In the last decade, the crave for celebrity status has become notorious and in some cases very obscene. Fame provokes envy and the consequences of superstardom are depressingly evident in the way magazines, the lurid paparazzi make stars sacrificial lambs.The putrid press, which shamelessly publishes deliberate fabrications and untruths about famous people, proves my point about the envy extended to superstars, with the sole purpose of taking out some luster and the glitter which is their trademark.

I love all beautiful people. I see in them the inestimable handcraft of the Triune God, the Great Creator. Those, who are of the devil, do everything in their satanic power to denigrate God’s creative ingenuity.

The recent “Death at Beverly Hills Hotel” of Sister Whitney Houston, at the age of 48, shook the human souls in all countries, in a world united by the information technology that has really made the world, a global village.

The death of superstars provokes universal mourning and sadness because these talented people of all races lighten the drudgery of living in a world that is progressively going down the nuclear way.

  The state that strikes another state first will set the global village on fire and the consequences will be disastrous. Those, who sing about love and those at the pinnacle of world diplomacy, who sing about wars, stand on a footing of manifest inequality.

They have no right to terrorize ordinary people, who always get killed in geo-political engagements. All those civilians, who were killed in bombardments in Iraq, Liya, Vietnam, Japan, Pearl Harbour, 9/11 are innocent people, who should be alive like those damned leaders, who caused them to die prematurely.
In their next re-incarnations, these leaders will be cripples, deaf and dumb, mad people, with karmic dues payable before their home-ward journeys to hell, where Adolf Hitler is roasting now. This is a revelation!

This was perhaps the spiritual rationale for raising Lazarus from the dead to write about the unseen and unknown things of the life after life.
The life-styles of superstars is destructive in that after financial success, they are lulled into the world of drugs. They live like nymphs. Glamorous life-styles are adorned with sinful enterprises that lead inexorably to disasters, like addictions, pornography,   the bottle, crack cocaine etc, since these are the only things that satisfy their lusts.

  Their marriages do not last because it is often difficult to bend a dry fish. It remains tumultuous until they visit the marriage registry for “amicable separation”.

A historical reflection on the lives of Elvis Presley, young Amy, Michael Jackson, Sammy Davis jnr, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Whitney Houston, yield a painful insight into how these superstars and extremely talented performers end their lives in tragic ways.

Were they affected by forces they could not control or were they victims of serial evil plots by destroyers of creative artists?
    Was Whitney served champagne during her last party before she retired to her Beverly Hills Hotel? A medical doctor friend of mine deposed that cocaine or cyanide in champagne induces internal heat, which makes the person want to cool off in a bath. The investigators should examine this unsubstantiated idea.
Who were those partying, while Whitney’s dead body laid upstairs? Only people with misplaced conscience can revel in the presence of a human corpse.
Speaking to Naraden Michael Walden, Piers Morgan dared to suggest, though by way of question that the life of Whitney Houston was “ a wasted life.” This is the typical Albion attitude towards coloured people.
  This type of cynicism bears the mark of rascally framed opinion about coloured people, no matter, who they are and what they have achieved.
Chaka Khan described the music industry as     “demonic” I agree totally.   Pop music is made to appeal to the senses of gullible people, especially the young and impressionable, who erroneously think that they are having a good time. Lurid socialization leads to unexpected consequences.

Whitney Houston was simply the best female singer of all times. She sold 170 million records, inspired most young female singers and performers over the years.   Hers was a short but fulfilled life. It is not how long one lives but how well. It was not a wasted life!

In Western nations, the artist is under the demonic influence of producers and film directors, who turn them into cockerels, henroaches, and pawns in the game of fame-building. The superstar bears the pressures of stardom. They face the clag-lights, work for long hours, are always on the move, they eat irregular meals, hardly sleep enough, they have to tolerate the concupiscent approaches of of bald-headed directors and film producers; coping with the paparazzi, pangs   of the most insane fabrications by the tabloids, lunch dates, late night dinners and parties, where alcohol and food abound.

The are regularly harassed by their low-cultured and drunken husbands, jet-lags, mental and physical exhaustions.
The life-styles of superstars can and often drive a normal person crazy. The death of Whitney Houston was “stunning and unbelievable” Aretha Franklin.

The national psyche of people, who live in the so-called free societies, has been under siege, as a result of which the use of drugs has increased.The war against the use of drugs must be intensified in the interest of the race.

During my sojourn in Europe in the 1960s, the crime-rate was low, there was relative prosperity and murder was not as rampant as we now witness. People attended mass on Sundays and they were prayerful. As a result, the Almighty God showed mercy and favour on the race. Since the Supreme Courts of Euro-American states encouraged disrespect of God Almighty through their questionable decisions, there have been climate change, catastrophes, adverse weather, currency fluctuations, financial and economic problems beyond man’s ability to solve.

Whitney Houston will be remembered for a long time.
          Oh that man will praise the Lord
           Oh that man will praise the Lord
           For His goodness and for His wonderful works
          To the children of men to the children
           of men
          He has broken the gates of Hell and cut the bars
          of iron in two.

Professor Dr. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, a Writer and Academic is the Academic Chancellor, BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW BUREAU, Abuja/Fugar.

By Professor Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, Abuja, Nigeria, Feb. 20, 2012 -

 Palliatives are tokenism in content and cannot add value to a transformation process. It was and remains a poor public relations nightmare!
It will soon fade away like other slogans like “ the dividends of democracy”, “ challenges”, “learning period”, appellations like “ Chief”, or better “High Chief”“Doctor honoris causa”, “Nze,” “Eze” “ Alhaji”etc,

In Nigeria, people love to be highly regarded as BIG MEN, but only very few deserve to be so regarded. There are many fake people strutting the land in full agbada. Even some well-schooled people parrot prevailing clichés, because they have lost the capacity for deep reflection

By both national and international assessments, Nigeria’s misery index has increased inexorably. Poverty, both spiritual and material has reached unacceptable standards. Food security is minimal. Philanthropy is noble but  is grossly inadequate stem the tide.

