http://africaphotographer.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-africa-is-poor-mystery-of-pyramid.html
You may also wish to check out: The Man in the Water & The Man [with] A Ladder on this blog: http://emotanafricana.com/2013/07/19/the-man-in-the-water-the-man-with-a-ladder-two-stories-as-a-metaphor-for-two-peoples/
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2013. 4:42:14 a.m. [GMT]
http://thekenteweaver.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/amazing-art-kelvin-okafor/
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2013. 4:51 a.m. [GMT]
Okay, guys, there are always new things coming out of Nigeria, especially as regards supposed everybody’s common wealth: oil. One of those I once referred to as those who continue to profit from Nigeria’s collective misery recently told a London Court he made “ONLY” 39 billion Naira or thereabout, OR something in the neighborhood of $250 million from an oil block sale!
For the benefit of my non-Nigerian readers, an “oil block” is understood – by me – as gifting oil well(s) to somebody who turns around to sell the paper (allocation license) from which he makes billions.
I have no idea what this guy’s father did more than what’s contained in the story: that Mohammed Ndimi is an oil billionaire and the son, Ahmed, is the company’s marketing director.
Now, posting a bank balance on social network may not be madness but it reminds me of a [Nigerian] multimillionaire back when a Naira would fetch well over a dollar whose sole reason for attending a party was to show off his new ROLEX to everybody! Let me just say his own wealth was made through one of the easiest Nigerian ways of making money rather than the kind of wealth in that old American Financial Company, Smith Barney’s ad: “We make our money the old fashioned way, we earn it.”
What’s meant by the word “parvenu”, anyone? – TOLA.
Here’s the link to the instagram story:
You may also wish to check out:
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2013. 8:34:01 p.m. [GMT]
The lady ain’t for probing, guys, no matter what muck you come up with, but we must keep speaking up despite the teflon coating of many in government among whom Ms. Madueke ranks v. high. TOLA.
ITEMS:
.During Easter break, she flew a private jet to Dubai with members of her family at the cost of $300,000.
• During President Jonathan’s visit to South Africa, she flew in a private jet that cost Nigeria $300,000.
•The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a government agency she oversees, maintains a Challenger 850 Visa jet which serves the minister’s needs as well as those of her family. The cost of running the jet is $500,000 per month.
• Ms. Allison-Madueke went to a meeting of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Austria in a private jet.
Foor the whole story, check out:
You may also be interested in:
Mrs. D. Allison-Madueke: If President Jonathan wants to be taken seriously about his determination to conduct Nigeria’s business NOT as usual and fight corruption or, pardon me, if Nigeria was another country, Mrs. Madueke would not be on his ministerial list for the simple reason that too many allegations are flying around about the woman. In the “other” country, Mrs. Madueke would not only have been forced to resign after the oil block story broke before Jonathan’s swearing in when she took off for a foreign trip purportedly for a medical condition but her name would not go near any ministerial list. Her name has also appeared on the Railways financial mess list ...
[For the whole essay from June 22, 2011 three months after the birth of this blog, please check out:
AND
MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013. 8:22 p.m. [GMT]
This is no news to most observers of Nigerian Pentecostal churches. They preach prosperity to the point of absurdity, and their followers have come to accept this as normal. Their pastors demand multiple donations, some of which are drawn on cheques and foreign currencies and collected in large buckets. The congregants are fleeced every week but do not complain despite the obvious ostentation and opulence of their pastors. In fact, members donate cheerfully as they have been told and firmly believe that this will open the floodgates of heaven to unleash unlimited prosperity. Bear in mind that some of these individuals cannot afford to feed themselves.
Anyone can start a church in Nigeria – no qualifications are required other than a statement to the effect that God has spoken to one to start a church. Church is a very profitable business in this country; little wonder there is a church on nearly every street. And of course, no taxes are paid. Pastors are greatly revered and some of them have very influential friends in government and politics. Corruption is a big thing in Nigeria too. It is perhaps, the biggest problem that hinders Nigeria’s development. Corrupt politicians and some pastors have an unholy alliance: Politicians can loot the national treasure as much as they like and buy‘penance’ from the pastors through generous church donations. After all, God loves a cheerful giver and welcomes all sinners. Now you see why Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world despite the ubiquitous influence of churches (and mosques). The degree of religiosity of its peoples has not translated to a commensurate degree of morality, as one would expect.
Few churches donate to charitable causes despite the glaringly obvious need to do so. Our society is in dire need of orphanages, schools, hospitals, motor-able roads, pipe-borne water, and rehabilitation centres e.g. for the disabled, young offenders or those with alcohol and drug-related problems etc. Nigerian churches are excellent fund-raisers. Only recently, a pastor asked for a donation of about £120million to build a church auditorium of mammoth dimensions – approx. 3km long x 3km wide. Believe this or not, but reports say he asked 10 people to donate £4 million each and a further 100 people to donate £0.4 million each!
How many people, who have worked hard for their money will donate such amounts of money so easily? Given his pedigree, there is little to doubt the pastor will not achieve his budgetary goal. But ask Nigerians to donate to build a hospital and you will be lucky to get any donations. Obviously, as a people, our priorities are very misplaced. Our hospitals are so badly resourced these days that everybody with the financial means goes abroad for medical treatment. Very little money, if any at all, is given to charities from the humongous funds raised by churches. Also, some of the pastors are absolute rulers and can do exactly what they want with these funds without being held to account by their members. Members are careful not to criticise their pastors so as not to incur the wrath of God, and will often cite a Bible verse that says ‘Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm’. By the way, this verse is very popular with the pastors. The members are happy to leave all criticisms and matters of accountability to God.
Many Nigerian pastors have church branches in the UK and the US (where foreign exchange is very favourable) but they conveniently avoid hostile places such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Iran, and Syria – all of which are ‘fertile grounds’ with teeming numbers of the exact kinds of people that require the gospel of Jesus. Some of these pastors are astute businessmen who have undoubtedly capitalised on the naivety, credulity and generous donations of their followers to establish business empires, which people perceive as separate to the church e.g. printing presses and private universities. These universities are very expensive and are not subsidised for the poor church members who continue to make weekly contributions to church funds. Some of these pastors own private jets and chains of luxury cars and expensive properties both at home and abroad. Or how else does one explain such opulence when these individuals have no other apparent source of income or patents attached to their names?
A very worrying feature of Nigerian Pentecostal churches is ‘miracle healing’. Pastors claim they can cure all types of diseases through prayers and the use of items such as anointing oil and handkerchiefs. The disastrous consequence of this is that people often die from their diseases without ever going to hospital while these pastors are never held accountable for their lies or faked healing credentials.
In other parts of Nigeria (e.g. Calabar and Akwa Ibom) where Pentecostalism is juxtaposed with indigenous religion, this trend assumes a danger of alarming proportion. Witches, evil spirits, demons and human enemies are believed to be responsible for diseases and misfortunes. Vulnerable children are labelled as witches and are subjected to all manners of physical abuses including burns, beatings and deaths. You are probably familiar with the story of the young girl that had a nail driven into her skull in the name of exorcism.
In my opinion, we have now got to a point where the government needs to consider regulating churches. The government has a duty to protect its citizens from harm and exploitation. These Pentecostal churches have proven beyond reasonable doubt that they are profitable commercial businesses and government is losing revenues by not taxing them. People can argue, quite sensibly, that the pastors haven’t forced anybody to donate money. This is true to the extent that they have not held a gun to anybody’s head but one cannot ignore the mental coercions and invocations of guilt that take place. Are we going to pretend it is ok for our people to die from diseases because pastors have brainwashed them into thinking these can be cured by miracles thereby depriving them of the opportunity to visit hospitals where their ailments have any real chances of treatment? Some pastors go as far telling patients not to take their medications. Shouldn’t these pastors be charged for manslaughter if prosecutors can prove that harm or death has occurred as a direct result of the pastors’ claims? The problem for the government is that it lacks the moral high ground to prosecute these individuals because of its own failure to alleviate poverty and provide basic amenities for its citizens such as hospitals, good roads, electricity, water etc
President Paul Biya of Cameroun has recently closed down about 100 churches, which are said to have dodgy credentials. I think this is a good start although I can’t say that Mr Biya has not got ulterior motives. The churches claim he desperately wants to hold on to power and has become intolerant of their criticisms. The danger with this approach, I suppose, is the risk of emergence of ‘state churches’ through patronage. Churches, which tow the line, can enjoy as much freedom as they want to do whatever they like. Nonetheless, this is an important debate to have and I would love to read your views:
· Should government regulate the activities of churches and their pastors?
