Nostalgia or Regret...back to Festac.

If you read my 1st couple of posts on this blog, you will see a trend of stories focused on a 3rd party. Yes, I was dating then, a 'serious' relationship they say. it ended 1 year ago this month...she lives/lived in Festac and I leaved in Ojodu.

My trips to Festac from Ikeja were almost daily, even when I was still living in Ibdan, I used to travel down every weekend #fool4luv. So 'm on my way for a colleague's wedding in Festac, it dawned on me that I knew Festac like I was born there.

I remember 1 of those trips from Ibadan, I was at her's till very late and decided to sleep in Festac (was a big customer to the hotels in the area). I didn't plan it so made no reservation. It was a Friday night and my Ibo friends don't dull...all hotels were fully booked, I ended sleeping in my car inside my favourite hotel's car park....wow!!!

Sometimes I wonder if it was all a waste, like I should have regrets. Me, no, never...it's all part of my maturing process. I did invest my all in that relationship...not sure I did as I still have 'me'. Its all nostalgia...a strange one though. Net, it's all good now, 'm out of the hood now.

Another Week Gone By.

It's raining and my DSTV stopped working, didn't hear the rain so kept trouble-shooting on the PVR. After 30 fruitless minutes of looking for what wasn't lost, I stepped outside and discovered what I thought was the Air-conditioning dropping water was rain. 9ja and rain just don't add up for technology, ask any GSM owner here.

Anyway, I was actually busy thinking about the Working week that just  finished, so happy it is over. It was hectic, harsh and hard. I worked, thought and toiled. I got schooled and scolded, I fought back and all I got was feedback. So many deliverables on the work and personal side.

I just moved to a new place so I've been up and about, real struggle emotionally, financially and physically...but it's all good now. Lying in my bed, all I feel right now is fulfillment, favour and triumph. There is one lesson; Perseverence! It was a tough week but I stayed strong, I trusted God and I kept on going. I didn't just survive, I won!

People, It's not rocket science...It's called FAITH!

Moving Mountains still...I am who I am.

MTN....Your 'Worst' Connection!

grrrrhhhh...!!!

It pains my heart that the 1st blog entry I make after a while comes with a negative intent/experience. I wish it differently but I live in Nigeria after all. It is only in Nigeria that companies have a field day skimming and scamming their customers/consumers while the Consumer Protection Council stays dormant, NCC keep 'dulling' and the FG continue dipping their filthy hands into our collective inheritance.


My experience derives from a text message i received from MTN about two weeks ago wherein they apologized for their default bad service on BIS, they added that i was getting 1 week BIS free extension as compensation...yipppeeee! I screamed, thinking Nigeria just became better over night. Little did i know it was MTN adding a 419 dimension into the skill-block. My default BIS expiry date arrived and, of-course, MTN took me off the BIS network...chei! 


I would have sworn it was a mistake and I was still going to get the freeby, I delayed renewing on my own for a day. What a waste, even when I finally decided to give them the usual N3,000, they 'refused' to collect it meaning I stayed of the network for another 24 hrs.. In Nigeria's world of BB addiction, that was some frustration, I felt really left behind and my anger increased.


Finally, a friend of mine that works with MTN customer service helped get me back on the network a few hours ago at the cost of N3,000; my own money and I still had to work on it! Anyway, I didn't think of blogging until I got a text from MTN telling me I had been active since yesterday and my BIS expiration date was calculated based on yesterday rather than today. I no go gree o!!! They scammed me, now they want to skim me....#Godforbid.


Indeed, MTN is the "WORST' connection, I will get my 1 week and 1 day 'by hook or crook'.

YOUR WORTH!

So what do you think of yourself? look at the picture and draw your own in your mind...the picture indeed says a lot, at least it did to me.

I AM OF INFINITE WORTH

A UK Citizen's View on Allied (UK) Participation in Libya Crisis

UK bombs Pro-Ghadaffi Tanks

My concern is for our pilots who have to operate out of the UK with a 3000 mile journey, there and back, this is without the actual operating time over the target. 

