HOW ILLICIT DRUG TRADE HELPS SMALL ARMS MANUFACTURERS TO MAKE PROFIT AND ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF WAR ON DRUGS IN THE SOCIETY.

Drugs and the war on drugs helps in creating a specific breed of people from the lower class to be jailed because both the two acts as a catalyst to feign disorder. While the illicit drugs have less negative effect on the society, the war on illicit drugs created an open route for arms and ammunitions to play an active role in the society. Drugs situated itself as the saviour which the poor  resort to in order to escape his poverty for a while and in it they found solace, when all hope in government that is expected to positively shape their future is lost.  Instead of letting the poor embrace free education, that would have enhanced his socio-political and economic mobility upward in the society, politicians and state officials through the war on illicit drugs rather prefer to invest in the institutions that produces arms and ammunitions which they believed would help to curtail the access to illicit drugs. The replica effect of the war on drugs only made many poor fellow  find themselves in prison custody, being feed by the tax payers and if unlucky the law sends him to his grave by the same government investment on war against illicit drugs. The war on drugs have not changed anything since its inception but rather it has worsen the situation and accounting for the death of many innocent people around the world, making the United States, Mexico and other Latin American countries world leaders in drug related deaths. This war on drugs has only revealed its stimulus effect in the poorest communities, that crime factories can easily be encoraged in those poor communities around the world and the laws against illicit drugs enhances the effectiveness of those factories in its output on daily basis.


Those who deal in illicit drugs and their consumers are considered unfit in the society, they are sent to jails based on whatever amount of substance of illicit drugs that are found on them and it has opened up another avenue for prison contractors, correction centres and gun lobbyist to make more profit from the tax payers through the state coffers and as it gets harder for the state to finance the prisons due to influx of inmates, and inssuficient finance, privatization is now the option that comes into play and whenever they are out of jail, they return back to the only business they know how to do best. This simply explains the circular flow of the war on drugs. What we need to know is that there is a bond between weapons and drugs and until the concept on the war on illicit drugs are changed, there can be no solutions to the increase in drug related deaths and the inability of governments to tackle the trade will continue. There are various security reports that revealed American guns flowed through the Mexican borders in order to track drug dealers but the covert operations failed and tax payers money were wasted in billions and just some few months ago, it was reported that some of the weapon are begining to find their way back into the American society which has led to one person being shot in a U.S. town close to the Mexican border.

                                       Money and weapon ceased from Mexican drug cartel


The war on drugs started as soon as the Cold War concept and efficiency was at its declining stage, countries that spearheaded the Cold War made the war on drugs served as a tool against nations or leaders that did not adopt the western ideology of capitalism but all was in an attempt to keep the production line of guns to be consistent while profit is being made. The war on drugs has continued to spill over and feign disorder even in democratic states that supported capitalism, the poor in many of those societies wanted to  find a away to escape poverty and the only available source for them was either to cultivate the plants which produces the drugs or serve as marketing and logistic agent for illicit drugs which goes to the rich western hemispher nations. With this, the drug war became an international challenge, which made nations around the world to adopt a convention on illicit traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substance. The conventions signed by nations on the war on drugs created a buffer zone for rebels fighting against perceived socialist or capitalist governments in their countries. Capitalist drug dealer in such nations were empowered to recruit and finance their activities through the drugs black market corridor that made the price of illicit drugs became more expensive in the international market and in return they supplied weapons to the rebels.


For the small and light weapons manufactures to continue in business after the Cold War, illicit Drugs became the only product that the rebels could sell to buy any type of small arms from the weapon and arms  producing nations. The arms manufacturing firms profit margin increased tremendously through the flow of illicit drugs to the economically advanced nations when it was banned internationally and in return small arms and light weapons were produced to enhance the potency of their rebellion against the governments of their nations. Illicit drugs is playing a major role in economics and politics of many developing nations,  just in the manner at which the crude oil is in relationship with small arms of all sorts in many Third world oil rich nations. Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, South Sudan, Libya and Iraq are few examples of the nations that have challenges with the relationship which arms and oil resources did create. Small arms and light weapons is perfectly in relationship with illicit drugs, its just that illicit drugs does not have a stock exchange listing to operate upon. U.S., Mexico, Colombia and Afganistan are examples of nations that illicit drugs and guns have significant relationship and thats why those nations have both exchanged those products in several instances. The prices of drugs per kilograms differs in different countries, as its being transported from the source to its consumers in the west, so the price of each kilogram changes and the same principle applies to the flow of small arms and different ammunitions to the southern hemisphere which serves as its companion.

