Happy Holidays

"A new year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within.” - anon

To all who frequent my blog, I wish you a belated merry xmas and a wonderful 2008

when Yardy met George

"This is a moment that I'll never forget in my life" - Yardy

Seems like our president was a bit starstuck when he met George Bush last week.
What sort of President goes to the White house and says "This is a moment that I'll never forget in my life"
Someone give this guy some backbone, I felt like puking at the sight of Yardy behaving like some giggling schoolgirl on a first date. Ok i know the election that got him to power was flawed and he desperately needs US support, however for the time being he is still the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not the president of some banana republic that relies on US aid.

If anything with China playing an increasing role in Africa and our large reserves of oil, America needs us now more than we need her.

Which brings me to the controversy over Africom (the United States Africa Command) . Last week there were reports that Yardy had agreed to work with the U.S to establish Africom

According to The Punch (December 14), Yar'adua told journalists inside the Oval Office of the White House at the end of his meeting with Bush, that Nigeria "will partner with AFRICOM not only in Nigeria but also on the continent to actualize the peace and security initiatives which is an initiative to help standby forces in each of the regional groupings in Africa."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712190278.html

Here's the transcript of his speech on the white house website

We have discussed security issues and the security within Nigeria, itself, within the Niger Delta region and within the Gulf of Guinea. And we have also discussed security issues -- peace and security on the African continent. And we shall partner with (inaudible) to assist not only Nigeria, but also the African continent to actualize its peace and security (inaudible) initiative, which is an initiative to help standby forces of brigade-size in each of the regional economic groupings within the African continent.

Now I'm no conspiracy theorist but it seems strange that the part where Yardy probably mentioned "Africom" is the "inaudible" part (as in the part of his speech that was not clearly understood so was not transcribed).

Lost in Translation??
Meanwhile Yardy rather than go on NTA, FRCN or VON went on the "Hausa Service of the VOA" to deny he agreed to Africom.
in a subsequent interview with the Hausa Service of the VOA, the president denied he had accepted Africom. "I did not," he said, "accept Africom in my discussions with Bush. I asked for assistance and told Bush that we have our plans to establish bases for African countries. We asked for training on weapons and training to establish our bases to be managed by our people."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712190278.html

Yardy, in keeping with the tradition of other northern leaders who have ruled Nigeria, says one thing to the rest of the country but says the opposite on the Hausa service of the BBC or VOA for northern consumption.

So was it really a faux pas??
methinks instead of keeping his eye on the ball, he was staring dreamy eyed into George Bush's eyes as if he was on a bloody date.

Random Ms IV

So the whole missing data scandal finally hit home when i got a letter of apology from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). According to the letter "The missing data includes you and your children's names and date of birth, bank account details..."

The letter ends with an assurance that "The copy of the data is still likely to be on Government property. The police are now conducting a search, there is no evidence that it is in the possession of anyone else."

The latest news is that HMRC is now offering a reward of £20,000 for information leading to the recovery of the data discs.
Really...
Have they checked on ebay? - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/21/hmarc_ebay_auction/

On a serious note, experts claim the loss of the two CDs containing 25m records including names, addresses and bank details is the UK's, and probably the world's, largest ever data loss.


GB's Crises
You don't have to be an economist to know that UK Plc is in for a bumpy ride next year when the effects of falling property prices, high fuel prices and the impact of the global credit crunch start to bite. Tony Blair must be pleased he handed over to Gordon Brown (GB) before the shit hit the fan.

Since GB became PM its been one fiasco after the other, from the Labour party funding row to the Northern rock crises, and now we hear NR staff will get a bonus and a one off xmas payment.
how nice, i wonder if that is coming out of the £25bn of taxpayers' money...
but i digress
I almost feel sorry for GB, but hey he wanted the job and he was prepared to take Blair down if he had stayed on (why is Tony Blair stepping down).
I can just imagine how Tony feels now. I think the Germans have a word for it, schadenfreude...