· What is the best way to go about this?
· Should the registration of new churches come with a pre-condition to establish or support charities?
· Do you think churches should be made to pay taxes?
· If not, why not?
· Or shall we just plod along like we currently are?
Before I end, let me point out that there are always exceptions to any rule. I am sure there are churches and pastors that are well integrated into the community and pursue goals that elevate the dignity of humanity. They should be applauded.
Ijabla Raymond
Medical doctor of Nigerian heritage writes from the UK
Contact: ijabla.raymond@facebook.com
Martin Rogers for Yahoo! Sports
Oscar Pistorius cold-stares the world from this TIME Magazine cover for March 11, 2013 soon after the murder of Reeva Steenkampf, the girl friend he murdered
Pistorius not only comes from a wealthy family but also has accumulated enough money to fund a lavish lifestyle thanks to endorsement deals and appearance fees on the track.
It was reported two weeks ago that he was looking at purchasing an expensive Audi sports car, though the Pistorius family hastily put out a disclaimer insisting the reason for his visit to a dealership was to make a payment for his uncle.
Full story:
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013. 5:23:50 a.m. [GMT]
On March 12, 2013, this blog reached a first for a single post: Yoruba Engagement Aso Oke earned emotanafricana.com its first thousand viewership, and with other titles on Yoruba textiles, textile technology and Aso Oke for various occasions and from different eras flexing their historical and social muscles, the idea that an area of my blog had hit pay dirt – so to say – came to me.
Yesterday, August 20, 2013 and a little over five months after the first milestone, the same title reached the three thousand (3,000) mark, a gap of well over a thousand difference between it and its two closest rivals 1,163 and 1,112.
Yoruba Engagement Aso Oke was first posted on October 29, 2012. It is noteworthy that the essay – just like many on this blog – continues to attract readership long after initial publication.
Thanks to my thousands of readers from around the world. Just yesterday, there was another first: Tanzania sent 36 readers on a single day, and following a trend of some new discoverers of the blog hanging on to see what it’s all about, seven (7) of those 36 (I like to imagine) OR seven new ones … are already there as early as 5 a.m. [GMT] today!
Thanks to everybody, and my thanks, as always, to wordpress.com.
Source of Stats: http://www.wordpress.com
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013. 6:17:45 a.m. [GMT]
Ms. Guy-Blache – in her mid-20s [Wikipedia]
Hardly anyone remembers Alice Guy-Blaché, the first female movie director. Now filmmaker Pamela Green—who calls Guy-Blaché the Mark Zuckerberg of her time—is on a mission to get Alice’s story on the silver screen.
She wrote, directed, or produced more than 1,000 films. At age 23, she was one of the first filmmakers to make a narrative movie. She pioneered the technology of syncing sound to film. She created the first film with an all African-American cast. And she was the first woman to build and run a film studio.
Any idea who she is?
If not, you’re far from alone. A majority of people—even Hollywood directors, actors, and producers—have never heard of her.
Alice Guy-Blaché was the world’s first female director. She was one of the most innovative moviemakers of her time—doubly remarkable because she was a woman who succeeded in a solidly all-male world. But Guy-Blaché remains forgotten by many in the movie industry. Filmmaker Pamela Green wants to change all that. Her movie in the making, Be Natural, is a product of nearly two years of research on Guy-Blaché’s life and legacy. The movie is supported by a host of Hollywood bigwigs, including Robert Redford as executive producer and Jodie Foster as narrator, plus Catherine Hardwicke, Jon Chu, Julie Delpy, Cheryl Hines, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Marc Wanamaker.
But Green, along with her co-director Jarik van Sluijs, are far from finished with their research—which is why they created a Kickstarter to fund the project. Donations are accepted only until August 27, and they’ve reached only a fraction of their goal so far.
Arguably, Guy-Blaché changed the format of filmmaking forever. “We think of her as like a Mark Zuckerberg,” Green says. “The technology was there, but she took it further by figuring out a way to connect with the audience through her storytelling.”
She was active in France from 1896 to 1907 and in the United States from 1910 to 1922, Green says. And by utilizing a narrative technique, Guy-Blaché was able to accomplish something completely unique for the time.
“She understood that telling a narrative story in film was going to require following the perspective of a singular character, and it took a good 10 years for other filmmakers to figure out exactly what she did,” Alison McMahan, a filmmaker and film scholar, says in one of the movie’s Kickstarter videos.
Guy-Blaché’s narrative roots probably started as a child, Green says, because she grew up as the daughter of a bookseller. She became a secretary to Leon Gaumont, of France’s Gaumont Studios, where she witnessed demonstrations of the 60mm and 35mm cameras. She asked Gaumont if she could experiment with the new technology.
It was a perfect fit. “[Guy-Blaché] sees a box as an opportunity to tell stories, and she asked her boss for permission if she can go film something … She went out there and did it. And they told her, ‘Oh, this is a silly girlish thing, but go ahead.’ She didn’t stop,” Green says.
In 1896, The Cabbage Fairy (La Fée aux choux) became Guy-Blaché’s first film. That first foray led to hundreds of short films for Gaumont Studios, where she was eventually made head of production. When Gaumont relocated her husband and cameraman Herbert Blaché to New York in 1907, she opened her own studio, Solax, which was located first in Flushing, Queens, and then in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Solax released two or three films every week—and Guy-Blaché directed most of them herself. Even Alfred Hitchcock was a fan. She was so ahead of her time, Green says, that she even made a movie called In The Year 2000, When Women Are in Charge. By the time of her death in 1968, she had produced more than 1,000 films. However, due to distribution and wear-and-tear of old film, she knew the whereabouts of only three of her movies, according to Green. Now, about 150 of her films have been found.
Guy-Blaché received France’s Legion of Honor in 1953 and Director’s Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, so why isn’t Guy-Blaché more of a household name in Hollywood? That is one of the questions that Green is investigating. She says there are numerous reasons for Guy-Blaché’s near erasure from history: “History is written by men … The role of the director wasn’t really defined back then … and she was a woman—that’s automatic.”
The film’s title, Be Natural, reflects what Guy-Blaché told her actors when directing them—to “act natural,” which was dramatic for the time. She even had signs with the mantra in Solax studios, Green says.
Despite the 100-year difference, Green and van Sluijs, who started PIC Agency in Hollywood, think they have much in common with Guy-Blaché. “We built this company from scratch, and that’s why we respect Alice, because she went ahead and built a company from scratch. It’s very hard to stay in business—it was hard for her then; it’s hard for us now,” Green says.
When asked how she nabbed big names like Redford and Foster to support Be Natural, Green says, “How did Alice do it? You go out there and you ask people.”
Green wants Be Natural not only to pay homage to Guy-Blaché and her work, but also to be an inspiration for future generations of filmmakers. Green says the movie, which will have both 2-D and 3-D CGI renderings of early 20th-century locations and technologies, will fully immerse viewers into Guy-Blaché’s world.
“This story is not only an amazing example for women, it’s an amazing example for an entrepreneur, and it’s a great way to get a grasp of what really went on in cinema from a modern perspective—not just some boring history lesson,” Green says. “We want people to be emotional as well and experience the beginnings through this woman’s eyes and see the future … through going back in time and standing next to her.”
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013. 6:19 p.m. [GMT]
English: Iringa highland region, Tanzania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Locator map of Iringa region, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In Summary
The plant with a capacity to process and package three tonnes of honey per day is set to process and package over 120 tonnes annually and offer direct employment to about 30 full time employees.
