The diminishing of America: AOC tasks DHS chief on border agents sharing 'images of her violent rape' in secret Facebook group.....

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

CC™ Political Insight

After a week fielding racist attacks from President Donald Trump, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioned Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan about the whereabouts of Border Patrol agents who threatened her in a secret Facebook group.

The intense and personal line of questioning Thursday happened as McAleenan appeared before the House Oversight and Reform Committee to testify about his role in separating migrant children from their families and worsening conditions at the migrant detention centers along the southern U.S. border.

He was also asked several times about a secret Facebook group of current and former Border Patrol agents that contained more than 10,000 members and included posts mocking migrants and the deaths of children in custody and suggesting harm to Democratic lawmakers. After the group's existence was revealed by a ProPublica report, McAleenan announced DHS was investigating the "disturbing" and "inexcusable" posts.

"Did you see the posts planning physical harm to myself and Congresswoman Escobar?" Ocasio-Cortez asked McAleenan. "Yes," he answered. "And I directed an investigation within reading the article."

"Did you see the images of officers circulating photo-shop images of my violent rape?" Ocasio-Cortez continued. "Yes I did," McAleenan responded.

McAleenan did not specifically say whether those Border Patrol agents were still on the job after Ocasio-Cortez questioned whether they were still "responsible for the safety of migrant women and children."

He said several agents have been put on administrative duties while the investigation continues, saying "I don't know which ones correspond to which posts and we've ordered cease and desist orders to dozens of more."

McAleenan shot back after Ocasio-Cortez asked about whether the separating of children and families led to a "dehumanizing culture" within Customs and Border Protection. "We do not have a dehumanizing culture at CBP," he said touting that the agency, "rescues 4,000 people a year" and is "committed to the well-being of everyone that they interact with."

He said the posts were "unacceptable" but "I don't think it's fair to apply them to the entire organization or that even the members of that group believed or supported those posts."

The hearing came after days of President Trump attacking Ocasio-Cortez and three other freshmen Democratic lawmakers, all women of color who are critical of his administration and its policies.

It started Sunday when Trump sent a series of tweets suggesting Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., should "go back" to where they came from.

The House passed a resolution condemning the racist comments on Tuesday as the president faced widespread criticism over the remarks, which he doubled down on at the White House and on Twitter throughout the week.

He singled out the four women Wednesday evening during a rally in North Carolina and his supporters started chanting "send her back" as the president brought up Rep. Omar, who is originally from Somalia and became one of the first two Muslim women in Congress when she was elected in the 2018 midterms. Omar is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Trump distanced himself from the chants on Thursday, saying, "I disagree with it" and "I wasn't happy with that message."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grilled DHS chief Kevin McAleenan

Nigeria's low expectation coach Gernot Rohr didn't seem too bothered by the loss to Algeria

Rohr was seen "Rohring" off the field with Nigerian damsel (see picture below) after the Super Eagles had their chicken wings clipped by Algeria. This man needs to go as he has nothing more to offer Nigeria at almost 70 years old. Pinnick should resign if he insists on keeping this loser of a journeyman masquerading as a coach. 

Jonathan under whom Boko Haram established a Caliphate in Northern Nigeria and terrorists were paid to protect oil wells points finger at Buhari

Former President Jonathan (L) and President Buhari (R)

CC™ FactorialJonathan urges Buhari to "come up with new ideas to solve Nigeria's security crisis". That would be akin to the pot calling the kettle black. The same Goodluck Jonathan that used the DSS to terrorize the Southwest (with the acquiescence of the same so-called Yoruba leaders who are now crying herdsmen at every turn), paid foreign former apartheid South African mercenaries to fight Boko Haram (while his Service Chiefs siphoned away every dime that was earmarked to help the Nigerian Armed Forces defend the country's territorial integrity) and enabled Niger-Delta terrorists like Tompolo et al by paying them to protect the oil pipelines (akin to asking a sexual predator to watch your children). For the avoidance of doubt, the Jonathan administration remains the worst and most corrupt in the history of Nigeria and most of the mess Nigeria is in today are carry-overs from that rudderless administration. Report below.....Former President Goodluck Jonathan says insecurity has worsened in Nigeria since he left Aso Rock. The former president said this while paying a condolence visit to Chief Reuben Fasoranti, the leader of Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-cultural group, whose daughter, Funke Olakunrin (nee Fasoranti), was killed by gunmen on the Benin-Ore road last week.Her death is another in a long list of killings and kidnappings that have gripped the country over the past year.While speaking on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, Jonathan, who was president between 2010 and 2015, said the government must figure out a solution to curb the rise of insecurity.He said, "The issue of security must be approached from a different dimension. We cannot continue the old way because it is getting out of hand. We hope the federal and state governments will do something about it."Every generation face problems and this generation must find ways to solve these problems. Every government faces problem. "The first commercial kidnapping, because it involved money, happened in 2006 when I was the governor of Bayelsa state. From that time, it moved to terrorism in the north. Now, it is a major problem in the country."The federal government in conjunction with state government must design a different approach to this issue. "I was there as president and security challenge was there but now, it is getting worse everyday and we can't continue to use the same old method."

