baseball, gadaffi, occupy wall street

i don't have much to write at the moment, but wanted to share a few things that are trending through this blogger's mind!

• Baseball : for the last couple of weeks, i've been infatuated with baseball. actually ive been infactuated for the last couple of (10 or so) years. but ive been watching american baseball at the oddest of hours (start time 2AM in joburg) for the last couple of weeks. many people have remarked at the amount of dedication that takes. i think its mostly stupidity, but i dont know any other way! the reason i'm paying special attention this year is that my team, the st. louis cardinals, are in the playoffs (now world series). they won the world series last in 2006. and i still remember every moment of that memorable time. this year's playoffs/world series has the potential to match or eclipse that storied 2006 season. see, this season the cards were hit with so many injuries to key players. sometime in august, after a string of heartbreaking losses, i stopped intently following them (a bad fan i know). many that i knew (as well as other teams and media) left them for dead as they continued to pile on loss after loss. but sometime in late august or early september, something clicked. they started winning a whole bunch of games. mathematically, however, they were only a couple losses to being completely eliminated from playoff contention. but something strange and magical happened. as they continued to win games, the team they were chasing for the extra wild card spot, the atlanta braves, started losing a massive number of their games. these two teams, moving in opposite direction when once they were far apart in the standing, finally closed the gap and were tied on the 2nd to last regular season game. it would take a win by the cardinals and a loss by the braves, several hours later, to clinch a playoff spot in magical fashion. after they (barely) made it to the playoffs, they went ahead a beat the best team in baseball (philadelphia) with their imposing pitching staff, then they beat the team that beat them in their division (milwaukee) with their imposing lineup or batters. now they face a very difficult team (texas), tied 1-1 in a best of 7 series. a win would be just way to magical, way too special, for a team who everyone once gave up on.

• Gadaffi : someone asked me what i feel about his death. after not a lot of thought, i responded: relieved, its about time. it seems that after the prolonged fight and the many friends and networks that gadaffi has across the world, the only resolution that remained was to kill him. interestingly, the misguided south african government put out a statement by the president saying that it wouldve prefered that he be put to trial by the ICC instead of killed. hmm, SA foreign policy never seizes to amaze me sometimes. wrong on cote d'ivoire, wrong on egypt, wrong on libya. again. first SA votes with europeans on the air attacks. then says, no they were fooled and the air strikes have gone beyond the agreement (this of course, after they were scolded by the BRIC countries, most importantly China). then they refuse to side with the so-called "rebels" or recognise them. then the bad man is killed and they say he should have been tried by the ICC. this is the same international criminal court that they complain of being too one-sided in its witch hunt of bad african leaders. this is the same court that they could partner with to bring the sudanese tyrant of a president, omar al-bashir, to justice after being accused and wanted for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, embezzlement, etc. but they refuse to. right. anyway, back to gadaffi, while i am relieved that the man is dead, i refuse to celebrate his death like others do. i'm not saying they are wrong to do so. perhaps they have very good reasons to rejoice. however, just like the death of bin laden earlier in the year, this to me is a solemn moment, a moment to reflect, and more importantly, a moment to consider the future and what it means, a golden opportunity to re-build.

• Occupy Wall Street :  this movement is fascinating, to say the least! I couldn't get enough of reading about this, especially because every news article, every person interviewed, has a different view on what is actually being protested and the merits of it. ive always thought of myself fully business-oriented. at the same time i would also like to think of myself as people-oriented. ive argued many times that it shouldnt be mutually exclusive that what's best for business is best for people. i still believe that. which is why on the one hand i can sympathise with those who feel that wall street has screwed them over with bad (to put it mildly) investments of their money, shady dealings, and bailouts that at times simply went to  the pockets of the perpetrators through bonuses. on the other hand, i can sympathise with those on wall street or in 'the corporation'. many are simply trying to make the most money for their clients (as they have been charged to do). yes, without wall street or big business, we wouldnt have the massive collapse in world economies that we've experienced over the last few years, but without wall street, many would also not have jobs to lose in the first place. big business has created a lot of job. yes, even manually-created bubbles such as the housing bubble or the internet bubble created millions of jobs and many are grateful for it. bill clinton would not have won a 2nd term if not for it. what is disturbing about the occupy wall street movement, however, is in its very nature. it was conceived at the grassroots- a movement largely leader-less, addressing the concerns of the masses and not of the few. i love it. i really do. but at some point you need a leader. you need a clear message. in search of that message, many have turned to a single word: anger. we're angry so we protest. ok, that'll get you noticed, but then what? look at the COPE party in south africa. the leaders were angry that their voices werent heard so they formed another party. that party was doomed from the start, as it could not decide on a platform or key positions on key issues and is now largely in the background. and now occupy wall street faces the same hurdles. many across the US and across the world have taken advantage of this movement and now have made it their own. ive got no clue what SA is protesting (one account says its protesting against capitalism. borring. another says it seeks a different approach. what approach then? and approach to what? gimme an effing break.). but this is inevitable. when a movement is ill-defined, it risks the real possibility of being hijacked by other movements, or other individuals, in hopes of self-gain. i look forward to seeing what comes of this movement. my opinion: i think people in the US should be thinking seriously of how to break this constitutional "barrier" against a third party. i would love to see a third party in the US that addresses real issues and does not cater to the norm and the tired arguments of the 19th century! i do not want the tea party; i don't want the green party or the reform party. i want a party serious about thinking intellectually and outside the linear line of american politics. a party not afraid to side with another party if ideologically-sound. a party that address the real issues in real and practical ways and not one so far fetched that only crazy people would follow. i'm tired of stalemates. time to check!

