When we were younger we complained so much about Nigeria you would have thoughts that we cared genuinely for Nigeria.
There has been a slight generational shift in the Nigeria’s political space. The political parties have worn new looks. We don’t have the UPN, NPN, GNPP and the other political parties of 1979 or 1983.
As it turned out to be the problem was not with the name of the political parties. The problem has also turned out not to be exclusive to the politicians of yester-years.
After years of senseless military rule especially the Babangida regime that finally legitimized and institutionalized corruption we got new political parties.
The problem is that the attitude remains the same because it appears that the old mentalities have been passed on without any dilution into the veins of the emerging political class.
The bottom line of my argument here is that the present generations of administrators/politicians in Nigeria are a disgrace to Nigeria.
With all the noise they made as youth leaders or local representatives they have now entered the stage of bigger deceit and a culture of corruption.
I have no hope in Nigeria because I thought by now the people we have in government will be radicals bringing about radical changes and doing all they can to zero corruption.
These are not so. The slogan has been “ I go chop my own” or “if me too reach there I must chop”.
So who will help this hopeless country when the common erroneous mentality is that politics is meant for looting (and it remains largely so).
The things we complained about as young people have become worse.
Now that we have a chance we have blown it.
We have continued a culture of failure and sycophancy.
The present generations of Nigerian politicians or public servants are a total waste of space and public funds.
It’s a sad situation that the rest of us settled for less and worship these fools and idiots the same way we worship the political troops of 1979 and 1983.
Steve Job has left an indelible mark on the sand of time.
He is one of the few men who believe that simple ideas back with concrete actions can change the world.
I am not an IT expert so I can’t do xray analyses of his job and his executive roles in Apple.
I remember how the news of his exit from mainstream Apple humbled me and my friend in August. We just didn’t know that he would leave permanently so soon afterwards.
Apple has many critics and a number of competitors. It’s natural. I bought a Samsung surf pad because I wanted to have unlimited access to applications but it doesn’t take away my love for my I-phone 3GS or for Ipad2 that was the opportunity cost of my 10.1 Tab.
In such a short history and limited space of time Steve gave the world the best of quality and durability.
For all the successes he kept a reasonably low profile and led a quiet life.
There are only a few men who can sustain their fame and successes at that optimum range.
We’ve seen and heard several stories of successful and wealthy men/women who went bankrupt because they could not manage their successes. Many men/women get intoxicated with wealth and they soon lose focus and track. Some died because they could not manage their fame and money.
It is not a function of the trade or business which we ply. In some ways our take on/aftermath of successes and wealth may be a function of our mentalities. How these connect to our intellectual capacities/education may be open for debate.
But we must try to separate Steve from Apple no matter how difficult that may be. He was a person. He was straight forward and sincere. No one has told me how he boasted. He is probably humility personified.
From those of us with backgrounds in Africa where our rulers are cruel and thoughtless we wished they could picture a life of Steve Jobs and see that services and dedication to humanity cannot be sacrificed at the altar of fame and successes.
The question of the pursuit of happiness remained to be answered. Satiation or the absence of it can also be viewed from the point of view of personal satisfaction or personal fulfillment.
What about the role of motivation?
Why some men are motivated to impact positively on our lives while other people are dangerously inspired to impact negatively even without seeing it that way remains a curious question? This is the danger of living in for example
Nigeria where there is almost absence of checks and balances. Probity is gone with the winds.
Living in denial is self-crucifixion. It is hard to absorb the diverse opinions that have permanently relegated service and deliverance of good governance to the archive in Nigeria.
With Steve Jobs in my mind I am convinced that a simple life can avail much. In Steve Jobs a simple life did much than the arrogance and stupidity of corrupt leaders. It has more effect than vain prayers and empty worships.
It is what I’d always thought will prevail that one day people who took too much or thought too much about themselves will see how simple things, even simple actions can change the world forever.
Thank you Steve for the examples you gave, for your speeches, for the things you did or produced and for the future that will be shaped based on your contributions.
This annual piece started when l turned 36. It reminds me of how time flies and how things change or not.
There is obviously a lot to reflect upon.
Two years ago I wrote about being the change that I wanted to see in Nigeria. Why not?
Since then I have molded some of my ideas through two organizations.
Through the Festac Grammar School Alumni Projects’ Management Group I became part of the founding members of the active group that is now pushing for positive changes in our alma mater. The group has grown and we have started doing things.
