Are FOUR Private Jets really enough? - Nigerian Pastors & Private Jets

Is the Nigerian church a cancer on the Nigerian body? 

Instead of the Nigerian church being a beacon of light shining brightly in the thick darkness of the corruption & wickedness that is destroying the country, and a force for moral good in a society that has fallen prey to every immoral evil possible, instead of being an example for piety & good works, many parts of the Nigerian Church have become a byword for reckless extravagance, decadent living & the flaunting of wealth by corrupt pastors, general overseers and the numerous other lofty titles those who lord it over GOD's people are busy giving themselves.

These pastors say loudly to justify their excesses: 'My GOD is not a GOD of the poor.' And to that I simply ask: which GOD are they talking about? Jesus said 'The poor will always be among you.' GOD says, 'I am the defender of the widow, the fatherless, and when the poor man cries out to His maker, I will hear and defend him.'

Please do not misunderstand & twist my words - I am not saying GOD does not bless His children & neither am I saying poverty necessarily makes anyone closer to GOD. However, the purpose of GOD blessing His children, is so those blessed can bless others. It is so we can clothe the naked, feed the hungry, take care of the widows & orphans, look after the poor - in short, the church as characterised by the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles, was a place where the rich and indeed everyone in the congregation, freely shared their wealth & gave generously of all they has, so that the poor in the church were taken care of.

Please notice, the Apostles did not buy Donkeys, Camels, build large houses for themselves or take ANY of the gifts given by the church members, to enrich themselves in anyway. When Barnabas sold a plot of land, and placed the money as a gift at Apostle Peter's feet, Peter did not rush out to buy a Chariot for his wife, or a Donkey for himself. He did not claim he needed Chariot SUV model 4.0 to help spread and propagate the gospel! Peter immediately turned the money over to the church. The money and gifts given were NOT handled by the apostles either. Instead, 7 god-fearing men were chosen as deacons to take care of the administration of the funds which were then used to feed and clothe poor widows and orphans & other destitute members of the church.

It is interesting that instead of handling and administering the monies and gifts, the Apostles wisely chose to give themselves over to the teaching and preaching of the Word of GOD to build-up the Body of believers. They knew that looking after the body of Christ, the believers(what is actually the Church) was the true calling GOD had appointed them to. This was the charge left to them by Jesus Christ. Neither the Apostles, nor the deacons saw these monies and gifts as a source of wealth to enrich themselves in anyway. They knew the money was GOD's money and treated it with the diligence and moral uprightness required.

However this is not the case we see in Nigeria today. Instead of this example, what we have in many parts of the Nigerian Church, should make those who truly love Jesus Christ weep. Pastors are wealthy beyond imagining. Their wealth is often built solely on the tithes and offerings of their congregations or the sales of books/videos/7 steps to wealth etc forced down the throats of the congregation. General Overseers are scrambling to out-do each other in the purchase of private jets. Some actually boast of having 4 jets. Others claim their church members love them so much, they have purchased them a private jet as a birthday gift! Others talk about foreign donations of stretch limousines given as gifts to their wives! This in a country where over 60% of the population live on less than $2 daily! These pastors have members in their congregation who cannot afford to eat 3 times daily, who struggle to pay their rent, whose children are kicked out of school for the non-payment of school fees etc. What is the response of these churches & the so-called men of God running them? Do they sell their possessions to help? Or sell these gifts to give help lift these ones out of poverty? Did the one who received a private Jet as a birthday gift, thank his congregation and then immediately sell the gift to help the destitute? Nope - instead of this, congregations are harangued for more tithes and greater offerings. These offerings and tithes are then spent recklessly on building programmes for bigger and flashier edifices, on bigger and flashier cars and jets for the pastor/overseer, on private schools and universities (which the members of the congregation who donated the money that established the schools) cannot then afford to send their own children to.

To anyone who has any understanding, this is a clear-cut disgrace. This unabashed love for mammon and absolute worship at his altar, and the solidifying of mammon's temple, should leave us all wondering if mammon is not the prevalent spirit in these ministries. If that is the case, let us please note that mammon is an agent of the devil. The bible says 'the LOVE of mammon is the root of all evil. The devil is called 'the god of this world'. So again I ask, which god is actually being worshipped by many of these pastors, GO's, daddies etc?

These churches that they have established & lead are far removed from the example of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles, and the Churches set up by Paul, Peter, John and the other Apostles in the Gentile territories they visited & preached the gospel of Christ in.

To anyone who leaps to defend their church, pastor, general overseer, etc - I ask one simple thing; Who is the true Head & overseer of the church? To whom does the Church belong? His name is Jesus Christ. The Church at large belongs to Him alone. The foundation of the Church is His death, blood, resurrection & sacrifice, so ANY so-called church that is set-up & run contrary to His principles, teachings, doctrines, and the example of His lifestyle, is CLEARLY wrong.

