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Once again stolen from Chippla. This guy might soon be doing all my writing! He seems to read my mind!
I refuse to be tagged as a blind nationalist!
I fully support attempts by the Nigerian government to quash rebel, militant and separatist movements before they rear their ugly heads on the national scene. This week, parts of Eastern Nigeria came to a stand still in response to the call by a group called MASSOB (Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra) which has for years been clamoring for a 'Republic of Biafra' in present day Eastern Nigeria. This was initially reported by the blog Nigerian Times which happens to be based in South-Eastern Nigeria. Mainstream media reports followed later.
As most Nigerians above forty-years know, issues of Biafra are not to be taken lightly. In 1967, Eastern Nigeria broke away from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and named itself the Republic of Biafra. Biafra had its own national anthem ('Land of the Rising Sun' set to the tune Finlandia by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius) as well as its own currency and was seeking to join international bodies such as the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations. But the Nigerian government was not willing to have any of that. A civil war ensued which lasted for over two years. At least one million Biafrans died mainly through starvation. The Nigerian government headed by General Yakubu Gowon cut off food access points to Biafra. The Biafrans, though ingenious in the use of home-grown technologies to fashion weapons used to fight off Nigerian soldiers, were forced to give up in 1970. General Gowon in his well-publicized 'No Victor No Vanquished' speech made all Nigerians see that the war was necessary to keep the nation one.
In 1967 Biafra may have had reasons to leave Nigeria. Depending on whom you ask or what you read, viewpoints on the civil war are as diverse as the stars in the sky. One, which I liked so much, is that of Frederick Forsyth, the acclaimed British author. Mr. Forsyth happened to be in Biafra for much of the civil war as a journalist and wrote The Biafra story just after the war. Mr. Forsyth was unapologetically sympathetic toward the Biafrans, often accusing Western governments of complicity in the war. The Biafrans employed mercenaries to assist in flying missions. They also had the sympathy of Irish Catholic missionaries, several of whom chose to stay behind to aid with their humanitarian needs.
The question remains: why did Biafra choose to break away from Nigeria in 1967? The Igbos (I am Igbo), the majority ethnic group in the Eastern Region, complained of marginalization and mistreatment in other parts of Nigeria. Igbos were often killed in Northern cities like Kano for no just reason. The concept of one Nigeria united in its diversity seemed like a charade. This led Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Nigerian Army and Military Governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria to declare his region as the sovereign and independent Republic of Biafra. Given that most of Nigeria's newly found oil wealth lay on Biafra soil, the Nigerian government, supported by nations like the United Kingdom, wasn't ready to buy into the idea of a seceding province. Civil war was the name of the game that followed, unfortunately.
Nigeria however, has changed a lot since 1970. Though the concept of ethnic and ancestral lands still remain deeply enshrined in the psyche of its diverse peoples, melting pots have been created. In some of these--like Lagos, Abuja and Kaduna--can be found mini-Nigerias where people of diverse ethnic and religious affiliations live side by side. It is not uncommon to see that a significant number of trading businesses in Northern cities like Sokoto, Kano and Kaduna are owned and run by the Igbos, whose ancestral lands are some 1000 km away. Hausas from the North are present in the East, though on a much smaller scale, where they also trade in certain unique items and sell their suya. The monolithic Nigeria of the early 60s where ethnic groups were more or less solely confined to their 'States of Origin' has changed tremendously and continues to change by the day.
Those calling for the creation of a State of Biafra in the 21st century happen to be misguided. They seem to be inward looking and fail to realize that the world has been significantly reshaped since 1960. Nations can no longer rely on the export of raw materials for their survival and innovation is the key in the cat-and-mouse game of global capitalism. Bonsai nation states have little role to play in this game, except they choose to be controlled by more powerful neighbors or allies. Were Biafra to be created it would be equivalent in size to Benin Republic a tiny African nation, though richer in terms of natural and human resources.
And the viability of a Biafran Republic is open to questioning. Who is Biafra? The Igbos? The Ijaws? The Efiks? The Ibibios?....I could go on and on. In 1967, non-Igbos in the Eastern Region of Nigeria joined the cause for the creation of the Republic of Biafra, but pulled out in the middle of the war. My guess is few of them will be interested in such a cause today. They no longer share common States with the Igbos and now have their own sense of identity both geographically and politically.
The Nigerian government should not give in to any secessionist or rebel movement. Such movements need to be crushed before they start spreading out their propaganda. West Africa has learnt the hard way about what rebel movements can be like. Although rebel movements all-too-often start by claiming to be fighting for just causes, some of them end up committing some of the worst crimes known to man. Take a look at Liberia and Sierra Leone. There should be zero-tolerance in Nigeria to any movement which, without a referendum, agitates for the break up of the nation based on ethic or religious lines--and absolute-zero-tolerance when such a movement arms itself illegally. Democracy may entitle citizens to air their views freely, but when such views are directly geared towards inciting violence and hatred, they need to be silenced for the collective good of all.
As the author of the blog Nigerian Times wrote: "One God and One Nation Nigeria under the sun...[The] romantic Biafran flag belongs to the Nigerian Civil War museum." Nothing more and nothing less for now.
I refuse to be tagged as a blind nationalist!
I fully support attempts by the Nigerian government to quash rebel, militant and separatist movements before they rear their ugly heads on the national scene. This week, parts of Eastern Nigeria came to a stand still in response to the call by a group called MASSOB (Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra) which has for years been clamoring for a 'Republic of Biafra' in present day Eastern Nigeria. This was initially reported by the blog Nigerian Times which happens to be based in South-Eastern Nigeria. Mainstream media reports followed later.
