WHEN WILL ENOUGH BE ENOUGH? By Akpoveta Valentine 'tejiri

When a new species is discovered, the scientific world usually is caught up in a frenzy of excitement, seminars are held, papers are read, dissertations are written, studies are carried out, experiments are made and, often, the discoverer is given the chance to name their discovery. Maybe an award too, plus recognition.

I may not necessarily feel bad if I don't get the awards and recognition for my great discovery- though I won't reject them if offered. But I reserve and will NOT give up my right to name this amazing species I have discovered.

HOMO RESILIENTUS

A round of applause please...

These species are found mostly in the African continent although several have been sighted in every imaginable place you can think of. Trekking through the Sahara, hiding as stowaways in ships, swimming the Atlantic, you name it, they are most likely there. My studies have proven that they are, however, located primarily around geographical coordinates 10 00N, 8 00E and number about eight-score million.

These species are one of the most interesting to ever study especially for a number of reasons.

If you want to find fishes, go to water bodies.

If you want to find kangaroos, go to the Australian forests.

If you want to find polar bears, you go to the Arctic regions.

If you want to find HOMO RESILIENTUS, go to RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS IN AFRICA!

Karl Marx must have had this specie in mind when he said in his famous quote, 'Religion is the opium of the people'.

They conveniently ignore the fact that they are endowed with creative powers and have given brains, and expect some unseen, white-bearded, flowing-robed, benevolent power to do their thinking for them. They pray as if there's no tomorrow and pray again for a better tomorrow. They pray for work and pray in order to avoid work. They pray when they should be acting and pray again when faced with the consequences of their inaction. They are more prayerful than the perpetual praying-mantis. And yet their level of religiousity is not commensurate with overall morality and best practices.

But that's not all.

This species comprise some of the most hopeful creatures I have ever had the singular opportunity of setting my two eyes upon. They hope for the possible and hope for the impossible. They hope for a better future when faced with a pathetic present. They hope for a magical messiah. They hope for divine punishment for enemies- real or perceived (their village old mama inclusive). They hope for everything remotely hopeable and hope never to lose their ability to hope. They have evolved a special place in their cerebral cortex called the Hope Gland which instantly releases juices that enable them escape into the utopia of 'e go better one day' when threatened with imminent challenges. They do not work to get to the better day, no way. They only hope to see that brighter day. Afterall, why work when you can hope?

My studies are yet to ascertain which is greater, their ability to pray or their ability to hope. And when time seems to be inevitably running out? They simply hope for paradise to compensate them for their gross lack on earth. Hope indeed springs eternal.

But by far the greatest attribute of this creature is the origin of their name- RESILIENCE. One definition puts it as "the ability to spring back into shape, to withstand or recover from bending, from stretching, from being compressed, from difficult situations."

Treat them in every harmful way possible and they'd just 'resilient' themselves back. Fifty years of competing with a pendulum, going back and forth without recording significant positive progress and yet they're ever resilient. Bomb some of them- resilient. Rob them blind off their rights- resilient. Deprive them off jobs- resilient. Dupe them in the name of governance-resilient. They are not resilient to a fault. They are resilient beyond a fault, resilient to a million faults.

When one of these species with a visage akin to that red-bottomed baboon said sometime in 2007, something like, "I understand that some people are complaining about the last election, that it was not free and fair and was massively rigged. For all that feel so, you will have another opportunity to vote... in four years' time.' The rest of this species who had heard this remained... You guessed right! RESILIENT.

When you push this specie to the wall, they won't turn and fight. They would break down the wall and keep 'resilienting' away.

For the resilient, enough is never enough until it may be too late.

And just before I rounded up my research, I decided to check my DNA, and nearly fainted in shock! I was one of the HOMO RESILIENTUS!

I end with a simple prayer...

'May God save us from ourselves'

Radical positive change never occurs in countries where courage is in short supply.

Subsidy, Leadership and Change: Managing Change as a Leader by Atoyebi Oyelere

Ken Blanchard, the author of the popular book “One Minute Manager” while commenting on a book (Who moved my cheese) by Spencer Johnson said “Everyone knows that not all change is good or even necessary. But in a world that is constantly changing, it is to our advantage to learn how to adapt and enjoy something better”. My belief is that the essence of leadership is initiating and managing change.

