Nigeria Needs Robust Agriculture And Food Security Policies Urgently

Nigeria Needs Robust Agriculture and Food Security Policies Urgently

Written by Paul I. Adujie Esq.

Any nation which cannot feed her citizens faces existential threats.

 The inability of the former Union of Soviets Socialists Republics (USSR) to feed her citizens was a catastrophe more powerful than the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl.

Hunger, or famine was the catalytic implosion which ended the USSR as a single corporate political entity which was headed by Russia. The USSR's reliance on other nations, notably, America became a national security fatal flaw.

Any nation which relies on other nations for her food security has mortgaged her National security and best interests.

Any nation which relies on food relief from other nations, could have such a weakness exploited by her competitors, with the consequent usurpation of her geostrategic and hemispheric influence.

Therefore, depending on what Nigeria does by way of robust agriculture, food production and food security policies, hunger and famine could pose existential threats to the continued corporate existence of Nigeria as one nation.

This is more threatening than some other variables like religion and ethnicity.

Nigeria is a nation facing existential threats from many angles, including and particularly, Nigeria's inability to be self-sufficient, self-reliant and self-sustaining regarding food production, food processing, storage and distribution.

It is the case that Nigeria can, and is capable of having food abundance. Nigeria has the population, the climate and the terrain. Nigeria has rain forests, Savannah grasslands, arid and semi-arid lands, deserts, rivers and oceans.

Nigeria is tropical and a good percentage of Nigerians have been involved in farming, but, quite unfortunately, subsistence farming which employs primordial and antiquated labor- intensive farming methods, instead of mechanized, automated and large scale commercial farming.

Agriculture and Food security policies for Nigeria are extremely urgent and critically crucial at this time for two interconnected reasons, Global warming and population explosion.

Population Explosion is an extremely urgent national and continental challenge

Nigeria's rapid population growth or expansion has created a myriad of challenges for the Nigerian society.

Mass unemployment, particularly amongst university graduates has blossomed into a National security challenge, from prostitution, advance fee fraud and other social vices to violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking and death through mass migration.

Food is surely expensive in Nigeria, and yet, life is so cheap!

Thousands of Nigerians are in mass migration out of Nigeria due to unemployment or the inability of the national economy to engage those Nigerians productively.

There are currently, as a consequence, thousands of Nigerian citizens in the failed nation state of Libya.

These Nigerians are trapped in the lawlessness of a failed state Libya, as they use Libya as a passage or gateway to Europe and other parts of the world in search of elusive greener pastures.

Population expansion and overstretched national resources to cater for Nigerian citizens, the misallocation and mismanagement of resources, corrupt practices and the absence of national priorities, have combined to exacerbate the current national insecurity which is being felt nationwide in Nigeria.

All of the above can get worse, due to the expected exponential population explosion which Nigeria will soon experience.

The population of Nigeria is expected to reach between 400 and 450 million in the next 20 years from Nigeria's current population estimate which is approximated to be, between 180 to 200 million people!

Thus, Nigeria will need to produce twice the amount of food, goods and services, facilities, amenities and public infrastructure to serve what will in 20 years be twice the population size of this year, 2019!

There is presently no policy in place focused on addressing and avoiding a head-on-collision with a plethora of these foreseeable consequential expansions and explosions.

Global Warming and the ubiquitous Fulani Herdsmen

Fulani Herdsmen have always been part of the Nigerian and West African ecosystem. There was harmony between the crops farmers on the one hand, and the herdsmen, or animal breeders on the other hand. This is not to suggest there were never disagreements!

We have to stipulate upfront, that there are expected disagreements between humans, as part of human interactions globally. What has changed however, is the nature, extent and stridency of disagreements and arguments between crop farmers and livestock farmers.

As a child, growing up in Nigeria, I witnessed firsthand, interactions between Fulani herdsmen and local crop farmers with local communities as the Herdsmen traversed the Nigerian landscapes without acrimony.

Damage of farm crops by straying cattle were resolved quickly and amicably.

I witnessed local women provide large bowls and basins into which water was fetched,  from public taps, which were plenty, and at four taps per mile or within every two poles, and the cows drank, while the herders  gave monetary compensation to the owners of the basins.

The process was mutually beneficial. All sides were happy with the transactions as the cows had their thirst quenched which was good for the cows and their owners or herders, while the women whose basins were used, were happy with the sudden income.

Animosities and Acrimonies or the politicization of food and everything else Nigerian?

Nigerians for reasons best known to only Nigerians, are not in a hurry, it appears, to join the global debate of the clear and present danger in the Global warming phenomenon!

In the last seven years, in Nigeria, I have not heard on Radio, Television or read in the newspapers discussions regarding many topical issues, including the dire circumstances which Global warming could inflict on the world and Nigeria in particular.

Similarly, I never get to hear or see discussions about regular medical checks or Prostate Cancer screening for adult males over 40 as topical debates or adverts by pharmaceutical companies!

Often, I wonder whether Nigeria is a geopolitical space, where national culture or pastime encourages everyone to sleepwalk onto a precipice regarding all matters of national importance.

A quick example is the failed state status of neighboring Libya.  Thousands of Nigerians citizens are trapped as refugees in war torn Libya with thousands already repatriated by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Yet, if you want to know about Nigerians trapped and dying in Libya, you will have to rely on foreign media like Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC or SkyNews etc, not Nigerian television networks, radio or newspapers or Nigerian diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Diaspora Directorate!

It is obvious that the lives of Nigerian citizens are not considered important by the different strata of governments in Nigeria or the generality of the citizenry and the mass media; Otherwise, why the profound absence of concern for those Nigerians stuck in the warzone which Libya has become?

In my lifetime, I have witnessed several failed attempts by governments in Nigeria to create, or bolster Agricultural and Food security policies.

There was, in my childhood days, Agriculture Extension Services. These were operations undertaken by Federal and State government officials which involved interactions between government officials and a variety of farmers - Cocoa farmers, Rubber plantation farmers, and crop farmers.

There were free or subsidized farm inputs, which ranged from farm equipment to supplies or enhancers such as fertilizers.

Subsequently, there were broad policies, which I supposed were well intentioned, but, were nevertheless abysmal and woeful failures.

Some Nigerians of my generation will recall Operation Feed the Nation or OFN during the Olusegun Obasanjo military administration which was then quickly followed with the Green Revolution by the Shehu Shagari administration.

There currently exists in Nigeria, banks established by the Federal Government of Nigeria, dedicated to the facilitation of Agriculture, Commerce, Mortgage and Industry etc.