Vivendi's CanalPlus Acquires Leading Nigerian Studio ROK

Nollywood

CC™ Media News

Vivendi's CanalPlus continues its expansion into Africa with the acquisition of Nigerian production studio ROK. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

The move comes as CanalPlus seeks to shore up its foreign business in the wake of declines in France. It will give the company a production foothold from the continent to feed into its Nollywood TV and Nollywood Epic channels.

Founded by actress Mary Njoku, ROK is Nigeria's largest production house and with over 500 movies and 25 TV series since its founding in 2013 and under the umbrella of Jason Njoku's SVOD IROKOtv.

In the deal, CanalPlus will also acquire their library of over 2,000 hours of content. ROK will continue to create content for IROKOtv and ROK's four existing channels, one of which is aired on Sky in the U.K., as well as CanalPlus' African and global channels.

The group will also continue to invest in the growth of IROKOtv, the leading streamer Africa, which CanalPlus invested in back in 2016 when it launched its French-language service.

“Through this acquisition CANAL+ Group is very happy to develop and enhance the catalogue of Nollywood content and expand the ROK brand inside and outside the African continent,” said CanaPlus International head Jacques du Puy. ROK studio is known for its high-quality productions on shoestring budgets, with some productions coming in at just $20,000.

“ROK has captured the imagination of millions of movie fans, and they have truly supported us as we’ve grown the company to celebrate and enjoy our African culture. I’m excited to be taking our platform on the next stage of its journey with CANAL+ Group, who share our passion for creating original content, supporting new talent and together, we have ambitious plans for the future,” said Njoku, who will stay on as director of the company.

CanalPlus move into Africa comes as it leans more heavily on international markets to combat losses in its home territory, which have led to the elimination of nearly 500 jobs. But while it has seen a steady decline of subscribers in France, it gained over 650,000 customers last year — all of them overseas. Earlier this year, CanalPlus acquired pan-European pay-TV group M7 for $1.1 billion.

Netflix is also heavily investing in the continent, with its first original Nollywood film, Lionheart, as well as animated series Mama K's Team 4 and two original series, Queen Sono and Blood and Water, currently in production in South Africa.  

Source: The Hollywood Reporter (Report by Rhonda Richford).

Nigeria’s grazing crisis threatens the future of the nation

Deadly Fulani herdsmen have been a problem across Nigeria

By Laila Johnson-Salami

Nigeria’s cattle-grazing crisis has become a national security threat, sparking ethnic tension nationwide. Amnesty International estimates that more than 2,000 deaths in 2018 alone resulted from clashes between herdsmen and farmers over access to water and pasture and the destruction of land and property — particularly belonging to farmers in the country’s middle belt region. Herdsmen from the Fulani ethnic region in the north have brought their cattle to other parts of the country to graze for generations. Climate change, rapid population growth and desertification in the north have made it difficult to breed cattle. 

The brutal violence has been a problem for some years. In 2014 the Global Terrorism Index judged Fulani militants to be the fourth most deadly terror group in the world, behind Boko Haram, Isis and the Taliban. Last year, Nigeria’s National Economic Council took action. It came to the conclusion that the development of designated cattle ranches would be the best solution to the problem. The ministry of agriculture also developed a National Livestock Transformation Plan to address food security and promote industrial growth. The NLTP committee, chaired by vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, also advocated ranching. 

Tension escalated late last month when the government of Benue state in the middle belt complained the federal government had improperly created “Ruga” (rural grazing area) settlements in the state. Unlike ranches, these are cattle colonies for herdsmen from across different states to relocate to. But the project is widely seen as a strategic ploy enabling herdsmen to claim subsidized land, in the same areas where they have caused serious unrest. “The current government wishes to dissolve diversity in favor of an ethnic program,” said Odia Ofeimun, a poet and polemicist. The press secretary to the Benue state government, Terver Akase, says open grazing in the state has been phased out: “Anyone who wants to rear livestock in Benue has to go through the due process.” That process entails obtaining a licence from the state ministry of agriculture. 

