You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Here are some pictures (some, showing people scrambling for food) via SaharaReporters On the latest phase of former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu's 60th birthday celebration. This time at the Teslim Balogun stadium in Lagos . .....some of these pictures remind me of aid given to victims of a natural disaster.....
Lauryn Hill who will be the closing act tonightMusicians and music lovers alike are lapping up the sounds and festivities of the annual Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which began at the Cape Town International Convention Centre last night, drawing massive crowds and seeing motorists caught in gridlocked traffic.
Festival director Rashid Lombard said he was delighted with the variety of the line-up.
“Audiences are enjoying a sensational mix of world-renowned icons and top quality rising stars, local and international, young and old, male and female,” he said, adding that some exciting collaborations were also wooing the crowds.
The festival started as usual with a free concert on Greenmarket Square on Wednesday, when those who couldn’t get their hands on the highly sought-after tickets enjoyed performances by the likes of HHP, Dave Koz, Patti Austin, Allen Stone and the Western Cape Education Department’s All Stars.
All the festival’s shows are sold out, and organisers have estimated that about 34 000 will attend this year’s event, which ends tonight.
The festival’s scoop, and last-minute replacement act Lauryn Hill is set to close the event at 10.45pm on the Kippies stage.
The festival features roughly a 50/50 split between artists from Africa and international acts.
Last night, popular motswako rapper Hip Hip Pantsula (HHP or Jabulani Tsambo) opened the outside Bassline stage. Motswako is a Tswana-language based form of rap which mixes Hip Hop with other genres.
HHP performed with female bass guitarist Tebogo Sedumedi.
At the festival media conference before the concert yesterday, he described motswako as a mixture that includes rap, gospel, jazz and soul.
“Hip hop is the mouthpiece, but jazz is the primary influence of hip hop,” he said.
Sedumedi, his bassist, said being a female instrumentalist playing motswako music enabled her to enact a “different vibe and touch” to the music.
Known to usually deliver upbeat performances, HHP joked that his energy comes from below his belly button.
“I never know why we get asked to perform at these gigs. I think it is because organisers want us to entertain their kids while they listen to orthodox musicians,” he said.
Another big act performing last night was US saxophonist Dave Koz, with Patti Austin singing on some of his tracks. Austin performs again this evening on the festival’s Rosies stage.
Koz is happy to be performing in SA.
“I love it here so much. I am honoured to be back.
“Music here is off the charts, I love hearing other musicians.
“The fan base for jazz in the US is ‘mature’. It is incredible to see young people here loving jazz,” he said.
Austin has been very busy at the festival. Between last night and tonight, she has three performances.
“You are going to be sick of me by the end of the week,” the American singer joked.
Spring 2012 Shopping: Reasonable Heels, Low Wedges, and Flat Sandals!
from my favorite urban fashion blog fashion bomb daily !
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, displaying handsets-embedded slippers smuggled into halls by some JAMB candidates last Saturday in Abuja (Guardian News Photo)
A former militant leader in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta is linked to a private security company that signed a $103 million deal with the government to patrol the West African nation's waterways against pirates.The commander, who was granted amnesty in 2009, endorsed hiring Global West Vessel Specialist Agency Ltd. to protect the waterways, something Nigeria's navy and civil authorities appear unable to do.
Before the amnesty, men allied with the ex-militant, Government Ekpumopolo, carried out attacks and killings in the southern Niger Delta.
Nigeria struggles with endemic graft; analysts say the nation has one of the world's most corrupt governments. The government brokered an amnesty deal with militants in 2009 that has since seen oil production rise dramatically, but the $103 million contract raises worries about the influence of former militants.
"It is alarming that the patrol and control of Nigeria's coastal borders is being handed to a private concern, run by a known warlord, even (if) he is a rehabilitated rebel," said an editorial in The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record of Nigeria's north.
A government official saw no problem with the contract.
"Even if it were to be owned by a militant, what offense has the militant has committed in owning a business?" asked Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, which will partner with the private firm. "Here is a country where people have served prison terms and become heads of state or presidents. ... When people say 'ex-militant this,' 'ex-militant that,' they should be mindful of their utterances."