As most Nigerians above forty-years know, issues of Biafra are not to be taken lightly. In 1967, Eastern Nigeria broke away from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and named itself the Republic of Biafra. Biafra had its own national anthem ('Land of the Rising Sun' set to the tune Finlandia by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius) as well as its own currency and was seeking to join international bodies such as the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations. But the Nigerian government was not willing to have any of that. A civil war ensued which lasted for over two years. At least one million Biafrans died mainly through starvation. The Nigerian government headed by General Yakubu Gowon cut off food access points to Biafra. The Biafrans, though ingenious in the use of home-grown technologies to fashion weapons used to fight off Nigerian soldiers, were forced to give up in 1970. General Gowon in his well-publicized 'No Victor No Vanquished' speech made all Nigerians see that the war was necessary to keep the nation one.
In 1967 Biafra may have had reasons to leave Nigeria. Depending on whom you ask or what you read, viewpoints on the civil war are as diverse as the stars in the sky. One, which I liked so much, is that of Frederick Forsyth, the acclaimed British author. Mr. Forsyth happened to be in Biafra for much of the civil war as a journalist and wrote The Biafra story just after the war. Mr. Forsyth was unapologetically sympathetic toward the Biafrans, often accusing Western governments of complicity in the war. The Biafrans employed mercenaries to assist in flying missions. They also had the sympathy of Irish Catholic missionaries, several of whom chose to stay behind to aid with their humanitarian needs.
The question remains: why did Biafra choose to break away from Nigeria in 1967? The Igbos (I am Igbo), the majority ethnic group in the Eastern Region, complained of marginalization and mistreatment in other parts of Nigeria. Igbos were often killed in Northern cities like Kano for no just reason. The concept of one Nigeria united in its diversity seemed like a charade. This led Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Nigerian Army and Military Governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria to declare his region as the sovereign and independent Republic of Biafra. Given that most of Nigeria's newly found oil wealth lay on Biafra soil, the Nigerian government, supported by nations like the United Kingdom, wasn't ready to buy into the idea of a seceding province. Civil war was the name of the game that followed, unfortunately.
Nigeria however, has changed a lot since 1970. Though the concept of ethnic and ancestral lands still remain deeply enshrined in the psyche of its diverse peoples, melting pots have been created. In some of these--like Lagos, Abuja and Kaduna--can be found mini-Nigerias where people of diverse ethnic and religious affiliations live side by side. It is not uncommon to see that a significant number of trading businesses in Northern cities like Sokoto, Kano and Kaduna are owned and run by the Igbos, whose ancestral lands are some 1000 km away. Hausas from the North are present in the East, though on a much smaller scale, where they also trade in certain unique items and sell their suya. The monolithic Nigeria of the early 60s where ethnic groups were more or less solely confined to their 'States of Origin' has changed tremendously and continues to change by the day.
Those calling for the creation of a State of Biafra in the 21st century happen to be misguided. They seem to be inward looking and fail to realize that the world has been significantly reshaped since 1960. Nations can no longer rely on the export of raw materials for their survival and innovation is the key in the cat-and-mouse game of global capitalism. Bonsai nation states have little role to play in this game, except they choose to be controlled by more powerful neighbors or allies. Were Biafra to be created it would be equivalent in size to Benin Republic a tiny African nation, though richer in terms of natural and human resources.
And the viability of a Biafran Republic is open to questioning. Who is Biafra? The Igbos? The Ijaws? The Efiks? The Ibibios?....I could go on and on. In 1967, non-Igbos in the Eastern Region of Nigeria joined the cause for the creation of the Republic of Biafra, but pulled out in the middle of the war. My guess is few of them will be interested in such a cause today. They no longer share common States with the Igbos and now have their own sense of identity both geographically and politically.
The Nigerian government should not give in to any secessionist or rebel movement. Such movements need to be crushed before they start spreading out their propaganda. West Africa has learnt the hard way about what rebel movements can be like. Although rebel movements all-too-often start by claiming to be fighting for just causes, some of them end up committing some of the worst crimes known to man. Take a look at Liberia and Sierra Leone. There should be zero-tolerance in Nigeria to any movement which, without a referendum, agitates for the break up of the nation based on ethic or religious lines--and absolute-zero-tolerance when such a movement arms itself illegally. Democracy may entitle citizens to air their views freely, but when such views are directly geared towards inciting violence and hatred, they need to be silenced for the collective good of all.
As the author of the blog Nigerian Times wrote: "One God and One Nation Nigeria under the sun...[The] romantic Biafran flag belongs to the Nigerian Civil War museum." Nothing more and nothing less for now.
In Lagos, one of the most common forms of public transportation is the molue . A contraption that is not fit even for roads. These so called buses are driven mostly by untutored touts pretending to be drivers!
Almost all the planes flying in Nigeria's domestic airspace are molues in the sky! We have begun to reap what we as a people and our leaders as a collective body have sowed, disaster!
What happens when you take a 32 year old plane and add it into a mix of corrupt officials, inefficient bureaucrats, amoral businessmen and throw it all into a land where no one, I repeat no one seems to care about how he makes his money?
Regarding Naija:
Have you ever wondered who the people who manufacture fake drugs are? I don't think they have two heads and come from Mars so I believe they can be identified easily.
What person decides to make money by selling chalk as pain killers or importing expired antibiotics ?