I'll ask the defenders of the corruption & wrong teaching - is your loyalty to Jesus Christ or to your pastor? Were you saved by your pastor or by Jesus Christ? If the Bible (the word and teaching of Jesus Christ), points out clearly that your pastor, church, doctrine, and what you believe are wrong, will you repent, bow the knee, accept Jesus Christ's authority and follow Him, or will you continue to shrilly defend the corrupt lifestyle and reckless extravagance of your pastor & so-called man of God?

And before ANYONE uses that lame and totally silly defence of 'touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm', PLEASE first go and read 1st Chronicles 16:22 which explains the true meaning of this verse. Read what the verse actually means, the context it is used in, who are actually the anointed and prophet(s) referred to, and then please learn to stop quoting it blindly and wrongly. No part of the scriptures were written so that a verse can be twisted & used out of context by corrupt pastors, charlatans and con-men to quell any dissent as they set-out to defraud and rob the people of GOD and the house of GOD.

It is up to us to read our bibles for ourselves, and pattern our lives after the Godly examples set out in the scriptures. Nobody will have any excuse for the blind & slavish following of any man or woman simply because they are tagged 'pastors'. We are called to follow Jesus Christ. His life and example is laid-out clearly in the Bible.

xx

Occupy Nigeria - Is the Movement over and crushed?

So is the roller-coaster over? Does anyone really believe the country will go back to business as usual? Can you push the Genie back into the bottle? When people learn to fight for their rights and peacefully take on civil authority, they are never truly docile again.

So what has appeared to derail Occupy Nigeria movement?- Nigerian's own version of the Arab Spring? Above all, Monday's end of the protests was due to a seemingly corrupt Labour leadership. The leadership of the Unions let the people down and called off the strike when people were poised to continue protesting. GEJ sent out the Military and Armed tanks and soldiers unto the streets of Lagos to intimidate unarmed citizens exercising their rights under a democrcy. He sank to the very lowest a Nigerian president has ever done by pulling a Mubarak and sending the Army unto peaceful streets. However, sadly, because Labour cravenly and corruptly called off the strikes in the face of protest from the people, we would never know if the average soldier of the Nigerian Army would have sided with his fellow citizens or if they would have begun firing indiscriminately. Lagos became honey-combed with Military checkpoints that tried to prevent demonstrators from getting to the centres of the demonstration.

Does Nigeria have a democracy or an autocracy? Where in the world does a democratic government send ARMED soldiers AND armoured trucks to take on peaceful protesters? China and Egypt spring to mind immediately. If GEJ's role models are a communist government that ruthlessly crushed a peaceful demonstration and killed and jailed thousands of peaceful demonstrators and a corrupt dictator who was prepared to kill his own people rather than hand over power after 40yrs of a corrupt dictatorship, then he should be prepared to also take his place in the history of leaders who are failures. The man who came into power probably as the most popularly elected president in the history of the Nation, has within a short 8 months managed to squander every iota of trust and love from the majority of his people. Outside the Delta and the South South and the South East, there is hardly any support left for GEJ. Frankly, it is a very sad thing to say but many Nigerians would welcome the Military if they came back today. However, that is not the answer either as our Military cannot be trusted.

What have Nigerians learnt from the past few days? United we stand, divided we fall. In unity is our strength. The protest movement took on the might of the government and succeeded because they were united. Passion matters! It was the passion and energy of the young men and women of the Occupy Nigeria movement that galvanised this movement. Labour did not begin the protest but joined in later. Unfortunately, the Occupy Movement and SNP were naive and allowed Labour to do all the negotiating with the government - there should have been a coalition of negotiators who had to go back to their respective movments before any agreement with government could be agreed. Most of us believe Labout were bribed - pure and simple. We might be wrong but their actions look & smell 'fishy'. The movement needs courageous leaders. Tunde Bakare, Femi Falana, Musa have distinguished themselves. Despite being insulted by the government and even their own people, they tirelessly and fearlessly tried to take on the establishment. Nigerians are highly religious so any movement in the future must try to build a coalition with fearless religious leaders. There are not many of them as might be expected but their are some. They need to be sat down and spoken with before another mass demonstration like this so they are on board from the word go. Imagine if a coalition of churches and mosques had been marching alongside the protesters? Would Nigerians really want GEJ firing upon their religious men and women? Any movement in the future has to work with student unions across our many universities. It would be stupid to disregard Labour in the future but next time, they come in simply as part of the coalition. Nigerians also need to understand what the role of the opposition parties are. They are there to OPPOSE the government. We should stop mouthing things like opposition politicians joined the movement to destabilise the government - when the government has an unpopular policy that the people do not want and are prepared to fight agains, well, the job of the opposition is to support the people and fight against the government! We need much better PR. There should be much better links with the Western Media so they send in Reporters to cover the story. The Egyptian spring would never have succeeded without the Media's 24hr coverage which shamed the Egyptian government and forced Western governments to take a stand they didn't want to as public opinion in their countries was with the protesters. Unlike Nigeria, no Western government can afford to ignore overwhelming public opinion and are often forced to be seen to be appeasing their voters even when they don't want to.