Yawn'Adua

Its been six months since Yardy was sworn in as president and it seems he spends most of his time sleeping in Aso rock. Apart from a few policy reversals and a couple of statements about the rule of law, i can't think of anything else he has done in the past six months.
It seems he prefers to react to events, rather than taking the initiative. Who gives a rat's ass if he obeys court injunctions? (unlike Obj), thats not an achievement, it should be the norm in any true democracy.

It's a typical Nigerian trait to get carried away by the 'populist' actions of a new government. Reversing the policies of a previous government has always been the easiest way to win acceptance in naija. You don't need to formulate policies of your own, just reverse all the decisions of the previous government and everyone will hail you as the best thing to happen to Nigeria.

The true test of Yardy will be when he stops riding on Obj's coattails and formulates his own policies or when he has to deal with a major crises.

The Religion Delusion
I've just finished reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, depending on your views of religion, you'll either love it or hate it. I loved it, so you can pretty much tell what my views are on religion.
Meanwhile, i stumbled on this excellent article on NVS - 'God to His Children: There is No God'
As usual the reaction from the respondents (mostly Nigerian) was not exactly surprising..

random musings III

I swear i haven't stopped blogging i've just been distracted by events at work, the great big company i work for has recently merged with a bigger company and everyone is trying to adjust to the new political climate.

30 years and another boom
The whole oil price thing is doing my head in, especially when i have to buy diesel at £1 a litre (70p of that pound goes to the tax man as fuel duty and VAT).
Oil is currently trading at about $100, the last time oil was at similar levels was during the 70s, which is the period known in Nigeria as the 'Oil boom'. 30 years later and it seems history is repeating itself, except Naija has been so battered by the repercussions of that 'oil boom', that this time around it has hardly made much difference to most Nigerians unless you're lucky enough to be among the 1 percent of the population that continues to feed fat on the proceeds of our resources.

a feeling of deja vu
I found this report interesting - Nigeria sues over child smokers
According to BBC news
"The government is seeking an injunction compelling the companies to stop the marketing, distribution and sale of cigarettes to minors. It says that products sold by the companies are addictive and hazardous to public health."

But back in 2001
British American Tobacco (BAT) cash round reaches Nigeria

BAT is to invest $150m in Nigeria building a factory making internationally-recognised cigarette brands, and developing the country's tobacco farms. The investment was welcomed by Nigerian Industry Minister Kola Jamodu as a signal that Nigeria was "on track". "Substantial flows of investment are returning once more to Nigeria," he said.

makes you wonder what other "Substantial flows of investment" the government has signed up to. You'll think that in this day and age our government will understand the concept of no 'free lunch' or the fact that when it comes to Africa, western multinationals are only interested in exploiting the resources or taking advantage of the weak laws and no regulation.

Another one bites the dust..

Clearly a 'breeze' of change is blowing across naija, I don't want to get too carried away that's why i did not call it a "wind of change", but anyway sha breeze dey blow small small and so far the main casualties are Etteh (madam speaker finally threw in the towel when the pressure became unbearable - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7069654.stm) and her deputy, the governor of Rivers state - Celestine Omehia, Yardy's In law and Kebbi state governor - Usman Dakingari, Kogi state governor - Ibrahim Idris and Anambra state governor - Andy Uba (who was governor for only two weeks. ouch).

so who's next? i bet the following are having sleepless nights:
The six million £££pound man - David Mark
Adedibu's protege and governor of Oyo state - Alao Akala
The governor of Edo state - Oserheimen Osunbor
And the governors of Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Enugu, Imo and Abia states. (see Anxiety grips governors)

who knows this 'breeze' might even turn into a category 5 hurricane and sweep Yardy himself...

a slightly delayed reaction

to the HRW report.
The report (see previous post) makes sobering reading and leaves one with not much optimism about the future of the country. The government as usual will dismiss the report and accuse the organisation of trying to portray the country in a negative light.

denial of denial
We may choose to deny the issues raised in the report but our international partners, creditors, risk analysts etc will be taking a critical look at the report and will use it to access the circumstances in which they will do business with the country.

