How Long more II

Bad Governance in Nigeria (Young Nigerian Speak Up)
‘How long more’ is a phrase applied when we are tired of a situation or events?
The situation and events of my Nigeria is not strange to all entity called Nigerian, am sure we all can analyze, discuss, point fingers, to all the negative issues facing us. My focus on this piece is not on our problems which have doubled in recent pasts but our part in making things better.
United Nations defines Good governance as an authoritywith its institutions accountable, effective and efficient, participatory, transparent, responsive, consensus-oriented, and equitable. These are the major characteristics of good governance as outlined by the United Nations.
The above definition sounds strange in Nigeria context, it is more of paper work or theory taught in school, before I dwell and get submerged in our problems, Let me go straight to my point.
I feel the time has come when I / we should stand up, get up and speak up. We have had enough of Bad governance in Nigeria.
The time has come for every Nigerian, who thinks he / she has future in this country,
Those who spent years upon years writing WAEC & JAMB in order to gain admission into university,
Am talking about Young Nigerians who spent additional 2-4 years in higher institutions due to no fault of theirs.
Am talking about Young Nigerians who left university and spent series of years searching for jobs,
Am talking of us who did not have free meal while in university or free vehicles upon graduation.
Am talking about young Nigeria who feels enough is enough.
Am talking young Nigerians who think and belief the time is NOW 0:00AM.
Mandela , Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Kwame Nkruma, Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Great Zik, are all ordinary men with date with history just because they took their destiny in their hands as youth.
The time is now for all young Nigeria to unite and speak one voice, LET OUR GOVERNMENT GIVE US OUR FUTUE BACK.
Our future is for them to restore dignity back to our educational system,
Our future is for them to standardise our health institution
Our future is for them to give us power (electricity)
Our future is for them to stop all forms of killings. (Jos, Extra Judicial and all manmade killing)
Our future is for them to serve and not steal.
Our future is for us to speak up. YES WE CAN
We have had enough.
Young Professionals Against Bad Governance in Nigeria. Let act

How Long More

Reminiscing on a whole lot of things ranging from the senseless mutalab to Yaradua 48 days of absence in office to the bloody comedy African nations cup holding to the failed economy structure we ar used to and lot more not leaving my union coming up soon.
2010 seems a year with so many issues starting with or how can we explain the killing of three togolese players by rebels in cambida for God knows why, on their way to honor there national color at the African cup of nation.
Going through my favorite article in one of today's dailies by Uncle tunde fagbenle,his summary of our nation seems a failed one.
I refuse to allow the ever sickly nature of our nation affect my thought process but it always marvel me at the fast lane we seems to be riding, call it any name vision less,,wicked,senseless,materialistic,selfish leaders, it all best describe most African leaders with specialty in Nigerian leaders, am angry, am vexed, am willingly to go the rawlings way if opportunity comes, my generation seems ignoring the woes already willed to us by older generations, main reason "we all got something in common, ( Success at all cost regardless of the means).
I seem lost on why Mutallab will ignore the Aso rock which house 90% of Nigerian problem or even national assembly which office 70% of Nigerian causative backwardfor his explosive destination than some innocent souls in Detroit, he chose the wrong location & audience. I wish for a day when my Nigeria will take her place in the league of nation but sincerely it sounds and looks like a mirage.
Brother & Sister what can you do, I challenge you all,
Peace to our doomed beloved nation.