Finally Nigerians have laid to rest the old lie that they are apathetic cowards and will accept everything from their government without complaining. Over the last 13 days, we have seen ordinary Nigerians march even in the face of guns, protest even when threatened with the loss of their jobs, march even when they did not trust the Labour leadership, stand out for hours in the heat with little food and water to try to build a better Nigeria for themselves and the next generation. We have taken to the Net waves and Twittered, BBM'ed, FaceBooked, Emailed, YouTubed. Nigerians abroad have protested before embassies and have marched proudly supporting the protesters back home. Finally Nigeria has grown up. We can be proud of what we have achieved over the last few days. Not every battle is won in the first skirmish - there are many battles ahead - we need to educate ourselves and our people, we need to keep teaching, we need to keep blogging and writing, we need to keep exposing the corruption in out government, we cannot give up. We have fought too hard and too long, we have prayed too hard and talked too much, we have fled Nigeria, abused her, been ashamed of her actions but still we have always come home. She belongs to us and we belong to her. We believe in the Nigerian dream. Like Martin Luther King Jr, many of us have a dream. We dream that one day we will leave in a corruption-free Nigeria, where we have a govrnent that cares about the people and works for the people and is not just there to line its own pockets.

Let us keep fighting, keep dreaming, keep hoping, keep praying. We never thought the events of the last week would happen in our lifetimes - they have. Let us hold unto hope. Nigeria will truly be free someday.

Occupy-Nigeria-for-ourselves-our-children-the-future-generations-to-come. Occupy-Nigeria-she-belongs-to-us-all. 

xx

Occupy Nigeria - Can Nigerians say No to Corruption?

Over the last few days, information has been leaked of at least N21BILLION Naira of assets allegedly 'owned' by Nigeria's Attorney General - this figure doesn't include his vast Abuja Real Estate Portfolio, stable of 30 luxury cars and as yet undiscovered overseas assets. If the allegations and stories are true, (and the Newspaper has provided documentaion showing a paper trail leading back to the AG), it is clear that majority of the N21 Billion was probably looted from WE the Nigerian people. If the AG, an important member of GEJ's cabinet is actually guilty of this alleged corruption, how many of the others members of GEJ's government have equally sticky fingers? How do we trust that GEJ himself has clean dry hands?

I do NOT care if you are a GEJ supporter or not. I do NOT care if you think Boko Haram is the chief problem facing Nigeria or not. I do NOT care If you are Ijaw, Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, Efik, Nupe. I do NOT care if you are Christian, Muslim, Atheist or a Sango Worshipper. I do NOT care if you support the Fuel Subsidy or Not. I do NOT care if you believe every word GEJ has spoken or not. I do NOT care if you naively believe that the Fuel Subsidy money will be spent on Nigeria, or if you cynically believe it will all be shared among 'awon boyz'. I do NOT care if you believe Ngozi Okonze-Iweala is the greatest thing since sliced bread or you believe she is the greatest disaster to befall Nigeria. I do NOT care if you believe GEJ spends his entire feeding allowance of £27,000 per day solely on Cassava Bread or if you wonder how anyone can budget £27,000 daily to feed himself and family while millions of Nigerians live on less that £1 daily. I do NOT care if you believe people of faith should not protest OR if you believe people of faith should be the first protesting.

At what point do we lay aside our differences and REALISE that this evil unbridled corruption by greedy leaders is destroying our society and economy. This Government, and the majority of the Governments we have had over the last 51 years, (with only 1 or 2 exceptions), have LOOTED us into bankruptcy and made us a country with the word 'diaspora' in our lexicon. Our best and brightest are FORCED to flee to the West, the Middle East, India, South-East Asia, China, Ghana, South Africa etc to get an education or earn a living. We are losing a generation of talent that should be building Nigeria. The words 419-Nigerian-Fraudsters have become known synoymously linked and known all over the World. Our youth are becoming cynical and apathetic, without morals or values as they watch their parents worship at the shrine of the Almighty Sterling, US Dollar, NAIRA etc

When will we stop squabbling over what are quite frankly mainly non-important issues, REMOVE the blinkers of tribalism, disunity and religious differences blinding us, stop this evil of I-support-someone-because-he-is-my-countryman OR I-cannot-support-a-politician-with-a-different-religious-faith? When will we actually ALL grow up and say AND say - 'This cannot go on any longer?'

xx

Occupy Nigeria - why are Nigerians angry?

