uk wonderland
Anyone who thinks that London/the UK doesnt work like clockwork has a warped sense of how most of the rest of the globe works. Yes you find yourself waiting for a bus in the cold or getting stuck in traffic on the M6, and yes you can look upon the cityscapes of the North East - places like Redcar and Tyne & Wear, or the council estates on the wrong side of town and despair at what the Thatcher/Blair years have done to the country and working class values etc etc, but really, the problems in the UK are on a different magnitude to that of somewhere like Nigeria. People on the crappest sink estate in the UK can turn on the tap and water flows, plug in the plug and electricity is there, can get ill and access free medical care, can have kids and send them to school for free, can have a life expectancy over 50, can see their failed politicians (Blunkett) fuck up and face the consequences. You dont see headless bloated bodies on the street in the UK, or get a young boy set upon by a mob bloodlusting for street justice, and set alight, seeing the head explode on tv. So all those living in the UK moaning about how bad it is: get real and get off your sad arse. If you're a paedophile in the UK, they'll get you eventually. If you're a paedophile in Nigeria, you can ruin as many young lives as you like.
Although I adore my country (despite its awful colonial history) in all its eccentricity, and especially the encounters and experiences available in London (perhaps the most culturally and ethnically mixed zone on the planet), I've felt for quite a few years that the UK has lost its way to the semiotic monster of marketing and advertising: in politics as elsewhere. Its hard to be grounded in reality when corporate interests have sunk their teeth so deep into the warp and woof of everyday life; when kids 2 feet high have extreme opinions about what cereal they want to eat next week. Tony Blair is the leader we have come to deserve, and we are to blame. He can smarm his way through any disaster, and people will still back him. Blair is to the UK what criminals like Adefarasin and all the other pastor-gangsters are to Nigeria: a master illusionist who makes we the collective suckers come back for more.
There where the greatest danger is, lies the greatest hope. Nigeria is going to surprise the world in the next two years. The evangelical virus will dissipate if we can create wealth and jobs en masse. A transformation is happening and Bob Geldoff has fuck all to do with it.
Bosah! Bosah! Bosah!
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5 comments:
The spelling is gbosa
Amen. Everyone moans in Britain and Europe, but seriously, get a life and maybe give a bit more money to third world nations (or get off your butt like I did and work in Oxfams from 10-5 in the weekend free; it helps much more than you think it would).
Good post. Only wish more politicians thought the same way. Alas, the Daily Mail types in our world rule the day, as their hounding of Blunkett & others in the past have shown.
It is forgivable to ignorantly suggest their exists a country that is absolutely free from corruption, however it is fraudulent to continue to portray the UK as forward and progressive and the inhabitants of Nigeria as being corrupt and backward, or suggest that it cannot be civilized without the governing help of Western Countries.
The truly liberated mind is never aggressive about his or her system (including system of beliefs). Because it is founded on such total self confidence, such acceptance of others, that there is no need to march out and propagate one’s cause. That is why Yoruba religion has never waged a religious war, like the Jihad or the Crusades. According to Wole Soyinka, the person who needs to convert others is a creature of total insecurity.
It is very misleading for anyone to suggest that “you don’t see headless bloated bodies on the street in the UK, or get a young boy set upon by a mob blood lusting for street justice, and set alight, seeing the head explode on TV!”
I am not talking about the death of Stephen Lawrence or the brutal murder in the UK of Nigerian Damilola Taylor, or the black A-level student who recently was killed again in the UK walking with his white girlfriend, or the murder of a boy whose torso was found in the Thames, or the deaths of Holly and Jessica, or the Brazilian who was shot “eight times” in the head by the metropolitan police, in daylight.
Nor am I referring to the number of Anglican and Catholic priests who use confession to solicit sex and other obscene acts perpetrated by UK clerics with youths of either sex or with brute animals (bestiality), or the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull who was sighted having sex in a toilet with a male farmer.
It is fraudulent to attempt to claim that those lazy people on the crappiest sink estate in the UK turn on the tap and always see water flow? Or turn on electricity and always experience electric charge flow? The majority (some with as many as 10 children) of these can barely speak good English and have not been in employment for as far back as 15 years, and live off the UK welfare system.
Even a 6 year old kid, has the knowledge that power failure or blackout is experienced whenever a storm knocks down wires, which bring electricity into homes.