 The war on illicit drugs helps in stimulating crime and as far as drugs and weapons have a relationship due to the international ban, there is no way these illicit drug related deaths can be handled without liberalizing drugs just as many Latin American leaders have been canvassing for.  For gun violence to stop, liberalization and relaxation of the laws against drugs must take effect, this will reduce the black market trading on illicit drugs which had made it to be expensive to the advantage of drug lords and weapon dealers and has made it the monopoly of some powerful men which has practically lead to the deaths of many innocent people in the U.S. and many Latin American nations for years. The race to acquire more guns for the police by various governments, personal protection, gang protection and gun production will drastically reduce. Violent acts stimulated by illicit drugs which has led to deaths of many citizens will be a thing of the past. The profit made by the gun manufactures and the money which is the motive behind smuggling drugs that led to several street and gang deaths will be streamlined by the liberalization of drugs around the world and many lives would be preserved from gun weilding persons who is under the influence of illicit drugs.

HOW WESTERN BUSINESSES CAN CHANGE STRATEGY TO FIGHT ECONOMIC RECESSION

Businesses are meant to expand beyond their home country and to make their presences felt around the world. Their products are expected to be a common household which every person should crave for. But many businesses do not know that politicians stand as a stumbling block for the growth and expansion of local businesses through their personal interest that affect the free flow of business among nations around the world. It is these businesses which the people in middle and lower class rely upon for their survival and that is where they invest all their energy and time in order for the products to be acceptable in every market and in turn increase their daily wages. Politicians that determine the direction of markets for their local businesses have no idea of how hard these two classes of people have invested in productivity. Politicians do not understand that the middle class, the lower class rise through the economic difficulty and it is upon their productivity that their income is built. The fact is that both classes suffers from the irrational decisions of these politicians with their cohorts that serve as government contractors in every nation. Government contractors dominate the scene and usually think for the politicians that do not take cognizance of these two groups of people before making political decision that affect businesses. These two classes must be recognize as the back bone of any economy and must be treated fairly in political decision making. Investors and global elites who own multinational companies are usually focused on profit while not considering the fact that the middle class and the lower class serves as the engine of their profit. 

Since the 1950ties many small and medium businesses have adopted the pattern of relying on expert advice just as the multinational businesses do to determine their development and expansion in different markets and as the climate of business changes either due to unforeseen forces in the market or government official decisions which can not be controlled by the CEO's of small and medium businesses and their management teams, they discovered that expert advise have continued to fail in forecasting the dangers ahead which has led to many businesses going under during the economic recession. Many who invested based on expert advice seems to regret their actions because they did lost all their saving. A lot of business owners are people who move with the wind and when the wind stops blowing they go bankrupt easily. What many small business owners do not understand is that many multinationals organisations insured their investments with the political system run by politicians and when expert advise fails they are covered. And if in any case the organisation must go bankrupt, the global elite who owns the company gets back his investment share price while other investor go down with the sinking ship.

 Here, i will be making suggestions for small and medium businesses to first put away all political influence in their business deals. It is better not to invest in a business that you can not control, for a business which you do not have control off, such business will surely control you. Big businesses owned by global elites are attached to governments, contracts and security for  survival is immense in political decision for them but for small and medium size businesses it must have no relationship with politicians and it being independent should seek producing for the people within  and other markets. The deep attachment of Big businesses with government officials denies the access for small and medium aspiring business to go beyond their borders to establish their presences. Some of these is what China avoided which made many small and medium businesses in China to become global players within a decade.

 A deep attachment to politics and government officials when doing business can totally destroy the future of any business and its expansion, for political decision controls human society and what normal business entreprise  intends to do are always subject to the program and policies made by politicians who are not business inclined but supporters of Big businesses. And on many occasions, their decisions does not work for the interest of both the medium and small businesses. Political decisions in home countries against other nations, work as a stumbling block to reduce the flow of business transaction with other partners across the border and countries where commodities from such small and medium business entity ought to have made its mark quickly in other local markets abroad.

Business oriented people of the 21st century need to know that politicians do not have a permanent friend and does not want a permanent enemy, what it desire is a permanent and selfish interest of its own. But businesses have a permanent friend which is the consumer who resides anywhere around the world and in any type of political system. Politicians do not care how business operation are worked and by a stroke of wrong political decision they can make a business go bankrupt and they are not interested in knowing the technicalities and economics of expansion in the world of competition. What they are intrested in is what their global elite friends would get and what their own profit would be in the political decision is implemented. 

