Is Babangida Worthy of Honour?

 

Source: Photonews

I watched with solemn gloom when I noticed the evident presence of eminent government personalities at the 71^st birthday celebration of the gap- toothed, past Military Dictator of Nigeria, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. The current Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo did not hold back words of adulation as he was quoted to have said -

“As a statesman, we are proud to say that you have played and still playing your role to ensure peace, progress and prosperity in our country. We wish you many more years, many more years, many more years and many more years.” – (http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/sambo-lauds-ibb-for-promoting-peace-unity-among-nigerians/)

In my own opinion, it was him Babangida who tore away the last thread on our fabric of integrity as a nation. His Structural Adjustment Programme sent inflation spiraling from 5.4% in 1986 to 40.9% in 1989) and by the time prices had skyrocketed and poverty had eaten deep into pockets and pots of families, men and women who would never have stolen a dime from anyone did not mind changing figures as civil servants in order to make ends meet. Teachers lost interest in their passion to transform younger generations and concentrated on buying and selling.

Those who could have held on the reins of truth were thrown overboard with constant lashing of information on the flashy lifestyles their colleagues enjoyed as a result of their ill gotten wealth. Who would have wanted to be left out anyway?

It was in the days of the Babangida that white elephant projects became the order of the day in government circles. Government agencies would award projects, release money to contractors, commence work on a small portion of the project, maintain media hype, share the rest of the money between the contractors and agency officials and never complete the project. Successive governments noted how this strategy perfectly worked on Nigerians and did not fail to adopt it. Typical examples are the modernized railway project by the Obasanjo administration in 2006, the 6,000 megawatts promise by Yar-adua administration in 2009.

Babangida prided himself at so adept in swaying Nigerians that he named himself the Evil Genius. The annulment of the 1993 polls remains fresh on the minds of those who witnessed it and though he may have accepted responsibility for the act, I don’t think posterity will ever forget and leave out justice from being served.

As at 1993 when he was eventually hauled out of Aso Rock, Nigerians had been schooled in being’ smart’ and ‘knowing your way’ which empowered us to know how to excellently initiate and execute illicitly without getting caught.

Thank God that history, once etched cannot be erased. We may look away or feign dementia but the day truth would be recalled, then the Honour Rolls will be rewritten and those that belong to the Hall of Shame will take their rightful positions.

Is God angry with Nigeria?

My mum used to watch all Nigerian football matches and in my weirdness, I never wanted her to be alone; I would sit with her through all the matches even if we didn’t know what tournament it was.

I remember someone asking at an event I attended if anyone could remember where they were when Samuel Okparaji died, my hand shut up proudly, I vividly remember where I was, I was watching him die on TV. I was sitting beside my mum as usual and she wore a stunned look which transformed to utter sadness as he was carried away on the stretcher, she asked me to look at how his hand dangled and said he was not going to make it.

When Nigeria roared from a 4-0 defeat to eventually level the scores with 4 goals in less than 30minutes and went on to beat USSR on penalties ( i.e. the Daman Miracle) in  1989,  I was with my mum listening to the car stereo so we could have a live experience of the match. This was before the days of live transmission of overseas matches, when TV sets in homes never woke up until 4p.m and returned to sleep at 12midnight.

I also recall another experience, this time with the whole family. We were watching a live Nigerian game (Tunisia 94) , and we were losing. During half time, my dad asked us to stand up, join our hands together and we prayed really hard for Nigeria to win the match. When the game returned, Nigeria gained the upper hand and played to a victorious win. Back at home, we were hysterically jubilant as was the whole street under us and my dad bought us a crate of minerals (soft drinks) to celebrate.

That seems to be the Nigeria of old. Luck always shined us, favour was never far off. This made Nigerian matches and progress in tournaments very dramatic. A current example is how we qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Today, our story seems to have changed. The hand over us seems to have turned. Our fatal fall off from the Africa Nations Cup qualifiers cannot be explained. Although we were refreshed with the Falcons towering over fellow African countries in South Africa, but when they met with their Goliaths in Germany, their Davidic weapon did not bring victory. And as if crashing out of the Olympics football game qualifications was not enough, we returned from the London Olympics without any medal of any colour whatsoever.