Israel and gaza

I saw the soilders standing next to the shop, I looked for my mum and then he shot me; one bullet hit my hand and the other went through my back and out through my stomach,' an account of samar, a young Gazian girl to Al jazeera while recovering from her wound at a gaza hospital.
21 days ago Israel declared war on Gaza aiming at wiping out the Hamas (a small group of rebel) who is turn fires unending rocket into Israel; so far the israel has killed 1,333 palestinians with 5,200 injured, at least 346 children are among the dead with scores of men and women waiting for their turn to be added to the dead statistic.
The war is not my issue but my concern is the insensitivity of humanity shown by almighty Israel on a minority, everyday a large number of children and about 44,000 pregnant women are at the mercy of hot shrapnel, bullet and forbidden white phosphorus, yet the israelis thinks it is unwise to cease fire.
To make the killing more interesting they barred every form of aid either from red cross or NGO's, why?
Red cross an international humanitarian organisation with presence in all countries, known for not taking sides in war related cases openly condemned the israelis decision of preventing human aids. As far as i am concern this is heading towards Oppresion / Genocide.
United nation a face of the America , an advocate of the Israelis chooses to be very mild with choice of statement, this was clearly demonstrated when there building was destroyed by the Israelis, this even happened with the presence of Un Sec gen in Israel.
I persoanally condemn this grievous act condemn by the Israel which i will term as an act of genocide.
Well they could get a tip from there American ally on little boy and fat boy (at least hiroshima and nagasaki has a place in history).
As we fold our hands and pray for a change of heart from the Israel government, my heart goes to our brothers in Gazans, one day some day all your trouble will be over.

SHOW OF VAIN

I read with disgust and annoyance a full page advert directed at some Nigerians giving unnecessary and unwanted support to Barack Obama.
I marvel at the level of waste of resources channeled to this unnecessary event.
Top artist and extravagant cost are being charged as ticket fee to attend this show of vain. I call it show of shame because in a country where 80% of her population lives below a dollar and yet some entities could gather themselves amidst there suffering fellow men to organize a shameless concert that add no value to the election in America.
Aside only God knows if Obama needs this support to get to the white house, moreover it reminds me of that young lady that donated some 7000 thousand pairs of shoe to kids with none to wear. I wonder how many pairs of shoe the price of a full page advert will buy talk less of other expenses. Vanity upon vanity.

“The shame of a leader”

Description of Mugabe by Madiba, I asked similar question in my blog some days after the first general election in Zimbabwe, why has Mandela refused to comment on the demonic leadership in former Rhodesia?
Freedom or Human Liberation is not limited to age, sex, religion or what have you. It is a clear function of Humanity. History will definitely remember Mandela as an icon or close to saint while the opposite goes for Mugabe.
The cries of agonized mothers, the wailing of starved children and the blood of our brothers will be on Mugabe and his family.
Mobutu, Eyadinma, Idi amin, and Abacha all tried to hold unto power but when death
came calling, power left them naked at the mercy of death.
One day some day, same faith will befall Mugabe. “Time will tell”
Zimbabwe will rise again.
Africa will rise again
God bless Zimbabwe
God bless Africa.

African Leaders and POWER

Power is the possession of control or command over others, and that is the exact act that various leaders have committed in all part of Africa.
The black continent has suffered various degree of bloodshed in recent and past, and all could be attributed to power share.
It is either our leaders do not want to vacate the post or they do not want the opposition to get there.
Mugabe of Zimbabwe is the most recent actor in this film of power, he is refusing to let go the leadership role he has abused for over 2 decades, despite been defeated in the March 29 election.
Kenya is still very much fresh in our memory, based on Kibaki refusal to accept defeat, innocent blood has been shed and people have to run from there homes to avoid being slaughtered.
In 2004, an umbrella group of opposition under the name Kifaya (which means Enough) emerged in Egypt to clamour for political change after 24 years of Hosni Mubarak., President Mubarak has had four six-year terms since assuming office.
In Burkina Faso , President Blaise Compaore ran again and won the November 13, 2005 poll. Compaore, a former army captain like Mubarak, seized power in a bloody coup in 1987. Trading his military fatigues for civilian dress, he went on to win two landslide elections in 1991 and 1998, never mind that the elections were boycotted by the main opposition parties, which complained that the electoral system was opaque and unfair.
In Togo, President Gnassingbe Eyadema died in office and his son smartly took over the mantle of leadership.
Also, in February 2006, Yoweri Museveni of Ugandareturned to power in a general election.
Paul Biya has ruled Cameroon since Novenber 1982, in Senegal Abdou Diouf served from 1981 – 2000 before handling over to Abdoulaye Wade.
Gadafi of Libya is the fourth longest-serving head of state currently in office and longest-serving head of government.
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon became President of Gabon in 1967. He was just 31 and the world's youngest president at the time. And 41 years after he still is the president.
Mathieu Kérékou of Benin Republic ruled the country for 17 years before stepping down
Our own Olusegun obasanjo planned and wanted to go for a third term but but Nigerians were able to get rid of him without any bloodshed.
It is glaring from the above that what African leaders do to remain in office is to amend the constitution to suit their evil desire to stay longer in power, they are certain of cheap victory because anybody that challenges them are either thrown into the gallows or sent to the grave.
Constitutional amendments, which extend the life of the incumbent, seems to be an agreed style among African Union member states, as no member nation has ever criticised one another for it.
It is high time Africans stand and liberates themselves from these wicked, demonic leaders.
We have to stand up for our right (because nobody will).
God bless Africa.

