Written on Jan 18, 2022

My dear Adeola, I was deeply hurt by your behavior towards me in the night of Jan 18, 2022. I intention made myself closer to you because of my special love for you. I started to ask myself questions about all the three of you when I was sent to jail by your mother, Dec 19, 2019 - Feb 20, 2020. Not one of you felt concerned about what happened. You in particular acted as if you did not know. Your taking side with your mother was to me unthinkable.

You guys truly believed I did nothing to support you and that your mother did everything. You people are supposed to be intelligent, a thinking people, I supposed. What I see of the three of you is far from what I prayed for or expected.

I will set the record straight. I supported you, the children and your mother, regardless of what lies you have been fed and believed.

It was I, who did in fact prayed to God to take me away from your mother beginning in 2003 and God answered my prayer.

It was a very bad decision to have married your mother, we were not a good fit. Like I openly admitted, the ONLY thing I regretted doing to her, was putting my hands on her. Your mother was not the nicest of anyone I have dated or knew, she was very horrible. I have restrained myself from saying bad things about her. I even forced myself to apologize to her two or three times. She, in truth did not deserve my apology. She is the one who should have apologized to me. She was a greedy woman who wanted everything for herself alone.

She didn't care about anyone else but herself. She is doing that stupid cooking business in that house, disturbing every one with constant noise of grinding machine. I told her to go and get herself a shop like everyone starting out a business. No, she didn't want to do that, she wanted to build her business on the pains of others. An abhorrent selfish thing to do. It was fine with her to keep disturbing everyone. It is a shame, I ever was with such a person, who to me put herself above everyone. A very inconsiderate woman.

All I wanted to do, was to get away from her, this was the reason, I did not contest the divorce. She asked for a divorce, I simply told her FINE, she got everything she asked for and MORE. I walked out with nothing except my books,  my book rack and my stereo set. Every other thing was left for her. PEACE to me has no price, by God, I got peace, even all those who saw me a few years after the divorce told me how well I looked. I gave everything to have my health back and my wellbeing.

For the record, I paid the mortgage from the time the house was built. up until the time of the divorce, Dec 2011. I paid, ADT which she was not even using, I paid your water bill and the Home Owner Association dues. Everything I was paying added up to about $2500, the mortgage being the most expense. She claimed she was paying 3000 USD in other expenses (food, light, gas, sport activities for the boys and clothes for the children).

I paid for all your sporting activities, your scouting activities, your music lessons and I have canceled checks as proof. I can accept all of you supporting your mother, but you need to ask questions and not believe everything she says. Your mother is a liar who lie effortlessly.

She is the ONLY mother I know who has thrown her children out of the house, not once, but at least three times. The dates and times are all on my blog online. I, on the other hand have NEVER thrown you out of my house or apartment. NEVER!.

I gave your mother 1500 USD every month, from July 2011 when I moved out until July 2018. Despite my financial situation, I still paid your first semester at Colin County College. It was My friends who sent the money directly to you one sent you $600, and two others sent $200 each in my behalf. Yet you sat there and boldly told a lie about me, of me never to have supported you. My dear that ws a BIG lie. Keep in mind I was laid off in May of 2018. This was why I stopped making the child support for you and Korede. She went to court and won. Judgement was to pay her 17,500 USD I can't remember the exact amount and I have been making 500 USD to her every month. Hopefully, it will be paid all off next year, and I will be forever FREE from her. It was a mistake that we met, and huge mistake that we got married. It is indeed a sour point of my life. She is not someone, I like, nor respect at all, and it is sad, because you are supposed to love/like the mother of your children. That one!!!, your mother, I don't hate her, but I don't like her, she is a very manipulative woman, and an evil woman personified. All of you need to repent for your sins against me.

One with God is a majority. I am at peace with myself.

