.... is crumbling like a pack of cards.
On Saturday, it was (Senate President) David Mark, then (Governor) Theodore Orji. There had been several before them.
Is (President) UMYA next?
Today is 'Super Tuesday' in Nigeria, when the Tribunal will speak on the Presidential Elections.
I know Solomonsydelle will have something to say about this. Let me go read.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
I'm Loving This Girl Right Now
She looks like Tracy Chapman. Sounds like Alicia Keys/Corrine Bailey Rae with full amala flavour. (Probably on paraga or some other Yoruba concoction.)
I don't know why it took me so long to 'discover' her music given that I actually met her about two years ago but by then she was a novelty sort of, an unknown quantity then. Now I read some very good reviews about her on Youtube and all, the girl done done good. I even have her song on my phone as ring tone.
It was funny reading how she came by the name 'Asa' . Yoruba being a tonal language, the same word Asa (Asha) could mean several things depending on the tonal stress in pronunciation such as:
Asa (d:m:) - Hawk; Falcon
Asa (r:r:) - Vagabond, Rebel
Asa (r:m:) - Barren, overused
Asa (d:d:) - Habit, custom
She uses the first one, meaning Hawk.
It is very rare to buy a CD and actually like all the songs on it but I am gbaduning this girl so much right now its unbelievable. All her songs just do me one way or the other but none like 'Bibanke'. And you can't but smile at the satire in Awe - a song about Waidi, son of Sekina, who impregnates a woman old enough to be his mother. Its been some time since we had an artiste who sings and the audience so connects.
Some critics and reviewers have translated the Yoruba word Bibanke (misspelled deliberately, I believe) to mean 'When I cry' but rather it means 'If i cry'. The Yoruba word 'Bi' as an adverb denotes choice while the adverb 'Ti' (as in Ni igba ti) denotes time. Thus 'When I cry' would have been 'Ti m'ba n'ke' and 'Bi m'ba n'ke' is 'If I cry'.
Q: Nimmo.
A: Ehn?
Q: Who send you all these Yorubanalysis you are doing now?
A: Abeg, no mind me jare. Na so e dey do me sometimes. Asa, joo gbe'lu soke! (Asa, raise the beat)
Biiibanke-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e [If I cry]
B'ójo ba n'ro [And the tears fall as rain]
Fi mi si'le [Leave me alone]
Baby Please One More Time...
I must ask your forgiveness for taking so long to update and particularly to Afrobabe, QoMC,DL, RDiva, TDiva, Indy and others who had asked me to update but not write about football.
Well, I am updating but its a football update. The original title of this post was to be 'Fare gut, Herr Vogts' (Farewell, Herr Vogts), but I couldn't resist the above. So please Baby, just one more time .....
Just in case you don't know yet, Bertie Vogts is no longer the Coach of Nigeria's Super Eagles and thats official. There are conflicting reports whether he resigned or was asked to resign or was fired. Any which way, he's out.
When I wrote about this after our loss to Ghana, I didn't know it would turn out to be rather prophetic, I was just writing out of my own disappointment and I know Nigerians don't like being disappointed.
While some say he did his best with the team and all that, the basic truth is just that Vogts was not the right man for the job. There was no fit. Someone summarized it thus in the Guardian of today:
'Vogts is a typical German. He was able to instill some discipline in team but did not properly understand the mentality of the African player and how to bring out the best in him...'. Just like I said.
Vogts failed. End of story.
Next.
Well, I am updating but its a football update. The original title of this post was to be 'Fare gut, Herr Vogts' (Farewell, Herr Vogts), but I couldn't resist the above. So please Baby, just one more time .....
Just in case you don't know yet, Bertie Vogts is no longer the Coach of Nigeria's Super Eagles and thats official. There are conflicting reports whether he resigned or was asked to resign or was fired. Any which way, he's out.
When I wrote about this after our loss to Ghana, I didn't know it would turn out to be rather prophetic, I was just writing out of my own disappointment and I know Nigerians don't like being disappointed.
While some say he did his best with the team and all that, the basic truth is just that Vogts was not the right man for the job. There was no fit. Someone summarized it thus in the Guardian of today:
'Vogts is a typical German. He was able to instill some discipline in team but did not properly understand the mentality of the African player and how to bring out the best in him...'. Just like I said.
Vogts failed. End of story.
Next.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Where Eagles Dare
Its no longer news that Nigeria has crashed out of the 26th ACN in Ghana and to Ghana's Black Stars.
The Fourteen Years Theory was beginning to look good after Nigeria was able to qualify from the Group stages due to a fluke. Several commentators had gone to town with all sorts of permutations both logical and illogical- and trust us Nigerians, we love to make up good stories.