If I can say it a thousand times more, I would continue to say it the way it has always been said, the menace of underdevelopment in Africa is basically an outgrowth of the bane of incompetency in leadership. As the fight for the removal/continuance of the subsidy of petrol (PMS) enters the fifth day, my reflections have not been about the economic justifications or moral sanity of the whole episode of the drama, the imbroglio and brouhaha generated, but from the angle of a student, I’ve garnered practical lessons in leadership:

1. You don’t introduce change as a leader where you are not trusted. The basis for every credible leadership is trust and before any meaningful journey could be embarked upon, credibility is the first point of reckoning.

2. Wisdom is the diligent combination of the correctness of a decision and the appropriateness of the timing for the implementation of such decision. If I could go mathematical: Wisdom= 80% Appropriate Timing+ 20% Correctness of the decision.

3. A change imposed is a change opposed….an organization can only change when enough people in it change. If you can work on people’s mind long enough, then you can make the necessary impact (change) in their situation after they have seen where they fit in, in the big picture. If people carry the mindset of Egypt into Canaan, they would soon change Canaan into Egypt. Capital development without human (manpower) development is a waste of resources.

4. Leaders don’t just set goals, they set standards…Any leader who demands from others, what he himself has not shown to sacrifice is only seen as a tyrant, no matter the “nobility” of the cause he/she proves to be pursuing. The defining characteristic of a leader is sacrifice….not what you acquire, but that which you give.

5. Leaders have a clear sense of communication. It is when the people see how change can make things better that they get more interested in making the change happen. It is when the desire for the new level is greater than the comfort the status quo offers that change is birthed!

6. Leaders know that defining changes that are very critical to his people are not made drastically. They are gradually introduced over time. Also, major changes are not made in times of instabilities or upheavals. You don’t need a prophet to tell you that such change would be opposed. It is puerile to make major economic decisions in times of political and social hullabaloo, not to talk of precarious security situation. Insecure people would never support change!

7. If someone calls you a donkey, don’t pay any attention to it, but if five people call you a donkey, go buy a saddle. When change is being resisted, it is either you are wrong or they are hurt. I believe leaders who have shaped their world are always in the minority, but they are never detached from the feelings of the majority, except the decision to be made is a personal one.

8. Americans rejected the privatisation of social security despite former President George Bush’s country-wide advocacy for it. Bush latter shelved the policy. Leaders are sufficiently grounded and understand the game well enough to know that just like in a team sport, personal awards and accolades are a CONSEQUENCE rather than an OBJECTIVE. Leaders don’t lose if they give in to the wish of the people “temporarily” to later win in the end; it is just an avenue to show how paramount the interest of the people is to them.

9. Honesty is still the best policy…any leader who applies the principle of double standard WOULD NEVER gain the trust of his people…if there are cabals in any organization that are above the rule, then the revolt by those classified as under the rule is only a function of time. The scale of injustice is never permanently at rest, it is like a pendulum, many at times activated by the wind of change!

As we occupy our dear country till the desired change comes…Please let us learn from what you are learning at this critical period of our nation

FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVER: OCCUPY LONDON 2012

If we have our own working refinery, we wont even be talking of subsidy, if we have working electricity the cost of production will not go up unbearably every time there is an increase in fuel price, if there is economic development with focus on people freedom, employment, social security and human security there wont be unnecessary hardship on the people of Nigeria.Agricultural sector is still neglected remember? The late Obafemi Awolowo must be sad about this. If we even take this argument further, if our 'leaders' can start the sacrifice by cutting their salaries and other benefits and pumping the money saving from this into the country's development, they will be such good heroes. If our 'leaders' have a slight clue on tackling corruption starting from themselves and reforming our security sector, may be we can start listening to their legal, economic or moral justification to remove fuel subsidy. Nuf said!