It cannot be the case that these banks were established to favor only Hausa-Fulani or Fulani Herdsmen. During Operation Feed the Nation, and Green Revolution, the Government of Nigeria established River Basin Authorities, Owena Basin, Rima Basin, Sokoto Basin Authority etc.

Politicization of Foods, the Politics of Cattle Grazing and Political Food Fights?

Quite clearly, it is not true, that participation in the productive processes which is the national food chain of Nigeria has been a private affair, and should remain a private affair.

Furthermore, there is nothing in the laws in Nigeria which prohibits, forbids and proscribes any ethnic group(s) from Cattle herding or Cattle ranching. A Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa person and the garden variety herder, the ubiquitous Fulani can also be participants.

Rural Grazing Area is said to be the full meaning of RUGA. There is nothing in the Constitution or statute which insists or makes it mandatory that an Edo person has to become Muslim or marry a Fulani woman, before participation in RUGA settlement or Cattle colonies.

It is the same way that a Nigerian does not have to bear DANGOTE as a last name in order to sell cement. The wasted tears and wasted emotions surrounding RUGA are just a waste and wasted tears don't make flowers grow! These wasted tears and unnecessary hysteria have not addressed the causes and effects of Global warming, population explosions in Nigeria, and possible solutions.

Nigerian governments have frequently involved themselves in helping private enterprises succeed, in various sectors, agriculture, industries etc. Accruing benefits and beneficiaries from government support of productive enterprises were nationwide.

It therefore a disingenuous and outright lie, to politicize any proposed support for animal husbandries, livestock farming and, or ranching as a targeted Federal Government largesse for Fulani herdsmen, predicated on the fact that President Buhari is a Nigerian Fulani, and as a matter of course, he is partial to the Fulani ethnic group and Fulani Herdsmen.

A Nigerian does not have to be of the Fulani ethnic group to enjoy beef, Suya, Kilishi and the rest of what constitutes protein in the Nigerian Food Chain!

As an unapologetic red meat eater who is over 40 years old, and despite the science which discourages red meat eating at my age, I have to confess that my meat eating enjoyment is not a favor to the Fulani by me or from me.

I love meat and it could have been sold to me by a Tiv, Urhobo, Igbo or Ogoja seller.

All Nigerians eat Fulani reared or grown cattle.

All Nigerians should be concerned with where foods come from, all Nigerians should be concerned with the welfare of those who produce our foods and other things we use for creating our health, wealth and happiness.

We may, and should learn to appreciate those responsible for creating what makes our lives interesting or good.

Additionally, in the midst of louder and louder complaints against Cattle herdsmen with reported negative interactions between crops farmers and herder farmers, including videos of cattle trespassing into primary and secondary schools, reasonable expectations were that there would be collective sighs of relief.

When and if, some remedial measures were undertaken by government, including, establishing virgin spaces for herders, just so that their incursions and negative interactions with Nigerian populations nationwide, would be reduced to a minimum.

There is such a Cattle colony or grazing ground, Abattoir and Cattle-Livestock Market in and around Bayelsa Palm formerly RISO Palm.

This has quietly worked well in Yenagoa, even as many other parts of Yenagoa are labeled No Grazing! The benefits have been reduced interactions between humans in high density populated areas in Yenagoa and Cattle, as the cows are in these Bayelsa Palm outskirts which is a low density population area.

I have observed set aside lands in Benin City, Edo State, around Ikpoba Hills on the outskirts of the city, where Cattle herders are far from the madding crowd and known interruptions cease.

RUGA appears to me to be an attempt by the Federal Government to stem the tide of crises between herders, livestock farmers and crops farmers, by removing cattle from the current rather contentious and volatile interactions or incursion into human populations throughout Nigeria.

RUGA should have been seen as an attempt by the Federal Government to confine cattle to remote localities thus ending cows mingling with the general population.

RUGA was an attempt at problem solving, whether it is cattle ranching, cattle colonies, RUGA or whatever the nomenclature thereby ending the now, all-too-familiar contentious interactions with human populations.

Political disdain or hatred towards President Buhari has morphed into disdain and hatred towards all Fulani. As a consequence, the Fulani herdsmen have been demonized as terrorists, kidnappers and an occupation force or land grabbers! Fulani has become a curse word!

The Muslim, Catholic and Protestant armed robbers and kidnappers in neighborhoods, where the predominant people are Muslim, Catholic and Protestant adherents, all now pretend to be Fulani Herdsmen!

 Kidnappers and Armed Robbers on East-West Road from Elele to Rumuji to Emuoha axis now have the veneer of Fulani.

There is so much dishonesty, subjectivity and negative politicization of our National insecurity, which has become a clear and present danger of extreme and absolute urgency! Nigerians know themselves, Nigerians know who the thieves are, who the thugs are, and who the armed robbers and kidnappers are!

All Nigerians should demand that all strata of governments in Nigeria should address mass unemployment, particularly amongst university graduates, who are now flooding into the pool of internet fraud, prostitution, mass migration, kidnappers, political thugs for hire, militancy, Boko Haram and other insurgencies!

Shrill-shouting Hausa Fulani, Fulani herdsmen as solely responsible for Nigeria's social maladies, decadence and sundry malaise, just because the current president is Fulani or that some take delight in expressing their disapproval or dislike of President Buhari, will not make the current Nigerian insecurities which are widening and spiraling out of control, suddenly evaporate.

 Insecurity could remain with us in Nigeria, perhaps on an even worse scale, well after President Buhari completes his second and final term as a civilian president.

It is therefore best, to debate, plan, implement or execute policies honestly, openly and transparently, instead of the current scapegoat of Fulani herdsmen, as the one-size-fits-all cause and diagnosis of Nigeria's nationwide insecurities!

Kidnappers, robbers and sundry wrongdoers from the multitude of churches and mosques in the neighborhoods on Ife-Ibadan Road and Benin-Ore Roads are now hiding behind the facade of Fulani Herdsmen Bogeymen!

The American government is prodigious in its support of farmers and all those engaged in food production, processing, storage and distribution.

America has robust agriculture and food policies. America has food strategic food reserves, just as it has strategic petroleum or energy reserves!

America has grain silos which are deployed strategically to positively affect prices of farm products for farmers and make it possible for the average person in America to afford food, but, without discouraging farmers as a result of too low market prices for farm products.

 It is thus a win-win all around for American citizens.

In the current trade war between America and China, American farmers are caught in the middle, as China relies on imported Soya Beans, Pork, Chickens etc.  