Adam Smith's capitalist concept of free trade was never a wrong idea, it never expected businesses to rely on government budgets for the survival of any business, but it was the politicians of many capitalist societies who later determine WHERE and WHO gets the commodity at the international market that got it wrong for the businesses and made Adam Smith theory a foolish idea. Those businesses that rely on government budgets used their influence in government to determine the rate at which the forces of demand and supply dictates the free flow of goods and services in the market and it has made it more water tight for small and medium businesses to survive.  World business elites have narrowed the essential public good which ought to come from policy making to themselves and their businesses, thereby making government policies to stand against the growth and development of other small aspiring businesses that are not patterned towards government finance.

 This is basically the reason why many small and medium business owners became politicians at the local level overnight, all is in order to protect their investment, believing its when businesses and their owners are associated with politicians it opens the door for juice contracts and government insurance can be secured for such businesses. Some small and medium businesses decided to have candidates in the people's congress all in an attempt to have a better advantage. This can only make such a person become wealthier while making those that works for him live in penury and end up losing their income when they retire from the organization because he will have to share with the politician and other contesting interest in the society. Because of his own interest, he will decide to be looking for a more cheaper place territory to produce and this will lead to outsourcing and by so doing he neglects the engine room that produces the wealth he sits upon.

Businesses have been told that political and economic sanctions are based on national security or national interest advancement, for those strugglling business empires and the middle class businesses that have gone bankrupt, they would now know better that personal interest of global  businesses and politicians who could not see beyond their society played a greater role in approving sanctions. The influence of global elites in political decisions has been able to see that economic sanctions stood as a stumbling block to the success of small vibrant businesses especially in the United States. It is now that one will expect Americans to better understand why Standard Chartered Bank of the United Kingdom had to do deals behind close doors with some Iranian businesses and still willing to pay a handsome fine from the profit, probably if that covert business was not carried out it would have asked for a bail out too. Standard Chartered did such simply because there is money to made in the Iranian market which was denied by some powerful political opinion leaders in the west and some politicians who hold and dictate the mantle of public decisions in the United States.

 It would have been impossible as at the year 2012 to ascertain the billions of dollars many western small and medium businesses would have made in profit, if it was doing business with a consuming nation like Iran. But since economic and political sanctions were slamed on the nation after its 1979 Islamic revolution by the U.S. and European governments, it has denied those businesses to access those markets. It is certain that sanctions on other Third world countries have not really helped many U.S. and western small aspiring business enterprise and as such, it has limited their expansion in a fast developing and consuming world where a single country can change positively the profit margins of any business organization. The result of those sanctions is what  many U.S. businesses are suffering from during this economic and financial downturn of the 21st century. The decisions and policies of the western politicians that favors global business elites has denied small and medium businesses to seek new grounds and open new markets for its goods.

 The western politicians believing it was going to be consistently rosy for the Western world, its business executive, business consultants and politicians who never saw the dangers of their actions in a fast moving world of innovation and education which the far East has secured. They went to sleep on their minimal success, for more than four decades, access was denied to many Western businesses to expand due to political differences, which their home country had with many Third world nations that are now the source of world commodity demand, which  is driven by its population growth and its fast rising middle class, that has access to modern technological and know how to produce cheaper and flexible products. Many terminals in the western world that export goods are closed or now receives imported goods from those nations that formally depended on western products. Its a pity, that those fast growing global businesses of those era in the Western world misplaced priorities and are now seriously competing and wanting to catch up with other smart evolving businesses from the East, especially those within the Asian tigers territory. The economic problems in the West has opened up the weakness of its politicians and their decisions on business enterprises. 

But the fact is, its never to late for any business owner that wants to take the bold step in opening up new factories in the Third world countries where labour is cheap and material resources are available. Its products will be consumed by the local population which still relies on foreign imports and the avenue to export is readily  available. Americans and other western small and medium scale CEO's  should develop a synergy with their politicians to lift sanctions off those countries that their politicians have slammed sanctions upon for decades, and at the same time other Western businesses of all shades and types have to prevail upon their government  to change their attitudes towards countries like Cuba, Iran, Zimbabwe, North Korea and Burma that have the potential of generating huge capital for Western businesses in the nearest future. This has to  be done quickly, for there to be an open door for investment and trade between the two old enemies before they lose the entire world market to the Asian tigers especially China and India. And this blunder commited by the west should serve as a lesson for other fast developing nations not to let politics determine WHERE AND WHO gets what of business output in a global world.