THE COMING ANARCHY

by Robert D. Kaplan
February 1994

The Minister's eyes were like egg yolks, an aftereffect of some of the many illnesses, malaria especially, endemic in his country. There was also an irrefutable sadness in his eyes. He spoke in a slow and creaking voice, the voice of hope about to expire. Flame trees, coconut palms, and a ballpoint-blue Atlantic composed the background. None of it seemed beautiful, though. "In forty-five years I have never seen things so bad. We did not manage ourselves well after the British departed. But what we have now is something worse—the revenge of the poor, of the social failures, of the people least able to bring up children in a modern society." Then he referred to the recent coup in the West African country Sierra Leone. "The boys who took power in Sierra Leone come from houses like this." The Minister jabbed his finger at a corrugated metal shack teeming with children. "In three months these boys confiscated all the official Mercedes, Volvos, and BMWs and willfully wrecked them on the road." The Minister mentioned one of the coup's leaders, Solomon Anthony Joseph Musa, who shot the people who had paid for his schooling, "in order to erase the humiliation and mitigate the power his middle-class sponsors held over him."


Tyranny is nothing new in Sierra Leone or in the rest of West Africa. But it is now part and parcel of an increasing lawlessness that is far more significant than any coup, rebel incursion, or episodic experiment in democracy. Crime was what my friend—a top-ranking African official whose life would be threatened were I to identify him more precisely—really wanted to talk about. Crime is what makes West Africa a natural point of departure for my report on what the political character of our planet is likely to be in the twenty-first century.


The cities of West Africa at night are some of the unsafest places in the world. Streets are unlit; the police often lack gasoline for their vehicles; armed burglars, carjackers, and muggers proliferate. "The government in Sierra Leone has no writ after dark," says a foreign resident, shrugging. When I was in the capital, Freetown, last September, eight men armed with AK-47s broke into the house of an American man. They tied him up and stole everything of value. Forget Miami: direct flights between the United States and the Murtala Muhammed Airport, in neighboring Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, have been suspended by order of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation because of ineffective security at the terminal and its environs. A State Department report cited the airport for "extortion by law-enforcement and immigration officials." This is one of the few times that the U.S. government has embargoed a foreign airport for reasons that are linked purely to crime. In Abidjan, effectively the capital of the Cote d'Ivoire, or Ivory Coast, restaurants have stick- and gun-wielding guards who walk you the fifteen feet or so between your car and the entrance, giving you an eerie taste of what American cities might be like in the future. An Italian ambassador was killed by gunfire when robbers invaded an Abidjan restaurant. The family of the Nigerian ambassador was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in the ambassador's residence. After university students in the Ivory Coast caught bandits who had been plaguing their dorms, they executed them by hanging tires around their necks and setting the tires on fire. In one instance Ivorian policemen stood by and watched the "necklacings," afraid to intervene. Each time I went to the Abidjan bus terminal, groups of young men with restless, scanning eyes surrounded my taxi, putting their hands all over the windows, demanding "tips" for carrying my luggage even though I had only a rucksack. In cities in six West African countries I saw similar young men everywhere—hordes of them. They were like loose molecules in a very unstable social fluid, a fluid that was clearly on the verge of igniting.


"You see," my friend the Minister told me, "in the villages of Africa it is perfectly natural to feed at any table and lodge in any hut. But in the cities this communal existence no longer holds. You must pay for lodging and be invited for food. When young men find out that their relations cannot put them up, they become lost. They join other migrants and slip gradually into the criminal process."


"In the poor quarters of Arab North Africa," he continued, "there is much less crime, because Islam provides a social anchor: of education and indoctrination. Here in West Africa we have a lot of superficial Islam and superficial Christianity. Western religion is undermined by animist beliefs not suitable to a moral society, because they are based on irrational spirit power. Here spirits are used to wreak vengeance by one person against another, or one group against another." Many of the atrocities in the Liberian civil war have been tied to belief in juju spirits, and the BBC has reported, in its magazine Focus on Africa, that in the civil fighting in adjacent Sierra Leone, rebels were said to have "a young woman with them who would go to the front naked, always walking backwards and looking in a mirror to see where she was going. This made her invisible, so that she could cross to the army's positions and there bury charms . . . to improve the rebels' chances of success."