It is unclear whether Ekpumopolo, also known by his nom de guerre Government Tompolo, has any financial position in Global West Vessel Specialist Agency Ltd. One of the owners said Tompolo had no interest in the company.
Tompolo served as a commander in the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which was one of several militant groups that crippled Nigeria's oil industry in the southern delta from 2006 to 2009 with a wave of attacks targeting foreign oil companies.
The region of mangroves and swamps, about the size of Portugal, has been the seat of oil production in Nigeria for more than 50 years. The easily refined crude produced by foreign oil firms provides an energy supply critical for the gasoline-thirsty United States.
Fighters under Tompolo bombed crude oil pipelines, attacked soldiers and kidnapped foreign workers under the flag of the militant group. In May 2009, Tompolo's forces engaged in one of their biggest battles with soldiers after kidnapping 15 Filipino sailors. Two of those kidnapped died and Amnesty International said hundreds of people were killed in the fighting as the military brought in helicopters and jet fighters.
Later that year, Tompolo would be among the first militant commanders to lay down his weapons in the government-led amnesty program. He largely slipped out of public view, though he and other militants routinely could be found in the ground-floor lounge of the Hilton in Nigeria's capital Abuja.
Behind the scenes, Tompolo has been offering his advice to the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, said Leke Oyewole, the special adviser to the president on maritime services. Tompolo is from the nation's Ijaw people, who live in the delta. Jonathan himself is Ijaw, as is the leader of the maritime agency.
Tompolo repeatedly endorsed the bid by Global West Vessel Specialists Agency Ltd. to supply boats and other equipment to joint patrols of the Nigerian Navy and the maritime agency to help combat pirate attacks, Oyewole said.
Incorporation papers on file at the nation's Corporate Affairs Commission list only two owners. Tompolo is not one of them. The company's valuation jumped from $31,250 to $156,250 about a year after it was created.
The contract came before a closed-door meeting in February of the country's Federal Executive Council, under an agenda item that did not refer to the company by name, nor the value of the contract. The council is the ultimate power on some government contracts. The agenda said the meeting would be about the private company enforcing "regulatory compliance and surveillance of the entire Nigerian maritime domain."
"The people who came forward with this proposal are from (Tompolo's) state and he gave every support he could possibly give to ensure this contract sails through," Oyewole said
Itima Romeo, listed as one of the company's owners, has stated that Tompolo "has no interest in the company."
Oyewole acknowledged that other militants came forward after the amnesty program to secure lucrative government contracts in a nation where largely opaque budgeting allows for massive corruption. Corrupt businessmen and politicians have used fronts or so-called "briefcase" companies to secure contracts in the past.
Tompolo could not be reached for comment, despite efforts to reach him through intermediaries and by telephone. Oyewole said that no one is "as patriotic as this guy." The maritime adviser recounted a story about how the late President Umaru Yar'Adua asked Tompolo why he didn't "ask for money or ask for contract."
"His answer to President Yar'Adua was: 'Sir, as long as you are good to Nigeria, you give them their rights, I am a happy man,'" Oyewole said.
Tompolo and other militants already have benefited financially from the amnesty program. The amnesty deal in 2009 offered cash settlements to ex-militants and the promise of job training.
Some who claim to be low-level ex-militants in the delta complained that the job training did not reach anyone and the millions of dollars that came into the program were taken by leaders and not shared. A lawyer representing a delta militant leader called John Togo, who sparked violence that killed as many as 150 people in December 2010, said amnesty money promised through Tompolo never trickled down to fighters.
The scope of Global West's contract remains unclear. Oyewole said it would likely begin in April with about 20 boats and possibly increase to more than 150.
Nigeria needs assistance in its anti-piracy campaign. Recently, London-based insurers ranked the waters off Nigeria and nearby Benin as the same risk as off lawless Somalia, where piracy has reigned for years. Analysts believe pirate attacks in Nigerian waters also remain underreported, as some shippers avoid making them public over fears of seeing their insurance premiums rise.
Tom Saintfiet believes he is the 'right man' to help put Nigerian football back on track.
On Wednesday the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) gave the Belgian a four-year contract as the country's technical director.
"It doesn't matter where you worked before, it doesn't matter the age or the rich CV you have, " he said.