Investing in arms and ammunition is counter-productive. Remedial measures are not forth-coming. Amidst these interlocking circles of misery, there should be bold imaginative initiatives and not palliatives.

The enormity of the problems is staggering. We have politicians, who do not sem to manifest the cultured sensitivities evinced at such periods of national crisis. Those, who have volunteered to handle national affairs, do not exude the capabilities, which the challenges demand. The political mobility index of our politicians is average.

When the seven-point agenda of the Yar’ardua government was discarded and a transformation agenda was announced last year, we all cheered.
As a patriot, I made rational suggestions on how we can transform the country, both in the field of diplomacy and economic policies and I published my views in some national dailies.

In the transformation process, the first concrete action of government was the clever by half strategy of announcing a unilateral increase in petroleum price, in which we were to realize N1.3 trillion Naira.
In the political melee that ensued, the nation lost inestimable wealth, and above all, many lives were lost.

Pray, what has been transformed?
Recently, the government admitted that there were flaws in the subsidy politics. I applaud this acknowledgment. If any other person had told the government that it was running on the wrong road and that there was no use running, that would have been greeted with sycophantic erudition by those, who have   been commissioned to defend the indefensible.

I had observed that the nation was cash-strapped, but could not say so with certainty, until the government announced that it would cut the budget to size. Good!  Then the government went a borrowing. It will not go a sorrowing, if the borrowed funds are judiciously used.

The hike in electricity tariffs must lead to the provision of regular supplies. Industrialization and local manufacturing suffer as a result of lack of regular power. The call on investors to come to do business and the parlous state of electricity, seem hard to reconcile.

Governance is an intricate business. It requires national consensus after consultations with those, who know and not those, who guess or those, who resort to old formulas that no longer work.

Often, the government sets up committees but it always makes the mistake of looking for old names of the very people , who failed the Republic. It is not surprising that they often proffer old solutions that rarely address the core issues. When shall we learn?

Only the truth shall set us free. There is despondency in the land and our old patriots are psychologically reacting to this despondency and are dying!
To remain in power is desirable, but one does damage both to oneself and the nation, when there appears to be visible cracks in the national citadel.
 There is a dog in the manger situation, whereby the dog does not eat grass but barks at the cow that wants to eat grass.

Many compatriots have been clamouring for a national conference, where holistic, rational suggestions will be proffered by those, who are not given to noise-making, but who know better. They are everywhere.  We must “fish them out”.

The appeals for a national conference have reached

a crescendo, and evidentially, we cannot go forward without it.
The transformation agenda, which permitted hopes of a future of certainty, has not been seen to bear fruit.

There are crying issues to be discussed. How do we reconcile with those, who are desperately poor and are harassing everyone? How do we create social justice conditions of existence for those, who are not in politics? How do we ensure food security? There is hunger in the land. How do we create employment for new graduates, who have finished their studies?

How do we get our diplomats to attract investments and not sit around in our embassies attending cocktail parties? Can the states not be mandated to effectively carry out the assignments the Federal government seems too distant to execute? What is our national policy on the current financial crisis that has created problems for Europe? What impact has the crisis on our national currency? Even Gambia has a better exchange rate!

The health sector, the education sector and the decaying infrastructure need urgent rehabilitation. Of course, we are good in talking a lot  but we  do little.

There are citizens  in Nigeria, who choose to adopt the ostrich approach until crisis break out. Then, they become very  wise and prayerful; only to carry on business as usual, until another group of political mal-contents hold the nation to ration.

 Many Nigerians have a short attention span. They easily forgive and forget.
We should empower the local governments, strictly supervise how they disburse funds and call on their Chairmen to report their progress to their states and the Federal Government. A situation, where the only imposing buildings in the villages belong to local government Chairmen point to lack of Federal and State government audit.

The government of the Federal Republic has too many issues that need resolutions. Unfortunately, only the President is saddled with all these problems. He has good intentions, but that is a far cry from effective governance.

The PDP, seems to have abandoned its primary responsibility in working out guidelines for the government, assisting the President with policy formulation and robust implementation, supervising the efficacy of its governors’ mandates.

A leading political organization that has failed to appoint a Chairman  for so long, does not possess an illusion of strength. Its cadres look for political appointments and not how to help the party to organize state governance. This is sad.

Actually, any success or failure in the government of Nigeria, is the failure of the government party, the PDP. If members think that belonging to the PDP is only for the purpose of ministerial and other appointments, they are ill-advised. Every  political party member constitutes part and parcel of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

For example, the current Vice President of China Mr. XI has been working for the party, since he was young. In political leadership, ideological commitment, not financial opportunism counts. Failure is assured, when a politician emerges unprepared. When shall we lear
 My people, we have been in the school of statecraft for so long. When shall we graduate?

Those, who kill in God’s name are not doing the will of God. Pastors, who exacerbate the crisis by making inflammatory speeches from the pulpit, are only embarking on tithes collection enhancement strategies. Criticizing the Governor of the Central Bank for giving money to save people in desperation, should attract praise not misplaced criticism.

 Yet, these “Men of God” hobnob with government officials, whose  acts  of omission and commission  are the sources of  our national  stagnation.
Some pastors claim to be children of Abraham, but they do not have Abraham’s blessings.“ For  God is able from these  stones to raise up children  to  Abraham.”

My people love power and fame but there is nothing there beyond the protocol and appointments to lofty offices.   Nigeria is hurting. How long can this state of affairs subsist?

Only the TRUTH shall set us free. “The lip of truth shall be established forever, but the lying tongue is but for a moment”
The voice of the people represents the accumulated wisdom of the age and they must be heard, before the cracks deteriorate further.
In every situation, we must give thanks. Nigeria will overcome.

