TARIBO WEST wonders why ..?

Taribo West, one of Super Eagles' finest defenders in history, who is now a devoted clergy, has been accused of cutting down his age by at least 12 years. It happened in 2002, when he joined a Serbian team (Partizan Belgrade) and claimed he was 28, when supposedly he was 40 years old as purported by the former President of Partizan, Zarko Zecevic in a Daily Mail report.

Mr West responding to the accusation that he had subtracted 12 years from his life while joining Partizan, denied not knowing what the President was saying, and wondered why the issue was raised 10 years later.

According, DailyPost Nigeria he complained

"I don't really know what they are talking about and that's why i don't really have anything much to say."

"But it is curious that they are raising such matter about 10 years after i left the place. Why was the matter not raised while i was there? Why talk about it long after i retired from the game?"

My own question is, the President mentioned West still performed better and as expected in his play; there was no mention of any quarrels or problems; then why this sudden revelation?

I can only suspect Taribo has stepped on some toes in his church

Am out!

How close can we get to the solution?

Recently i was wondering how much more is needed to be done to crack the development puzzle in Nigeria. Will it have to take another 50 yrs, 40, 30 or .... are we already in the magic decade when the world will start celebrating our country. India and China has already proved to the world that anything is possible with economic development. According to one article "To be precise, in 25 years from the current period it has been assumed that China will have a more superior economy as it already leads the total output in the world". Yet these were countries who, as at early last decade, was nothing to write home about economically. Today, however, virtually all the big boys are establishing their domineering presence in these countries.

Basically, Nigeria has all it takes to make a great leap towards economic greatness. It is the most populous black nation with about 150M people with different skills, talents, qualification and experience. The country boast of a 69% adult literacy rate, 87% male youth (15-24) literacy; 81% female youth(15-24) literacy rates (UNICEF). She also has large agriculturally fit land mass and enough energy resources to power up industrial activities. You may wonder what else is keeping us back.

I really do think we are not too far from the promise land. If only we can start taking leadership serious, the speed will be terrific. We need people who can help us efficiently manage the vast resources at our disposal as a country. Nigeria will be great and when this happens, the whole world will want to identify with us. This makes the struggle all the more interesting.

Nigeria can borrow a leaf from the Chinese and Indians. They built relevant socio-economic infrastructure and also encouraged research and development of cheap-yet-durable technologies. The result was spontaneous.

Revelation: Why Tuface and Annie Wedded in Dubai

The answer to the question "Why Did Tuface Wed in Dubai?" will probably end like "...what she wants".

Initially when I heard about Tuface's wedding in Dubai, I was crazy...I couldn't understand why. This is someone we all loved and wished the best for and yet he couldn't even let us have the chance of sharing a wonderful moment in his life with him. I thought how foolish it was to leave your country and go to tie the knot in a strange land where you have little or nothing to do there. 

Then it occurred to me that I could be wrong....I mean "what if his bride's parents lived their?" Yet it was hard to shrug off the idea, as the wedding was something far above Tuface. Tuface is a super star, and he is one because millions of people think he is cool! As a star, you stop belonging to yourself, you become a public property and so everything you want would be crosschecked by your fans (not fair though, but that is what you get for the paparazzi).

Later, Boko Haram crossed my mind. I immediately discarded it. Those guys don't bomb weddings or attack super stars and even Tu Baba knows that. They still have a large gang of politicians to deal with, a superstar would be a complete distraction.

I also thought it was just about the swag. Then I asked myself which swag? Dubai na glorified Alaba Market...love-net far from im description!  Also, Tuface doesn't strike me as the type that believe swag is about travelling abroad to host shows. He gets his real swag doing his thing here in Nigeria. 

Much later, when I logged into my facebook, I saw countless posts and updates, criticizing Tuface for what he did. Before, the wedding, people were very impressed that he had finally stopped acting like a boy. There were messages of happy married life for Tu Baba spread across the internet and everybody was looking forward to the day, it came as a shock to many when they discovered few days to the wedding that the ceremony was fixed in Dubai.

It was a shock to me too and I was heart broken. It felt like Tuface doesn't regard me one bit. It was painful because, he is my favourite musical artist. Don't think it was such a big deal o! I wasn't that beaten up, I just didn't see it coming and I couldn't understand why.

But days on, while I was reading through one of the updates criticizing him for what he did I suddenly realized that he might have done it just for his bride: maybe that was "what she want"(ed). As I thought more about it, I knew I was right. I came to love him more. I imagined what he risked to make sure he delivered the first marital wish of his bride. Tuface, is a confirm "Naija boy". He would never have given up acting like a naija boy, except it was really necessary.

That thought gave me peace on the issue.

Soyinka And Clark: Should let Achebe Rest in Peace

I received news of Chinua Achebe's passing away in Boston USA with a heavy heart. He was a great Nigerian. He was one among few who are inspirations to Nigerians and black people all over the world. His life was full of great accomplishments. 

One would expect every Nigerian would respect his memory and pray for his soul to rest in peace; but this has hardly been the case as some people are trying hard to play security politics with  his death. 

(Wondering: Why we too get intelligent people for this country sef?)

Please read what i saw on Wole Soyinka's and J.P Clarks' joint statements:

“These are forces that arrogantly pride themselves implacable and brutal enemies of what Chinua and his pen represented, not merely for the African continent, but for humanity."

“Indeed, we cannot help wondering if the recent insensate massacre of Chinua’s people in Kano, only a few days ago, hastened the fatal undermining of that resilient will that had sustained him so many years after his crippling accident.”

What is it with respected Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka? Did he have to play out his paranoia on something as sensitive as suggesting Chinua Achebe's death was facilitated by the bombings in Kano? Now he drags, J.P. Clark, one member of the "pioneer quartet of contemporary Nigerian literature" with him on this claim which even a child would know is too unnecessary to make. 