"It's the quality you have and the determination and the way you want to work together and the knowledge."
And the 39-year-old was quick to outline his role and ambitions as he returns to Africa after previous spells in The Gambia, Namibia and Ethiopia.
"My main role will be to assist and advise the local coaches who are there [already], to create the circumstances, the structure and the ideas to reach our goals. ," he explained.
"Nigeria has to be at the big tournaments and wants to win things.
"My role will be to assist the coaches who are there to work together and reach our goals.
"I'm looking forward to the task, I'm not losing sleep, I know my qualities, I've proved in the countries that I've worked that I can do a very good job and that I know African football."
Saintfiet is well aware of the opposition and severe criticism that will greet his appointment.
"I expect such questions, but let's not forget that the big names who worked in the last years in Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria for the World Cup, they under performed and even after that," he pointed out.
"I'm a young boy, I'm 39 with 15 years of experience as coach, but that show that I have some quality and I know African football very well.
"Let me remind you that former Chelsea coach Andres Villas Boas worked for Virgin Islands as coach and no one questioned if he would be the right person for Porto or Chelsea."
Instead of challenging the opposition he says he is going to concentrate on working with all those involved in Nigerian football.
"I'm very convinced that there are a lot of quality coaches in Nigeria. They have achieved a lot with the local clubs and qualifying for big tournaments," he said.
"I would like to to work with them to take Nigerian football back to the big level and make them one of the big nations again in world football."
One person who is unhappy with the choice of Saintfiet is former Super Eagles coach Adegboye Onigbinde, who led Nigeria at the 2002 World Cup finals.
"Tom Saintfiet is not the right choice; he is a wrong choice for the position of national technical director," he said.
"That is my personal position on the appointment, but I wish him the best of luck."
But the NFF have defended Saintfiet's appointment.
"We didn't get any Nigerians applying for this role and we expect our coaches to support Saintfiet," said NFF board member Chris Green .
"As for the fans I think they should be patient with the NFF and the new technical director. The future is bright and we can't get there by pulling down positive and promising plans."
Source
Nigeria Premier League (NPL) club, ABS FC will officially present their new kit deal with Puma to the public in Ilorin this Sunday.
The unveiling of the kit with Puma for the only private-owned club in the Nigerian top flight will take place on Sunday before ABS play hosts to Jigawa Golden Stars on same day.
"The official unveiling of Puma as kit partners of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Football Club will hold on Sunday at the Conference Room of the Kwara State Stadium Complex by 9am, ahead of our Week 18 match with Jigawa Golden Stars, scheduled for the mainbowl of the stadium by 4pm.
"The management of ABS signed a partnership with Puma last month on the kitting of the club," a statement from the Ilorin-based said read.
The club will also unveil the Puma kit that include jerseys, track suits, balls and boots on Sunday as part of the multi-million naira deal entered into with Puma.
The club also said the partnership with the sportswear manufacturing firm is "one of the numerous links and opportunities open to the club, as the owner, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki plans to make the club a model in Nigeria."
Beyonce shines in a colorful ensemble as she is spotted out and about in NYC yesterday.
Sisters Erica and Tina of Gospel group Mary Mary held a media screening of their new WE-tv reality series earlier this week in New York. The new show we get a glimpse inside their fast paced life and you also get to meet their families. Both are working mothers and supportive wives to their husbands .
You can also check out their appearance on the Wendy Williams show here
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, March 30 (Reuters) - Suspected members of Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram killed four people on Friday when they robbed a bank and stormed a police station in northeast Borno state, a government official said.
Gunmen killed two people during a raid on a UBA branch in Askira town in the early hours before attacking the local police station, where an officer and a civilian were shot dead, local government spokesman Malam Yuthama said.
The strikes come less than two days after suspected sect members freed 14 people in a prison break in neighbouring Yobe state and attacked a nearby police station. Three members of Boko Haram died during those attacks, the local police said.
The sect has been unrelenting in its low level violent campaign against President Goodluck Jonathan's administration. A brief flirtation with peace talks collapsed at the beginning of last week.
Months of gun and bomb attacks blamed on the sect have killed hundreds since it launched an uprising more than two years ago to try to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria.