me and her

I know of a lady, we had it together in past but the tide of time swept out the passion and left us both emotionally naked. Time has passed and nature seems to be playing us back together
The way destiny plays us mortal, I just can’t but wonder “if only men knows tomorrow” . Right now we seem to be heading back on track and everything is happening so fast that I can’t believe my luck.
Maybe I’ve found what am looking maybe I have not, all I know is that it looks so real now and am not gonna let it go. To her i say you are loved and it is for real.

Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa.

It is no news again that sorrow, blood and tears looms largely in this southern part of Africa. This is a country regarded as the pride of Africa in some years back but as it is right now if divine intervention does not wade in, the avoidable might happen.
The turn out of event after the election state clearly that Zimbabweans does not want Mugabe any longer but as the thread in Africa whereby leaders force themselves on the people, he has refused to vacate the role and the opposition are threatening social revolution which always prove bloody and disastrous. Same happened in Rwanda and it is ongoing in Sudan.
A ship loaded with ammunition destined for Zimbabwe was rejected at the South Africa port and was seen sailing towards Angola. (The ammunition was sent in from china CNN April 20, 2008).
We call on Mugabe allies Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela, and Moammar Kadaffi to please call on there brother to please step down in the interest of women and children and let peace reign in Zimbabwe.
God bless Africa

ghana 2008 a reflection of our society

Nigerian soccer fans were bitterly disappointed at the super eagle’s woeful display in the just concluded Nations cup in Ghana. Every soccer loving Nigerian has been on the look out for this tournament for so many reasons, ranging from an escape route to stress, a change from the constant political brouhaha always on the headlines, to witness the Super eagles flexing their superiority in Africa and so on. Ever since the disgraceful elimination in Ghana, Nigerians has been clamoring for Vogts head, But the problem goes beyond the unpatriotic players, uncommitted coach and scavengers of a NFA.
What happened in Ghana is just a reflection of the Nigerian government at large. It reflects the many wrong doings in the NFA or can we explain a contract that allows the head coach to work from the comfort of his bedroom in Germany while he coaches a country in Africa. (Strange isn’t it?
The I don’t care altitude of the NFA reflects the character of our leaders, like the NFA that care less about the faithful soccer fans, Our government care less about the life of her citizens. They care less about our educations, security, infrastructure, the children, the physically challenged and all.
Recently they proposed shutting down Benin bypass, because it won't stop consuming human lifes due to the bad state of the road, Lagos/Ibadan exp road is the shortest and surest road to the grave, Benin / Ore road is a very good death trap, the present administration accused the former of spending $10m & $16m on power, the result is very glaring for all to see!!!!!!
Asuu is proposing strike again which implies that the lives of our dear youth will be paused or wasted as always, very soon Adedibu will wake up and throw the whole Ibadan into chaos based on the veto power invested on him by the Federal government, the Niger / delta youth (militants) willingly choosed an occupation in kidnapping based on reasons best known to them, ritual killing is no longer a big deal, arm robbery attack is a normal occurrence, killing and looting, oppression, conruption,tribal killing based on ethnocentrism and so on………..
It is high time our leaders wake up and be responsible for the moving forward of this country, let them know it is not a pocket or account affair but the life of the unborn generation depends on the decisions they make today.
We clearly saw the unpatriotic spirit in our boys in Ghana which is a clear expression of what the government squeezed out of them. Our leaders need to instill trust into the people and make the common man believe in the color green white green again!!!!!!!
At least we have been sensible enough not to go the way of the Kenyans, Chadian, and Rwandans. Even the so called wealthy men will not live to enjoy there ill-gotten wealth if Nigerians should be pushed to the wall / war.
Enough has been said…………