I no longer see the lucks and favours. Is God angry with Nigeria?

Can You See What I See?

At the onset of the Boko haram saga, most of the bombings were reported from Maiduguri, and then came news of a jail break in Yola, Adamawa. The United States sent a high ranking military official to Nigeria to offer their support and warn the country on the notoriety of the group. He was received by the Minister of State who maintained that Nigeria was not under threat, did not require military assistance from the U.S.A but will welcome training assistance.

The US emissary returned home but Boko Haram did not deter. They dared the Nigerian Police by launching an attack on their headquarters. The news went out that it was a suicide bomber, the police denied it but Boko haram released the picture of the suicide bomber to the press.

This marked their first suicide mission in Nigeria and from that point; I sensed in me that their action had taken a dangerous turn. I began pondering on the situation and wondered what they wanted. A careful look at the map of Nigeria and I was left aghast. Was I the only one seeing what I had just noticed and privy to their possible intent? Their first concentrated bombing attacks were in Maiduguri, then Yola and Bauchi. Could it be that they want to gain grounds in the country state after state?

As the attacks continued in north eastern part of the country, the police stood their ground on what they knew about Boko Haram – They are not affiliated to Al-qaeda. Then a bomb went off at the UN House killing 24 people. I think the bombing boomed –  Boko Haram is not a mere local struggle, we are  part of a global one.

Did the Police, Military and Nigerian Government get it at all?

The bombings didn’t cease. They launched in Yobe, did not hold back on Bauchi and Jos. Then, they dared Kaduna, and succeeded, Kano buckled at the knee at their command performance, security temperature of Niger and Gombe states were tested and was found wanting.

When I heard about the incident at Deeper Life Bible Church in Okene, Kogi state, this information sparked a light in my head as I tried to connect it with a previously reported shoot out between military forces and Boko Haram and a further connection to the discovery of a bomb factory in Kogi State. This prompted another quick dash to the map of Nigeria and my heart skipped a beat. Take a look at your map. Can you see what I saw? Try again.

I strongly hope the Boko Haram saga will not be likened to a household who found a cub in their backyard but refused to crush it. They even attempted to befriend it. The cub grew older and behaved true to type and had all the members of the household for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Dear leaders, the time to act was yesterday…. but we can still take the right steps and make the bold decisions.

As the Grass Go Brown

I ache in my heart
Because the answer does not seem near
Neither the solution close by
When I asked the Lord
I expected immediate answer
But now, the grass go brown

I had decided to wait and truly waited
Telling myself just a little bit more
And it’ll all get better
It’ll all be sweet again
And we shall return

From the waiting
My hands have hung down
My knees have gone feeble
My eyes are getting dim
And my heart is sick

When will I see your salvation oh Lord
For it is in you I hope
It is on you I wait
Your testimony from of old has been my solace

But now, would you consider me too
Would you fight my cause?
Can I rely on you to answer my pleas?
Or should we regard those days sweetly spoken of
As past gone?

Oh God, Am I in your agenda?

YES, YOU ARE

Men I have sought out to raise
I give a promise and then they wait
For every weight to be laid aside
That they might obtain the promise
For the promise is sure and for a certain time

And as for the days of old
Men did wait for my salvation
Even when they saw the grass go brown.

TeeY - 06:00 251209

The Future of Nigeria

Words are welling up inside me, albeit in a most unusual way. My thoughts are reeling in in my native Yoruba language.... 

I have actually attempted putting down this post in Yoruba but had to stop because my typing was not aligning with the speed of the thoughts so I was losing a lot of the words flowing forth from me.

I will liken the story of Nigeria to that of the prodigal son in the Bible. When he had it all, he thought not of tomorrow and he could have said to himself, ‘let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die’. But alas, after squandering all his inheritance that he got from his father, he did not die. He was wide alive to suffer the consequences of his action. What did we see happen to the prodigal son? He ended up living with animals and had to struggle for food with them.