Who are the proprietors of the airlines in Nigeria? If you check you will find out that in the past they must have been glorified in some quarters by either the press or their own constituency.
Who are the aviation experts who in one breath condemn government yet sit to break bread with the despicable saboteurs who are masking as businessmen in Nigeria.
And the people of Naija sef! When will they see that it is corruption and inefficiency not tribalism that is slowly squeezing the life out of the country.
How many more people are going to die because we stand aside and look? We should stop blaming government for everything that goes wrong!
The people deserve the government they have!
Enough is enough.
For the students of Loyola Jesuit College:
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen. Domine Iesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu; libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadent in obscurum; sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius. Amen. Oremus pro nostri bambini. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum ejus.
Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum nostri bambini, quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuae praeesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quaesumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus praeest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Almost all the planes flying in Nigeria's domestic airspace are molues in the sky! We have begun to reap what we as a people and our leaders as a collective body have sowed, disaster!
What happens when you take a 32 year old plane and add it into a mix of corrupt officials, inefficient bureaucrats, amoral businessmen and throw it all into a land where no one, I repeat no one seems to care about how he makes his money?
Regarding Naija:
Have you ever wondered who the people who manufacture fake drugs are? I don't think they have two heads and come from Mars so I believe they can be identified easily.
What person decides to make money by selling chalk as pain killers or importing expired antibiotics ?
Who are the proprietors of the airlines in Nigeria? If you check you will find out that in the past they must have been glorified in some quarters by either the press or their own constituency.
Who are the aviation experts who in one breath condemn government yet sit to break bread with the despicable saboteurs who are masking as businessmen in Nigeria.
And the people of Naija sef! When will they see that it is corruption and inefficiency not tribalism that is slowly squeezing the life out of the country.
How many more people are going to die because we stand aside and look? We should stop blaming government for everything that goes wrong!
The people deserve the government they have!
Enough is enough.
For the students of Loyola Jesuit College:
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen. Domine Iesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu; libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadent in obscurum; sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius. Amen. Oremus pro nostri bambini. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum ejus.
Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum nostri bambini, quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuae praeesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quaesumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus praeest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.
I know a lot have been said about premarital sex. What I intend to know is if ladies who hate or refuse premarital sex okay their date or boyfriend to smooch, caress, fondle, neck and pet them, at least to substitute premarital sex. And would the guys deem it okay to require such from their ladies? My brother's in that quandry right now!
I was told that his girl enjoys fondling to the extent she wets her undies in the process, and that he would naturally settle for this as a start since she is so unyeilding.
Well for me, smooching will surely tempt me to go for the real thing. So I guess I would rather play safe. I think it would be okay to hold hands together, hug, peck and do some other things, to the extent it does not allow shivers down within me.
Is that okay with you or do you prefer less or more? Any specifics? I'd like to hear your opinions, especially Burke's.
I was told that his girl enjoys fondling to the extent she wets her undies in the process, and that he would naturally settle for this as a start since she is so unyeilding.
Well for me, smooching will surely tempt me to go for the real thing. So I guess I would rather play safe. I think it would be okay to hold hands together, hug, peck and do some other things, to the extent it does not allow shivers down within me.
Is that okay with you or do you prefer less or more? Any specifics? I'd like to hear your opinions, especially Burke's.
I know one thing, girls that dont have much sex in their teens become monster queens in bed later in life. Think about it, girls that dont have sex for one or another reason spend most of their young years fantisising about it, many of which dont even have anyone to talk to about their urges. When they finally do unleash all that sex on some lucky guy it must be something else.
A nervous start im sure but once they get the hang of things they will rule, and what a glorius reign it must be. Ive never had a 20 year old virgin myself but i can imagine:eyebrows:
I love that smiley.
A nervous start im sure but once they get the hang of things they will rule, and what a glorius reign it must be. Ive never had a 20 year old virgin myself but i can imagine:eyebrows:
I love that smiley.
One of the more striking images and lessons of the year that has just ended can be traced to the circumstances and fortunes of a number of persons who had hitherto occupied the high quarters of life and society but who suddenly found themselves on the other side of fate, most unexpectedly, and in the face of which they were, and have been completely helpless. As a new year begins, it might be useful to reflect on their stories, the morality as it were, which reminds us of the ineffectuality of all human strivings. Nothing is certain in life except uncertainty itself. A man may be high up today, tomorrow he may find himself in the company of knaves. Knowing this to be true, it seems most strange that men in positions of authority and privilege tend to carry on with the attitudes of gods in the firmament.
Nigerians in particular love power and position. Give a man a position with an important title and then some power, he would exploit the position to the limits. It is perhaps the hubris that all men suffer: this illusion of importance, this assumption of God-like proportions. When persons fall from grace, they remind each and every one of us of the need to be humble. Man after all is not the most supreme of all beings as he is wont to think. He is in reality, no better than the gnat, an item of existence, a plaything of fate, surrounded by danger and happenstances, capable of disgrace, death and despair. His life is as cheap as that of lower animals. It is in this duality, this ambiguous polarity, that the very essence of life resides.
The entire purpose of our being therefore is this continual struggle between the two opposites, our management of ontology and teleology, as we search for meaning in an eternal, universal pattern that is at the root of humanism. But let no man blame fate, for every man is the architect of his or her own fortunes. And so Shakespeare advises in King Lear (1606) that "this is the excellent foppery of the world, that,/ when we are sick in fortune - often the surfeit of our own behaviour, - we make guilty of our own disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars;/ as if we were villains by necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion, knaves, thieves and treachers by spherical predominance, drunkards,/ liars, and adulterers by an/ enforced obedience of planetary influence."