THE NEW OTTOMAN EMPIRE ARABS SHOULD WATCH OUT FOR: WOULD IT BE A SAFE JOURNEY TO EMBARK UPON FOR TURKEY?

The Arab world should begin to prepare its population for a modern Ottoman empire which is systematically dragging itself in the realms of the political and economic landscape of the Middle East with some substance of military prowess. If possible it will overrun the whole region in the next couples of decades. Close to a century when the Ottoman Empire lost its influence and political power in the region to the British, the intention of the Turkish administration is to gain control of the region and capitalizing on the financial and economic downturn being experienced in the European countries which mainly affects Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIGS). France, Britain and Germany are watching over their back not to be dragged in to the economic and financial crises facing their neighbors in the European Union. If the financial crisis cannot be contained and it spills over, it will be more terrible for France, Britain and Germany and possibly bring to an end the flotation of the Euro currency. This home front economic war has been able to divert much of their attention from the Middle East which has opened a new front for Turkey.

The United States is facing similar economic and financial challenges and its influence in the Arab world is gradually dwindling, the Arab spring which has overthrown dictators that were loyal to Western governments has opened the Middle East for more resource hungry nations. These unexpected events across the Arab world made the U.S.to shift much of its military power base to the fast developing South East Asian region retaining few staunch allies of monarchs in the Middle East to maintain the status quo. In order for the U.S. to compete effectively and not to let the rising China take advantage of its position, it had to look for new military grounds in Asia. These actions created a strategic opportunity for their best Middle East military ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to take over some parts of the region, especially where Western governments for decades saw as a hard shell to crack. 

 With the support of the military wing of the Western alliance, Turkey would be able to have significant control and influence on any future Syria, Lebanon and the Iraqi Kurdistan region governments, which will change the political landscape of the region, until when the western world is able to recover from its economic and financial quagmire. Turkey would definitely hold on for its allies in the region and keep fighting their battle for them, simply because, the Turkish government under Prime Minister Erdogan feels it is worth fighting for, and seeing it as an effective way to play the cards of sectarianism after-all Turkish people are majority Sunni.  And since Iraqi Kurdistan region is a place where the Turkish government and businesses have already built their influence within a short period after the discovery of oil with the support of the Iraqi Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani.  It will be thought to be the right step in the right direction. But time will tell if the aim was for the benefit of the people of Iraqi Kurdistan people. On several occasions, the Turkish military have had to cross a sovereign border to attack and strike Kurdish rebels positions without consulting the Iraqi government.  

How enlightened and knowledgeable are Arab foreign diplomats in knowing Turkish foreign policy within their territory and how could they decipher the future of Turkish influence in their Geo-political region and its expansionist plans?  To diagnose this, attention has to be paid to the cross border operations on the Iraqi territory. The aim of the Turkish military is to capture or kill the Kurdistan Peoples Workers Party (PKK) rebels, which have been fighting the Turkish government for an independent homeland. It should be viewed as a license to kill on foreign soils. It has simply established the foundation for the Turkish government to enter into an unlimited War on Stateless Enemy and this can be sanctioned on any Arab nation. This strategy can be adopted in Syria, which Turkey claims its territory is being used to support the PKK rebels. The Arab people need to quickly know that the United States government adopts such acts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia and will be willing to give Turkey such support.

 Arab governments should be able to understand quickly the goals of Turkey in its region and that which it projects for its Western allies. Turkey under Prime Minister Erdogan is gradually re-enacting the forgotten influence of the Ottoman Empire around the Middle East in the 21^st century without any exception. Any expert of international politics should be able to draw this conclusion from Ahmet Darutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister speech, when he said only Turkey will determine the future of Syria. 

Dissecting the Turkish foreign minister’s speech, it is clear that Turkey have several roles to play in the 21^st century Arab region. And for those Arab leaders that would not play by the rules, baits have been setup for them. This is an example of what Al Assad and the Syrian people are facing. An idea of weakening the Syrian regime is by encouraging and supporting rebels for as long as possible, which will the fight to escalate into the Turkish territory and that will pave the way for a foreign military power to intervene on the rebel side. In adopting this tactics within the Syrian crisis, there are signs that it will lead to a serious military confrontation between the two nations and Turkey might be willing to call on NATO for support.  This can be traced to the reason why there have been consistent warnings from Western government to the Syrian regime not to use its chemical weapon which it insists; it was going to use only against any foreign aggression on its soil. 