It is no news that Nigeria is richly blessed in natural resources that can amount to so much money and notably among these natural resources is the crude oil which many have called ‘the curse of Nigeria’. Since the first oil was drilled in Oloibiri in 1956, Nigeria has been benefiting to the tune of billions of dollars from sale of crude oil. Our eyes saw unexpected wealth and our excess crude account was always a bounty to all concerned parties. 

However, in our days of surplus what did we do or rather what was done unto us. We know that a person that does not save in the days of abundance will undoubtedly suffer in the days of famine. In these budding days of global financial crisis, I wonder what is going on in the minds of those that have squandered the non-stop wealth that kept pouring in from the sale of crude oil particularly as its selling price kept climbing the charts.

In the days of our boom we refused, rather our leaders refused to establish schools, hospitals, roads, power supply etc. Instead, we were on maintenance mode living off on projects that had been implemented in the days when Nigerian leadership had not been hijacked by greedy and utterly selfish men and women. Intellectual reasoning was useful when it was needed for plotting the next move to defraud the nation and was never summoned for the use of improving the lives of common Nigerians.

I remember a book I read about Nigeria written by Karl Maier. He titled it ‘This House has Fallen’. Well, what do we expect from a house that is built on a shaky foundation of falsehood; it will certainly come crashing down. Falsehood will not last forever, the truth will surely surface. And to the ignoble leaders and people that have participated in depriving millions of Nigerians benefits of civilization, I say, one day the wind will blow and we will see the fowl’s anus.
I am writing this at a time when the naira is currently crashing fast, trust is dipping at our stock exchange, the price of almighty crude oil is at an all low and every time the picture of the president is shown on TV, I’m waiting for the presenter to start with ‘A sick president Yar’Adua... (I’m not blind!).

What’s going to happen to Nigeria if the economic crisis reaches its heights?

“Eni awi fun Oba je o gbo
Eni a soro fun Oba je o gba”

IYABABY: My Blog on Motherhood

Ok, I finally did it. I have started the blog on Motherhood as promised. Please check it out on www.iyababy.blogspot.com

Gradually Coming Back

Hmm....It's a great while and i seem not to know how to even make my way to blogospere.

I have been away because of this young man...

The experience has been out of this world. Didn't know Ididn't have the slightest idea about how babies came to this world and now I know I shouldn't have trusted all those biology textbooks. What they contain is not even up to a tip of the iceberg.

As a result of my experience I would say I have grown and matured more than any other time in my entire life. For example - 

• I didn't use to like to carry children..but now i have no choice but to carry one.
• I couldn't stand a baby cry before..but now i have find a solution to one.
• I used to be selective about the kind of children I  allowed to come near me..but now i appreciate every kid I see either dirty or very smelling.
• I never had sympathy for moms before but now...I give all the respect in the world to mothers.
• Most beautiful of all, I am now a kinder person.

Ok...now that i am a kinder person, I plan to start a new blog on my experience as a mother because i realize that first time mothers know so little. A reason I have attributed to the fact that mothers rarely share experiences with single women. I also hope the blog will serve as a platform for mothers particularly young and working moms to share their hearts.

I am still working on the name for the blog and will be glad if you can drop suggestions....

Thank you.

How Did The 46 Returning Army Officers Lose Their Lives?

Were you about to tell me through an autocrash as a result of their vehicle colliding with an oil tanker? Yeah I know that. But what caused the collision? That is the puzzle

• Bad road?
• Bad weather?
• Bad vehicle?
• Bad driving?

We may want to let sleeping dogs lie particularly because of the affected family. But....shouldn’t there be a thorough investigation into why the accident happened? At least for tomorrow’s sake, so that we never record same incident.

