Month: October 2008

Sarah Palin on wrong tracks

/ Adeola / 8 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu.

No doubts Sarah Palin has brought a distasteful insight into the upcoming US presidential elections which is about 4 weeks away. It is no longer news that she doesn’t know the answers to simple questions affecting Americans. But she is also seriously negating all the efforts and energy that a tired McCain has put into the campaign so far.

The biggest problem in America right now is how to restore the economy and eradicate the fears and anxieties in the minds of the people on the main streets. But Mrs. Palin is busy dragging us several years back. McCain and the other political enemies of Obama got tired of calling him (Obama) a terrorist or a friend of Mr. Ayers. We heard this allegation several months ago and the issue had been discussed inside out. Where was Palin all of those times? Ironically she was in Alaska routing for Obama!

Another big issue in America is how to end the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. These are issues that Palin should be tackling Obama on. She should also involve herself with domestic issues centred on the family, taxes, education, crime and other relevant issues affecting the US.

Mrs. Palin also wanted Americans to be discussing Obama’s former pastor. This is a very stupid suggestion. Obama is an individual of his own and the pastor is another person. Obama is contesting to be the next president of the US and he has since dissociated himself from the pastor and his utterances. Can Mrs. Palin move on with life?

Indeed the past is important, no doubts! But when issues as stale as Ayers and J. Wright are what Palin can cling on to, then she is yet confirming her dullness and her complete lack of initiatives. According to a report on BBC, “Mr McCain had previously indicated that he did not want Rev Wright’s inflammatory sermons, which Mr Obama has repudiated, to form part of his campaign”.

This must be why Palin is being shielded from the press. She does not understand anything. So why did McCain opt for such a great liability in his quest for the topmost job in the world-the American presidency?

Right now Obama is leading in the opinion polls even in states that are considered Republicans. It seems therefore that the desperate and unnecessary attacks on the person of Obama are like “hanging on to the crooked straws of the past”. What a shame and what a way to go for the republicans.

The second debate is here and it might just be the passage that Obama needs as he “homestretches” to the white house come Nov 2008. Issues and policies please Mrs. Sarah Palin and back to school if that is what it takes!

Purchasing Power Parity or Corruption?

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

Olu Falae took Yar Adua to the washerman describing him as unfit and unprepared to rule Nigeria. Of course we all know that. I told a friend recently that something remarkable will happen in Nigeria soon. The fact is that Yar Adua is buying time and playing smart. His game will be up soon. But what will happen after Yar Adua is what I cannot fathom. Nigeria is too complicated to predict accurately. It is sad because in the end it is the ordinary people like you and I that always suffer.

Anyway moving on, Olu Falae who was the Finance Minsiter when Babangida milked Nigeria to dryness by stealing more than 12 billion dollars of oil money is talking again. He is now 70 and wisdom may finally have caught up with him. Here is one of those men who presided over Nigeria in a very evil way. I have no respect for any man who participated in truncating my dreams and aspirations.

To this day I continue to see almost every politician in Nigeria as evil or devilish and every ex-military ruler as satanic. They cannot be normal people because of the effects of their conspiracy theories, looting and negligence of duty/ obligation. It is not normal to steal more than 12 billion dollars and it is not normal to be a finance Minister when such a evil is perpetrated. A normal Minister will resign to save his good name and to protect the future of the unborn. Nigerian politicians are senseless with their looting and selfish mentalities and Yar Adua is just one of them-take it or leave it! Truth will always be bitter!

So what is Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)? It is Falae’s formula to bring the value of the Naira to 1 dollar= 50 Naira.

Here is the excerpt from the Nigerian Guardian Newspaper of October 4 2008.

He described the prevailing exchange rate in the country and urged the government to consider Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) option.

According to him: “We talked about it at the time and I said in 1990 that the naira was grossly undervalued and I gave an example. I said ‘Look, let’s take the PPP, what we called Purchasing Power Parity. What it means in simple language is that a loaf of bread is a loaf of bread and a bottle of Coke is a bottle of Coke, whether it is in Lagos or New York. In economics, it is expected that a bottle of Coke would give the same satisfaction in Lagos as it would in New York. In essence, what you pay for a good is the satisfaction you get from it. So, the price is an equivalent of the satisfaction you get out of that good or service anywhere in the world.

“Now, a bottle of Coke today in Lagos is N50, while it costs probably one dollar in New York. If Coke were the only commodity used and traded, then one bottle of Coke is one bottle of Coke and N50 should be the same as one dollar. That should be the exchange rate. Because the purchasing power and the equality of purchasing power over the added value at the same point in time showed that N50 should be the same as one dollar. If you did it for a basket of goods, not just a loaf of bread, you will find out that there is no reason the dollar should be more than N40 or N50.”
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That is Falae’s approach. I am not an economist so I doubt if I have any comment on that. But remember that Babangida with his empty skull said that Nigeria’s economic problems couldn’t be solved after he and Falae applied all the methods at their disposals.

