Political DeathMatch (update)

Nigeria vice-president suspended
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5390230.stm

After a short ceasefire (as a result of last week's military air crash), Round four kicks off as PDP suspends Atiku for three months. According to the report 'his suspension means he will not be eligible to seek the ruling PDP's presidential nomination. '

Atiku's next move will be to set up or join another political party, but whatever move he makes, he will never be the next president of Nigeria. Whether he remains the VP is irrelevant, Obj has achieved his goal and ensured that he will not be PDP's presidential aspirant.

Why IBB will fail

Looks like IBB is shifting his campaign into high gear, he has already started the process of 're writing history', by glossing over all the horrible things he did while in power.
In an interview with BBC's Network Africa programme, he claims "In eight years, we made a lot of progress and development of this country and people also benefited," he also states that he had organised the "freest elections that has ever been conducted in the country".

That IBB is now trying to rewrite history shows desperation on his part. He realises that his past misdeeds have now come back to haunt him. All of a sudden he is on the defensive, the same IBB that has always refused to talk about the June 12 election or any of the many accusations against his regime, is now defending his administration.
In his recent interviews IBB has talked about the so called 'Gulf war windfall', the Vatsa coup and June 12. Since IBB is now in the mood to talk maybe he can offer an explanation about who killed Dele Giwa? and the allegations made against him during the Gideon Orkar coup attempt.

IBB is smart enough to realise that the south west and Obj are the major obstacles he has to overcome to return to power.
The south west
His attempts to pacify the south west over june 12 will ultimately fail. He has the likes of Alex Akinyele and one of Abiola's wives campaigning for him, but the thing is, june 12 was bigger than Abiola and even if IBB chooses one of Abiola's wives or kids as his running mate it would not make any difference.
Even on the web IBB seems desperate for yoruba support, www.babangida.com was registered by a 'Adetunji Adeoba' according to whois while www.mribbforpresident.com was registered by a 'Michael Adesina'.

coincidence? i don't think so

Obj
Whatever 'agreement' he had with Obj in 99 is no longer valid considering the role he played in frustrating obj's third term agenda. The irony of it all is that he is now in a similar situation that Abiola was in, back in 93. He desperately needs the support of the current resident of Aso rock to get back into power. Talk about role reversal.

IBB's options???
He has none
The thing is, IBB is damaged goods, june 12 will continue to be an albatross around his neck, he should learn from Buhari's experience in 2003. Buhari lost the last election because his opponents kept saying he would introduce sharia. With sites like AgainstBabangida ,Social critics like Gani Fawehinmi, 'former friends' like Mrs Vatsa, a hostile press and a vindictive Obj to contend with, IBB has his work cut out.

It doesn't help that he is still seen as a shifty manipulator, the many years outside power has not changed this perception. If he had spent his time outside power reinventing himself as an elder 'statesman' or philantropist, he might just about convince enough Nigerians to vote for him and/or convince Obj that he can be trusted with the keys to Aso rock.

But will IBB see the writing on the wall ?? As i said in a previous blog entry
'like Maradona's addiction to cocaine (which destroyed his football career), IBB is addicted to power, and his pursuit of that power will ultimately lead to his downfall...'

Political DeathMatch

Not too long ago when MTV was still mildly entertaining, they had a great show called Celebrity Deathmatch. In naija we now have our own real life version of the show called Political Deathmatch.

In the far corner is the embattled VP - Atiku (aka oko jennifer) , his opponent is the president - obj (aka baba iyabo)

the story so far,
Round one, EFCC submits damning report on Atiku
Round two, Obj sends efcc report to the senate, recommending Atiku is impeached.
Round three, Atiku strikes back in true naija style ('you tarka me i daboh you'), claiming obj too is corrupt and they both 'shared' the loot

Both parties are taking no prisoners and its going to be a fight to finish

Trust Reuben Abati he has an interesting piece on the whole saga called 'A Bolekaja Presidency'
http://odili.net/news/source/2006/sep/15/2.html
http://odili.net/news/source/2006/sep/17/10.html
----------------
???
The news that the military lost 8 major generals in the Dornier 228 plane that crashed near Obudu, raises a lot of questions as regards to why so many of the military top brass travelled on the same flight.
Apart from making the plane an obvious target for the many groups that have grudges against the military, it shows a complete lack of awareness of basic security precautions. A company i worked for had a policy where no more than 2 directors could travel on the same flight. It was actually for insurance purposes but it made absolute sense as it safeguards the future of the company.

The Nigerian military obviously doesn't understand the concept of not putting all your eggs in one basket. God help us all if we have to rely on them in a state of war...