The federal government must also seek the state’s permission for land allocation, as required by Nigeria’s 1978 Land Use Act, which they did not do. This undermines the government’s separation of powers and shows serious disregard for Nigeria’s diversity, of nearly 500 ethnic groups. Pressure from citizens and stakeholders led the government to suspend the Ruga project on July 3. Ruga’s supporters, such as the Coalition of Northern Groups, gave the president an ultimatum: either it should revoke the suspension within 30 days, or have southerners living in the north of the country face a serious threat. This is a problem that policy will not be able to solve without taking into account the region’s cultural history. 

Nomadic herdsmen have for thousands of years taken their cattle along routes to more states with better resources. The cutting of these cultural ties has made the herdsmen feel victimized. They see a threat to their means of survival. Meanwhile, farmers feel overwhelmed by the volume of cattle. Without the right incentives, both groups remain reluctant to adopt different ways of farming and raising livestock. One attempt by the government to change this is through a Fulani radio station with programs aiming to educate Fulani listeners. But critics see this as partial and biased treatment in favor of an ethnic minority that includes President Muhammadu Buhari. The government must take this dangerous bull by the horns; the longer the situation is mismanaged, the more insecure Nigeria becomes. The tension will only mount.

Nigeria is set to become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 and we are still recovering from the horrific Biafran civil war almost 40 years later. There is no room for any more ethnic division. 


Source: Financial Times

So-called Yoruba leaders - Killing of Fasoranti’s daughter means herdsmen have declared war against S’West

Editor's Corner

These so-called Yoruba leaders are fanning the embers of ethnicity. One can however not blame them as Buhari is extremely culpable, as his policies and actions have essentially balkanized the nation. The last two Nigerian presidents (Jonathan and Buhari) have been the most ethnocentric and parochial Nigeria has ever known. Caution needs to be exercised here by Yoruba leaders and they definitely should not listen to the likes of Nnamdi Kanu whose agenda has always been personal and does not even remotely take the future of the Ndigbo nation into consideration. 

Following the killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of the leader of pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti by suspected herdsmen on the Ore-Akure expressway last Friday, some Yoruba leaders said yesterday, that herdsmen have declared war against the South West. 

 Expressing their displeasure over the killing of Mrs. Olakunrin and other acts of banditry in the South West, the Yoruba leaders said they should not be taken as cowards.  We’re not cowards — Okurounmu An Afenifere chieftain, Senator Femi Okurounmu who condemned the dastardly act, described the murder as a declaration of war against the Yoruba. Senator Okunrounmu said: “I am sure that the Yoruba are not cowards hence, they should fight back. “I feel very bitter and very angry and feel like finally the herdsmen have declared war against the Yorubaland.  

Yes, it is nothing cut short of a declaration of war. “We have always known that we, Yoruba, are not cowards and this is the time to demonstrate that truly we are not cowards and as a result, I expect a strong reaction from the Yoruba people because this is not something we should just follow-up with just condemnation and recriminations.  

Enough of that, it is a time to react and show that enough is enough.” We’re struggling with herdsmen invasion. 

YCE Flaying the murder 

President of the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, Col. Dansaaki Agbede (retd) sympathised with Chief Fasoranti saying: “It is sad that now we are struggling with the invasion of the Fulani herders, this kind of thing happened.” Agbede said: “It is time that we, as a Yoruba nation, use our combined efforts, commitment and unity to fight this. “We should not wait until we face this terrible challenge.” It’s a clear signal of war. 

NANS Also condemning the act 

The National Publicity Secretary of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Mr. Azeez   Adeyemi said it was a clear signal of war. Adeyemi said: “As much as I don’t want to speak parochially and get carried away as a Yoruba person, rather I will be speaking on behalf of the entire Nigerian students, the fact remains that the act is highly condemnable, it is a clear signal of war which ordinarily one would have expected the Presidency to have taken immediate action against. “For crying out loud, the herdsmen have successfully established themselves as a terrorist group, with no respect for the rule of law, hiding under the belief of being the President’s eye.  This is a call to action and we must collectively rise to the challenge."

Former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, while paying a condolence visit to Pa Fasoranti said: “This is despicably disturbing and this another very challenging situation in our country. We must collectively rise to this challenge “It’s a general problem of the security challenge that we have in this country. I think this is another very serious challenge that we must collectively rise to the challenge of. I have no doubt in my mind that incident like this would task the very fabric of our nation and would also require very profound political will.”  