I wonder therefore, why, in view of the enumerated active vigorous involvements by government in Nigeria in agriculture and food productions nationwide, some Nigerians appear to still think that government involvement in agriculture and food production is new and a favor to the Fulani alone.

El Rufai Is Right! No Intervention, No Invasion of Nigeria!

El Rufai Is Right! No Intervention, No Invasion of Nigeria!

Written by Paul I. Adujie Esq.

Lawplusjustice@gmail.com

All Nigerians should stand with Governor El Rufai of Kaduna State in his quest to keep Nigeria an independent nation with inviolate territorial integrity and immutable sovereignty!

Any Nigerian who wishes interference, intervention or invasion of Nigeria, by any nation or group of nations deserves to be in body-bags alongside such would be interfere, or interventionists, and or invaders!

Some disingenuous Nigerians and their mercenary foreign friends have deliberately misquoted El Rufai and taking his honest and sincere statements in a his patriotic defense of Nigeria, completely out of contexts, just so they can excoriate him! So much for giving a dog a bad name in order to hang the dog upon a predetermination!

Millions of Nigerians have watched El Rufai's comments on video and read the transcripts of his comments, and have come to the conclusions that his statements were not threats to good people, Nigerians, Africans, Americans or Europeans.

All well meaning Nigerians ought to express similar outrage, as have El Rufai, over the nonsensical talk about interfering, intervening and invading Nigeria in order to install a particular politician or to foist a particular political preference

El Rufai did not issue threats to so-called elections observers or so-called elections monitors, for all that they are worth! Instead, El Rufai merely addressed the likelihoods of interference, intervention and invasion of Nigeria under any pretexts, including the scheduled elections

No intelligent or reasonable citizen of any nation should wish his or her nation invaded, interfered with or have her affairs visited with interventions by any nation or nations!

There are, currently in Nigeria, messages, some cryptic and others direct, regarding plans, and invitations to outside forces, persons, governments and organizations to interfere, intervene or invade Nigeria, for the sole purpose of ensuring particular political outcome.

No full blooded Nigerian should contemplate, let alone, become interested in activities which will procure Nigerian political outcomes from outside the shores of Nigeria. It is the case across the world, that foreign monies, materials and or other resources are impermissible in the internal campaigns and elections, which are the exclusive internal affairs of such nation in which campaigns and elections are taking place.

I join El Rufai in saying that anyone who wishes Nigeria to be interfered with or wishes foreign intervention or foreign meddling and or invasion, deserves to be dead and devoured, body bags and all!

Nigerians and their foreign handlers should bear in mind that El Rufai's statements came in the midst of the illegal and unconstitutional recognition of Juan Gauido, as defacto president of Venezuela, even though there is a de jure head of state for Venezuela, President Maduro.

This illegitimate, illegal, unconstitutional arbitrariness which is being encouraged and promoted by President Trump and some of his European friends, have prompted some Nigerians to be mouthing or promoting what they euphemistically called the Venezuela option for Nigeria! This is the circumstances in which El Rufai made the body bags statements.

Some Nigerians have been circulating on WhatsApp Messengers telephone numbers to the White House/President Trump? Telephone Numbers to the European Union, the United Nations etc from whom these silly Nigerians seek direct intervention and invasion regarding Nigeria's scheduled elections!

These harebrained ideas which have been in circulation, should be confronted and severely rebuked! Nigerians and their collaborators in these calumnies are to blame!

Any nation which contemplates or actually invades another nation, a politically independent nation, with territorial integrity, and sovereignty etc, should expect resistance and vehement repulsion, including deaths and body bags of the invading armies.

Nigeria is not a political subdivision of America or Europe. No citizen of Nigeria should be recommending Nigeria for invasion or interference and interventions in our internal affairs.

Nigerians alongside El Rufai, should be intolerant and should vehemently denounce anyone and any nation or group of nations seeking to digitally or physically invade or intervene in Nigerian politics or internal matters in any way or form whatsoever!

Nigerians should be reminded of recent interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Libya etc and reflect on how beautifully those interventions have succeeded and benefited the citizens of those nations.

There were Afghans, Iraqis, Ivorians, and yes, Libyans who were in support of the invasions of their nations, there were citizens of these nations who loudly advocated and stridently demanded the invasion and occupations of their homeland. These citizens of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya etc, naively assumed that an invasion would be undertaken in some altruistic, benevolent and objective manner, by the invaders, selfless invaders!

These invasions are now laid bare for all to see. These invasions from the onset, from the planning to their executions have not been precise or objective. The horrors and brutalities of wars which ensued in these nations have been obvious for all to see.

Does any Nigerian want us to become Afghanistan, Iraq or Ivory Coast or Libya?

Nigerians and all reasonable persons across the should be unyielding, unflinching and unapologetic in denouncing any suggestions or attempts to interfere, intervene or invade Nigeria, it is against international law

The purpose of a two year investigations by Robert Mueller, is the suspected foreign interference in American elections which may have benefited Trump

The elections in America are imperfect, the election which produced President George W. Bush was very contentious and heavily litigated, and the Americans did not seek the invasion of America by Russia, or Mexico or Canada.

Similarly, the elections which produced President Trump, the current president of the United States was equally contentious. There have been slews of allegations of Russian meddling or Russian interference, and as a result, there is an ongoing investigation by Robert Mueller, in efforts by the Americans, Democrats and Republicans to unravel and unmask Russian or foreign interference in the 2016 American presidential elections.

Americans are loathe to think of any interference, no matter how benign, in their internal affairs, particularly, the American democratic process, particularly, campaigns, elections and voting processes. Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike, resent the idea of foreign interference, let alone, intervention or invasion of their nation!

BREXIT or the withdrawal from the European Union (EU) has been hotly debated globally. Britons, in Tory/Conservative Party and those in Labor are mutually divided about remaining or leaving the EU.

Despite this vigorous debate with the attendant bitter divisions, no Briton has publicly harbored or expressed the desire to be invaded and occupied by France, Germany or Sweden! instead, it is actually believed by some, that, xenophobia or resentments towards immigrants, propelled Britons who voted for BREXIT with the unintended consequences which Britain now confront!

How warped is the logic of some Nigerians? How could any Nigerian be so warped and twisted in perspectives which could warrant advocating interference, intervention and invasion by foreign nations, organizations and institutions in the affairs of Nigeria?

Nigeria is not available for invasion or to be intervened in, and or, interfered with. No Nigerian for whatever reason should have their thoughts, or contemplation, the filthy, stinking and repugnant idea of foreign meddling, foreign interference and or foreign intervention in the affairs of Nigeria under any guise!