 The plan will be carefully crafted, to allow the Turkish military to attack the Syrian territory on the claims, that the Kurds living in Syria are either arming the PKK rebels or crossing over the Syrian border to attack the Turkish military. And lately within the Syrian crisis, the Turkish government have been losing men on monthly basis in the hands of the PKK rebels since the Syrian crisis escalated.

Attention will not be paid to the German intelligence service reports, which confirmed that terrorist affiliated with Al Qaida and rebels are being trained on Turkish soil to fight the Syrian regime have been crossing from the Turkish border into Syria to lunch attacks on the Syrian army.There are several reports that rebels from the Free Syrian Army and terrorist from different Middle East nations are being armed and financed by the Western government, Israel and some of their Arab allies which include Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But this will not be put into consideration when both nations face each other.  This proves that the crisis in Syria is more of a Geo-political interest for the Turkish government and is effectively playing a major role in the Geo-political shake-up. 

The modern Ottoman Empire headed by Prime Minister Erdogan is a reality. The Arabs need to know how the modern Ottoman influence is been fashioned out based on deals and agreements with its Western counterparts. And the job for Turkey is to maintain its Western counterparts influence on its behalf against Iran which seems to be a Geo-political competitor. While Turkey gains from the spoils, nations such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and the Kurdistan region of Iraq have to be sensitive to the moves of Turkey in the region, it is practically interfering in the Arabs political scene.  Such instant was during the Egyptian revolution, when it knew the Muslim Brotherhood had much support from the population, it advised the Egyptian populace to adopt the Turkish style of governance for it to secure a stable democracy.

In another instance, the visit of the Turkish foreign minister to the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq without the knowledge of the central Iraqi government is a way to explain that Turkey can do what it likes in the region without any consequences; it was a vivid example to show its modern Ottoman influence in the region. Anyone who followed reports after the Turkish government foreign minister visits, the Iraqi military was denied entry into the autonomous Kurdistan region to protect its border in Ninawa  by peshmerga forces. A border town which is believed that Iraqi Kurdistan’s are helping the rebels with weapons. “[Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-]Maliki said in a statement yesterday that there were clear suspicions that the province's guards had turned the region, near the Iraqi-Syrian border, into a haven for militants to cross to and from Syria, stressing that this was why they refused the army entry to that area, given that they could cut off supplies to insurgents.”

The Syrian people and its government for years have never been a threat to the Turkish people or its leadership. But under the deal which the Turkish government must have agreed upon with the Western and other Sunni led governments in the Arab world is to overthrow the Syrian regime and to achieve this, it must accused the Syrian government headed by Bashar Al-Assad of creating an avenue for the Syrian Kurdish people of arming the PKK rebels. And this has made Turkey to open an Air Base some 100 kilometres close to the Syrian border. The purpose, which the Air Base will serve, still remains unknown, but the nearest future will tell if the Arabs are willing to serve the 21^st century Ottoman from Turkey again

NOT TOO LATE FOR U.S. BUSINESSES: AFRICA CAN ASSIST THE U.S. BUSINESSES TO GAIN FOOTHOLD IN AFRICA MARKETS.

How much confidence do the African nations have in the U.S businesses and its government transparency after several decades which it had the opportunity to develop, trade and invest in Africa? The U.S. government have always advised its corporate businesses organization on several occasions that many African states have unstable political environment and no right thinking business will want to venture into such environment. But the Chinese businesses never cared about such information, knowing Africans want a change economically first, then all other things follow. The Chinese businesses and its government have now been able to change the landscape of the African society with its cheap goods not paying much attention to the type of governments Africans operate in just two decades. This was what the U.S. businesses and government would have done a long time ago, but the target of the U.S. government in Africa then was more concentrated on the type of government in African nations to determine if its businesses could operate in such terrain but only in stable democratic environments.

 The U.S. government preferred explaining to its manufacturing entrepreneurs and service providers that doing business in undemocratic societies are dangerous and this has denied those businesses a foothold in Africa. But made it possible for oil businesses which is the stimulator for the U.S. businesses to secure a foothold in few African nations with oil mineral deposit. In the same vain many African nations wondered why the U.S. will not allow African produced goods to enter the U.S. markets freely, but they got to knew later that it was all about protectionism which was devised as stringent conditions which made majority of African businesses continued to die gradually since it could not meet up with the set standards of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

China never saw any difficulty in doing business with the African people, because it knew every human being in a stable and unstable political environment desire one thing in common, which is personal growth and development that can only be achieved on the basis of mutual respect between two people or nations, no matter what type of government that is in power. Now that China has already spent years in Africa, building infrastructures and entering into several bilateral trades with many countries without stringent conditions but on mutual respect, and acting as a partner in developing the African society. It has shown that it studied where the U.S. government and its businesses lacked the capacity to understand the differences in business and politics. China presented itself that its willing to take up any commodity that never met the desired standard of the U.S. Department of Commerce and this changed the mental view of trade and investment between Africans and the world. It has won the hearts of many African business men and China is now the destination for business.