The Lagos State Government has the obligation to maintain the school. But we have a school of thought among our members that wants us to rebuild the school on our own. ‘Only if we can’ I dare say.
The most significant thing is that we are now a movement and there is no stopping us. The Lagos state government can meet us along the way.
If every educated Nigerian could stand up for his/her alma mater, we may invariably resuscitate the glory of Nigeria in the education sector. From one region to another, from one state to another, it could signify the start of a very rewarding process for the upcoming generation.
Education remains the greatest hope for the future.
I have also been very active in the Yoruba Union, Stockholm. I lead most of the meetings. The association is young; we started it in the summer of 2010.
We are happy with our union and through our meetings we are building good social interactions and viable network of friends and associates. I have enjoyed sharing good times and heartwarming discussions with everyone in the union. We learn from one another.
My other projects are pending. They exist in my head or in my dreams. I hope the time will be right someday to start the African Rights Initiative Group and the much needed Scholarship Award Program for deserving Nigerian students. I’ll keep these dreams alive.
Charity will always begin at home. I believe that Regional government can work for Nigeria again. Among other benefits, it will end the useless federal budgeting system and ineffective central government deeply rooted in corrupt practices and ineptitude.
Quite a number of recent occurrences have reshaped my thoughts and opinions about Nigeria.
Will Nigeria really be in existence come 2015? Even luck does run out as we now see and bear witness. It would be 16 years since PDP starting ruling and certainly ruining Nigeria.
I’m worried because at that time Nigerians will be told that the present occupiers need more than 4 years to fix Nigeria.
If Nigeria survives, the stories we heard in 2003, 2007 and 2011 will be repeated with precision in 2015 and associations earnestly asking for elongation of tenure may emerge from the 4 corners of the earth.
How did Nigeria become a country now characterized by daily terror attacks?
I was among the first group of bloggers to scream NIGERIANS ARE NOT TERRORISTS when Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmuttalab put Nigeria on the World Map of terror countries on Christmas Day of 2009.
Boko Haram has markedly opened a new chapter in the annals of Nigeria.
That group from the North has exposed the weaknesses and shortcomings of Nigeria’s defense mechanisms. To drive home its points Boko Haram succeeded in detonating massive loads of bombs at the Nigerian Police headquarters in Abuja on Thursday the 16th June 2011.
After that day the group has continued to cause destructions to lives and property, almost on a daily basis and largely unhindered. This shows lack of intelligence in the Nigerian security establishments.
In 1986 a letter bomb arrived in Nigeria through executive powers of the military rulers. Today there are more bombs than groundnuts in Northern Nigeria.
Those who mix sharia with politics when Obasanjo looked the other way planned for these waves of terrors in advance. They could not have missed the facts.
With the assistance of one of the worst democracies in the world the rulers of Northern Nigeria created a region characterized by extreme underdevelopment and probably the world’s most illiterate population.
The ever corrupt federal, state and local governments of Nigeria are all catalysts to both the reign of terror in Nigeria and the massive ‘poverty and hopelessness’ that pervade the land.
I can’t stop referring to Nigeria’s politics as one of the biggest tragedies of modern era. It’s almost totally about looting and even still getting rewards for doing nothing.
This is shocking but the race for the looting of the treasuries nationwide post-2015 has already started.
Isn’t it time for a serious National Conference to decide the way forward or backward for Nigeria? The government of Nigeria wants to negotiate with terrorists? Really?
Should every aggrieved group in Nigeria train to become terror-organizations if that is what it takes to negotiate in Abuja?
When will it be the right time to set aside corruption and the undesirable traits keeping this country in its fragile existence? Hunger and poverty affecting over 90m people didn’t work so maybe a serious national conference will be convened when all the Northern provinces have been blown into pieces?
There is always a lot to discuss about Nigeria. For a random discussion it is very difficult to draw the lines or conclude on lines of thoughts.
Imagine if Boko Haram members are given scholarships and sent abroad like the Niger Delta Militants? Just imagine..!
Imagine the impact of heavy rainfall in Nigeria..!
Imagine the near complete absence of electric power in Nigeria..!
Imagine the rate of unemployment, bad roads, collapse of infrastructure and the falling standard of education..!
Sometimes you just imagine what all the useless federal ministries are doing when the budget keeps repeating itself with no significant progress.
Imagine the overall cost of governance as politicians cart away billions of dollars daily for doing nothing.