A sample of a honey comb in which bees store the much sought after product. PHOTTO|LUGENZI KABALE
Dodoma. In an effort to grow Tanzania’s share in the global honey and wax market, a local firm based in Dodoma named Igembensabo Limited, is at an advanced stage of setting up a honey processing and packaging plant to be located at Nane Nane Agricultural Exhibition Grounds, over 10 kilometres outside the capital along Morogoro-Dar es Salaam highway.
The plant with a capacity to process and package three tonnes of honey per day is set to process and package over 120 tonnes annually and offer direct employment to about 30 full time employees.
It will also offer indirect employment to over 500,000 peasants and bee keepers in over 12 regions of Dodoma, Singida, Tabora, Mwanza and Shinyanga.
Other regions to benefit from the new plant by virtue of being areas which produce honey are Geita, Simiyu, Katavi, Rukwa, Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe, Morogoro and Kigoma.
“We are determined to pump over 120 tonnes of refined honey into the global market annually as per set global food products standards in a move which will not only earn the nation over Sh306 billion, but will also help a lot in supporting the government efforts in alleviating poverty among the rural folks.
“The Igembensabo plant will see over 500,000 peasants and beekeepers earn over Sh1.2 billion for selling 120 tonnes of honey at a market price of Sh10,000 per litre annually,” noted Mazar Taji, the Igembensabo managing director.
Mr Taji further revealed that to be able to collect honey in the 12 regions, his firm will supply over 2,000 beehives worth over Sh120 million to individuals and rural cooperative groups who will in turn enter into a contract with Igembensabo Limited to supply it with their produce.
“So far we have placed over 200 beehives in forests owned by Igembensabo and farms in Winome Division in Kilolo District and some in Kibengu Division in Mufindi District in Iringa Region. About 60 beehives have been handed to 11 Women Saccos in the same district.
We are moving fast to forge agreements with more Saccos or individuals so that we dish out beehives to create a stable supply of raw honey to the plant which is going to be operational before the end of the year,” boasted Taji.
Giving details of the plant, Taji said the entire project which is set to cost over Sh290 million (about $181,250) will see Sh 60.8 million (about $38,000) spent on paying for the processing plant, Sh28.8 million (about $18,000) for a state-of-the art packaging machine while the rest of the funds will be spent in purchasing transport facilities and the plant’s operations or working capital.
The Igembensabo boss conceded that given the project’s magnitude, they have asked for a credit facility from TIB Development Bank which the government has specifically earmarked as a lead state financial institution in supporting agro and livestock related large scale projects to ensure the two key economic sectors play an aggressive, robust and meaningful role in getting the national economy stable and growing.
Despite Igembensabo Limited seeking TIB Development Bank credit, it has since commenced work on the project by constructing a building which will house the machines and putting in place a light truck which will have the role of picking up collected honey from peasants.
“The building is almost 90 per cent complete and we have adhered to all set construction rules for foodstuff industries as set by relevant standard and food safety agencies,” he noted.
He added that the country’s power utility firm, Tanesco, has readily connected the building with a three-phase power line for a stable and reliable electricity supply.
On what pushed Igembensabo Limited into honey processing and packaging business, Taji says prior to venturing into the lucrative honey industry, his family dealt in beef, hide and skins to the global market.
“But it was by sheer luck that while on a foreign tour of China and the Middle East I ventured into supermarkets which were displaying and selling honey.
On engaging officials of the supermarkets, I noted they were in need of obtaining sufficient, stable and reliable supplies of honey…so I took it as an advantage and quickly linked up with them and have since given me open orders of several tonnes of honey,” revealed Taji, referring further to a speech by Premier Mizengo Pinda last year during a national honey stakeholders’ conference in Dar es Salaam which ignited his drive to get fully involved in the industry.
Further, a tour of Councillors from Kilolo District Council to Premier Pinda’s Zuzu Farm, where the PM keeps bees among other agricultural undertakings, in which Taji was co-opted, further helped open his eyes on the best way of dealing in honey products.
“For sure, his encouraging speech in the 2012 National Honey Forum where Mr Pinda opened our eyes into the potentials available in the honey sector as well as urging top Natural Resources and Tourism officials and those in the country’s Local Councils further strengthened my desire to effectively get involved in the processing and export industry,” observed Taji.
Ready to go into partnership
As global records reveal, there is a huge honey market of 400,000 tonnes annually, with Tanzania being able to enjoy a paltry 103 tonnes as of 2012 total exports.
Taji expressed readiness to partner with an interested firm with sufficient working capital, ample knowledge of the honey industry and a network of global markets.
The Igembensabo chief further said that with the government’s support the local honey industry is enjoying presently, he sees a bright future for both local investors and peasants in rural areas who place and take care of the beehives on a daily basis.
“We at Igembensabo and hopefully at the Tanzania Honey Council, we feel proud of the push given by Premier Pinda and the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, in ensuring the honey industry plays its role in lifting both the national economy and the lives of villagers in Tanzania’s 12 regions which happen to be the top producers in Tanzania,” concluded Taji.
MORE INFO : HONEY INGREDIENTS
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers.
The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to, as it is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans. Honey produced by other bees and insects has distinctly different properties.
Honey bees transform nectar into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation. They store it as a primary food source in wax honeycombs inside the beehive.
Honey gets its sweetness from the monosaccharides fructose and glucose, and has approximately the same relative sweetness as that of granulated sugar. It has attractive chemical properties for baking and a distinctive flavor that leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.
Most microorganisms do not grow in honey because of its low water activity of 0.6. However, honey sometimes contains dormant endospores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can be dangerous to infants, as the endospores can transform into toxin-producing bacteria in infants’ immature intestinal tracts, leading to illness and even death.
Honey has a long history of human consumption, and is used in various foods and beverages as a sweetener and flavoring. It also has a role in religion and symbolism. Flavors of honey vary based on the nectar source, and various types and grades of honey are available.
It is also used in various medicinal traditions to treat ailments. The study of pollens and spores in raw honey (melissopalynology) can determine floral sources of honey.
Bees carry an electrostatic charge whereby they attract other particles in addition to pollen, which become incorporated into their honey; the honey can be analysed by the techniques of melissopalynology in area environmental studies of radioactive particles, dust and particulate pollution.[6][7]
Honey’s natural sugars are dehydrated, which prevents fermentation, with added enzymes to modify and transform their chemical composition and pH. Invertases and digestive acids hydrolyze sucrose to give the monosaccharides glucose and fructose. The invertase is one of these enzymes synthesized by the body of the insect.
Honey bees transform saccharides into honey by a process of regurgitation, a number of times, until it is partially digested. The bees do the regurgitation and digestion as a group.
After the last regurgitation, the aqueous solution is still high in water, so the process continues by evaporation of much of the water and enzymatic transformation.
Honey is produced by bees as a food source. In cold weather or when fresh food sources are scarce, bees use their stored honey as their source of energy.By contriving for bee swarms to nest in artificial hives, people have been able to semidomesticate the insects, and harvest excess honey. In the hive (or in a wild nest), there are three types of bees:
• a single female queen bee
• a seasonally variable number of male drone bees to fertilize new queens
• some 20,000 to 40,000 female worker bees.
The worker bees raise larvae and collect the nectar that will become honey in the hive. Leaving the hive, they collect sugar-rich flower nectar and return.
In the hive, the bees use their “honey stomachs” to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested.Invertase synthesized by the bees and digestive acids hydrolyze sucrose to give the same mixture of glucose and fructose.
The bees work together as a group with the regurgitation and digestion until the product reaches a desired quality. It is then stored in honeycomb cells.
After the final regurgitation, the honeycomb is left unsealed. However, the nectar is still high in both water content and natural yeasts, which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the nectar to ferment.[8] The process continues as bees inside the hive fan their wings, creating a strong draft across the honeycomb, which enhances evaporation of much of the water from the nectar.
This reduction in water content raises the sugar concentration and prevents fermentation. Ripe honey, as removed from the hive by a beekeeper, has a long shelf life, and will not ferment if properly sealed.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013. [8:27:50 p.m. GMT]
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013. 9:42:55 a.m. [GMT]
Thank you for the update on “Yoruba Engagement Aso Oke” stats.