If anything goes wrong during this period... What recovery capability do we have? Remember there will be no troops on the ground!!! 

Cock-up Cameron has done it again ill-thought out, fire at the hip without proper planning. Where is our aircraft carrier? SCRAPPED! Where are our Harriers? SCRAPPED! What happened to the trainee pilots that had their courses cancelled within an inch of qualification. When we do eventually get our TWO new Aircraft Carriers we will still have no aircraft to put on them!! What gave this man (Mr Cameron) the idea that he can run a country efficiently? We have been firing off cruise missiles at £300,000 a go. It seems we can afford that but not to educate our own university students. 

Now Cock-up Cameron calls for a NO-FLY zone. It would be funny if it wasn't such a risk to our fantastic service personnel. He is well on the way to making the UK a No-Fly Zone. WHAT A FARCE???

We need a grown-up in No.10 Downing Street not a public school boy.

The media will claim this action as strong leadership on the PMs part (and I believe that Gadafi is a real tyrant). But to expect our armed services to have to operate with one arm tied behind their backs is more than stupid. IT IS CRIMINAL!!! You can't cut our armed services to the bone then expect them to fight two wars AND protect the UK from external threats. This current action comes more from the military school of "MUST DO SOMETHING" rather than "LET'S PLAN FOR NOW - AND AFTER GADAFI IS GONE".

Heaven forbid that we have to suffer losses from this war but if we do I would like to know if Cock-up Cameron will give a PUBLIC apology to the all the families who are left to grieve.

When Political Dogma replaces Inteligence and common sense then we had ALL better watch out.

The other very significant question that no-one seems to have asked is... Who is it that we are supporting in Lybia? Is it... 

1. The nice guys who want to be friends with the West?
2. Muslim extremists that thought Gadafi was getting too close to UK?
3. Is it muzzy headed liberals who, like ours, do not know what they want but will trample on anyone elses welbeing to give themselves a place in Government?

The truth is we don't know. I would be very angry if we were to lose good people fighting for "The Oposition" only to find they end up opposing us.

It is true that Gadafi is not a nice person and he is probably butchering his own people. Does this mean that we are going to sort out African Countries like Zimbabwe or other middle east countries like Yemen or Barhrein next?

If that's the case... How many £300,000 Tomahawk Missiles have we got left?

Finally, the old question. Where is the money going to come from to pay for all this? Reduce Tax Credits AGAIN? Hit benefits and raid pension schemes AGAIN? Reduce the Health Service Budget YET AGAIN? Cut Local Services YET AGAIN? 

Well it's easy to do that isn't it? Much much easier than taking it out of the banker's pockets.

The only good thing that is likely to come out of this war is that the country might see that we need someone in 10 Downing Street who knows what they are doing. Not the current trainee!!!


Christie (March 21, 2011)

ME Ltd – Inspired for 2011

A lot of things crossed my mind as I was thinking of what to write exactly as my thoughts for the coming year.

My thoughts flashed back on 12months of 360days (or 365days in the current calendar numbering) and so many number of hours and seconds gone by in 2010. It has indeed been one heck of a year with a mix of excellent, very good, good and not so good things.

This year has meant a lot for me; I went on a limb and completely outside of my comfort zone, I had an addition to fill up my quiver (kingly & royal in nature) and I executed my priority for the year. It was not all rosy for me. In moving out of my comfort zone, I went through some dark time as well, very dark and very unpleasant. I tried to make changes this past year in service to others but it was thrown back in my face by the very people whom I sought to serve.

"I tried to make changes this past year in service to others but it was thrown back in my face by the very people whom I sought to serve."

This past year has taught me two very important lessons that I take with me into the coming year - 

1. that I must live with the choices I make and not get so caught up in the consequences/blessings of those choices that I forget that it was my making.
2. That in the grand scheme of things, I am the only person that matters, that I cannot afford to purvey my emotions and my feelings on account of others, that when push comes to shove, “Me Ltd” is eventually what counts.