Nigerian forces have been carrying out house-to-house searches this week in the sect's home town of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Similar crackdowns in the past have pushed attacks into neighbouring states, including Yobe.
One of Boko Haram's primary demands is that its members are freed from prison. While the government has refused any releases there have been several jail breaks in the northeast in the last year.
"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members ; the last, the least, the littlest."Cardinal Roger Mahony
Does the title create fear? Let's savor it again for a moment ….I don’t intend to create unnecessary fear but are we really ready for the unimaginable?
I remember in 2005 when an Air France plane ran into a herd of goats in Port Harcourt. With much embarrassment and apologies from the government of how the necessary rectifications were to be made. We then had a similar incident again, in Bauchi airport this time, with an aircraft carrying Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members (including the then vice presidential candidate Mr. Fola Abiola)which ran into goats on the runway, causing considerable damage to the aircraft and almost claiming the lives of all onboard.
Today we don’t just have goats to worry about….We have real live terrorists to confront.
Lets face it, terrorists in Nigeria have done a good job at destabilizing the country, killing innocent people, instilling fear, and making the leaders look ….in adequate. So it’s safe to say, that anything could happen at anytime. The Nigerian government needs to up their intelligence and/or improve on predictive countermeasures of attacks, right???
With the increased use of air transport within the last two decades, Planes have now become the safest and fastest way to travel in Nigeria especially as the roads have become death traps due to substandard materials, poor maintenance and criminal gangs but when it comes to airport security. Is enough being done to ensure terrorists won’t compromise this method of transport?
Airport Security should attempt to prevent any threat or potentially dangerous situation from arising. It must stay at a high level for the millions of passengers because of the ‘real and ongoing threat’ of terrorism. I think we have been very lucky this far.
What I don’t understand is the total lack of security in certain areas on the grounds of airports and also the less than impressive security within the airports.
Do we need to be reminded that terrorists have been known to use the most simplest and innocent of objects and turn it around as weapons of mass destruction, e.g. PLANES!!!!
This is not limited to Nigeria, but lets face it, terrorists are ahead of governments in coming up with ingenious ways to get their targets, but all over the world governments have taken effective measures to protect their airports. We have heard of committees and policies put into place regarding airport security but in spite of that…there are still serious lapses with potentially disastrous consequences.
Whilst on my trip to Nigeria I was speaking to a friend, who works at one of our domestic airports she told me that ``security is just not a priority, it should be taken more seriously but its not. People walk in and out of offices and sometimes laymen walk into restricted areas especially if going to collect a so called big man’’
I also noticed the poor monitoring of the perimeter fencing surrounding a certain airport and in reading an article by THISDAYs Chinedu Eze he mentions communities that once owned the land used by the airports but who still have access to making use of the seemingly large empty spaces around the runway without any opposition he sited the Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Owerri airports.
Apart from the obvious outside threat there is also growing apprehension that with security as it stands, Nigeria's airports may be attacked by perfidious fundamentalists who may work at airports and be part of the security apparatus of the system.
The insider threat, as it is known in the aviation industry, is real, because of the fear that certain individuals who work within the industry may be sympathetic to the cause of a terror group and may serve as a facilitator for its objectives.
Former Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Richard Aisuebeogun, said that while the number of terrorist related incidents involving insiders is somewhat limited, he observed that there are high numbers of incidents where insiders used their special airport access to conduct criminal activities.
Its apparent that a new approach to airport security is far over due and really needs to be implemented or else we may end up regretting it. The current situation epitomizes just how reluctant the industry is when it comes to acknowledging the risks, even in the face of irrefutable evidence.
Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Wednesday advocated national conference as a response to save Nigeria and address her internal challenges.
Anyaoku made the case at the 4th Bola Tinubu Colloquium, which was held at Expo Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos though said the unity of Nigeria “is not negotiable”.
The colloquium, which was chaired by Anyaoku, was graced by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tanbuwal, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Uwais, National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande, Sir Maitama Sule, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, Governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) among others.
Anyaoku, who described his opening remark as a political bill, also advocated true federalism with six federating units rather than 36 states, which he said, made the country spend her 74 per cent on expenditure.