What the fool didn’t say was that he was institutionalising corruption and kickbacks. He didn’t tell Nigerians that he was saving the gulf oil wind-fall in a private account for himself and his family. He didn’t say that he was going to use this money to win friends and enemies in the dirty politics arena in Nigeria.

AND the useless government in Nigeria is still bragging about fighting corruption. How can you fight corruption when a person like Babangida is not arrested and tried for looting and for destroying democracy in Nigeria. Sometimes when I read about the EFCC, I just laugh. There first job is to take IBB in and investigate the money from the gulf war. As far as I am concern, until you touch people who think they are untochables, you cannot fight corruption anywhere in the world. Every other thing that you do is artificial and make-believe.

If you set a good example with well known thieves and looters, then you can be taken seriously and other politicians planning to loot will think twice. What we have today is paying purely lip service to fight corruption while massive looting and enrichment continues in the public service and political establishment. This is why more than 90m Nigerians remain very poor and insecure. CORRUPTION AND NEGLIGENCE OF PUBLIC SERVICE DUTIES.

Purchasing power indeed! Take corruption away and everything will fall in place….

Yinka Craig (1948-2008)

/ Adeola / 12 Comments
    Culled from the Nigerian Guardian Oct 2 2008

YINKA Craig, iconic broadcaster, one of Nigeria’s shining lights in sports journalism, an articulate compere and a detribalised Nigerian, died on September 23, aged 60. He was an amiable man who distinguished himself in his chosen career, for close to 40 years and who, in the process became a mentor to many.

Widely regarded as a role model, Craig, a man of many parts, lost his spirited battle of over 18 months with cancer of the lymphatic systems at a clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in the United States of America. He approached the illness with the same attributes for which he was known: courage and dignity. Coming shortly after the death of celebrated musician Sunny Okosuns, who also died of cancer, and disturbing reports of the spread of cancer-related ailments affecting prominent Nigerians, Craig’s death has again raised public concern about cancer, its treatment and the need for early diagnosis.

Early in life, Craig had planned to study Sociology preferrably to the Ph.D level in the United States and stay there as a lecturer, but fate had his path cut out for him in broadcasting. He joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (now Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria) in 1967 as a studio operator. He rose to the limelight as a sports commentator and analyst in the 1980s while on the staff of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). A very well-informed commentator, he was one of the most travelled broadcast journalists of his time. Craig later confessed that he had to give up sports analysis in order to diversify his talents. That decision brought out the best in him as a multi-talented professional.

Following his voluntary retirement from the NTA in 1990, he went into packaging private corporate documentaries just as he was involved in information technology (IT) and computer operations, through his marketing communications outfit, Yinka Craig and Associates. He remained actively involved in television programming and soon became famous for his presentation of Newsline, a highly regarded news magazine feature on television. Later, Craig also served as the main anchor of AM Express, an early morning show that is laced with freshness and originality. Craig impressed viewers with his encyslcopaedic grasp of varied subjects and inimitable presentation style.

He never quite realised his dream of studying sociology or obtaining a Ph.D; although in later life he had tried to return to school, he was a self-made man who developed himself so well and rose to the peak of his career. A jolly good fellow from a popular family in Abeokuta, Ogun State, he was always at ease playing the guitar, the piano or the sax. In no small measure did he add value to the entertainment sector in the country. As the attestation goes, he was a charming, nice person to relate or work with. Easy-going, his presence was dignifying as he carried himself with so much respect.

The Chairman of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Lagos chapter, Niyi Oyeleke, has observed that Craig valued the virtues of accountability and transparency. The former Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Danladi Bako sees in him “one of the most effervescent broadcasters in Nigeria…who knows a bit about everything and everything about a bit.” Craig, the Federal Government observed in a statement, impacted positively on many Nigerians.

He deserves these accolades and more, and even more instructive was the passion and concern that his illness generated when it became public knowledge. Individuals, groups and corporate entities offered to contribute to Craig’s huge medical bills and did so. The Ogun and Lagos State Governments in particular were among the most generous contributors to the Yinka Craig fund, with the latter donating as much as N15 million, and promising to give the departed a befitting burial. That Nigerians can be so caring and generous is reassuring.

In Craig’s case, as in other instances, medical help had to be sought abroad eventually. Medical facilities in Nigeria are inadequate. This is a persistent challenge that governments at all levels must address. Yinka Craig’s life should inspire the young ones in our society who are easily discouraged, who are tempted to imagine defeat in every situation and who are forever tempted to cut corners where hard work is required.