Meet The Nigerian Big Man

I find it disturbing that in our country no body cares about your plight unless you are a 'big man' or literally a big man. Granted, the twin bombings appeared as assassination attempts on the life of both Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari but let's not forget the bigger tragedy, which is the death of over 40 people.
These were the 'innocent ones', mosque goers, market traders, by-standers, realtives, friends....in short, everyday people. But no one is interested in those stories; no one seems to be interested in the story of the boy who may never get to school and achieve his dreams because he just lost the bread winner in his family, no one cares about the family now heart broken because they have lost an only child, and no one cares about the girl who will NEVER see his friend again. No one cares about these lives being changed forever nor the ones being totally lost rather all you hear is this person's condolence or the other person's sympathy or the nation's concern for the life of the Nigerian Big Man (in this case Big Men) and some one else wishes a quick recovery to the General's body guard, who by the way, were injured on duty but we dont even know their names. I am happy he is not dead too, but that should not be the major headline here. I am happy he escaped unhurt but what about those who died.
I am not on a hate-war against the rich in Nigeria contrary to what you may think but I am concerned about the faceless and the nameless who die everyday for them, the people who suffer dire poverty while they loot our money, the ones who put their lives every other day on the line in political arenas and poll stations just so they can get pennies to feed their families for that week or the 33.1 percent or so of Nigerians who live below the poverty line of 2 U.S Dollars a day (according to the latest World bank report): the everyday Nigerian who is still 'sufferng and smiling'.
The most despicable part of this whole tragic story is that on social media sites and blogs, people have started lambasting opposition political parties and some are throwing blames on the President. Lets not forget, fellow men and women of this Republic died in the unfortunate circumstance of being found at the wrong place at the wrong time and took the brunt for what was supposedly meant to be the death of another man. Rather its always about the political parties; conspiracy and counter-conspiracy.
Thank God for the lives spared.

Is Nigeria Still Worth Fighting For

Welcome to Nigeria, but I am afraid you might have wasted the trip.
I am happy about the publicity that terrorism in Nigeria has gotten; not because the Haramite are becoming international superstars but because now it is evident to the world (and not only sad bedtime stories and stories for charity events in the West) the ineptitude of the governmentS of the federal republic. I am not pointing hands at any one man but our system of governance that has crippled our country since 'it' began. Maybe the pressure on government now will spur them into doing some things right......I am not raising my hopes though.
But you might have wasted your time because in Nigeria presidents are not bound by their words nor their promises. They can tell you they have 100 points agenda but only end up fulilling -20; which means 20 of those promised rehabilitations will become worse off by the end of that tenure. We have presidents that play politics even with the lives of little girls and believe the problem of the country is more from an opposition political party than corruption and negligence (not that the oppositions are absolved of the blame either, most of them "ran" and are still "running" this country).
You might have also really wasted your time because Nigerians are not ready to be helped. Sorry to say. The average Nigerian is, unfortunately, more interested in food on his table than the girls. So it doesnt matter if he is going to get that meal from the governor who splashes the state money around on travels while the public is lacking amenities or whether he is going to get it from standing for hours under the sun for a political rally he could care less about....except ofcourse for the stipends they get at the end of it. So when the election comes, he goes about his private business or considers that day a public holiday to rest from all the work and 'hustle' but funny enough his vote gets accounted for along with the votes of every other person that didnt vote. I mean, why bother to go to a polling station and risk getting killed when you can sell that vote for a bag of rice or absolve yourself from the stress altogether.
Maybe it is not entirely fair to say you wasted your time because every cause is worth fighting for and we really can not but fight for our country. We appreciate you taking the pain and we are are willing to let you fight along side us.

Why I Think Movies Hinder Aspirations

I dont dislike movies. As a matter of fact some poeple that know me think I like them but I think movies can really discourage people's dreams or blur the paths needed for dreams to be actualized.
From biographies to science fiction to, the crowd favourite, romance, movies tell the truth in a way that is a lie. Am not doubting or faulting their stories or facts or information at all. Am just saying that when actor-models and beauty-queen-actresses portray a role, it kind of distorts the purpose of motivation or enlightenment or plain information and just turns to plain old sex appeal.