blog(ger) identity crisis

this blog is going through an identity crisis. this blogger is going through an ideas crisis. a crisis, not to be confused with a block. see a mental block only last for a few hours, days, weeks. a crisis, on the other hand, is a symptom of something much deeper, stemming from lack of desire, lack of passion, or simply just a lack. of everything. sounds pretty sad (read: lame) doesnt it? but in the spirit of glass-half-full, i may just stick to what some of my friends have been saying to appease me. to them, its a lack of time, i.e. working taking too much of my time or im so interested and involved in so many things that its hard to focus. suuure. i'll buy that. for a minute.

i've written a couple times about identity crises amongst my friends and how much a loathe the feeling of inadequacy based on failure to identify with one sole group of people (although admittedly a very real feeling). but what about a blog identity crisis? how does one get past that? in finding possible answers, perhaps its worth looking through the history of this blog. so thats exactly what i'm gonna do.

(by the way, this may not be interesting to most people, but its a bit therapeutic for me). i wrote that preceding caveat before thinking of what i was writing. but it actually brings me to my first point. when i started this blog, it was really entirely about me. my adventures in the "mother country" of south africa coming from the states with my western education and western world view, funny accent and funny way of dressing. i wanted a way to connect with people in the states, without writing individual or mass emails. i wanted to share my experiences, photos of wild afreeka, adventures and thoughts. i wanted to keep in touch. lay hold of the memories for one day when i return (then the plan was a 2yr stay!).

now things have changed a bit. 1, i don't know when i'll return anymore. i've fallen in love with south africa and its many many faults. but my first love, the US, can never be forgotten and is always there, waiting for me. my other first love, nigeria, albeit a forgotten love, or a back seat lover, or a mistress - open for quick firey affairs every now and then - lies waiting as well. or maybe its time to try on another strange lover? anyway, back to the blog...the blog shifted at some time to not simply discuss my adventures, but a bit about my views on different topics. another metamorphosis occurred when i realised that my stubborn views are not always the right ones (or the only right ones), so i skewed this blog to more so questioning many things, inviting readers to assert their views, to contribute to my learning and expansion of my knowledge. i acknowledged that there are many things that i dont know. i have a view on many/most things, but mostly i use that as a starting point for discussion, a way to bring others in to influence my views or me their's. a true debate. when i wasnt entirely satisfied with the learning from the blog, i joined the scary world of twitter - in search of the lost art of debate and shaping views through exposure to different sides of the same story (chimamanda  adichie would call that the dangers of a single story).

the recounting of the history of this blog leads to one realisation. its always been about me. whether explicitly or implicitly, even as i invited others to join in the conversation. i wrote about me or about what i did or what i enjoy(ed) or what i thought. but this begs the question: is that a bad thing? many topical blogs or newspaper opinion pieces may not be explicitly about the author; however, implicitly they tell the story of what the author likes to write about, how he/she thinks, what his/her views or stances are on important issues. its pretty boring to write a story with no slant or no bias, isnt it.

but alas, this is where i stand. do i continue a self-gratifying blog about me, cuz u know who doesnt wanna hear about my life. continue questioning ideas and thoughts and inviting others' views (i must admit i like this kind of engagement). do a choose a couple/few topics that really interest me and harp on those (entrepreneurship, african development, politics, baseball (!), e.g.). i dont have an answer. this blog is in an identity crisis.

what's in a heritage?

so today is the youngest of South African national holidays, Heritage Day. Or is it? Some refer to this day as Shaka Day. Others, actually most people, refer to it as National Braai Day. Listen to the radio shows, read the newspaper articles, and hear people speak about this day this week, and you would not be blamed for thinking that South Africa dedicated an entire day to celebrate braai-ing, or bbq-ing (for my non south african buddies). Although we saw almost no sunshine today, i'm sure this did not keep thousands, millions, from braai-ing and preparing potjies (pronounced "po-i-keys"). So why are south africans celebrating braai meat? What heritage are they celebrating?

I managed to come across this unbiased (i think) background of heritage day:

In KwaZulu-Natal, the 24th of September was known as Shaka Day, in commemoration of the Zulu King. Shaka was the legendary Zulu King who played an important role in uniting disparate Zulu clans into a cohesive nation.  The Public Holidays Bill presented to the Parliament of South Africa at the time did not have the 24th of September included on the list of proposed public holidays. As a result of this exclusion, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a South African political party with a large Zulu membership, objected to the bill. Parliament and the IFP reached a compromise and the day was given its present title and seen as a public holiday.

  

So are we then meant to celebrate the Zulu kingdom today? and how does braai-ing fit into the culture of the zulus? i spoke to a few south africans about my many questions and they gave me many interesting responses. most agreed that it was a day to celebrate sa's many diverse cultures and its ability to understand, tolerate, and share in others' cultures. 15 years ago, former president nelson mandela stated that the reason for declaring this day a holiday was to acknowledge that the rich and varied heritages in sa have a profound power to help build the new nation. He added that in order to rise from the ashes of division and conflict, it was essential for sa to acknowledge the sacrifices and talents of all the cultures residing in these borders. Yesterday, many organisations encouraged their employees to come to work dressed to showcase their cultures. At my client i saw several people dressed in full indian attire, zulu and xhosa wear. there were even some in "other" african wear, from east and west africa.

