Flags Don't Make Patriots

Two Cities Changing

As I stepped out for a walk traversing the cities of Manchester and Salford, I noticed many changes in places I had not visited in quite a while; I'm talking a couple of years.

However, what was more interesting were the Union Jack flags flying on lampposts in some performative display of what some might think is patriotism.

The Absence of Historical Understanding

Frankly, I am quite unimpressed because patriotism requires a keen understanding and sense of history that would suggest learning and study. I cannot ascertain that some of the agitators in this cause have acquired such knowledge.

For instance, I am an Englishman as I am British. My parents were born in Nigeria when it was part of the British Empire, and hence they were, into early adulthood, subjects of the Crown before Nigeria gained independence in 1960.

By the good fortune of providence, I was born in England, and at that time we automatically acquired citizenship by birth.

When Ignorance Meets Aggression

One man, because I looked different and had an accent, had the temerity to question my status in an aggressively racist rant on a train some years ago. Other fellow citizens called the police on him, and after spending the night in a cell, he was prosecuted, convicted, and paid fines totalling £750.

If he had had a basic appreciation of British history and the context of the brutality of the British Empire happening abroad, whilst the profits built stately homes here, he might have been restrained and saved himself the humiliating consequence of baseless assumptions. But that expectation is like casting pearls before swine.

True Patriotism Requires No Flag

I do not need a flag to be patriotic. I do my civic duty by voting, and if called for jury service, I will attend. I belong in a society of values: fairness, justice, respect, and the consideration of others, knowing no one is above the law.

I believe we should treat each other with dignity and courtesy, seeking to live harmoniously with others regardless of race, creed, class, gender, ability, orientation, or status.

Identity Beyond Symbols

In all those situations of understanding and celebrating our Britishness, it is not flags that matter, but our sense of identity expressed in our humanity towards having a common purpose to make our world a better place.

That is why I think hoisting flags is an empty gesture. It is not representative of any particular value; it is, in essence, patriotism misguided and probably informed by a position of ignorance.

A Google NotebookLM AI Podcast on this blog

Trooping the Colour of emotional attachment

Some emotional points of self

There are certain things that carry an emotion and sentiment for which there is not suitable articulation of words to describe, these are deeply seated in the person we are and how we express ourselves.

Watching the Trooping the Colour on playback at this moment, I reflect on those things for which I have not found adequate expression yet can be found dotted amongst my writings that give me a sense of pride, being, and identity. My spirituality, my Englishness, and the institution of the British monarchy.

Where one stands

On the first, I share occasionally, in which I determine to find the reality of divine intervention in every sphere of my existence and much of which leaves me conscious of the fact that there is much more to learn and understand of the mystery it entails.

The second is controversial to some as much as it is significant to me, and though the debate might rage about Britishness or Englishness, I am quite originally an Englishman of Nigerian heritage, and no apology is made of understanding that this sense of identity is reinforced by so many influences, experiences, and places. Sometimes, it is just the inability to appreciate the individuality and uniqueness of someone else that fuels the disrespect for how we choose to be identified.

I say the institution of the monarchy rather than just the monarchy for it does not matter who peoples the offices that pertain to the monarchy, yet the weight of history and tradition bears heavily on the shoulders of the monarch who through life is conditioned to certain discretions to maintain the mystique of the said of institution.

Love of a great idea

Though most of our lifetime this institution had the face of Queen Elizabeth II, there is a generation of personalities that have passed on with a wistful sense of loss as the new Carolean era of Charles III takes hold. The ease with which the machine of state transitioned occasioning amazing pomp and pageantry that no other people than the English can muster is one that imbues one with a sense of loving and patriotic adoration.

The love of fatherland without it being mistaken for political or royal adulation, England is my land, it is my country and from this land I have explored many places including that from which my parents came to study here and witness a country in radical transition and bruising change.

When it comes to ceremony and music, something in me wells up in full agreement that this land, and it being Perfidious Albion to some still exudes history, beauty, wonder, excitement, amazement, and pluck. In every nook and cranny, you find England is a place in many people’s hearts. God save the King!!!