Some times movies tell the best stories with lots of lessons but for most people they can not get past the point of entertainment because that is all they see, that is all they are made to see. The stories told there are real life, down to earth and plausible stories meant to be interpreted for the everyday guy and the girl next door but we may not be able to see that and relate with it as such because the people acting the roles are not your every day (average) guy or girl 'next flat'. I mean do you think the base ball player who fought through all the odds to win those championships as portrayed in movie X had those kind of shapely jaws and broad chest(not that I noticed) of actor Bobo or that the girl who tried to find love but kept getting her heart torn out in movie Y had such a figure (figure 88). If the guy looked anything like that he would be considering a career in modeling not base ball and the girl would definitely have guys flocking around and probably be an actress....which is actually what she is.
The gossip magazines don't do us any justice either by semi-idolizing these peolple, telling us what this wore for this and what expensive location the other one vacationed in....I mean how am I suppose to see him truely in that poor man's role he acts when it gets to the next movie.
Even reality shows that are supposed to portray real life instances and everyday issues of people in a "normal life" is all about expensive cars, houses and phones (our favourite toy). If we settled to really look and I mean really look, we could uncover the intelligent lessons these movies teach and even reality tv (Kardashians et al). But it is covered with so much "celebriting" that we loose the essence.
PS I am still waiting for a "real life reality television" show.

We Still Don't Know Why @obyekes Was Detained

Twitter and other social media sites were agog with insults and counter insults due to @obyezeks' tweet of her arrest detainment by SSS. Keep in mind that the owner of this twitter handle is believed to be former Minister of Education of the Federal Republic and also was a co-founder of Transparency International (some would say Ironic). Many people immediately turned this into another political argument and others, including herself, made reference to her stance against the kidnap of more than 200 girls by Boko Haram (no longer news by the way) and her support for the #Bringbackourgirls movement as her reason for DETAINMENT.
I just have a couple of questions..
1. Can Mrs. Ezekwesili confirm to us that the SSS detained her on grounds of her support for bringing back our girls or that they even remotely hinted that she was an enemy of state because she says government should bring back our girls?
2. Is this the first time that the SSS is detaining a citizen of this country?
3. Had there always been a secret agenda when security operatives detain every Uche, Femi and Musa or did it just begin when people started calling for our girls to be brought back?
4. Just how many people have missed their "international" flights or almost did due to security agencies? And how many of them blamed the president for it (according to her supporters)?

5. And all those coming to "her aid", did she mention that this was about political parties or you are just ready to cry wolf once a pin drops.

I respect this lady a lot that is why I am interested in these answers and want these issues to be clarified. It ridicules every shred of morality and virtue of Nigerians when people politicise the suffering of these girls and worse still the horror of their parents and loved ones living in the uncertainty of these circumstances. These are people's sisters, cousins, children, friends who have been kidnapped for months now and are going through whatever evil imaginable (and unimaginable too), but here we are with people making political statements and capitalising on the suffering of these families. But what choice do they have(the families) than to be exploited like this, after all, these are the only people who act like they care and are atleast taking action....be it controversial or not.

Do we really mean for these girls to be brought back or its just a twitter handle for us? All of you should remember that deir is ********* *coughs*. Dats all.

Why Coca Cola Adverts Are Amazing

Coca Cola always brings the best when it comes to TV commercials. From Sport ads to normal promotional ads (I guess all of them are promotional). From the seemingly dramatic mimic of Chocolate factory, to Roger Miller's dance and the likes but this new one is hilarious-- It was inspired by the world cup and is essentially talking about the different kinds of people that watch a football match and I could relate with these different examples. For instance:

The Admirers
The admirers are those ladies who are now die hard Arsen*l fans because of their fine boys. They are not ashamed of this and neither should you. Yes, you. It also goes without saying that one of the best things this club did to attract these set of fans was to sign the captain of all fine boys, Walcott. I mean, how can someone just be that fine? For fear of using too many "fine" in one article, let me stop there.

The Worrier
During this world cup, definitely the person that wins this award is the Chilean coach. He makes a habit of walking to and fro on the pitch. I respective of where the ball was on the pitch at that moment, he meticulously walked those steps to and fro and in no distracted order. Nothing the players or ref did deterred him, not even when his team was up for penalties; his assistants prepped the players while he made the rounds of "the walk".
Another interesting character is Sir Alex Ferguson; in his time as coach he was famous for the gum, so much that his last gum is rumoured to have been framed in a Museum.....just saying.