Is it not too late for the Africans to trust the American businesses which its government has consistently denied access to the U.S. market based on the high standard quality demanded by the U.S. department of Commerce. Sure, its never too late, but its businesses must study how the Chinese businesses got a better hold of the African markets. African markets can assist the U.S. businesses to rediscover what it has lost many decades ago. The population is increasing on daily basis and they are still consuming much, this is due to a rapid growing demand for different commodity in its market. What the U.S. government must do to make African markets assist its businesses is not to interfere in the free flow of trade and investment between the two continents and it must not interfere in the future of whatever trade policies entered into.

It will have to take the U.S. businesses years to learn how to operate in a new environment like Africa, this will be due to the manner in which the U.S. government interact with their Nigerian counterpart on the basis of common goal, the way the government and it businesses perceives the African markets and their ability to believe in the rapid growth of the African markets. Even though, it has the capital, it will have to convince the African population and its African stake holders that it is ready to do business and trade in order to improve the lives of the people.

STATE POLICE? NIGERIANS ARE NOT YET MATURED FOR THE ADOPTION OF A STATE POLICE

How prepared should a society that wants to adopt and maintain the image of a state police look like?  The state of its cultural and socio-political values must be the first question the government and the citizens of Nigeria or any other third world nation ask, before venturing into a project that would end up tearing the country apart. Salient questions, as what is the financial status of the local economy of each state? The effect of the social and cultural cohesion within the indigenous people and those perceived to be settlers? How effectively does its judiciary functions? What amendments should be made to the prevailing constitution? What infrastructural support and capacity building mechanism exists in the state and the nation as a whole to meet the demand of the people in a world of globalization and its corruptible influence, must be taken into consideration before adopting a state police program. 

Nigeria, being a heterogeneous society is a place where its people have been known to be living with each other peacefully no matter the circumstances that befell them.  In different cities, towns and localities, one cannot but find a Nigeria from another ethnic or religious group living in other majority dominated ethnic groups,which he do not share the same faith with. These shows the level of  integration in Nigeria and it explains that faith does not play a major role in the common good of its citizenry. The major challenges the Nigerian society faces can be said to be associated with politics, demography, economics, ineffective governance, corruption, illiteracy and religious intolerance carved out of political ambition by politicians. These differences have played a significant role in shaping almost every administration since independence. And this is not because of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates of the entity called Nigeria but the intent and the aim was only to achieve a divide and rule tactics by its colonial master for its own political and economic purposes and this was what subsequent leaders relied upon to divide the people.

The first set of Nigerian leaders knew this problem and they worked hard to develop each region and at the same time did promote unity in diversity among its people. Constructive competitions which brought about growth and massive economic development for the people of each region was their target even though, they came from different political parties. That was why, when a major project takes effect in one region, the others try to emulate it quickly for the sake of their people. These brought about more human and occupational migration which expanded local trade among those living in the southern and northern parts of the country. But subsequent leaders over the decades never thought about the interest of the nation or its people as a whole, rather, they  began to behave like their former colonial masters who stole from the land.  In order to keep getting access to the abundant resources and to keep safe their stolen wealth from the public, western businesses and government officials entered into an unholy pact with the Nigerian political elites their allies in government to defraud the nation and siphon the nation's collective wealth and this led to massive national  resources and income being misappropriated for personal gains till date.

The culture of being in government at all cost or close to the corridors of power became a perception embedded in the knowledge of every Nigerian.  Access to government coffers is believed to be the only safety net from escaping poverty and a route to success. Enriching ones local or foreign bank account through public funds was the only means to be relevant in the governance of the Nigerian society at the expenses of the public and staying in the political arena means one dictates the direction of government policies. If that cannot  be achieved, a stolen fund acts as a guaranty which simply gives one an opportunity to secure an official government positions in the future. 

 Many among those that have ruled and enjoyed from the national treasury and are today the elites still have the divide and rule mentality and whenever they loss their grip on power, based on differences in political party, ideology, religion and ethnicity, the income they have made in the past is used as a spring board to attack the existing government's legitimacy to create chaos among the citizenry.