It is a fact that such failures occur as a result of nature in almost every part of the globe, including the UK. Also service providers as a last resort have had to cut off electricity supply of low income earners unable to pay. For those who have never experienced a blackout in the Uk, this takes us to one of the most basic concepts in economics: ‘NEED versus WANT’ explained below.
A need is something you have to have, something you can’t do without. A good example is food. If you don’t eat you won’t survive for long. A want is something you would like to have, it is not absolutely necessary, but it would be good to have. These are general categories. Hence, if one imagines the Nigeria of 150 years ago, i.e. prior to today’s advent of global warming (evidence that temperature is increasing), you will see that electricity was not needed for survival. There was no such thing as snow or very-low-killer-temperatures.
Considering all that, and the fact that unlike bears, no human could have easily survived the cold without heaters and houses, there was no “need” for uninterrupted power supply to prevent deaths during non-existent nasty killer winters in Nigeria.
However, in the Nigeria of the future, taking into account the above phenomenon of global warming and that of globalisation, electricity will no doubt be a “WANT”.
I am certainly not the first person to worry about the uneasy peace that lies between human creativity and the space called Nigeria however, it must of course always be remembered that each country has its own path to development (let me call this destiny) and its own unique set of circumstances.
Yet history indicates certain strengths that the Nigerian communities, societies or states would have gained had we been left alone to follow our historical path to development. But many external factors continue to work against our strengths in preventing corruption and are setbacks that we have encountered along our path. These have prevented us from walking a straighter path than our current path.
When I say corruption, I am writing in general terms on both direct and indirect corruption, and both petty and grand corruption, of the exploitation of a position of influence for private benefit, including the exploitation of people’s positions within private enterprise and the abuse of public offices by the private sector, for example in the form of bribery – the most common form of unbridled monumental corruption.
It is no prophecy that the very people delaying the development of an ethical Nigerian society, preventing it from being a well educated pluralistic information society, a modern industrialised country and world power are those who misrepresent the west including those right wing politicians in western governments as well as the multinational corporations that seek to dominate world economy.
Nigeria which discovered oil several decades ago, has received over $300bn in oil revenues over the last 25 years. Why is per capita income less than a $1 a day? Why have past Nigerian governments proved unable to design and implement a system that will satisfy anyone? Why has public policy proved unable to eradicate poverty and prevent the deterioration of major communities, societies and the Nigerian state?
An increase in corruption, perpetuated by the west has been part and parcel of the overall problem of Nigeria. The western oil companies pour billions of dollars in secret payments into government coffers throughout the continent. Much of the money ends up in the hands of ruling elites or is squandered on grandiose projects and the military. No transparency in its dealings with Africa. Notwithstanding the view that openness and accountability are essentials for stability and prosperity in the developing world, officials of oil corporations bribe our government officials.
We all heard about the case of Gabon where oil was at the centre of a string of scandals tainting the late Mitterrand government, which turned a blind eye as the French-owned oil company, Elf Aquitaine, used the country's banks to launder money while paying huge bribes to the government. BP was nearly kicked out of Angola for disclosing that it had paid a $111m signature bonus to the government in 2001.
It is no prophecy that when people see that senior colleagues in an organisation behave unethically and irresponsibly, they are likely to follow their example. This is the very basis of public service in Nigeria. A culture of governance that does not uphold the values of common good and shared responsibility naturally reflects the lack of ethics of the entire population.
This merciless culture was promoted by the oil corporation and it established and allowed corruption to take root and has maintained the present social order in Nigeria.
Nigerian public officials represent, by and large, the common values of the Nigerian people. A culture of accountability in public administration can be built up and reinforced by officially ethical values of the likes of the much respected late Samuel O. Ogundipe (founder, promoter and pioneer executive chairman and chief executive of Prudent Bank Plc, a Nigerian Bank).
Unlike Churches which exploit their congregation, West African tradition/culture (before it was defamed/corrupted) preached kindness and tolerance towards others. The Yoruba people for example, one of their cults/deities is known as Ifa. The priest of Ifa is known as babalawo. When you consult him, you put down a token fee of 3 pennies! There is no money involved in divination. No rich babalawo! Traditionally, they were very poor men. Not interested in being rich. We had enough yams to eat. Everybody lived in a spacious compound that would accommodate him, his wives and his children. Everybody had enough clothes to wear, had access to land. What else could we want? The Babalawo were poor people, in spite of their influence. There was no such thing as a fat Babalawo requiring tummy tuck like our very honest friend Governor Alamieyeseigha.
