Sincerely, your contributions in that Panel Discussion on Dangote, Oil and Power in Nigeria were much appreciated by yours truly.
Since then, hopefully, this kind of news, that the Dangote Refinery now produces 70 million litres a day is a welcome postscript to that discussion and good news for domestic consumption as well. On the horizon there's the prospect of exporting the much needed Nigerian fuel which our landlocked people in Mali are lacking due to the Jihadist blockade of that nation along all their borders : Fuel shortage in Mali due to Jihadist blockade - as the BBC puts it the jihadists have brought that nation to a standstill with their blockade.
Maybe the Nigerian Military should dispatch a contingent or two to help completely rout those jihadists? President Tinubu doesn't think so? This is not a time for joking, but the whole sorry mess reminds me of this Ahmed Deedat joke : At one of those many debates, a missionary got up to taunt him with this question : " Where was Allah when his Prophet Muhammad's grandson Husayn was being slaughtered in Karbala?" Deedat replied, "Allah cried" - Yes, Allah cried - He said, "I couldn't save my own only begotten son from being nailed on the cross and some jokester preacher is now asking me about the grandson of my Prophet Muhammad ? "
In President Tinubu's case it's also a matter of "charity begins at home" and, sadly, Aso Rock not being capable of routing his homegrown terrorists day and night terrorising everybody within Nigeria's sovereign Federal borders, speak less of taking on some battle-hardened, Desert Tuareg in the Sahel.
Given what you're saying in this post and what you have said previously on some of these acute national issues, it would only be all to the good if you were added to the star panel constellation for the Toyin Falola Panel Discussion on Trump and Nigeria that's going to discuss this matter of great national urgency, and here again - given the diversity that is Nigeria, your participation would represent a much needed counterpoint to what will be going down in this discussion, which this time around will assuredly attract a much wider, more international audience, not least of all, all Africa and Diaspora stakeholders…
Whether some people like it or like it not, the macabre plight of Nigerians being systematically translated from life to hideous death in horrendously large numbers - both Christians, Muslims and so-called "non-believers" has been brought to the attention of the Emperor - not Constantine the Great , but Donald J Trump the Great on whom we may confer the additional titles of " Israel's Best Friend " and in his own estimation, "Defender of the Christian Faith", Emperor Trump who, thank God, has spoken in his characteristically abrasive manner , especially when talking to someone he deems his underling : take it or leave it he says most appropriately, and imperiously too, that this horrific decimation of the Christian flock in Nigeria MUST STOP - - IMMEDIATELY - OR ELSE ! And we must admit, it's the opposite of abasement and it's the only kind of English Language that some people understand and start scuttling to comply - take note , the authorities don't say, as if in defiance, " Mr. Trump ,you ain't seen nothing yet, the mass slaughter of Christians - as collateral damage has only just begun and any interference from you will only make matters worse - much worse."
Since we have already crossed the Rubicon -Trump has spoken and there's no use in crying over spilt milk - we have already gone past your prescriptive suggestions and most now face the impending consequences without any further procrastination as indeed, " a stitch in time saves nine "
Chief Oliver De Coque - Uwa Bu Aja
Dear Chief Cornelius,Thank you for your rich and reflective intervention, as always, you draw from history, culture, and scripture with the generosity of one who has lived within the broad intellectual traditions that shape our collective consciousness. From Achebe's palm-oil of conversation to the Psalms and proverbs of Creoledom, your note reminds us that the texture of African discourse is never merely argumentative; it is deeply moral, civilisational, and, yes, profoundly human.On the matter you raise, whether it is "reasonably alright" to appeal to Donald Trump (or any foreign leader) for help in confronting terrorism in Nigeria, my view is both practical and principled.First, I agree entirely that the number reported , over 614,000 Nigerians killed between May 2023 and April 2024, is unspeakably tragic, and whether one contests the methodology or not, the scale of suffering it represents should shame any government into urgent reflection. The issue before us, however, is not only about figures; it is about the meaning of responsibility.It is morally permissible, even necessary, for a government or people under siege to seek help. But it matters how that help is sought, through whom, and at what cost. There is a world of difference between a sovereign state seeking cooperation through legitimate, accountable channels, the African Union, ECOWAS, the UN, or bilateral partnerships, and individuals or groups making public appeals to partisan figures whose motivations may lie far outside our security or moral interests.To appeal directly to a political personality such as Mr. Trump, bypassing the state, may satisfy desperation but it also risks deepening Nigeria's internal divisions and inviting the wrong kind of intervention. History has shown that foreign "saviours" rarely arrive without baggage. Assistance can become leverage; sympathy can mutate into strategic capture.Patriotism, as I have argued elsewhere, is not blind defence of government, but also not the outsourcing of our sovereignty. It is the courage to tell our leaders the truth, to demand accountability, and to build the capacity that makes external help a choice, not a necessity.The lesson from Achebe's wisdom, that proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten, applies equally to statecraft: how we frame our needs determines the taste of the response we get. Let us therefore season our appeals with dignity. Let our diplomacy speak through institutions, not emotions. Let our engagement with global powers, whether Washington, Beijing, or Brussels, be grounded in mutual respect and oversight.Yes, Nigeria is bleeding. Yes, we need help. But the moral centre of our struggle must remain Nigerian, rooted in our Constitution, our humanity, and our determination to rebuild trust between the state and its citizens. A government that cannot protect its people loses moral authority; a people that seek foreign rescue without demanding domestic reform risk losing agency.You quoted Bob Dylan: "They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings." Permit me to add: so too can despair become the first refuge of the disillusioned. Between false patriotism and fatalistic despair lies the narrow, difficult path of reform. That is the path we must take, not as partisans, not as supplicants, but as citizens reclaiming both our voice and our future.With warm regards,JohnJohn Onyeukwu
http://www.policy.hu/onyeukwu/http://about.me/onyeukwu
"Let us move forward to fight poverty, to establish equity, and assure peace for the next generation."
