For some strange reasons, I can’t seem to be able to forget Chief M.K.O. Abiola, the President Nigerians voted into office but never got into office. Small innocuous events bring back memories of MKO. Last week was one of such occasions!
I don’t know about you, but one of the reasons I voted for MKO was his promise to fight for reparations for African slaves who were sold into slavery centuries ago. Like everything MKO did, or did not do, there were indications that the Chief meant business. He had laid a solid foundation for the fight even before he became President that he never was. I knew he was going to succeed – or give a good fight - even if he failed! Just like my vote, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, died and was buried with that dream!
So when the British Government publicly rendered an unreserved apology to those children who were sent to Australia nearly five decades ago, I wept, not for those children but for MKO. I wept because those millions of African slaves got a rougher deal than the British children sent to Australia. I wept because the slave trade contributed in no small measure to the perpetual under-development of Africa. I believe that if he was allowed to be our President, African slaves and their descendants would have received more than an apology from those who had nothing better to do with their time and resources than buy and sell fellow human beings! Not to worry because the cosmic has a way of fighting for the hapless.
I am not complaining, but I sure miss MKO.
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Celebrating 20 years without the Berlin Wall
Last week the world celebrated the 20th anniversary of the re-unification of the two Germanys into what is now a prosperous single Germany. It was a spectacle watching hundreds of thousands of huge dominoes fall one atop the other for miles and miles. For me, the significance of the celebration is not that the huge Berlin Wall was torn down twenty years ago but that there are several more Berlin Walls waiting to be removed.
The first of such walls waiting to be removed is the massive, albeit invisible, wall separating the two Koreas. For more than half a century, the two Koreas have lived side by side with family members marooned on either side. If the Berlin Wall was offensive, the Korean Wall is oppressive! Family members on either of the two Koreas cannot as much as communicate with each other, even though modern communication facilities have made communication a cinch! Somebody, somewhere should tell the authorities of North and South Korea that what they are doing is not fair!
Another Wall waiting to come down is the huge Wall dividing the Niger Delta region from the rest of Nigeria! If the Berlin Wall created an economic and social disparity between the East and West Germany, the Wall separating the Niger Delta from the rest of project Nigeria has effectively kept people in this area in the stone age! There is no part of Nigeria where you cannot drive your car except the Niger Delta. There is nowhere in Nigeria where the people use the same water for drinking, washing and everything else except in the Niger Delta region. There is no other place on earth where people still live in stilt houses except in the Niger Delta region. The Niger Delta is the only place on earth where developmental indices are so dismal that they are not included in the national statistics lest we will never meet the MDG’s even if we are given another one hundred years! This is a classical case of how not to treat the goose that lays the golden eggs!
The International Community who contributed immensely towards the erection of this invisible wall separating a set of people from their kith and kin in the hinterland should do something to tear down this wall. President Barack Obama, are you listening? Prime Minister Gordon Brown are you awake? Please tear down this wall!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
The first of such walls waiting to be removed is the massive, albeit invisible, wall separating the two Koreas. For more than half a century, the two Koreas have lived side by side with family members marooned on either side. If the Berlin Wall was offensive, the Korean Wall is oppressive! Family members on either of the two Koreas cannot as much as communicate with each other, even though modern communication facilities have made communication a cinch! Somebody, somewhere should tell the authorities of North and South Korea that what they are doing is not fair!
Another Wall waiting to come down is the huge Wall dividing the Niger Delta region from the rest of Nigeria! If the Berlin Wall created an economic and social disparity between the East and West Germany, the Wall separating the Niger Delta from the rest of project Nigeria has effectively kept people in this area in the stone age! There is no part of Nigeria where you cannot drive your car except the Niger Delta. There is nowhere in Nigeria where the people use the same water for drinking, washing and everything else except in the Niger Delta region. There is no other place on earth where people still live in stilt houses except in the Niger Delta region. The Niger Delta is the only place on earth where developmental indices are so dismal that they are not included in the national statistics lest we will never meet the MDG’s even if we are given another one hundred years! This is a classical case of how not to treat the goose that lays the golden eggs!
The International Community who contributed immensely towards the erection of this invisible wall separating a set of people from their kith and kin in the hinterland should do something to tear down this wall. President Barack Obama, are you listening? Prime Minister Gordon Brown are you awake? Please tear down this wall!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Icebergs on the move
There is this popular saying that if Mohammed does not go to the mountain, the mountain goes to Mohammed. This is a classical case of the Mountain moving to Mohammed, except that in this case, huge icebergs are on the move to New Zealand. Just as well too.