One particularly good one was about 'Injured Skippers' that goes thus: It somehow was revealed that at the 1980 ACN Skipper Christian Chukwu was actually nursing an injury but because of his enormous influence on the players - most of who were from his Rangers International FC, Coach Otto Gloria had to keep him on the team and he played all the matches in the ACN that year when Nigeria won.
In 1994, Skipper Stephen Keshi was injured even before the ACN in Tunisia but because of his charisma, the Coach Clemens Westerhof put him in the team and actually dressed him for all the matches even though he never got to kick the ball. He was always in track bottoms until the last match when he took them off and collected the Captain's band from the substantive captain Austin Eguavoen in order to receive the trophy.
In 2008, Skipper Nwankwo Kanu was injured in the very first match against Ivory Coast and he was not likely to recover anytime soon. Presto! That was all that the Fourteen Year Theorists needed. Notice that Kanu was actually dressed for that match against Ghana even though we all knew he could not play. Probably as a psychological tonic for the boys.
But alas! The Fourteen Year Theory failed. Nigeria crashed out for the first time at the quarter-finals of an ACN.
The match itself lived up to its billing. It had been tagged The Fiftieth World War (WW50) by the press. It is the fiftieth time Nigeria and Ghana would be meeting in a football match both competitive and otherwise. And every time the two sides meet, it is war! There is nothing like a 'friendly' match between Nigeria and Ghana. The rivalry is so intense that many Nigerians are actually relieved that we lost to Ghana and not any other team in the competition. 'Our time will come' is the consolation. As it stands now Ghana has won 18; Nigeria won 17 with 15 drawn games. It was 17-17-15 as at kickoff. I sincerely don't know where they got these stats but it was repeated several times during commentaries.
I'm pretty sure Herr Berti Vogts did not know what he was getting himself into when he took this job but now he should have an idea. One could notice some changes in the pattern of play particularly after the Mali misadventure when Nigeria fielded a whole 5 (five!) attackers while Mali fielded five midfielders and none of them could find the goals! It was laughable!
I had never thought I would live to see the day that Nigerians would rejoice over defeating their Beninois neighbors by a mere two goals to nothing but saw it I did. Nigerians actually popped champagne because of that. I mean, just when did we come to this? Its a scandal!
If I was impressed by the little improvement in the team after they reverted back to Wingplay, it was shortlived because of the horrendous changes made by Herr Vogts.
It was a delight watching Osaze Odemwingie running on the flanks in the match against Ghana. The Ghanaians had a tough time keeping up with him and he switched from the right to the left so often that he frustrated the Ghanaian captain John Mensah into committing a red carded foul. The new boy, Uche Ikechukwu was also a sensation. Thank God the Spaniards did not get him to play for them. It would have been a great loss to Nigeria.
Danny Shittu was very mobile even with his bulk and he was very good at checking the Ghanaian attackers. One would have loved to see him more in a libero role but he had to fall back too often to cover up for Taye Taiwo. And the bros in the middle that was supposed to do the finishing was absent most of the time except when Uche presented him with a penalty kick to score from. Yakubu Ayegbeni was a disappointment.
What we need is someone in the mould of a Rashidi Yekini, a finisher par excellence or even a Victor Agali. Someone with a nose for goals. Ayegbeni seems only to perform against slow defenders and Martins was just not effective in Vogts 4-3-3 pattern. Mikel Obi was very effective in the middle and Dickson Etuhu was also very effective as his silent assistant though we didn't notice that until when Etuhu was injured.
Against a formidable midfield with Michael Essien, Sulleyman Muntari and Gyang, it was not a mean feat for the young men to cope and contain the Ghanaians but when Etuhu had to go out,(the game was at a 1-1 draw and we obviously needed more goals) and Herr Vogts replaced him with Richard Eromoigbe, a defensive midfielder who actually played right full back at the last ACN - I wondered 'What was he smoking?'
When we were one goal behind, (and the Ghanaians were down to ten men) he removed Mikel Obi and brought in Obi Nsofor who really had no role to play in the match, the guy just kept running around (I don't want to say like a headless chicken). Even Kanu was disgusted, you could see it on his face. I mean, where did they get this guy from?
Take nothing away from the Ghanaians. Michael Essien was a very effective leader in the team even before he put on the captains band and when he moved back to replace the ousted J. Mensah, I was expecting the Eagles to over run the midfield by simple majority but Essien did a yeoman's job there. I was impressed.
Even that Ghanaian joke called 'Junior'Agogo stepped up his game a notch against Nigeria. The commentators had said what Agogo lacked in technique he made up with 'gra gra'. His 'gra gra' eventually paid off as he scored the second goal from beside a flat footed Taye Taiwo.
As for me, immediately the referee raised up his hands and blew the final whistle, I just switched channels to watch 'Desperate Housewives' Season 4.