                  Praise Him, praise Him
                  Praise Him, praise Him
                  Praise the Everlasting King.

By Prof.  Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, NNP,  Nov. 21, 2011 -

Super powers understood the danger of proliferation of nuclear weapons, which might be possessed by those states that would not have the resources to maintain their nuclear resources.
Also, radical leadership could resort to these weapons, in circumstances, of reckless action. This is a genuine reason. There exist leaders, who combine Calvinist thought with evangelical fervor and are outstanding representatives of the literary Left and austere Right.

C.F Powell and his team studied the particles of cosmic radiation. There is formidable information in the realm of atomic nucleus, nuclear fission, nuclear forces, nuclear induction, nuclear magnetism, nuclear photo-effect, nuclear power, all belonging to studies in nuclear physics. We are not qualified to go into this intricate field of studies, because we are not initiates.
Our interest is to examine the geo-political effects of nuclear science and how states are now at loggerheads and at daggers-drawn, as a result of their nuclear arsenals.
Worries about possible danger to mankind is what could happen if in Pakistan, nuclear weapons get into the hands of the opposition. The Government of Iran has declared that its nuclear research is geared towards peaceful, electricity generation. The US and Israel do not seem to be convinced. They point to some worrisome developments.

With the loss of the restraining hands of Mubarak of Egypt and the consequences of the Arab Spring, which has opened the vistas of uncertainty in the Middle East, it is important to engage in active regimes of frank declarations, verifications and assurances to tighten the possibility of doubt that could result in severe consequences if nuclear diplomacy fails.
The UN should summon a World Conference on “Nuclear Threat to the International Community.” There should be a declaration that all states should not use resort to nuclear weapons or the threat of the use of nuclear weapons or the production of nuclear weapons as instruments of national policy. That all states should provide detailed information on the status of   their   nuclear arsenal as a way to assuage the fears of all members of the United Nations.

This information should be made available to the Chairman of the UN Security Council and should not be made public, for a period of time, except there is a threat to international security.
There is need to review all arms control agreements. Josef Goldblat, in 1982, published a critical survey on “Arms Control”. It has become a classic on the subject. He wrote that since “the United Nations declaration proclaiming the 1980’s as the Second Disarmament Decade, the UN stressed the need to mobilize world opinion on behalf of peace and disarmament”
In that document, the United Nations advocated the renunciation of war, as an instrument of national policy, thereby reaffirming the cardinal principles in the Brian/Kellogg treaty of 1928. The UN attempted to regulate armaments, armed forces, and defence expenditures

Also, it considered matters concerning chemical, incendiary and bacteriological warfare as well as arms trade and manufacture. The Organization took pains at verification and sanctions. It later set up the International Atomic Agency for the purpose.

The Baruch Plan and the subsequent Soviet rejection of the Plan set a stage for active discussions on nuclear disarmament. The long history of disarmament records man’s ingenuity to save our planet.
As of now, mankind is at risk and the UN should not hesitate to nip in the bud, a disaster waiting to happen. There is wide-spread discontent in many states and threats of the use of force and hard talk. This is time for preventive diplomacy and not pre-emptive action.

From 1963-1980, disarmament talks were a feature of international diplomacy. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, a unipolar world emerged. A radical change in diplomatic style became prevalent.
Power politics, hard attitudes and a penchant for war-games became the new world order. Disrespect for international law and the norms of jus cogens were rife.
Both local and international wars raged. Peaceful relations amongst states were replaced by belligerency. States later sponsored rebellion against other states and anarchy has reigned in the Middle East and North Africa. Protests broke out in European and American states. Right now, the whole world is in turmoil.
A bi-polar world emerged with China, Russia, South Africa, Brazil and India forging strong economic links. There seems to have been an unannounced overthrow of the world financial system and replacement is yet to be put in place.

In forming an alliance for progress, the BRICS states have embarked on economic diplomacy. Peaceful co-existence and peaceful co-operation must be the dominant ethos in international diplomacy.. With the BRICS states,, war-mongering has lost its ancient appeal. They no longer engage in antiquated rivalries in pursuit of narrow interests.
The current European, financial, seismic wave engulfing Greece, Italy, Spain, France and the student revolt in Britain, paint a dismal picture of latent instability and chaos. There is infernal degradation of life-style, leading to suicides in Greece and elsewhere.

With little availability of funds to maintain their nuclear outfits, some of which are in advanced state of deterioration, and in defiance of the increase in adverse climatic and natural forces that may cause the type of JAPAN’S NUCLEAR CRISIS, STATES WITH NUCLEAR ARSENALS MAY WISH TO DISPOSE OF THEIR WEAPONS OF DEATH

Deceived by unforeseen forces and having been let into the secrets of the atomic and nuclei forces, the “developed nations” are at a loss as to what to do with the palette knife of nuclear energy.
Nigeria once toyed with idea of acquiring nuclear energy. We do not have the resources to venture into that field. We do not have all it takes to maintain nuclear capability.
During the Libyan intervention by advanced states, Nigeria supported their geo-politics. Then, we recognized the Palestinian UN bid. The diplomacy of hunting with the hounds and running with the hare, is hard to reconcile. The diplomacy run by grinning from ear to ear, with a bovine stare and hanging lips ,signifies naiveté.
African diplomacy is often under severe influence, threats and inducements, which leave its practitioner in confusion. African diplomats rarely contribute meaningfully to debates on nuclear disarmament and allied subjects.
Diplomacy of peaceful co-existence will restore the cordiality and the comitias gentium that once reigned among states, in their bilateral and multilateral diplomatic relations.
Professor Dr. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, a Writer and Academic, is the Academic Chancellor of BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW BUREAU, (now in Europe)

Prof. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, NNP, Sept. 12, 2011 –

Research Findings:

Researchers at BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW BUREAU, New Covenant House, Fugar, Edo State, Nigeria, have called for a strategic review and an impact assessment of a Libya that would face enormous developmental problems, if and when the crisis ends, one way or the other. They recall that the old Yugoslavia is still in tartars ten years after hostilities ceased in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. They point out that to destroy is easy but to re-build is always problematic. In the face of dwindling financial and material resources, NATO should re-think how peace can be restored in Libya. In the Declaration of Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation Among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, it was stated that “the maintenance of international peace and security and co-operation between nations are among the fundamental purposes of the United Nations”.