The past week was a little tense. There were rumours of reprisal killings in the southeast after the Kano bomb blasts. Statements like those could be taken entirely out of context and soon you will find people on the street maiming their nieghbours to revenge the death of a demigod.

As much as I understand how much Soyinka and Clark miss their colleague, I think their statements were misguided and quite unnecessary. 

Why it is Difficult for Peace to Reign in Nigeria

Nigerians have a couple of attitudinal issues that are making peaceful co-existence and unity very impossible. We can blame the government and every other institution for our woe but one thing is certain even when we have a perfect government without addressing these issues any hope of peace can as well be signed off as a daydream. Peace and development have eloped most Nigerian states because the government and the people lack political and social will to face issues squarely. There have been so many violent crises in Nigeria. Since the dawn of the fourth republic alone the country has suffered over 345 socio-political crises; the number is outrageous for ethno-religious crises...it’s something near uncountable. Painfully, no matter how bad these events turn out, little is done to prevent a reoccurrence and this is why we should discard all thoughts of peace in the nearest future. Until we brace up to factors and element that are robbing us of peace, we don’t deserve to live in peace.

The peace process in Nigeria can be described as political, inept, superficial and weak. This is better exposed in the lip-serving attitude the government and the people have towards peace. Almost every Nigerian will profess peace as the panacea to development and better life; and even yet, almost every leader will assure you that his leadership will give up its mandate for peace. There has been far more government programmes and policies on peace, than there has been to address corruption. Nigerians talk more of peace and unity than any other black nation but it’s all a façade. Yet we are not as peaceful or peace-loving as we claim. I have seen common people lose their patience with the slightest provocation – even if it was a rumour.

Firstly, we find it hard to tolerate one another...we disregard people’s beliefs easily and we don’t respect the ways of life of others. You see it playing out in how easily we make caricature of the culture and religion of others. We are good at calling people from other tribe disrespectful names and describing them with awkward phrases. For instance, the Ibos call Yorubas “Ofe Mmanu”, which means “soup full of oil”; the Hausa’s call the Ibos “Yammiri” coined from the Ibo phrase “N’yem imiri”, which means “Give me water – a phrase that originated during the civil wars when Ibos were believed to beg for water to survive”; and Hausa’s a known with different derogatory names including Aboki-slave boy, Malo-thoughtless, “Mmu Ewu-goat’s kids”. These names have become entrenched in our vocabulary, yet they are the most obvious signs that we don’t respect people from other ethnic or religious group. From the religious angle Muslims call Christians “arhner (not sure of the spelling) – one without faith” and the Christians call the Muslims many names that somehow relates to the phrase “one whose head is always on the ground”.

Another problem we have as a country is that we are too religious. Our search for God and a relationship with Him strives on fanaticism. We have not even made our way right with our creator, but we want to show others how to make their way right with their creator. Every issue relating to religion is taken completely out of context. We pretend so much to love God but we don’t even know him. How can one truly love someone they don’t know? How is it possible to say you love God who is far from your sight and grasp when you are irritated at the neighbour you see every day of your life? We read our scriptures alright, but we interpret the holy message in several unholy ways to suit our unholy and carnal desires, and aspirations. We claim to be the torchbearers but we live each day in darkness – with a heart full of hate, and a mind soaked in pretentious evil.

Also our politics is too dirty and too childish. Politics is designed to help players compete for the interest of the people they represent and not to promote the interest of the player exclusively. What we play as politics is deception – a type that is too strong that the players even deceive themselves. The game in Nigeria is so dirty and it is played with little or no dignity or regard for sportsmanship. Competing teams never mind staking the values they hold so high to score or even the scores. This is why it is very hard to differentiate a religious leader in Nigeria from a politician, and even more difficult to tell what our Holy Scriptures say from what the manifestoes of our political parties says.   

Nigerians are also a bunch of insecure groups of people. We are always looking over our shoulders. We are scared of what will happen if someone from the other side takes over power, or is placed above us. Even when they are below us we throw-up at the thought of a take-over. Yet this warped sense of comradeship or brotherhood is discarded as soon as everything falls into position. There are actually very few leaders who used their position of power to effect any meaningful change for the people they supposedly represented. When the chips are down, it becomes an issue of “just for my family and friends”. Even yet, we still clamour to have our person at the herm of affairs if not for anything, to tame our insecurity and endemic inferiority complex.

I will like to stop here for now...

ok...I don’t like being a problem rooster; it can be more fun providing solutions. I will just list what I think should be done to help Nigerians address attitudinal issues that are robbing us of the chance to live in peace

1. We need to start being Nigerians and not Ibos or Muslims. People should not be made to identify their place of origin when they seek jobs or pursue contracts. Also, the national ID card should only contain the Name, state of residence, and a unique social number. Every religious festival should become a serious public holiday and vernacular should be thoroughly discouraged in public places.

2. Let us dissociate every institution that is a twine of religion, culture and politics. Steps to take here is to amend the electoral act to give more power to votes coming from regions or areas of people from different religion, or tribe. Only political parties that don’t have religious or tribal undertone should be registered. Each party must prove its acceptance nationally before it is registered. Any party that is perceived to promote a religious or ethnic group should be abolished.

3. Christian students should be forced to take Islamic subjects like Islamic religious Studies and Arabic while in school and also Muslim students should do same. Inter-ethnic (and maybe religious) marriages should be encouraged – if possible people should be rewarded for such relationships. Laws need to be enacted against verbal insults or speeches against other religions and tribes. Any disrespect or abuse of religion and religious structures should be treated as a crime against the nation.

Now am truly done with the subject....