As every Nigerian on the face of the planet knows, finally the sleeping Giant has woken up. Okay, Nigeria's still just half-awake but the masses have decided the gospel of the Occupy Movement is actually about Naija. The suffering Nigerian masses and ever-squeezed middle-classes really are the 99% while the corrupt politicians and their cronies make up the looting lying stealing 1%. Hmmmm, do I sound a little upset??? NOOOOOO! What could make you think that? *total sarcasm*

I LOATHE CORRUPTION! I have seen it destroy the amazing country of my childhood until she has become a caricature of herself. Morals have disappeared, public services are gone, basic infastructure is non-existent, security has become residents sleeping with half an ear cocked out for armed robbers while their security guards snooze outside, kidnappings have become rife.

We have learnt not to expect anything from our government - as we don't get anything! We provide our own electricity via generators as the electricity supply is a joke, often tar the roads in our private gated estates ourselves, pay for all medical care (or die from easily treated diseases), pay through the nose for our children's education, provide our own bore-holes (wells) and pump up water ourselves, provide our own pensions and are our own social security net - ok the polluted air and the blazing sunshine are still free (for now! until GEJ finds a way to assure us they are subsidised and makes us pay for them too!) but Nigerians pretty much fend totally for ourselves. We 'shuffer & shmile', we don't complain, we head to religious services by the millions and pray for better days. In a country that is the 12th largest Oil producer in the world (and the 8th largest exporter), 75% of her people earn $2 a day. It is enough to make anyone cry. But we smile, we are optimistic, we once won a survey for the happiest people in the world (!!), we gather in beer palours to discuss politics ad-nauseum but we never demonstrate - oh no - and we never rock the boat. It is reckoned the government earned $50Billion Dollars from exporting crude oil in 2011.

The one thing we do have though is cheapish petrol. Seems fair enough - after all, the thing virtually grows in our country, doesn't it? It gushes out of the ground, destroys the environment, has led to our politicians destroying every other industry as they all rush to suck at the teat of the oil wells, but hey, it is ours. Now, here's a funny ol thing - we have 4 refineries meant to refine the crude oil. This would help keep the price of petroleum goods down. However, for its very own CORRUPT reasons, successive governments have allowed the refineries to become crumbling unmainted edifices until they are now only operating at figures quoted of between 30% - 60%. With our lying governments, this actually makes perfect sense - y'see, they export the Crude oil and import it refined from overseas - (gross and totally lacking in sense!), but this has continued because they and their cabal of friends are skimming off billions of dollars every year from this nifty 'fun' little enterprise. To keep the prices down at the levels the local refineries refine for, the government claims it pays a subsidy to the importers of refined crude. This is the infamous 'Oil subsidy.'

However despite inheriting $110 Billion of reserves from the previous government, our present government has managed to fritter (steal) $80Billion of it over the last 4 years. No-one has the foggiest idea what they spent the money on. Despite the last regime leaving us debt free, the present one has quickly run up $30Billion in debt. No-one knows what the money has been spent on as it sure hasn't been spent on Nigeria and Nigerians!!! So the government is broke. Our government now argues that it needs to get rid of the subsidy which mysteriously and miraculously grew under this government from $1.9Billion from the previous many years to $8Billion over the last 6 months! WE the 99% have begun speculating that clearly we must now be eating and drinking fuel as this is the only thing that can account for the massive 4 fold increase over the last 6 months. A forensic accountant might find it interesting that despite the fact that the subsidy of $1.9Billion had stayed steady for many years, its massive spike occured around the same time our government decided it wanted to begin a 'Remove the Subsidy debate'. Once $1.9Billion leapt to $8Billion, Goodluck Jonathan's government had all the excuse it needed. Consultations began, Town Hall meetings were called. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Lamido Sanusi, Central Bank Governor, lectured us ad-nauseum on what they would do with the $8Billion subsidy removal windfall. One would have thought GEJ's government were running for re-election with all the goodies being promised - jobs for the unemployed youth, training programmes, new rails links, stable electricity supply, new health care centres, new schools, new roads - in fact they have promised so much, independent accountants project they'll need at least 100 times the amount to carry out even a fraction of those things to serve 160Million people. The new slogan they tried shoving down our throats is 'Suffer today so your children can have a better tomorrow'.

However - our government has NO intention of suffering too! The 2012 budget would make a grown man weep. I'll break-it down on another another blog postcard but let's put it this way. The presidenttial villa is spending $260,000 p.a on cutlery - for the presidential villa alone. So what happened to last year's cutlery? Ah, well the cutlery must be changed every year! Doesn't that make perfect sense?

After promising consultation and fooling everyone into thinking no decision would be made until April 2012, our 'compassionate' government announced on New Year's day, the immediate removal of the Fuel Subsidy and an immediate price jump of 112% of the price of petrol and kerosine. This in a country where road links are the only means of transporting goods, food, services and people. Prices of almost everything in the country doubled overnight. The phenomena we call 'double-double' was born. If a bus journey cost N200 pre subsidy removel, it zoomed up to to N500. If a cup of rice cost N1000, it jumped to N2,200. Everything apart from salaries has doubled overnight.