According to the diplomat, to return to true federalism, we need six federating units rather than 36 states. If the states must remain, they will become development zones within the six proposed federating units.
He identified national insecurity, with the growing armed attacks by Boko Haram, raging debates on revenue allocation formula and declining standard in education as key challenges to Nigeria's unity.
To address these challenges, Anyaoku said the 1999 Constitution should be reviewed through a well-directed national conference to redesign the country’s architecture of governance.
“If we are to arrest the present destructive competition and if we must repair the collapse in our society, we should get the national government to reach a consensus to devolve key responsibilities such as internal security, police, education, health and economic development,” he said.
Speaking also, Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State said Tibubu had lived a life of service to Nigeria and humanity.
He said in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, that: “I have followed your contributions as a businessman, politician and administrator in the last two decades where you earned yourself respect on issues of economy, democracy and human rights.
“Worthy of note are Tinubu’s contributions to debates in the National Assembly as a Senator during the botched third Republic, his rapid transformation of Lagos State as Governor between 1999 and 2007 and now as the leader of the opposition,” the statement added.
Also at the colloquium where a book; "Asiwaju: Leadership in Troubled Times", Sir Maitama Sule, a First Republic minister, canvassed a non-violent revolution similar to what Indira Ghandi led in India.
He wondered what "has gone wrong with Nigeria. Nigeria was not like before under Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamidi Azikwe and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello".
He added that Nigeria "was in the same category with countries like Brazil and India. India has made it today. Brazil has made it also. What has gone with Nigeria?"
He allied with Anyaoku with respect to the challenges bedevilling Nigeria, saying the institution of family "has broken down; corruption is rife in our society; and frustration is everywhere".
On this note, Sule said: "I am calling for non-violent revolution, the kind of which Indira Ghandi championed in India. We need people to embark on non-violent resistance. We simply need cultural revolution".
Fashola, who spoke 'Managing Change in a Post-military Era', said the state has been able to sustain the reforms in the state spearheaded by Tinubu when he was governor due to continuity in both personnel and policy making.
He said the government at the national level was making little progress for the main reason that people who know little about governance have been placed in the apex of governance.
He added that two years tenure for ministers and policy makers can only encourage policy inconsistencies
"We are inheritors of a very rich legacy built under Asiwaju, if we betray that legacy; we would not only let ourselves down, but the entire black race"
Fashola said, Asiwaju "has built a lot of love much more than you can measure and followership much more than you cannot define, but your followers asked me to tell you that, though they know that you cannot love all of them equally, you will love some more than the others, but you should always learn to do justice fairly.
Soap and shampoo maker PZ Cussons has issued a second profit warning in less than four months, blaming a hit to sales from social unrest in Nigeria, its biggest single market.Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, accounts for 30-40 percent of PZ Cussons' total revenue.
"Given the importance of Nigeria to the group, the impact of the continuing tensions in the country will be significant, resulting in the group's overall (year to May 31 2012) performance being some way below expectations," the firm said.
PZ Cussons highlighted the continuation of social instability in northern Nigeria which has directly impacted sales, and the removal of a fuel duty subsidy in January that has hit consumers' disposable income and led to higher transport costs and port disruption, affecting both sales and costs.
Despite its current problems in Nigeria the firm expects the removal of the fuel duty subsidy to be beneficial for the medium term macroeconomic health of the country.
PZ Cussons, which also owns beauty brands Charles Worthington, Sanctuary and St Tropez, first warned of problems in Nigeria in January.
Shares in the firm were down 34 pence at 300 pence at 1001 GMT, valuing the business at about 1.26 billion pounds ($2 billion).
"This is undoubtedly a disappointing statement, and while we feel this may ultimately prove to be the bottom of the news flow cycle, we acknowledge that the outlook in Nigeria remains uncertain," said Panmure Gordon analyst Graham Jones, who cut his 2011-12 pre-tax profit forecast by 13 percent to 89.1 million pounds.
PZ Cussons said trading in the January 25 to March 26 period in all its other markets in Europe and Asia had been in line with management expectations and was expected to be so for the balance of the year.
"Looking ahead to the new financial year commencing June 1, the group is expected to return to profitable growth in all markets including Nigeria," it said.