ARG demands appropriate action on its part 

The Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, which condemned the murder, in a statement signed by its National Chairman, Mr. Olawale Oshun said: “The ARG shares in this colossal loss and commiserates with the bereaved family, especially Pa Fasoranti and Mrs. Olakunrin’s nucleus family. ARG, therefore, challenges the Yoruba governors and the socio-political leadership to rise up to the occasion, as it would now seem that the Federal government and its clinging to central policing has failed woefully in providing Nigerians the needed security. Our governors must realize that they shall be held responsible, individually and collectively, should they fail to prioritize the security issue and support one another in securing their people. The time to act is now as the Yoruba shouldn’t sleep with their eyes closed.

The security agencies tasked with safeguarding human lives and property must be held accountable as the nation’s corporate existence is very much at stake.” The statement further read.

Buhari's stooge Lawan present for AFCON clash with Algeria as the Super Eagles go on to lose.....

CC™ Weekend Capture

I am sure there are more pressing matters that the current Senate President Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan could be attending to (the general state of insecurity in the nation for one). Good to see he promptly takes his and this administration's bad luck with him to Egypt as the Eagles lose to Algeria.

Earlier today, I departed Nigeria for Egypt as the leader of the Fed. Govt. delegation for the  #TOTALAFCON2019 semi-final match between Nigeria and Algeria. I’ll be physically present at the Cairo International Stadium to cheer the @NGSuperEagles to victory. pic.twitter.com/91dGMWzWmK

— Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (@DrAhmadLawan) July 14, 2019

Trump tells immigrant U.S. Democratic Congresswomen (who are American Citizens) to go back to their sh-tholes

Trump (L) and Somali-born Omar - Slabbers/Nur via Getty Images

CC™ Weekend Highlight

President Trump, in a Sunday Twitter thread, called out Democratic Congresswomen, telling them “why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run” Trump tweeted.

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” his thread continued. “Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”

The nativist rhetoric, “go back to your country,” is often used in racist, Xenophobic and Islamophobic attacks, including a recent hate crime in New York City last week where a Hispanic woman was attacked and told, “You’re here taking jobs from Americans.”

Trump’s tweets further stirred an ongoing, racially-tinged feud between House progressives and the Democratic establishment.

Tensions in the Democratic party escalated after House Speaker Pelosi slighted the influence of four freshman House Democrats who were the only lawmakers to vote against her border aid bill, which was eventually ditched for a Republican-backed Senate version of the bill that passed 305-102.

"All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Pelosi told the New York Times, referring to the “squad” of young House progressives. But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got."

The four progressives included Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The women of color were born in the United States, except for Omar who became a refugee in 1991 when a brutal civil war devastated Somalia, a predominantly Muslim country in East Africa, where at least one American among the 27 died in a terrorist attack Saturday.

Omar became a citizen in 2000, and after the 2018 midterm elections, became the first-ever Somali-American in Congress and the first hijab-wearing Muslim member of the House, where she is the whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Source - Yahoo News

Odegbami: Gernot Rohr – All Is Forgiven… But Nigeria Needs a New Coach For 2022!

Rohr (L) forever in the shadow of Nigerian legend Keshi (R)

By Segun Odegbami

Last Wednesday night, the Super Eagles put up their best performance so far in AFCON 2019. As difficult as the match was, there were almost no threats to the Nigerian goal throughout the encounter. Even the goal the South Africans scored was a gift by the elements. On hindsight, it was so that Nigeria’s victory would be much sweeter. A match without high tension is like tea without sugar.

A lot of the credit for the team that was assembled, how the team played, and how they won, must naturally go to the man whose responsibility it was to put it all together – Gernot Rohr.

A British journalist friend, Satish Sekar, called me up from Cairo after Nigeria won their match against South Africa last Wednesday night wondering if I had changed my mind about Gernot Rohr and forgiven him his ‘sins’.

Satish must have read media reports during the week where I said that were I to be in charge of the Super Eagles, I would have sidelined Gernot after the loss against Madagascar. Hence his valid question now.

My simple answer is that my statement was hypothetical. I am not in charge of Nigerian football. Gernot is still in charge of his team, a responsibility handed to him by his employers who also read my reaction and, I believe, must have let the German know that he made a big mistake and goofed by toying with the emotions of Nigerians.

Nigerians love to win every single match even if it is against the World XI, and it is not that they do not know they are not the best team in the world and must lose matches.

The issue is that, beyond football, the country represents more than meets the ordinary eye with which Gernot must have been viewing Nigeria and Nigerians. Otherwise, why would he take the entire country for granted by taking an avoidable and unnecessary decision of assembling a ‘weak’ team to represent the largest congregation of Black persons in the world, a country with pride, a country with rich historic antecedents in football, with resources and human capacity to become a global football power, to play a match, any match for that matter, where the whole world will be watching and the joy and livelihood of over 50 million Nigerians will be at risk?