Your father,

Michael Folorunso

IMF: The Big Bad Wolf

IMF: The Big Bad Wolf 

By: Michael O. Folorunso
michaelf01@msn.com 

 In the period during the civil war (1967 - 1970), what most people did not know was that the war was fought and not a single penny was borrowed from anyone or anywhere. But then, right after the civil war the Nigerian Government under Gen. Yakubu Gowon was being seduced everyday by the sinister world banking systems into borrowing. At the time Chief Awolowo, warned " ... we fought a civil war without borrowing a penny, during which time Nigeria was spending millions of dollars every day to prosecute the war efforts ...". The suspicious power elite who then were poorly educated and were obviously being misinformed by the officers of the evil world banking systems completely refused to listen. Awo vowed not to be part of it, the war was already over, there was actually little or no more roles for him to play -- the man simply left the government, he went back to his law practice, the year was 1971. This essay is not about Awolowo, it is about the World Bank and the IMF. If you feel you must react to the name "Awolowo", kindly direct all your reactions to him in his grave at Ikene, Ijebu Remo. I have no need for revisionists type email. 

Between 1971 and year 2003, we are told that Nigeria has over 30 billion dollars of foreign debt. Many in Nigeria governments have tried in their own way to find a solution out of the Nigerian huge foreign debt. Various Military governments have implemented one form of debt buy back or another with little or no effect. Many years ago, I had a friend here in the United States, he made his fortunes buy buying bad debts from banks and from the Savings and Loans failures of the 1980s. What my friend did was rather simple he paid a penny (cent) on a dollar of a bad debt and then collected what he could from the debtors. In some cases, he settled for just 60% of the original debt. My friend became very wealthy, and the debtor was free of his/her debt burden. 

I am not particularly familiar with the various debt buy back schemes which Nigeria has implemented since when debt buy back first became popular in the 80s. Nigeria during the Babangida era tried some form of debt buy back schemes. What we do know is that the debt is climbing higher everyday despite billions of dollars which have been paid to service it. It is very clear to the discernible people that someone is obviously ripping Nigeria off. The truth is the greatest financial crime which have been perpetrated on earth was not against the so-called innocent Americans but against the unsuspecting poor people of Nigeria. At least the Americans were dealing with faceless individuals, who send in a email or ordinary mail, in which they told their victims that they were in possession of monies belong to the Federal republic of Nigeria. These victims or were they really? (more like criminal accomplices) were informed to send money and in the end lost their money. The so-called innocent Americans were the ones to blame, because they are knowingly and were willing to commit financial crimes against the innocent people of Nigeria, they should have reported the crimes to the FBI, none of them did, they got burned and they are crying foul. Their government is shamelessly going around intimidating the Nigerian government. Sounds very typical. The strong bully against the weak nation. 

The focus of this essay is the IMF and the World Bank. It is true that they are owed some or a lot of money and are not just looking to collect their debt, they also want to impoverish the people in the process. "That's for starters. In all, the IMF's 167 loan conditions look less like an assistance plan and more like a blueprint for a financial coup d’état. The IMF would say it has no choice. Ecuador is broke, thanks to the implosion of its commercial banks. But how did Ecuador, an OPEC member with resources to spare, end up in such a pickle? For that, we have to turn back to 1983, when the IMF forced its government to take over the soured private debts owed by Ecuador's elite to foreign banks. For this bail-out of US and local financiers, Ecuador borrowed $1.5 billion." wrote Gregory Palast in the London Observer October 8, 2000.

IMF ordered the government of Ecuador, by the 1st. of November. 2000, "...to raise the price of cooking gas by 80 per cent. It must eliminate 26,000 jobs and halve real wages for the remaining workers by 50 per cent in four steps in months specified by the IMF. It must begin to transfer ownership of its biggest water system to foreign operators by July and grant BP's Arco subsidiary the right to build and own an oil pipeline over the Andes. " How is this compared to the Bureau of Public Enterprises programs which is currently taking place now in Nigeria? Perhaps not very different. What the Nigerian government must do is to work out a schedule to pay back its debt in a more honorable way instead of begging for debt forgiveness. Dr. Bankenstein's Monsters: The World Bank, the IMF and the Aliens Who Ate Ecuador. An internal study reveals the price 'rescued' nations pay: dearer essentials, worse poverty and shorter lives. All that the Nigerian Government need to do is to ask our sister Nation to the East, Tanzania. 