For sometime now, those who know better have continually shouted their voices hoarse that the activities of the so-called civilized nations have caused an unbearable increase in the temperature of our once beautiful earth. Nobody listened. So those worst affected – icebergs – are on a peaceful demonstration, except that they are heading in the wrong direction. They should be heading for China, Japan and the US – in that order.
Who knows what else will soon be on the move? The way the globe is warning (or is it heating up) I won’t be surprised if some African killer bees decide to move from Africa to the West to inform them that their natural habitats have become unbearable to the extent that they can no longer produce any honey!
Wait until the icebergs are done!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
For sometime now, those who know better have continually shouted their voices hoarse that the activities of the so-called civilized nations have caused an unbearable increase in the temperature of our once beautiful earth. Nobody listened. So those worst affected – icebergs – are on a peaceful demonstration, except that they are heading in the wrong direction. They should be heading for China, Japan and the US – in that order.
Who knows what else will soon be on the move? The way the globe is warning (or is it heating up) I won’t be surprised if some African killer bees decide to move from Africa to the West to inform them that their natural habitats have become unbearable to the extent that they can no longer produce any honey!
Wait until the icebergs are done!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
Monday, November 9, 2009
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua the Hero?
For more than 50 years the Federal Government of Nigeria has taken the people of the Niger Delta region for a jolly ride. While resources from the region developed and sustained project Nigeria the area has been left stuck in the stone age. Roads could not be constructed because of problems associated with Mr. Difficult Terrain. Schools could not be sited here in the Niger Delta because Mr. Difficult Terrain refused to oblige – that is until now!
After nearly 30 months in office, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has finally acceded to the dictates of commonsense to do what needed to be done right from the beginning – put the development of the Niger Delta in the front burner! An estimated N200billion is reported to have been approved for the development of the area in addition to an unprecedented 10% shareholding being reserved for oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region. Now I remember what my mother told me several decades ago. If you must fight with anyone my son, please chose a talkative and avoid the non-talking type!
A note of warning for the Federal Government, lest I forget. In the last thirty years alone, I have lost count of how many laudable projects have been spoilt, as it were, in the process of execution. Care must be taken not to allow the notorious Nigerian factor highjack the laudable intentions of the Federal Government in the implementation process. That will be very sad in deed.
Now that the Federal Government is on the right path, could all the other collaborators in the project Nigeria who collectively made the Niger Delta what it is today, please wake up from their slumber? I am referring to the Multinational Oil Companies who wrecked so much ecological havoc on the area that the fisherman in the area is still groping for an alternative to the only skill he has. It is not enough to build infrastructure in the area and expect that Mr. Ijawman will be in a position to use the roads when he has no car.
Thank you Mr. President for saving Nigeria from disintegration. You are our hero!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
After nearly 30 months in office, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has finally acceded to the dictates of commonsense to do what needed to be done right from the beginning – put the development of the Niger Delta in the front burner! An estimated N200billion is reported to have been approved for the development of the area in addition to an unprecedented 10% shareholding being reserved for oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region. Now I remember what my mother told me several decades ago. If you must fight with anyone my son, please chose a talkative and avoid the non-talking type!
A note of warning for the Federal Government, lest I forget. In the last thirty years alone, I have lost count of how many laudable projects have been spoilt, as it were, in the process of execution. Care must be taken not to allow the notorious Nigerian factor highjack the laudable intentions of the Federal Government in the implementation process. That will be very sad in deed.
Now that the Federal Government is on the right path, could all the other collaborators in the project Nigeria who collectively made the Niger Delta what it is today, please wake up from their slumber? I am referring to the Multinational Oil Companies who wrecked so much ecological havoc on the area that the fisherman in the area is still groping for an alternative to the only skill he has. It is not enough to build infrastructure in the area and expect that Mr. Ijawman will be in a position to use the roads when he has no car.
Thank you Mr. President for saving Nigeria from disintegration. You are our hero!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
Friday, November 6, 2009
Age Cheats
Watching these boys play football, one gets the impression that something is wrong somewhere. They neither play nor behave like 16 year olds. So no one is surprised at the allegations of over aged boys making the starting 11 of most of the competing teams. Some of them have even grown beards all over their faces.It is beginning to look like Politicians who cry foul when they are out-rigged!