Well on a second note, remembering what we could be like in this country, we never really care about lives. Or do we? Considering all the mishaps that have taken place on our NIGERIAN ROADS and no long term remedy has been put in place till date to avert them. As I also remember the infamous Ibadan-Ife road accident that happened sometime in 2000 caused by a tanker transporting fuel. The accident claimed lives of people commuting in more than 20 vehicles on both sides of the road........I remember this sadly because I can still vividly remember seeing the flame of burning bodies and metal rising from my room in the Post Graduate hall of O.A.U.

How many more people would we like to see dead before we find a lasting solution to the death traps we call roads?

Ps: I just had to come out of my hibernation and say something about this. For xxx’s sake, I’m about to have and raise a baby in Nigeria!

My 9 Month Project

Hi Guys,

I know I've been gone for a very long time.

Well, i guess my diasappearance can be forgiven as it is due to a 9-month project that i have embarked on (good luck to those who don't understand). I may not be able to update as often as I should. However, i would love to read from you via your comments and believe you would also drop your words of prayer for me.

Cheers......

Seven Weird Things about me

Un:
When i was young, I actually thought all children around the world were rotated to be housemaids and i would sit quietly to watch the house maids whilst they work mentally preparing myself for when i would be taken away :).

Deux:
As you would know by now..i get lost in space very often.

Trois:
My mum feared i would never get married.

Quarte:
I am not particular about food, clothes, shoes, colours, furniture, jewelry. I'm a basic person with only basic needs. I don't go like i want a red-laced, tee-toed, wedge heels shoes..

Cinq:
When it concern roads, i think in one direction, so if i drive somewhere, more often than not i will get missing going back.

Six:
I never ever ever experiment with hairstyles so no matter how much convincing hairdressers or other salon customers try to be, i never yield.

Sept:
I will never be caught dead taking Ogi (pap) or custard!!!!

As was done to me, I do unto others. I hereby tag Ayo Oladejo, Titi Akinsanmi, Toyin Lamikanra, Fiyin,
Folu, Afromusing, and Wordsbody

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
2) Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs
4) Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

YOU CAN DO IT!

December 2000

I was a university student and had a total sum of N300 to my name. I had to travel back home for the Xmas break and I also wanted to buy greeting cards to give to relatives and family friends.

I had budgeted my transport fare to be N200 and had decided within me that I had only N100 left for greeting cards. On the day before I was supposed to travel, I went to one of the stores around campus to purchase my cards. I looked around at the cards and realized the average price was N70 per card. I scanned more for affordable cards until my eyes ran across a pack of cards that had N150 written on it. I asked if the price was for each card in the pack and to my surprise, I was told that was the price for a whole pack. The pack contained 10 cards with different designs.

As I write this, I vividly remember standing infront of the shop owner, weighing all my possible options.

• I asked the woman if I could buy half of the pack for N75, but she said she couldn’t, I had to buy the whole pack or pick other cards.
• If I buy one pack of cards for N150, then I will not have enough money to travel home (In those day, asking for favours was not in my dictionary, didn’t even know they existed. I always took care of myself by myself).
• I thought of purchasing just one Xmas card for N70 and then struggle in my mind to decide who deserved the card

After much thought, I bought the N150 pack of cards, went to my hostel and knocked on doors from one room to the other selling the greeting cards @ N30 each. It took me barely one hour to finish selling the cards and I made 100% profit. I stayed back in school that day, went back to the shop to buy another pack to sell the next day. Again, I sold all the cards using the methodology of the previous day, going from room to room knocking on doors.

So, around 12noon, I went back to the shop bought one last pack for my relatives and friends, went back to my room to carry my luggage and headed for the park with my transport fare and extra change of N100. (That meant a lot to a student like me in those days when a plate of fried rice and chicken sold for N120 at the New Buka of Great Ife campus).


December 2007
I had just resigned from my J-O-B on November 30 due to a nudging in my spirit and several other reasons. I did not have a job offer from any quarters and I had two options. I could sit in my house and wait for the next job or I could bring the next job to myself.