'foot in mouth' disease

protesters doing 'fire dance' in response to pope's speech

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The Pope had an interesting case of 'foot in mouth disease' and the islamic world erupts in anger.
Predictable...

i found this response from an iraqi militant group hilarious

"We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen,"
Qaeda-led group vows "jihad" over Pope's speech

My advice to the Pope next time you want to say something nasty about muslims say it in Latin, that way they won't understand

Things that have changed my life - 1

the 4 agreements

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

It was 5 years ago that i first read the four agreements by Don Miguel, the book affected me on so many levels. Back then i was going through an interesting NLP phrase, it kicked off my journey of self discovery which has made me aware of the power we all have to make things happen in our lives.

to be continued soon....

If you want to truly understand something, try to change it. ~Kurt Lewin

Extreme measures

EFCC seizes N7bn assets of INEC dead director
ABUJA — THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured a court order, confiscating alleged ill-gotten assets, worth about N7 billion, belonging to a deceased Director of Finance and Supplies of INEC, Pastor Timothy Olufemi Akanni.

The assets include cash in local and foreign currencies; landed properties in choice areas in both Lagos and Abuja; shares in bluechip companies; registered schools, bakeries and expensive cars, among others.
The order was granted ex-parte by the vacation judge, Justice Anwuri Chikere, upon a request by the anti-graft commission on behalf of the Federal Government.
rest of the story

They say we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but damn it, this guy was greedy and to make matters worse he was a "pastor". Its not as if that counts for anything but it does make you wonder if there's any morality left in our society.
They say Nigeria is the most religious nation in the world. and yet it tops the corruption list

Makes you wonder if religion and corruption go hand in hand in Nigeria....

But we shouldn't be surprised; it just goes to prove that in the Nigerian context when there's a conflict between personal and religious values, personal values will always triumph.

Christianity and Islam can never really change our value systems, its about time the government adopts traditional African measures to reduce the rampant corruption in the country. If people had to swear to ‘sopona’, ‘ifa’ or some other oracle when they assume public positions, i'm sure they'll be scared of stealing large amounts of public funds.

The oath for public office could include something along the lines of "I Alhaji, Cheif, Major general, Pastor etc hereby swear that if i steal a single kobo of public money, sango strike me and all generations of my family down."

A bit extreme but our situation calls for extreme measures...

Quote: Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power. - Eric Hoffer

Little Miss Jocelyn

Jocelyn J Esien playing a parking attendant on her show

Having watched 3 episodes i think i can now comment on Little Miss Jocelyn, a new comedy sketch show on BBC 3 featuring Jocelyn Jee Esien.

Its official I hate it....

The show is full of sketches making fun of Nigerians (one sketch is about a Nigerian park attendant with the catch phrase 'this will take a looong time', in another sketch she plays a Nigerian wife, with three husbands and in another one she plays a nigerian cab driver/driving instructor)

Some of the sketches did make me laugh especially the Nigerian couple seeking marriage counselling but i couldn't help thinking she was trying to outdo Gina Yashere, who has built her whole standup routine on making fun of Nigerians.

Gina is naturally funny while Jocelyn is trying too hard to be funny and its just not working...
----------

Like my peeps will say 'abeg make we talk about beta person jo', Metro (Wed aug 30) did an interview with upcoming actor, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje . Talk about someone with his head screwed on properly, i was quite impressed with his reponses.

Q: Was there pressure to make your name more Westernised to fit into Hollywood?

A: I’m of Nigerian descent, from the Yoruba tribe. Names are very significant in that culture. It basically states your purpose in life. Ade is ‘the crown’, Wale means ‘to arrive’, so that means ‘the crown has arrived’. Akin is ‘warrior’ and Agbaje is ‘prosperity and wealth’. Every day when someone calls my name, they remind me of that purpose and for me to renounce that would be sacrilege. The name caused a lot of scrapes growing up. Having come this far, I wasn’t going to abandon it for Hollywood. People are getting used to it. They abbreviate it to triple A.

the full interview in metro

After reading the interview, i've become a big fan, although i still have misgivings about his roles in Lost and The Bourne identity, but i guess 'man got to chop now'.
Hopefully as his profile rises he'll be in a better position to choose his roles rather than playing the usual 'stereotypical' parts that Hollywood gives to black Africans (Drug dealers, Slaves, criminals etc)

No 'Respect'

Blair 'chav' style

Britain 'worse than 20 years ago'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5310016.stm

The threat of terrorism is one reason why Britain is a worse place to live now compared with 20 years ago, a BBC poll suggests. Nearly half (47%) of those questioned thought quality of life in Britain had declined, with 47% blaming a "lack of respect" and 46% citing crime.

The study of 1,006 adults was conducted for BBC One's Six O'Clock News.

According to the poll, 47% think Britain the worst place to live, 24% think its better while 27% think no better/worse.

I'm not yet part of that 47% but in a few years time when global warming and right wing groups dominate the political landscape, Nigeria may not be too bad after all...