The atrocity of bloviation in futility

They lower your horizon

I learnt to be wary of people limiting your horizon by their vision of you or your circumstances. They speak with a sense of concern, but it is more for their own benefit than it is for yours. If your fortunes are elsewhere, pursue it with vigour. The apparent patriotism of one even more successful than you at home that does not facilitate the achievement of yours is detrimental to you whichever way you look at it.

My experience with this was on an encounter over 30 years ago with an old schoolmate who had done quite well academically just when I was nursing ambitions of going abroad. He, without hesitation challenged the premise then posited that there was much more in Nigeria for me to exploit and achieve than to apparently escape to The United Kingdom to waste my time.

Let the wind blow through

I did not challenge any of his assertions because it was not necessary, this was someone I had not seen in years who suddenly arrogated to himself a knowledge of my situation and circumstances with the view from his apparently more settled and successful status he could dictate and design my trajectory for life and purpose.

Fleeting moments at times should be fleeting rather than life-changing, the power to make it so remains primarily yours and you should refuse to cede it without a bruising fight where you should emerge to the victor. You are in the market of persuasion, but also, the kind of persuasion that should come with commensurate and effective action.

It is comment without commitment

My friend was not offering to take on any responsibility for facilitation in any direction he was projecting, rather, the inadvertent dampening of my vision which effectively was at play if I allowed it was a vain effort to maintain hierarchies where good advice and mentoring would have given me wings to fly and the wind beneath those wings to soar. You come to realise that just because a path has served someone well, it is not the universal roadmap to success.

Invariably, there will always be people who will thrive and prosper in Nigeria just as there are others who need to exit the country to other lands to find their own path and opportunities that seemed to elude them in Nigeria. Ultimately, neither the stayer nor the leaver is more patriotic, we all have an affinity for Nigeria regardless of how long we have been away and our passion for its peace and prosperity is rarely diminished because whether at home or abroad, we are affected.

Chart your own course and except if the alternate view is ready to invest fully in time and resources to alter that course, it is at best the atrocity of bloviation in futility, do not give it or the person any heed and move on. 

Ashli Babbit, a needless death

What a shame for her

Ashli Babbit, 35, an Air Force veteran from San Diego, California was at the US Capitol yesterday as a staunch supporter of President Donald J. Trump having been fully persuaded of the unfounded claims of voter fraud determining his loss of the presidency.

Egged on by the president, she, unfortunately, found herself at the end of a bullet to the neck or the chest, as she climbed through a broken window as part of a hooligan mob invading the sanctity of the Congress, depending on the reports you read and soon she was dead and probably will not be remembered or celebrated for her needless martyrdom to a hopeless cause.

Silliness as patriotism

Some will have us believe that she was a patriot and there are many who fly the flag, stand for national anthems recite pledges of allegiance with gusto, who believe they are patriots or are more patriotic than those not so enthusiastically consumed of nationalism, jingoism, and belligerence.

The concept and meaning of patriotism has been corrupted, abused, and misappropriated to odious and nefarious ends. Many so-called patriots need to sit back down and have another in-depth civics lesson on the constitution, the rule of law, the separation of powers, the freedoms we all have in the kingdoms and republics in which we live and the responsibilities we have as citizens of our different domains.

Cut loose or perish

I am sorry that Ashli foolishly and needlessly lost her life in the pursuit of an alternative reality that had no evidential bearing of truth even in the broadest sense if there is an afterlife where an account is required of our deeds, anyone would hate to be in her shoes, it almost qualifies for a Darwin Awards citation. If you lose your life hitching your wagon to Donald J. Trump, you should be entered for that award and it is likely Herman Cain is celebrating his somewhere in the Great Beyond.

It is a salutary lesson, regardless of what you are asked to believe, take time to engage your head and do not be so closely hitched to anyone that you cannot cut loose when they are careering into a ditch.

Nigeria: Ukeoma Ikechukwu - A Nigerian Hero and Martyr

They serve unsung

Sadness and grief, horror and terror as a nation sheds the blood of her young on the altar of the selfish and criminal desires of others.

Young men and women called into the service of their nation immediately after graduation to faraway regions of their motherland to help and contribute whilst learning of the great diversity of a nation that strains at maintaining a semblance of unity.