kenya again!!!!!!!!!

The crisis in Kenya is an affirmation of my thread which i posted on May 30 2007 titled 'WHOSE PROBLEM'. The Kenyans are presently killing themselves under the pretense of election fraud.
The killing has left more than 500 people dead and over 250,000 has fled there homes.
After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through public investment, encouragement of smallholder agricultural production, and incentives for private (often foreign) industrial investment.
With a booming economy and tourist trade, Kenya had been considered a bright spot in East Africa. But its Dec. 27 election, which was supposed to be the pride of African democracy, sparked a spiral of violence after candidate Raila Odinga and his supporters accused incumbent President Mwai Kibaki of rigging the results.
What started as a political protest quickly turned into something much more bloody and dangerous, the recent event in Kenya brings to my memory Rwanda genocide, it all started like this. As it is now, the fight is a result of long harbored feeling between the country's two largest ethnic groups--the Luo, who support Odinga, and the Kikuyu, who back Kibaki. The two groups have been wary of each other since Kenya achieved independence from Britain in 1963, and the Luo have never held the presidency.
Two Olympian were macheted and burnt to death and there offence was for being a native of Luo, On Jan. 1, a church in Kiambaa where Kikuyu had sought refuge was burned by an angry mob. At least 50 people, many of them women and children, died in the attack.
Issues like this will hardly happen in the western world which actually makes me wonder if James Watson claims, "that Africans are of lower IQ than the westerners is true". I only can appeal and pray for our brothers and sisters in Kenya to shield sword and focus on peace.
Africans let be wise and let move on.
Enough of one step forward, a thousand backward.
Enough of ethnocentrism
Enough of prejudices
Enough is enough......

New Beginning!!!

It a new year, New beginning
It is a privilege to be alive in this New Year,
Another opportunity for all that are gone to come back for good,
An opportunity to make some more right,
An opportunity to be our brother’s keeper,
An opportunity to share more love and be more humane,
An opportunity to be much more sincere and honest in our dealings.
Basically an opportunity to live a better life than the previous.
Looking behind at the events of 2007, from the good to the bad and ugly, one cannot help but be grateful to the Supreme Being for having mercy on us.
As we go through the unknown New Year, I pray we achieve and get closer to our dreams.
IT IS A NEW BEGINNING

Will there be ever peace???

Says a late rapper “2pac shakur” in his album BETTERDAYZ. While listening to this particular track a while ago, alone in my closet I reminisced on the phrase in comparison with the happenings all around the world, I could not but help shake my head and wonder if truly there would ever be peace in the world, taking a look at the long fought war in Iraq, to the inter tribal conflict that is consuming Sudan, to the California fire out break that has defied all firepower approach in quenching it off, to a list that seems endless. I could only pray for peace to reign in the world to make it a better place.
My thought process was broken by the music of another rock artist named Nickel back “if everyone cares”, truly if you and I, your friends and my friends all care then we will see the day fewer people cries…
If you and I loves then fewer people lies…
If you and I should swallow our pride then nobody dies.
If everyone cares the world would be safer and better place….

