the most Tpopulous African country- Nigeria. Every thinker across the ages has tried to decipher the riddle of why Nigeria, which should have been a great country cannot seem to get things right. A giant still in the throes of self-realization, Nigerians have been frustrated about this mystery of poverty in the midst of many blessings. The acclaimed author Chinua Achebe puts the blame squarely on the doorstep of political leadership in Nigeria. He affirms that: “There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the inability to rise to the challenge.” 01 Stopping Nonsense! The above declaration by Achebe gives an information that many Nigerians already have. Everyone blames the leadership for the problems and rightly so. However, in the cacophony of the army of voices criticizing, we sometimes lose focus of the need to provide solutions. And this is where Olisaemeka Akukwe comes in. His writings are not only prophetic but they provide a possible path for redemption. This dual prophetic and teaching quality can be seen from the very first essay written in 2009 and which lays out the path the Nigerian government must follow if it is to achieve the often touted Vision 2020. This article was written when Nigeria had not as it is now, fallen into the terrorizing grip of Boko Haram and other terrorist. In the essay, Olisaemeka wrote these dire words: “These potentially uneducated and under-employed millions in the north can easily be recruited into an ‘army of hate’ by charlatans acting under the banner of religion. They can easily be persuaded to unleash mayhem on the perceived oppressors, who to them includes anybody who is ‘doing well’. When you live in generational poverty, life seems like a Zero- Sum game.” This prophetic streak is replete in the whole book.