Meanwhile, no one seems to have noticed that the country has now moved up 10 places since last year to 17 on the failed list index (2007), above countries like Sierra Leone (23) and Liberia (27), (which is quite ironic considering the role our troops played in bringing 'peace' to the two countries).

Back in 2005, when CIA's long-term forecast for Africa suggested Nigeria could become a failed state in a couple of years, there was widespread condemnation. Obj (in his usual arrogant way) described the authors as "prophets of doom". He went on to say "If our detractors cannot see our far-reaching reforms, our fight against waste and corruption, the new culture of service delivery that is gradually emerging, the various political reforms... then they must have some dubious or diabolical benchmarks for measuring efforts"

Well thanks to Obj and the 'exceptional legacy' he left behind, the nightmare of a failed Nigeria is a likelihood today...

Criminal Politics - a report by HRW

Human Rights Watch has released an extensive report on the political situation in Nigeria,
called Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria
click here for the Pdf version


Highlights from the report:

in Yardy's state (and this was while he was still governor)
Direct State Sponsorship of Thugs in Katsina:
In at least one Nigerian state, Katsina, the state government paid money directly to
gangs of youth who were accused of carrying out widespread political violence in
return for those payments.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua served as Governor of Katsina State for eight years until being elected president in April 2007. According to former state government officials, civil society activists and PDP Youth members, his administration used state government money to maintain several thousand “PDP Youth” on a regular monthly stipend of N5000 ($38).

One former state government official told Human Rights Watch that this PDP youth organization was essentially a perversion of an initiative to empower unemployed youth in the state:

"Before 2003 the idea was brought at a Government House meeting to establish
television viewing centers in all of the wards. Some of us vehemently opposed this
on the basis that this was not an acceptable legacy to bequeath on the youth. [We]
suggested computer training centers. The idea was accepted but [later] this thing
suddenly became, “Let’s give them a N5000 allowance.” [These youth] have since
become a reservoir of thugs."
-----------------------------------
Akala suggests new career for Adedibu

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Christopher Alao Akala at his
campaign office in Ibadan two months prior to his election as Governor of Oyo State.
Human Rights Watch asked Alao-Akala to explain his relationship with Chief Adedibu
as well as Adedibu’s role in the politics of Oyo State:

"For God’s sake, this man is an old man, you cannot reform him, you can only manage him. This man has been in politics since politics began in Nigeria. Can you just wish him away like that? If you go to his house you will see pictures of all the past leaders he has worked with…

Chief Adedibu has sponsored everybody—everybody who is who and who in Oyo state politics has passed through that place.

This man belongs to an old school of thought. If, for example, he asked me, Mr. Governor, I want you to kill this one tomorrow I would say, “Yes, sir.” Then I would go back the following day and say, “Why do you want us to kill that man?”
Then I will provide another solution— we will not kill him, let us bring him to order. If he asked me for N100, I will say, “Yes, sir.” But then the next day, I will say, “Baba, I am sorry, I
don’t have the N100, here is N20 for you to manage.”
That is only an example.

I will recommend Baba [Adedibu] as a lecturer at the University [of
Ibadan] to teach, to lecture students about practical politics."

----------------------------
The Uba-Ngige's "Agreement"
The following are excerpts from a Human Rights Watch interview with Anambra State
political “godfather” Chris Uba at his Enugu residence in February 2007:

"I have been in politics from 1999 and even before, but 2003 is the time I produced a Governor for the State. Since that 2003 I have been handling the party—the PDP—and we have been doing well and we did not have any problem in the party.

When he [Ngige] became Governor he started playing funny. That is where we disagree, we signed before he became governor. We said that I am going to produce [appoint] six to seven Commissioners. He is going to produce [some] because he is governor already. I am going to produce more; he is going to produce lesser…

I spent a lot of money to put him there but I never asked him for my money back. Ngige was trying to be smart, trying to run the government on his own.…
The problem is Ngige being a politician who did not invest one naira, not even one kobo, wanted to run away with everything and not even share one appointment.