 And for those in power who have the access to federal or state treasury and security, it serves as a means for retribution in many horrendous ways, which increases the tension and pressure in the polity. These officials who have the chance to be with existing regimes defend the regime till the last days of its existence no matter how bad its policy and administration is towards the people. But with the advent of democracy  on May 29, 1999, democracy has brought with it an increasing political culture and political socialization among Nigerians and its electorates. Nigerians are becoming enlightened everyday and the ability to question the effectiveness of their leaders on every intended policy or program and laws is gaining momentum.

But when it comes to the adoption of a state police to protect the local citizenry in each state, it will surely end up being a tool in the hands of the politicians.

What Nigerians need to first understand in its composition as an entity is that, it was the Federal government that created the state governments, by the Yakubu Gowan administration on May 27,1967. Three days before Ojukwu declared the state of Biafra in Eastern Nigeria. Nigeria Federal composition must not at any time be compared to that of the United States, for there is no relationship between the two. In the U.S. it was those states that agreed to form a union against their colonial master Britain and that act brought about the formation of its federal union. The advocates of a state police need to know that the U.S. state police have also been accused of several crimes ranging from killing innocent citizens to profiling of minorities in the country for years since its existence and yet they have not being able to find solutions to it.  The Nigerian states were created to break the hold of the unified secessionist Biafran military regime which was predominantly dominated by a single ethnic group of the Igbo extraction with some few officers and men of the South-south region.

For a society that has not yet recovered from the traumas of the past federal police brutality and still waiting to see if it can get out of the intensive care unit of reforms which are still heading for the rocks due to all talk but no actions of the Nigerian leaders, one should be bothered seriously why some influential Nigerians will be calling for the adoption of a state police and ask if it was for their own personal interest or for the interest of the public. Nigerians should not talk of a state police when the Nigerian judiciary is in itself flawed state and cannot reform itself  to deliver justice in its courts. The judiciary which is the last hope of the common man is riddled with corruption and even more so, much of their practitioners in the Nigerian Bar Association are political party card carrying members, which makes it difficult to see the judiciary as an institution that would safe the excesses of the state executives.

It is not possible for now to adopt a state police, when the governor will be the one to nominate the state commissioner for police affairs at the state level, while the federal government have its police commissioner too in the same state. At the present state of the Nigerian police, it has been difficult for the Nigeria police to even arrest political agents and well known individual of the ruling party that violate electoral laws during and after elections based on allegations of ballot snatching, bribery and corruption. when this exists, then it is evident that, election mal-practice will not be challenged by the state police.

One can use Hisba in Kano as an example of a state police, it once served  as a state Islamic religious police and when one hears some of the threat it poses to the public with its operation and the manner in which it harasses the people, a better understanding of the consequences will be known easily.  Or simply take LASTMA in Lagos as an example too, if they were to be armed with weapons, I believe the nation will not be ready to document more records of accidental discharge of bullets from AK47 assault rifles given to the young exuberant state security officials who will be willing to extort money from the innocent public.

 In this state police agitation, Nigerians have to be calm and put on their thinking caps and not to add to the  present problems its facing on security, but take proper care of the foundation first and build a lasting institution without negative influence. I painted a scenario whereby a governor of a state in Nigeria will be issued with a warrant of arrest and would insist he is not ready to obey the court order, believing his political opponents where behind his ordeal; it is certain that the state police would have to face the federal police in a battle to secure the arrest of the governor of such state in order to bring him to justice.

The fact is that the Nigeria society at both the state and federal level is not matured socially in the context of adopting a state police, it has no institutional pattern of adopting and managing the peoples affairs in security, administration, public policy implementation and the Nigerian socio-political establishment make-up is not tailored towards institutionalization of its officials but made to run and radiate around personalities that head different government agencies for a short period which leads to instability in policy implementation.

Having stated this, other questions that should be answered before embarking on a state police program are:

 What ethnic group will dominate the state police?

Who has the total control of the state police?                                                          

Who appoints the Chief Justice of the State?

Which religious group would dominate the police structure?

Would the state police not be politicize?

To whom would the state police be answerable?

What sort of weapons would the state police handle?

Who nominates the commissioner for police affairs?

How would the constitution be amended?

What structure would the state police depend upon for transparency and scrutiny?

Who pays the state police and from what strategic fund?

How efficient is the judiciary?

Will the state police be aligned to the federal police?

A DEMOCRATIC DICTATOR IN TURKEY: ERDOGAN'S GRIP ON PRESS FREEDOM WILL FOREVER PROLONG ITS ASCENSION TO THE E.U.