The Charter of the United Nations is of “paramount importance in promoting the rule of law among nations,” and so its jus cogens depositions, should never be violated by states. The   UN Charter admonishes states to scrupulously adhere to the principles of international law as enshrined both   in the Charter and other treaties and Conventions, which have been universally recognized by member-states of the United Nations especially the   issue of respect for the territorial integrity and political independence of member-states. There is a standing obligation that states should not intervene in the affairs of other states. However, where the Security Council so decides that an intervention is necessary, the directives should not be derogated from.

Effective implementation of the directives of, and the UN Resolutions are very important as this recognizes the supremacy of international law. States are to “refrain from military, political, economic or any other forms of coercion aimed against the political independence and territorial integrity of states.”The threat or use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of a state is prohibited, since an unforeseen escalation can lead to unforeseen consequences. Matters concerning self-determination of states and civil wars are volatile political and diplomatic issues, which should be subjected to thorough and objective analysis and satisfactory resolution. Where there is absence of a dispassionate deliberation, crisis could be generated. The hurriedly convened Paris and London Conferences on Libya, early this year, did not seem to have deliberated exhaustively on some of the cogent, international legal issues issues that needed thoughtful deliberation. Pundits have asked why Nigeria is indifferent to the plight of Libya, which had offered jobs and residence to many Nigerians. The answer, my friend is floating in the wind. Africa’s independence is yet to free itself from the overarching partnerships. We shall overcome someday!

Mission Impossible?

The apparent impossibility of the Libyan mission, a vast nation, with a complicated political history has led to discussions on Libya, from a more balanced, rather than hate-orchestrated, partisan positions. The follow-my –leader-attitude of Ivan Watson and Nick Robertson of the CNN, seem to be giving way to less   dogmatism on the Libyan leaders need to exit. The unclearness of NATO’s criterion for change in Libya, and the decreed UN Resolution 1973, has been in clear contradiction. NATO’s conclusions conformed to no rules at all but have depended on quite subjective habits of judgment by NATO commanders and their ad hoc nature , has introduced a departure from the intention and spirit of UN Resolution 1973.

The deficiencies in logical clarity, seems to have compounded the issues leading to protests by Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa.

I will illustrate the Libya campaign with a story my grandmother once told me. She told me that a man’s goat had eaten his yam. So, he tied the goat to a tree outside his house and started to flog the errant goat. Villagers, who passed by on their way to the market, blamed the goat for eating the owner’s yam.When the villagers were returning from the market, they met the man still beating the goat, they then lashed at the man, asking him whether he wanted to kill the goat just for eating a piece of yam. Although there was condemnation of Colonel Kaddafi for responding harshly against the people of Benghazi, who have legitimate reasons to demonstrate for lack of democratic rights, the later reactions against the Kaddafi regime, leading to efforts to assassinate him and the wanton destruction of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, has raised questions about the love for Libyans in Benghazi and hatred for Libyans in Tripoli. This is probably why recent discordant views are being expressed by top British advisers, who caution about the inability of NATO to sustain the Libyan campaign beyond six months, as a result of financial constraints.

 The consequences of the problems of the British economy have been addressed by Professor Geoffrey Wood and Stuart Fraser, the Chairman of the City of London. They commented learnedly on the British Chancellor’s proposal “to separate the investment and retail arms” of British business. All appears not be well with the British economy.

 Misgivings:

There was also a lively debate of the Libyan war by Admiral Stanhope and Air Vice Marshall Tony Mason. The two top former British military intelligence officers have reviewed the critical elements in the Battle for Libya.The crux of their arguments, boil down to a scathing observation that the “allies have not performed.” That the fundamental principle on which the adventure was based was on “ad hoc planning” reminiscent of the hurried eagerness to invade Iraq, by Tony Blair and George Bush.A Government looking for money does not possess   an illusion of strength in prosecuting a war in North Africa, while its National Health Programme   is arching inexorably. Finding ways out of the British societal melt-down is of greater importance to the British people than fighting   a desert war that has gulped colossal sums of British   tax-payers’ money.

British press commentators are worried that the general and inescapable conditions of an unbudgeted –for- war, could affect British social and economic institutions despite the rationale for the desert war or the lack of it.Right now, there is a threat by the University and Colleges Union, to call out its members on a strike over jobs and pay cuts on 30 th June, 2011. In a passionate interview, the General Secretary of the Union, Mark Serwotka, outlined their plan for action.   It would appear that Britain has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing from the Iraqi experience. The British Prime Minister’s Cromwellian on Libya,   has a limited political range. A just and at the same time a sympathetic estimate of NATO’s liberalism is very difficult. Their logical does not seem be anchored on acceptable syllogisNATO’s preferred initiative was ethical and not economic. That is where the major flaw lies. NATO’s manifest generosity and concern for Benghazi Libyans has stumbled against the romantic enterprise of being seen as a meddlesome interloper in Arab and Libyan civil wars.

NATO’ belligerent altruism has a time limit, beyond which the old Vietnam peace song will ring out, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” I am sure that the graffiti are already in production. The Kikla incident, in which it was reported that NATO planes killed twelve Libyans in a bus, if true,    shows how NATO is protecting the Libyan population.

Let the peace of the Lord, which passeth all understanding reign in our hearts.