However, i didn't see anyone in afrikaans gear or british gear. those from british descendants claimed they hardly have a culture to display. i guess i can't blame them for that! however, the afrikaans have a very rich and celebrated culture. why were they not participating in this national holiday. ask many of them what they're doing to celebrate the holiday and they would give you a stare like you were the dumbest thing in the world, and almost in unison tell you they were going to braai, all saturday. of course. in all fairness, quite a few/a lot of blacks, indians, etc also use this day to braai and affectionately label the holiday as national braai day. but how did that come to be? how did heritage day become braai day? seems to water down the significance of the holiday no? or perhaps, it seeks to find some common ground, as with rugby or cricket, that most south africans can cling to in hopes of finding some sense of commonality - a hope for a nation striving to come together?

For the all-too-educated blacks i spoke with, this watering down of an important holiday to something as meaningless as burnt meat did not fly too well. one replied to my questions by stating:

"first we need to reflect on what we have inherited before creating a new so-called heritages of a new consensus. And truth is that what we have inherited this far is causing discomfort to those that stand to loose from the critical review"

That's deep and powerful and all-too-personal for so many. He added:

Braai day is a good idea, they just need to find a separate date for it and not undermine the significance of what brought about heritage day. People died a people suffered for this day to be symbolic.

other bloggers and twitter-ers shared similar sentiments. everyone loves to braai or to go to a braai in sa. that's a national consensus! but should this "new heritage" overshadow the real significance of heritage day? on a broader note, shouldn't we as a society be careful not to lose historical significance of our history, lest we forget where we came from and where we're going? do we all wanna end up like the british decendants who seem to believe they have no heritage? my father loves to remind his children to never forget whose we are and where we come from. he was reminding us in a way, not to lose our heritage, perhaps knowing full well how easy and convenient it often is to forget.

Happy Heritage Day South Africa! and in the words of a twitter-er that i fully respect: "Celebrate your roots but let other people braai too"

never forget

Maybe because its the 10yr anniversary. maybe because Osama bin laden was brought to justice this year. maybe because death, and near-death experiences, had been on my mind particularly much this past week. I'm not sure but for some reason, this 9/11 felt a bit different from the rest. 


10 years ago, benjamin netanyahu, former and future prime minister of Israel, after what had been the most shocking, surprising and devastating attack on the US on US soil (at least of my lifetime), declared: "Today, we are all americans - in grief, as in defiance" Many around the world would go on to echo that sentiment, including the influential french (yes, french!) newspaper, le monde. but what does this seemingly hyperbolic sentiment really mean? Was it simply europe standing by its long lost brother in a sign of profound solidarity, the same way the US had stood by it in 1962 when JFK declared himself a Berliner? maybe. i'm not sure. but i can remember at the time, in the fall of 2001, it felt good to know that america was not alone. others would rally behind it in a time of mourning, of grief, of loss, and of pain. 


10 years ago, i remember being shocked and horrified, more so speechless, at the sight of the towers collapsing live on television. in tears of God-knows-what as friends and classmates tried desperately, and mostly unsuccessfully, to reach loved ones in and around new york. i remember the following day, trying desperately to think of what good could come out of this. would the country rally together like we've never seen before, the way schools *almost* rallied together after columbine? would the country use this as a way to reach out to foreigners and those of other faiths and embrace them in the way the country was built to do? or would it bar down its doors, live in fear and isolation, reach new levels of intolerance?


10 years ago, i remember discussing this with my friends, lecturers and family. no one had the answer, but everyone wondered the same thing. there were so many directions to take, and we only hoped the country would take the right one. not content to wait for someone to tell us what to do, we began to conjure up ideas of how we would remember this moment. as someone too-conservative-for-my-liberal-friends and too-liberal-for-my-conservative-friends, i decided an appropriate response would be one of tolerance and love, giving back in any way we can. i campaigned for and advocated teach for america, peace corps, missions work...anything to show that while some may despise the way america does business, the genuineness and philanthropy of americans cannot be denied.


10 years ago, i, and many of my friends, felt what the new york times described as a "heartfelt desire to be changed", to change things. we wanted to be called on to do more for our country, to make this "senseless horror count for something....there was courage and unity on the streets of the city and all across the country". truly, on september 12, this feeling of unity was felt around the world. 

so maybe, that was what netanyahu and many others meant by "we are all americans"? that the world was unified with americans. not simply that, but perhaps, also, the world was at a turning point, ready to be changed. ready to embrace the change that was apparent on september 12. the bombings of 9/11 affected more than just americans. 372 is the number of those that lost their lives in the trade towers who were not americans. the wars that followed 9/11, the bombings, the attacks, the fighting made this a global fight on all corners of the world. it wasn't long before my family would feel the effects of 9/11. because we are all americans, my uncle, my nigerian uncle, chose to join the US army. he was sent to afghanistan shortly after. leaving behind a daughter and pregnant wife, he went to serve a strange country, yet one he believed in, this time in iraq. now, he's in north korea, still serving this country, because we are all americans.

uncle serves as an example of how we wanted to remember and commemorate 9/11. ready to leave his family behind to serve a cause greater than himself. to show others in his unit and across the globe that americans can be a force for good. he didnt go to war to kill. he went to serve. one of the most humble people i know, he went to counsel, to teach, to work, to defend and to learn. politics aside, there are lessons to be learned from this attack, just like there are lessons to be learned in any act of violence or terrorism. i just hope its not too late.