We must consider the next phase of my dream: a campaign to strengthen our Yoruba consciousness. I have always kept close to my heart the wishes of my late father, Olaomiitan, guided me to encourage all capable Yoruba:
Above two scanned documents are what’s left of the cover and front pages of Rev. Samuel Johnson’s History of the Yorubas, 1937 ed. Depo & Tola Adenle’s Library.
· To own, by age 50 in their wardrobes, a set of Etu, Sanyan/Fuu - off-white silk, and Alaari; He used to say, Igba yen ni nwon to di agba! [That’s when they really become adults!]
· Secondly, they should have, by age 40, copies of –
- Johnson’s “History of the Yoruba;
- Fagunwa’s great classics,
- Amos Tutuola’s Classics, and
- The Yoruba Pharmacopeia by Odumosu.
Happily, these books are all still available at Booksellers Association at Jericho, Ibadan.
“Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole” translated by Wole Soyinka into English Language: “The Forest of a Thousand Demons.
Below is “Ireke Onibudo. Both books- like all Fagunwa titles, narrate the stories of mythical epic journeys.
Above, the very poorly-produced, including illustrations, of the latest editions of two of Fagunwa’s classics by his publishers, Nelson, Ibadan, Nigeria. [Purchased August 17, 2013]
Please put your blog to work on this cause on my behalf, on behalf of all of us, and in memory of a man who cherished our heritage like most of our departed older generations.
Be well. Mo kun f’ope, o. [I'm full of thanks]
Tao
Tao,
Thanks for this.
I almost pass your Papa’s challenge requirements for Yoruba clothes! I had my first sanyan at 41 although I had earlier purchased a hybrid in 1969 as one of two aso oke I ever bought. The real one was worn at our father’s funeral but I now own two. The first alaari needed etu but would not be ready for occasion – was at 52 and etu, also at 52, six months after alaari.
Dr. Adenle and I had Johnson’s “History of the Yoruba” in 1969 as a gift – a couple of months before we got married and by 1998, I had bought 3 sets of the whole Fagunwa classics. Only one of my kids was really excellent at reading Yoruba but even then, she could never do justice to the intricate descriptions, idioms and proverbs employed by the story teller which meant I used to read the books to them. They loved them enough that one of them, a 14 year-old, decided to do a water color rendition of the duel in Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole between Akara-Oogun and Agbako for an international competition in 1987. The illustration was included in the 50th anniversary write-ups on Fagunwa:
I recently gifted myself with Ogboju-Ode & Ireke Onibudo for the 50th Anniversary of Fagunwa’s translation. They cost N500 (five hundred Naira) each, and I spent Wednesday this week re-reading Ogboju-Ode. Still greatly entertaining though, surprisingly at my age, still eerily and seemingly real enough to be scary! I would have purchased the whole set at Book Sellers, Jericho, Ibadan same day but the re-run quality is incredibly so poor I wondered if they were photocopied! The redoubtable old Nelson Publishers could not have purchased bootlegged copies, or could it?
And Tutuola? Purchased and read The Palm Wine Drinkard twice but that was years ago; have to get my hands on a copy, again. Reading it, though, was nothing like watching The Master, Duro Ladipo act Lanke Omu, the drunkard. When he lifted an empty gourd from the ground to his mouth, his struggle with a supposedly full gourd of palm wine would reduce him to sweat – I saw the play more than once at Ibadan – AND joy as the palm wine touched his lips that it seemed so real.
Now, Odumosu’s YORUBA PHARMACOPEIA is new to me! Title sounds too Pharmacology, academic and intimidating! Herbs?
I hope Yoruba people here and in Diaspora would avail themselves of the wealth of information, knowledge and norms in these books to learn as well as entertain. Read or re-read how kolokolo - the fox, of course – tricked the tiger back into the cage and saved a stupid “generous” by-passer from being eaten. How about the story of Ajantala that we all loved in elementary schools? I laughed and laughed at how the spit of a child who started raising hell from the day she was born turned the lion, the elephant- yeah, rulers of the jungle – into lily-livered cowards; and she was never up to two feet tall!
Okay, my own request from Tao and all my readers who can: Get your hands on Ekwensi’s The Passport of Mallam Ilia for a re-read but if you’ve SOMEHOW never read it, get ready for an un-putdown-able little great book! How many times have I read it and how many young people have gotten it as gifts from me?
That, SIR, is like asking how many times I watched From Russia with Love; The Sound of Music – just at the old Scala, Ibadan, not counting post-1960s, or The Godfather … OR Love Story with Ali McGraw & Ryan O’Neal in 1971 alone?
Abo mi re e, o, enyin ore mi. E jowo e ba ‘mi gba oro Oloogbe ye wo, o. Emi na kun f’ope, o!
[Your wish - like most that I can handle on anything Yoruba - was a command/Here I must stop! And, Dear friends of this blog AND blogger, please let's honor the memory of the dearly departed Papa Tao by checking out some of these ideas which are noteworthy. I, too, am full of thanks!]
Regards, as always,
TOLA ADENLE.
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013. 1:48: 25 p.m. [GMT]
FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013. 3:37 p.m. [GMT]
By Helen Pow
The death has occurred of Late Princess Tejumade Alakija, daughter of late Sir Adesoji Aderemi, the Oni of Ile-Ife. She died at the University College Hospital, Ibadan yesterday.
Auntie Alakija – as my generation referred to her – was a true daughter of her illustrious father. Despite the trappings of royalty of the foremost Yoruba Oba of her era, she went on to achieve great things after starting her secondary education at St. Anne’s School, Ibadan.
Here are two paragraphs from a 2002 essay I presented to readers of my rested Sunday column in The Comet on Sunday which was reproduced on this blog two years ago, Fads, Fashions and Classics: http://emotanafricana.com/2011/11/23/fads-fashions-classics/
In March 1980, members of the Ibadan Chapter of the Nigerian Association of University Women held a reception for five of our members who had just been elevated in their various endeavors. In proposing the toast to (Auntie) Mrs. Tejumade Alakija [nee Aderemi] who had just become the Head of Service in Oyo State (the first woman to do so in the state AND the country), another auntie and a honoree, Professor Bolanle Awe had recalled the young Miss Aderemi’s arrival in Nigeria, armed with a first degree from London University and a Masters from Oxford. Mrs. Awe was a student at St. Anne’s when news of Auntie’s arrival from England (“news of the event”, as she called it) was relayed to school. “News of the event” had nothing to do with the fact that Miss Aderemi (daughter of Late Sir Adesoji, then Oni of Ife) had come back with the fabled “golden fleece”, one of three Nigerian women – of five – in her time to have graduated from universities. It was what she wore on alighting from the boat, probably Motor Vessel Aureol that created “The event.” With her uncanny sense of her proper place in society and with her supreme confidence in who she was even at that young age, Miss Aderemi wore her beloved Yoruba ofi (aso oke), complete! Looking back in 1980, Auntie didn’t attach any importance to it because she said she wore only ‘up and down’ sewn from Nigerian fabrics throughout her stay in England.
There must have been newspapers around to record the occasion: men who arrived from England in the early 50′s with Mrs. Alakija’s kind of qualifications, even diplomas, would have people line the roads of their towns and villages prior to a grand reception at the town center! The arrival of a female graduate who also happened to be a princess of Ife, therefore, can only be imagined. I believe an entourage must have met her, possibly including her late father. Princess Aderemi caused a big stir because people who were educated those days generally threw away most things African: dressing, most of our foods, way of speaking and even their names. Another young lady arriving on the M.V. Aureol with a Secretarial Studies diploma (also a big deal back then) would have been attired as if to the races at Ascot: mid-calf dress plus gloves, plus, of course, a wide-brim hat – a classic – just as young Tejumade’s ofi that long ago day was also a classic.
She got married to Late Dr. Alakija from the equally-illustrious Alakija family, and would rise to the top of the Western Nigeria Civil Service as Head of Service, a first for the state – and Nigeria.