Ordinarily, Adokiye Amiesimaka is a very patriotic Nigerian. He loves this country more than many of us. He played football at the highest level and made a name in the game. Today he is not a hungry man because he has a flourishing legal practice. So when someone like him bares his chest and informs the world that Nigerian U-17 Captain, Fortune Chukwudi played as an 18 year old seven years ago then something is very wrong somewhere. The implication is that Fortune is not just marginally over-aged at the U-17 pack but a 25 year old adult. I am not amused.
The reaction of the Nigerian Football authorities is that Fortune Chukwudi passed the prescribed age test, not once but twice! If there were no lingering doubts about his age (and size) why did he have to be subjected to the test twice? Not to worry. Since Fortune has a certified age test result over and above his birth certificate which indicates that he is under 17, why all the fuss? May be the authorities should email a copy of Fortune’s certificates to Adokiye for keeps. He sure may need them for his practice.
For now, Fortune Chukwudi is a legitimate U-17 Captain of the Nigerian Golden Eaglets at the brink of conquering the World, one more time, God willing.
Tata, everybody
Napoleon.
Ordinarily, Adokiye Amiesimaka is a very patriotic Nigerian. He loves this country more than many of us. He played football at the highest level and made a name in the game. Today he is not a hungry man because he has a flourishing legal practice. So when someone like him bares his chest and informs the world that Nigerian U-17 Captain, Fortune Chukwudi played as an 18 year old seven years ago then something is very wrong somewhere. The implication is that Fortune is not just marginally over-aged at the U-17 pack but a 25 year old adult. I am not amused.
The reaction of the Nigerian Football authorities is that Fortune Chukwudi passed the prescribed age test, not once but twice! If there were no lingering doubts about his age (and size) why did he have to be subjected to the test twice? Not to worry. Since Fortune has a certified age test result over and above his birth certificate which indicates that he is under 17, why all the fuss? May be the authorities should email a copy of Fortune’s certificates to Adokiye for keeps. He sure may need them for his practice.
For now, Fortune Chukwudi is a legitimate U-17 Captain of the Nigerian Golden Eaglets at the brink of conquering the World, one more time, God willing.
Tata, everybody
Napoleon.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Post Amnesty – the Imo State perspective
It appears there are some Nigerians who still do not understand the problems of the Niger Delta region. A typical example is the case of the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly who cried out loud last week that Imo State should be given the same treatment as other Niger Delta States in the post Amnesty deal of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Chief Goodluck Opiah, Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly was reported to have told reporters at the Owerri Airport that Imo State should be treated like any other Niger Delta State because “we suffer the same ecological, economical and mental problems as the other States”. I couldn’t agree more with Chief Opiah. Who does not know that, pretty much like Bayelsa State, Imo State does not have a single kilometre of Federal Roads, no Federal Secretariat, no Higher Institution, no Airport – in fact not a single project belonging to the Federal Government.
It is very sad that people like Chief Opiah can confuse the developmental problems of the Niger Delta with the ecological problems caused by oil prospecting companies in the Niger Delta region. They are two different problems, Chief. The first is as a result of the deliberate neglect of the Niger Delta by successive governments resulting in the Niger Delta region looking like another country – stuck in the stone age as it were. The second is a necessary bye product of the activities of oil prospecting Multinationals operating in the area.
Now I know why the problem of the Niger Delta has been treated with kid gloves till date. Many Nigerians do not travel around the country so they cannot imagine what the Niger Delta looks like. Chief Opiah will do well to ask other Nigerians who have been to the heart of the Niger Delta – it is hell in heaven!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
Chief Goodluck Opiah, Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly was reported to have told reporters at the Owerri Airport that Imo State should be treated like any other Niger Delta State because “we suffer the same ecological, economical and mental problems as the other States”. I couldn’t agree more with Chief Opiah. Who does not know that, pretty much like Bayelsa State, Imo State does not have a single kilometre of Federal Roads, no Federal Secretariat, no Higher Institution, no Airport – in fact not a single project belonging to the Federal Government.
It is very sad that people like Chief Opiah can confuse the developmental problems of the Niger Delta with the ecological problems caused by oil prospecting companies in the Niger Delta region. They are two different problems, Chief. The first is as a result of the deliberate neglect of the Niger Delta by successive governments resulting in the Niger Delta region looking like another country – stuck in the stone age as it were. The second is a necessary bye product of the activities of oil prospecting Multinationals operating in the area.
Now I know why the problem of the Niger Delta has been treated with kid gloves till date. Many Nigerians do not travel around the country so they cannot imagine what the Niger Delta looks like. Chief Opiah will do well to ask other Nigerians who have been to the heart of the Niger Delta – it is hell in heaven!
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
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