"may God bless the memories of those we lost"

post-post: i was overwhelmed to the point of numbness with the coverage of the 10th anniversary. I sat glued to the cnn and al jazeera, with my laptop on my lap shifting from the new york times to cnn.com to pretty much anything else i could find. so i share some with you:

My Unfinished Business: Keller, a news writer, turned opinion editor, turned executive editor recounts his and other journalists' defense of the defenseless war in Iraq and questions what he would/could have done differently.

Loss and Hope: Remebering life on September 12.

The 9/11 Decade: The most complete, indepth and surprisingly fairly balanced coverage of the 10th anniversay. Al Jazeera is on a league of its own! 

Portraits of a Changed America: Perhaps this should be portraits of a changed world. One could argue it needs to include photos of atrocities caused by american troops in the world after 9/11. Also a good story:  http://us.cnn.com/2011/US/09/10/911.changed.america/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

the *real* secret to success in life!

so, as most people do not know, one of the things i'm most passionate about in life is entrepreneurship. not so much being an entrepreneur; i'm too risk averse for that. more so, finding a way to encourage entrepreneurs and hopefully one day helping govts and organisations to see the benefits of entrepreneurship and develop practical ways to reduce the often overly obtrusive barriers to entry. besides those closest to me, however, you would never know that this is one of my passions. sadly, it is one of several "hobbies" that i have absolutely no time to devote to.

this post is not about my lost passions, though. it is precisely about entrepreneurship. kind of. a couple days ago i read a blog post from an org i've been following for the last 5+ years, called growthink. this org focuses on everything and anything to do with entrepreneurs, particularly in the states. from writing business plans to consulting to investing, etc, this org is pretty clued up and has grown significantly over the years. the moment i saw the title and tag line of this blog, i was intrigued. i have to admit, when i saw the title ("the secret of success in business and life") appear in my inbox, i immediately searched for the delete button - much like you probably wanted to ignore this post when you saw the title! for some reason, though, before i did that, I managed to skim through the tag-line and my interest was peaked. it went something like "you're probably skeptical of anyone saying they have the secret formula (i was/am), but like nothing else i've ever read, this is spot on (hmmm...)". the parenthetical italic-ed comments are my own, btw.

anyway, i decided to go to the blog to find out more. you can check it out here. the blog was about a book title The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (recently added to my list of "soon" to read books). This is what peaked my interest: the author says "the secret to success in life is to stay in love"! WHAT? or better WTF??! apparently:

"Staying in love gives you the fire to ignite other people, to see inside other people, to have greater desire to get things done than other people. A person who is not in love doesn't really feel the kind of excitement that helps them to get ahead and to lead others and to achieve. I don't know any other fire, any other thing in life that is more exhilarating and is more positive a feeling than love is."

just some BS logic to sell a book, right? i also found it interesting that, like any good businessman, dave, the author of the blog and owner of the org, put his 3 cents in and translated the quote to mean that people must be passionate about what they do. while i think that's true, i also think that's pretty much given, and not really a secret. and quite frankly, i don't think it captures what Kouzes & Posner are saying. i sincerely think that by being and staying in love, Kouzes & Posner mean, being and staying in love. not with your business or with your ideas (duh), but with someone. i am absolutely no expert on this, but do find it strangely interesting and worthy of some thought, discussion, and of course, another blog post.

more on this. coincidentally, i was having drinks with a close friend the day after reading this, chatting about everything and anything, from girls (the fact that i have none) to work (bleh) to the many business ideas that we have and never implement, etc. completely out of the blue, he blurts out, "you know, folu, i've decided that we really need to find you a girl...i really think what will take you to the next level in life is to be in love"! i typically brush off these types of comments with a joke or a voetsek, both of which i used artfully to get out of this topic as well. but, in my mind, i was reminded of the blog from growthink. next level? love? success? whats the connection? could it be my hurt from my last failed love that holding me back and enabling much of the dissatisfaction i have in my current job? could it be true that finding and staying in love will somehow translate to success in business and in life? is it that simple? i guess being in love does teach you a lot of things in life. Kouzes & Posner use words like "excitement", "desire", "fire" "exhilarating" and "ignite". Those terms, used to describe feelings of one who's in love, can also be used to describe the day-to-day outlook of an entrepreneur, no? you need excitement and desire to start your own thing and ensure that it grows and thrives. hell, you need excitement and desire to live life to its fullest and be satisfied in what you do and who you are.

so what does this mean? if you're not in love, you can't be a good entrepreneur? if i dont find love, i wont move to the "next level" of mankind and achieve satisfaction or, as jerry mcguire would put it, completeness? what is it about this warm and fuzzy feeling anyway that inspires people to action and enables entrepreneurs to get the most out of their businesses and employees? do i actually believe in this hog-wash? makes a bit of sense. actually makes a lot of sense. so its on like donkey-kong. the search for love and this elusive next level, that is. any takers?

madiba: savior, saint, or common man?