The Clueless
How many of us football lovers just hate it when a sister or girlfriend is asking us questions while a match is going on. I have entertained questions like; 'why is that man handling the ball with his hand’ while referring to the keeper, ‘why can't the coach change ALL these players, Nigeria is playing rubbish', ‘is the goal keeper wearing trouser or a long sock’ and 'why are the players so lazy, cant they go and tackle that player that is about to kick the ball?' during a free kick. It is not fair that the world is male chauvinistic, so the female gender want in on what is arguably the most popular sport in the world, but those questions are annoying. Though it doesn’t mean I don’t have a thing for girls that like football (or soccer....if you like that sort of thing).

Diehard
Once during an Under-17 World Cup final between Nigeria and Spain which happened to fall on a Sunday (either in the late afternoon or early morning). Our church had a convention going on and all was calm during the early hours of the morning but when the match started, it is safe to say that the population of 'men' reduced even more than is already characteristic of church. Funny enough, it turns out that there was a television near the gate inside the church premises, and each time the team made an attempt, people would shout almost louder than the public address system of the church. When we eventually won, the roar destabilised service, at least for a moment. And it just so happens that the preacher was on his message at the time. Now that is ‘die hard’!!
This company didn't just try to sell their product....again. Unlike every other person they brought up something or an issue or circumstance that people can relate to. This is why this advert stood out for me during the world cup.

Why Nigeria is not Haram (forbidden)

All this free publicity given to Boko Haram is just plain panache. It is now hard for one not to believe that they have "high-handed" sponsors and sympathisers. Some even think its a symbiotic relationship between the sponsors and the sponsored; boko haram cause enough terrorism in the name of "Islam" while the furore and mayhem this causes fuels a political opposition for the citizens to be intimidated into thinking the country is ungovernable. But all that is 'beer parlour journalism'.
The part of this whole story that I dislike is how some part of the media seem to exalt this cowards who only have prowess against little girls, unarmed communities and women/children without the ability to protect themselves (no thanks to our government). They are considered as intelligent schemers, guerrilla experts and other encomiums falsely to their credit. But I say they are just a bunch of heartless cowards........period.
Now the international and national media have made it seem like these insurgents penetrated into all parts of the country. I realized this when a Liberian mentioned how his wife had discouraged him from coming to the country because apparently "Nigeria" is now a terror/war zone. This seems to be the wrong representation we are given outside of the country with people not having a complete understanding of the situation in Nigeria. It is worthy of note that for now, this trouble is predominant in (but not restricted to) the North East of the country. So for now Lagos, Port Harcourt, South West/East, and the middle belt are "safe" in relation to bombings and community massacre. For most other parts of Nigeria, it is almost ‘business as usual’. Whether it is acceptable or not that the rest of the country is somewhat lackadaisical concerning lives and property of fellow citizens is a topic for another day, but scaring people from Nigeria is achieving the objective of these terrorists. So I want to state here, albeit reluctantly, that in most of the country it's still business as usual and no credit to boko.

Also see the opinion of a well known ninja on this issue

Democracy..... Government BUY the people....

It seemed like a dream when rumours were all over the social media that Ek*t* state election was won based on one important factor...
I would like to say that it was the honesty of the aspirants or the confidence of voters on their economic and security policies or even their charisma and personality. I would also like to say that this election demonstrated voter integrity and what not. But going by this vicious rumour (hopefully that is all it was), the deciding factor was good 'ole' dependable RICE.
That is not an acronym neither did you misread, yes rice, iresi, shinkafa, osikapa, that staple food that you despise at weddings, parties, dinners and even at your cat's funeral. I seriously want to believe that this is not true. I mean how can it be? We have suffered too long and too much in this country to just sell our votes (....I also wish I can say that). The implication of this is that our vote is in our stomach, no longer our hands.
The price of vote has tremendously reduced then, and like most things, I blame it on the economy. If a cup of rice is still #200 then that is how much it takes to get a vote in Nigeria. I can't help but laugh. But what would we expect in a poverty stricken country where people live below the one dollar per day mark. I mean 1 U.S $ is about #160; that would make it less than a cup of rice.