The Fourteen Years Theory was beginning to look good after Nigeria was able to qualify from the Group stages due to a fluke. Several commentators had gone to town with all sorts of permutations both logical and illogical- and trust us Nigerians, we love to make up good stories.
One particularly good one was about 'Injured Skippers' that goes thus: It somehow was revealed that at the 1980 ACN Skipper Christian Chukwu was actually nursing an injury but because of his enormous influence on the players - most of who were from his Rangers International FC, Coach Otto Gloria had to keep him on the team and he played all the matches in the ACN that year when Nigeria won.
In 1994, Skipper Stephen Keshi was injured even before the ACN in Tunisia but because of his charisma, the Coach Clemens Westerhof put him in the team and actually dressed him for all the matches even though he never got to kick the ball. He was always in track bottoms until the last match when he took them off and collected the Captain's band from the substantive captain Austin Eguavoen in order to receive the trophy.
In 2008, Skipper Nwankwo Kanu was injured in the very first match against Ivory Coast and he was not likely to recover anytime soon. Presto! That was all that the Fourteen Year Theorists needed. Notice that Kanu was actually dressed for that match against Ghana even though we all knew he could not play. Probably as a psychological tonic for the boys.
But alas! The Fourteen Year Theory failed. Nigeria crashed out for the first time at the quarter-finals of an ACN.
The match itself lived up to its billing. It had been tagged The Fiftieth World War (WW50) by the press. It is the fiftieth time Nigeria and Ghana would be meeting in a football match both competitive and otherwise. And every time the two sides meet, it is war! There is nothing like a 'friendly' match between Nigeria and Ghana. The rivalry is so intense that many Nigerians are actually relieved that we lost to Ghana and not any other team in the competition. 'Our time will come' is the consolation. As it stands now Ghana has won 18; Nigeria won 17 with 15 drawn games. It was 17-17-15 as at kickoff. I sincerely don't know where they got these stats but it was repeated several times during commentaries.
I'm pretty sure Herr Berti Vogts did not know what he was getting himself into when he took this job but now he should have an idea. One could notice some changes in the pattern of play particularly after the Mali misadventure when Nigeria fielded a whole 5 (five!) attackers while Mali fielded five midfielders and none of them could find the goals! It was laughable!
I had never thought I would live to see the day that Nigerians would rejoice over defeating their Beninois neighbors by a mere two goals to nothing but saw it I did. Nigerians actually popped champagne because of that. I mean, just when did we come to this? Its a scandal!
If I was impressed by the little improvement in the team after they reverted back to Wingplay, it was shortlived because of the horrendous changes made by Herr Vogts.
It was a delight watching Osaze Odemwingie running on the flanks in the match against Ghana. The Ghanaians had a tough time keeping up with him and he switched from the right to the left so often that he frustrated the Ghanaian captain John Mensah into committing a red carded foul. The new boy, Uche Ikechukwu was also a sensation. Thank God the Spaniards did not get him to play for them. It would have been a great loss to Nigeria.
Danny Shittu was very mobile even with his bulk and he was very good at checking the Ghanaian attackers. One would have loved to see him more in a libero role but he had to fall back too often to cover up for Taye Taiwo. And the bros in the middle that was supposed to do the finishing was absent most of the time except when Uche presented him with a penalty kick to score from. Yakubu Ayegbeni was a disappointment.
What we need is someone in the mould of a Rashidi Yekini, a finisher par excellence or even a Victor Agali. Someone with a nose for goals. Ayegbeni seems only to perform against slow defenders and Martins was just not effective in Vogts 4-3-3 pattern. Mikel Obi was very effective in the middle and Dickson Etuhu was also very effective as his silent assistant though we didn't notice that until when Etuhu was injured.
Against a formidable midfield with Michael Essien, Sulleyman Muntari and Gyang, it was not a mean feat for the young men to cope and contain the Ghanaians but when Etuhu had to go out,(the game was at a 1-1 draw and we obviously needed more goals) and Herr Vogts replaced him with Richard Eromoigbe, a defensive midfielder who actually played right full back at the last ACN - I wondered 'What was he smoking?'
When we were one goal behind, (and the Ghanaians were down to ten men) he removed Mikel Obi and brought in Obi Nsofor who really had no role to play in the match, the guy just kept running around (I don't want to say like a headless chicken). Even Kanu was disgusted, you could see it on his face. I mean, where did they get this guy from?
Take nothing away from the Ghanaians. Michael Essien was a very effective leader in the team even before he put on the captains band and when he moved back to replace the ousted J. Mensah, I was expecting the Eagles to over run the midfield by simple majority but Essien did a yeoman's job there. I was impressed.
Even that Ghanaian joke called 'Junior'Agogo stepped up his game a notch against Nigeria. The commentators had said what Agogo lacked in technique he made up with 'gra gra'. His 'gra gra' eventually paid off as he scored the second goal from beside a flat footed Taye Taiwo.