IMF and the World Bank have lent a sticky helping hand, more like loan sharking, to scores of nations. In Tanzania, there are 1.4 million people there are getting ready to die. This is about 8 per cent of the nation's population, they have the Aids virus. IMF actually directed the Tanzania Government to charge for hospital visits, which was previously free. The Tanzania Government agreed. The effect cut the number of patients treated in the three big public hospitals in the capital, Dar es Salaam, by 53 per cent. Talking about IMF love for the people, if this does not show where the IMF interests lie, I don't know what will. They did not stop there, IMF also told Tanzania to charge school fees. Now the bank expresses surprise that school enrolment is down from 80 per cent to 66 per cent. Altogether the World Bank and IMF have 157 other helpful suggestions for Tanzania, and the Tanzanian government secretly agreed to adopt them all. It was sign or starve. 

The truth is: No developing nation can borrow hard currency without IMF blessing (except China, whose output grows at 5 per cent a year thanks to it studiously following the reverse of IMF policies). The IMF and World Bank have effectively controlled Tanzania's economy since 1985. Admittedly, when they took charge, they found a socialist nation mired in poverty, disease and debt --- these are what IMF wanted to turn around but see what happened. The so-called IMF experts wasted no time in cutting trade barriers, limiting government subsidies and selling off state industries. This worked wonders they said to themselves. The fact is: According to bank-watcher Nancy Alexander of the Washington-based Globalisation Challenge Initiative, in just 15 years Tanzania's GDP has dropped from $309 to $210 per capita, the literacy rate is falling, and the rate of abject poverty has jumped to 51 per cent of the population. Such is the impoverish hands of the IMF. Now they are blaming their obvious failure in Tanzania on the people. "...yet somehow the bank has failed to win over the hearts and minds of Tanzanians to its free market gameplan. 

Last June, the bank reported in frustration: 'One legacy of socialism is that most people continue to believe the state has a fundamental role in promoting development and providing social services." Everywhere the IMF intervened, they left a giant footprint of a destroyed economy, joblessness, more poverty than when they came in. For example, IMF/World bank began in Argentina many years ago by asking the Argentinean government to start cutting its budgets. Today a fifth of the population of Argentina is unemployed, they said to the government cut the unemployment benefits drastically, take away pension funds, cut the education budgets, they in fact prescribed horrible things for Argentina. No one really knew if the IMF experts realized that: if you cut the economy in the middle of a recession, which was created in the first place by the IMF experts, you are really going to absolutely demolish this nation, that is exactly what IMF did to Argentina. IMF took a reasonably vibrant economy and grounded it to a halt. IMF ruined Argentina’s economy. 

On the other hand, when the United Sates was attacked on September 11, 2001, President Bush came out and said "we got to spend $50 to $100 billion dollars to save our economy". He did not start by cutting the budget, he started trying to save the economy. But they tell other countries they must cut, and cut, and cut. The reason for the strings of mindless cuts is rather simple, it is so the Argentina, Ecuador etc., of the world can make payments to foreign banks - the foreign banks are collecting 21% to 70% interest. This is loansharking. It was so bad that they required Argentina to get rid of the laws against loansharking. This is because any bank it was determined would be a loan-shark under the Argentine law. Another thing that I found about the IMF/World Bank is that, basically they required nations to sign secret agreements, in which they agreed to sell off their key assets, in which they agreed to take economic steps which are really devastating to the nations involved and if they didn't agree to these steps, there was an average for each nation that signed one-hundred and eleven items that they are required to sign on to. Any nation which did follow those steps which were suggested by the IMF were then cut-off from all international borrowing. 

In today Global economy, if a nation cannot borrow any money in the international marketplace. The truth is no one can survive without borrowing, whether you are people (individuals) or corporations or countries - without borrowing money and having some credit and you will simply be stagnated or just rut away. The activity of the IMF/World Bank has been known for years. They come in, pay off politicians to transfer the water systems, the railways, the telephone companies, the nationalized oil companies, gas stations - IMF always operate best with corrupt politicians, who have taken their cut in bribes then hand over national properties to selected IMF/World bank agents for next to nothing. The bribes or they pay off for the corrupt politician/individually, which could be as high as billions a piece are then deposited in Swiss bank accounts. The effect of this is total slavery for the entire population. IMF/World Bank has even gone a notch worse in the case of Venezuela, here you have got an elected president of the government and the IMF announced that they would support a transition government if the president were removed. 