This passage would seem to describe the experiences individually and collectively in the year that has ended of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, former South African Vice President Jacob Zuma, Nigeria's former Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, former Minister of Housing Mobolaji Osomo, former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Chris Ekpenyong, former Governor of Anambra state, Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju. For each of these persons, the year 2005 held painful memories; it confronted them with the ephemerality of all things, good and bad, and the rest of us watching them, in contemplating the circumstances of their experience need not moralise, only to take the lessons to heart.
Saddam Hussein was once regarded as the most powerful man in the Middle East. He ruled his country, Iraq with an iron hand. With a murderous state machinery under his command, he exercised the powers of life and death over those whom he loved and those who stepped on the wrong side of his sword. With his open defiance of America's supremacy, he soon became an international celebrity. But his world has since unraveled. When Saddam was smoked out of the hole in which he had hidden away like a frightened rat, he was paraded on television like a common criminal, and his ordinariness was exposed. The strong man of Iraq was no better than any other coward; in the face of defeat, he fled.
In 2005, his humiliation was well-advertised. He was shown on television as he and his former aides stood trial for the murder of more than 140 residents of a Southern Iraqi town after a 1982 assassination attempt against him. Saddam Hussein used to look so impressive in his military uniform. That has been taken away from him. He used to be surrounded by an elite corps of Presidential guards; today he is ferried to court like a common criminal, thrown into a cage and treated like an ordinary man. He was dressed in a black suit and white shirt, without a tie. On one occasion, he asked to be allowed to go for prayers, he was disallowed, and he closed his eyes in open court and simulated the ritual of praying. Here was the same Saddam who once seemed like the "God of Iraq."
His experience should provide good lessons for those who often rate themselves above their nation and people. We have seen leaders who ended up in front of the firing squad, those who went to prison, gained freedom and still returned to prison: all because they embraced madness, refused to listen to wise counsel and forgot to be humble.
In South Africa, Jacob Zuma, former Vice President to President Thabo Mbeki, also fell from grace. In 2005, he was accused of corruption and thrown out of office. He has been going in and out of court to defend himself and to respond to an additional charge of rape involving a 31-year old AIDS activist. A self-made man, Jacob Zuma earned his laurels as an active member of the Umkhonto We Sizwe. He spent 10 years in Robben Island having been accused of trying to overthrow the apartheid South African government. After his release in 1973, he continued to serve the ANC in many capacities. With the dismantling of apartheid he emerged as one of the leaders of the new South Africa, not just in his KwaZulu Natal province but in the entire country.
In 1997, he was appointed Deputy President of the ANC, and two years later, Executive Vice President of South Africa. As at March 2005, Zuma looked like a possible successor to President Mbeki in 2009. He is still Deputy President of the ANC but his integrity is under assault; his reputation has been torn into shreds. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which used to feature him on its programmes only recently cancelled a scheduled Newsmaker of the Year interview with him. Obviously, the managers of SABC do not want to offend President Mbeki. Zuma is alleging victimization by the President, and misrepresentation by the print media, notably by The Mail and Guardian, but the only persons still supporting him are those who call themselves "Friends of Zuma", and they are very few. They can be found on the internet soliciting for financial support to enable the former Vice President pay his legal bills! Zuma has become persona non grata in many places.
Here in Nigeria, we had similarly dramatic cases. In January 2005, the former Inspector-general of Police, Tafa Balogun was suddenly removed from office and charged for corruption. He was in and out of court for the rest of the year in a trial that ended with his conviction for a period of four years and eight months in prison, on eight-count charges that are supposed to run concurrently. The facts and circumstances of his trial remain open to debate but the more shocking image that struck Nigerians was when on the occasion of one of his appearances in court, the former Inspector-general of Police was rough-handled by the police, in an attempt to re-arrest him after he had been granted bail by the court. He was pushed and kicked into a standby vehicle; when the vehicle moved off, its doors flung open and the former police boss was thrown out.
The rear tyre sped over his leg. This was classic police brutality and inhumanity on display. Nigerians were horrified, but they were not surprised as they pointed to the irony of the situation. Only a few months earlier, Balogun had been the top police boss. How could his own men, those who used to be under his command treat him so poorly? But that is life, isn't it? Human beings are forever present-minded. They accord you respect especially in work situations only because you wield certain powers over them. The moment you lose power, you could be treated with scorn. Have you not heard of stories of former Managing Directors who have been kept in the sun by the same receptionists who used to worship the very grounds on which they walked when they were powerful.
Also in April 2005, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara lost his position as the country's No 3 man, having been accused of collecting a bribe of N5 million. The then Education Minister Fabian Osuji who was said to have given a total bribe of N55 million to facilitate a positive consideration of the budget for his Ministry was also fired and publicly embarrassed. Another Minister, Mobolaji Osomo who had been in charge of Housing was also sacked. She was accused of abusing due process in the sale of Federal Government houses under her Ministry's supervision. Wabara, Osuji, and Osomo have since disappeared from the front pages of newspapers. If they would be willing to talk, they will readily admit that the crowd of hangers-on and admirers who used to call them Honourable Minister has vanished. The mountain of invitations to events, which they used to receive, would have thinned down. Last Xmas, they must have received fewer hampers and cards than they would ordinarily have received if they were still in power. Power is sweet only when you still have it. Once it slips away, be prepared for life in the cold.