El Rufai is right, any nation or nations who interferes with, intervene in and or invade Nigeria, should be prepared for the cataclysmic and catastrophic consequences for her own nation(s) and citizens, body bags and all!

Issues and Policies Debates In Nigerian Presidential Elections

Issues and Policies Debates In Nigerian Presidential Elections Written by Paul I. Adujie Esq. The Nigerian presidential election is scheduled for February 16, 2019 and today is July 2nd, 2018. There are therefore, barely six clear months before a major general election. Yet, Nigerian national issues which are exceedingly and glaringly urgent, are profoundly absent from the lips of the political leaders of the more than 60 registered political parties in Nigeria! There are many issues of concerns to me, just me, merely an individual or one person out of 180 million Nigerians! Yet, as I write this, Nigeria is in a continuing, seeming slow-motion Civil War in the North East of Nigeria, which is also known as the Boko Haram insurgency. This mindlessly violent Boko Haram insurgency has been festering and percolating for too many years. A second and perhaps now more virulent variant sort of insurgency, it is spreading across the whole nation. I am referring to the so-called Herdsmen’s and Farmers’ frequent clashes with its religious and ethnic trappings and colorations. Thirdly, amongst urgent challenges in national policies, is the continuing downward spiral of the Nigerian National Currency, the Naira. The Naira has in my life time withered like roses in the sun. The Naira, since September 30, 1986 has lost 720% in value, and as such, everything which is imported into Nigeria has become more expensive by a factor of the multiplication and division between our national currency and the American Dollar. Fourthly, there is mass unemployment in Nigeria. The unemployment rate is more than 60% among graduates of tertiary institutions with their National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate in hand. There is therefore plentiful, but idle human capital without requisite productive industrial capacity. To absorb these would be useful energies to innovate, create, make and add value to Nigerian lives! Essentially, Nigeria is currently an atmosphere of confluences and convergences of fundamental absences of ideas, poverty of ideas and deficits in all important spheres of human life. There is a dearth of public infrastructures. Roads and bridges are decrepit. Many airports in Nigeria have become relics of their former selves. A visit to most Nigerian airports induces, tears, and heartache from those who truly still love Nigeria. Mass transits and other forms of public transportation are non-existent nationwide. There is hardly a transportations system to speak of, throughout Nigeria. There are no trains or any other public transportation system(s) which are established, operated, supported or subsidized by municipal, state or federal authorities! There are no efforts to make the lives of the citizens more convenient or a little less painful. The lives of citizens are not valued at all. A majority of Nigerian highways are death traps. Nigerian Expressways are abandoned and neglected in disrepair. Nigerian roads and maintenance, repairs, remedial measures and care, cannot be mentioned in the same sentence! There are no maps or labels or signage announcing towns, populations, name of rivers and bridges or extent of distances calculated as there are no established distances landmarked as you travel highways and expressways! No pointers, no arrows, nothing! Electricity is still non-existent. Electricity in Nigeria is, at best, still uncertain, unpredictable and epileptic. Electricity is the engine-room of every individual and commercial entity undertaking production, and yet, electricity is still the most unreliable service in Nigeria. Is electricity not a topic for campaigns or electioneering in Nigeria? Then, there is the mother of all, of Nigeria’s challenges or problems. It is known as corruption! Corruption is the derailment-in-chief of all Nigerian private and public efforts, Nigeria’s ultimate national enemy, corruption is, it is still alive and well, corruption still has vigour, energy and capacity to decimate and debilitate Nigeria, and corrupt is doing so. Why then, is it, that, in the midst of all the above burning national issues, many policy issues, in the midst of all which currently ails Nigeria, these multitudes of issues, which requires urgent attention through debates, discussions, and then, policy formulations and implementation in connections with gapping national needs, needs that are, extremely urgent, and even dire. Why then, is the Nigerian political class, like Emperor Nero of Rome of yore, fiddling while Rome burns? As an example, let President Buhari and his political party the APC and its entire leadership tell us, Nigerians, the voters, what has been accomplished during these couple of years, during which President Buhari and the APC have been at the helms of Nigerian affairs. Thereafter, let President Buhari, the APC and supporters articulate national policy positions regarding the sundry issues raised above, (though number of national issues are not exhaustive) but articulate policy positions regarding the many issues facing Nigeria. Furthermore, even as we take the ruling political party to task, Nigerians similarly expect the other approximately 67 registered political parties in Nigeria, to espouse the programs and policies to the electorate; while explaining, in specific exactitudes, what policy forays these other different political parties and their crops of leaders will undertake on behalf of Nigerians, to make Nigeria a better place for all. Subsequent to such expositions, Nigerians will have the opportunity to compare and contrast, and be in a position to thoroughly scrutinize the different political leaders and their political parties to determine how such leaders, their parties, programs and policies differ from what Nigerians have witnessed in the preceding sixteen years of PDP, and, the current APC administration. In this way, Nigerians are able to determine that President Buhari may continue as he and his team are doing such an outstanding job of administering Nigeria (based on the facts). President Buhari should then be re-elected and permitted by the voters to continue into a second term in office as president of Nigeria. Or, alternatively, upon thoroughly scrutinizing the manifestoes of the current government and measuring such programs, policies and performance, the Nigerian voters may decide that another political party and its leadership deserve a try at the helms of Nigeria’s for the next four years on behalf of all Nigerians, also, again, based on the facts, without the usual extraneous factors of region of origin, religion and, or ethnic group. This alternative will therefore arise from a clear understanding by the Nigerian populace. In particular, the voters, , upon comparing and contrasting the mission statements of other competing political parties in Nigeria, that such other party as the Nigerian voters may so determine, is more suitable, ready and able to meet the totality of our current national aspirations. Such conclusions would be national issues and national interests driven. Unfortunately however, as the general elections draws nearer and closer, none of the over sixty political parties in Nigeria are engaged in issues driven campaigns or electioneering! The political class in Nigeria are presently conflating Nigerian national issues with the selfish and personal interests of some highly placed political office holders. Where the arrests of a couple of senators by security agencies, for offences, is turned into an imaginary national security issue upon which Nigeria’s democracy is dangling precariously. A majority of Nigerian political class are self-interested, egoistical and narcissistic, while being distracted or consumed by personal greed and self-aggrandizements and without a care for Nigerian national priorities. Nigerian political class have never demonstrated a care for the concerns the average Nigerian citizen. This is precisely why no member of the Nigerian political class is concerned with the Causes and Effects of mass migration by Nigerians into Libya, Spain, Italy and other European nations via the treacherous desserts and the Mediterranean Sea! Nigerian mass migrants flee the parlous and desperately hopeless human condition which Nigeria has become, and it is worsening! The current generation of the Nigerian political class is mindless and careless about the future of Nigeria and Nigerians! Otherwise, there would be vigorous debates, campaigns and electioneering on how to tackle corruption, mass unemployment, uncertain and unreliable electricity, absence of public infrastructures nationwide! If the current Nigerian political class care at all, there would be an urgent discussion on how to strengthen the Naira. The Naira, our now worse than useless national currency, which exchanges very poorly, and as a consequence, this makes importing a car, a computer or construction or farm equipment too expensive. If the Nigerian political class were alert, aware and awake to their responsibilities, they would be campaigning and proposing programs and policies to stem or even eliminate ethnic and religious frictions nationwide. Indeed, if Nigerian political leaders were normal and similar, in comparisons to their reasonable counterpart political leadership elsewhere, there will be urgent public debates and proposals programs and policies on how to tackle the Boko Haram scourge and other festering insurgencies in Nigeria, which are now becoming ‘normal’ Were there to be a real political leadership in Nigeria, there will be urgent debates, programs and policies being formulated on how to have stable electricity supply, the bane of Nigerian industrial development efforts. Only inane political leaders would expect foreign investments, research and development, in a nation without electricity. Only a naïve political class would be mouthing platitudes about Foreign Direct Investments as many airports are closed or in a state of disrepair, Makurdi, Port Harcourt, Benin Airports are quick examples. Nigeria is currently, sadly, ignoring and neglecting every aspect of Nigerian life which are critical. No nation can ignore and neglect investing in higher education, research and development, and then, hope for national progress and advancement. No nation can neglect investments in public infrastructures and expect magic in her economic growth. Yet, Nigeria is in the middle of, and at the cusp of a presidential election next February 16, 2019, but, no member of the political class, no one, is interested in campaigns, debates, discussions and electioneering about Nigeria’s extremely urgent national priorities and the way forward. It is so sad! All in all, Nigeria is a wonderful nation with so much abundance, Nigeria is bountiful and replete with opportunities for citizens and foreign investors alike. However, it is held hostage by an absent minded, vapidly corrupt and extremely greedy political class. The 2019 elections is a chance to chart the way forward for a better Nigeria. Nigerians must pay attention and take the political class to task!