Soooooo, why are we so angry?

Now, there are many elite and middle-class who consider it fashionable to say - well they agree the subsidy cannot continue forever but it could be implemented differently. Let me lay it down here - I am not one of them. I say let the government repair the refineries - and as it cannot be trusted with its sticky stealing fingers to run them once they are repaired, let it lease them back to private firms to run them. The argument of how the subsidy removal would help job creation via working refineries and enticing private investors is solved in one fell swop. Since it costs Nigeria N40 to refine its crude locally, the private companies would still be making a profit selling at N65. Some will ask - where is the government to find the money to fix the refineries? Well, maybe if they stopped paying legislators over $2Million per year and the president cut back on his $10Million annual feeding allowance and other stupendously bloated allowances, they might actually have enough to pay for fixing at least two refineries immediately!

Stop asking the Nigerian citizen to contribute one dime. We have laboured, sweated, suffered, smiled, while the political classes and previous Military governments have looted Trillions of dollars over the last 20 years. Why should the 99% care about tightening our belts even further when we know every cent you manage to squeeze out of us will go straight into your Swiss bank accounts, fancy multi-million dollar foreign properties, private jets, stable of mistresses, expensive Cartier jewellery for the missus, expensive cars, yachts, foreign education for spoiled pamperd children etc etc - and NOT a red cent will be spent on Nigeria? To all the government supporters who keep saying give GEJ a chance, I politely ask, why? He has been defacto president for 23 months - he has been part of the governing administration for 5 years - at what point has he implemented any policies that have helped prove to us and win our trust, that he is that rare breed of Nigerian - an honest politician?

This is why we are marching. This is why we are demonstrating. This is why we are on Facebook, Twitter, Blackberry, Whatsapp, SMS, Youtube, Sahara Reporters, Forums - talking, organising, discussing, sharing links. We want to give our children a new country. A country they can be proud of. We want a country where the lowest worker can earn a living wage. Where the proceeds of OUR Oil Wealth are used to make Nigeria a shining gem for the benefit of ALL Nigerians. Where a wealth fund is created to save for the future. Where every citizen is guaranteed free education at least up until the end of High School. Dear 1%, WE the 99% are sick and tired of your promises. We no longer believe a word you say.

This is the Nigerian Spring! #Occupy-Nigeria-we-are-the-99%-it-is-our-country-too#

xx

Nigeria's Fuel Subsidy removal ... (1)

I am way too upset and too tired right now to write about the removal of the Fuel subsidy and all it's ramifications. So forgive me if all I do right now is share my FB status update and the full statement from the PPPRA announcing the removal of the Fuel Subsidy effective immediately.

My FB Status: "We have a government that is deaf, blind and callous. In the light of all the tension in the country with the recent bombings, is this the time to remove the Petroleum subsidy? Nigerians are dying from poverty, many cannot afford to eat two meals a day while our president budgets £4M p.a for his feeding allowance. The amount budgeted for petrol and diesel for his generators is astronomical. GEJ is NOT our president - he is proving himself to be just another crook who does not give a toss for the millions who foolishly elected him."

Please read the link below. It is cruel and callous. In ONE day, the government removed Petroleum subsidies effective immediately (when most Nigerians were expecting it to take place in April if the government went ahead). This MORE than doubled the price of Petroleum products overnight. This is a country where power outages (shortages) means millions have generators gulping diesel or have to buy kerosine to cook with or power lanterns.

During Nigeria's last elections, there were many who claimed their reason for not voting for Buhari, a candidate eminently MORE qualified than Jonathan, was that Buhari would rule by decree. If this is not Jonathan ruling by decree, then I don't know what a decree is!

xx


Full Text Of The Press Release From The PPPRA Announcing Removal Of Fuel Subsidy

P

osted: January 1, 2012 - 15:13
By Reginald Stanley

PPPRA Announces Formal Removal of Subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)

Following extensive consultation with stakeholders across the nation, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) wishes to inform all stakeholders of the commencement of formal removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), in accordance with the powers conferred on the agency by the law establishing it, in compliance with Section 7 of PPPRA Act, 2004.

By this announcement, the downstream sub-sector of the petroleum industry is hereby deregulated for PMS. Service providers in the sector are now to procure products and sell same in accordance with the indicative benchmark price to be published forthnightly and posted on the PPPRA website.

Petroleum products marketers are to note that no one will be paid subsidy on PMS discharges after 1st January 2012.

Consumers are assured of adequate supply of quality products at prices that are competitive and non-exploitative and so there is no need for anyone to engage in panic buying or product hoarding.

The PPPRA in conjunction with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) will ensure that consumers are not taken advantage of in any form or in any way.