They are not saying that they are going to get involved in politics - they would just support a transition government. What that effectively is, is saying we will pay for the coup d'etat, if the military overthrows the current president, because the current president of Venezuela has said no to the IMF. The President of Venezuela simply told the IMF guys to go packing. IMF in their arrogant style brought their teams in and said to the President of Venezuela, you have to do this and that. And he said, I don't have to do nothing. He said to these gang of thieves: "what I'm going to do is, I'm going to double the taxes on oil corporations because we have a whole lot of oil in Venezuela. And I'm going to double the taxes on oil corporations and then I will have all the money I need for social programs and the government - and we will be a very rich nation". Well, no sooner President Hugo Chavez did that than the IMF agents started fomenting trouble and using the military, the result, Hugo was briefly overthrown and then reinstated when they find the ordinary people rallied to his support. Now they have infiltrated the union to destabilize Venezuela. I am afraid for the worst for the Venezuelan President, if they do not blackmail him out of office, he may end up being shot dead by the agents and domestic cronies of the IMF. 

They are not going to allow him to get away with raising taxes on the oil companies. Now we are seeing the same pattern in Nigeria -- the oil workers are on strike. The truth is, many of these oil workers can not even articulate exactly what it is they are striking for-- they are largely ignorant of the consequences of their action on the Nigerian economy. They are allowing themselves to be used by the Multinational Corporations to undermine the government. In the United States, government workers are not allowed to go on work stoppage as means of addressing low wages or other welfare concerns. If they did they will be fired/dismissed. In August of 1981 Ronald Reagan outraged with the strike by PATCO, he (Reagan) informed the air traffic controller to return to work or the government would assume the striking controllers had quit. By the end of that week over 5,000 PATCO members (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) has received dismissal notices from the FAA. Their offence, they participated in an unlawful strike against the government of the United States. Nigeria (government) must be vigilant to recognize organized terrorism against it. 

It must put in place measures which will make it difficult for anyone, or group, whether local or foreign to commit economic crime against the Nigerian people. But what we are hearing is the madness to host World Cup Soccer, this is a misplaced priority which will not portray Nigeria as serious in its efforts to reduce debt. The people of Nigeria can not eat World Cup Soccer Hosting, the people need jobs which pay livable wages. What Nigeria needs to do is to stop or freeze new spending, at least those that will have little or no impact on the economy. The government must work seriously to pay off the national debt. With the debt paid off, Nigerians will again begin to enjoy a better standard of living such as they had in the period when Chief Awolowo was the Minister of Finance. 

Michael O. Folorunso This article was first published in 2000 on GAMJI.COM

 

The War In Ukraine

The fallout of the Russia/Ukraine war is very grave. There is a African lesson in the war going on in Ukraine. The optix of Africans being openly rejected in the plain view of the entire world should give us concerns. In the matter of pandemonium, chaos, impeding destruction and death --- the African is callously denied the opportunity to run into safety. The reason, he is NOT European. He is NOT white.

The African is treated with the worst level of callousness, a frightening coldness. He was told there is no space for him in the vehicle of safety, this is when people who arrived at the station after him, were accorded human dignity and were received with empathy, were provided every imaginable assistance at a chance to run into safety and live --- the difference, they are European, they are white.

I saw a a whole people, my people, a whole family, my family, being left on the train station platform to confront their fate. The same African, who in Africa, any Africa, will sabotage his own brother for the sake of anyone "white" is with reckless abandon, sent a clear message that he is not human, and not worthy of living or to seek life.

In all the madness, I am encouraged by the efforts of Peace Airline which so far is in the forefront of humanitarian airlifts. First in South Africa and now in Ukraine --- one fella had the effrontery, the stupidity to tell me that he was not in it for free. At that point, I just knew, that was not the kind of person I can hold conversation with, for one thing he lacked the understanding of the the horror/pain of the moment, he saw only the dollar value to be made, which I found incredible. I doubt it if the dollar rewards ever crossed Oyeama's mind. With this one guy, he saw only the dollars. Very sad.

