Friday, July 20, 2007

random musings

something to rant about
I hate spam, let me re phrase that, i really really hate spam. My spam filter manages to block most of it, but how do you block spam sent by friends or people in your address book??
I've recently noticed that a lot of people have started sending me religious spam (as far as i'm concerned it's unsolicited, so it'is spam).
You can always tell when my peeps have discovered "religion" especially of the pentecostal
kind. They start sending out emails with bible quotations, invites to Pastor Jibiti's weekend of deliverance or forward silly emails about passing this message to 40 other people will bring you luck or prove that 'Jesus is lord' or show that 'Satan is a liar'.

Even on the web, there's no escape for people like me from our current obsession with religion...

angry and sad
that it took so long for our government to react and demand an apology from the spanish ambassador for the death of Osamuyia Aikpitanhi, a 23 year old Nigerian killed by spanish police officers during a forced deportation.
see back story

no wonder the weather is shit
not that i bother with the charts but there's a silly song called 'Umbrella' by Rihanna at number one, the chorus to the song sounds remarkably familiar, sort of like the gibberish my 11 month old son has been saying recently.
but i digress
'Umbrella' has been at number one for 9 weeks, no wonder summer has been a complete washout.


Monday, July 09, 2007

No end in sight

The situation in the Niger delta hit a new low with the kidnapping of a 3 year old girl last week. (She has now been released and is back with her parents). Sadly it seems the whole Niger delta region has degenerated into a complete state of anarchy (and i'm talking by Naija standards here). Even Dokubo-Asari (Niger Delta's self styled 'nationalist') had his jeep snatched at gunpoint. Hard to tell if it was snatched by armed robbers or militants, since every hoodlum with a gun now calls themselves 'militants'.

There are now so many groups trying to get in on the 'ransom booty'. Apart from Jomo Gbomo's well known group Mend (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta), there's another faction of Mend headed by a "General Godswill Tamuno". There are also other groups like the Coalition for Military Action in the Niger Delta (Coma), the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), the Niger Delta Vigilante and the Martyrs Brigade. (
Martyrs Brigade??? they sound like a bunch of jokers, as if anyone in the delta would even consider suicide bombing).
And not forgetting the original group that started it all off, Dokubo's Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF).

where will it all end?
Even if the Nigerian government gives in to all their demands, i doubt if any of the groups will suddenly decide to get rid of their weapons. There's just too much oil money at stake and once they have no common enemy to fight they will turn on each other like a pack of wolves, leading to a lot more violence in that region.

It's unlikely we'll see any peace in that part of the country until the last drop of oil is removed or the most likely scenario, the rest of the world finds alternative sources of energy.