  

Last week, i was invited to join a discussion with a group that i described as young energetic south african youth leaders (or YESAYLs). No, these were not political youth leaders in the mold of julius malema (good ole juju). and they probably wouldnt consider themselves youth leaders...yet...but imo they're well on their way to defining and shaping the conversations in south africa in the years to come. and that's a good thing. i'm not 100% sure why i was invited; though being a friend of one of these YESAYLs didn't hurt i guess. I'd also like to think that i was invited because one of the YESAYL thought I had something to add to the topic. and she knew me enough to know that i would never turn down a chance for a good debate.

The topic: Mandela Day and Mandela, in general.

Before I got the invite, I had a pre-debate with aforementioned YESAYL about Mandela day and the activities set apart for that day, particularly the one organised by the cheesekids organisation. See, every July 18 (or thereabouts), south africa celebrates the former president's (and living icon's) birthday and 67 years of service. Mandela has made a point in recent years to remind south africans this should never be seen as a holiday (which it isnt), but as a national day of service - a day set apart to do something, anything, for at least 67 minutes to help someone else or some community or some school, etc. People proudly boasted of the 67 minutes they spent cleaning up their local park, their local roads, taking food to the homeless, reading to kids, painting schools, etc. instead of south africa looking for a moment to unite around during world cups and sporting events, you would have thought they found one during mandela day. people were reporting from all over the country what they had just done and how proud they were of themselves. it was a time to be proud to be south african, or for people like me, proud to be among proud south africans. or was it?

at least one group of young intellectuals (mostly black south africans) found something fundamentally wrong with these kinds of activities. Enter the previously mentioned YESAYLs. They criticised the cheesekids organisation for organising an event that was supposed to be about giving back, but rather turned into a publicity stunt with "famous" people showing up to sign autographs and the organisation spending lots more money on concerts and PR than actually focusing on helping people. They questioned how much "help" or effect the 67 minutes really had on the communities. Were township kids really better off for kicking a ball around for 67 minutes? Were students smarter and better equiped to succeed academically thanks to the new hastily painted hallways? Were the homeless better off for the bland soup made and distributed within the allotted 67 minutes? Or was it a day to feed white guilt and make people (white, black, indian, green, purple, yellow...) feel good about themselves, because, hey they've done their 67 minutes of service and now they can relax in anticipation of next year's 67 minutes? (one YESAYL wrote a brilliant piece about this in the leading mail & guardian newspaper; check it out at here)

This was the starting point for last week's discussions facilitated by these YESAYLs. you may have noticed me or others tweeting with #madiba. These were the instructions of the group for those that chose to tweet the debate. I resisted at first, but just like my resistance of twitter, i had to give in to the urge! Moving on, the convo quickly turned from the pointed debate on mandela day to the "issue" of mandela himself.

The sub-topic: do we still need mandela?

As south africans, these YESAYLs all had valid points; I learned quite a bit from them. there was no debate that madiba was needed in the early 90s. As the struggle went global, it was necessary to have a face for the movement. when blacks were liberated, but tensions existed between zulu's and xhosa's, for example, madiba was absolutely necessary. despite his many flaws, madiba the saint was needed for a time period. the question now remained, do we still need madiba today? do we need a saint? a savior? do we need to look at our past to determine where we're headed or do we need to look to ourselves to find the savior within?

Intellectually, the arguments of the YESAYLs made sense. Painting a school for 67 minutes or giving bread and sweets to a homeless person may actually do more evil than good. Ideally, we would all want people to have a more sustained commitment to helping those in need. going to a school every week to tutor and mentor is obviously much better than going once a year, for an hour, and kicking a soccer ball around, then turning around, getting the hell out of there as fast as possible and going back to enjoying drinks, dancing and music in a much more comfortable northern suburb (which is some people's recollection of what happened on mandela day). And yes, ideally, we would leave madiba alone and let the man be in peace and move on. we wouldn't use him as a crutch or elevate him to a pedestal he never asked to be on. we wouldn't use him as the only reason to do something for a purpose greater than ourselves. what happens when the man dies? we would have to move on sometime, no? why not now? but is this only an intellectual argument?

for those students of south african history and the history of the struggle - as most of these YESAYLs were - its easy to recognise madiba for the ordinary man that he is and therefore to place too much value on the intellectual and fact based arguments. but for people like me - and i would dare say many other non-south africans - #madiba represents more than himself. i challenged the group to look beyond the intellectual argument and towards a more emotional and realistic one. to remember what madiba stood for and represents to the rest of the world. he was the face of the black struggle. to move on from that so quickly, risks "moving on" too quickly from the plight of the black south african - a struggle that still continues in full force today. to move on from the ideal that is madiba risks moving on from the ideal of forgiveness and nation building. as an alternative to madiba, many may turn to a more militant and less thoughtful juju- a scenario, i don't even wish to entertain. dead or alive, if people can look at madiba and be inspired to learn more about south africans or to act in an unselfish manner, with a greater purpose, if madiba represents the aspirations of a nation and the ideal of freedom and reconciliation, then why are we so quick to want to discard that? although fully aware of his faults, i was inspired by madiba and what he represents and represented. an ideal he was willing to die for - words i can only aspire to say one day.