I chose the second option. Using skills I had developed from my days of working at V.I.P Consulting under the tutelage of a renowned great man, Fela Durotoye, I designed and produced a marketing communication material on organizing end of the year parties for organisations.

On Monday, December 4, 2007, I got in the car, went to the salon to get my hair fixed and from there went from office to office to offer End of the Year Party services. As I went from one office to the other, the number of ‘no, we’re not interested’ increased. At about 3p.m I was somewhat dejected and was on my way home when I received a call from one of the places where I was told ‘we have concluded plans for our party, we’re sorry…..’.

I was asked when I could come to their office to discuss our services and I replied right now. So I turned back and went to their office. After several, meetings and discussions on different days and telephone conversations, we received letters commissioning us to provide catering, decoration and other event related services.

On December 14, 2007, the event management company which I presently manage, Blossom Creations provided services for our first official client, one of the top 3 HIV/AIDS NGOs in the country.

The event was successful and looking back, I remembered the story of December 2000. And I reminded myself if you could do the little things, trust yourself to be able to do the similar bigger ones. Just like David when he faced Goliath, he reminded himself of his victory with the bear and he won victoriously over Goliath too.

I just wanted to share this to encourage anyone that has been feeling or acting short of who you can be……remember you past victories and trust yourself….

YOU CAN DO IT!

WHAT WAKES ME FROM MY DREAMS

I remember my childhood, sitting quietly all by myself....amidst six other children and yet I sat alone. Speaking to myself in my head in my own language that only I and I could understand and reckon with. You know my mum said I didn’t use to cry as a baby and neither laughed.

Till date, I can’t remember what went on while I was in nursery and primary 1-2. This is because I lived in another world different from the classroom. I can’t remember any of my classmate or even the teachers and this made me remain close to the bottom of the class at the end of every term.

The only event I get close to remembering is my fourth birthday. There must have been a party thrown for me because I was born on February 29 and so my parents make it a point of duty to throw big parties for me once in four years and just do simple marking in the in-between years. So that meant I didn’t celebrate a 10th birthday but a 12th and I didn’t get the usual transforming 21st birthday notable for every babe but a 20th.

Back to my story….I remember that on my fourth birthday, I had a white top that had a black bib thrown behind and infront of the top was inscribed:

Happy Birthday
Titilayo is 4

I could be in dreamland for days on end..webbing scenarios in my head and living there. The popular scenario was a garden that had swings, chairs and tables and all manners of trees having fruits on them and I would play and take all my meals in the garden.

I remember this one most because I wished so much for it to come to past and when Dad announced we were moving to our own house I daydreamed about it more and more. However, when we got to the new house, all the floor was fully cemented, not even one plant grew within the compound talk less of a tree.

You know, I always say God saved my parents that I was not autistic…….

Till date I still find myself lost in my day dreaming world where everything is as I love it. I still love to go back to that sanctuary where I am all by self, to remain there for days on end and be a recluse. However, there are issues that startle me back to reality, issues that scream for my attention and make me alert to every little development in my environment.

I see these different issues and they make me remain wide awake asking what happened, where did we g wrong, how did we miss it and most importantly how do we get out of here?

This may sound very funny, but whenever I am around Tejuosho market, I marvel at what has become of my childhood London. Shopping for Christmas at Tejuosho was a ritual my mum strictly adhered to when we were kids. The mall was a beautiful sight with lovely wares neatly displayed in the shops and its clear and clean pathways. When I was later taken there as an older girl, a 100level student just out of the secondary school boarding house to be integrated back into the Lagos society I had left behind, I had to ask my elder sister, is Yaba market the same as the Tejuosho market we used to go to as kids?

I consider the situation Nigerians have to go through to apply for a UK visa and the daylight robbery being perpetrated by the UK commission in Nigeria, robbing genuine Nigerian citizens of their hard earned Naira bills and all I can do is scream in my head, THIS MUST STOP!!!!!!!

This list is endless…….and all I will like to do is ask, what must we do?