The DPR will ensure that the interest of the consumer in terms of quality of products is guaranteed at all times and in line with international best practice.
In the coming weeks, the PPPRA will engage stakeholders in further consultation to ensure the continuation of this exercise in a hitch-free manner.

Signed:

Reginald Stanley
Executive Secretary, PPPRA.

Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu is dead. Leader of Biafra, patriot, hero to many.

Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Ikemba of Nnewi, Ezeigbo, is dead (1933 - 2011). A colossus among the Igbo people, possibly the most famous Igbo man of his generation and perhaps of all time, he led his people into a struggle to break away from Nigeria. Biafra, the sessionist State he led, survived only 30 months between 1967 - 1970, but the pride, pain and tears created by those years continues to live on over 40years later. Many Igbo people are nostalgic about Biafra and wonder 'what if'. What if the war had been successful? What if Biafra was an independent functioning nation today?

No man is all hero or all villain - most are a unique mixture of many elements. In this giant of a man, I see many qualities - a caring for his people, a dogged determination to keep the war going in the midst of overwhelming odds, a ruthless streak needed to keep sending young men to the front even when the cause was helpless, a desire for freedom for the Igbo people, a naive idealism that the 'idea' of a nation could survive the overwhelming odds of military superiority of arms and men that finally crushed the dream.

Many non-Igbo Nigerians have long forgotten the causes of Nigeria's civil war, it is glossed over in our history books and the concept of a unified Nigeria is fed to all. I cannot claim to understand the place Ojukwu holds in the hearts of his people, the Igbos but I can recognise a patriot when I see one. It is easy to forget today the failed military coup in 1966 and its bloody aftermath that led to one of the first recorded acts of ethnic cleansing in Nigerian history. Over 10,000 Igbo people were slaughtered in Northern Nigeria in a few weeks. In acts of brutal genocide, Igbo men, women and children were wiped out by their Northern neighbours among whom they had lived, worked, and laughed for years.

In the midst of this, after the failed peace talks in Aburi with the Nigerian Government, Ojukwu, then a young man of 33, military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, rose up and called upon his people to take up arms, to carve out a nation where they could live in peace, to break-up the artificial union called Nigeria created by the whim of the colonial British. His bold experiment failed. It is estimated that between 1 - 3 million people died in the devastating war that pitted Nigeria against Biafra. Many died of starvation - photographs of starving Biafran children with stick-thin legs and huge stomachs is still imprinted on the minds of many in the West. The evil of a civil war is that when people who had considered themselves to be of the same nation, turn against each other, the ensuing savagery and brutality is usually worse that a war among strangers.

I am a Nigerian. Nigeria has a lot wrong with it but I am proud to be a Nigerian. If Ojukwu had succeeded, if Biafra had succeeded, there would be no Nigeria today. I would be a citizen of a vastly different nation. Nigeria would have broken up as the Yorubas would not have stayed in a union with the Hausas. We would have 3 separate Nations today with everyone going to war over who controlled the oil-producing Delta areas. Many think maybe that might have been a better solution for Nigeria, however, in many ways, all I can see is an alternate universe fraught with insurmountable perils.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, a man whose name has gone down into history has died today. He will be remembered as a patriot, a hero, an Oxford educated historian, a military leader, a fighter, the leader of a short-lived 'nation', son of a millionaire, an idealist who gave up his a life of privilege to try to create a new destiny for his race. Today it is time to say RIP Ezeigbo. RIP Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The legend that is Biafra salutes you, the Igbo people salute you, Nigerians salute you.

Nigeria, your country that probably emerged stronger and more unified out of the ashes of the civil war, salutes you.

Farewell Emeka Ojukwu. Farewell Dikedioramma (beloved hero). Farewell.

xx

Gaddafi's dead .. shot in both legs .. died of his wounds.

Muammar Gaddafi, former leader of Libya for 41 years is reported to have been captured and killed by the Libyan rebel forces. A civil war has been raging  in Libya since street protests began against Gaddafi's regime in February this year.

Now, I hear the arguments that Gaddafi ran the country well and spent Libya's oil money on Libya. In 2010, Libya had the highest GDP, education index, and human development index in Africa. However, isn't the wealth of a country meant to be spent on a country anyway? Other African countries would be doing just as well if their leaders were not corrupt. Not being overly corrupt does NOT make Gaddafi great - just a normal sized leader in a continent of corrupt Pygmy leaders.

Many Africans believe the West 'killed' Gaddafi, hunted down a courageous leader who stood up to the West, took them on and won. Others point to his achievements in Libya and give him credit for not 'stealing' Libya's oil money.

This is bunkum! Our expectations of our leaders is so low, we praise lavishly any leadership that does the barest minimum, and laud them as if they are doing something special. What totally ticks me off is that Gadaffi was in power for 41 years! 41 years!