Their faith in a brighter future and their altruistic goals soar over the privations of a year of penurious service where new friendships can be developed for life and new experiences can made the difference of a life well lived.

Usually, unsung, unheralded, disrespected and maligned, they bear this call to service as a cross, constantly belittled and berated by those who probably need their service most.

Our selfless NYSC

It was a masterstroke of project management to ask the National Youth Service Corps members to become ad-hoc staff for the Independent National Election Commission for both the voter registration exercise early in the year and the elections in April 2011.

We thought having them in this function will eliminate bias, impartiality and the suborning of the system to criminal ends. The NYSC took all the flak for the lack of preparedness of INEC which was derelict in its responsibility to protect their staff and pay them on time.

We read of too many instances of these young people sleeping rough, getting harassed, beaten up and sometimes getting killed for doing their service to the nation.

Either by compulsion or willingness, these are probably the only class of Nigerians we can truly say have put their country first; before self, before comfort, before welfare and before much else; the most they get is probably grudging praise and the scars, hopefully with fond memories that would make for amazing story-telling at some other time.

The terror in Nigeria

After the presidential elections on the 16^th of April, 2011, violence broke out in the North that left many NYSC members far away from home and safety at the risk of great harm. The stories were horrifyingly desperate as people tried all they could to get these amazing Nigerians to some safety. Some were lucky and many are still missing and others came to unimaginably harrowing deaths.

The numbers are rising and there is very little that could assuage and understand the grief of parents, siblings, colleagues, friends and other acquaintances at the loss of these wonderful examples of selflessness.

Ukeoma Ikechukwu

I am most touched by the example of Ukeoma Ikechukwu who according to his Facebook profile [1] attended National High School in Aba and then the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he hails from the South of Nigeria but was on national duty and INEC service in Bauchi State in Northern Nigeria for the elections.

He was declared missing soon afterwards and confirmed dead earlier today; that is the sad story of our nation, people who serve her risk being served to her in all sorts of circumstances.

Mr. Ukeoma Ikechukwu whilst I do not know him must however not go unsung and unappreciated even by those who remotely have a connection to him because he embodies the promise of a Nigeria we seek and yearn for exemplified in a number of postings on his Facebook page.

His favourite quote talks about the value of character, an inestimable virtue and many trade away for selfish gain - When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost something is lost but when character is lost all is lost.

Stand for God and my nation

What is most touching is the last post he made to Facebook [2] in the early hours of the 17^th April, 2011 and this should stand as a testament to the man for all posterity.

“Na wao! This CPC suporters would hv killed me yesterday, no see threat oooo. Even after forcing underaged voters on me they wanted me to give them the remaining ballot paper to thiumb print. Thank God for the police and am happy i could stand for God and my nation. To all corps members who stood despite these threats esp. In the north bravo! Nigeria! Our change has come.”

He was a man who under threat and possible loss of life, pressed into the electoral malpractice of allowing underaged persons to vote who still found the wherewithal and courage to engage the police to prevent the egregious criminality of thumb printing the unused ballot papers.

In a land far from his comfort zone he had faith in the police and what they could do, despite the terrifying experience he was happy to stand for God and his nation and then commend his colleagues in this exercise for keeping firm in the face of these serious threats.

Then he wrote what was in the minds and hearts of everyone including many of those who attempted to suborn the process - Nigeria! Our change has come.

We shall remember him

Hope undiminished, service so selfless, Ukeoma Ikechukwu represents to all Nigerians, young and old the promise of a future that this democratic season offered.

In his short life, he has become a martyr to the cause of a Nigeria still striving to reach its potential, he has in his own small way buttressed the reputation of institutions handling the electoral process and he has given Nigeria an enviable name to be proud of.

I offer my most heartfelt condolence to his kith and kin and pray that his pure and graceful soul rest in peace.

In the words of our national anthem, it is important that the labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain. Let not the work of the many NYSC members like Ukeoma Ikechukwu be in vain, let not our quest for an accountable democracy be in vain, let not the quest for justice be in vain, let not the hope that he expressed come to naught.

Ukeoma Ikechukwu, I doff my hat to you, you will never be forgotten.