 The United States, bugged down by wars in various parts of the globe, has not shown the enthusiasm, evinced by NATO partners in the Battle for Libya.   In adopting the Pontius Pilate option, US allies have expressed surprise that the US is taking a back seat in the imbroglio.Has the US not done enough for the Free World? Must American youths continue to be sacrificed in theatres of war around the globe? There is a limit to chivalry and power politics. It is very curious that those states America is assisting often connive to plot America’s discomfort and demonstrate hostility towards   the US at any given opportunity. So, what is the joy about?

At last there is fatigue about America’s global responsibility. In his valedictory speech, the US Secretary of Defence, in a hard-hitting, frank diplomatic speech, blamed NATO, for the way they have conducted the Libyan campaign, so far. His grouse was   aimed at the incessant criticism by some NATO members about America’ limited participation in the Libyan war, which was orchestrated by Britain and France, early this year, under the unfounded speculation that America is a great nation, which must prove this by fighting wars. Has America not done enough for the free world? The US fought against Hitler and saved Europe. America assisted in re-building Europe, after the massive destruction by Germany. A study of modern European history is full of real stories of American heroism as a leader of the Free World. At great national risk, America has supported European nations and has continued to do so. Obviously, there is a limit to generosity, at the expense of the American people’s welfare.

 There is unemployment and a health crisis in America. The Republican game plan could deepen the crisis.

Like Donald Trump discovered to his chagrin, the United States political and diplomatic concerns cannot be addressed by hated-filled, Tea Party rhetoric that only resonate among right wing extremists, muckrakers, misty-eyed political mal-contents, with an overflow of racist diatribe, mustard-gas antics, which munch on munificent, racist innuendoes. No matter how much pomp and pageantry, the Republicans display, their millionaire prospective candidates and their anti-Obama campaign will certainly end in the wilderness.

 The American people will not easily forget under whose watch the US economy hit rock-bottom and who has tried to salvage what was a Republican mess.   Every   heir presumptive   in the Republican presidency bid, will soon discover that “things are easier said than done.”President Sarkozy of France may discover that the French voters may not be enamoured for too   long by “Affaires Strauss-Khan “or the Libyan war. The social content of his policies and their implementation will decide whether he returns to the Ely see Palace in due cause. It is very disturbing that European nations do not seem to understand the American predicament. The world is changing very quickly and those, who still refuse a paradigm shift, will be caught, in a web of circumstance.

 Nature reacts: Nature is being unkind and one may ask whether nature’s response is a sign of karmic designs, which must come to fruition, before the Second Coming of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus, the Christ.

 Modern slavery, war-mongering, wars, debauchery, love of scandals, hegemonic arrogance, disrespect for human dignity, interference, using war as instrument of national policy, incessant trouble-shooting and the denigration of other leaders, all these provoke passions that lead to international disunity and conflicts.Let us try peaceful co-existence, respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the political independence of all states. By the way, who benefits from hard talk and conflicts- the devil, the accuser of the brethren? It was only slowly and under the stress of circumstances that states abandoned the rule of international law and succumbed to the reign of power politics, hegemonic imposition of views under the auspices of the “international community,” an amorphous nomenclature with ambiguous application.

 UNO and International Law:

Bereft of its international legal teeth, the affairs of the United Nations have been subjected to enthusiastic idealism and open recognition of rebellion. Totally deprived of the virtues of morality and universalism, the United Nations reels under the dictates of power politics. It is a very dangerous phenomenon for states to back opposition groups, which want to overthrow their governments. The whole world is in motion and no-one knows where political opposition will erupt next. Once precedents are set, it will be difficult to explain why rebels can be backed in one instance and   be denied support in a similar case since “things that are equal to the same thing are equal to one another.” Euclid.

 President Zuma and some world leaders are, perhaps, wondering why so much havoc is being wrecked on Libya, which seems disproportionate with the directives of the United Nations. After all, both the Benghazi Libyans and the Tripoli Libyans are all Libyans, who must one day, find accommodation among themselves.

 Finally, when the United Nations Organization meets in September 2011, in New York, the Organization must critically review the role of international law in modern international society and the application of international rules according to the Charter of the United Nations.

 I shall be attending that session, with bells on.

Professor Dr. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, a Writer and Academic, is the Academic Chancellor of BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW, BUREAU, New Covenant House, Fugar, Edo State, Nigeria.

By Prof. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, Abuja, Nigeria – August 16

Dr. C Ifeagwu, a Nigerian American trained political scientist, was prominent at the United Nations. The Dove Edwin group was learning the diplomatic ropes. The group was inoculated by the anti-Communist prejudice, which they imbibed from British diplomats and British Intelligence. Nigerian passports were stamped prohibiting many Nigerians from travelling to the then Soviet Union, Cuba, Bulgaria, North Korea, China CSSR, Yugoslavia, Poland, East Germany etc, etc, for ideological reasons.It remains a shame that those adroit manipulations of our foreign policy, robbed many Nigerians from studying in the Universities of East European states .Some of those universities, had existed for centuries and were well-established.