From Guest Blogger: Big Brother 2.0

Having thought about this for quite a bit, I finally get to do "sthg". Anyway, I just got off a webpage with the headline Privacy Lost: These Phones can find you (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/technology/23mobile.html?em&ex=1193371200&en=cd5c706dac95e6b9&ei=5087%0A).

The gist is GPS isn't enough anymore now since people want to connect hence are signing up to mobile phone services offering such in the US. One can assume as more telecoms operators in Nigeria and other developing countries expand their pool of services, this would be added sooner rather than later.

Speaking of new services by telecoms operators, I saw an ad last night on TV where all you need to follow your favorite Premiership team (note: for football fans only), is to send an sms with a certain layout eg Arsenal text to a short code provided and just like that, you'd get live feeds and updates on all match days for your club. Hmm.

Back to privacy, the truth is Web 2.0 has brought a glut of tools, networks and opportunities to people globally with little or no restriction. However, like I first titled this, do you want to be found 24/7? Do you want a "Big Brother" looking over your shoulder and monitoring your every step anytime of the day.

If I signed up for this service, how much more of "my space" would I be giving up? Its cool to note though that parents, guardians and the likes should find such services when (not if) they are available in Nigeria of great help in tracking and hopefully ensuring safety of their wards. Though this could be assumed to hold only where wards do take their phones with them at all times anywhere they are.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Brief Profile: Having taken forever to start his own blog, 'Tope Soremi is the proud husband of Titilayo Soremi, writer of My Thots Blog. Tope is a guest blogger and would happily share his thoughts on a wide range of issues with anyone interested. He's reachable via babatope [at] gmail. com.

Brown Xmas

Today is November 6 and guess what is ringing in my head?

:)C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S.

I have been singing Xmas carols in my head and I even adapted a popular oyinbo one to become naijarian. My adapted Xmas song goes thus...

I’m dreaming of a brown Christmas

Jut like the ones I used to know

Where the harmattan wind whistles

And children listen

To hear banger blasting near

I’m dreaming of a brown Christmas

With every Christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmas things be brown

This Woman, {not Udeme} is a Great Woman

She is the pride of her parents, the envy of her friends
She walks with her head tilted upwards with a well deserved pride
Her gait is evidence of her aristocratic status
When she opens her mouth, she speaks with much authority
And polishes her authority with the oil of humility
She is a source of joy to everyone around her

When she is dressed in her sparkling white nurse uniform
With matching white cap, white shoes and with a pen tucked in her breast pocket
She transforms to a God-sent angel and assumes different forms
Some families see her as a savior
Stepping in to ensure their loved ones remain on earth with them
To many doctors, nurses and para-medicals, she is mother
Rocking, nurturing, chastising and instructing

She never lays any complaint about her work conditions
According to her, every moment she is at her job
That is her breathing. That is her life
This makes every second counts
And every act, a conscientious and deliberate one

She leaves each duty be it morning or night in high spirits
Illuminating her face with beaming smiles
She returns home to gather her children round her
Relaying the day’s achievement with great thrill

She goes to bed fulfilled to awaken the next day
Burning with passion for her calling.


Hmm... all of the above is a description of who and what my mum, Esther Olaiya Obisesan would have been if her father had allowed her to go to school. She begged, cried and strove so that her father would send her to school but he maintained, 'school is for only for boys, the girls will remain on the farm'.

She wanted so badly to be a nurse. However, when she had the opportunity to start the journey to her dream after working as a housegirl, she gave it up for her younger sister. She sponsored her younger sister through school until she became the NURSE she always wanted to be.

Very sad part of the story: We lost the Nurse my mum never was, she died on March 26, 1999 leaving two kids and a husband behind.

Was Paid a Penny, So I'll say My Thot 2

My mum was raised a good girl by her mum
When she was raising me, she received instructions
From another good woman
So, she raised me a double good girl
And now, here is how I live

I labour so hard for everybody except one……..myself
I think so deeply about everybody except one…myself
I look out for everybody except one……………myself
I willingly sacrifice for everybody except one…myself
I adjust constantly for everybody except one…..myself

I can’t talk back when abused
Can’t shout back when shouted at
Can’t sulk when I feel bad
I have to smile when smiled at
Laugh when laughed at
And remain mute when no one else speaks

Am I proud of this product?

