Ghana makes Nigeria a truly failed state

The World is more unsafe

In May 2006, I covered the issue of the index of failed states as The Coalition of the Unviable, the heads-up from NaijaBlog led me to the Failed States Index for 2007.

My friends, things have not improved; rather, they have gotten worse all over, literally every country from the most successful Norway to the least viable Sudan have registered heightened states of uncertainty or turmoil - they both retain their positions from last year.

The worst 10 feature with last year's positions in parenthesis. 1. Sudan (1), 2. Iraq (4), 3. Somalia (7), 4. Zimbabwe (5), 5. Chad (6), 6. Cote d'Ivoire (3), 7. DR Congo (2), 8. Afghanistan (10), 9. Guinea (11) & the 10. Central African Republic (13).

Junk analysis

Sudan, obviously because of Darfur is a powder-keg and a stain on the conscience of the whole world; that the atrocities have been allowed to thrive for so many years - it would probably not leave that spot for another few years.

Since the troop-surge more or less came after the sampling time of May to December 2006, we might have to wait for the analysis in the next report, but it appears things have not improved at all in Iraq.

Zimbabwe does not deserve to be in the top 10 at all, but for what the Grand Despot of Africa has done to that country, it should be treasonable for anyone to commit such a crime against their fatherland and it is unforgivable that the whole world cannot bring all things to bear on this really untenable situation.

Africa lags again

8 African countries counting as the most failed states in the world; this cannot have us complacently blame the issues on colonialism or slavery, these problems are created by Africans exploiting and oppressing other fellow Africans; most foreign intervention has been to stop the killing, the raping, the plundering, the dying and the suffering - how we can divorce these issues from true democratic representation and accountability escapes me?

Nigeria has also moved up 5 places from 22^nd last year to 17^th, there being no improvement in all the 12 indicators apart from 2 bearing on few internally displaced persons or refugees and minimal intervention from other states or external actors.

The twelve indicators

The indicators remain the same

1. Mounting demographic pressures
2. Massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples
3. Legacy of vengeance - seeking group grievance
4. Chronic and sustained human flight
5. Uneven economic development along group lines
6. Sharp and/or severe economic decline
7. Criminalisation and delegitimisation of the state
8. Progressive deterioration of public services
9. Widespread violation of human rights
10. Security apparatus as "state within a state"
11. Rise of factionalised elites
12. Intervention of other states or external actors

The lament of Nigerian potential

Nigeria scores quite high in [3] with the antics in the Niger Delta and the occasional religious skirmishes around the country. As [5] obviously feeds into the security issues for life and infrastructure, the elections are the manifestation of [7], the state within a state is obviously now the PDP and the devil-(not god)Fathers of nepotism, corruption and patronage which comprise part of the factionalised elites in [11].

The only place where Nigeria seems to have the most positive outlook is in the fact that we are not under-going sharp or severe economic decline - I bet that is a subject for serious debate and disputing for some.

For those who worship and commend the ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, pause to ponder - in 2005, Nigeria was 54^th out of 76 compared to 22/146 (2006) and 17/177 (2007) - leading the country into terminal decline whilst vented his vindictiveness on people as he lost the plot for the country is too telling for words - that was a plummet of 34 places in a widening sample in two years - I doubt if any other country has suffered so great a movement.

And before those who cannot take criticism invade my pad, just consider why the figures are the way they are and if there is any reason to do Nigeria down unfairly, remembering that this was well before the elections in April 2007.

To crown it all, Ghana sits at 125 - 108 places apace of Nigeria - as Ghanaians now consider their prospects back home - they have hit a gusher, hopefully they would not acquire the curse of black gold - it does not take too much to do things right and it starts with honesty and truthfulness. With Ghana turning into the African Tiger and Nigeria's African Giant emulating an African Black Sheep - Nigeria, it's your turn to change for the better.

AIDS PEOPLE - The heart of prejudice - The Genevieve Magazine fallout

Social Responsibility irritates Socialite Reporting

I would never have thought I would be responding in any way to an article that appears on NaijaGal (Opulent and Edgy), her material which has by-lines that jump out on the Nigerian Blogs Aggregator hardly inspire me, but everyone has their niche contribution to the Blogging World and she fulfils a need of sorts.

However, she has waded into an area in which her contribution to the matter implies she has no expertise, knowledge or even hazard, an idea, about the furore that has come up about the insensitive coverage of HIV/AIDS in the so popular Genevieve Magazine, and for that, I would not hold my peace.

She ends her piece with - I say, "Please, let it be". She has apologised! Let's all work together.