Former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamiyeseigha should know this. Up till three months ago, he was still a very powerful man. He granted interviews and spoke like a warrior. He insisted on his innocence against allegations of corruption and money laundering. His supporters called him the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation and conqueror of the British system from which he had jumped bail. When Alams was impeached by the Bayelsa House of Assembly, he suddenly found himself all alone. Those who used to swear by his name vanished. The Council of Ijaw elders which used to queue up behind him, has since issued a statement expressing support for the new Governor, Goodluck Jonathan. The same contractors who benefited from Alams as Governor have gone to pay homage to his successor. Alams is in EFCC custody. The other day when he was brought to court and slammed with a 40-count charge, the man broke down and started weeping like a child. The tears rolled down his cheeks.
Those were hot tears of sorrow and regret. Seeing this, why are men and women whose moment of gracelessness may still come, so arrogant?
Nigerians in particular love power and position. Give a man a position with an important title and then some power, he would exploit the position to the limits. It is perhaps the hubris that all men suffer: this illusion of importance, this assumption of God-like proportions. When persons fall from grace, they remind each and every one of us of the need to be humble. Man after all is not the most supreme of all beings as he is wont to think. He is in reality, no better than the gnat, an item of existence, a plaything of fate, surrounded by danger and happenstances, capable of disgrace, death and despair. His life is as cheap as that of lower animals. It is in this duality, this ambiguous polarity, that the very essence of life resides.
The entire purpose of our being therefore is this continual struggle between the two opposites, our management of ontology and teleology, as we search for meaning in an eternal, universal pattern that is at the root of humanism. But let no man blame fate, for every man is the architect of his or her own fortunes. And so Shakespeare advises in King Lear (1606) that "this is the excellent foppery of the world, that,/ when we are sick in fortune - often the surfeit of our own behaviour, - we make guilty of our own disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars;/ as if we were villains by necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion, knaves, thieves and treachers by spherical predominance, drunkards,/ liars, and adulterers by an/ enforced obedience of planetary influence."
This passage would seem to describe the experiences individually and collectively in the year that has ended of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, former South African Vice President Jacob Zuma, Nigeria's former Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, former Minister of Housing Mobolaji Osomo, former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Chris Ekpenyong, former Governor of Anambra state, Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju. For each of these persons, the year 2005 held painful memories; it confronted them with the ephemerality of all things, good and bad, and the rest of us watching them, in contemplating the circumstances of their experience need not moralise, only to take the lessons to heart.
Saddam Hussein was once regarded as the most powerful man in the Middle East. He ruled his country, Iraq with an iron hand. With a murderous state machinery under his command, he exercised the powers of life and death over those whom he loved and those who stepped on the wrong side of his sword. With his open defiance of America's supremacy, he soon became an international celebrity. But his world has since unraveled. When Saddam was smoked out of the hole in which he had hidden away like a frightened rat, he was paraded on television like a common criminal, and his ordinariness was exposed. The strong man of Iraq was no better than any other coward; in the face of defeat, he fled.
In 2005, his humiliation was well-advertised. He was shown on television as he and his former aides stood trial for the murder of more than 140 residents of a Southern Iraqi town after a 1982 assassination attempt against him. Saddam Hussein used to look so impressive in his military uniform. That has been taken away from him. He used to be surrounded by an elite corps of Presidential guards; today he is ferried to court like a common criminal, thrown into a cage and treated like an ordinary man. He was dressed in a black suit and white shirt, without a tie. On one occasion, he asked to be allowed to go for prayers, he was disallowed, and he closed his eyes in open court and simulated the ritual of praying. Here was the same Saddam who once seemed like the "God of Iraq."
His experience should provide good lessons for those who often rate themselves above their nation and people. We have seen leaders who ended up in front of the firing squad, those who went to prison, gained freedom and still returned to prison: all because they embraced madness, refused to listen to wise counsel and forgot to be humble.
In South Africa, Jacob Zuma, former Vice President to President Thabo Mbeki, also fell from grace. In 2005, he was accused of corruption and thrown out of office. He has been going in and out of court to defend himself and to respond to an additional charge of rape involving a 31-year old AIDS activist. A self-made man, Jacob Zuma earned his laurels as an active member of the Umkhonto We Sizwe. He spent 10 years in Robben Island having been accused of trying to overthrow the apartheid South African government. After his release in 1973, he continued to serve the ANC in many capacities. With the dismantling of apartheid he emerged as one of the leaders of the new South Africa, not just in his KwaZulu Natal province but in the entire country.
In 1997, he was appointed Deputy President of the ANC, and two years later, Executive Vice President of South Africa. As at March 2005, Zuma looked like a possible successor to President Mbeki in 2009. He is still Deputy President of the ANC but his integrity is under assault; his reputation has been torn into shreds. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which used to feature him on its programmes only recently cancelled a scheduled Newsmaker of the Year interview with him. Obviously, the managers of SABC do not want to offend President Mbeki. Zuma is alleging victimization by the President, and misrepresentation by the print media, notably by The Mail and Guardian, but the only persons still supporting him are those who call themselves "Friends of Zuma", and they are very few. They can be found on the internet soliciting for financial support to enable the former Vice President pay his legal bills! Zuma has become persona non grata in many places.