That is why he heaped this blackmail upon me…I cannot tell him to give me N3 billion because I know that he does not have it! The allocation to Anambra in one month is not up to N3 billion!
I am supposed to bring the Commissioner for Finance, this man who funded the campaign is supposed to be Commissioner of Works, I said, look, you signed it, and not under duress.

The problem is the immunity the governors are having, everything they are having, you spend your money to bring them into power and they say “Go to hell.”
It should be just like, you invest in a bank and then you have power to make some decisions because of your controlling shares. But he blackmails you and pays the press to go say all sorts of bad things about you and put it in the internet."

In the annex of the report is a copy of the "agreement" between Chris Uba (Godfather) and the former governor of Anambra state, Chris Ngige.

Che

Che Guevara

June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967

A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind.” - Daisaku Ikeda

How to keep your Job (Naija style)

Madam Speaker doing her own version of Amy Winehouse's 'rehab'

So you've been caught with your hands in the till (or in this case indicted for not following due process by awarding a contract to an unregistered company run by one of your aides).
No worries, here are a few tips on how to save your job;

1. The best form of defence is an attack, start by turning the tables on your opponents by accusing them of similar crimes.

2. Play the victim. Claim you've been set up and you know nothing about the allegations.

3. Employ a powerful Godfather to apply pressure on those in power.

4. Now is the time to bring out the GMGs "Ghana must go bags". Ensure you give one to anyone who is in a position to help you (at this stage "Everybody" would like to help you)

5. Play the Ethnic card by getting your "people" to accuse your opponents of trying to marginalise your ethnic group.

6. Employ Spiritual methods. Call on all pastors and imams to pray for you and Nigeria. If you attend a Pentecostal church, you can organise night vigils, prayer requests or make a large donation to your pastor to ensure he is on your case 24/7.

7. Employ other "Spiritual" methods. At times like this you can't rely on 'whiteman's religion' alone, you have to go "local".
If you're from the west, head over to Ijebu Igbo and employ the services of the best 'jazz' (juju) man around. If you're from the east, head over to Okija shrine while those in the north should employ the services of a marabout. (ensure it's not the same one Abacha and Atiku used)

8. Now is a good time to call on the traditional ruler in your part of the country that has the most influence. In the South west, the Oni of Ife is always ready to beg on behalf of any Yoruba subject accused of corruption or coup plotting.

9. Set up a fictional group called "concerned citizens of Nigeria", get the "group" to put out a full page ad in the news papers claiming there is a conspiracy against you. They should also list your "accomplishments" and declare you're the best ***** Nigeria ever had.

10. Employ good old "shakara". Declare that "it's God's will" that you got to your current position and by "God's grace" no one can remove you.

------------------------------------------------
I'm a celebrity, get me outta here

The speaker and her "aides" have launched a major media offensive to ensure she keeps her job when the house resumes later in the month.
In one of the papers yesterday her 'media consultant' accused certain members (members of the "integrity" ??? group) of the house of "bad belle".

Her aide went on to say that "In other lands, the first female Speaker would have become an instant star, to be adored and celebrated, but in Nigeria, detractors are saying "she is a hair dresser, as if Bill Gates, the world's richest man, was not a drop-out from Harvard." He chided Nigerians for not commending the Speaker, who saved the public till millions of naira by refusing to accept hotel accommodation or even collect money in lieu of it."

Etteh is Here to Stay, Aide Says
http://allafrica.com/stories/200710020232.html

47

Nigeria gained it's independence 47 years ago.

Tafawa Balewa was 47 years (and 10 months) old when he became the first prime minister of Nigeria.

Life expectancy in Nigeria is now 47 years.

Nigeria is ranked 47 in the list of countries by GDP (Gross Domestic Product) (according to the CIA Factbook).

With an estimated population of 140 million people, Nigeria accounts for 47 percent of West Africa’s population.

UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) estimates the unemployment rate in Nigeria at about 47 per cent of the labour force.

During the colonial era, 47 percent of Nigeria's imports were from Britain.

The Chad - Nigeria border is about 47 miles in length.

Nigeria is an important member of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) which was established 47 years ago.