As for me, immediately the referee raised up his hands and blew the final whistle, I just switched channels to watch 'Desperate Housewives' Season 4.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Way We Play
When I read bloggers who say they use their blogging as therapy, I wondered but now I have realized some truth in it. I do use blogging for therapy too. Going through my posts for last year, they were mostly rants. I blog when I'm happy. I blog when I'm mad at something or someone. Yeah. Its therapy. And its free.
My last post was something else. As you all know - even those who are not fans of African football {soccer for those who don't speak English})- The 26th African Cup of Nations (ACN) is going on in Ghana and Nigeria is participating.
In fact, some people predict that Nigeria will win the cup going by some '14 years' permutation. Nigeria won the cup twice in 1980 and 1994, 2008 is fourteen years since the last victory, so ... what happens to Ghana, Cameroun who had won it back to back before? Or Egypt, who are also current champions. Well, since I'm yet to get that memo, I am still watching.
Our first match with Ivory Coast ended in a 1-0 loss for Nigeria on a night when it looked like I was watching a strange team play. I looked again. The players were Nigerians alright, but the pattern was wrong! My darling Super Eagles playing without wingers? My heart almost stopped about the 20th minute when John Utaka picked up the ball from the right flank and ran towards the center of the pitch! What was he thinking? Obviously he was playing to instructions from the German coach, Berti Vogts.
Take nothing away from the Ivoriens, they played very fluid football with their midfield as pivot but thats what should have made them easy to beat. Kanu and Mikel could hold ten of them in the middle any day; Just to take the ball to the sides and run rings round them. Simple! (As any Nigerian will tell you ;)). After the goal the Ivoriens simply went into defence with up to ten men behind the ball at any time.
I have a problem with German coaches for our national teams. Ironically, Nigeria's first ACN victory in 1980 was under a German coach, Otto Gloria but people - well, my father mainly- said he inherited a good team built largely by his predecessor, the Yugoslav monk, Father Tiko. He is also credited with the introduction of foreign-based and foreign players into the Nigerian team. The team had two Ghanaians in the line up; funny nobody remembers them now.
Otto Gloria was smart. He simply adapted to the team he met and added a few 'foreign' ingredients to make his job a success. Other German coaches after him do not seem so smart after all.
German coaches particularly seem to want to impose their own 'German formations' and 'German systems' on Nigerian footballers. And when they fail, they blame it on 'discipline'. It has nothing to do with 'discipline'. Not until the late 1980s did Nigerians begin to see football as anything but a pastime. It was something you do when you are not doing 'real' work. Its enjoyment. Simple.
And, we have a way we play the game.
Just as any group of eleven Brazilians will play their 'samba' football and any group of eleven Britishers will play their 'kick and follow'; pick any group of eleven Nigerians (male or female) to play football and we run on the wings. Its the way we play.
Its even said that Nigerians can play the game with just 8 players. Four guys at the back, one on the left wing; one on the right wing; one guy upfront and one guy running down the middle to do damage. You may or may not add a goalkeeper.
I don't know why the Germans don't get it. They always try to impose one strange formation or the other. They don't understand the Nigerian pattern of play so they try to bring in theirs and it usually always ends in frustrations and failures for the coach and a waste of time for the country.
Manfred Honer tried it in the late eighties and it led to an open rebellion by the players. He left the country without even packing his bags. The Frenchman, Phillipe Troussier tried to be too 'German' for his own good by insisting on his strange 3-5-2 formation which they said worked well in Ivory Coast but hey, we are not Ivoriens. Much as he was liked, he lost out to 'player power'.
The self-styled 'Dutchgerian', Clemens Westerhof is probably the most successful coach of the Nigerian national team because he came, he saw, he adapted. Before coming to Nigeria, he was just a small time coach in a village in his native Holland but when given the opportunity, he studied and understood the politics that surrounds everything in Nigeria.
He introduced power into our 'wingplay'; our wingers ran faster and delivered 'pull outs' more accurately. He adapted the Dutch 'mass attack, mass defence' system to originate from the back to the wings to the center and it can go from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 to whatever in the same wave. Many theorists said Nigeria had no pattern of play known in football, so we said 'No-pattern? That's our pattern'.
He was also known to be good at motivating his players and there are stories of the occasional joint being passed round in the dressing room at half time. Hey, anything to keep up team spirit right?
On his watch, Nigeria won the ACN in 1994 and qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever, at USA 94. Also attained Nigeria's highest ever ranking of being Number 4 in the world. And the world took notice of Nigerian football. That team is still considered the greatest Nigerian football team ever!