Here in Nigeria, we had similarly dramatic cases. In January 2005, the former Inspector-general of Police, Tafa Balogun was suddenly removed from office and charged for corruption. He was in and out of court for the rest of the year in a trial that ended with his conviction for a period of four years and eight months in prison, on eight-count charges that are supposed to run concurrently. The facts and circumstances of his trial remain open to debate but the more shocking image that struck Nigerians was when on the occasion of one of his appearances in court, the former Inspector-general of Police was rough-handled by the police, in an attempt to re-arrest him after he had been granted bail by the court. He was pushed and kicked into a standby vehicle; when the vehicle moved off, its doors flung open and the former police boss was thrown out.
The rear tyre sped over his leg. This was classic police brutality and inhumanity on display. Nigerians were horrified, but they were not surprised as they pointed to the irony of the situation. Only a few months earlier, Balogun had been the top police boss. How could his own men, those who used to be under his command treat him so poorly? But that is life, isn't it? Human beings are forever present-minded. They accord you respect especially in work situations only because you wield certain powers over them. The moment you lose power, you could be treated with scorn. Have you not heard of stories of former Managing Directors who have been kept in the sun by the same receptionists who used to worship the very grounds on which they walked when they were powerful.
Also in April 2005, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara lost his position as the country's No 3 man, having been accused of collecting a bribe of N5 million. The then Education Minister Fabian Osuji who was said to have given a total bribe of N55 million to facilitate a positive consideration of the budget for his Ministry was also fired and publicly embarrassed. Another Minister, Mobolaji Osomo who had been in charge of Housing was also sacked. She was accused of abusing due process in the sale of Federal Government houses under her Ministry's supervision. Wabara, Osuji, and Osomo have since disappeared from the front pages of newspapers. If they would be willing to talk, they will readily admit that the crowd of hangers-on and admirers who used to call them Honourable Minister has vanished. The mountain of invitations to events, which they used to receive, would have thinned down. Last Xmas, they must have received fewer hampers and cards than they would ordinarily have received if they were still in power. Power is sweet only when you still have it. Once it slips away, be prepared for life in the cold.
Former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamiyeseigha should know this. Up till three months ago, he was still a very powerful man. He granted interviews and spoke like a warrior. He insisted on his innocence against allegations of corruption and money laundering. His supporters called him the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation and conqueror of the British system from which he had jumped bail. When Alams was impeached by the Bayelsa House of Assembly, he suddenly found himself all alone. Those who used to swear by his name vanished. The Council of Ijaw elders which used to queue up behind him, has since issued a statement expressing support for the new Governor, Goodluck Jonathan. The same contractors who benefited from Alams as Governor have gone to pay homage to his successor. Alams is in EFCC custody. The other day when he was brought to court and slammed with a 40-count charge, the man broke down and started weeping like a child. The tears rolled down his cheeks.
Those were hot tears of sorrow and regret. Seeing this, why are men and women whose moment of gracelessness may still come, so arrogant?
Sharon is the history of the Israeli state. He was injured fighting for Jerusalem in 1948. He led an incursion across Sinai and into Egypt during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. As Defense Minister, he was saddled with responsibility for the massacre of Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatila in 1982. The White House today called him “a man of peace,” but within his own country he is known as a warrior, and one finally willing to make the kinds of concessions that only a warrior can make.
So what now? A blogger I know in Israel, Lisa Goldman of On the Face — and certainly no fan of Sharon — said the country feels “rudderless.” Sharon forged his own unique brand of diplomacy, of aggressive, rude disengagement, claiming that he would never relinquish the temple mount, then relinquishing Gaza.
Is (was?) Sharon a mirror of Israel, a fighter who is painfully learning how to give things up? Is he, like Bob Dole or Germany’s Helmut Kohl, the last of the leaders who fought in the old wars? Who has the stature to do what needs to be done next?
Personally, I think that the man will die soon. Maybe within the coming month. And I wish him eternal rest. The truth however remains that Sharon is/was a dinosaur, a creation of the circumstances that lead to the creation of the state of Israel. And ultimately, a victim of the times. 10 years ago Sharon was unsympathetic about the fate of Yithzak Rabin, but now he has also come to give land away to the Palestinians. Why is that? Because when he finally got into the hot seat, he realised what Rabin saw then: the state of Israel cannot continue to fight with the Palestinians ad infinitum! They have to make peace.
When Netanyahu becomes Prime Minister again, he'll reach that realisation. Insh'Allah.
So what now? A blogger I know in Israel, Lisa Goldman of On the Face — and certainly no fan of Sharon — said the country feels “rudderless.” Sharon forged his own unique brand of diplomacy, of aggressive, rude disengagement, claiming that he would never relinquish the temple mount, then relinquishing Gaza.
Is (was?) Sharon a mirror of Israel, a fighter who is painfully learning how to give things up? Is he, like Bob Dole or Germany’s Helmut Kohl, the last of the leaders who fought in the old wars? Who has the stature to do what needs to be done next?
Personally, I think that the man will die soon. Maybe within the coming month. And I wish him eternal rest. The truth however remains that Sharon is/was a dinosaur, a creation of the circumstances that lead to the creation of the state of Israel. And ultimately, a victim of the times. 10 years ago Sharon was unsympathetic about the fate of Yithzak Rabin, but now he has also come to give land away to the Palestinians. Why is that? Because when he finally got into the hot seat, he realised what Rabin saw then: the state of Israel cannot continue to fight with the Palestinians ad infinitum! They have to make peace.
When Netanyahu becomes Prime Minister again, he'll reach that realisation. Insh'Allah.
Some lunatics have introduced an alternative currency for Nigeria's East which is populated mainly by Igbo speaking peoples. I am Igbo.