It said this growth would be supported by the benefits of a major programme to cut costs in its supply chain, also announced on Tuesday.
That will see the firm close manufacturing plants in Australia and Ghana and restructure facilities in Poland.
The programme will have a cash cost of 19 million pounds, mainly for redundancies, with a further non-cash charge of 20 million pounds for asset write downs. Payback is expected within three years.
He said: “Our sage, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one such leader. Arguably, this birthday boy’s greatest achievement so far politically is the breeding of other capable achievers. Here in Lagos, the people remain ever grateful for your giving them an achiever, an actualiser, purposefully stubborn trail blazing Governor Babatunde Fashola.
“Our man, the sage, the Moses of this generation laid the foundation for the socio-economic and political development of Lagos by producing a blue-print for growth and development of the state in all sphere for decades to come.
"Acquire the ability to catch the 'necessary attention', but more importantly , possess the ability to keep it!
As I read a piece this morning from my sister Uche Anajemba I felt the need to reach out to my girlfriends and female acquaintances.
Are you an empty gift box, wrapped in luxury paper and pretty ribbons?.
Girls its not enough to doll yourself up, dressed to the T but yet possess nothing intellectually! Even if you feel that you can't because you have found your self with No job, the wrong job, the wrong partner , the wrong life! ...pick your self up.... Rebrand your self ...its never to late...Note: its easier to make adjustments once the momentum has started !
Girls aspire for greater things....take risks, put your dreams in motion. It might be training to move you from A to B. Academic endeavors, entrepreneurial steps, Don't just look the part. Ladies be that sparkling gift in that box. Xxxx
I'm in the process of a serious spring clean of my house ...as I pack away items I need no more, it has made me wonder if I need to implement stage 2 (stage 1 is another story) of the spring clean of my life... Certain "friends" ( cos its hard to truly have too many), bad clients, unnecessary acquaintances and the list goes on...they have no more place in my life than the painful shoes I just put away in the charity pile.
Just as you want your home to be fresh and rejuvenated, now is also the perfect time to do the same with your life!
A spring clean requires you to take a good look. Walk through every room, move things around, fix the fixable and throw things out.
Love you for what you have, keep the necessary things and things you can't change, but get away from things that do you harm and creates a mess in your life.
Maybe its time to take stock , define you and what you want the perception of you to be. Sort through and get rid of the clutter in your house, your mind house ,your relationship house, your career house....your life house!
Nigeria is the largest producer of oil in Africa and the 4th in the world. The oil sector supplies 95% of foreign exchange earnings and over 90% of total exports. Nigeria has proven oil reserves of 22.5 billion barrels.
Let's consider this hypothetical scenario...
What if, Nigeria didn't have crude petroleum deposit?
Wouldn't we be forced to develop other industries?
Nigeria needs to be "forced" into diversifying the economy. Oil should not be the only viable industry. And our over dependence on Oil has kept us slaves to a commodity which ordinarily was meant to be a gift but which is now sadly becoming a curse.
A country which has many potential industries but relies on only one is a country that will naturally not grow to its full potential. And this lack of growth or stunted growth, at best, is a result of the inability to change.
Fear suppresses productivity! There is naturally a reluctance to take that leap...it is part of our humanity to want to stay safe...staying safe, for fear of failure. keeping things as it is.
Also, we have limited ourselves by putting up with a poor maintenance culture which has led to infrastructural decay crippling a number of promising industries.
I'm not sure what's worse; building infrastructure, and then refusing to maintain them. Or not building at all. Undoubtedly this has been the undoing of Nigeria's economy.
Sadly, the trend over the years has been to massively invest in infrastructure and then turn around and allow them to deteriorate in a manner that makes us look petty and wasteful.
In order to realize our full potential, the entire nation cannot afford to depend on one stream of revenue. We need to fix our infrastructure and diversify into alternative sectors. The government must identify new and ailing sectors and use legislation to support investment in those areas.
More industries would translate to more jobs--less anger--- more security. It is sad that Nigeria is one of those countries that can boast of some of the most educated armed robbers and prostitutes. This is a consequence of high unemployment rates, economic uncertainties and the absence of a social safety net, that can act as a buffer for the unemployed, the poor and the vulnerable.