When Nigerians complained of not seeing enough of their team because they always 'trained' in Europe, he brought in his compatriot Johannes Bonfrere who did the actual training while Westerhof played the politics. As taciturn as Westerhof is loquacious, Bonfrere Jo was a silent worker. Nigeria won the Olympic gold for football under him at Atlanta 96.
Now will this German learn anything from history? I sincerely hope so. News from Ghana has it that he had been 'spoken to' and we would revert to our natural wingplay from the next match against Mali tomorrow. I sincerely hope Berti Vogts is as smart as Otto Gloria. If not ... as he is reputed to be one of the highest paid coaches in the world, he could be on his way out.
My last post was something else. As you all know - even those who are not fans of African football {soccer for those who don't speak English})- The 26th African Cup of Nations (ACN) is going on in Ghana and Nigeria is participating.
In fact, some people predict that Nigeria will win the cup going by some '14 years' permutation. Nigeria won the cup twice in 1980 and 1994, 2008 is fourteen years since the last victory, so ... what happens to Ghana, Cameroun who had won it back to back before? Or Egypt, who are also current champions. Well, since I'm yet to get that memo, I am still watching.
Our first match with Ivory Coast ended in a 1-0 loss for Nigeria on a night when it looked like I was watching a strange team play. I looked again. The players were Nigerians alright, but the pattern was wrong! My darling Super Eagles playing without wingers? My heart almost stopped about the 20th minute when John Utaka picked up the ball from the right flank and ran towards the center of the pitch! What was he thinking? Obviously he was playing to instructions from the German coach, Berti Vogts.
Take nothing away from the Ivoriens, they played very fluid football with their midfield as pivot but thats what should have made them easy to beat. Kanu and Mikel could hold ten of them in the middle any day; Just to take the ball to the sides and run rings round them. Simple! (As any Nigerian will tell you ;)). After the goal the Ivoriens simply went into defence with up to ten men behind the ball at any time.
I have a problem with German coaches for our national teams. Ironically, Nigeria's first ACN victory in 1980 was under a German coach, Otto Gloria but people - well, my father mainly- said he inherited a good team built largely by his predecessor, the Yugoslav monk, Father Tiko. He is also credited with the introduction of foreign-based and foreign players into the Nigerian team. The team had two Ghanaians in the line up; funny nobody remembers them now.
Otto Gloria was smart. He simply adapted to the team he met and added a few 'foreign' ingredients to make his job a success. Other German coaches after him do not seem so smart after all.
German coaches particularly seem to want to impose their own 'German formations' and 'German systems' on Nigerian footballers. And when they fail, they blame it on 'discipline'. It has nothing to do with 'discipline'. Not until the late 1980s did Nigerians begin to see football as anything but a pastime. It was something you do when you are not doing 'real' work. Its enjoyment. Simple.
And, we have a way we play the game.
Just as any group of eleven Brazilians will play their 'samba' football and any group of eleven Britishers will play their 'kick and follow'; pick any group of eleven Nigerians (male or female) to play football and we run on the wings. Its the way we play.
Its even said that Nigerians can play the game with just 8 players. Four guys at the back, one on the left wing; one on the right wing; one guy upfront and one guy running down the middle to do damage. You may or may not add a goalkeeper.
I don't know why the Germans don't get it. They always try to impose one strange formation or the other. They don't understand the Nigerian pattern of play so they try to bring in theirs and it usually always ends in frustrations and failures for the coach and a waste of time for the country.
Manfred Honer tried it in the late eighties and it led to an open rebellion by the players. He left the country without even packing his bags. The Frenchman, Phillipe Troussier tried to be too 'German' for his own good by insisting on his strange 3-5-2 formation which they said worked well in Ivory Coast but hey, we are not Ivoriens. Much as he was liked, he lost out to 'player power'.
The self-styled 'Dutchgerian', Clemens Westerhof is probably the most successful coach of the Nigerian national team because he came, he saw, he adapted. Before coming to Nigeria, he was just a small time coach in a village in his native Holland but when given the opportunity, he studied and understood the politics that surrounds everything in Nigeria.
He introduced power into our 'wingplay'; our wingers ran faster and delivered 'pull outs' more accurately. He adapted the Dutch 'mass attack, mass defence' system to originate from the back to the wings to the center and it can go from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 to whatever in the same wave. Many theorists said Nigeria had no pattern of play known in football, so we said 'No-pattern? That's our pattern'.
He was also known to be good at motivating his players and there are stories of the occasional joint being passed round in the dressing room at half time. Hey, anything to keep up team spirit right?
On his watch, Nigeria won the ACN in 1994 and qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever, at USA 94. Also attained Nigeria's highest ever ranking of being Number 4 in the world. And the world took notice of Nigerian football. That team is still considered the greatest Nigerian football team ever!