Finally my friend the Minister mentioned polygamy. Designed for a pastoral way of life, polygamy continues to thrive in sub-Saharan Africa even though it is increasingly uncommon in Arab North Africa. Most youths I met on the road in West Africa told me that they were from "extended" families, with a mother in one place and a father in another. Translated to an urban environment, loose family structures are largely responsible for the world's highest birth rates and the explosion of the HIV virus on the continent. Like the communalism and animism, they provide a weak shield against the corrosive social effects of life in cities. In those cities African culture is being redefined while desertification and deforestation—also tied to overpopulation—drive more and more African peasants out of the countryside."In the poor quarters of Arab North Africa," he continued, "there is much less crime, because Islam provides a social anchor: of education and indoctrination. Here in West Africa we have a lot of superficial Islam and superficial Christianity. Western religion is undermined by animist beliefs not suitable to a moral society, because they are based on irrational spirit power. Here spirits are used to wreak vengeance by one person against another, or one group against another." Many of the atrocities in the Liberian civil war have been tied to belief in juju spirits, and the BBC has reported, in its magazine Focus on Africa, that in the civil fighting in adjacent Sierra Leone, rebels were said to have "a young woman with them who would go to the front naked, always walking backwards and looking in a mirror to see where she was going. This made her invisible, so that she could cross to the army's positions and there bury charms . . . to improve the rebels' chances of success."


Finally my friend the Minister mentioned polygamy. Designed for a pastoral way of life, polygamy continues to thrive in sub-Saharan Africa even though it is increasingly uncommon in Arab North Africa. Most youths I met on the road in West Africa told me that they were from "extended" families, with a mother in one place and a father in another. Translated to an urban environment, loose family structures are largely responsible for the world's highest birth rates and the explosion of the HIV virus on the continent. Like the communalism and animism, they provide a weak shield against the corrosive social effects of life in cities. In those cities African culture is being redefined while desertification and deforestation—also tied to overpopulation—drive more and more African peasants out of the countryside.
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Here is the link to continue reading this interesting article: http://www.theatlantic.com/ideastour/archive/kaplan-2.html

Interview Thursday: "Nigeria is an endlessly fascinating country - perhaps the most diverse country on the planet in terms of languages alone" Jeremy

Jeremy Weate is a blogger and a consultant. His blog is dedicated to Nigerian issues, though not a Nigerian which he would have become by marriage if there is no discrimination against Nigerian women giving citizenship to their husbands, he is passionate about Nigeria and its development. Welcome on Interview Thursday Jeremy.

Can you give “Interview Thursday" a glimpse into your background?

I am from a small village near Birmingham. I studied philosophy and have a PhD from the University of Warwick. I have been consulting for the past twelve years and spent the last six living in Nigeria with my partner.

What inspires you to write about Nigeria as your blog name is "Naija blog"?

When I started my blog, there were not many Nigerian blogs around so the first name that came to my head was naijablog. I thought it might be interesting to write a diary of my time living in Nigeria. I never thought that anyone would bother reading it.

What do you think of Nigeria as a Nation?

Nigeria is an endlessly fascinating country - perhaps the most diverse country on the planet in terms of languages alone. It has the potential to lead Africa and redefine the continent's role globally. It has yet to live up to that potential.

Niger Delta crisis has being a recurrent decima, do you think the new step by the federal government in granting amnesty to the militants will help solve the problem?

No. But its a good first step.

What do you see as the lasting solution to the Niger Delta crisis?
The Niger Delta will remain a troubled area until there is infrastructure and jobs and oil bunkering is no longer possible. Without all of those three elements in place, the area will remain restive.

Do you think Nigeria changing and having selfless leaders in all quarters in the next political dispensation?
I don't see good leadership emerging. However, as with the last two to three years of Obj's second term, there is a competent group of technocrats emerging now - specifically the Finance Minister, the new CBN governor and the DG of the Budget Office. There is hope that the financial management of the nation's economy is in good hands. However, too many people in leadership positions in Nigeria are driven by greed, by ego and by a lack of ethics, sadly.

Has Jeremy come to stay permanently in Nigeria?
Nigerian women marrying foreigners cannot grant citizenship (unlike Nigerian men marrying foreign women), so it’s not easy for a foreigner to settle permanently. However, Nigeria is in my blood. I have a Nigerian family - my wife, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law and many good Nigerian friends. In at least a metaphorical sense, I will never leave Nigeria.

Can you mention 5 things to admire about Nigeria [ns] and the other 5 you wish will change?
5 things to admire:

1. Nigeria's historical cultures - the power and depth of the culture I am most familiar with - the Yoruba - never ceases to hold my awe and respect, and the mystery of the Nok civilisation and what exactly Sungbo Eredo was all about..