Sources

[1] Ukeoma Ikechucwu – Facebook Profile (membership required)

[2] Ukeoma Ikechukwu – Facebook (membership required)

The dog or the wild lioness

What patriotism?

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.

Pause and think – this is the purportedly the reverse acronym or backronym for the USA Patriot Act 2001.  Methinks we have been sold a Trojan Horse.

When the news first broke out that the Presidency of the United States of America had authorised the surveillance of American citizens, one let that frustration of due process pass on.

However, the commentary that has developed since that revelation to that which now includes the secret scanning of radiation around the premises of American Muslims.

Patriotism is supposedly the love of ones fatherland, but at what cost to freedom, liberty and safety? This is a very concerning issue.

Latitude and abuse

I am of the view that the US Congress did offer great latitude to the President to fight the war on terror which is explicit in that it affords the President everything in his power to prosecute that war.

However, the extent of that power should only be exercised to include undefined and unspecified situations; meaning, where a due process and an existing explicit law exists which has not be superseded, then that take precedent.

Due process

In the case of the surveillance of American citizens, explicit due process exists, hence, it cannot first be ignored by the President nor does it fall under the remit of the great latitude.

One of the reasons for due process is the prevention of abuse; it forces the executive to work with the judiciary even in expedited situations with all evidence properly documented.

Where this process is overruled or ignored, those checks and balances are lost, because the continual review of the activities is done only within the executive without legislative or judicial oversight. It violates the rule of law and blunts the democratic principle of the separation of powers.

More so, without oversight, it means people wrongly targeted or abuse of process cannot be properly prosecuted. This is a democratic aberration and for this to happen in the , well, one wonders how strong their democratic credentials are.

The arguments

• The President has said, what he has done is within the law and the Attorney General has waded in to extrapolate on the latitude given the President – the jury is out regarding the legality of that standpoint.
• The President called the revelation of those facts shameful; they might be, but if due process had been followed there would be no need for the revelation to create that much commentary. One does not recall the President calling the revelation of Valerie Plame’s status as a CIA agent shameful.
• The President has said the revelation of this information helps the enemy, however, I think the enemy is within. First the argument about due process prevails over this, then as a democracy you cannot apply the “end justifies the means” principle for the abuse of process.
• The President says this is saving people’s lives; maybe it is, but that is beside the point, the executive cannot become a law onto itself. Principle and integrity should not be supplanted by the histrionics that prevent the objective debate of issues.

Patriot Act revisited

Now that the “fog of war” is clearing, the Congress is having another good look at the Patriot Act and they have decided that the provisions cannot be extended indefinitely.

The blanket passage of flawed legislation on the flood of patriotic support for the President in a time of crisis is now thankfully receiving better and due scrutiny.

Also, we see that senators have been able to persuade the Presidency to accept the need to have a law that explicitly instructs against the practise of torture by all American personnel after a rather bruising few months.

The principle

The fundamental principle at stake here is that even in the time of war, the President still cannot exercise untrammelled powers without due process and oversight.

This leads on to the concept that this is still a democracy, they have a president not a king, and it is neither an absolute monarchy nor a theocracy. The congress and judiciary are there to turn that Texan swagger into a stiff match, hopefully.

The guard dog or the lioness

The Patriot Act is supposed to be like a guard dog, protecting the owner and attacking the enemy. The more we look at the dog the more it looks like a wild and angry lioness that has just lost a cub; meaning it either needs to be caged to protect us from its savagery and is of no use in attacking the enemy or we have to be in cages and have the lioness roam seeking out and eating the enemy.

Do we need a guard dog or a wild lioness?

Essential liberty or temporary safety

One commentator did say that the American Muslims should be enlisted in the war against terror not blacklisted in it; they had no part in the activities of September 2001.

Furthermore, Americans must decide if they are really deserving of both their safety and liberty as the words of Benjamin Franklin ring true today as they did over 200 years ago. “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

At this time of seasonal goodwill, one hopes that a New Years resolution is brewing in the Presidency to go beyond upholding the letter but also the spirit of the democratic principles raised by all concerned citizens.

Merry Christmas to all my readers.