I don't give a toss if Gaddafi was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Unless a country has agreed it is a constitutional monarch, NO leader should be in power for 41 years. Gaddafi swept in via a revolution, he  set his country on the straight and narrow, all well and good. He should THEN have stepped down. Imagine if Gaddafi had set up political parties, established democracy, won elections and led Libya for 8 years - 12 years (two presidential terms of 4 or 6years). He would have been feted and praised, an elderly statesman today, a man whose word would have been respected in his country and abroad.

Instead the young revolutionary became an elderly megalomaniac. His opponents were thrown into jail, ALL dissent was quelled, torture became common-place, no press dared disagree with him, The people of Libya had food in their stomachs but woe betide the man/woman/child who dared criticise 'the great leader'. Arrest by the secret police was an almost certainty for such 'treasonous' words.

Since Gaddafi refused to step down, refused to allow any political parties or any form of fredom of expression, corruption inevitably followed. His friends and family became his closest advisors. No-one is saying Gaddafi himself is/was corrupt but most agree his sons were. Can you blame his sons?

These young men had been brought up to believe leadership of the country was their birthright. Born after Gaddafi's revolution, they were not revolutionaries but spoiled kids who had unlimited access to vast amounts of money and unlimited power. They responded to this heady mix by becoming corrupt tyrants who beat up girlfriends, servants and hotel staff in Western hotels and then claimed diplomatic immunity if Western law tried to deal with them. Gaddafi threatened Switzerland with economic sanctions because the Swiss authorities dared to bring a case against his youngest son, Hannibal, who had brutally beaten up 2 of his servants in a Swiss hotel. On another occasion, Hannibal's bodyguards also beat up French POLICEMEN for daring to stop this spoiled kid when he was speeding down the Champs Elyseees. At what point does being the child of a leader make you immune to the laws of OTHER countries? If his kids were behaving with such arrogance and violence out of Libya, what must they must have been like back in Libya?

Africa needs good leaders. I respectfully say while Gaddafi did well to develop Libya economically, Gaddafi is not the model of leadership we need.  Bread in the stomach is not worth losing all freedom to express our views, to demand political reform, seek a change in government or have a leader's children forced down our throats. Instead of Gaddafi, we need more leaders like Jerry Rawlings, former president of Ghana and Nelson Mandela. Men of integrity who led their countries, did a good job, GAVE UP power and have left a legacy of a robust democracy for their countries.

The Arab Spring has toppled another leader. This has seen ordinary men and women rise up, tired of the old guard, tired of corruption and fed-up of despotic leaders who cling desperately power. It is easy to blame the West for interference but if you set your own house on fire, don't be surprised if it gives your neighbours a chance to rush into your home in the guise of helping you out!

This should be a wake-up call to the corrupt leadership we have in Nigeria. Change and lead the country well, spend Nigeria's money on Nigeria, STOP rigging elections, put aside tribalism and nepotism and put Nigeria's interest's first. Otherwise, one day change WILL come - and it might NOT be very pretty especially for the leaders, their families and their cronies!

xx

Dame Patience Goodluck – a speech by our 1st lady.

I had a dream. Yes my fellow Nigerians - I had a DREAM in which I heard the eloquent rich voice of our first lady Dame Patience Goodluck speak words of great wisdom. Dame Patience was giving a speech to a diverse audience in her role as President Goodluck's wife and Nigerian's 1st lady.

The Dame's Speech:

To all “my fellow widows”, I would like to introduce my husband President Goodluck Jonathan. “My husband and Sambo is a good people”. Both of them will lead Nigeria to greatness. My husband and I have together “born” 2 children. To all those who say the PDP does not care about the younger generation, I would like to assure you that this president” was once a child and all the Senators were once a children”. “All the people sitting here before you here were all once a children”. So how can the president not care about the younger generation who are all child?

It is very distressing to me to learn about the bombings in our nation. “So to all those evil bombers, I say, Who born them? Wasn’t it not a woman? They were once a children, now a adult, now they are bombing women and children making some children a widow”. “My heart feels sorry for these children who have become widows by losing their parents for one reason or the other”.

However, let us not become downcast: Our great sportsmens and women have made us proud on the international scene. "To those who abuse our great sportsmen and women, remember “Yes we are all happy for the effort, remember it is not easy to CARRY SECOND in an international competition like this one”. “WE should always have love for our fellow Nigerians irrespective of their NATIONALITY.” Like my husband and Sambo once said "we are diverse in terms of different human species."

In conclusion, I promise to be Nigeria's 1st mother. As you are all aware, "A good mother takes care of HIS children" so bags of rice will continue to be distributed to all my good" children who have become widows by losing their parents."

So to all "my fellow Nigerians irrespective of their NATIONALITY", I ask you to join with “my Husband and Sambo” under the “UMBLERRA” that is the PDP and Nigeria. "COME APRIL ELECTIONS WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PRESS YOUR HAND? IT SHOULD BE UMBLERRA."