According to a study on Nigeria by the U.S. Library of Congress, 47% of Nigerians are reportedly of the Muslim faith.

I'm disgusted Part 3

I'm disgusted Part 2
I'm disgusted Part 1

disgust
To excite nausea or loathing in; sicken.
To offend the taste or moral sense of; repel.

n.
Profound aversion or repugnance excited by something offensive.

dis·gust·ed
adj.
Filled with disgust or irritated impatience.
-----------------------------------------

Patricia Etteh (The 'DisHonourable' Speaker)
now that the panel investigating the whole "contract palaver" has submitted its report which has now confirmed that due process was not followed in the award of the contracts, lets hope she does the honourable thing and resigns.
meanwhile Transparency international's Corruption Perceptions Index is out. Nigeria is now ranked 147 out of a list of 179 countries.

Adedibu, the thug of Yorubaland
who died and made this idiot a spokesman for the Yorubas???
According to Adedibu, "Etteh is the only hope of the Yoruba in the Federal Government of Nigeria and any attempt by members of the House to remove her would therefore mean removing the Yoruba nation from the scheme of things in Nigeria"
http://allafrica.com/stories/200709190511.html
Awolowo must be rolling in his grave. I guess we have Obasanjo to thank for Adedibu's delusions of grandeur. After turning Oyo state into his own personal fiefdom, he now 'thinks' (and i use that word very loosely) that he is a spokesperson for the Yorubas..
I really hope the rest of the country doesn't fall for this type of ethnic blackmail 'cause if they did, we might as well kiss project nigeria goodbye. If Etteh is removed and other South West reps decline the position then I suggest someone else from another part of the country takes up the position.


Bisi Olatilo
Don't really know who the guy is, but i had the misfortune of watching his show on BEN TV recently. It shouldn't be called The Bisi Olatilo show, he should call it "the show where crooks and criminals flaunt their stolen wealth"
The episode i watched featured disgraced former governor of Bayelsa state - Diepreye Alamieyesiegha, returning "home in grand style". It was disgusting and revolting to watch and Olatilo's commentary only made it worse. At one point i could swear he described Alams as a celebrity..

so called 'anti-immigrants' here in the UK
(hiding their racist rhetoric under different guises)
sometimes the hypocrisy in this country makes me sick, check out the have your say page on the BBC news website in response to the news story about the police needing more resources to cope with the pressures caused by a sudden influx of migrant workers.
As usual it has attracted the usual vitriolic bigots.

"..in nearby St Ives there is even now a dedicated Polish supermarket. I feel like a foreigner in my own country and do not like it in the slightest," Amanda, Huntingdon


"What's this so called positive effect of immigrants ? The way they work for less than a living wage thereby pushing more Brits into the underclass/dole ? The way they refuse to integrate or even speak English so we have to provide translation services for them ? The way they take free healthcare and schooling thereby ensuring that the quality goes down for the rest of us ? Their impact on housing, making it more difficult for Brits to find good accommodation ?"
BBC News:have your say
So the Poles force down wages, big fucking deal, the brits push up property prices (pricing out the locals) everywhere they go.
Bloody Hypocrites, these are probably the same people who buy a second property in Spain or France and refuse to integrate with the local community, yet scream that foreigners do not want to integrate.
European integration works both ways, the Poles et al have a right to be here same way the Brits have a right to live in the Spanish costas and sip sangría.


Windows Vista & Microsoft
I don't care about all the 'cool' visual stuff in vista, i just want to install and run my programs without an annoying feature called "User Account Protection" bugging me with silly messages.
The only good thing about vista is that it allows you to switch back to an "XP like view" (as in the look and feel of windows XP), that option will save you a lot of time otherwise spent trying to figure out where microsoft hid all the old features.
No choice...
Vista came pre loaded on my new laptop so i didn't have much choice (normally wouldn't think of upgrading until they've released service pack 2 ).
God knows if Microsoft built cars, every time they released a new model, we'll all have to go back to driving school to figure out how to drive the damn thing. .

tbc..