and what about mandela day. once upon a time, i used to hate people that come through inner cities or townships once or twice a year and pass out candies or play soccer with the kids for an hour, give them some soup and then leave. I agreed with the group that it helps the "volunteer's" egos and guilt way more than he helps the communities and kids. but then i thought some more about this and the ideal of the majority of ONE. if events like the one organised by cheesekids (however flawed) allowed just one person to experience something they would normally have not in a community they would normally not visit; if the call to service opened the eyes of one teenager to think of others above themselves, even for a few minutes, and sacrifice some of their time and resources; if all the festivities introduced only one person to the idea of giving more regularly and volunteering more actively, then in some way it has its value. i think we may need to start viewing development of people, communities, nations, in such a light. As we await the lightning bolt to hit, eradicating poverty and solving world hunger, perhaps we can take solace knowing that one person has been given an opportunity to have a view into the world of helping people help themselves, perhaps meeting others with the same goals, and perhaps going on to make it a sustained habit.

these YESAYLs have decided to start a youth think tank. i look forward to watching them grow and hearing great things about them!

lessons from momsie and popsie

so the parents just left and what a week and some. before i say much else, i just want to say how much i really admire those guys, their marriage, their faith, their love for people, and their resilience. popsie always says that their dream and hope is for their children to surpass them in all areas. to be honest, at this point, if i manage to be even with them (esp marriage-wise), i'll be happy!

they're so cute!

speaking of parents, they came from the US after a brief stop in Nigeria. Which leads me, sort of, to what i want to discuss. lately, i've been on a self-proclaimed 'journey of hope' - to find things about nigeria that make me hopeful and which spell signs of development and improvement. before then, i had been all too often chastised for being a pessimist after being the eternal (and naive) idealist in my university days.

because the last time i was in nigeria was about 6 years ago and, since then, i've read and heard some postive things, i was looking forward to hearing my parents perspective and their experience in naija. well, i must say it took all the optimism in me to keep the faith after listening to my parents lament the sorry state of the country. these are die-hard nigerians (my parents, i.e.) who have been investing and building for decades, dreaming of their early retirement back to nigeria. the feeling they had was not simply sorrow, but even anger, at the waste, corruption, and under-development of nigeria. seeing the roads in south africa, even the small potholes, they couldn't stop complaining and marveling at why the nigerian government cannot do something as simple as fix the roads that are in such disrepair that if left alone will render nigeria un-travel-able. when i took them through the shacks and impoverished areas of cape town and johannesburg, they were surprised that this sort of poverty still existed in south africa; however, the next thought that came to them was how even the poor, mostly, still have access to good (and relatively clean!) roads, water, electricity (sometimes). This meant that the poorest of south africans were still likely several levels richer than the poor nigerian.

sure, south africa cannot begin to compare itself against nigeria and thus celebrate being far and away more developed. but, on the flip side, nigeria certainly has to consider its journey in comparison with south africa's and be much ashamed. what have we done with so many riches - within the soils, the waters and brains of nigeria? and what about all those positive reports of nigeria improving? the improved banking environment? the cleaner lagos? the housing boom? perhaps my parents didn't go to those parts? or perhaps changes in the macro- and micro-level factors have yet to reach the average nigerian?

this reminds me a bit of 2009, when i spent the year working in botswana. no offense, and all love, to my batswana friends, but i gotta call y'all out! going to bots, i had read all the glowing reviews of the country. least corrupt african country, most developed, best cinderella story, going from very poor to high middle income country in ~40years, boomin economy, booming middle class, etc. well, this wasn't exactly the case. In fact, the capital city, Gaborone, was a little more than a glorified village. However, this is about where the comparisons b/w nigeria and botswana end. Personal bias aside, the policy level changes in botswana were actually being felt among the average batswana. I do not recall seeing one beggar in all of Gaborone. People were being put to work, mostly. The average guy in 2009 felt better off than the average guy in 1970. My parents lived in Nigeria in the 1970s and they and many others certainly felt richer, prouder, and more hopeful then than now. theres shame in that.

so the million naira question remains: what is wrong with nigeria and how do you fix it? my parents have many theories; one being that nigerians are simply not patriotic enough and do not own up to their country enough to want to fix things without waiting for the nebulous govt to act. im not so sold on that theory. but the idea of patriotism got me thinking about solidarity. what makes nigerians nigerian? its certainly not language, culture, or a shared sense of identity and belonging. rather, its a bit more modern than that. and perhaps gives some glimpses into what the problem is. if you ask any nigerian on the streets of lagos or elsewhere how they're doing, they will not answer "fine", like the rest of the world. No, the most common response to that question is simply: "i'm struggling". so perhaps, its a shared sense of struggle that makes nigerians nigerian? its this sense of struggle that makes nigerians get up in the morning and drive through none moving traffic, board well worn, torn, and overcrowded buses, navigate the crater-sized pot-holes on every street and highway. perhaps, also, its this sense of struggle that keeps the nigerian from taking ownership of things such as neighborhood crime, cleanliness, roads, water provision, and infrastructure development and maintenance. to me, these are easy wins for local governments. is it this sense of struggle that gives corrupt politicians (that's almost a pleonasm) a free pass - allowing them to endlessly steal taxpayer money with less than nothing to show for it?

