Saturday, February 26, 2011

the english, american, and nigerian


so you've heard the one about the english guy, american, and nigerian at the bar, right? what is that? you haven't? well allow me to tell you. there was a english guy, an american and a nigerian sitting having a beer at a bar in london on election night. the english lad turns to the other two and says, "mates, you're really watching true democracy in action. our system is so good, that we're having the elections now and in just a couple days, we will know who the winners are, barring run-offs." the american just smiled and said, "man, y'all have some stuff to learn. we hold our elections in america and that same night, we know who the president is!" meanwhile, the nigerian bloke is just having the time of his life, laughing at these two okes. takes a break from his laughter and says, "guys, our system in nigerian beats all others. even though we are having elections today, we've already decided on the winner months ago!"


I read this recently: "Nigerians are incurable optimists and believe the ballot is the way to effect change. This will clearly not go on forever. As it is said, if you fool a person once you are a fool, but if you fool that person twice then for sure that person is a fool. I don’t think the Nigerian youth is a fool."


nigerian elections are coming up in a little over a month, on 9th april. so i'll be writing about that quite a bit from now. but of course i'll try to write about other things as well. and i promise, to those that are not into politics and government, i will write very shortly about something much more personal. watch this space...



for now, back to nigerian elections. Everywhere you go, you're bound to run into nigerians. and everytime i to talk to nigerians about the upcoming elections, they are always so optimistic. there's a reason nigerians have won the prize for most optimistic people 3 years running. anyway, im one nigerian who's doing his best to hold back any measure of optimism. don't get me wrong, i would love nothing else than to be optimistic, but a wise prof once told me "a cynic is simply someone who used to be an optimist and has just been knocked down too many times." ive been disappointed in nigeria too many times, ive ached for nigerian too many times, ive rejoiced in nigeria too many times and then watched it take 14 steps back after 1/2 a step forward, ive sobbed for nigeria too many times. i also deeply respect my friends who remain optimists and hope that i can one day regain that same sense.


This nigerian election is different only for one reason. There is no clear frontrunner. Yes, the sitting president will likely win, because thats how they roll, but he's not a given, as the aforementioned joke alludes. Mr. goodluck, if he wins this election, will finally be able to claim that for the first time in his life, he's actually won an election (although he's been deputy governor, governor, vice president, then president). he will also accomplish another first in being the first president from the so-called "south-south" - the oil rich part of the country. the part of the country that makes the nation one of the richest in the continent, but a region which remains one of the poorest in the world. His major competition, a man i truly respect, is mr. ribadu, former and exiled chairman of the anti-corruption body under the former president OBJ. This man has vision, and he's young and vibrant and a hope-monger. im a sucker for hope-mongers! i very much doubt he'll win tho as he belongs to a much smaller party than the ruling party, but i like the hope he's instilling in young nigerians. the other competitor is mr buhari, who is past his prime and his time, but whom many nigerians respect for good reason.


I don't really have a fovourite for the election, but what im hoping is that more than any other election in the history of this young nation, the electorate wakes up and begins to demand action and progress. i doubt anything like egypt or tunisia will happen in nigeria, for good reason (tho i wouldnt be completely opposed to it), but instead, what nigeria needs are politicians that begin to debate policy, issues, and outcomes. tell me what youve done or what you plan to do and exactly how you will do it and you get my vote. the current lagos governor for example was accused by the opposition of corruption and while people knew he had shady dealings, no one gave a flying saucer, because what he's been doing for the last several years in lagos has had real and positive effects on the lives of ordinary lagosians. signs of progress are visible and continuous. is it not time we began to demand such from all our politicians? starting with our president? how many times must we listen to empty promises of reform in energy? or end to blackouts? no one even talks jobs or employment anymore, while the related issues of crime and gangsterism are increasingly on the rise. what about progressive issues of renewable energy that the economy is well positioned to take advantage of? what about health care and mortality rates? tourism? or an economy that encourages and harbours small and medium sized start-ups instead of frustrating them? "Nigeria's election commission has already deployed 240,000 people-more than all armies of west africa's 16 countries put together-and 132,000 data capture machines, which if lined up edge-to-edge, would cover over 80km." surely, change is in the air, no?


a friend of mine set up a day of prayer for nigeria and the elections tomorrow on facebook. i admire that. but firmly believe that faith without action is DEAD. nigerians should stop being a "hopefully" country, praying and longing for that one day when things may get better. and begin making changes now! im not talking of revolutions and uprisings. im talking of rejecting corruption as a way of life. being whistle blowers, starting impact business defying the difficulties that come with it, empowering children and youth, eduating. nigerians are smart and resiliant and we believe we're a special breed. we are. and if others can make change happen - the kind of change that impacts the ordinary citizen and brings about meaningful development - nigerians certainly can as well. in fact we should be leading the pack.