Auntie Alakija, survived by a child, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Akomolafe, grandchildren and many siblings and relations, was 88 years old.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013. 7:30:59 a.m. [GMT]
May her soul rest in peace.
by Festus Owete, Premium Times
A few of the stomach-churning pointers that Nigeria is being led, without a whimper from us all, down the road to becoming a country where a few can get away with looting the common wealth:
The president I know is President Goodluck Jonathan and the president I know that is bringing good luck to me and to Nigerians is President Goodluck Jonathan … Therefore, by the power conferred on me I change the name of this district to Goodluck Jonathan District.” – FCT’s Mohammed
In both 2011 and 2012 Budgets, a total of N1.5 billion was earmarked for the design and construction of the four residences. In the current year, the budgetary proposal has been upped by N800 million bringing the total amount for the design and construction of the quarters to N2.3 billion …
Federal Government had voted a total of N1.5 billion out of the N124.11 billion of the Territory budget for 2010 to design the new official residences of the four presiding officers and another N2 billion for the vice president’s official residence.
The official quarters of the Senate President and the Speaker were reportedly sold to Mr. Mark and the then Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, in 2010 following the approval given by Mr. Jonathan.
Read the whole story at:
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2013. 6:11 a.m. [GMT]
Nigeria may have diverse peoples with diverse tongues but they seem mostly agreed on the kind of politicians the country is cursed with: people who are accountable to none, reckless in spending the common wealth and a motley group of insensitive self-serving individuals who could not care any less than they do at the moment. Personally, I know nothing honorable about most of them and the “Hon” generously slapped as title impress none but I do understand the grammar of my mother tongue, Yoruba in which Baba Ibaku’s name would translate to Baba – father – Ibaku (I ba ku) ought to die; go figure! TOLA.
Following the Nasarawa governor’s claims that one percent enjoy 90 percent of the state’s revenue, in an interview with International Centre for Investigative Reporting, clarification was sought from Mohammed Baba Ibaku, chairman, Committee on Media and Information, Nasarawa State House of Assembly.
Here are his responses.
How do you react to allegations that you and other legislators collect N10 million every quarter for constituency allowance and there is not much to show for it?
Who told you that they assigned N10 million to us? I am not a first timer. I was in the assembly in the last legislative tenure. So, my people should be the ones that will ask me what I am doing with the money. By the way, what is N10 million? Go to my people and ask them about what I am telling you, I may be lying. If possible, let them show you what I have been doing with money.
Do you know what this constituency allowance is meant for? Constituency allowance is meant for anything that you may not even know. Go and get a definition of constituency allowance then I will tell you what I have been doing with my people for the past six years and they are still happy with me.
What do you use N10 million for? What is the money for?
What is this money for? If your wife is sick and I carry her to the hospital, how do I quantify that? If I take people to hajj, how do I quantify that? For the past six years, how many people have I sponsored to Jerusalem? Will I use my father’s money to do that?
If maybe I decide to buy a vehicle for somebody, is it bad? I am into construction of class rooms in my constituency. Go and ask them I am a teacher, I am an educationist. I built class rooms and exam hall in many places. I am not the type that will do project and call people to come and launch it.
Go to my area and ask them what I have been doing, they will tell you. But, what I am telling you is just a little of those that I can remember.
So you confirm that, indeed you get N10 million every quarter which you spend the way you want?
What is N10 million? If I want to spend money for my people, I can spend nothing less than N100, 000 in a day. N100, 000 in three days is N3 million. N3 million in three months is N9 million. So, what are you saying?
If you want to balance your story, ask the governor from January to date, how much has the state received and what has he done with it? Go and ask the commissioners how much their ministries have received and what they have done with it.
You put these questions to Honorable Muluku and he referred you to me. Were you not on earth when Muluku bought motor cycles and distributed?
(After the phone interview ended, Baba Ibaku called back to pose a question) What has he (Governor Al Makura) done with the N400, 000,000 given to him for flood mitigation? Where is the money? Let them answer this question.
What is the money doing in account now that rain is falling? Which account? Let them give you the account because I am in a better position to go to the account and inquire. Yes, the law permits me to ask them this question, let them give me the account.
And what is the money doing in the account when people are suffering. I hope they are not saying we should shave their hair without touching it. I want to read that story about the N400, 000,000.
This Interview was first published by International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
Fellow Countrymen, especially those in positions that can effect changes in what has now become The Nigerian Character, especially the president, state governors, heads at various government agencies from where positive results can flow down, read Mr. Newman’s near plaintive cry in what has become a worse than desolate desert and turn on new leaves.
Newman means well even though by Nigerians’ Acquired Default Mode which makes us see all observations as criticisms, and those who proffer them as enemies, remember that no matter the number of homes you own Nigeria and all over the world, no matter what jewelries you and your family bedeck yourselves in, you impress none once you leave the hell-hole that you and/or your actions/non-actions have turned your country into. As
The End of an Assignment in Nigeria
Daily Digest, Posted on August 22, 2013 by Tim Newman
A British expatriate in the global oil and gas industry.
Okay, so now I’ve got a post about Melbourne out of the way it’s time for me to say a little something about Nigeria. With the exception of a week in October when I need to clear out my apartment, I’ve pretty much left Nigeria. My assignment there officially finished on 31st July, although I will have to return for business trips over the course of the next 3 years because the project I am on in Melbourne is for Nigeria.
Somebody once said that there is much to write about Russia, but when one tries you can never find the words to write the first line. Nigeria is much the same, and indeed there are many similarities between the two countries. I have tried to describe Nigeria to people who have never been there, and failed on most occasions. A colleague of mine stopped telling people back home about the place because he was getting a reputation as somewhat of a bullshitter, even though he didn’t exaggerate anything. I was at a seminar in Paris some time ago and I was describing the working life in Nigeria to a group of Frenchmen. One of them quipped that I was exaggerating and that “it couldn’t be that bad”, which prompted another Frenchman, sitting beside me, to nudge me in the ribs and remark “wait until he does his Nigerian assignment”. He was based in Port Harcourt.
Nigeria has a reputation, and I knew about it before I arrived. Most of what I’d heard proved to be completely true. Almost all of it, in fact. To get a general picture of Nigeria, just read the news, and you’ll not be far wrong. It isn’t a place like Russia, the US, or France which surprise visitors when they see the contrast between what they’ve imagined (based on exposure to their tourists or foreign policy) and the individuals they encounter. But beyond the general picture, there are some subtleties worth mentioning.
It’s first important to understand that degree is as important as form. Russians, faced with criticism of corruption in their country, often retort that corruption is found everywhere, even in the UK. Which is true, but in many countries it does not infest every authority, office, and institute like it does in Russia. It is the degree, or extent, of corruption which makes Russia different from the UK, not the form. Understanding this concept is important in describing Nigeria.
There is no getting away from the fact that corruption in Nigeria has infested almost every aspect of life, work, and society. I can’t think of a single area where I didn’t encounter a scam of some sort. Some of them were pretty normal – policemen hassling motorists for bribes, for example – with others being less common elsewhere. Filling brand named alcohol bottles with local hooch was widespread practice. Not so bad in itself, but these were being sold through supposedly legitimate suppliers and turning up in established bars. Others were unique to Nigeria. I knew a guy in charge of oil shipments for a foreign oil company who received a call from somebody in the authorities saying he was not going to release the multi-million dollar cargo until somebody had bought his cousin $10 worth of phone credit. My acquaintance found himself going to the shop, buying a phone card, and handing it over to some scruffy bloke who showed up at his office in order to allow his crude oil out of the country.
The corruption, theft, and graft can take many forms: falsifying a CV (I don’t mean enhancing, I mean pretending you’re a Lead Piping Engineer of 12 years experience when actually, until yesterday, you were a fisherman); selling positions in a company; stealing diesel from the storage tanks you’re paid to protect; issuance of false material certificates; impersonating an immigration officer to access an office, from which you then tap up the people within to fund your latest venture; selling land which isn’t yours; deliberately running down the country’s refining capacity in order to partake in the lucrative import of fuels; falsifying delivery notes of said refined fuels in order to receive greater government subsidies; deliberately restricting the country’s power generation capacity in order to benefit from the importation of generators (which must be run on imported fuel); theft of half-eaten sandwiches and opened drink containers from the office fridge; tinkering with fuel gauges at petrol stations to sell customers short; conspiring with company drivers to issue false receipts indicating more fuel was supplied than actually was; supplying counterfeit safety equipment; falsifying certificates related to professional competence (e.g. rope access work); paying employees less than stipulated in their contract (or not at all); cloning satellite TV cards, meaning the legitimate user gets their service cut off when the other card is in use (the cards are cloned by the same people who issue the genuine cards); the list is literally endless. There is no beginning or end to corruption in Nigeria, it is a permanent fixture.