2. The landscapes of Nigeria - from tropical forest to savannah and sahel - Nigeria has a fantastic range of environments and many undiscovered places, such as the tallest mountain - Gangirwal (the mountain of death) - which we climbed a year or so ago.

3. The can-do spirit of the people. Many Nigerians hustle a living without power or water and still manage to make something of their lives.

4. Fela. Fela is a major draw for foreigners interested in Nigeria. Despite his flaws, he will always be admired for his revolutionary spirit, inspiring music and sexy dancers.

5. The Nigerian Diaspora around the world is showing what Nigerians can do in the proverbial 'enabling environment'. Some of the most interesting cultural output (literature, music, art) is being generated by Nigerians away from home.
5 things to change:

1. The obvious stuff must come first. Think what Nigeria could do if only there were more electricity! Ditto for water, roads etc. Nigeria should look to one of its greatest assets - the sunshine - for smart-grid power solutions. A key immediate issue is to sort out the refineries and then end the fuel subsidy (in that order). Sorting out the refineries means letting the private sector in for full ownership and management

2. Agricultural and industrial development. Before the oil came, Nigeria's economy was based on a regional balance of groundnuts, palm oil, rubber and cocoa. Key here is to ensure that value-added product refinement takes place in country, rather than raw materials being exported overseas as basic commodities with low value. Beyond agriculture, Nigeria needs to redevelop key industry sectors, such as financial services, textiles, IT. There needs to be a clear policy to roll out affordable broadband internet across the country once WACS and Main1 submarine cables get hooked up to Nigeria next year.

3. Investment in education. The education system in Nigeria has collapsed, and the government continues to place a low-budgetary priority on funding it (less than 2% of govt expenditure in this years budget). Compare and contrast with other African countries, such as Ghana, which spends between 15 and 20% of its annual budget on education. The situation in the North is dire if you look at the statistics.

4. Outside of all this development stuff, the issue is leadership. There is way too much oga-syndrome on every level - leaders who do not delegate authority, take courageous decisions and indulge in nepotism rather than resist patronage pressures. Nigerian organisations are often a triumph of ego over process. This has to change if organisational dysfunction is to be avoided.

5. A re-assessment of the pre-colonial past of Nigeria. So much has been de-valued and confused in the rush to adopt Western belief systems and values.

Thanks for your time ad these wonderful insights!
Thanks - I enjoyed answering these questions!

Interview Thursday: 1st Person of the year - WAFFARIAN!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL. I believe in my heart that this year will be a glorious one in our lives. I present to you the first person of the year 2009 to feature in "Interview Thursday" series. She is no other than our own WAFFARIAN. A Nigeria gal in foreign land (lol). She is a true person that I have come to admire. She has no bone for insincerity. She tells it as it is. She gives her perspective on Nigeria and women in governance. And she believe in a greater Nigeria. Yes we CAN!

What part of Nigeria is Waffarian from?

Tamsk you very much for that question. (make I clear throat). There were two constants in my life when I was growing up. Saturday village trip and Catholic mass on Sunday. In 1978, a young man moved his wife, two year old son and new born daughter to the then booming oil town of Warri. His purpose was to live as close to his mother as possible and spend every possible free moment in the land of his ancestors. And that is how for the next ten years of my life, I spent every fucking Saturday in Illah, Oshimili North local government area, in Delta State. That is the land my father is buried and on that land shall I build the foundations of my village school. Hehehehehehehehe.

How do you come across your blog name?

Tamsk you again for that question. The name of my blog was originally “waffy girl in Europe”. I admit it was not so creative but at that time, all I saw in blogville was those kind of names, like “naijagal” or “Londonnaijagal”, you know, names like that. I wan feel among na, na im me too, I nak dem my own, “waffy girl”…haba! People trip na. Oh…ehen, then after a while, I decided to change it from “waffy girl” to “The Waffarian”. I felt I wanted to be more neutral and it worked. I have since met bloggers that thought I was male! Hehehehehehe.

What word best describe your personality?

Damnnnnnnnnnn. This is hardcore. I swear one word no fit describe me. I don think tire. Abeg, this question too hard. I don skip am. Wetin? Na exam?