Prince at the O2 Arena

If you're a Prince fan and you haven't seen him at the O2 arena (21 nights in London, part of The Earth Tour) you need to get tickets fast.
I was at his concert last night and all i can say is, Prince is truly a great performer. I can't remember all the songs he performed, as he did a LOT of songs but he did all my favourite songs - kiss, 1999, purple rain, cream, diamonds & pearls, little red covette, alphabet street, sign of the times and i wanna be your lover. (phew)
There was no satisfying the audience and when the show ended about 2 hours later, some people started booing because he didn't come back for a fourth encore..

joanna

"Don't care where you come from as long as you're a black man you're an African" - Peter Tosh

so i was having a discussion with my friend Y at a party the other day when his young daughter who is about 4 years old came over, i started talking to her and then asked her what had name was, i already knew her name but i wanted to hear how she pronounced it.

Imagine my shock when she said her name was 'joanna', i thought she was joking, thinking it was some nickname she had picked up in school, so i said i thought your name was xxxxxx (the beautiful Yoruba name everyone calls her)
she said na lie o, her name na joanna

I then turned to my friend and our conversation went along the following lines;

me: i was at her naming ceremony, which one be joanna? are you a kool and the gang fan or what?

Y: thats the name she is called in school

me: (surprised) really.. sebi we both made fun of X claiming he was trying to be British by force when he named his kids after members of the royal family?

Y: (now slightly embarrassed by my accusation) we decided to give her an English name so she could blend in at school, we've told her to use her English name when she is among white people and to use her Yoruba name when she is with Nigerians.

me: that's interesting, so why did she tell me her name is joanna? I'm not white

Y: (laughing)

me: God knows you're confusing the poor kid, there's nothing wrong with her name, it's a common Yoruba name so I don't really understand the need for it.

Y: but the teachers may find it difficult pronouncing her Yoruba name

me: then you bloody teach them how to pronounce it, you don't see Asians naming their kids John Patel because other people find their names difficult to pronounce

Y: we don't want other kids making fun of her name

me: hello!!!, you live in east London, i'm sure there are plenty of kids with foreign names in her school

Y: (calls kid over) come and tell uncle your Yoruba name?

joanna: (suddenly becomes shy and refuses to say a word)

Y: so your son doesn't have an English name?

me: why should he? if an oyinbo man living in naija has a kid there, do you think he'll name his kid 'chukwuemeka' or 'oluwatimilehin'???


I think there's a misconception among many Nigerians that anglicising your name (best one I've heard is someone called "GBenga" now calling himself "Ben") or using an English name lets you "fit in" and improves your chances of employment.
If adopting English names really made any difference then people of Caribbean origin should have the best economic opportunities compared to other ethnic minorities.

Of course you can name your kid whatever you want, however if you choose to give your kids English names then you shouldn't complain when they grow up and turn their back on their culture.

The All 'New' Naira

And the main news today, out of naija is about the all New "revalued" Naira coming your way. From August 1st 2008 , two zeroes will be knocked off N100 (N1), N200 (N2),N500 (N5) (i'm sure you get the idea)

When Soludo (the CBN governor) was asked what will happen to some body, for example, who has kept N1000 and wants to exchange it. He explained, “If you have $1000, it’s the same thing, you get the value for the $1000. There is no devaluation, there is no loss of value, it is just like instead of N100, you carry N1. That N1 in comparison with the dollar, it’s the same value. Before, you pay N126 for a dollar, now you have N1.26 for one dollar. So it’s fantastic.”

To the man on the street, who has N1000 in his account, he said, “if you have N100, 000, it would become N1000, but the key thing about valuation is that it is in relation to other currencies. If you relate to the dollar, N125, 000 in your account before would give you $1000 but now N125, 000 in your account, would now become N1, 250. If you want to buy dollars, it would give you the same $1000.
As a Nigerian, psychologically it is good for us; that our Naira is N1.25 to a dollar, unlike N125 to a dollar. It’s a feel good factor.
The Naira Big bang

I don't know, it all sounds like some strange IMF experiment to test someone's thesis on the chaos theory.
I'm not knocking naija here but this is the same country where we had "slight" problems organising a simple election.
In a country where 70% of the population is barely literate, how are people expected to understand that N1000 will now be N10. How will iya sikira understand that the 'ogi' she sold for N200 the day before is now N2 or how will baba Morufu, the meat seller understand that the 'bokoto' he is selling for N2000 is now N20?