Global Asylum and Refugee Crises; A Ticking Time Bomb!

Global Asylum and Refugee Crises; A Ticking Time Bomb! Written by Paul I. Adujie Esq. There is a burgeoning global refugee crises and it requires action from all nations of the world. It is critical and crucial that there be a robust and coordinated global response to the mass migration crises which is spiraling out of control in all corners of the earth. Global mass migration is causing restiveness on the part of those in mass migrations on the one hand and, on the other hand, aggressive or fierce resistance by the receiving communities across the world. African crises such as actual violent conflicts, economic and social dislocations are major factors motivating mass migration from the African axis. Then, in Asia, the many decades long war in Afghanistan and the arbitrary removals of Rohingya Muslims by the Myanmar government has caused the dislocation of some 600,000 persons in one fell, swoop. In the Middle East, the wars in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and the precarious human conditions which persists in Palestine, have combined to create an increase in the numbers of refugees and displaced persons in the Middle Eastern region part of the world. Similarly, in North America, particularly in the United States, the refugee and migrant crises are fueled by Latin and South American economic and political crises, with accompanying instabilities, which have culminated in the so-called “zero tolerance” asylum seekers and refugees policy by President Trump of the United States. The current migrant crises in Europe first got out of control in 2015, and garnered the world’s attention, when the number of desperate mass migrants trying to cross into Europe through the Mediterranean Sea reached two million persons, at which point, European nations acting through the European Union, sought to stem mass migration, particularly from the African continent, through arrangements or deals with Libya, Italy and Turkey, as European nations struggled to outsource mass migration crises. Since then, these actions targeting mass migration from Africa, have seen a dramatic reduction from two million persons in 2015 to approximately 43, 000 persons in the first quarter of 2018. Thousands of deaths through drowning at sea and frostbites have bedeviled these hapless African mass migrants. European nations are closing their national doors or borders to African mass migrants, whether the migrants are categorized as asylum seekers or refugees (economic or political)! European nations through combined efforts, have taken drastic measures, including refusal of berthing and landing rights to ships with multitudes of rescued mass migrants in death defying attempts to enter Europe. In recent times, Italy, Spain and Libya have engaged in blockades of ships bearing African migrants. The Aquarius with over 300 mass migrants, was denied and refused entry into Spain in June 2018. Consequently, The Aquarius lingered on the high seas for an extended period of time. Soon after the incident involving The Aquarius, there was another incident in which the global shipping company, Maersk rescued hundreds of mass migrants who were rescued on the high seas by Maersk a mercantile or commercial containers company, which was now stuck with the stranded migrants, as no European nation was willing to accept the rescued migrants who were now on Maersk ocean merchants ships or ocean going vessels. The government of the nation of Israel, has sought to deflect her African migrants challenge through outsourcing, Israel formulated a policy in which Israel would pay a willing East African nation to receive and house African migrants for five thousand dollars per person, irrespective of the African nation of origin of such Africa migrant. There is clearly a global migration crises, and consequently, various regions and nations have unfurled varied policies to eliminate or reduce the migrant crises. Some policies have ranged from the inhumane and cruel to extremely harsh. In effect, most nations are acting in complete disregard for human lives, dignity and even international laws and United Nations Conventions regarding asylum seekers and refugees. President Trump in this regard, recently emphatically stated that mass migrants to the United States should not be accorded The Rule of Law or Due Process! In all of these, and quite unfortunately so, there has been no public debate in African nations in connection with this global crises of asylum seekers and refugees. This is so, despite the fact that African mass migrants are a major component of this global crises. There are injustices, oppressions and inequality in their extreme on the African continent. There are plethora of human conditions on the African continent which makes millions of Africans seek health, wealth and happiness outside of Africa. There is mass unemployment amongst a large segment of the African population. In particular, mass unemployment is especially severe in African youths below the age of 30 years. There is absence and or dearth of public infrastructure. Democratic institutions are either completely absent or fragile in nations of African continent. There is abject and extreme poverty, and there are glaring inadequacies in the areas of The Rule of Law and Due Process. Legal systems are not solid and the judiciary is not as independent and autonomous as it should be. There is a poverty of ideas. In the circumstances, too many among the African youth feel, rightly or wrongly, more assured about sturdy systems outside the African continent. There are no certainties of reward or punishment guided by individual efforts. In Africa, it is the case that, all too often, there are no consequences for stupidity, and such an environment quickly leads to impunity in attitude, behaviors and actions. Most African governments are steeped in, entrenched and ensconced in corruption. They are also engaged in maladministration, bad governance, mismanaged economies, conflicts and social-political dislocations. These same African governments are surprisingly, the governments which are not debating, planning or formulating policies addressing the root causes of mass migration from African nations. What is worse, African governments are ignoring debates or policy formulations and implementations in order to prevent the consequences faced by citizens of these same African nations through miserable deaths inflicted on African citizens by a treacherous and unforgiving Mediterranean Sea and the newly refortified African migrant entries into Europe. Ignoring Causes and Effects of mass migrations by citizens of African nations is a clear illustration of African governments’ inability and or, unwillingness to protect and serve African citizens. It can even be said that the African governments’ inactions regarding mass