The diplomatic cocktail circuits, which provide Nigerian diplomatic neophytes the rare opportunity to interact with blue-eyed European diplomats, were the centers for indoctrination, manipulation and control.
Since the Foreign Ministry affairs are not under scrutiny, a lot of damage was done to the psyche of our foreign office diplomats As a result of their exposure to Western cultural traits, they acquired hard attitudes, which they inflict on their compatriots, who have need to visit their embassies abroad. In the history of Nigerian diplomatic practice, all sorts of postulations   are on record. Africa is the centre-piece of Nigerian diplomacy, which led to our involvement in the liberation of South Africa, although the onus was on the South African freedom fighters, the Liberation of some other African states, the establishment of ECOWAS etc. Mr. Edwin Ogbu   held forth at the UN, refusing to succumb to blackmail and intimidation.
Then entered the Era of “economic diplomacy”,” black bomb diplomacy”, “citizens diplomacy,” which could not be defined,” no-action diplomacy” and we are awaiting the transformation diplomacy.
On July 20, 2011, members of the new Executive Council, beaming with smiles of relief, having scaled through elections, the SSS screening and the Senate interviews have now become ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

They were told that government had approved “a new foreign policy dispensation, which ties it to Nigeria’s domestic agenda of attracting foreign investments to the country. Henceforth, all policy directions of the Federal Government must propel the economic development of the country” As of now, Nigeria’s domestic agenda has not been spelt out in full.
More importantly, the security situation must improve for investor confidence to rise. The movement of persons in the ECOWAS sub-region has dwindled. Gang actions at the border s are severe. Kidnappings and abductions are still rife. Unfortunately, our successful elections have not obliterated our bad image as 419-ers are still deceiving gullible people.. In short, we still have a lot of image- laundering to do.
In a country in which people let sleeping dogs lie, people swallow announcements and before long raise them to the level of evidential truth. As a result, after four years, we hear the same clichés all over again from a new herdsman. When shall we learn that cozy jobs must translate to assiduous performance? Party job allocations can always throw people into strange pits.
Who is going to transform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Has he a good experience in international trade, international economic law and diplomacy? Has he the exposure and clout to win over through oratory, members of foreign chambers of commerce and industry? Has he a working relationship with Nigerian Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture and the Commonwealth Chambers of Commerce and Industry? There is a big field out there in South East Asia.

He must act like a business marketing executive and not a minister, who shuffles files, takes   phone calls endlessly. He should cut down on protocol, niceties and social festivities. When the bottle takes effect through rounds of diplomatic parties, merriment replaces hard work. For transformation to be effective, it must be total. I have written a two-serial article on the prospects of transformation in Nigeria.
Are we going to undertake a structural transformation of the Nigerian economy that favours the citizens less? Are we transforming the ethos of using the Nigerian state as a milk cow? How are we going to transform the behavior of diplomats, who use their missions as trading posts? Under the transformation dispensation, they must engage actively in foreign investment acquisition. According to Professor John Shijian Mo,” Foreign investment began to form a significant area of international commercial activity after the Second World War, when many countries, which gained independence at the end of the war, drastically needed foreign capital, technology and managerial skills to develop their own economies. As a result, for the quest of foreign investment, many local companies fell into the hands of foreign banks and foreign investors.”

Economic conflicts inevitably arose and in Nigeria, when the Government saw that foreigners were dominating the economy, it passed the Indigenization laws, which rescued the Nigerian economy from foreign manipulation and control. Ever since, the status quo ante has been the order as the commanding heights of the Nigerian economy has gone back into the hands of non-resident investors.
In the 1980’s foreign investment was at its highest, with the emergence of the Asian Tigers, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Their diplomats engaged in active investment pursuits.
In its 2011 World Investment Report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimated that” FDI inflows reached USS1.3 trillion in 2000.” This represented a sharp increase from direct foreign investment of 50 billion in 1980.”

The picture has become bigger, but African participation is still meager because until the CAC was re-organised, foreign investors found it difficult to register their companies and carry on with their trade, as a result of all sorts of avoidable impediments. Foreign companies were either overtaxed or undertaxed according to the prevailing ethos of corporate governance in Nigeria and “their increase in glory”.
What will the Government do to weed out inconveniences in the nation’s political economy? We must take serious control of our economic policies. It is only then that investors will not come, only to take the next flight back. How are we deploying our natural, human and financial resources? What will be left after paying legislators and other officials, unconscionable wages? Is there now peace in oil producing areas? How many graduates are in need of jobs?

The problem there has been is this culture of pompous declarations which do not materialize only to be   put on the next seven years agenda. This was what happened with the solemn promise in 1980, 2005, and 2010 that there would be earth-shaking transformation of the Nigerian polity. Abe I lie? So, from where do I draw the conviction that all will not   end   in political colloquy?
Those, who hate Nigeria, are those, who wallow in wishful thinking and play the ostrich game, hoping that the people will continue to just believe. Yes, I too, believe, but I need more movement towards social change and social justice, without which we are treading on shifting sands. Foreign investments, joint ventures, banking and insurance, licensing agreements and countertrade are crucial to our development.
How would the Government’s apparent inability to recover misapplied funds help or weaken the transformation agenda?

I honestly cannot believe the sums of money some public officers are alleged to have embezzled. Where were the Accountant-General and the Auditors-General? They are capable officers. What went wrong?
The point is that many embassies are located in Lagos and Abuja. They read our newspapers, listen to our news and they send these negative reports to their Ministries of Foreign Affairs, which deal with our diplomats. This is why our diplomats observe the cynicism, with which their robust speeches are received beyond borders. Ambiguities and contradictions are bound to thwart the good intentions of a sensitive and well-groomed diplomats   when confronted with devastating contempt from their receiving states.

The situation at home is usually the logical basis for effective diplomatic representation. Having taught international law and diplomacy for over thirty years, some of my former students, who are now Foreign Office diplomats, tell me how humiliating it can be to represent a state that is associated with every vice and not a single virtue. This is why we must transform totally.
Minister Aganga estimates that it will cost 35 trillion dollars to transform Nigeria. The logical question is how much dividends are we going to get from the transformation of the country?
Minister Nnaji said that we shall need ten trillion to ensure that we can get electricity. As a patriot, I sent the figures to a computer expert in the US. He said that the permutations are on the high side.
We are always dealing with high quotations without cross-checking for a second opinion. We tend to be very gullible. Machiavelli spotted this trend in old Italian city-states and concluded that “People are so simple-minded and trusting that anyone, who wants to deceive can always find people to deceive.”