I stated my candid opinion on Nairaland.com that such people are committing treason, and they should be shot! Maybe my military background makes for such an 'extreme' view.
I was surprised by the response though, first, the 'offending post' in which I plainly stated that they should be shot was removed, then someone wrote this, while another wrote this where she implies that we should break off from Naija...
For the records, I am strongly against such an action, and this was my response to all that...
The punishment for treason is death the last time I checked, and there is no other way to cut it. What these guys are doing is treason! Biafran pound is another legal tender, what country on the planet is running parallel currencies? Even European Union countries phased out their local currencies when they introduced the Euro!
I am a proud Igbo man. But I speak my mind and recognise stupidity when I see it. This MASSOB experiment can only bring us sorrow, tears and blood. I want no part of it.
Does any person of the Igbo ethnic group on this forum really think that the rest of Nigeria will just let us walk away? Does anyone think that in the event of the conflict that would arise from said action we would win? Does anyone think that ndi'Igbo can survive on their own as a country? A landlocked entity?
Take the example of Swaziland and Lesotho who both live in a South African sea and know what will happen to us if we allow this madness to continue. 'Biafra' will be a banana republic in a Nigerian sea. It won't last 5 years before it becomes an impoverished nation. Mark my words.
Do you think the people in Cross River state will back us? You want to know why we lost the civil war? Cameroon didn't support Biafra. The 'Biafran minorities' didn't want to be part of that experiment. The Civil War began at Gakem in today's Cross River state, which was a part of Biafra. But according to the account of Olusegun Obasanjo in his book My Command, Federal troops didn't encounter any resistance on 'Biafran' soil until they got to Nsukka! That alone will tell you that these people do not have our backs!
We have Igbo speaking peoples in Rivers state. Our most Southernmost point is Eleme in Rivers State, and many of them don't consider themselves to be Igbo in the first place! We don't even treat them like they are Igbo. No, we hear such bullshit as 'they are not authentic Igbomen'. Who is authentic and who is fake? I didn't grow up in the East, but whenever I go 'home' for such occassions as Christmas, people laugh at my spoken Igbo. That I speak like onye ocha! That attitude will get us nowhere. That by extension makes me a fake Igboman!
We have Igbo speaking peoples in Benue and Kogi states. How many of you know that. Can we count on them in the event of a conflict?
We have Igbo speaking people in Delta State. Starting from Igbanke in Edo State to Asaba in Delta State (West to East), Illah to Kwale (North to South), these people all speak dialects of Igbo. In all their languages, come is bia and thank you is dalu, but we treat them like they are not our own. There were two massacres of Igbo speaking villages by Federal troops during the war, both in 1968, one was at Ihiala, but by far the larger massacre was at Asaba where 2 generations of Asaba men and boys were wiped out. But we don't consider them to be Igbo. Do you think they'd really support us if we break off from Nigeria?
Even amongst the 'authentic' Igbomen. An Onitsha man would rather describe himself as onye Osha rather than as onye Igbo. Look at us in the National Assembly. The Yorubas didn't vote Uncle Sege into office (they backed Falae for those who don't remember), but when the chips were down, they all almost to a man stood behind their son. Does any of you remember Salisu Buhari? The Hausas backed him until it became ovbious that the man was more a liability than an asset, and they quietly dropped him with the minimum possible damage. But look at the position 'zoned' to us. Since 1999 how many Senate Presidents have we had? I have even forgotten their names. And you know the funny thing? Most of the time it is fellow Igbo men that sponsor the motion(s) to pull them down.
How in God's name can we have someone like Arthur Nzeribe still representing a section of our people? No matter how small that section is? Do you know what that man did to us during the war? He sold arms to both sides. The arms that the Federals got were in good tip-top condition. The arms that Biafra got, his people got were all faulty! And yet such a man still goes 'home' to Oguta in peace and good health. How then can you convince me that a people like this who apparently have no unity of purpose can successfully run a country of their own?
Look at the more recent events in Anambra state. The battle of the Chrises 2 (for those who don't know, the first battle of the Chrises was between Okotie and Oyakhilome, the second which I am referring to was between Ngige and Uba). Do you think that kind of country will survive? How many airports do we have in Igboland? How many roads? And please no one should tell me marginalisation. Ask for the story of how the Awka airport project was scuttled and by whom then you will know that the Igbo mans worst enemy is his fellow Igbo man!
It is said that ndi Igbo are traders by nature, and you want to restrict them to that small territory called Igbo land? I don't think so. Personally, I believe in Nigeria. And once again I make bold to say this: MASSOB and all who back it are traitors. Shoot all traitors!
I stated my candid opinion on Nairaland.com that such people are committing treason, and they should be shot! Maybe my military background makes for such an 'extreme' view.
I was surprised by the response though, first, the 'offending post' in which I plainly stated that they should be shot was removed, then someone wrote this, while another wrote this where she implies that we should break off from Naija...
For the records, I am strongly against such an action, and this was my response to all that...
The punishment for treason is death the last time I checked, and there is no other way to cut it. What these guys are doing is treason! Biafran pound is another legal tender, what country on the planet is running parallel currencies? Even European Union countries phased out their local currencies when they introduced the Euro!
I am a proud Igbo man. But I speak my mind and recognise stupidity when I see it. This MASSOB experiment can only bring us sorrow, tears and blood. I want no part of it.