Nepotism is rife: family members are employed and promoted before anyone else. Outright theft is rife: from a pen lying on a desk, to billions from the state coffers. Dishonesty is rife: from the state governors to the street urchin, lying to enrich yourself is the norm. You name the scam, it is being done in Nigeria. Eventually, nothing surprises you.
As I said before, you’ll find such practices everywhere, but to nowhere near the extent found in Nigeria.
Apparently it wasn’t always like this. There was a time, probably from around the 1970s to 1990s, when Nigeria had a reasonably diverse economy. Besides the oil and gas, they had agriculture, manufacturing and assembly (Peugeot set up an assembly plant in Nigeria in the mid-1970s), brewing (there is a both a Guinness and a Heineken brewery), refining, construction, and pharmaceuticals. Some of these survive today. There were decent universities, and students wishing to graduate had to apply themselves. Security wasn’t much of a concern to the average citizen.
I don’t know the details, but at some point in the 1990s one of the military dictators decided to flood the place with oil money in order to buy support. This had the effect of drowning every other form of enterprise and ensuring that oil and gas was the only game in town. This is bad in itself, but by no means unique to Nigeria. What was worse is that this quickly instilled a mentality across Nigeria that there was a lot of money up for grabs, and getting your hands on it wasn’t in any way related to honest efforts or applying yourself to something constructive. Nigeria became a place where if you’re not getting your hands on some of the oil money, either directly or indirectly, then you’re going nowhere. With oil money washing over the whole country like a tidal wave, soon everyone was trying to secure their own piece of the action, using fair means or foul. Imagine throwing a huge box of sweets into a playgroup shouting “Grab what you can!”, and the chaos that ensues will be similar to what happened to Nigeria on a national scale.
At least, this is what I gather happened – I may be wrong – but for sure, the current situation reflects what I’ve described. The economy is funded almost exclusively from oil and gas revenues, and everything else is merely feeding off that. The new hotels in Lagos, the growth of capital city of Abuja, the importation of luxury goods, the Audi and Porsche dealerships, the sky-rocketting real estate prices, the money earmarked for infrastructure projects, the increase in flight passengers, all of it is directly or indirectly linked to the oil money. Okay, maybe there is some hyperbole in there. Agriculture still makes up the lion’s share of GDP, and the services sector is booming. Advertising is a big industry in Lagos, although the most common thing you see advertised is advertising space. But nobody is going to get anywhere herding cattle, picking pineapples, or working in a sawmill. Even the owners won’t be earning that much, not if that’s their only income. There is very little opportunity to get rich, or even advance, unless you are somehow connected to the supply of oil money.
One of the results of this national free-for-all is the formation of groups, societies, associations, and unions whose raison d’être is to obtain as much money and benefits for their members as possible. This isn’t much different from Europe in respect of trade unions, but groups and subgroups form at micro-levels with sometimes comical precision. The Lagos Association of Road Maintenance Engineers, Roundabout and Lay-by Division, 4th Department. The Nigerian Association of Water Truck Drivers, Lagos Chapter. Membership of one or more of these associations is both essential and compulsory: essential because an individual would get trampled very quickly in the general melee of Nigeria, and compulsory in the sense that you have almost no chance of being allowed to quietly ply your trade without paying dues to some group or other. It’s not clear what the legal standing of a lot of these groups is, but it’s often hard to tell how they differ from a standard extortion racket.
One of the most powerful unions in Lagos, the transport union, used to shake down any okada (motorcycle taxi) driver passing through their checkpoints, claiming the money was used “to protect them from the police”. I doubt the money was used in such a manner, but people do need protection from the police in Lagos. Not that the okada drivers had any say in the matter: membership was automatic, and the union muscle would beat any non-compliant driver or confiscate his vehicle. The power of the oil and gas workers unions is legendary, ensuring their members enjoy pay and benefits which are the highest of any local staff in the world, and often outstrip those of the expatriates.
This in itself might not be so damaging, but ubiquitous to all competing factions is a rapacity the likes of which I doubt can be found anywhere else on such a scale. There is a culture so prevalent that it is a defining characteristic of Nigeria whereby no amount is ever enough, and no sum too small to be pilfered. There comes a point in the career of most people who have gotten rich, either legitimately or otherwise, where they stop chasing the small stuff and are only interested in adding to their pile if the increase will be substantial. The police chief of a sizeable Thai resort town has his fingers in many pies, but he’s not interested in shaking down street vendors. His minions might in order to supplement their salaries, but generally once the boss has his cut of most of the action, he’s not interested in sweeping up every last baht. As a result, commerce can continue relatively unmolested. The same is roughly true amongst the Sheikhs of the Middle East. Bung the Crown Prince a few million for the contract, and he’ll allow the project activities to go ahead pretty freely. He’s not interested in making an extra $10k by insisting you hire his brother’s lorry fleet to transport the gravel. Such restraint may also be practical: the dodgy official in the UK isn’t going to be interested in taking pennies if he risks getting fired or going to jail, he’ll have a minimum price he’ll work for.
But Nigeria has the same problem I saw in Russia: an almost pathological insistence of securing for yourself 100% of everything that is available, and not a kopek or kobo less. I have observed beforethat Russians would rather have 100% of nothing than 50% of something, and the same is true – but on a far greater scale – in Nigeria. The inequality in Nigeria is horrific. The middle-classes are tiny, those who are neither stinking rich nor mired in poverty. As it happens, most of the Nigerians I worked with fell into this category: lucky enough to have well-paying jobs, but not ordering Porsche Cayennes for each family member. Statistically, almost all Nigerians are dirt poor. A very few are stinking rich. Again, a manageable problem in itself, but the rich haven’t finished yet. Indeed, they’re only just getting started. I spoke to a couple of Angolans in a seminar once, and they said that although their ruling classes had enriched themselves immeasurably, they were at least spending some money on the country, and improvements were noticeable. The reason the Russians accept with a shrug the siloviki helping themselves to millions is because they (rightly) feel this is inevitable and – more importantly – life is actually improving in Russia and has been doing so since they came to power. Sure, it’s a slow improvement and life is still hard, but they are at least moving in the right direction (for how long is a discussion for another post). There have been improvements in infrastructure in Russia, the new Sheremetovo airport to name one example.
By contrast – and I challenge any Nigerian reading this to disagree – there have been no discernible improvements in Nigeria in the past decade (outside of Abuja, where all the politicians happen to live). The infrastructure is crumbling, electricity shortages abound, Lagos airport is a national disgrace, project after project gets sanctioned but rarely started, never mind completed, before the funds disappear, and unemployment is rocketing. I heard somewhere that 2m people are added to the workforce every year in Nigeria. To do what, exactly? There are no jobs. One source of employment for young men was to drive okadas, until they abruptly got banned in Lagos last year. The roads are now much better, but you now have tens of thousands of young men with no source of income and no hope of a job. Since the ban came into effect, crime – robberies, car-jackings, burglaries – have increased by an order of magnitude, even in the rich neighbourhoods of Lagos previously thought to be safe. It’s not difficult to see why.
