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I'm disappointed that Nigeria's Defense Minister, Bashir Salihi Magashi, expects rural communities like Kagara to do what takes logistics (i.e. defense intelligence; weapons; and manpower) to combat raids and mass kidnappings.
"I don't know why people are running away from minor, minor, minor things like that," he said on Feb. 19, the day of the kidnapping. "Let these [suspected bandits] know that even villagers have the competence and capability to defend themselves." Then again, I remember Goodluck Jonathan took a few weeks before his public acknowledgment of the missing Chibok girls. His wife dismissed the protests after they reached Abuja and Lagos, the commercial capital. "You are playing games," she said. "Don't use school children and women for demonstrations again. Keep it to Borno, let it end there." But how could they? The day of the abduction, a bomb blast killed 75 in Abuja. Like the Chibok girls, it was blamed on Boko Haram. The timeline was a bad look for Nigeria, perhaps the top destination for direct foreign investment in Africa.
I believe the abduction of school kids is intended to elicit a response beyond the village itself. Apart from Boko Haram and intercommunal violence, however, these raids seem to target human capital or assets that compel a ransom, including the increase in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. Satellite constellations will fight mass kidnappings for the same reason they'll end 5G where available. If any benefit to more hardware orbiting the Earth, satellite constellations can connect any rural or remote community to the internet and thus telecom services like VoIP; GPS; and streaming broadcasts. In regard to Nigeria, its use for security assumes continual manpower and accountability from a regional force of West African states. Search-and-rescue units; helicopters; and surveillance drones can deploy in no time, and international news agencies can confirm reports from local governments and NGOs in real-time. With stability efforts aided by satellite constellations, Nigeria can streamline its recovery from record economic contraction and, hopefully, development for its rural, northern, and Niger Delta communities.
A comment on "Negotiations under way in Nigeria to free abducted children" (AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES).
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Please join the #CheyneyChallenge, a monthly donation campaign for America's first HBCU. I made my most recent donation of $18.37 today. Cheyney University of Pennsylvania cheyney.edu Est. 1837 The Cheyney Challenge is an initiative of alumnus Mr. Bright. I committed to it in 2015, and began my donations the following year.  Cheyney University | © The Philadelphia Tribune. Image used by permission.
Today I reached the current month of February in my 2021 quest to catch up on the last few months of news. Therefore, it was only recently that I got to the following.
The lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania was hanging a marijuana flag (along with a rainbow flag) at the capitol building in December. He signaled his public support for the legalization of recreational marijuana, but first thing's first: Medical marijuana is already legal. What happened to medical marijuana? An ounce of weed is about $350 on the street. Legal cannabis is no cheaper without health insurance than weed is on the street. The lieutenant governor was hanging the marijuana flag, but the governor -- his political partner -- reallocated $20 million in medical marijuana taxes to fill a hole in the state budget. The law permits the state to use that revenue to subsidize the cost of marijuana prescriptions for needy patients. Apparently, it didn't. That said, what is the lieutenant governor's support for what's already legal -- medical marijuana? And by extension, what is Gov. Wolf's?
A comment on "Pa.'s Lt. Gov. Fetterman continues to display marijuana flag from Capitol office, despite state law" (J. Murphy).
Weed flag (Courtesy of BSGStudio)
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I don't know the legality of Trump's trial after office, but a state-level defendant can be tried even in absentia. Regardless, the impeachment trial or exercise can be one of procedure or Congressional precedent. Otherwise, any U.S. president can wait until the end of his or her tenure or term to commit an impeachable offense.
A comment on "McConnell seeks to push Trump impeachment trial to February" (M.C. Jalonick and L. Mascaro).
Donald Trump speaking at rally (© REUTERS | Jim Bourg)
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