my parents have never stopped dreaming about retiring back to nigeria, and in fact have been building and investing in anticipation for that. however, one could almost hear a doubt in their voices as they lamented over the increasing negative trajectory of development in the country, contrary to a lot of the news one reads about these days. even if were able to diagnose what the problem was - patriotism, corruption, sense of struggle or otherwise - how do we go about fixing it? what am i doing or can i do to address it? that, my friends, is the 2 million naira question.

catching up

sincere apologies to my die hard fans (all million and a half of you) who haven't heard from me in a while! i know i've been MIA for a realllly long time, but you can blame that on my work that has kept me locked in (literally sometimes) and has captured my soul. i wish i could say that its been fun, but it hasnt. at all. enough about the soul-devouring employer and on to a recap. sort of a cop out, yes, but so many things have happened since the last time i posted an i didn't just want to pick one. so here are a couple highlights!

Goodluck Jonathan Wins Nigerian Elections
I know this probably seems like old news now, but its still a great achievement that should be celebrated. I think in most places other than Nigeria, the achievements of the latest elections and its significance would have been celebrated much more than it was. Yes, many people are aware that relative to other Nigerian elections, this was probably more credible, free and fair. To be sure, there were lots of irregularities and politicians attempted to incite their paid thugs by crying foul and watching as looting, fighting, and murders ravaged on unhinged. But as we nigerians like to say (and those who follow Nigeria) relative to other nigerian polls this was a pretty darn good election period. Kudo's to the election commission chair Professor Attahiru Jega for assembling a good (enough) staff, instilling good (enough) practices, taking on the backlash after delaying the start of the elections due to irregualrities and still pulling off a good (enough) election over 3 weekends.

So what makes this election so special? in order to answer that, we have to look at who President Jonathan is and where he's from, as much as where Nigeria has come from. 1st, the president, by admission of his own name, has been truly lucky the last few years. Without coming from a lineage of rainmakers or politically savvy gentlemen and women, he was pulled from obscurity to be the deputy governor of his state, Bayelsa. Within a couple years, the sitting governor was indicted for corruption charges, fled and was detained in London where he fled embarrassingly disguised as a woman (wtf!). After his impeachment, he was succeeded by Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. Then barely a couple years after, Mr. Goodluck was chosen to be the running mate of to-be President Yar'Adua to bring a north-south balance to the ticket. The ticket won the presidential elections and 2 years later the sick Yar'Adua croaked and after a brief vacuum of confusion, mr Goodluck assumed the office of President of the Republic of Nigeria. This means, in essence, the only election that Mr. Goodluck has won was the 2011 Presidential election. Congrats, Mr. Goodluck!

2nd, Mr. Goodluck hails from a region known as the south south, the Niger Delta. This is a region where the vast majority of the wealth of the nation comes from. Interestingly (or not), this is also one of the poorest regions in the country with no infrastructure, no good educational system, no jobs (besides the lucrative business of kidnapping, cutting oil pipes and stealing some oil (causing violent fires) and other gang related activities). Additionally, the people of the Niger delta can be considered a sort of minority group (one of legions) as they do not form one of the 3 major groups (Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo). so for the 1st time in Nigeria's history (I think), we have a president that hails from a minority group - one that has been marginalised and neglected since Nigeria became Nigeria!

3rd, check this out:

that would be the electoral map of nigeria. Goodluck managed to capture the south of the country, but the north remains anti-Goodluck. he must find a way to win the hearts and minds of those guys (not an easy task at all), in order to maintain any sense of peace and security in the country. Already, in addition to the unsettled Niger Delta, terrorist cells have been springing up and causing frequent deaths in many parts of the country.

I don't wish you goodluck, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, I truly wish you Gods-speed and guidance! and i'm pulling for your unhindered success in addressing the true needs of Nigerians and bringing real and lasting development.

MBA graduation
This weekend was my graduation weekend. Luckily I was able to come and more importantly, my parents were able to come down (on route from US via nigeria). I didn't have much time to think about this event before I left for cape town on thursday, but as I saw old classmates and lecturers dressed in their finest and got to catch up with some i hadnt seen in so long, i began to realise just how fine of an occasion this was. i met some really amazing people during my studies last year that i plan on doing my best not to let get away (even if it means stalking!!)! a few people saw so many sides of me that i typically dont let out often; those same people were with me through good and bad, tough and rough, and i hope i can be as invaluable friends to them as they have been to me.

My parents brought some gifts from Nigeria and the states for me, including an awesome shirt that i was all too pleased to wear. They also wore their traditional nigeria outfits to the grad, which i must say, brought some much needed colour to the event. im so very proud of my parents and to see them proud of me was quite a awesome experience as well. check it out:

I'm for sure glad to be over and done with the MBA, and def ready to start reaping its benefits! I had some amazing lecturers who opened my eyes in ways i didnt realise they could open. I learned a great deal and can't wait to start imparting my knowledge on the world. watch out!

there's lots more that have happened in the last month, but this post has been long enough. plus i know i've kept you from weiner-gate long enough. more life-questioning, thought-searching views in the posts to come...

osama dies. so what?