These lessons do not necessarily proclaim self-'centeredness', but what I have seen tells me that in my service to others and in my bid to seek their better end, I must not lose sight of my personal goals and what I must gain in return.

In 2011, this is therefore my message –

• Live with the end in mind, love with the end in mind, serve with the end in mind – an end that suits both those whom you serve, love/live for and your very self. There will be dark periods or people who want you to go with them to/through a dark place.
• Make your choices wisely and if you will accede to their wish, then be certain of what lies at the end of that dark place for you.
• Have a plan (not two nor three but one) that you will execute during the year and for which you will reward yourself at the end. I do not mean new-year resolutions. On the contrary, I mean something that is entirely yours to control and adds to your “Me Ltd”.
• Create a place where only you have total control and give no room to anyone else in that place. This will be your venue for private victories and your place for private celebrations.

If you fail to have a personal agenda (however self-centered this may sound), then you will play to the agenda of others and find yourself a victim of their whims and caprices. So this new year, be wise, be quick and be nimble. Brighten the little corner where you find yourself and don’t be cumbered with brightening the whole world because you simply cannot (there are too many people who prefer their darkness and will do everything to keep it that way).

When 2011 is over (as it definitely will) you should be able to look back and say to yourself, “Me Ltd has done well, hip! hip! hip! HURRAY!!!!” and celebrate with a lot of pomp. May the year be good for you, may every darkness end in light for you, may your battles strengthen you more, may your choices be yours and not those of  others and may those(People and things) who will not stop at invading your place and spoiling your private victories meet with instant and swift judgment.

This and many more do I wish you. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

Written by:

Olajide Adetunji (Jan 2011)

Where are our intellectuals and our heroes? (By Sabella Ogbobode Abidde)

Intellectuals and intellectual pursuits are at the heart of most civilizations. In recent times, intellectuals have helped to shape national destinies, illuminate challenges, give pieces of advice to leaders and influence collective thinking. It is generally understood that any society without a bourgeoning class of intellectuals cannot truly flourish. Such a society, it is believed, may stagnate, regress or disintegrate. 

The western world is never short of intellectuals; and neither was Nigeria between the 1950s and 1980s. The west had the likes of Lillian Hellman, Henrik Ibsen, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Bertolt Brecht, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Jean-Paul Sartre, Noam Chomsky and Edmund Wilson. And Nigeria had the likes of Kelsey Harrison, Bala Mohammed Bauchi, Kalu Ezera, Chinua Achebe, Attahiru Jega, Wole Soyinka, Chike Obi, Alele Williams, Tam-David-West, Dipo Fashina, Eskor Toyo, Claude Ake, Kole Omotosho, Ade Ajayi, Tai Solarin, J.P Clark and many others.

Not only were the Nigerian titans gifted; they were rigorous, honest and resolute in their thinking and in their pursuits. They helped shape the nature and direction of the country and our institutions. Their writings and pronouncements influenced the output of policy makers. As brutal and unpredictable as the military establishments were, these titans, to a great extent, helped to keep them in order. 

Today, Nigeria is different. It is almost unfathomable how the nation went from great heights to low ebbs. Dr. Olayiwola Abegunrin, formerly of Obafemi Awolowo University, now a professor at Howard University, posited that the Nigerian military bear some of the responsibilities for ”destroying our institutions…by some of the policies they promulgated and pursued, beginning from the General Yakubu Gowon era.” Some of the policies they pursued, along with the coups and countercoups, helped weaken, and, in some cases, destroy our sense of nation-building and sense of self. 

Many of our national treasures were prosecuted, persecuted, harassed, jailed, or sent into exile; and in some cases, the military simply made life and living miserable and unbearable for them. Civilian administrations also contributed to the malaise. In the end, some of our best and brightest left in search of stability and greener pastures. Gradually, the distasteful and impermissible became permissible and sacred. It became okay to steal. It became acceptable to be a professional sycophant. It became fashionable to be an illiterate in a literate and globalizing world.

