A hired dog called Bruce Fein

“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes” (beware the Greeks, even when bearing gifts), was the first admonition that popped up in my mind as I read the piece of gratuitous insult published in Huffington Post under the name of a hired dog by the name Bruce Fein. Although described as a solicitor, the political mercenary is […]

“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes” (beware the Greeks, even when bearing gifts), was the first admonition that popped up in my mind as I read the piece of gratuitous insult published in Huffington Post under the name of a hired dog by the name Bruce Fein. Although described as a solicitor, the political mercenary is actually an intellectual pimp of sorts with a condescending mien that reminds one of the slave masters of yore.
The pseudo-democrat assumes that he is in a position to counsel Buhari on how to run his anti-corruption campaign. He employs the suspiciously Nigerian tactic of knocking heads and playing one personage against the other. Suggesting that Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade is one-sided, Fein goes on to dismiss the Nigerian president as a non-democrat who needs to be taught the ABC of democracy. Nothing could be more insulting not only to Buhari but to Nigeria.
One thing is immediately clear: Either Fein did not author the article which reads like something you pick up on a Nigerian blogspot (check the register and syntax), or he is an over-rated American lawyer hiding under altruistic guise to ply his trade of retailing stupidity. Fein must relish controversy. Remember, he was the same man publicly disowned by fugitive Edward Snowden whom he had claimed to be representing in 2013. Snowden’s dad had hired Fein but Edward rejected Fein on the grounds that certain comments about his relationship with Glenn Greenwald were misattributed as his own, rather than properly attributed to either Fein or Snowden Snr.
Another possibility is that many of Fein’s clients have been caught in the anti-corruption dragnet and have reached out to him to blackmail the Nigerian government to slow down. Fein cannot love Nigeria more than its citizens do. He advocates that we tolerate the kind of things America will never allow in its system. He says President Buhari has played prosecutor, jury and judge in Diezani Allison Madueke’s case. Where did he get that from? And when did the case open?
Like all carpetbaggers and mercenaries, Fein tries to explain away his interest in Nigeria as follows:. “I have no political standing in Nigeria. Some might argue that my speaking about the administration of justice in Nigeria bespeaks impertinence But you chose to visit the United States to solicit weapons and other assistance from my government-a government of the people, by the people, for the people. The United States government represents me …”
Arrant nonsense! Coming from a man who served in the Justice Department under President Reagan under whose regime another sovereign country, Panama, was invaded and President Manuel Noriega abducted for trial in the United States, we can fling a biblical admonition at this well paid liar: Physician, heal thyself!
Fein was a Reagan hireling when U.S. forces descended on Panama City and unleashed one of the most violent, destructive terror attacks on the country, killing thousands of people. According to Matt Peppe, “They systematically burned apartment buildings and shot people indiscriminately in the streets. Dead bodies were piled on top of each other; many were burned before identification. The aggression was condemned internationally, but the message was clear: the United States military was free to do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted, and they would not be bound by ethics or laws.”
We don’t need a Fien or any other fiend to lecture us on the rule of law. The 68-year-old mercenary can deploy his malodorous buccal cavity to address the home grown terror depopulating his country.

Dokpesi, Na’ Allah and Magufuli
So, we now know that N2.1 billion (out of the many billions dispensed by former NSA Dasuki passed through Raymond Dokpesi’s hands as payment for “the various media exposures and campaign transactions which were dutifully carried out based essentially on contractual obligations/relationship”. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Dokpesi’s media company owes many months of salaries to workers, but the boss collects payment for job done under his holding company. Dokpesi is in good company of some other media owners who have not paid salaries to their workers for many months. This kind of shameless greed exposes the ugly underbelly of our so-called ‘big’ men.
Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah will burn his fingers with the bill seeking to regulate/muzzle the use of social media. Already some bloggers are saying that he sponsored the bill because it was the social media that revealed his acquisition of a private jet. Whatever be the case, the bill is uncalled for, retrogressive and unpopular. Yes, the social media could do with better ethics but so could the Nigerian senate.
While Dokpesi and Na’Allah are in the news for the wrong reasons, another African, Tanzanian President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli is showing the world that bad behaviour is not in the black man’s DNA. The president has cut luxury items and events, unnecessary foreign travel, reversed tax exemptions and reallocated the funds to improving hospitals and schools. People are beginning to compare him to the legendary Mwalimu, Julius Nyerere, the charismatic pioneer president of the country. Magufuli’s motto is: “Hapa Kazi Tu“, meaning “Here, all we do is work/serve”.
Lucky Tanzania!