Turning back to the issue of electricity, it has fascinated human kind since our ancestors first witnessed lightning. Electricity has been around for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years even before some man claimed to have discovered it.
We have the electric catfish in Africa, and over 500 or so more creatures that use electricity including the electric eel. The Yoruba (one of the world’s oldest religions) religion (the world’s oldest spiritual tradition) actually accounts for this phenomenon (Shango is the demiurge of electricity).
However, many inventions have taken several centuries to develop into their modern forms and modern inventions are rarely the product of a single inventor's efforts. Each invention is only one small step on the road to the ultimate goal.
A stronger Nigeria requires a better economy and not hype, which requires better systems, which in turn requires strong ethic beliefs and morale. The danger of Nigeria from being colonised like it was cannot be prevented by a democratic government or a few individuals but rather unifying spirits of every West African who believe in their culture, country and heritage.
It is forgivable to ignorantly suggest their exists a country that is absolutely free from corruption, however it is fraudulent to continue to portray the UK as forward and progressive and the inhabitants of Nigeria as being corrupt and backward, or suggest that it cannot be civilized without the governing help of Western Countries.
The truly liberated mind is never aggressive about his or her system (including system of beliefs). Because it is founded on such total self confidence, such acceptance of others, that there is no need to march out and propagate one’s cause. That is why Yoruba religion has never waged a religious war, like the Jihad or the Crusades. According to Wole Soyinka, the person who needs to convert others is a creature of total insecurity.
It is very misleading for anyone to suggest that “you don’t see headless bloated bodies on the street in the UK, or get a young boy set upon by a mob blood lusting for street justice, and set alight, seeing the head explode on TV!”
I am not talking about the death of Stephen Lawrence or the brutal murder in the UK of Nigerian Damilola Taylor, or the black A-level student who recently was killed again in the UK walking with his white girlfriend, or the murder of a boy whose torso was found in the Thames, or the deaths of Holly and Jessica, or the Brazilian who was shot “eight times” in the head by the metropolitan police, in daylight.
Nor am I referring to the number of Anglican and Catholic priests who use confession to solicit sex and other obscene acts perpetrated by UK clerics with youths of either sex or with brute animals (bestiality), or the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull who was sighted having sex in a toilet with a male farmer.
It is fraudulent to attempt to claim that those lazy people on the crappiest sink estate in the UK turn on the tap and always see water flow? Or turn on electricity and always experience electric charge flow? The majority (some with as many as 10 children) of these can barely speak good English and have not been in employment for as far back as 15 years, and live off the UK welfare system.
Even a 6 year old kid, has the knowledge that power failure or blackout is experienced whenever a storm knocks down wires, which bring electricity into homes.
It is a fact that such failures occur as a result of nature in almost every part of the globe, including the UK. Also service providers as a last resort have had to cut off electricity supply of low income earners unable to pay. For those who have never experienced a blackout in the Uk, this takes us to one of the most basic concepts in economics: ‘NEED versus WANT’ explained below.
A need is something you have to have, something you can’t do without. A good example is food. If you don’t eat you won’t survive for long. A want is something you would like to have, it is not absolutely necessary, but it would be good to have. These are general categories. Hence, if one imagines the Nigeria of 150 years ago, i.e. prior to today’s advent of global warming (evidence that temperature is increasing), you will see that electricity was not needed for survival. There was no such thing as snow or very-low-killer-temperatures.
Considering all that, and the fact that unlike bears, no human could have easily survived the cold without heaters and houses, there was no “need” for uninterrupted power supply to prevent deaths during non-existent nasty killer winters in Nigeria.
However, in the Nigeria of the future, taking into account the above phenomenon of global warming and that of globalisation, electricity will no doubt be a “WANT”.
I am certainly not the first person to worry about the uneasy peace that lies between human creativity and the space called Nigeria however, it must of course always be remembered that each country has its own path to development (let me call this destiny) and its own unique set of circumstances.
Yet history indicates certain strengths that the Nigerian communities, societies or states would have gained had we been left alone to follow our historical path to development. But many external factors continue to work against our strengths in preventing corruption and are setbacks that we have encountered along our path. These have prevented us from walking a straighter path than our current path.