Does any person of the Igbo ethnic group on this forum really think that the rest of Nigeria will just let us walk away? Does anyone think that in the event of the conflict that would arise from said action we would win? Does anyone think that ndi'Igbo can survive on their own as a country? A landlocked entity?
Take the example of Swaziland and Lesotho who both live in a South African sea and know what will happen to us if we allow this madness to continue. 'Biafra' will be a banana republic in a Nigerian sea. It won't last 5 years before it becomes an impoverished nation. Mark my words.
Do you think the people in Cross River state will back us? You want to know why we lost the civil war? Cameroon didn't support Biafra. The 'Biafran minorities' didn't want to be part of that experiment. The Civil War began at Gakem in today's Cross River state, which was a part of Biafra. But according to the account of Olusegun Obasanjo in his book My Command, Federal troops didn't encounter any resistance on 'Biafran' soil until they got to Nsukka! That alone will tell you that these people do not have our backs!
We have Igbo speaking peoples in Rivers state. Our most Southernmost point is Eleme in Rivers State, and many of them don't consider themselves to be Igbo in the first place! We don't even treat them like they are Igbo. No, we hear such bullshit as 'they are not authentic Igbomen'. Who is authentic and who is fake? I didn't grow up in the East, but whenever I go 'home' for such occassions as Christmas, people laugh at my spoken Igbo. That I speak like onye ocha! That attitude will get us nowhere. That by extension makes me a fake Igboman!
We have Igbo speaking peoples in Benue and Kogi states. How many of you know that. Can we count on them in the event of a conflict?
We have Igbo speaking people in Delta State. Starting from Igbanke in Edo State to Asaba in Delta State (West to East), Illah to Kwale (North to South), these people all speak dialects of Igbo. In all their languages, come is bia and thank you is dalu, but we treat them like they are not our own. There were two massacres of Igbo speaking villages by Federal troops during the war, both in 1968, one was at Ihiala, but by far the larger massacre was at Asaba where 2 generations of Asaba men and boys were wiped out. But we don't consider them to be Igbo. Do you think they'd really support us if we break off from Nigeria?
Even amongst the 'authentic' Igbomen. An Onitsha man would rather describe himself as onye Osha rather than as onye Igbo. Look at us in the National Assembly. The Yorubas didn't vote Uncle Sege into office (they backed Falae for those who don't remember), but when the chips were down, they all almost to a man stood behind their son. Does any of you remember Salisu Buhari? The Hausas backed him until it became ovbious that the man was more a liability than an asset, and they quietly dropped him with the minimum possible damage. But look at the position 'zoned' to us. Since 1999 how many Senate Presidents have we had? I have even forgotten their names. And you know the funny thing? Most of the time it is fellow Igbo men that sponsor the motion(s) to pull them down.
How in God's name can we have someone like Arthur Nzeribe still representing a section of our people? No matter how small that section is? Do you know what that man did to us during the war? He sold arms to both sides. The arms that the Federals got were in good tip-top condition. The arms that Biafra got, his people got were all faulty! And yet such a man still goes 'home' to Oguta in peace and good health. How then can you convince me that a people like this who apparently have no unity of purpose can successfully run a country of their own?
Look at the more recent events in Anambra state. The battle of the Chrises 2 (for those who don't know, the first battle of the Chrises was between Okotie and Oyakhilome, the second which I am referring to was between Ngige and Uba). Do you think that kind of country will survive? How many airports do we have in Igboland? How many roads? And please no one should tell me marginalisation. Ask for the story of how the Awka airport project was scuttled and by whom then you will know that the Igbo mans worst enemy is his fellow Igbo man!
It is said that ndi Igbo are traders by nature, and you want to restrict them to that small territory called Igbo land? I don't think so. Personally, I believe in Nigeria. And once again I make bold to say this: MASSOB and all who back it are traitors. Shoot all traitors!
NEW YORK (AFP) - A comedy stunt in which scores of people rode the New York subway in their underwear ended with the arrest of eight panty proud participants, police said.
A police spokesman said all had been released after being issued summonses for "disorderly conduct."
Organised by the group Improv Everywhere, the prank called for people to board the same subway train on Sunday without their pants and ride several stops.
The invitation on the group's website instructed participants to act as if everything were normal.
"If questioned, tell folks that you 'forgot to wear pants' and yes you are 'a little cold.' Insist that it is a coincidence that others also forgot their pants," it said.
The stunt was broken up by the police who halted the train, ordered those without pants off the train and arrested eight.
Around 160 people took part, according to the organisers, who criticised police for overreacting.
"One frustrated cop freaked out and called in 25 more," said the group's founder Charlie Todd.
Improv Everywhere's other "missions" have included a fake U2 concert and a suicide jumper balanced on a three-foot (one-meter) high ledge in downtown Manhattan.
A police spokesman said all had been released after being issued summonses for "disorderly conduct."
Organised by the group Improv Everywhere, the prank called for people to board the same subway train on Sunday without their pants and ride several stops.
The invitation on the group's website instructed participants to act as if everything were normal.
"If questioned, tell folks that you 'forgot to wear pants' and yes you are 'a little cold.' Insist that it is a coincidence that others also forgot their pants," it said.
The stunt was broken up by the police who halted the train, ordered those without pants off the train and arrested eight.
Around 160 people took part, according to the organisers, who criticised police for overreacting.
"One frustrated cop freaked out and called in 25 more," said the group's founder Charlie Todd.
Improv Everywhere's other "missions" have included a fake U2 concert and a suicide jumper balanced on a three-foot (one-meter) high ledge in downtown Manhattan.