When Nigerians complained of not seeing enough of their team because they always 'trained' in Europe, he brought in his compatriot Johannes Bonfrere who did the actual training while Westerhof played the politics. As taciturn as Westerhof is loquacious, Bonfrere Jo was a silent worker. Nigeria won the Olympic gold for football under him at Atlanta 96.
Now will this German learn anything from history? I sincerely hope so. News from Ghana has it that he had been 'spoken to' and we would revert to our natural wingplay from the next match against Mali tomorrow. I sincerely hope Berti Vogts is as smart as Otto Gloria. If not ... as he is reputed to be one of the highest paid coaches in the world, he could be on his way out.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Its The Wings Stupid!
Will someone please tell that idiot German that an eagle cannot fly without its wings. We had no business losing that match.
I am still upset.
Nimmo
I am still upset.
Nimmo
Monday, December 24, 2007
Port Harcourt, Calabar & Matters Arising
So I was in Port Harcourt for the ECK African Seminar. It was a blast. There were so many people even Port Harcourt knew something was happening. There was a heavy police presence in the city and around the Temple for the period, I guess because of the number of foreigners at the Seminar.
The roads between Lagos and Benin were nothing to write home about as usual and we spent about sixteen hours on the road. As I couldn't see myself putting down fifty thousand Naira per head for a flight to and from PH by Virgin or Arik Air, I had to use ABC Transport. N50K for a flight within Nigeria is sheer exploitation! Luckily the PH Airport would be opened by last week.
When the current Minister of Transport Dr. Allison-Maduekwe inspected the roads some time ago, the woman was shocked at the state of the road. One cant blame her, she always had Shell helicopters and chartered flights and never really needed to travel by road all along. But she did the civilized thing. She apologized.
Fani-Kayode would probably have cussed us out for complaining about bad roads. Mr. Fix-It of Uromi, who as Minister, collected money for the roads used it to fix other things but the roads. He is yet to apologize. Or be prosecuted. I hope the EFCC will get to that case someday.
From PH, we moved to Calabar. Now thats a city that really knows how to enjoy the holidays. You probably heard of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' but in Calabar - and indeed the whole Cross River State- there are THIRTY days of Christmas starting from the first of December all through to the end of the year. This city lives up to its name - Come And Live And Be At Rest.
Calabar combines the ancient and the modern. If you want to celebrate Christmas in its rustic form (as we used to know it), come to Calabar for nostalgia. Even if you are very modernistic, still come.
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay beyond two days as I had to hurry back to Lagos for a meeting on Thursday. The meeting portend some good changes in the new year though that remains to be seen.
ARISTO UPDATE: I took Solomonsydelle's suggestion with thanks, and advised my friend Aristo, to take his wife to South Africa for the hols and buy her the biggest rock he could find there. While we were at it, I slipped him the address of my cousin who is a Diamond Broker with De Beers of South Africa. Of course he made the sale. And I get my cut.
What?! Why are you rolling your eyes? Its called Consultancy.
Besides, am I not just being my brothers' keeper?
Happy holidays, y'all!
The roads between Lagos and Benin were nothing to write home about as usual and we spent about sixteen hours on the road. As I couldn't see myself putting down fifty thousand Naira per head for a flight to and from PH by Virgin or Arik Air, I had to use ABC Transport. N50K for a flight within Nigeria is sheer exploitation! Luckily the PH Airport would be opened by last week.
When the current Minister of Transport Dr. Allison-Maduekwe inspected the roads some time ago, the woman was shocked at the state of the road. One cant blame her, she always had Shell helicopters and chartered flights and never really needed to travel by road all along. But she did the civilized thing. She apologized.
Fani-Kayode would probably have cussed us out for complaining about bad roads. Mr. Fix-It of Uromi, who as Minister, collected money for the roads used it to fix other things but the roads. He is yet to apologize. Or be prosecuted. I hope the EFCC will get to that case someday.
From PH, we moved to Calabar. Now thats a city that really knows how to enjoy the holidays. You probably heard of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' but in Calabar - and indeed the whole Cross River State- there are THIRTY days of Christmas starting from the first of December all through to the end of the year. This city lives up to its name - Come And Live And Be At Rest.
Calabar combines the ancient and the modern. If you want to celebrate Christmas in its rustic form (as we used to know it), come to Calabar for nostalgia. Even if you are very modernistic, still come.
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay beyond two days as I had to hurry back to Lagos for a meeting on Thursday. The meeting portend some good changes in the new year though that remains to be seen.
ARISTO UPDATE: I took Solomonsydelle's suggestion with thanks, and advised my friend Aristo, to take his wife to South Africa for the hols and buy her the biggest rock he could find there. While we were at it, I slipped him the address of my cousin who is a Diamond Broker with De Beers of South Africa. Of course he made the sale. And I get my cut.
What?! Why are you rolling your eyes? Its called Consultancy.
Besides, am I not just being my brothers' keeper?
