Spare a thought for 2011

And very soon, the polity will be heated. Voters registration will soon start, candidates are about to declare interests, primaries will soon start, and campaigns will fill the air. But spare a thought for the front runners.. Jonathan IBB, Atiku, Buhari. Amongst these so called giants, who is best fitted to lead us to the promised path (cos none of them can lead us to the promised land).

Odd World

The word got out very early this morning that BP CEO, Tony Hayward has been asked to step down; largely due to the way he handled the gulf of Mexico oil spill saga. The 'stepping down' will take effect from October 1st this year. But that's not all there is to the story; Mr Hayward, will be getting a whooping $16.5 million ($930,000 a year) as a form of pension / gratuity.
That's not bad, but considering the fact that BP, which operates in Nigeria as Shell, has been spilling oil constantly into the coastal creeks of the Niger Delta, with no form of compensation or reprimands, really calls for concern. Is it that our Government(s) is / have been unable to hold them, or is it that we are afraid? I really don't get it. A company spills oil into beaches and wetlands for 99 days, and they are paying millions of dollars. But across the atlantic, they've been spilling oil into creeks, farmlands, wetlands, rivers, communities..... for 50 years, yet not one form of compensation! What an odd world this is.

Good Ridance to Bad Football

And the Super Eagles crashed out the world cup. Not only that, but with one of the worst performances; loosing to Argentina and Greece, then drawing Korea. There's no need for one to go through the whole charade again, but the developments after the crash is worth discussing.

The move to withdraw Nigeria from all FIFA organized competitions was just the only way to get their attention, cos the normal threat of 'Banning cos of government intervention' would have filled the air again.

Now that the sanitation process has started, let the exercise be wholesome. It would be a fruitless campaign to fill old wine into new bottles. The committee set up by Jonathan is okay, but they should be given a free hand to work. I also believe that the advice of Chief Oyuki Obaseki on dissolving the whole NFF board should be adhered to; what's the use impeaching only 3, when the whole system is rotten?

Finally, Nigeria does not need foreigners of any kind to manage its football; either as administrators or coaches. We all know who is best to fill the shoes of Super Eagles coach. Moreover, a body of ex-professionals should be set up, and they should be the ones to manage Nigerian football. And to finalize things, we should look for ways to bring in corporate sponsorship into our football. These are the ways forward for Nigeria's football

Relationships and Money

I once stumbled upon a joke and it went like this; 'a lady was asked what made her marry her husband-money or love. She replied it was love. When asked what she loved most about her husband, she said she loves the way he makes money'.
Maybe the joke goes more than just a mere laugh, but the question comes into play; should money be a factor in relationships? My late dad once told me that money plays a vital role in every relationship, but money should never be allowed to be the domineering factor in a relationship. Sounds confusing, but looking at it from a technical point of view, money does have a lot to play in relationships; at least the recharge cards we buy to call our loved ones, the simple dates we go on, the little gifts we buy.......and so on. I really don't know if anyone shares this same view with me, but whatever your views are, feel free to comment.

Yar'Adua, a true patriot

In in my final year at The Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, I was invited to attend a ceremony in kaduna. As a Cross Riverian, I always thought Donald Duke was the best performing governor when it came to providing social and infrastructural amenities to the people. On getting to Bauchi, Governor Mu'azu let me know I was living in a concealed world, because his efforts in roads beat Donald Duke hands down. Now, at Kaduna, my guest (who was a student at Katsina Polytechnic) told me that both Donald and Mu'azu were nowhere in comparison to the governor of Katsina. And who was this man? Yes, a certain Umaru Musa Yar'adua. And a visit to Katsina proved so.
I was therefore glad (even though he wasn't the person I supported), when PDP- or is it Obasanjo, gave him their presidential ticket in 2006. As expected, Yar'adua won the elections, was sworn in...but never really got to work. From the little he did and tried to do, it was obvious that this man had the unity and greatness of Nigeria at heart. As a person from the south-south niger delta, his amnesty programme was super. But, he finally lost the battle to ill health.
I sympathize with his family, and all Nigerians on his death and pray Almighty Allah grant him eternal rest, and to wish my brother Goodluck Jonathan the power, the will and the wisdom to carry this country to where it rightfully belongs.

Salary Increse... Inflation hyper-Increase!

Learned that the Federal Govt of Nigeria recently increased salaries of its civil (or is it public) servants. Good as the news may sound, it is bound to come with a lot of negative effects. From past events, whenever there is an increase in salaries of civil servants, there is an accompanied rise in the prices of goods and commodities. This time around, the salaries have been increased by more than 100%, from minimum wage of 7,500 naira to 18,000 naira!!
Considering the fact that only 22% of Nigeria's work force is in the civil service sector, and all Nigerians buy from the same market, I'm of the opinion that necessary steps should be taken to curb inflation in the country whenever such increase in salaries are made. And this can be done by government paying more attention to the agric/agro-allied based sectors, the manufacturing sector and most efficiently, the power sector. Because when there is enough food for all, then the cnsumer truely becomes king.
Kudos to the Jonathan(?) led government (if state governments will be able to do the same- which I doubt) for measures it is taking to alleviate the sufferings of its workers, but it should not be a trojan horse- where the gift will cause more suffering for the entire Nigerian public

Barca and Arsenal....a mismatch

Right from when the draws were made, I knew this was a shit match. For all the so called beautiful football they claim to play, Arsenal aren't really a team ready to play in the big stage. Funny enough they came back from a two goals down to draw 2-2 at emirates, and even had the guts to score first at camp -nou. But, business as usual for Wenger and his smokeless guns. To all my Barcelona fans around the globe, we dedicate that victory to beautiful, positive,robust and result oriented football......the type Arsenal will never be able to play.

New here

Just created this blog, and I hope to use it to network people who love this country of mine called Nigeria, and to show the world that we may have things going wrongly, but we are still good people of a great Nation.