Oprah got it all wrong

Recently, America’s TV girl, Oprah Winfrey, called on America to sever diplomatic relationships with world’s topmost corrupt countries.
Worst of all the countries, Oprah surmised, is Nigeria.
According to her, “all Nigerians – regardless of their level of education – are corrupt.”
It is very pathetic that Oprah could ascribe to a larger population, the evil act of an insignificant number of persons in the world’s most populous black nation.
Oprah’s conclusion is based on the fact that a Nigerian of Igbo extraction was caught with $500,000, which was alleged to have been stolen from a foreigner through the Internet fraud popularly known as 419.
Oprah had sponsored an hour-long programme, which ran for several days on the CNN, with the sole aim of exposing the clever tricks espoused by this group of Nigerians to con their victims.
Much has been said about the greed of the victims themselves, and I need not say more about it.
However, at a time when Americans are committing heinous crimes against children and women, nobody has tagged all Americans as murderous.
So, why call all Nigerians rogues because of the sin of a few bad eggs?
Oprah regularly tells her life story: how she was sexually abused by close relations, how she ‘walked the streets’ (Americans’ euphemism for prostitution), etc., but nobody has ever deemed it fit to tag all American men as incestuous because of Oprah and others’ experiences.
She did drugs – just like the typical American teenager, but nobody has cast all American youths in the mould of drug abusers!
So, why should an individual that is supposed to know better sentence a nation to odium for the infraction of a tiny fraction of its population?
I urge Oprah and her likes to disabuse their minds about Nigerians.
Be wary of requests for money from strangers, and if you fall for a scam, blame your greed and not Nigerians.

This is an adapt of Okoli Vitalis.

WHAT LEADERSHIP MEANS TO ME.

LEADER BORN OR MADE!
Leadership can be learned, we all have leadership potential, just as we have some ability to sing or run, some people may be better than others, but each of us has a starting point to build on with training and practice. Leadership is a process that helps a group to achieve its goals.
The person who exhibit leadership is someone that makes things happen that would not happen otherwise

WHAT MAKES A LEADER?
Leaders should be well organized and have made time in their lives and for their group; leadership is a mix of knowledge, values, skills and behaviour. Each of us has beliefs about what characteristics an effective leader should possess. Different groups will also have different beliefs or values about what “makes an effective leader than other groups have”.
It is important then for a leader to know his/her own abilities, knowledge, values and how others perceive them. For example if “trust is a quality which is highly valued by the group then it’s important for the group leader to be viewed as a trustworthy person.
A successful leader makes an effort to learn and practice skills, some of the more essential component are: knowledge and understanding, skills and ability to communicate, build teams, vision, value for individual, the group and its responsibilities.

whose problem

In the course of chat with a friend, we spoke about Africa and her problems; he was of the opinion that Africans are the cause of the problem while I belong to the school of thought of those who believe colonialism was the root of our problems.
Retrsopecting on the issue some days later, I came to a conclusion that both views were right to an extent but his view I believe had more weight, although truly speaking the white actually came to oppress in the name of civilization though leaving behind uncertainty after there forceful rule.
The question I now ask is what happened when the whites left? The Africa continent has refused to move forward taking a case study from (Rwanda 1994 genocide, Sudan killing still going on, Sierra Leone recently cease fire, Zimbabwe Mugabe making life miserable for his people) to mention but a few.
In almost all cases it’s a tribe fighting another over superiority or bad governance, when will Africa unite and leave Babylon? When will all the killing and looting stop? When shall will stop getting foreign aid? When shall we quit begging for western intervention?
All this can stop if we accept the fact that we are all one!!!
It’s high time we all come together and see ourselves as equals, as brothers and as one.
Finally, according to Anton Lembede a co founder of ANC ‘inferiority complex is the greatest barrier to liberation’. Africans need to liberate herself by seeing ourselves as ONE.
God bless mother Africa

‘SUDAN’ A PLACE OF SLAUGHTER.