Secondly, the role of the Nigeria Foreign Ministry, led by Abike Dabiri-Erewa (NIDO coordinator). She made the necessary efforts to provide crucial information about how Nigerians caught up in the war can get to safety. This is first by a Nigerian government since all of my 43 years of living overseas. I am encouraged, the optics of it is huge. It tells the world that Nigeria as a nation is finally waking up to her duties/responsibilities to her people.

The two efforts made (i) by Air Peace and (ii) by the Nigeria Foreign Ministry put Poland and its government to shame. It marked the turning point in the Polish attitudes, that they are spinning their unacceptable treatment of Africans and saying it was because the Africans did not possess the requisite papers to enter Poland. This is at least, if not good, is better than the initial statement, that "you can't come on the train, you are not European".

Author: Michael O. Folorunso

Date: March 8, 2022

 

Monday, April 24, 2000  to French to Spanish to German to Italian to Portuguese   Michael Folorunso  michaelf01@email.msn.com

RE: North In Isolation

Monday, April 24, 2000

Michael Folorunso

"North In Isolation" By Aminu Sa'ad Beli: Please allow me to respond to this article. I can understand Mallam Aminu Sa'ad Beli's frustration. If I were a Muslim, and from northern Nigeria, I probably will share my frustration openly too. It is sad to note that those who have contributed the least to the progress of the Nation, and have had opportunities one after another, both military and constitutionally at ruling and shaping Nigeria are now the one that are complaining. If I were from the north I will feel a great deal of frustration too. The problem here is, his frustration is misdirected. Rather than direct his frustrations to the many leaders they have produced to rule Nigeria, no, he did not. Instead he singles out the Yorubas to bear the brunt of his pains. This man, is really in pain for his people, hence his public search for a scapegoat. Well, the Yorubas, are content and proud of who they are, and have never needed any one or any group to make us feel good. Let me quote a saying from one of the illustrious sons of Oduduwa, " ka ka ki ndo bale fun gambari, ma kunkun ku" Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo is credited with the quote. It translates, I will die first before I bow to a gambari. It can be likened to the famous American quote " Give me liberty or give me death". Looking back now, Awo was correct, at the time a lot of people saw him as very rigid, but at least he was very courageous and harbors no fear of any kind. Nonetheless some selfish Yorubas, colluded with the intellectually unprepared north and taught them the trappings of power, these, unfortunately were, the late Sir Ladoke Akintola, and recently Richard Akinjide and the rest of the coward clans. Chief Akintola may not even be a coward, but he just was willing to give away too much for his own selfish goal. These were Yorubas that put too much faith in working with the tribalistic north who have always had an agenda of their own. Their agenda, as we all know is to spread Islam at all cost without regards for human life. Well, it is all a common knowledge that Chief Awolowo went to jail, more so for what he stood for than for what he was charged with. Awolowo I should say lived well, and died a natural death. When I look at the Yorubas, I see the image of Lt. Col. A. Fajuyi, may his soul rest in perfect peace. I also see a hero of all heros, Brigadier Ben Adekunle. Today, in the Yoruba land, Akintola's name, is not as better remembered as that of Awolowo. Despite that the largely welfare expecting, beggar north will prefer that Awolowo's name be forgotten. The truth is, Awolowo's name is firmly etched in the heart of his fellow Yorubas, he does not need an edifice or monument to be erected in his name. His name stands for boldness and progress. Awo, unfortunately had the least chance at shaping the nation. Awolowo's contributions, hate him or love him, will live on for posterity to measure. Let me remind Mallam Aminu Sa'ad Beli, that it was not the Yorubas who butchered innocent Igbos, pregnant women children and all, in 1966. It was indeed the Hausas, instigated by their Fulani masters. This is just a recent history, if my people committed such a barbaric crime, against pregnant women, children etc., just because they were Igbos, I will conveniently erase it from my memory too. History again repeated itself, two months ago in Nigeria, the targets this time around were southern Christians. God and true God does not need anyone to kill or fight for Him. The truth is, poverty and illiteracy, lack of clear awareness for the individual rights of worship and expression has created an environment where some indolent people can kill at will for religion. Let me say here also, that the southerners recognized the need for mass education. Southern universities often set aside quotas to be filled by the educationally disadvantaged so they can help bring them up to speed. Anyday anytime, an educated customer is a better customer to deal with. We are all black people, so you can not explain away the lack of decent education that is so visible in the north to genetics. Like one of their leaders rightly pointed out to them, late Usman Katsina clearly told them, that their problem is laziness and nothing more. The south as a whole is guilty of only one thing, appeasing mediocrity. I know well that education is not needed for anyone to be innovative, common sense and vision is. A group that will rather take a bowl in their hands and beg alms from their fellow citizens, it seems to me collectively is lacking in creativity and vision. Regarding Yorubas looting the national treasury, there really is no truth to that, outside of Chief Obasanjo, no yoruba has ever ruled Nigeria. So I really do not see where the Yorubas have had uncontrolled access to the nation's treasury. Of course, Gen. Buhari is not a Yoruba, yet there is the question of the missing $2.2 billion. The other Generals who gave the Lebanese unrestricted access to the nations treasury and helped themselves to still many untold billions of US Dollars, Babangida and late Abacha are definitely not Yorubas. When pointing fingers, by God, be right. Michael Folorunso https://nigeriaworld.com/letters/2000/apr/242.html