Meanwhile, Nigerian senators – of whom there are 109 – enjoy an official package worth $1.5m per year, which they recently requested to be increased to $2.2m per year. By contrast, the US President gets an annual salary of $400k. Given the unofficial incomes of a Nigerian senator through graft and backhanders is probably 3-5 times that, we can probably estimate most of these guys are taking home something in the order of $4-5m each year. Yet they put in for a 46% increase, in a country where 45% of the population lives beneath the poverty line. This is hardly surprising for a group of politicians, and far from unique to Nigeria. The problem is, this behaviour is repeated through every strata of society from the very top of the government to the lowest street urchin: whatever is there, I want all of it; and I want more. I saw wealthy middle-class Nigerians move to ensure drivers did not enjoy a fringe benefit worth about $10 per week. If you threatened to report a low-level official for corruption, he would usually tremble with fear of his boss finding out: not because his boss shuns corruption, but because he will want to know why the proceeds of this particular scam haven’t been coming to him. We already had the example of a multi-million dollar oil cargo being held up until somebody’s relative received a kick-back worth $10. If any amount of new money arrives in the economy – due to a new oil project, for example – those who are already wealthy, via their societies, organisations, unions, and political connections will ensure 100% of that new money will go to them. Insofar as sharing and dividing the spoils goes, it is between groups who are already of the same wealth. If any trickles down to the next layer, it is almost by accident, and to be corrected at the first opportunity.
I came to the conclusion about 2 years into my assignment that Nigeria is probably the only genuinely classless society I have seen. Class is very different from wealth. Upper class people can be dirt poor (bankrupt dukes) and lower class people can be fabulously rich (Russian oligarchs). Class is about behaviour and attitudes, not wealth (a point made very well in Kate Fox’s excellent book Watching the English). And insofar as behaviour goes, I didn’t see a shred of difference between the top politicians, down through the officials in the national authorities, through the middle class professionals, through the service providers, right down to the area boys. The behaviour was identical across all strata: I want more money, and I will do absolutely anything to get it. If you were to replace the politicians – let’s say our 109 senators from before – with 109 random people from the Nigerian citizenry, you would get no change in behaviour. You could repeat the experiment a thousand times, and you would get no change. There is no ruling class in Nigeria, there is just a set of rulers. Where any change is expected to come from I don’t know.
I believe one of the root causes is the bizarre situation where being dishonest is not socially frowned upon. Not really, anyway. If somebody is caught with his hand in the till, he is not shunned by his peers. The whole situation is treated with utter indifference, and sometimes admiration (if the scam is particularly imaginative). Societal pressure plays an enormous role in shaping the behaviour of a population, probably more so than the brute force of the law, and whilst all Nigerians complain about the crime and dishonesty so prevalent in their country (it affects them far more than the expats), they remain utterly silent when a perpetrator is identified from within their peer group. At best, you’ll get a shrug and a statement to the effect of “that’s just how it is”. If you’re a Nigerian caught running a scam against your employer, your colleagues aren’t going to think any less of you.
In fact, the only behaviour I managed to identify which would cause a Nigerian to be shunned by his peers and made an outcast, is if he decided he wasn’t a believer and therefore wasn’t going to be showing up in church (or mosque) any more. I don’t think I met a single Nigerian who didn’t attend either church or mosque, and religion plays an enormous – possibly the key – role in Nigerian society. I’m not going to go into this topic, mainly because I’m not reflexively anti-religion, but I do suspect that a lot of Nigerians justify unsavoury behaviour during the week by going to church on Sunday and washing themselves of sin. In this respect, the place is very similar to the Gulf States.
Now a reminder of what I said at the beginning of this post. Degree matters. You will find every type of individual in Nigeria, including the kind, funny, generous, honest, and everything else that is good in a person. You’ll find lots of them too. I had the pleasure of working with some great individuals, who were genuinely skilled, could apply themselves, held positions on merit, and were extremely well-mannered and respectful. The team of Nigerians I managed was one of the nicest bunch of people you’d ever hope to meet, and easy to manage as well. (My theory is that engineers are often like this: if you’re bone-idle and want to earn money dishonestly, there are easier things to do than an engineering degree.) The problem these decent people have is that they are vastly outnumbered by those who are not. For every Nigerian who is honest, well-mannered, and diligent you’ll find a hundred whose only goal is to get some money whilst expending the minimum amount of effort possible. If they can use personal connections, lies, or trickery in lieu of learning a useful skill and applying it, they’ll take that option every time. It’s a numbers thing: if 50% of Nigerians were more like 10% of them, the country would be okay. And that’s the fundamental problem of Nigeria summed up in one sentence: way too many dickheads.
When I was bored in our morning meetings – which was on most days – I would canvas my team’s opinion on certain things, often the state of the country. They were by and large in despair. Nigerians are famously optimistic, but this is often through desperation. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than on the occasion when a bank put a Christmas tree up on a roundabout with “presents” at the bottom, and the next morning all the presents had been ripped open. If somebody thinks a box under a tree on a roundabout contains an X-Box, then you’ve gone way beyond optimism and into desperation or delusion.
My lads were a happy enough bunch – as Nigerians usually are – but had no hope of things getting better any time soon. I ventured the suggestion that a return to military dictatorship might be on the cards, and I got no objection. One of them explained that during the times of military dictatorship, it was only a handful of people at the top creaming off money. Now, with democracy, it’s tens of thousands. And during the military dictatorship, crime was much lower, and few had concerns about personal security. Democracy is all well and good, but I’ve often said that it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. I am sure the world will howl with outrage and impose sanctions should Nigeria undergo another military coup, but few can deny that democracy is failing to deliver peace, prosperity, and basic services to Nigeria. I remain far from convinced that many Nigerians would not welcome such an event.
So what did I think of my time in Nigeria? In truth, I didn’t like it, but not for the reasons you might think. The worst thing, by far, was not being able to go anywhere and do anything at the weekends. The security situation did not allow us to travel beyond a very restricted area of Lagos, and even if we could there wasn’t much to do. I like walking about with a camera, camping, exploring by going to a town and drinking lots, skiing, driving around, visiting people, riding a bike, and hill walking. There was no scope to do any of that in Lagos, for reasons usually related to security. That meant for weekend after weekend after weekend there was nothing to do but watch sport on TV, go to the gym, and lie by the pool. Those with families did whatever families do; the single guys went to bars and clubs and picked up Nigerians girls; guys like me – married, single status – didn’t do very much at all. I used the time well, learned French, read countless books, improved on the guitar, and got fit. Nigeria has excellent weather, and even better pineapples, but I would much rather have spent my time doing something else in another place.
Those restrictions were by far the worst aspect of my Nigerian assignment. Insofar as the daily life in Lagos went, with all its challenges, that was manageable. You get used to anything eventually, and at some point I was able to shrug off almost everything Nigeria had to throw at me. I never quite got used to the traffic, so used to plan my day to avoid the worst of it. Dealing with the Nigerians took some getting used to, a process that was eased considerably when I figured out they weren’t the most difficult factor to consider. There’s rarely any point in getting upset about locals anywhere, because they are the raw material you have to work with. If you go to Nigeria, you will have to work with Nigerians, so deal with it. Some aspects of it were frustrating no doubt, but what can I do? Nothing.
What infuriated me more was that some of the expats I encountered were hopelessly unqualified and too inexperienced to be there. Nigeria is a difficult place to attract talent to, and as such – like a lot of oil towns worldwide – those who end up coming are usually way below the standard that should be demanded. Unbelievably, incompetence and stupidity seem to be imported at great expense into Nigeria. This annoyed me considerably, as it did when I encountered a similar state of affairs in Sakhalin.
If you are going to come into somebody else’s country on the basis that you have skills they don’t, you’d better make damned sure you have those skills and they are on full view. If I had a quid for every time I’ve seen somebody fail this basic test in the oil business, I could retire and bump yachts in Monaco with Roman Abramovich. I’m pretty sure I upset a few people in Nigeria, and maybe there were a few who didn’t want me there, but nobody could accuse me of not adding value. Nobody could point the finger at me and ask “Why, exactly, do we keep this guy?” If nobody else, the lads in my team didn’t mind me. I gave them direction, support, and cover and got somewhere close to the best out of them. What infuriated me more than anything was coming across a Nigerian with a reputation for being useless, and on further investigation learning that they’d never been given a job description, never been given any meaningful direction, had no understanding of the context of their job in the department or the department in the company, and had just been plonked at a desk and expected to do something. I came across this far more than I should have, and it pissed me off. Fair enough, if somebody is useless then call them useless; but first you have to give them every opportunity to succeed, and only then can you call them useless if they don’t perform. Hey, you could even call this practice management! There was a serious lack of it in Nigeria. How many half-decent Nigerians are shoved in the corner of an office and written off as useless in this manner I don’t know, but I’ll bet it’s a lot, and it does the place a serious disservice.