Just like Tsavo, some decade of years back, Sudan could be referred to as a place of slaughter, thousand are being killed children and women are on daily basis felled by hot bullets. Sudan a country with population of 39 million choose to buy her fame via bloodshed, so many homes have been torn apart, more than 500,000 people have been killed, vultures have derived joy in the region because of constant source of food which are lifeless bodies of our brothers and sisters.
Similar to Rwanda how many more souls should be terminated before the act in Sudan could be classified as genocide.
How long will the killing go on before care for humanity intervenes, I ponder even if the so called western countries won’t come in probably because they got no oil or gold, what about other stable countries in Africa? Yearly they hold series of summit on development of the continent but it seems Sudan is never included in there agenda.
As a fellow touched by the flight of my African brothers and sisters in despair, I implored us to consider the fate of children and women 6fts below and more than a million alive to sign a petition against this cruel act of Bashir Taha and Gosh.
Why should you sign a petition?
It is one of the means that could bring the genocide in Sudan into limelight and force some intervention on them. visit any of this sites to sign a petition (http://www.hopefordarfur.org/),,(http://www.darfurgenocide.org/http://www.darfurgenocide.org/)
Least I forget the song of a famous rock group,

If everyone cared and nobody cried

If everyone loved and nobody lied

If everyone shared and swallowed their pride

Then we'd see the day when nobody died

Peace in Sudan, Peace in Africa, Peace in the world.

laide adewale passes on

I got to know uncle laide some 7 years ago, he happened to be the father and simulatneously a lecturer of my first friend (deji adewale) as an undergraduate student of obafemi awolowo univerity. Later in my 3rd year in school he housed me, and i got to know him better.
I will definitely miss him for his humor and respect he accords every individual he comes accross, regardless of status.
May his gentle soul rest in peace.

natural law of justice

Whatsoever Good thing any man doeth, the same shall he received of the lord…………….

One day, a humble Scottish farmer named Fleming saved the life of a nobleman’s son who was mired in a bog. Next day, the boy’s father visited the farmer and offered to pay him, but the farmer wouldn’t hear of it. Just then the farmer’s son came to the door and the nobleman said, ‘then let me pay to educate your boy to the same standard as mine, and, if he turned out to be half the man his father is we’ll both be proud,’ Fleming agreed and the boy attended the best schools, eventually graduating from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London,
You’ve probably heard of him- Sir Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered the miracle drug-penicillin, saving millions of lives. Years later when the same nobleman’s son developed pneumonia, guess what saved his life? Penicillin! And what was the nobleman’s name? Lord Randolph Churchill and his son’s name? Sir Winston Churchill, who helped save Europe from the horrors of the Third Reich! It’s the harvest law, you may not reap when or where you sow-but you’ll reap what you sow, listen ….it will all come back….. Whatever measure you use in giving will be used to measure what is given back to you; notice the words; it will all come back! Listen again…. Be generous … give freely… and the Lord….. Will bless you in everything…. Do you want to be blessed? Seriously blessed? Whatever you make happen for others, God will make happen for you.

keep your goals in sight!!!

Importance of goal setting.

Successful people have always had clear, focused goals that guide them to greatness.
It took Thomas Edison thousands of attempts and thousand of failures- over many years to invent the electric light bulb; but because he knew exactly what he wanted, his goal kept him going until he achieved it. Successful people always have clear goals, great musicians, great athletes, successful sales people and inspiring leaders know what they want in life and they go for it.

Success does not “just happen” it is built like a work of art. First it is imagined, then the skills, tools and materials are gathered and then the artist sets about creating a thing beauty. It takes time, it require skills, determination persistence and faith.

Just as an artist makes preliminary sketches and works out the details in his/her mind so does your success require written goals, carefully made choices, clear commitment and daily persistence? YOU CAN DO IT. Make something magnificent out of your life.