Nigeria’s ethical and political practice is in need of transformation. How far we can go is the subject for a long forth-coming debate at all levels of civil society.
Nigeria is still battling with a mixture of monarchical, theocratic, aristocratic and semblances of democratic power, blended together in one diverse Confederation of Nations states, whose citizens hardly know each other, except at the elite level of concupiscent political engineering. The frequent call for constitutional changes, amendments and reforms point to the fact the Nigerian nation, has grown into a Confederation, which would need a new structural engineering to empower the new political and constitutional reality.

I understand those, who are clamouring for governance prolongation but I have no assurances that time will not be destructive in its effects. The suggestion has not anchored its logic on matching syllogism, but depends on quite subjective habits of judgment. A “yes” position is fraught with entering into the good books of those, who wish to stretch their political ambitions longer.
Such a delicate decision cannot be left to a few loud pundits, but must go through a referendum, as it is the practice in Confederal unions. History will print on marble, the emergence of quixotic constitutional learnedness that has routinely failed to move the Federal Republic to gain acceleration in the right direction. Occasional nostalgic return to the old turf is surely good for waning self-esteem as it is an acknowledgement of past services rendered. It is often not asked what the quality was.

Diplomatic history has witnessed various types of diplomacy. The subject is very old and to be a real diplomatist, takes prolonged time and rigorous studies. A party credit for ministerial appointment into this complex field   of diplomacy,raises ambassadorial posting to a height, which it does not deserve. This, in the past yielded laughable epithets like “citizens diplomacy” and other such formidable appellations.. How far did we go? The Igbo say,” Ihe amuru amu, ka ihe agworo agwo” Please ask your compatriot for a translation! As long as we peddle cheap human intelligence, we shall continue to move in circles applying old formulas that did not work and would not work. The Roman, Byzantine, Soviet, Anglo-American diplomacy, did   set goals, which their well-trained diplomats executed admirably. Fortified by strong governments with powerful armies, their ambassadors exuded authority and influence.

A government, whose top officials beg, appeal for financial and other assistance, each time they meet foreign envoys does not possess an illusion of strength. As the Chief Emeka Ayoku Commission takes on this tranformatory diplomatic work, we shall stand to learn from one of the pioneers of Nigerian diplomacy.
 
Professor Dr. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, a Writer and Academic is the Academic Chancellor, BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW BUREAU, Abuja, Nigeria

By Prof. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, NNP – July 27, 2011 -

It is pertinent to state that having sold the companies, the Federal Government does not and should not interfere in the operational administration of the companies except in those Federal Government companies in which Government retained maximum or minimum equity interests.
It is also very important to note that the turn-around processes of failed Government businesses take time, imagination, energy, hard work and ingenuity.
Members of Senate, who have already become “distinguished” during the plenary session, complained that the work-force in the privatized companies has declined from 20,000 to four thousand. The first turn-around rule after companies’ acquisition is for the new core investor to review the position of the company’s Chief Executive and other cadre in order to determine the company’s way forward.
So, that complaint is convicted of error and shows off some Senate members as not as informed as they should be on Companies and Allied Matters. This was why a Member of Senate suggested that only people with the relevant knowledge in the field should be appointed.
The Senate President’s response that the committee should first start work and later report incompetent members is not very logical and acceptable because in Nigeria, no-one should be seen as putting sand in some-one’s   food, that is if there is food in the process of investigation!
There is a basic assumption that the Core investors in the privatized companies are growing richer. This could be true, but it remains an assumption.
Anyone, who has a modicum of inner working experience with these privatized companies, must applaud the boldness and fearless mind-set of their core investors.
In some cases, Government has not kept its obligations to the privatized companies. The assets and liabilities of the privatized companies stand on a footing of manifest inequality. Government officials mount all sorts of obstacles in the way of the privatized companies, seeking, at times gratifications, which they do not deserve.
There is this perceived mistaken notion that there is an ELDORADO in the vaults of these companies, which government officials must benefit from or they will stultify the privatization process. This happens and it is miserably unfortunate.
It must be recalled that it was as a result of the failure of Government (real or imagined) that led to the privatization of Government enterprises in the first place. Some government companies were protected by laws.
The Nigerian Re-insurance Corporation had the right of first refusal before re-insurance could be placed outside Nigeria, by other re-insurance companies operating in Nigeria. It had a sizeable cessionary advantage. All these had been eroded by powerful, jealous lobbies. When I was the Principal Officer at the Nigeria Re, the Federal Government benefited enormously from the proceeds of Nigeria Re-insurance Corporation. Today, how much does it benefit from other re-insurance agencies, which are not even owned by Nigerians?
Where was the Senate when Atiku headed the privatization programme? Where was the Senate when the BPE law was passed? What has the Senate done to undertake a holistic and total review of the Nigerian economy, where prices are as incendiary as the Militants’ gun-powder? What will the Senate do to pass more laws that are relevant to good governance, democratization and social justice? A Senate that passed the Law on Minimum Wage should   have stood   up and tell the state Governments that they   must obey its laws. The Senate is higher in status that state government, which cannot change laws made by Senate. The Senate should have come out with a terse declaration to that effect. The Senate may wish to examine the fifty-six loop-holes in the laws it already passed during the last session and strengthen them for effective governance. Why are many cases not in motion but in frustration?
The Senate as a law-making body, should jealously protect its integrity and show the seriousness of a legislature, which is in control of legality, judiciousness, state integrity and manifest control of the development of the state through relevant legislation.
Pursuing investigations over spilt milk and the operations of sold companies is mundane compared to the serious and overarching societal problems that need legal regulations through the work of the Senate.
As the Senate President, David Mark rightly said that members of the committee must attend dispassionately to their investigation. This excludes intimidation, inquisitorial attitude and accusatory disposition, during their investigations.
The good thing is that those, who are called to testify, will report to their Boards and Management, the general atmosphere and style of the Investigating Senators!
How the Senate Committee will investigate all the privatized companies, collate information and present their report to Senate in four weeks will remain an evanescent mystique.
We are watching and BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW, BUREAU will take a keen interest in the future work of the Nigerian Senate, presenting fair comments on its deliberations, as our contribution to mounting a culture of legislative responsibility, serious devotion to regulatory administration of justice, equity and good governance through the law.
When I served as the Chief Legal Consultant to the Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, rigorous attempts were made to broaden legislation and give them a clear philosophical attribute. That Senate succeeded inexorably, in spite of Executive attempts to conscript the Senate.
The rest of us may not have party affiliations and may not have contested rigged elections, but we are no less Nigerians. We shall not allow the country to be steered in the three Arms Zones   by amateurish and educational under-achievers, who are manifestly bereft of statecraft skills.
Professor Dr. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, a Writer and Academic is the Academic Chancellor, BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW BUREAU, Abuja.