Happy holidays, y'all!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
ECK African Seminar 2007
The ECK African Seminar will be holding this weekend from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th December 2007 at the Temple of ECK, Obi Wali (Temple) Road, Rumuigbo, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. ECKists (members of ECKANKAR) from about sixteen African countries as well as the US and EU will be there.
The theme of the seminar is 'Discover The Secret Wisdom of Dreams' and the featured speaker is Mike DeLuca who will represent Sri Harold Klemp. There will be many other speakers during the course of the weekend too.
So, if any of you guys happen to be in PH during this weekend, why not pop in at the Temple, learn one or two new things and who knows, we may get to meet. (Just put your nose in the air and 'smell' (thats what you do with the nose, right?) for the bespectacled guy wearing Davidoff Cool Water).
To get to the Temple no hard at all. From any where in PH, call a cab (or bike) and just say 'Temple!'. There is only one.
I look forward to seeing ya face in da place! (Been a long time since I used that)
OK. Please, please do come! You will?. Oh, Thank you.
Nimmo
The theme of the seminar is 'Discover The Secret Wisdom of Dreams' and the featured speaker is Mike DeLuca who will represent Sri Harold Klemp. There will be many other speakers during the course of the weekend too.
So, if any of you guys happen to be in PH during this weekend, why not pop in at the Temple, learn one or two new things and who knows, we may get to meet. (Just put your nose in the air and 'smell' (thats what you do with the nose, right?) for the bespectacled guy wearing Davidoff Cool Water).
To get to the Temple no hard at all. From any where in PH, call a cab (or bike) and just say 'Temple!'. There is only one.
I look forward to seeing ya face in da place! (Been a long time since I used that)
OK. Please, please do come! You will?. Oh, Thank you.
Nimmo
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Re: Why Women Cheat ...
This is a rant directly inspired by da Queen QoMC of the same title and my comment on it. You would notice that my comment had little or nothing to do with the post; it was just something on my mind at the time.
I have this friend who I call 'Aristo'. You guessed why; he's almost always in UNILAG! We both had our postgraduate studies in UNILAG about five years ago and at that time we did the Moremi-New Hall-Tinubu rounds together even though he was married then and I was not. (OK. Blame me for aiding and abetting but hear me out first)
We finished PG since 2002 and the last time I was in UNILAG was for a meeting (I swear) but Aristo no gree leave UNILAG o! Every year he's there running one course or the other and he's lucky he's got a stature that belies his age. After almost a decade of married life, he still looks like he's just out of school. He's got a good wife, three beautiful children and a very good job. He should be happy, right?
Aristo always has a program in UNILAG and he specializes in final year babes so that most times he breaks up with them when they graduate and go on youth service. He never hits the same department or faculty twice in a row and so far he's not been caught in his game. He introduced a babe to me last year as his fiancee and she was smiling like a christmas goat. I pitied her.
Every year he sends his family abroad for holidays or just for the fun of it and that gives him room to play the 'bachelor' game. If you visit him at home during this time, you would never believe he was ever married. Sometimes, the 'fiancee' even comes to stay a weekend or two.
Last week the bubble burst. Ironically, it was not over a UNILAG babe but a LASU babe. Stupid Girl came over to his house and his wife was there but she probably thought the wife was a rival too, so she stayed to claim her 'territory''. The wife, who is usually quiet to a fault actually allowed Stupid Girl to stay in her sitting room till late! Aristo called me at about 11 pm at night to give me the whole gist. He was afraid to go home. Guess where he was.
I told him I could not back him up because whatever I do then will have a direct bearing on my relationship with his family. We agreed that he would come clean and we would do the 'crisis management' thingy.
The Wife called me the next day, as per the usual Afenifere to tell me her plight and I really couldn't but sympathize with her as she cried. These were the thoughts running through my mind
1. When her husband hits the gym, what did she think? That he's doing it for her? Men, more than anything, suffer from inertia. It is only the promise of some serious money (as in professional sportsmen) or the promise of some serious pussy that would make a man hit the gym. If any man tells you otherwise ....
2. When her husband dresses up for lectures in the latest hip-hop fashion, does she know why? He wears them so as to 'blend' better on campus. It is is the first law of the Predator, blend as much as possible with your environment. There are some clothes my wife would not allow me to wear now. She wont even discuss it, she would simply run a scissors through them, by 'accident'. Its happened before I assure you. And I learn fast.
3. When her husband goes for his never ending 'lectures' on campus, what did she think? If I want to run any course now, I actually have to apply to my wife first before applying to the school. In fact she is my Educational Counselor and Course Adviser.
Then it gets to the point at which she said -between tears- that she was going to get even. When a woman talks like that me I dont doubt her o and I told my friend so. Now he's scared.
He's been asking me what to do ever since and sincerely, me I dont know. He should just keep begging her. Abi, what else can he do?