When I say corruption, I am writing in general terms on both direct and indirect corruption, and both petty and grand corruption, of the exploitation of a position of influence for private benefit, including the exploitation of people’s positions within private enterprise and the abuse of public offices by the private sector, for example in the form of bribery – the most common form of unbridled monumental corruption.
It is no prophecy that the very people delaying the development of an ethical Nigerian society, preventing it from being a well educated pluralistic information society, a modern industrialised country and world power are those who misrepresent the west including those right wing politicians in western governments as well as the multinational corporations that seek to dominate world economy.
Nigeria which discovered oil several decades ago, has received over $300bn in oil revenues over the last 25 years. Why is per capita income less than a $1 a day? Why have past Nigerian governments proved unable to design and implement a system that will satisfy anyone? Why has public policy proved unable to eradicate poverty and prevent the deterioration of major communities, societies and the Nigerian state?
An increase in corruption, perpetuated by the west has been part and parcel of the overall problem of Nigeria. The western oil companies pour billions of dollars in secret payments into government coffers throughout the continent. Much of the money ends up in the hands of ruling elites or is squandered on grandiose projects and the military. No transparency in its dealings with Africa. Notwithstanding the view that openness and accountability are essentials for stability and prosperity in the developing world, officials of oil corporations bribe our government officials.
We all heard about the case of Gabon where oil was at the centre of a string of scandals tainting the late Mitterrand government, which turned a blind eye as the French-owned oil company, Elf Aquitaine, used the country's banks to launder money while paying huge bribes to the government. BP was nearly kicked out of Angola for disclosing that it had paid a $111m signature bonus to the government in 2001.
It is no prophecy that when people see that senior colleagues in an organisation behave unethically and irresponsibly, they are likely to follow their example. This is the very basis of public service in Nigeria. A culture of governance that does not uphold the values of common good and shared responsibility naturally reflects the lack of ethics of the entire population.
This merciless culture was promoted by the oil corporation and it established and allowed corruption to take root and has maintained the present social order in Nigeria.
Nigerian public officials represent, by and large, the common values of the Nigerian people. A culture of accountability in public administration can be built up and reinforced by officially ethical values of the likes of the much respected late Samuel O. Ogundipe (founder, promoter and pioneer executive chairman and chief executive of Prudent Bank Plc, a Nigerian Bank).
Unlike Churches which exploit their congregation, West African tradition/culture (before it was defamed/corrupted) preached kindness and tolerance towards others. The Yoruba people for example, one of their cults/deities is known as Ifa. The priest of Ifa is known as babalawo. When you consult him, you put down a token fee of 3 pennies! There is no money involved in divination. No rich babalawo! Traditionally, they were very poor men. Not interested in being rich. We had enough yams to eat. Everybody lived in a spacious compound that would accommodate him, his wives and his children. Everybody had enough clothes to wear, had access to land. What else could we want? The Babalawo were poor people, in spite of their influence. There was no such thing as a fat Babalawo requiring tummy tuck like our very honest friend Governor Alamieyeseigha.
Turning back to the issue of electricity, it has fascinated human kind since our ancestors first witnessed lightning. Electricity has been around for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years even before some man claimed to have discovered it.
We have the electric catfish in Africa, and over 500 or so more creatures that use electricity including the electric eel. The Yoruba (one of the world’s oldest religions) religion (the world’s oldest spiritual tradition) actually accounts for this phenomenon (Shango is the demiurge of electricity).
However, many inventions have taken several centuries to develop into their modern forms and modern inventions are rarely the product of a single inventor's efforts. Each invention is only one small step on the road to the ultimate goal.
A stronger Nigeria requires a better economy and not hype, which requires better systems, which in turn requires strong ethic beliefs and morale. The danger of Nigeria from being colonised like it was cannot be prevented by a democratic government or a few individuals but rather unifying spirits of every West African who believe in their culture, country and heritage.
You should get something doing with your life Jeremy instead of running down people. The fact that you don't beleive in God or Religion does not give you the right to defame people.Calling Adefarasin a Crook does not score you any Brownie points. It simply shows how little you know. I can't stand Pastors who live ostentatious lifestyles when their congregation wallow in abject poverty.But this man gives back to the community, get's actively involved in rehabilitation of destitutes, and does not pay himself a Salary from the Church's funds. And ..em he doesn't have a Private Jet. I dare say he does something positive i'm not sure i can say the same about you. Just my 2p worth.
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