(The End: as I jolted awoke from my dream landscape strewn with landmines of grammatical cluster nail bombs)

Ok, I hope you have all stopped rolling on the floor laughing like I did when I first came across some of our first lady's words. I've just simply strung together some of her more famous grammatical missteps into an imaginary speech. Now truly I am not mocking her because I actually find her words extremely funny but imagine my shock when I discovered that Dame Patience Goodluck has an NCE in Education, a BSC in Biology & Psychology and was a secondary school teacher for many years!

This is Nigeria!!!! Let us all gather under our Umblerras and reflect on the state of the Nigerian educational system. To those of us who grew up in Nigeria when our educational system was fantastic, I am still not sure whether to laugh or cry!

Happy 51st birthday Nigeria .. xx

Happy birthday my beloved Nigeria.

I love you to bits and pieces. I see all your flaws clearly but you'll always be my country, my homeland, the land of my ancestors.

Many today will weep and wail and gnash their teeth over you. I REFUSE to do that. Today I want to celebrate you. Your continued existence is a divine miracle.

Beautiful land, blessed by GOD, with blessings of the earth, awesome weather, hardy people, liquid gold.

Most of your 51 years have been painful ones. Raped, plundered, ravaged by those who are meant to care for you - your own leaders. You have suffered through numerous coups, a devastating civil war, injustice, greedy corrupt leaders, entrenched endemic corruption, the break-down of law & order, a society where most structures have collapsed BUT amazingly through all this, you have remained standing. Most societies that have experienced even one or two of these disasters have collapsed, been destroyed permanently, broken up into little pieces, but not you.

You smile patiently and hope for a better day. You fall but you keep rising, you never ever give up. Stripped and humiliated, you refuse to be stressed, depressed, broken, crushed. You are the boxer in the ring who is being battered by his opponent, eyes swollen, lips puffy, swaying, shuffling about blindly, barely able to stand, but still gamely at the sound of the bell lurching out for each round, doggedly refusing to give up, steadfastly ignoring & pushing away the towel everyone says you should throw in.

Birthed in hope, but growing up into sorrow, your wealth plundered, your people cheated, trampled upon and abused, your children (the hope of tomorrow) crushed & beaten, ignorance and superstition holding sway, religious leaders who loot the wealth and souls of the congregations they are meant to comfort & enrich, but despite all this, your people have inherited your optimistic spirit, an enduring believe tomorrow will be a better day.

You have not yet lived up to your potential but you are a walking medical miracle. Deliberately infected with the AIDS of a crushing foreign debt and stricken by the cancer of corruption, your continued survival continues to baffle the world as you have not wasted away into nothing. The doctors of the WEST declared 25 years ago that your debilitating diseases would kill you within 5 years, your political leaders bought your coffin and planned your funeral, but you have shocked them all by refusing to follow their script. You are the patient who REFUSES to die.

Happy happy happy 51st birthday Nigeria. May your next 51 years be happy, prosperous, fruitful ones. I wish you long life & prosperity, leaders who care, the end of corruption, the real fear of GOD, social justice, tenacious reformers, an independent judiciary, intellectuals who care about the masses, an elite that gives back, the dawning of a brand NEW day.

GOD bless you my love. May HIS mercy, grace and favour ALWAYS be extended to you.

Love you loads & loads .. xx

Nkosi Sikeleli Africa (God Bless Africa)

I've been thinking about Africa today - the whole continent and not just the part I come from. There is so much that is beautiful about the continent and I'll forever be grateful that I lived part of my life in one of her countries. I miss the sunshine, the people, the sense of family, of deep roots, the optimism and resilience deep in the hearts of her people. However there is also so much that is wrong; corrupt governments that do not care about their people, elected & unelected officials looting and pillaging so millions are plunged into poverty and despair. 


I decided to go hunt up on You tube the song that was the anthem of the South African 'black struggle' back in the days of Apartheid. Once I saw the translation of the words of 'Nkosi Sikeleli Africa', I knew this is the prayer in my heart for my amazing continent.  


Nkosi Sikeleli Africa (God Bless Africa) 
Lord, bless Africa;

May her horn rise high up;
Hear Thou our prayers And bless us.

Chorus

Descend, O Spirit,
Descend, O Holy Spirit.

Bless our chiefs
May they remember their Creator.
Fear Him and revere Him,
That He may bless them.

Bless the public men,
Bless also the youth
That they may carry the land with patience
and that Thou mayst bless them.

Bless the wives
And also all young women;
Lift up all the young girls
And bless them.

Bless the ministers
of all the churches of this land;
Endue them with Thy Spirit 
And bless them. 

Bless agriculture and stock raising
Banish all famine and diseases;
Fill the land with good health
And bless it.

Bless our efforts
of union and self-uplift,
Of education and mutual understanding
And bless them.

Lord, bless Africa
Blot out all its wickedness
And its transgressions and sins,
And bless it.