migrations and attendant consequences, is the best indication of the null value which African nations seem to assign to African citizenship. A war torn Libya, with ragtag military and sundry opportunists in Libya, has resorted to what CNN’s Nima Elbagir has described as modern day slavery in which Libyans sell desperate West Africans to the highest bidders, and currently, the nomenclature of what stands for what can be called the government of today’s Libya, cages and quarantines thousands of Africans and treats African mass migrants worse than prisoners of war. The Libyan authorities have been unable or have been unwilling to prevent the current criminal enterprise involving human trafficking in which African mass migrants are the victims, as they are either killed like flies, raped and abused or sold, in auctions reminiscent of the slave trade of more than one hundred years ago! The leader of the government in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, a fervent supporter of rights of refugees and asylum seekers, has been compelled in recent times, as she is under domestic political pressure to shift her position. Her position now closely resembles and reflects the anti-refugees preferences of her local political opponents in Germany, and in fact, her government is barely holding on in a coalition partnership, as her political opponents, hitherto a minority or at the fringes of things, has gained prominence in the politics of Germany. Globally, the fortunes of asylum seekers and refugees have sunk, as conservative political leaders have assumed leadership of governments in the United States with the electoral victory of President Trump, and the election of ultra conservative candidates in Italy, and the upsurge of conservatives across Europe. The world is currently mired in mass migration crises, and no region is exempt. This global mass migration crises is becoming a ticking time bomb. The world is walking a tightrope towards a mass migration precipice or Armageddon. Africans mass migrants for several years, have borne the brunt of rejection by Europe. African mass migrants, asylum seekers and outright refugees are routinely denied entry in the Americas and Europe as well. Blunt discriminatory language or verbiage is often directed at African mass migrants, as they are denied, rejected and disparaged as economic refugees undeserving of being considered for asylum and refugee statuses. The United Nations recently reported how the EU in cooperation with Libya has led to 'unimaginable horrors' for African mass migrants http://www.dw.com/en/un-eu-cooperation-with-libya-has-led-to-unimaginable-horrors-for-migrants/a-41380660 “EU-backed agreements between Italy and Libya have reduced the number of migrants reaching EU shores. But the cost has been "unimaginable horrors," according to the UN human rights commissioner” The European Union's (EU) policy of helping Libyan authorities in detaining migrants has been "inhuman," UN human rights commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said on Tuesday. "The suffering of migrants detained in Libya is an outrage to the conscience of humanity." “UN inspectors had seen "unimaginable horrors" endured by nearly 20,000 migrants during visits to four migrant detention centers in Tripoli, Libya in early November the commissioner said. “Zeid added they had seen evidence of widespread torture, rape and forced labor. At one point, the inspectors saw "thousands of emaciated and traumatized men, women and children piled on top of each other, locked up in hangars with no access to the most basic necessities." Hundreds of migrants left in limbo in the Mediterranean http://www.dw.com/en/hundreds-of-migrants-left-in-limbo-in-the-mediterranean/av-44393659 “The fate of hundreds of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean is up in the air after they were again barred from landing on Europe's southern shores. Two ships, the Lifeline and the Alexander Maersk, are currently left in limbo in the Mediterranean” Consequently, there are feelings of conspiracy, collusion and connivance as harsh actions and maltreatment of mass migrants unfolds daily, openly and unapologetically. These mass migrants, are now subjected to extremely inhumane, brutal and horrible treatments, so much so, that these populations must not be blamed if they question why death and indignity has become their ultimate end or lives’ outcome. It is the case that there is so much affluence, wealth and opulence in the world. There are certainly enough resources to provide for the health, wealth and happiness of earth’s present human population of over 7 billion persons. After the Second World War, there was rescues for the economies of Europe by America, and it was known as the Marshall Plan, it helped to stimulate economies which were decimated by the war. Again, after the 2008 global economic meltdown, there were Economic-Financial Bailouts, which once more, stimulated certain economies. The African continent and the Southern Hemisphere, where the bulk of mass migration flows from were not included in the orbits of the Marshall Plan, and the Economic-Financial Bailouts already mentioned above. Reengineering and Resuscitating the economies of the Southern Hemisphere may be the surest and best policy or way out of the current global mass migration crises. These crises will not be wished away! Asylum seekers and refugees globally, are feeling forsaken and forgotten. Asylum seekers and Refugees are feeling abandoned and rejected at all entry points in America and Europe. Pronouncements by persons such as President Trump of the United States, the current Prime Minister of Italy, conservative politicians such Marie Le Pen of France, anti-immigrants movements across the world can only make matters worse! It doesn’t have to be this way. History or posterity will judge humanity harshly, as the extent of our human refinements is measured by our current asylum seekers and refugees who are essentially the underprivileged, the oppressed and the less fortunate persons in the global populations. As I write this, a boat, sank in the coasts of Libya, the boat is said to be old, rickety and poorly maintained and overloaded with 120 African mass migrants, 100 of them have been confirmed dead by Alazeera Television Network which showed videos of dead babies fished from the sunken boat! Another 100 African citizens dead in their efforts to flee from the hardships, sufferings, abject extreme poverty and sundry dire human conditions in Africa! And today June 30, 2018, it is being reported that the European Union have agreed to tighten asylum and refugee rules, even more! Asylum seekers and refugees are beleaguered and they need our help and support in their hour of need. The plights and predicaments of asylum seekers and refugees globally, is dire and precarious. The time to act is now.

