The Killing of another Nigeria (in China)

/ Adeola / 11 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu.

These are worrying times not only for Nigerians but Africans as a whole. Racism is mounting now worldwide than any other time in human history. The problem now is that it is more of a mind game than physical manifestations. But the killings accompanying the escalated mind games in countries like Italy, Spain, Russia and now in China are indicators that racism is one of the greatest crimes in the world today.

It has not become an international norm to sentence a man to death in the absence of judicial proceedings still in these notorious countries where blacks are killed by security men or touts, nothing concretes are done by the respective governments.

Osamuyia was killed in Spain in the summer of 2007 and his body is still lying in the morgue in Spain. I can’t stop to imagine how very useless the government of Spain is. Extremely useless! It also amazes me the kind of zombies that called themselves leaders in Nigeria. I don’t see any reasonable government in the world abandoning her citizen in the mortuary of another country. It can only be Nigeria!

A Nigerian businessman has been reported killed in China recently. His death was described as brutal!
There has been a discussion on this at this forum on NAIRALAND.COM

This is a wake-up time for Africans and the black race worldwide. Something is going on and unless the black people unite among themselves they are now face with the threats of extinction and extermination. It is real and the earlier we take the bulls by the horns the better for our preservation and perpetuation globally.

We welcome people to our lands and our homes in Africa but we have been paid with negative coins on other continents. We must find out what is wrong and take urgent steps to address the anomaly.

If the world doesn’t listen to us, we MUST make them listen. Let’s put our houses in order and prepare safe havens for our children and children’s children. The ball is now in our court, let’s show how diligent we are!

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.

October 1st: Take a message to Nigeria..!

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Adeola Aderounmu

They called it Independence day-Oct 1 1960-which makes the country Nigeria a fool at 48. When I wrote a fool soon 47, I thought I would never have to do that again or that 365 days later I would eat my words. Today I can repeat myself loud and clear that Nigeria is a fool at 48.

Nigeria is 48 years old on October 1 2008. The government wants us to believe that it is working hard to make life better for Nigerians. How the government would do this without asking thieves and looters like Babangida, Ibori, Atiku, Anenih, Kalu, Obasanjo and the other thieves to give us back our monies is something I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you want to improve the economy and the standard of living when corruption is Nigeria’s middle name.

Nigerians in power or in position of authority are not only corrupt, they are also suffering from tribalistic inclinations and a profound form of madness characterized by self-preservation and wild accumulation of extreme wealth.

There are probably more than 150m people in Nigeria and more than 70% of these people live from hand to mouth-in absolute penury and poverty. Several Millions of Nigerians cannot spend 1 dollar in a day. They live under a government that pride itself as the giant of Africa. The statement is both an anomaly and an expression of insanity by whoever lives by that acronym. What giant? Even Ghana is doing better than Nigeria and little wonder many Nigerians are relocating to Ghana for the purpose of business, education and work.

Nigeria and Nigerians are bound to be in perpetual custody until one day when all the evil people will be wiped away. Imagine just how much all the politicians, state governors and House of Assembly members are carting away every month while the ordinary people are on the streets suffering and living hopelessly.

I will not agree yet with anyone who says things are getting better in Nigeria. A daily walk or even work on the street indicates otherwise. It is true that some people struggle and managed to escape the poverty line but this category of people are few, countable and most often opportunistic. A person getting rich in Nigeria in several cases is at an opportunity cost to the masses.

The government has failed to provide a level field that would enable equal realization of individual dreams and aspirations. The education sector has been reduced to absolute nonsense and the results from the recent WAEC indicate that education is no longer a key issue in Nigeria. The health sector does not need to be described! If the (illegal) president of a country has to go abroad to treat stomach ache, headache and other ailment, what else does one have to say about the health system? It means that there are no provision of health services in Nigeria.

The transport system does not exist. Almost every aspect of it is unregulated and in private hands. It seems that the government does not know what public transportation means. The roads are terrible and getting worse. It needs to be restated again that probably the worst road in the world is in Nigeria. It is in this same Nigeria that the government is building an ultra modern city called Abuja for the pleasure of those in governments and for the deliverance of wrong impressions to visitors to the capital of (Northern) Nigeria.

On one side, there is a war going on in the Niger Delta where the protection of life and the security of ordinary people cannot be guaranteed. The regional leaders have sown seeds of discord and the government at the center over the years has allowed foreign oil companies to continue to colonize the region as the people suffered, died or survive in poverty and impoverishment. On another side, there is another war purely for survival. It is rugged down there in Nigeria and the rat race situation is unprecedented.

Power supply is improving at some places but you cannot be sure that that change is permanent because of the corrupt system. In most of the places anyway, power availability or a steady supply of it remains a permanent mirage. The men who stole over 15 million dollars in 8 years while pretending to be working on the power sector are all free men. That is Nigeria-steal and walk free. Slap the people as many times as you can-and walk free. Loot, loot, loot, until you can loot no more! Loot, loot and loot because the treasury never seems to be empty. Loot and loot for your children and your unborn generations! Let those who are not in power suffer and struggle to eke a living! Isn’t it amazing that the richest country in the world has the poorest people living in it?

Nigeria is 48 but she is sick. Someone has to remind Nigeria that agriculture is supposed to be her number one foreign exchange earner and not oil. Some people have alleged that Nigeria gave Malaysia her first oil palm seed, today Malaysia produces more oil palm than Nigeria! Someone who is normal should tell Nigeria that she has the best human resources pool in the world and tapping 70-80% efficiency of that pool would transform Nigeria to the best economy in the world provided corruption, favouritism and tribalism are relegated.

Someone should take a message to Nigeria that education is still the key to the future. The role of medicine, technology and information technology should be emphasized to those fools in power and their useless spokesmen and women. The message should include the importance of the provisions of permanent and constant power supply. The importance of good road networks and extremely functional public transport system in the sustenance of economic growth should be pointed out. Someone should tell those thieves and rogues in power that there is difference between knowledge on paper or textbooks and actual implementation.

The rescue of Nigerians actually (in the end) lies in the hands of the ordinary man and woman on the streets. They must rise up and claim what is theirs-their country. They must stand up and let their voices be heard, their votes to be counted. They should put up strong opposition and resistance the next time their votes are annulled or when their votes are not counted. It’s easier said than done because we are always afraid to die. We are afraid of the people we thought are our fellow Nigerians-those who will not hesitate to pump the barrel in our skull to ensure that the barbarism and looting in governance continue forever and ever.

But the implication of not standing up against all odds is the reason more than 50 000 women will die in 2009 due to pregnancy related problem. It is the reason that up to 12 children may have died due to preventable diseases since you started reading this article. Not rising up for what we believe in is the reason that some of us were unemployed for several years allowing frustrations, hopelessness and anger to take over our lives. Not living in decent homes and never getting water from the taps are all outcomes of our “sit-down-and look- (siddonlook) approach”.

Nigerians are a lovely people and it is very easy to associate the vices in our lives with the failure of governance. It’s up to us if we want to live with these ills and vices for the rest of our lives or if we want to change things and prepare a better place for our children and children’s children.

Nigeria we hail thee, our motherland! A fool at 48!