For those that never supported the idea of Turkey joining the European Union at the first place based on reasons known to them were basically right. Many supporters of Turkey as at that time never saw any reason why it should not be part of the European Union. And to those international political analyst around the world, that were active supporters of Turkish integration into the E.U who concluded that, it was because the European Union was much of a Christian club that was why it would never allow for the free flow of Turkish predominantly Muslim population and businesses to dominate and influence the E.U. must have gotten it wrong by now based on contemporary events in Turkey.

Having in-depth insight and taking time to study the Turkish government under its Prime minister Recep Erdogan and the AK Party, it will be easy to understand why France and Germany were against the integration of Turkey into the E.U. It is obvious from contemporary events why Turkey cannot be a partaker of E.U membership but should be given a lesser status due to its proximity and the large population it has. The actions of these two major players in the European Union can be said to be purely based on the leadership characteristics of  the AK Party’s system of democratic governance in denying the people freedom of information and expression and the consequent arrest, imprisonment of journalist and bloggers that is seen as a threat by the Recep Erdogan authoritarian political administration in Turkey.

The Prime minister and his party have been able to silence any opposition or private media organization with the November 2011 adoption of a policy of filtering information. The law has out rightly denied the Turkish people the right to free press and self-expression and this act alone should bring to bear the question if Turkey is a fledgling democracy like any other western European nation?  And in one of the Prime Minister's public speech to the media he said they can not say he should not inter-vain in what the columnist writers. The Turkish government in 2010, tried to send a newspaper editor to prison for 525 years on 105 separate counts charge for saying the what the government believes is wrong thing. This explains that a dictator does not necessarily need to be an autocratic leader who has supreme control of a political society by relying on his military and security agencies.But can also be a democratic leader who denies his people the freedom of information and self-expression with the adoption of obnoxious laws in order to have total control, making it possible to arrest and imprison the citizenry. Especially, journalist and those who have the guts to speak against or share their opinion on state matters.

For those that are conversant with the Western mainstream media, they would understand how  President Vladimir Putin of Russia is being portrayed as a dictator but it is far more better to be a blogger or a journalist in Russia than being one in Turkey and all attention has to be shifted to the Western ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.[NATO]  The attention of the world and human rights organizations must be brought quickly due to the fact that thousands of websites have been blocked  by the Turkish government under its Prime minister Erdogan with the support of the ruling AK Party through court orders and by quickly arranged administrative laws to curtail the free flow of information and this act  has made information dissemination in Turkey to become a crime. The justice and development party (AKP) has not been able to deliver justice to freedom of speech in Turkey.

Many among those websites which condemned the in-action and sluggish response of the Prime minister against the attack by the Israeli commandos on the flotilla which killed many Turkish nationals on their way to break the Israeli siege on the poverty stricken coastal enclave of Gaza have all been affected by the administrative law which the party adopted to control the mass media in Turkey.

The government of Turkey managed by the Prime minister has in its record a large numbers of jailed influential journalist for their activities, many other journalist and bloggers are scared to write or criticize the Erdogan’s government, they cannot report or speak publicly criticizing the regime for the fear of being arrested, tortured and imprisoned, some have decided to leave the country for fear of being detained by the government. Some press international organization have asked the Erdogan’s government to release detained journalist without charges but the government is not yet known to have released any and has been able to completely denied its citizenry the machinery of press freedom and was ranked number 148 in the 2011-2012 World Press Freedom Index.This standing can truly not be for a country willing to join the E.U.

 Erdogan and his ruling party have been able to successfully silence all alternative media outlet in Turkey, the government has gotten a free hand to operate as it wishes both within and outside its territory and it has prompt the human rights record in Turkey to be a source for concern internationally. The lack of constructive criticism by the media has made it almost impossible to know the truth about the Turkish regime and its activities, little or no information get to the public about government activities, for the fact that those that are suppose to report it as being held in captivity and the people are only told what they need to know by government spokesmen. Keeping them in the dark has been a good strategy of their elected leaders and it has been impossible for the people or the press  to criticize the covert military operations of the Erdogan’s government in both the Kurdish territory and its involvement in the Syrian crisis.

Finally, we must see reason with Nicholas Sarkozy, the former president of France and other European officials who were against the full integration of Turkey into the E.U. Not because Turkey is being ruled by a Muslim based ideologically party or because its citizens are not western enough but because Turkish society is yet to train leaders that will learn and understand the European culture of democratic principles.