 by now, i'm sure you've all heard "the news". i was awakened this morning by a friend who simply texted: "they finally got the man"! in a frantic panic, not knowing which "the man" he was referring to, I quickly checked my sources while texting back for further clarification. anyway, needless to say, it was no cause for real alarm. nonetheless it was big news. really big. but how big really? and whats the significance? obviously the significance to US politicians - obama's struggling image particularly - as well as the victims of 9/11 and those they left behind is huge. but is there any significance of this to me?

although no longer living in the states, i was around during 9/11 and the aftermath(s). with that i fully expected to feel something - anything - with this news. but to my surprise, i felt very little if anything at first. no big relief. no celebratory mood. no urgency to call family and friends. almost nothing. i think i was a little relieved that one of the more dangerous terrorists, one who cared little for human life, had been removed from the face of the earth. but it was an uneasy relief. knowing full well, this is was and is not a one man show. he leaves behind a whole army of young and old that follow his philosophy and values. he leaves behind a legacy followed, explicitly or implicitly, by countless political and religious leaders and millions of youth. i would love for his death to mean that that philosophy had received a serious blow to the nuts which would disable it from any thoughts of reproduction. but i would also like to believe that i will wake up tomorrow a multi-billionaire.

as i drove around today, i wondered why i hadnt felt the way i thought i should have. and i think it finally clicked. as with many emotional points of my life, i had somehow found a place to shove the memories of 9/11 and refused to let them out to surface. as i began to allow these thoughts to resurface, my mind went straight to the morning of 9/11. as i was leaving my dorm room for class that morning, i caught a glimpse, in the common room, of the same picture above of the twin towers being brought down. these images were played nonstop throughout the day. i remember my class that morning was one called "Present moral problems"- a modern philosophy course where we debated current and pressing issues that seldom had a right and wrong. that morning, no one knew what was going on, so the lecturer tried having a normal class, but quickly sent us out as people became more frantic. i remember speaking to friends from new york who couldn't reach their families on the phone to find out if they were alright. i remember comforting friends and classmates (i'm actually not sure what i said or couldve said in that situation). I remember the entire school gathering on the quad and holding candles and praying for those who lost their lives and whose families had been affected. forever. in a moment like no other -  a moment of solidarity and togetherness - i had never felt more american (with or without papers!). you sensed a feeling that we were in this together. we had a common enemy and that day, as the french president proclaimed, "we are all americans".

these thoughts remained with me for quite some time. i wanted revenge as much as i wanted justice; i wanted consolation for those who were left behind as much as i wanted those taken to rest in peace. i wanted a rebuilding of american values and identity as much as a tearing down of the hate and institutions that had propelled the terrorists.

those perhaps europhic feelings didn't last long as people went back to their normal lives, heeding the foolhearted advice of the foolhearted president who told us to simply "go shopping". columbine was supposed to unite schools against violence and teach students the values of acceptance and tolerance. it was supposed to open the eyes of teacher, student and administrator. it was supposed to entrench the words of mandela: never again! it fell far short of that. 9/11 was supposed to unite americans against violence and terrorism and teach to all the values of religious tolerance and the true meaning of being an american. it was supposed to be a moment when we all starred fear, injustice, hatred, intolerance, religious slavery with bold eyes and proclaim: never again! it again fell far short of that.

so as i thought more of the events today. i did eventually start to feel something. as the memories resurfaced, i couldn't help the chocking up that ultimately materialised. the memories of friends concerned for loved ones. of mates from new york recalling stories of near misses. of images of everyday heroes and heroines joining in the rubble of the twin towers to assist any way they could. i couldn't help but think: is this another opportunity to learn our lessons? if so, what lessons this time? i argue that we should strive to learn the same forgotten lessons of 10 years back. that we strive to shun violence and fundamentalism at its core. that we seek tolerance - in politics, in religion, in 'race', in thought, and otherwise. that we seek to find what unites us rather than scrape at what divides us. [i can start by replacing the "we" with an "I", i guess...] is that too much too hope for? i'm re-learning how to hope these days, but even I think it might be...


post-post: for more info about how 'the news' might impact the US, middle east, war on terror, etc...read Mr. Kristoff.

nigeria votes 2011: big day

in a few hours, nigerians go to to polls to vote in a new president and governors. so many things have happened since the start (or almost start) of the elections. there was the postponement, and then the 2nd postponement. the shellacking (in nigerian terms) of the ruling party in the parliamentary elections, and theres the collapse of one of the opposition party presidential candidates who many young people initially believed could bring about change. this was ribadu, the former chair of the anti-corruption agency. as i've mentioned in an earlier post, this guy completely turned me off when i watched him debate. i'm still impressed with the party and its organisation and seeming desire to deliver services in areas they control (like lagos), but im not at all convinced in the candidacy of mr ribadu. and apparently neither was he, as he and his party tried had to merge with another opposition, as theyve tried many times in the past. its all politics folks!

so at this moment, im feeling very proud and hopeful that things are happening in nigeria. im so inspired, not by politicians or empty promises, but the committed activity by ordinary nigerians who tweet and blog endlessly, given people like me a feeling like we were actually there. another journalist widely respected, christian purefoy, has set up a site and uploads videos and reports on whats happening. ive known about this guy for some time now and he's covered nigeria for several years and im constantly impressed with the way he covers nigeria and the sorts of stories he tells. stories that are not always the mainstream. i think i have a man-crush! keep up the good work. check out his site: http://christianpurefoy.tumblr.com/.

good luck nigeria. let change and development reign!