 

The sorry state of the Nigeria State, a terrorist State.

This is really a troubling time, the network of Fula terrorists are the ones who have plunged Nigeria into chaos. They are not even subtle about it; they are in your face about it. First, this terrorist group masterminded the abduction and kidnap of Nnamdi Kanu in broad daylight in Kenya. Without wasting time their spokesman, Abubarkar Malami could hardly contain himself over the kidnap, that he announced the kidnap in Hausa at the Press Conference he held, gloating over it as if it was something to be proud of. Maybe to the Fula ethnic, it was a moment of celebration, to many other Nigerians, it was indeed a very sad moment. What Malami did at that press conference to me is an insult to Nigeria. The focus of my article is however different, the focus is the attack in Ibadan at 1 AM July 1, 2021. 

I want to use this write-up to register a strong protest against the Federal Government’s attack on Chief Sunday Igboho’s home. What happened there in the wee hours of July 1, 2021 was a failed attempt to assassinate a citizen of Nigeria, a gallant son of Yoruba. Regardless of which side of the divide you are on, everyone of us should be troubled by what happened there in Ibadan on that early morning.

Former president Goodluck Jonathan once stated, some people want power, not because they want to serve the people, but because they want to use power to oppress the people. I have to say that GEJ was correct.

Mohammadu Buhari’s government is fast looking like a rogue government that has little or no concern for the wellbeing of “the” other Nigerians, who do not belong to his ethnic group or his brand of religion. Buhari’s government has with determination, and deliberate policy placed themselves at the helm of every government Agency and perfecting a plan to kill the rest of the Nigeria citizens.

Oloye Sunday Igboho suffered unspeakable carnage in the hands of the FG … the whole Yoruba nation is under attack, let us not be mistaken about it. The atrocity that took place in Ibadan city and at the home of Oloye Sunday Igboho, said it all. 

The entire Nigeria citizens are under siege, it has become very clear to all Nigerians that this Buhari government has no understanding of the concept of NATION BUILDING. The people in the current administration sought power just so they can use power to repress and oppress the citizens of Nigeria. 

It is abundantly clear that we have a group in power whose main purpose and goal is to undermine an egalitarian and a just society in Nigeria which some of us still believe is possible. Nigeria appears to be asleep, while these hell-bent ethnic group is relentless at work using the peaceful religion of Islam to cheat, steal and pillage Nigeria. They did not just start yesterday, they started way back in 1979, and they became bolder by the year to the point where they have now made ethnic cleansing/genocide the corner stone of their mission.

All they want is power, and they want it by force, they want power not build a viable Nigeria, but to actually see to it that Nigeria in its present form is destroyed. They want only their ethnic group to be the beneficiary. Their dream is so they can lord themselves over the rest of the Nigeria citizens. Th most annoying part is that we have this Attorney General, Abu Malami who thinks is the attorney general of the Fula people. He truly thinks in his troubled mind that the Igbos are conquered people. I will like to ask him just when did that conquest take place?

