Decline and Fall – TIME MAGAZINE, 19 February 2009
Re Postcard: as the pound loses its exalted position, why is the U.K. still refusing to join the euro [Feb. 9]? Could it be that the pound, and the monarchy it represents, are the only things left that uniquely identify the country — perhaps the most cosmopolitan in the world, with millions of people of diverse languages, cultures and philosophies all claiming British citizenship — as the Britain of the colonial era; and the past glory that era represents? [...]
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Nigeria, El-Rufai: and the problem of cutting off our noses to spite our faces. - This was published in Pambazuka and Nigerian Village Square
As Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja from 2003 to 2007, he was praised, amongst other things, as being “an incorruptible public servant who can get difficult jobs done…” As a matter of fact, Abuja is said to owe its present well-structured layout to the careful planning and implementation capabilities of Mallam Nasir-El Rufai. It was based on his “proven” management style that President Umaru Yar’adua’s administration appointed him to head the National Energy Council, in September 2007. Like all politically motivated accolades in Nigeria, however, those praises soon turned into reproach when he resigned his post less than a year later in June 2008. A few months down the road he was summon to appear before the Nigerian Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory to “explain some exposed and corrupt actions of his administration.” [...]
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Re-branding Nigeria – Pouring Old Oil into New Bottle.
(This article, which seems to be generating quite a lot of interest, was first published in the ‘Nigerian Village Square Forum’)
'Rebranding;' that is the new catch-phrase in Nigeria these days. The idea behind the phrase is to turn Nigeria around, regain the dignity and respect the country has lost in the international community because of the nefarious activities of some of our fellow brothers and sisters, and generally re-awakens the sense of pride Nigerians once felt for their country. The concept is laudable ? the good [...]
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African News Online - Sarah Says: "Get a good dose of humour out of racist ignorance"
Who says one cannot find humour, albeit of a bizarre kind, in racism?
As incontrollable laughter wracked our ribs and brought tears streaming down our cheeks, my friend Helen and I were aware that we were drawing looks of interest from those around us. Some were amused looks; others were envious, while others still, were looks of annoyance. These after all were the streets of Vienna (the stately and classical capital of Austria) where overt display of emotion was a thing reserved only to those “tiresome foreigners who have come to steal our jobs and deplete our social amenities.” [...]
Written by Sarah Udoh-Grossfurthner. Friday, 30 April 2010
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Pandora’s Box Charity -The Nigerian Village Square
Like most Nigerians, I am still enrapt in the recent ‘news-worthy’ incident which seems to be spellbinding my fellow country men – Nigerian Big Men Naira Display at Madam Turai’s recent launching of her cancer project. [...]
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Echoes from the Past -The Nigerian Village Square
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Benjamin Franklin, renowned inventor and politician.
He was at, what could rightly be called, the pinnacle of his life. As an author, television producer, environmental activist and winner of the Golden Environmental Prize, Ken Saro-Wiwa was a Nigerian who had everything, not only to live for but to live that life in great comfort. An African saying opines that a man is only as good as his community. Ken Saro-Wiwa embodied that adage in all of its goodness. He chose to forego a life of comfort in order that the good might come to his whole community. In a world where the good and want of the individual has been elevated over that of the whole, that was no small sacrifice. For that reason, he was arrested, tried in a sham military tribunal and hanged like a common criminal in 1995. [...]
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Witchcraft, the new epidemic in Nigeria
It seems to be the growing trend that whenever attention-grabbing news comes out of Nigeria these days it invariably must be of the negative kind. It has become so bad that whenever I spy the word 'Nigeria' in any story my heart does a double-take and my first inclination is to skip that particular news altogether. Either that or I put off reading it long enough to collect my thoughts and ready myself for the negative onslaught I know I am bound to find. [...]
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Is Nollywood ready for the Oscars? – Summer 2009 Edition of Leadership and Life Style Magazine.
With the recent success of Slumdog millionaire, an Indian box office mega-blockbuster which succeeded in winning eight Oscars including best picture, director, adapted screenplay, editing, cinematography, sound mixes, score and songs, it has become quite apparent that Hollywood, the US movie industry, is no longer looking only within the Hollywood circle to showcase budding and amazing talents in the movie industry. In the last ten years foreign movies like ‘The Last Samurai,’ ‘Life Is Beautiful – La Vita e Bella,’ ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, ’ ‘Babel,’ ‘Volver’ and ‘Apocalypto, just to mention but a few -.have all been nominated for, and some won, multiple roles in the Grammys. Slumdog Millionaire is the latest addition to these films. [...]
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Who will be the Obama of our Land? -The Nigerian Village Square
Although I’d like to witness an Austrian Obama – I do live in the country – but Vienna, the capital of Austria, has just this year been ranked 1st in a survey carried out by Mercer, to assess the cities with the best living standard. For this reason, I am more concerned about the manifestation of the Nigerian Obama for the simple reason that Nigeria needs an Obama much more now more than Austria does.
“We need a revolution in Africa. Every major positive change in other nations the world over has come about as a result of one kind of revolution, or another,” is another argument I often hear at these gatherings.[...]
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