post-post: i think i write a fair bit about nigeria in this space. but im quite disappointed that i dont have the kind of following from nigeria that would be expected. so thats my goal now! interestingly, i have a sizeable following from the Ukraine! I know approximately no one in or from the Ukraine, but somehow, last week, the highest traffic i got was from the Ukraine. This week, Japan is threatening their position. go figure! anyway, nigeria is now on my watch list.


post-post #2: what leaders that remain in power despite election laws, or african leaders who refuse to recognise the power of democratically casted votes (looking at u zuma, goodluck, dos santos, etc), are saying is that they, as a sole individual, are more enlightened than the masses. while at times the masses may get things wrong, i reject that notion as firmly against the institution of democracy, the same institution that they purport to be champion. i also reject the notion that they are smarter than me. ur not.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

100th post!

i'm so proud that on my 100th blog post i get to talk about a couple things that i'm so passionate about! politics and baseball! i actually hesitate to call it "politics" (tho i do enjoy my fair share of political bullshit discussions). but this is more than mere politics. what i want to talk about is about freedoms. its about people. and their voices. its about a revolution!

a while ago i read an op-ed piece where an egyptian was quoted after the tunisian people toppled the sitting government as saying that "today, we are all tunisians". the feeling of unbelief, then exuberance that filled me after what happened in tunisia remains undescribable. likewise, and even more so, i find it hard to put into words how i felt on saturday when i could proudly say, "today, we are all egyptians". i dunno why, but i felt such a pull towards the egyptian people. ...the resiliance...the passion...the cries...the tears...the shed lives...the strength. ive learned to value people of different persuasions to me in many areas of my life, but i find it really hard to understand people who are not emotionally charged by what is happening in the middle east. as a brotherhood (and sisterhood!) of human beings, we owe the people of egypt and tunisia (now yemen, iran, and others) nothing less than to take pride (and part, if we can) in what is happening. the process. the transformation. the revolution.

in high school, as the student body president, my advisor and civics teacher, ms. meyer, used to urge us student leaders to find something that we're passionate about (like free lunches or updated textbooks, or new facilities...yea, life was really difficult back then!) and fight for it. jokingly, she said she really wanted to see students stage a mass walk-out. i remember ms. meyer saying some pretty crazy and out-there things, but the lady had a good point. i don't think i've ever cared about something or someone so deeply that i was willing to risk my life for it. this is not about politics. this is about people. wanting to be free. wanting to hold people accountable to their words. this is government for the people, by the people. i truly hope that the succeeding weeks and months reaffirm, rather than squash that. even more, i hope that the lesson here for others is to find something that we are sincerely passionate about that we are not afraid to put our voices to and risk our lives for. thats deep.

tahrir means liberation.

watching the crowds demand their liberation, demand that their voices be heard, assert that they will no longer live in fear, but that their voices and actions matter and count for something, i was moved. these voices had been quieted for so many decades under the bane of fear, unworthiness, guilt, shame, religion, and hopelessness. these voices had had enough. for more than 2 weeks, these voices proclaimed that they would no longer be kept silent. one protester at tahrir square who came with his wife and young daughter reflected,

"We got a message from Tunis. And the message was: Don't burn yourself up, burn up the fear that is inside you. That is what happened here. This was a society in fear and the fear has been burned. When we meet God, we will at least be able to say: We tried to do something" [more]

That was before president mubarak stepped down. rather, was driven down. the egyptians more than "tried to do something". the protesters, the volunteers who came daily to ensure peace was held and the sick were tended to and the grounds were clean and the looters were kept at bay, they all were part of a great revolution of our time. a revolution seeking democracy and development, freedom and unity, and seeking this not through foreign armies and crooked deals, not through guns and wars, but rather through that very natural gift of their voices. united. one can only hope that the ripples that have been started in the arab world, emboldens other communities and brings them together in one call - the call for credible and democratic leadership which is for the people, by the people.

i could say so much more about this, but i'm already getting too emotional. thanks to al jazeera which has kept me glued to news and analysis from a different perspective all along. its interesting to read journalists and other commentators debate whether "an egypt" or "a tunisia" can happen in their country. to those that doubt that it can, i say, shit on your people long enough and soon enough they'll start realising that the droplets they feel on their heads is in fact that - shit. i think most people don't appreciate being shat on for an extended period of time. maybe that's just me.

moving on...baseball.


this has nothing to do with the post above, but its gotta have a mention. pitchers and catchers have reported to spring training / camp (mostly in florida). most other players will report by the end of the week. and the baseball season (seemingly never ending) is upon us once again. for my south african buddies who i have yet to convince of the genius of baseball, let me say again that this sport (as dull as it may look to the layman) is truly one of the greats. come chat to me. in the mean time, heres to my favourite team, the cardinals, signing one of my favourite playes, poo-joles (pujols), to another great season, and a world series (yes, we are the best in the world so much so that we dont need to play other countries to tell us this) ring for the cards.