As final proof that I didn’t dislike the place that much, I signed up to another 3 years of involvement when I had the opportunity to get out away from Nigeria for good. I learned some things during my assignment in Lagos, and that knowledge is useful. I know Nigeria, and what it’s like to work with Nigerian companies and Nigerian people on a Nigerian project. A lot of people don’t. I’m used to it, it doesn’t hold any mystery or reason for fear as it did when I first arrived almost 3 years ago.
I’ll be back there at various points in the future, but honestly I hope I don’t have to live there permanently again for the reasons I stated. I don’t consider it 3 years wasted – far from it – and I didn’t hate it. There were moments, plenty of them, where I positively enjoyed it. And as assignments to Nigeria go, that’s not too bad.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013. 3:20:55 p.m. [GMT]
Lafia – The Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Monday banned media outfits owned by the state from covering its activities.
The assembly took the decision because the media organisations demanded payment from the assembly for live coverage of events at the assembly.
The assembly took the decision after deliberating on a letter from the Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service (NBS), demanding N10 million monthly as against N500,000 for live coverage of the assembly’s sitting.
Mr Godiya Akwashiki (PDP-Nasarawa Eggon West) raised the issue at a plenary session while discussing the letter sent to the house by the management of the NBS.
Akwashiki, who is also the Majority Leader of the house, told his colleagues that the General Manager of NBS, Mr Yusuf Musa, said that five commissioners and some advisers had directed that the outside broadcast van (OB Van) should not be brought to the house for live coverage during proceedings.
“It is uncalled for and unfortunate for the general manager to take that decision to deny the people of the state the live proceedings of the activities of the house,” he said.
Mr Peter Mbucho (PDP-Akwanga North) also urged his colleagues to ban the state media outfits from covering the activities of the house.
“After all, it is the assembly that approves the budget of all government agencies, including the state media outfits, why are they denying them and the people of the state their right to enjoy the dividends of democracy.
“Will they ask the executive to pay for such services when they are called upon, will the executive too pay for such services?,” he asked.
Mr Baba Ibaku (PDP-Udege/Loko), seconded the motion for the ban of the media outfits from covering the activities of the house.
Ibaku, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Information, called on the legislature to seek alternatives.
According to him, the assembly has made arrangements for live coverage from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria’s Precious FM Station in Lafia. [Blogger's emphases]
Ruling on the motion, the Speaker of the House, Mr Ahmed Musa, directed all workers from the state’s owned media outfits to leave the assembly immediately.
Musa (PDP-Nasarawa Central), also directed the House Committee on Information to carryout thorough investigation on the matter and report back its findings for action. (NAN)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013. 4:27 p.m. [GMT]
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/nasarawa-assembly-bans-state-owned-media-outfits-from-covering-activities/#sthash.iYxtDP1t.dpuf
First, Ondo State people first said “yes” to Mimiko for a second term. Then the Election Petition Tribunal followed by the Appeal Court concurred, and with Nigeria’s highest court’s unanimous ruling today in favor of Mimiko after what must have been eleven tedious and harrowing months of waiting and hoping on all sides, it is sweet victory for Dr. Mimiko.
The Court has thereby finally put an end to the wranglings that must have gulped zillions on both sides, and with that decision, it is the hope of this essayist – like everybody else in the State – that party politics would be put aside so that our state can continue to make progress.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2013. 8:00 p.m. [GMT]
Not unexpectedly, a section of the country is already jittery and[Northern Nigeria] Kano’s Governor Kwankwanso is already asking for the removal of the new boss of the NPC, Mr. Odimegwu, a Southerner whom Kwankwanso patronized with an uncouth remark against Odimegwu’s person: that as former head of the Nigerian Breweries for a long time, the new NPC boss “is taking a lot of his products”.
Nigeria as we know it did not exist in 1816 as implied in the following essay.
Read the full story:
http://www.punchng.com/news/presidency-queries-odimegwu-npc-chairman/
Here are two very related stories on the unreliability of Nigeria’s census figures. The first was this blogger’s response and wonderment at the Obasanjo Census of 2007 posted on this blog over a year ago while the other is a recent posting in which the QUOTA figures awarded to Lagos Mainland could not be true and needs recount. Tola.
http://emotanafricana.com/2012/04/17/awon-ara-orun-lo-po-ju-losodi/
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29,2013. 8:57 p.m. [GMT]
[Acting President] AP Jonathan’s Defining Moment
“Okay, Good Doctor, I was never a fan because of the way your principal walked on a carpet of blood of slain Nigerians to Aso Rock but I’ve since eaten my words about you never reaching the presidency from YOUR OLD POSITION … on your laps have been thrust an unusual opportunity: to remake Nigeria … confound those of us who naturally lumped you with Alhaji Yar Adua (AYA). You have nothing to lose but a chance to go down as a great hero. Seize the time; ignore the so-called governors’ forum; YOU OWE THEM NOTHING. Tell yourself … that you will not run come next year but give Nigerians a good electoral reform and work on power … This is your time. No godfather put you there but Nigerians’ determined will … Do not worry about any political future because yours is now.”
The “fan” agreed with my take on why Dr. Jonathan must ignore those clamoring for him to consider running in 2010 but suggested I needed to develop an essay for my readers on the subject. Perhaps to open my eyes beyond politics, he sent attached a Bible tract from one of the daily Bible readings that Christians read and often pass around. The passage reminds me of a few ‘Crossroads’ poems I’ve read in the past: we and others find out more than we or the others know about ourselves – at life’s crossroads … at such junctions, our decisions often define who we are, and the rest of our lives …
People share – among other things – thoughts of Confucius and spiritual ideas from Hinduism with me from time to time and I’ve often found many of these profound and enriching. I hope my non-Christian readers would find this excerpt based on an Old Testament material that the reader sent me not only enriching but as being very appropriate in the matter of whether the Acting President should run for president next year, or not. We are all connected by a common humanity, and so do learn from others, no matter the culture, race or creed. Here is the material for which the writer chose the theme, “choose for yourselves this day…” from the Book of Joshua, Chapter 24 verse 15:
“… First, in our life, defining moments show us who we really are. Our defining moments usually come as a surprise and happen during times of crisis, such as facing a personal failure; taking an unpopular stand, suffering without complaining; being asked to forgive or making a hard choice. Sometimes, defining moments occur when we don’t see them for what they are. It’s only afterwards, as we look back, that we understand their importance. Either way, they define who we are … defining moments show others who we are. Most days we can wear a mask, but during defining moments we can’t. Our image means nothing. Neither does our resolve or connections. We’ve no time to put a spin on our actions. Whatever is truly inside us is revealed to everyone. As a leader, defining moments tell the people following you who you really are, what you stand for, and why you’re leading.Handled well, a defining moment can bond leaders and followers for life. Handled poorly, it can end your ability to lead. Thirdly, defining moments determine who we will become. You’ll never be the same person after a defining moment. That’s because defining moments are not normal, and what’s ‘normal’ doesn’t work in these times. Defining moments are like intersections in our lives – they give us an opportunity to turn, change direction, and seek a new destination. They present options and opportunities. In these moments, we must choose. And the choice we make will define us!” [Emphasis mine.]
…
APRIL 26, 2009.
UPDATES, 2012: Of course Acting President (AP Jonathan did go on to contest and is now Nigeria’s Number One Citizen and missed that rare opportunity for an African politician: saying ‘yes’ when ‘no’ would not only have shown him to be a great statesman but would have perhaps guaranteed his immortality in Nigeria’s history books. What’s more, barely in his 50s, a golden-platter opportunity would have presented itself in a not distant future.
FOR THE WHOLE ESSAY, PLS. CHECK OUT: http://emotanafricana.com/2012/07/22/2011-ap-jonathans-defining-moment-tola-adenle/
Now, here are the wise and enlightened words of respected Ben Nwabueze that caution the president about not putting the cart before the horse and not allowing the chance to conduct a National Conference that could catapult him to immortality, slip from him. TOLA, AUGUST 29, 2013.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2013. 10:17:49 p.m. [GMT]