Health, Hygiene, Fitness & Nigerians

Health, Hygiene, Fitness & Nigerians Author: Paul I. Adujie | Good hygiene, physical fitness and good health should be seen as a matter of life and death. These are particularly more so for Nigerians and other Africans abroad as we tend to have very healthy appetite to indulgent levels. It is crucial that we are alert to the attendant perils of what and how much and when we eat. And bearing in mind that a great deal of the foods consumed by Nigerians nay Africans in the Diaspora are over-processed foods. Over-processed foods are frequently stripped of their natural roughage or fiber, those natural regularity inducing particles or elements in foods. Most foods abroad, unlike in Nigeria, are laden with artificial preservatives, and sweeteners in order to prolong food shelf-life through the rigors of manufacture, distribution, sale and kitchen table end journey with consumers. Food is plentiful and cheap in the Diaspora, at least in America. Foods are also gradually, but steadily, getting genetically engineered or modified as well; more care is needed in our consumption pattern. Even food items as simple as apples, peaches and pears, are often laden with and coated with an assortments and combinations of chemicals; from bee-wax to Alar, and as a result, discerning consumers must thoroughly was, even fresh fruits before ingesting them. Life abroad, is, or can be very sedentary. From riding escalators to elevators to the car to the train or public buses and airplanes etc. It is therefore a matter of a particular effort and discipline on all our parts to maintain physical fitness through regular exercise or physically vigorous activities. Fitness and good health in the circumstances should be actively sought after. Time is frequently unavailable to engage in extra curricular activities, after long hours of daily schlepping, which is what life in the Diaspora entails. Imagine then that Nigerians who are having to compete with myriad factors of life abroad, must then have to be alert to quality and quantity of foods which could induce adverse heart conditions. There are over-sweetened over-sugared foods in their abundance in America, and the sweeter the foods, the cheaper they tend to be too, and there is a correlation between sugar-added foods and the amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol such foods contain. Fattening foods are so cheap and available, whereas whole-foods or organic foods comes at premium prices. It is a double whamming for anyone who eats mounds of these sweetened foods, and then, worse, if such persons are averse to physical exertion, coupled with the relative ease of life in America without physical efforts requiring sweats or perspirations, the risks of fattening foods is therefore heightened by physical hassles-free life. Mental stress may result from adjustments to new life in a new land, but sweat generating muscle movement are frequently unnecessary around here. Considering all these aforementioned issues, it is of little surprise to me therefore, that a preponderance of Nigerians in America tend to almost invariably become overweight Nigerians at home and particularly abroad, need to be very attentive and become more particular about good health through consumption of good food and healthy serving size. We need to watch the quantity and types of foods that we pile on our plates. I am always amazed at the size of the mountain of food on some plates at Nigerian parties! Overeating is no favors to yourself. As a matter of fact, you should deliberately share your foods, that is a better favor to yourself, you will avoid unnecessary calories in the process. Engage in calories and fat avoidance program-policy, give some of your lunch to your colleague or friend or family or save some of it for the homeless guy at the train station, he will be glad to see you, on your way home from work! Nigerians need to be particular about good health through fitness, which in turn enhances longevity. We need a more physically active lifestyles. Enroll at gyms, we need to move; engage in long walks and whatever else it takes. Exercising can be fun. I thoroughly enjoy my exercise time, I create the fun out of it, by listening to my favorite songs. I take the chore out of my workouts by listening to songs that moves and uplift my heart and spirit. We need to pay detail attention to quality and quantity of foods we eat, this is the most delicate way for me to say that we need to eat less, no more gobbling. We should probably ease up on the oils, fats and salt, all of which are a source of and are contributing factors to why too many Nigerians in America have become super-sized and extra-large persons! As the cliché goes, we are certainly what we eat, and how much we eat! Nigerians abroad may need to consider changing some old social habits, such as eating of foods that can feed more than one person. We must unlearn eating late in the evening or at night and shortly before going to bed. It is advisable to eat last meal of the day before bedtime, several hours before night rest. The old advice of eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper remains a wise counsel. We must unlearn such aspects of our culture which suggests or presupposed a fat man to be a man who is living-well; we do not have to literarily live-large, that is not living-well at all, it instead, courting adverse heart events or even sudden death. There are old habit which are in dire need of changing, for instance, I recently came across a debate on the Internet by some Nigerians in which foul body odor was the culprit. And, the need to use deodorants and the necessity of shaving under-arm hairs or arm-pit hair that is. It is equally important to add other items such as shaving or waxing genital area hairs or pubic hairs, for it will give you, that smooth-all-over-cleanliness feeling! Men should shave their facial hairs daily, as a matter of course. But shave under-arm and between-thighs hairs weekly, or bi-monthly. We should cultivate the habit of using dental floss at minimum, once a day, it rids in-between teeth of food particles or residues which result is foul smell of some mouths, when food residues are allowed to reside for several hours or even overnight without flossing. Personal hygiene through dental floss and use of deodorants would get rid of unnecessary odors, which our friends, family and professional colleague will not have to endure any further. My late father used to tell us kids that it took a good, a true friend to mention your bad breathe to you, but, it is still, a delicate matter, even at that. Shaving or waxing unnecessary hairs in visible and in concealed regions of the body complete the body�s sweet smell efforts. Nigerian guys must lose the beer belly and the so-called love-handless and thick-back of neck; Nigerian women must trim down and lose weight before fussing about 100 percent human hair-extensions imported from China or is it Hong Kong! There is a need to be more physically active, for instance, by joining gymnasiums, by participating in physical exertions and sundry physicality. Regular long walks with your spouse, girl or boy friend, would suffice. It may actually lead to closer familial relationships amongst our people. In the interest of our good health and physical fitness, we must exercise and be active. Just move! Regular exercise is a proven and reliable fountain of youth, without ingestion of chemicals, botulism or some other concoctions. Regular exercise has been established as capable of regenerating brain cells, for better memory and sharper mental focus. You will feel a better mental attitude, and people around you would notice the difference in your uplift. Regular exercise has spectacular benefits that are at once tangible and intangible as well. Regular exercise cure for lethargic morning awakenings, and it can reduce our feel of fatigue considerably. It has enhanced my physical and mental endurance or stamina; reduces stress and anxiety of modern day work and life. Regular exercise has cured some persons of irritability and even insomnia. Regular vigorous exercise regimen can improve your sex life, with prolonged foreplay, and stems premature ejaculations. Winter is not my favorite season of the four seasons, but, I have been able to reduce my winter-blues or through regular exercise. I lost 40 pounds and moved from my size 40inches to size 36inches trouser waist requiring the re-tailoring or refitting of most of my wardrobe. I have a permanent better mood. But of course, I mind what I eat, it is a lifestyle change and work in progress! We must eat less. Eat better quality foods, eat less fats, use less salt and oils. We must eat more fruits and consume more vegetables. And when possible, eat less of over-processed foods, and avoid junk foods like the plague! I personally favor foods from the earth, whole foods, whole grains and prefer fresh over their refrigerated cousins etc Personally, I make deliberate efforts at avoiding or excluding certain staples and condiments such as cheese, butter, mayonnaise, sugar, I let the fruits and vegetables in my salad do the flavoring of my salads, no salad dressings or creams for me. I might use a tinge of extra virgin olive oil; I eat spinach steamed, no cream. When I eat cereal at all, I use banana, or strawberry or some other fruit to season instead of using sugar. We may not become vainglorious or become anorexic, but, we must watch our weights, size and body mass. Fitness and good health is amply helped by good personal hygiene, fitness and good health is a matter of life or death. Here is to fitness and good health! Our lives and our longevity depend on these! Written by Paul I. Adujie Paul I. Adujie is a Nigerian lawyer resident in New York, United States and a member of the International Bar Association