Perhaps he does not understand the Civil war of 1967 – 1970. I can not pin point any sector of the war where the Fula people excelled. This is not to mean that the northern soldiers did not excel, they did, I remember Col. M. Shuwa, from the North East, Colonels Gibson S. Jalo, Illiya D. Bisalla, Ibrahim Haruna all of who were gallant soldiers that fought to keep Nigeria ONE. The atrocities the North West soldiers committed in Asaba is still fresh in our minds, the massacre of Delta Igbos youths, which was carried out under Murtala Mohammed’s command, by one Ibrahim Taiwo who fashioned himself as a Fula. In real war these people who found it so easy to kill innocent young Igbo males were no match for what later confronted them at both Onitcha and Abagana, Biafra. The Nigeria Army under Murtala was roundly defeated in Abagana, a whole battalion was eviscerated and totally destroyed by the Bifrans.

I often hear about Karma, it came looking for Murtala Mohammed and Ibrahim Taiwo and served them a fair dosage of their own medicines, they too were killed like rats in broad day light by their fellow northerners.

I will urge Malami to go and study the Nigeria civil war 1967-1970, may be then, he will learn something that will make a human being out of him, something that will truly humble him. The Fula ethnic group don’t understand the value of diversity. They act like spies all over Nigeria, killing everyone they perceive to be in their way. I know without any doubt, that Governor of Ondo State is perhaps on their list of those they want to get rid of. I know they will be watching all of his moves. It is sad that I even allow myself to think in this way, but this is the truth about the Fula people.

At a time when everyone’s hand should be on deck to lift Nigeria out of the ruts it is in, most of us, unfortunately are worried about being kidnap by fellow Nigerians so to put it. We are consumed about our safety, we can’t go and farm, the citizens are in fear of being macheted to death if they went to farm, like they did to Dr. Aborode, a relation of Oloye Sunday Igboho. 

I am very careful, to make clear that, it is not the North that is on rampage – it is the Fula people who are going everywhere killing, raping and pillaging people’s lands, destroying lives and properties. Their fingerprints are all over the place, from Plateau to Adamawa and now the Southern States. 

For me as a Yoruba person, the attack on Chief Sunday Igboho is one act of State terrorism too much. Let no one be deceived about it. I make bold to say that there will not be a situation in Nigeria again, where the Nigeria Militarily will be used to engage any section of the Federation like it was done during the Nigeria vs Biafra war. It will NEVER happen again. What will happen is, individual ethnic group will stand to defend itself against their killers. The Buhari’s government should hide itself in shame and should be seen and treated as a pariah in the community of nations.

I miss Gani Fawehinmi … if Gani were alive today, he would have been in the courthouse filing suit against FG regarding this unwarranted attack in Ibadan. It is an attack on all Yoruba people and it is just that clear.

We have one nation to call our own, we either work to build it or die destroying it.

 

Michael O Folorunso

Dallas, Texas, USA

 

VPN works, it is safe to use, and it does not expose your Data.

I am moved to write this technical article to refute and dispel the misinformation which Minister Lai Mohammed put out there during his very combative attempt to explain the suspension he placed on Twitter to the Nigeria NASS. I could not believe my ears, what I heard from that man, Lai Mohammed, more so that a Minister will make such a brazen inaccurate statement about a popular technology among internet users. It is okay to not know, it is unforgivable to make factually WRONG technical statements.

 

What that man said in that hearing with bold face is a disservice to all the technically aware/savvy Nigerians. It was shameful no one in that room knew enough about VPN to correct him up front.

 

I am going to try and explain VPN in its most basic form and its benefits to everyone that uses this technology, including our people, the Nigeria population.

For the record, VPNs are very safe, all packets through it are ENCRYPTED and no one can intercept it, except the intended person at the destination point.

 

Long before VPN became popular among ordinary users, VPN (Virtual Private Network) has been in use for many decades in Corporations. VPN is the tool by which employees of most Institutions and Corporations connect remotely to their home offices and process company’s information/data safely and securely. I suspect that the use of VPN will even get to be more popular in Nigeria because of the avoidable gaffe of the government banning Twitter. 