For general information purposes, for those that do not know, unofficial estimates put the number of people driving an undocumented football economy in the country at over 50 million. Most of them are youths.

Do the math. There are over 5 million small television viewing centers in all the nooks and crannies of the country, with a minimum of about 10 people in each center fueling business and sustaining a silent but very crucial economy.

So, with over 50 million youths watching their national team every time the Super Eagles play, a youth population of very loud people, barely surviving with great difficulty in a harsh political, economic and social environment, to lose an important match carelessly against a small, country from ‘nowhere’ and without any antecedents in football, is totally unacceptable.

That ‘small’ defeat that Gernot glossed over with a remorseless smile when he granted an interview after the match, has dented Nigeria’s records in the history books of African football, could have cost Nigeria further progress in the current African championship and created untold and immeasurable temporary pain and agony in every home in the country.

It was a careless decision, and must be condemned so that such is never repeated.

The football economy impacts the media, the leisure industry, the betting industry, the entertainment industry, and so on. This humongous field is one that feeds on the success of the Super Eagles. To lose an important match means hunger and ‘death’ for some businesses. I know because I am involved.

That was my point. That was why I would have rested Gernot till the end of the championship if I were in charge. To teach him a lesson on how not to coach Nigeria’s national team, and how not to take Nigerians and their national sport for granted.

He got my message, that’s the important thing.

Something tells me that the meeting he held with Amaju PInnick before the last match was to register that point and others to him.

Since then everyone can see what has happened. Going forward now, no matter what happens till the end of the AFCON 2019 championship, from what I saw last Wednesday night, Gernot Rohr has become a changed man. He is now reborn.

He selected the best set of players that coincided with what majority of Nigerians watching all the matches and making their own assessments would largely agree with.

He got the team to play with confidence and calmness and everyone could see a pattern, discipline and organization in how the team played. No, it was not perfect, but football is never perfect, but this time it worked.

Playing like that, even if Nigeria had lost, we would still have been pained but would have gone back home knowing that it was not because we disrespected our opponents and did not field the best of us.

Gernot was on his feet raising his voice, gesticulating from time to time, feebly giving out instructions, trying to act as if marshaling the team and guiding them, throughout that match. He showed some concern for whatever was going to happen, even if he was obviously not in the class of a Mourinho, or a Klopp, in the act of being the 12th player.

He did not play ‘sentiments’. When he felt that the captain of the team needed to give way, he did not even hesitate in substituting Ahmed Musa. That’s how a serious coach should behave to demonstrate loyalty and commitment to a foreign country that hires him.

Gernot has changed. So, he deserves to be given the opportunity to serve out his term.

Going forward, however, looking towards a bigger goal, going to the 2022 World Cup and going far in accordance to Nigeria’s potentials seen long ago by global experts, but still hovering in the periphery of greatness only, the country needs a new coach, one that will imbibe and use the inherent strengths in the Nigerian DNA to drive the country’s football and footballers to become the best in the world and show the rest of the domestic polity, that Nigeria can be the greatest Black country in the world with the right kind of leadership…and follower-ship.

Football can be the light of at new nation. So, in response to Satish’s question, for Gernot Rohr, all is forgiven! Good luck to him for the rest of AFCON 2019.

Fulani herdsmen kill Afenifere leader, Pa Fasoranti’s daughter

Chief R.F. Fasoranti

CC™ Breaking News

Daughter of the leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti has been killed by suspected herdsmen in Ondo State.

Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Pa Fasoranti, was said to have been killed on Friday by suspected herdsmen as she was heading to Ore Junction from Akure, Ondo State, when she was attacked and shot dead.

Afenifere’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, confirmed the killing of the 58-year old Olakunrin  on Friday.

According to Odumakin, who spoke with The PUNCH, “We have confirmed the death of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin (58), daughter of our leader, Chief Fasoranti.

“Eyewitness accounts say she died of gunshots from Fulani herdsmen who shot her at Ore junction in Ondo State earlier today.

“She was coming from Akure when the armed Fulani herdsmen came from the bush to attack her and other vehicles. Her domestic staff in the car with her also sustained gunshots.

“This is one death too many and a clear we-can-take-it-no-more death.”

Funke Olakunrin (nee Fasoranti) is the second of Pa Fasoranti's daughters to die as he lost his first daughter and first-born Bunmi over three decades ago to cancer.