Let's look at some important industries we have in our country. One of them, arguably the second biggest visible export to the world, Intellectual property (Nollywood movies and Music).... then others include Tourism, Iron and Steel, Natural minerals, food processing , Rubber, Paper, Pharmaceutical plants, tyre factories, Paint factories, to name a few.
I will state the obvious, what harm can the revamping of these sectors do, other than economic and social stability?
Remember the satellite NigComSat-1? The one that de orbited (fell) well its replacement NigComSat-1R has completed the in-orbit test after being successfully positioned in its geostationary orbit last December and handed back to the full control of Nigeria :) from its Chinese counter parts.
Nigeria's Penal system needs to be looked at now, more than ever before; especially as the brimming prison population is pushing 60,000 inmates . The system has become nothing more than an overcrowded human warehouse with regimes that don't offer the convict the opportunity to re enter society a better person.
We need another stab at prison reform. Despite many failed initiatives of past Governments, for example, the Minister of Justice under Obasanjo initiated a National Working Group on Prison Reform and Congestion...unfortunately nothing came of that despite the priority of the need.
What is blatantly obvious is the problem of over population in the prison system. But worse is the fact that 65% of them are non-convicts awaiting trial.
So, 65% OF THE PRISON POPULATION ARE AWAITING TRIAL? ....this is mind blowing!!. Especially the fact that people spend months or even years on remand only to find their cases dropped.
The Nigerian Constitution (section 35) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Nigeria is a signatory of, guarantees a speedy trial upon arrest. Given the lengthy pre-trial stay of inmates, this is obviously a guideline that is being totally ignored.
It is safe to say; that a Prison's main function aside from the concept of reductivism or the deterrence , is the enforcement of punishment. This some argue is necessary to prevent disintegration of society. Fundamentally prisons exist to rehabilitate and reform individuals as it readies them to be absorbed back into civil society.
But there is little room for rehabilitation in the prison system in its current state, as any schooling or occupational opportunities for detainees have inadequate funding and resources.
While it is true, lawbreakers are responsible for being placed outside of civil society by committing imprisonable offenses, but the penal process should ultimately be aimed at returning them to society as full members making re-offending more unlikely.
According to the Nigerian Prisons Act of 1972, imprisonment should be used to identify the causes of deterrent behaviour and rehabilitating of convicts so they can become useful members of society.
When you contend with poor sanitation facilities, demeaning inhumane treatment, abuse, poor feeding, almost no recreational activities and of course prisoners packed in cells like sardines....rehabilitation is clearly not the agenda....as often times prisoners (convicted and released prisoners) leave prison psychologically scarred and fragile from sickness and likely to offend....
These are some possible areas to think about when discussing reform of the status quo
*Decongesting the prison needs serious judicial reform
*The Prosecution service needs to be overhauled so as to work more reliably and effectively
*The need for deployment of legal aid personnel to prisons and police stations
*Regular reviews of remand cases
*Suspects should not be held indefinitely
*Accountability in every department is crucial to the effectiveness of the system
*Pre-trial detention is used as a last resort and for the shortest time possible.
*People should not be penalized because of poverty e.g. Inability to pay fines due to genuine poverty
*There should be a reform of sentencing policy, e.g. fine defaulters and others who have committed relatively minor, non-violent crimes are not to be locked up for six months or less.
Instead,we need to look at rigorous community sentences that are used as a means to increase the skills — both social and work-related — of offenders, while at the same time making a meaningful contribution to the quality of life in that community.
Aside from the issues of congestion, high percentage of Prisoners on remand, and other Human Right issues we have an ever increasing issue of women conceiving whilst in prison...
"....enforcement officers play a role in putting female detainees in family way. There is a caveat here – consent. They claim such suspects must have consented to the act of intercourse and a resultant conception" (Saturday Sun 07/23/11)
I have not been able to get current statistics on the number of women who are pregnant or get pregnant in prisons but allegations of abuse of authority should not be tolerated.
Reform of this long established institution which is riddled with corruption and mismanagement will not be easy. But I challenge Mr President to look at this as a priority for the good of the nation. Only a blind fool will not link the dots....
Posts
All Comments