According to Mr. Sonala Olumhense, himself a member of the great-generation, ”the flip side of the coin - the ”absence of intellectualism” - is the ”presence of materialism” and the pursuit of the inconsequential. Such pursuits diminish the glory and prosperity of the country. In addition, we honour men and women lacking foresight and brilliance of mind and good character. We look up to, prostrate for and genuflect before men and women with inferior sensibility and dubious character. Great nations or nations of consequence have men and women at the front line of intellectualism and nation building. 

In more recent times, especially since the 1990s, the pool of home-grown intellectuals has greatly diminished; and so also has the pool of genuine heroes. Heroes can be found in all walks of life: men and women with unique achievements in sports, medicine and music; and in various fields, including our classrooms and battlefields. We had men and women who inspired us as children and as teenagers, to strive for the stars. These are people without whom our lives and joy would have been limited, our dreams stunted and our imagination blurred. Without these everyday heroes our lives may have turned out unfulfilled.

Heroes can be ordinary men and women, but with great courage and great strength and with life-altering contribution to mankind and our immediate society. In this instance, I speak of men and women of extraordinary political achievements. I speak of men and women who risked their freedom and their lives in the service of their country. I speak of men and women who answered the call of their people; and, in so doing, sacrificed their lives and desires and comfort so their people might proper and be free from the chains of humiliation, servitude and oppression. Every nation has such men and women.

Jamaica, for instance, speaks of Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley. The British speak of Winston Churchill; the French remembers Charles de Gaulle; and the Americans remember Lincoln, Washington, Kennedy and others. The Senegalese, the Kenyans and the Ghanaians remember Senghor, Kenyatta and Nkrumah respectively. Africans in general will never forget men like Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela. Every country remembers and celebrates their hero - every country but Nigeria! 

Does Nigeria have heroes‘ day, national monuments or burial grounds for our heroes? Nigeria, it seems to me, is the only country that does not revere her extraordinary men and women. In contemporary times at least, we behave as though no man or woman ever sacrificed his or her freedom so future generations could have a better life. This repulsive attitude can be seen in the manner some Nigerians speak of their nationalists. And on the Internet, some Nigerian have developed the penchant for displaying their ingratitude and contempt for the country‘s heroes

Denigrating our heroes has become the pastime for some of these charlatans. But for our nationalists, Nigeria would have suffered the same fate as Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Algeria and other countries that underwent untold hardship at the hands of their colonial oppressors. To mention the name Aminu Kano or Obafemi Awololwo is to draw a barrage of invectives and unpalatable adjectives. To mention Nnamdi Azikiwe is to invite scorn and ridicule. To speak of Tafawa Balewa is to open oneself to a barrage of tirade and ethnic slurs. 

Our heroes are humans. As humans, they made their fair share of mistakes. Come to think of it: they lived in a different time – a time of unspeakable brutality; a time when the colonial powers were interested mainly in exploiting the human and natural resources of Nigeria. It was a time when the colonialists engaged in vile survival strategies, a time of divide and rule. With sheer wisdom, intellect, good sense and common sense, our nationalists were able to free our land and our people. They saw to it that we got our lives and our dignity back. Therefore, whatever we are today we owe to a majestic group of men and women who, in spite of all their shortcomings and frailties, helped realize a free Nigeria.

Because Nigeria is what it is – we have no regards for our heroes. And then we wonder why no one wants to lay their life for a country that does not appreciate her heroes. Why we spend so much time abusing our national heroes is beyond me. Why we spend so much time questioning the motives of such men and women is beyond my wits. It is disgraceful, disrespectful and a dishonour to all the men and women who endured years and years and years of indignity at the hands of the British and their local collaborators.

Considering all that our heroes did for us, is this how we repay them? Is this how we honour their memories and all the sacrifices they and their families made on our behalf? We don‘t hear the Americans, the South Africans, the Canadians, the Australians, Germans and the French and others pilling insults on their national heroes, do we? Why should it be any different for Nigerians?

(Sabella Abidde lives in Montgomery, Alabama.)