On a funnier note whats going to happen to the naija version of who wants to be a millionaire considering 10 million naira will soon become 100,000 naira...

random musings II

really sorry for the long break, some 'disgruntled elements' had been using jazz to stop me from blogging : - )

(blogger seems to have gone crazy on me, can't seem to get the text to display properly)

Another reason i've been offline is because i've used up all my energy trying to catch up with Ijebuman jr, he took his first steps a few weeks ago and now he is running around the house thinking he is Linford Christie. [just in case you regulars have forgotten, he was a year old 2 weeks ago : - )]

The BNP is going to love this:

Foreigners commit 20 per cent of crime in London, say police

The highest number of offences were carried out by Poles, charged with 2,310 crimes between the start of January and the end of June.

Jamaicans, Irish nationals, Somalians and Romanians - accused of more than 1,000 crimes - had the next worst levels of offending.

[snip]

The worst fraud total was recorded by Nigerians, with 275 crimes

who says Nigeria hasn't got talent LOL.

Seriously, although i know its bad we're on the list but at least we're not in the top 3, considering the bad press we get you'll think naijas commit most of the crime in this town.

(just in case you didn't notice it in the story 80% of crimes is still committed by brits)

----------------------

Celebrating What?
Yar'Adua to mark first 100 days in office

According to Mr. John Ogar Odey (Minister of Information and Communications) a committee has been put in place to work out modalities for the celebration.

Really..

What exactly has Yardy done in the last 100 days, he only just appointed his ministers last month. Apart from reversing a few of his predecessors policies he hasn't exactly done anything, i suggest he waits a year before "celebrating" anything.

As far as i'm concerned the jury is still out on Yardy, his made a few good moves but i still have my doubts about him. Back in '99 when Obj too was reversing decisions made by the previous military government, na so people dey hail am, 8 years later we all know better.

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.

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.

A Junior Update/Weapon of Choice

Just realised how long its been since i blogged about ijebuman jr, he is now 11 months old (amazing how time flies)

Just like Gordon Brown's cabinet reshuffle, we did a furniture reshuffle at ijebuman's mansion this week ; - )
With junior crawling around we've suddenly realised how child unfriendly the place is. The little rascal has developed an unhealthy relationship with everything apart from his toys. He has started chewing on wires, knocking over plants and generally messing up the feng shui arrangement of the place (we ijebu's too get our own feng shui LOL).
No wonder my sister in law was laughing at us last year when we were renovating the house.
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Weapon of Choice

London is gradually turning into some knife crazed city, with kids running around stabbing each other. Since the beginning of the year over a dozen teenagers have been fatally stabbed.

According to The Times
Worried parents are buying body armour for their children in an attempt to keep them safe from street violence.
A firm that supplies stab- and bullet-proof vests to government agencies around the world has sold 60 jackets to concerned parents after several murders of teenagers on London streets.
“They are concerned by what is happening on the streets — the level of violence. A 13-year-old girl has been our youngest customer but most are about 15 or 16. Most of the calls have been from London" a spokesman for the firm is reported as saying.

check out the stats
10% of boys aged 11 and 12 are reported to have carried a knife or other weapon and 8% said they had attacked someone intending serious harm. By the age of 16, the figure had risen to 24% who have carried a knife and 16% who had attacked somebody intending harm.

Links
Boy stabbed to death because he looked at youth ‘the wrong way’
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1996525.ece

Teenager stabbed in third fatal attack since weekend
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1990729.ece

Call for security checks as one in four pupils admits to being armed
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article462529.ece

If things carry on this way Jr might end up in a boarding school in good ole Naija.

Anita Baker At The Royal Albert Hall

Anita Baker performing last night at the Royal Albert Hall