Monday, February 7, 2011

how much does your boss make?



Last weekend, i spent some time with 2 very distinct and pretty different groups of people. thinking about that night, i noticed such a stark contrast not only in terms of the conversations that we had, but more so in my response to the conversations and my feelings during and after the encounters.


set 1, i like to call the new young crew. here were young'uns who seemingly wanted to make a difference, but wer also obviously skeptical. they were quite an eclectic mix, including those that worked for ngos, private companies with social focuses (or is it foci), those passionate about building up african leaders and entreprenuers, etc. talking to these guys and gals really re-juvenated me and i could feel a bit of my youthful hope come back again. only a bit tho...

pan over to group 2. later the same day, i spent the rest of the night with the group known simply as dear friends. these guys i've known for a few years now and some i feel like i've known for most of my life. some of them can still remember wild dreams of making a difference, but had since been hit by reality bugs. much of our dialogue revolved around money and more money and cars and houses and more bling. it was about how much you made and how much your boss makes and what you need to do in order to get to where you matter (of course, "matter" purely defined by your salary and bonuses). i hope my sheer excitement (and sarcasm, hopefully) shines through my words.


frankly, i dont think those kinds of convos have ever interested me. but im not gonna lie, i like having money and certainly believe that it's necessary. but to make a whole night of discussion out of money (or at least most of it) got quite a bit depressing as well. are we really so defined by how much we make and what we can do to earn more? why the obsession with earning more or looking to emulate those that do? are we defined by our economic class? does our social status depend on it? admittedly, the answer to some of these questions is "yes", whether i choose to accept it or not. but does it have to remain like that?


now im being a bit too harsh on group #2; afterall i did enjoy talking to them. both groups in fact had something in common. i think ultimately, we all want to make a name for ourselves and want to make a difference, either in the lives of our families, those immediately around us, or in our community, locale, country, world. how we do that, i guess, is where the 2 groups might differ (tho not necesarily so).


i would like to think that i enjoy discussing ways of impacting the world around me, practically, than how i'm gonna get rich. i think i would rather make others around me wealthy and well off (the right way, of course) than exploit from them for my own good. don't get me wrong tho, i also need to live comfortably and need a career that caters to my home, vehicle, and vacationing desires. but am i really that old fashioned or naive to think that i can find or make a career that does not see as mutually exclusive the 2 goals of helping people and making money at the same time? (that might look and feel like a question, but i have a pretty good answer to it!) am i crazy to enjoy discussions about what i did to make that money that im making, regardless of what it is, than simply talking about the money.


i think i lot of people misread me and my mba (thats right, the degree that keeps me warm at night!). a lot of my post-mba discussions now for some reason start and end with exclamations of how this degree should just launch me salary-wise and how i need to start looking to buy and enjoy certain pleasures in life now that i hold the almighty capitalist degree. while i definitely expect to earn more money because of the mba, i dont think its a license to start having discussions about money for money sake. hmm, for some reason, that just doesnt seem very interesting to me. maybe im a bit odd?


side note: comedian steve harvey writes, in his book, that men are driven by "who they are, what they do and how much they make". until they accomplish these things, they are unlikely to feel they've fulfilled their destiny as men. dunno what i think about that, but it reminds me of one word. and that word is: bullshit!

so what did i take away from this night with the 2 sets of people? not sure, but it looks like i dont like to have lengthy conversations thats purely revolve around money and how much i need to be making (or gloating over what one celebrity did with their money and how i need to do the same...). i'd much rather discuss what i do. what i really do (which may or may not be my current job). what im passionate about. what gets me up in the morning. what keeps me going like an energiser bunny. what im so enthralled about that i could do for the rest of my life. what stirs my passion and livelihood so much that i would give my life for. the only problem is i haven't really found that thing. until then, i think i will keep looking for convos that are interesting, continue challenging my ultra-idealistic friends (like group 1) and their funny ideas, while challenging the group 2-ers to find something way more interesting than bonuses and cars to talk about (i mean, com'on!). or maybe i should just let loose and party!


post-post: happy superbowl sunday!