-- James D. Wolfensohn
This message contains information which may be confidential and privileged. Unless you are the addressee (or authorized to receive for the addressee), you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail, and delete or destroy the message. Thank you.On Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 12:12 AM Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:If true, this is unspeakably serious :
"over 614,000 Nigerians were killed between May 2023 and April 2024"
Perfidy : The Day Sani Abacha issued the arrest order for Chief Abiola
"Carefully engineered distraction" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBmgFx8ZFME
In this forum, USA-Africa Dialogue Series, I'm always mindful and careful with Achebe's high regard for his people, that "Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten."
As far as I know, among the older generation of the Saro People / the Creoles of Sierra Leone, it is more or less ditto, with their conversations liberally spiced with quotations from the Psalms of David (The King James Version of course) in tune with the Victorian English that they spoke - the English of "Mammy Queen", and whenever they held forth, for extra lubrication to their profundities, the red or yellow palm oil was plentifully supplied via the wisdom books of the Bible and some of the parables of one Jesus of Nazareth ( Son of Man ) in addition to whatever they had gleaned from Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, Plato & Aristotle, some of the Latin Poets , and Sunday School lessons learned from Bishop Ajayi Crowther & The Church Missionary Society. A very important aspect of their erudition was , why bother with saying it in English, if the object could be identified by its proper Latin name, and that's how aqua and water became interchangeable in Creoledom .
When it came to swearing, what I occasionally heard was "Beast of Ephesus" which I assume was the tolerable Biblical expletive in the genteel society of those missionary days. I Visited Ephesus, in Turkey, in 2015, but didn't find the beast there.
Claiming to be a Pan-Africanist is easy, as easy as another saying which says, "the taste of the pudding is in the eating". And how does that apply to Pan-Africanist claims, to claiming Pan-Africanism as an identity that one wears as a garment or badge of honour? Well, John Onyeukwu has been requesting that each and everyone of us should be doing some of the necessary introspection that he has been talking about here and I'd like to observe that at a certain age even before attaining to the edge of praise - Russell's In Praise of Idleness or taken by self-surprise, dedicating some Soyinka-like prostrations "To My White Hairs, one has to be cautious. When I told my Swedish buddy (an Oyibo) "You can't teach an old monkey new tricks", he was visibly distraught, perhaps a better word, flabbergasted, a little confused and started to protest " But you're not a m m m -onk……", so I cut him off in mid sentence before he could say what he thought would be the fateful word that would cause irreparable damage/ grievous bodily harm
People usually quote Pope either as a reprimand or as a forewarning, that "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Such as when Chemical Ali, Saddam's Minister of Information said about Baby Bush's threat of invading Iraq, that Bush should bring it on , adding, "They will swim in their own blood" - which at the time, caused me to believe that Saddam had Weapons of Mass Destruction after all .
Given what can be consensually observed as Nigerian oversensitivity to otherwise innocuous words such as "silly" ," idiot", " useful idiot" , "blithering idiot" "fool" etc, but not " folly" ( even Fela complaining in Monkey Banana that " Fool na fool no matter for age" ( old fool, big born fool, little born fool, feeling awful etc ) one has to be very careful about not being misunderstood
"They say that patriotism is the last refuge
To which a scoundrel clings
Steal a little and they throw you in jail
Steal a lot and they make you king"
( Bob Dylan)
To want to exterminate a people because they believe in Santa Claus is crazy !
The idea of genocide of Christians in Nigeria or anywhere else is incomprehensible
For those who want to cheer Trump on, let the prayer people pray that what may start out as a war on terror does not morph into ethnic cleansing and ultimately to a war to deliver regime change….
All what John Onyeukwu says there is much appreciated and only someone who is legally a Nigerian and a Nigerian at heart can deliberate so succinctly on this very sensitive issue. But here begins my query, ever more poignant after reading Grokipedia's entry on Biafra :
If all that D Excellent says is true, then understandably e.g. Nnamdi Kanu has written to USA's President Trump, the so-called leader of the free world, the Big Oga in the White House in Washington, to appeal to him for some sympathy and help, because, in some dire situations there are people who would even make a pact with the devil, if the devil would help their cause; and in this case please note that I'm not referring to Trump as the devil or the devil incarnate but there are some thorny, maybe corny and not so thorny or horny questions arising which only you can answer best to satisfy your conscience :
Considering what falls within the parameters of patriotism ( empathy for one's fellow citizens, fellow Nigerian human beings etc) is it reasonably alright to appeal to Brother Trump for some help on either wiping out or obliterating ( one of Trump's favourite words) terrorism in Nigeria ? Yes or no?
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