On April 15, 2011, the European Central Bank raised its interest rates by 0.25%.Wil this assist or worsen the borrowing ability of Portugal?

For over a decade, European economists relied mostly on permutations from the World Bank and IMF.These institutions dealt more with the theoretical aspects of the European economy, while individual states dealt in considerable details with their monetary economic reforms.

European national incomes are made up of “total goods and services produced namely (a) the national income, (b) national product and (c) the national expenditure.” All these are now under stress.

In the last ten years, there has been Euro-American national expenditure on wars, armament production, nuclear research, in pursuit of the democratization of ancient regimes around the globe.

By withdrawing from the Libyan confrontation, the United States seems to begin to see that it must cater for Americans with dwindling resources, before its self-imposed world democratizing duty. Let the world go away, as it surely will.

NATO is now killing Libyans in order to save Libyans. They are yet to invent how to make their bombs identify civilians. The recent bombing of rebel positions has led the rebels to question on whose side NATO forces are Wars cost money and human lives! War economies do not grow.

What is visible in the European economic system, are “the law of diminishing marginal productivity and the law of increasing costs. European money can no longer distinguish its static function from its dynamic role, which is to assist European financial activities.”

In England, there will be drastic cuts in jobs and social policies, Ireland has landed itself into a debt peonage, and Greece is managing on the edge. Spain is watching its weight. There is disquiet among the citizens of Europe.

The American government is threatened by a shut-down, which could affect over 8000 government workers. This is the result of the agitation by the Tea Party Movement that strengthened Republican revolt in America.

Amidst these interlocking circles of misery, social conditioning has become a nightmare.

Portugal must effect tax measures, which could provoke popular uprisings as we saw in Greece and in Ireland. Germany is insisting on knowing the terms and size of the bail-out. Its Teutonic culture of thrift, hard-work and efficiency, does not permit her to squander her riches.

The German Government is mindful of the ground-swell of hateful opinion amongst its populace. They are not impressed by governmental indulgence in medieval chivalry. The Germans are aware of the foreign exchange risks in international syndicated loans and the vagaries in a sudden review of international banking and financing system.

The European financial system needs structural adjustment, open markets and foreign investment in Africa, within the legal framework of the WTO. This is an international organization, which is effectively developing and shaping international economic prosperity around the world.

Europe may wish to implement OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. Big European companies must learn how to reduce their greed and deal with mutual advantage ,as their operational philosophy.

Shell should not have faced problems in the Niger Delta, if it had understood its social responsibility to the local population, where they harvest their golden eggs.

African companies should also venture into European markets or at least start with neighbouring African markets.

A good example was set recently, when the Nigerian Global Fleet Group opened the Energy Bank of Ghana, in Accra.

Huron Blue Company, Abuja, promotes international trade. Operational licences can be obtained for trading partners, if the proposals are well articulated. Our contact address is eesiemokhai@yahoo.com . Out telephone no. is 07036660639.

We are committed to Euro-African international trade by eliminating the incredibly spooky atmosphere of lack of trust, dishonest maneuvers, advance fee fraud and other free trade impediments.

Euro-American companies we consult on their behalf complain about unwholesome practices like non-remission of funds, non-disclosure of material facts and plain robbery. We have worked out checks and strategies to minimize these free trade constraints. We check with the regulating official bodies to ensure that companies are properly registered, we check with the Chambers of Commerce to investigate the true financial and business standing of the trading partners. We sue for debts on behalf of our clients. We are very effective in ensuring good practices.

The new Federal Government of Nigeria will encourage our efforts to ensure that Euro-African Trade thrives to the benefit of all.

Until European governments sort themselves out the seismic financial wave could turn into a political tsunami.

In the Era of the Gentiles, Atonement and the Brotherhood of Man, man-made economic systems will not solve the present huge problems.

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse.

And a Branch shall grow out of its roots.

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding.

The Spirit of counsel and might.

The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of God.

(Isaiah 11verse 1 and2). God acceptance and worship are crucial if the world must obtain mercy.

Our successful elections in Nigeria will be more meaningful, if they ushers in a government that will actively engage in international trade. Relaying on oil from the Niger Delta alone will not be enough to meet the new societal challenges in Nigeria.

In my article entitled “Putin on Blueberry Hill, I challenged the Russian Prime Minister to do more about Russo/African relations. The Russian government, in response, promised to do 1 Billion Dollar business with Nigeria, if we get it right at the 2011 National Elections!

This is why I am fervently pleading with Nigerians to demonstrate maturity and conduct fair, free and credible elections.

Those politicians, who lose elections should think out viable business proposals, get in touch with the Managing Director, Huron Blue Company, Abuja, Nigeria, for new prospects in international trade. Politics is not as lucrative and dignifying as when you run your own business. So, let’s talk. Europe is ready for business with Africa and Nigeria is the place to invest in, under our watch.

Professor Dr. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai, a Writer and Academic is a Consultant on International Trade.( eesiemokhai@yahoo.com ) 07036660639