I don't know how long you have left Nigeria for, but I will like to know if you belief as a voice from Diaspora in our leadership efficiency and sincerity of purpose?

The truth is that those leaders were not elected by the people and therefore cannot represent the people. Until Nigeria can conduct fair elections and people are free to vote for whoever they want, I do not think we will ever have the right leaders. Most of the governors were voted in a haze of violence and corruption. Some states had more votes than their population. Votes were counted in centers that were never opened. How in the world am I supposed to believe that such people would be sincere? It’s like a prostitute praying in church for more customers. It is not logical. It makes no sense.

What do you think we need to make Nigeria a better place?

I believe very much in the power of POSSIBILITY. People ask me all the time that with all the negative things I write about Nigeria, how can I still be positive? . It is because I see the possibility of what Nigeria can become. I see the things we can do, I see what we have. I see the brains, the manpower, the resources. We have great POTENTIAL to be so much more than we are. However, we need to acknowledge the truth of how things really are. You cannot change things if you pretend or ignore things around you. First of all, we have to see what is bad, then we can begin to think of how we can make things better. Without acknowledging the problem, how can we find a solution? To make Nigeria a better place, we must all be willing to do something, no matter how small. We have to start somewhere. Small goals that are possible. I think every single person has a role to play. If all you can do is not throw dirt out of the window, then do that part. If you can encourage others on your bus not to do that, that is also something. You might think it is a small thing but imagine hundreds of people all over Nigeria each telling passengers of a bus not to throw dirt on the road…that’s already a movement!

Could Nigeria development be achieved without women's involvement in leadership?

Never! Right now in Africa, we are the key to saving that continent. I strongly believe that in the next couple of years, more women will take on leadership positions and be successful at it. Forget about Madam Etteh and that other craise woman. That Senator woman. Those ones na mistake. I think men have had their shot, they have shown us what they can do. We thank them very much for their efforts. We might not know the right path yet, but we definitely have identified the WRONG path. They should give us space jare! Let us show them what we can do.

How do you think women can be more involved in Nigeria politics?

By the same word you just used. Getting involved! Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it seems. Most political parties are run by God fathers. I promise you that they already know who the next governor of your state is. That is why; I would like to see a political party formed only for women. Yes, I know, very ambitious. But please, tell me, why should we vote for a man when we can vote for our own? There are about 68 million women in Nigeria! We have a population of about 140 million, so let’s say we make up about 50% of the population. Do you realize how much power we have in our hands? I would love to see a party dedicated for the sole purpose of working towards helping women who believe they have a role to play in the Nigerian society. A party for Women by Women .Recently, I have been following the progress of this political party and I have been greatly inspired by it (Feminist Initiative). Also, the recent dream of Barack Obama has made me even more ambitious with this project. If anybody is interested or thinks this is something they would also like to work towards, please contact me.

What role will you like to play in Nigeria's development?

Hahahahaha! I think I just answered this question in the above question! That is a dream I have. I realize it will take a lot of hard work and years….fucking years….but…YES, WE CAN!

Can Waffarian tell us a few things about her life?

Hahahahahah! My life is dry at the moment. All I do is read, write and sleep…. I am fucking dry. I swear. Nothing exciting lately…my Vjayjay is on a lockdown so no more penis stories. But once things pick up, I‘ll get back to you!

What is bloghsphere to you?

I don’t know anymore….it used to be this safe place where I could write whatever I wanted. This place where my thoughts could flow and I could be myself. I remember when I first started blogging, I was so excited to read people that had the same thoughts like I did…that were going through life and seeing things like I did…it reassured me that I was not the only one having such thoughts. I always believed everybody was like I was. They just wanted a place to write. A place that was all theirs. That was my priority with my blog and still is. I jus wanna write! However internet like any other place that human beings dwell in, is full of shit as well. I still do my blog rounds and even though I do not leave as many comments as I used to, I never fail to visit my favorite blogs and I am always happy to see new blogs. However, it is not as “relaxing” a task as it used to be. Before, I just used to click away and land on any blog. It did not matter to me. I read whatever. I don’t do that anymore. Now I know the specific blogs I wanna read.

Thanks for your time and attention.

E don finish?

Lol. There will be part 2, I hope.

Click here, here, here and here for women/feminists achievements in 2008