Grieving in Gaza and Jubilations in Jerusalem! Are Palestinian Lives Worthless?

Grieving in Gaza and Jubilation in Jerusalem! Are Palestinian Lives Worthless? Written by Paul I. Adujie Esq. Palestinians are being slaughtered like birds by the Israeli military. Israeli military occupation has been captured on video as gleefully using Palestinians for target practice as sitting ducks! Our collective humanity is being demeaned and devalued daily with the unchecked murders of Palestinians by the Israelis. The world appears to have made peace with the unsanctioned and uncensored murders of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers as the United States enjoys and basks in scuttling every effort to check Israeli military excesses, extra judicial killings and war crimes. In effect, efforts at the United Nations and elsewhere to restrain Israel have been blocked by American vetoes. On May 14, 2018 over 60 Palestinians were killed by Israel in one day - these Palestinians were civilians without guns! What other nation on earth would kill 60 civilians engaged in peaceful protests and no eyebrows are raised? But, a slap on the wrist as always, is what Israel gets? Palestinian lives are taken as valueless, worthless and meaningless, while President Trump, as the rabble rouser in-chief, has now added accelerants to a raging inferno with his relocation of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018. Last month, Israel also killed 31 Palestinians and the world prevaricated. The United Nations toothless wimpy bulldog could not even establish a Committee to investigate the unwarranted killings of Palestinians! In 2014, according to the United Nations, Israel killed 2,104 Palestinians but the Palestinian leaders put the killing at over 2,500 Palestinians and the world has looked on impishly and sheepishly. At the United Nations and elsewhere, the current mantra is clearly that power or might is right. As such, Israel is allowed to constantly use its Sledge hammer to kill mosquitoes, with winks and nods from America and some other Western powers. There is also the elaborate handwringing, such as when the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Tuesday May 15, 2018, gave a convoluted public statement in which, in a tongue twisted process, she blamed the killing of 60 unarmed Palestinians on Palestinian political troublemaking! The world is however aware that, it is the case that, if any nation on earth kills 60 British citizens in one day, if any nation kills 60 Americans in one day, or if any nation kills 60 Israeli in one day, these Nations will invade such a Nation with full scale war and occupation. Yet, Israel routinely , repeatedly and incessantly kills Palestinians in record numbers without any consequences or accountability! Israel has created systems of endless sufferings and dehumanization which have been described by former President Jimmy Carter of the United States, as apartheid ; the walls of separations erected in order to segregate Israelis from Palestinians into separate communities. Israel has been operating an apartheid system which is similar to what obtained in South Africa during its apartheid years, with natives confined to Bantustans, Soweto and other dehumanizing shanties. Israel has maintained a trenchant, obstinate and obdurate stance because America supports Israel's illogical and illegal behavior. This is despite criticisms from the United Nations over Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and the unabated continued expansions and economic, territorial, political, complete usurpation of Palestine's sovereignty. Israel repeatedly annexes lands in Palestine, with illegal expansions in complete disregard of the timid and tepid United Nations resolutions and nary condemnations which have become worse than useless platitudinous inanities! Israel has acquired illegal territories upon illegal territories, lands recognized by International law as properties of Palestine in a would be, should be, two-nations solution between Palestine and Israel, the predicate for lasting ,enduring peace between the two peoples. Israel has amassed Palestinian lands through arbitrary military actions and illegal confiscations. Israel now also has Jerusalem as conferred on it by the king of the jungle, President Donald Trump of America! Why will Israel listen to anyone or negotiate with Palestinians? Israel has through a pyrrhic victory, conferred on itself Palestinian land and the award of Jerusalem as its potentate capital as declared by Mr. Donald Trump! Why would Israel be humble or negotiate peace with Palestine? Israel has all it wants and all the aces! Mr. Donald Trump has given Israel a poison chalice and temporary peace, a toxic peace, an acidic victory! The current status between Palestine and Israel is contrary to logic, common sense, International law and internal order. Endless conflicts or recurring wars between Palestine and Israel are being essentially guaranteed, with the current stalemate, in which Israel has been given all she wants through the backdoor, and at the expense of Palestine, with the unreasonable expectation that Palestinians should accept these injustices as a fait accompli. Should the Palestinians just smile and bear their fate at the hands of Israel while the world looks askance and helpless? In the meantime, and in the middle of all of these, Saudi Arabia is more interested in wars of attrition against fellow Arabs and Persians, in Yemen, and Syria. I wish that the Arabs and Persians would unite with one voice in advocating Sovereignty and National Independence for Palestine. The time is now - Palestine, the Arabs, Persians and others worldwide do not need the United Nations , United States or Israel's permission to declare Palestine a free independent nation! Tenants have the right to exist. Tenants must recognize and respect a landlord's identical rights as well and they may not act in diminution of the landlord's identical rights. So much for the rights of rights and interests of the tenants, let's also consider the rights of the landlords! He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. This is a legal mantra and maxim! Email at : lawplusjustice@gmail.com Please Google these related articles on the checkered history between Palestine and Israel : 1. Israel is an Outlaw and Lawless Nation by Paul I. Adujie Esq. 2. Palestinian Lives Are Meaningless & Valueless? 3. Palestine Nationhood Imperative As Israel Meets the World 4. Israel in Lawlessness, Defies the World, Murders Innocent Humanitarians 5. Iran Regime Change, Invasion, Occupation and Re-colonization Is Imminent?