I have this friend who I call 'Aristo'. You guessed why; he's almost always in UNILAG! We both had our postgraduate studies in UNILAG about five years ago and at that time we did the Moremi-New Hall-Tinubu rounds together even though he was married then and I was not. (OK. Blame me for aiding and abetting but hear me out first)
We finished PG since 2002 and the last time I was in UNILAG was for a meeting (I swear) but Aristo no gree leave UNILAG o! Every year he's there running one course or the other and he's lucky he's got a stature that belies his age. After almost a decade of married life, he still looks like he's just out of school. He's got a good wife, three beautiful children and a very good job. He should be happy, right?
Aristo always has a program in UNILAG and he specializes in final year babes so that most times he breaks up with them when they graduate and go on youth service. He never hits the same department or faculty twice in a row and so far he's not been caught in his game. He introduced a babe to me last year as his fiancee and she was smiling like a christmas goat. I pitied her.
Every year he sends his family abroad for holidays or just for the fun of it and that gives him room to play the 'bachelor' game. If you visit him at home during this time, you would never believe he was ever married. Sometimes, the 'fiancee' even comes to stay a weekend or two.
Last week the bubble burst. Ironically, it was not over a UNILAG babe but a LASU babe. Stupid Girl came over to his house and his wife was there but she probably thought the wife was a rival too, so she stayed to claim her 'territory''. The wife, who is usually quiet to a fault actually allowed Stupid Girl to stay in her sitting room till late! Aristo called me at about 11 pm at night to give me the whole gist. He was afraid to go home. Guess where he was.
I told him I could not back him up because whatever I do then will have a direct bearing on my relationship with his family. We agreed that he would come clean and we would do the 'crisis management' thingy.
The Wife called me the next day, as per the usual Afenifere to tell me her plight and I really couldn't but sympathize with her as she cried. These were the thoughts running through my mind
1. When her husband hits the gym, what did she think? That he's doing it for her? Men, more than anything, suffer from inertia. It is only the promise of some serious money (as in professional sportsmen) or the promise of some serious pussy that would make a man hit the gym. If any man tells you otherwise ....
2. When her husband dresses up for lectures in the latest hip-hop fashion, does she know why? He wears them so as to 'blend' better on campus. It is is the first law of the Predator, blend as much as possible with your environment. There are some clothes my wife would not allow me to wear now. She wont even discuss it, she would simply run a scissors through them, by 'accident'. Its happened before I assure you. And I learn fast.
3. When her husband goes for his never ending 'lectures' on campus, what did she think? If I want to run any course now, I actually have to apply to my wife first before applying to the school. In fact she is my Educational Counselor and Course Adviser.
Then it gets to the point at which she said -between tears- that she was going to get even. When a woman talks like that me I dont doubt her o and I told my friend so. Now he's scared.
He's been asking me what to do ever since and sincerely, me I dont know. He should just keep begging her. Abi, what else can he do?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
What Does My Birthday Mean?
So I went to Rayo's for the first time and there was this post about birthdays there so decided to take the plunge. You guessed right, I am a sucker for these things.
I couldn't format it to appear as it did on the page but the koko of the gist is there (with my comments).
*********************************************************************************
Your Birth date: July 28
You have a Type A personality so big it makes other Type A's shrink away in shame. (What's a Type A? Why are you rolling your eyes? I only asked a question)
You never shy away from adversity - and you love to tackle impossible problems. (Hmmm)
Failure is not an option for you, and more than a few people are put off by your ego.(Well .....)
You tend to be controlling, and you hate leaving anything up to chance. (OK. Maybe)
Your strength: Your bold approach to life
Your weakness: You don't accept help (Who? Me?)
Your power color: Bronze (I thot it was Gold! Duh?)
Your power symbol: Pyramid (??)
Your power month: October (Eziokwu? Tell me true word. October!?)
Anyway, I give them 8 per 10. Dem try small.
Nimmo
I couldn't format it to appear as it did on the page but the koko of the gist is there (with my comments).
*********************************************************************************
Your Birth date: July 28
You have a Type A personality so big it makes other Type A's shrink away in shame. (What's a Type A? Why are you rolling your eyes? I only asked a question)
You never shy away from adversity - and you love to tackle impossible problems. (Hmmm)
Failure is not an option for you, and more than a few people are put off by your ego.(Well .....)
You tend to be controlling, and you hate leaving anything up to chance. (OK. Maybe)
Your strength: Your bold approach to life
Your weakness: You don't accept help (Who? Me?)
Your power color: Bronze (I thot it was Gold! Duh?)
Your power symbol: Pyramid (??)
Your power month: October (Eziokwu? Tell me true word. October!?)
Anyway, I give them 8 per 10. Dem try small.
Nimmo
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