 

What is a VPN (Virtual Private Network)? 

VPN is the process or the technology which allows your data to go over an encrypted connection (tunnel) from your house or your Smartphones/Handsets to another point on the Internet, through a designated VPN server, which may probably be in another country, and then make its way onto the public Internet.

  

The advantage of this encrypted connection is that your data has the IP address that is assigned to the other end of the tunnel, not your home IP, but <VPN IP: 172.30.50.1>.

 

That means that when you connect to a web server the IP address seen by the server is that of the VPN endpoint <VPN IP: 172.30.50.1>, not your home IP address. By doing this, the user is offered some PRIVACY.

 

How Does a VPN Work? 

Here’s how VPN works for the user. A VPN client (software) is launched to initiate a VPN connection through your VPN service. This software encrypts your data, and makes it invincible to even your Internet Service Provider (ISP). VPN shields and protects your information when you use those Coffee Shop/Airport/Hotel Wi-Fis. The data then goes to the VPN Server, and from the VPN Server to your online destination. This could be anything from your bank website to a video sharing website to a search engine and the likes.

 

The online destination sees your data as coming from the VPN server and its location, and not from your computer and your home/location. 

When you connect to the web without a VPN, here’s how your connection looks like:

This is the standard, and this is how most people access the internet, i.e without VPN. This type of connection has some flaws and your information can be pried  open and be viewed and even altered by unintended persons. All of your data is out there in the open, and anyone who is interested can peek at what you’re sending. 

 

Just like most of us know, the internet is a collection of servers responsible for

(a) storing websites and

(b) serving the website information to anyone who has requested and wants to view them.

 

Those servers do as a matter of design talk to each other all the time, including sharing your data with each other and to ultimately allow you to browse a requested page. If you are only interested in surfing the internet, this is great, this may be all that you need, but it is not great for privacy.  If it’s just a fun website that you’re looking at then, there may not be any need to worry about privacy. With this type of simple needs, it may not matter if someone sees your data. 

 

But if you are looking to access your banks for more complex transactions, your business emails, or some other online functions which carry sensitive information, then you need a VPN, and not just any VPN, you need a very secured VPN. 

 

Illustrated below is what connection looks like with VPN enabled: 

 

 

When you use a VPN service, your data is encrypted. The data travels in encrypted format from your device (Handsets/Phones, Laptops. Desktop etc) to your ISP. 

From your ISP, it will then travel to the VPN server. The VPN server for the most part, is a third-party equipment that connects you to the web or the internet. The end-to-end provision helps to ensure:

(1) the privacy of the user and it also

(2) eradicate the data's security problem. 

• The destination site sees the VPN server <VPN IP: 172.30.50.1> as the traffic origin, not you.

• It makes it impossible for anyone to steal your information or even sees it. This is because no one can (easily) identify you, or your computer as the source of the data, nor what you’re doing (what websites you’re visiting, what data you’re transferring, etc.). 
• Your data is encrypted, so even if someone does look at what you’re sending, they only see encrypted information and not the raw data. 

What is not safe however is the Federal Government instituted NIN, where enormous power is given to Patanmi, a government functionary, who is acting in bad faith against the citizens of Nigeria. An unelected Patanmi, ascribes the all knowing power to himself, to do as he please with citizens data. Patanmi is the Minister who has confessed to being terrorists sympathizer, in my view, such a person should never have been allowed to go near anyone’s information, let alone, the personal information of every Nigerian. If I may make a wild guess, Patanmi may know a lot about the killing of Gen. Owoye andrew Azazzi and the late Kaduna Gov. Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa --- December 15, 2012,  this is a subject for another time.

 

Conclusion: A very good VPN provides privacy and security and it is much safer than connecting to the web/internet the traditional way.

Please don't believe what Minister Lai Mohammed said at the NASS. VPN is safe and it helps protect the integrity of your data. The man doesn't know what he is talking about.

 

 Author: Michael O. Folorunso, Plano Texas, USA.

 ... Please focus on the song and not the persons, and you may be blessed.

Celestial Church Of Christ