Just imagine everyday life for the ordinary Nigeria. How low? How dehumanizing?
One of my friends told me what I’d always known. With events in Nigeria it is easy to get hypertension.
On July the 12th I’ll not worry about Nigeria. Rather I will call my friends together and we will celebrate the gift of life.
The summer holiday season is not only relevant to be around families, it also provides a wonderful opportunity for reflecting and planning for the future. I’m happy to have my celebration this season.
Each country in Africa needs to fight one more war. I am not talking about civil wars. We will not fight any more civil war if each African country raise her nationalists above impostors and fight the common enemy once and for all.
The common enemy in Africa is the Imperialists which are usually in most case the remnant or debris of colonial rule.
Several African countries are independent only on paper but never in reality. In both political and economic terms, several countries in Africa remain under the imperial reign of countries like France, Britain, Italy, and the US and so on.
African nationalists who have stood up to challenge the situation have been murdered by these wicked countries who usually call themselves the International Community.
Those of us who are not afraid of death, because we realized that it is the necessary end for all men, must continue to restate the obvious.
All the useless western countries must get out of Africa, and this dream will come true one day whether anyone likes it or not.
Ivory Coast, Libya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the rest countries in Africa will exist beyond Obama, Cameron, and even the war criminal Sarkozy.
Ivorians should raise their heads high and tell the world what France is doing in Ivory Coast. Before the latest massacre orchestrated by Sarkozy and Quattara France had its grip on the economic fortunes of Ivory Coast. France steals the economic resources of this country and this is the main reason why Sarkozy cannot let Ivory Coast be.
The war crimes committed by both Sarkozy and Quattara are only partially related to the electoral dispute in Ivory Coast. The point is that Ivory Coast is not yet an independent country. If it was France would have removed all his bases, troops and institutions from Ivory Coast. Again the truth is the French never left.
Quattara's Killer Squad in action
For several years Nigerians believed that the British influenced the political situation in Nigeria. They still do. It appears that the present ruler in Nigeria tilted more to the US than Britain. Who knows? He is probably not comfortable in being aligned with the imperialists that has always supported everything and anything from the north. Time will tell.
Africa and Africans cannot afford to remain cowards. African countries are still in slavery. The independences have not been won. As a result even China has infiltrated Africa to continue the story of economic slavery. The nightmares of African countries have now been extended.
History books and folklores abound of the deaths of our heroes and nationalists. They kill us and they walk free because a few among us are so stupid and shortsighted they don’t see the need to stop the slavery and foolery that our great-grand parents fell for.
I know that one day, in my life time, or long when I’m gone through whatever means, a generation will rise up to re-establish the sovereignty of the African nations or countries. We can definitely not continue this way.
Our nationalists are not perfect people and they do make mistakes like Gbagbo for example. But to replace them with murderers/ puppets like Quattara is a negation of the struggles of our heroes past and present.
The dictators in Africa and other parts of the world that continue to follow or listen to the imperialists are enjoying their evil reigns while those who tried to break free are removed by force.
When MKO Abiola won elections in Nigeria in 1993 he was denied his mandate and no one came to his rescue because he made demands that the International community must pay for slavery and misrule. He died in a Nigerian prison under the watch of Americans sent by Bill Clinton.
Those who want Africa to be free are murdered on African soil by the imperialists and their agents. Some of us will be targeted far from our motherland. Death is the end of all men but slavery is a crime against humanity.
Africans must fight this last war, the one that will use FORCE to send all the colonialists and imperialist packing out of Africa.
War Crimes Committed By Sarkozy and Quattara
If I was an African leader today, I would sponsor everything within my power including diplomacy and force to send French packing out of Ivory Coast. We can start from there and start to solve our problems by ourselves. We are not fools. We have only been set-up against one another by these external forces with bases on our soil.
War Crimes Committed By Sarkozy and Quattara
Ivory Coast needs to be granted independence and we can start by ordering Sarkozy and France out of Africa.
Watch this video and see what PDP is doing in Nigeria. They are now set to repeat this useless feat on saturday for the presidential election.
The women in this video should be arrested, prosecuted and sentenced ASAP.
Nonsense!
Hopefully the results of such an election should be cancelled. This is what I meant when I mentioned in previous posts that the INEC chairman is just one person and he can’t even supervised 2 voting wards!
Imagine this type of nonsense. I can’t contain my anger….just have to stop writing now
A View From The Scandinavian 