Was Paid a Penny, So I'll say My Thot

"When you try so hard to be good to people
You easily become a carpet for them to step upon"

Be a good person in the way God has created and molded you
Man does not deserve any alteration of your good person.

The Ailing Baby of the World

Africa is the ailing baby of the world
And her ailment is like HIV/AIDS
Where the disease can only be managed never cured
All that can be done is to administer anti-retroviral drugs
They can’t cure; they only reduce the viral load
Eat well and do not engage in strenuous activities, the patient is told

And when the patient bothers about child bearing, she is encouraged
Oh there is PMTCT, you can always give birth
Africa’s ailment is worse than HIV/AIDS
In her case, she did give birth to children and welcomed them into her ailing condition
Today, many of them do not want to identify with her body’s stink and rot
They run far crossing mountains, valleys and waters to get away from home

How did Africa ever get infected with this deadly disease?
The disease of poverty, corruption, poor governance and champion of worst practices
How can she be healed from it?
Maybe we should employ extortionists to drive out the disease demons.
Yes, one from a mosque bearing a rosary, another from a church bearing holy water, and maybe the fire-bearing Sango
They may succeed in appeasing the creator for Africa’s sake

For how long will this over 50 year old ailing baby continue to be nursed?
Some say Africa is so comfortable in her ailing state
She refuses to will herself back to health with her own willpower
She’d rather continue to lay on her sick bed enjoying the attention from her nurses
What happens when the familiar nurses retire and others take their place that do not know the fathers that oiled the relationship with the nurses
Just like the later days of the Israelites in Egypt
As there arose another Pharaoh that knew neither Samuel nor Jacob

Must the present nurses continue to cling on to this ailing baby on her sick bed
Never allowing her walk much less running
Must we continue to smile and laugh with this ailing child
Whilst she acts insolently with no respect for rule of law
Must we not smack this baby on the back and declare
YOU MUST STAND UP

My Quest for Fame II

My friend finally got a regular job and could not go on attending all those auditions anymore. However, one day, she heard a radio announcement calling on an audition for anyone interested in featuring in Super Story, a weekly primetime television family drama. This was when the production just started.

My ears were stretched when she told me because I remembered Super story very well. As kids, my mum ensured my younger sister and I got a monthly dose of super story when it was still a photo-story publication and even when we moved to the boarding house, she always brought past editions for us to read on visiting days.

I told my younger sister about it and she joined me in my Nollywood sojourn. I was auditioned by Antar Laniyan and had to read lines from a Nigerian poetry kinda book. I read the lines, was asked a few questions, answered them to the best of knowledge and I was out of the auditioning room in 5minutes.

My sister and I went back the next week for casting. She went in first and she got a role as an extra in Papa Ajasco & Company and was told to come back on a specific date for shooting. When it was my turn, they said they had exhausted all the extra roles for Papa Ajasco, so they put my name and picture on a waiting list for Super Story.

My sister finally featured in Papa Ajasco, Super Story, went on to audition for a role on Tajudeen Adepetu’s everyday people and today she is the Brand Manager of SoundCity.

My other friend, she got a lead role in a stage play, Child International. She acted alongside Boy Alinco and Gloria Young[big eyeballs], went on to work for mobile phone content provider, relocated to another African country and now travels around the world doing all the United Nations thingie.

And me…….

To be continued….

To Work in Nigeria or Not: Kindly Advise an Indian

Guys, this is a request I found in the comment section of my post on Port Harcourt. Kindly advise/comment.

Hi
Friends i need a little help. I have got a job in one of the oil companies of the City of Harcourt. I am very confused about a lot of things, Mainly about the Safety and Security.
I am an Indian and i just need a little help in finding out if its a good option to come here or not.
Please help me out
Thanks