My response - fleshed out.

This is how I began my response as a comment, but then I decided it was best to expose it as a blog than have it hidden in some comment and lost from required viewing.

I very well appreciate the time you have taken to highlight Betty Irabor's apology but I do not agree that she has completed the service of righting her unfortunate wrongs. I would, however, be the first to commend her for responding the way she has, for starters.

The fact is her article opened up a Pandora's Box, highlighting a number of issues when it comes to HIV/AIDS and how people and probably seeming enlightened Nigerians react to the issue of HIV and AIDS - prejudice, bigotry, apathy, ignorance, indifference and insensitivity.

AIDS People - the heart of prejudice

Her magazine being the popular organ that it is would have to go one further and start educating people about the facts about HIV/AIDS in terms of the dangers of exposure, the need for testing and the humanity of what she called "AIDS People".

There probably is a danger of exposure to HIV in beauty parlours and barber's shops due to the use of sharp instruments; reusable instruments should be hygienically sterilised after each use and disposable instruments must be unwrapped in the presence of the customer, used only once and properly discarded, but this should be regardless of whether an HIV-infected person is in the vicinity or not - that is just common sense.

Rather than getting hysterical she could have calmly asked for a newly unwrapped blade in the first instance and definitely going for an immediate HIV exposure or AIDS test would not have yielded any results to calm her anxiety, you need as least 3 months of incubation for the antibodies to be recognised by any tests.

What is not lost on readers of this article is the full caps and quoted hysteria expressed in the phrase "Suddenly images of my life as one of those "AIDS PEOPLE" flashed before me. Oh God. No!" That is as graphic as you will get the prejudice against HIV/AIDS and Betty Irabor's writing talent does not fail her here.

AIDS People or able people?

Here in Europe where the so-called AIDS PEOPLE live amongst us as productive members of society rather than stigmatised, ostracised, emaciated mendicants in need of false sympathy and that so-called ground-breaking cover-girl approach, Betty Irabor would have had to had to step down from her very public position on her own magazine and then embark on a serious educational and peace-making mission as mandatory community service.

This is a rough road she must travel and it would not be cut short with a measly apology and seemingly contrite self-flagellation (To say that the tone of her article would have been better but for editorial time constraints is disingenuous at best and almost dishonest having been caught in a maelstrom she has little control over.)

Social Responsibility and consequences

It is time for Nigerians to step up to the plate in social responsibility, also time to deal with uncomfortable issues with an honest and persuadable perspective - unfortunately for some, a few pages of essential fashion and tittle-tattle would be lost to this social responsibility crusade - it would be the best thing Genevieve magazine can embark on, it might even win them more commendable awards than one for being good advertisement fodder.

A Google search for "Genevieve magazine AIDS education" does not yield much in the context of the magazine that is supposed to cover women and social issues, it is a poor reflection that is in need of a radical redress.

Have we taught Genevieve magazine how to care again? No, not until the magazine goes beyond platitudes if Mrs Irabor thinks the people most offended and in need of an apology are just the Jegede-Ekpe's, she needs to read her public again - Was it a mix-up? That would be a gross understatement, it was an outright error of judgement and someone has to own up to that, at the very least.

This time, it would not be swept under the carpet for the sake of Naijagal's "Work Together".

References

The morning Dew article that caused the rumpus - Courtesy - NaijaBlog

NaijaBlog and commentary on the matter

NaijaBlog and commentary on the apology

2Plus2 on the Nigeria Village Square on the Genevieve article

BellaNaija's tidbits

As Nigerian as WaZoBia - Time-wasting courtesy calls

Angelic crowning

A couple of weeks ago, Funmi Iyanda posted a congratulatory advertisement where the newly sworn-in president was being crowned in some sort of celestial glory by some angel.

So silly was the picture, the diadem being placed over a fula (traditional Hausa cap), both the crown and hat would have fallen off the moment the hands were lifted from the crown - ironic.

The madness that overcomes Nigerians in this kind of show through advertisement is at times comical but is a cultural malaise that eats into the core of what is Nigerian.

Tasking tasks tasked tasker (sic)

Along with this the pages of Nigerian newspapers with the unusual contexts of tasks and tasking - it should be a rarity to use tasks as a verb or tasking in the present continuous - the context being conveyed is akin to thinking about a subject and doing something about it. So, agency, vested interests or patrons task the president with some ideal and the President tasks others with other ideals.

Unfortunately, the President does not have time to do any of the tasks, generally, when you win an election well-wishers and allies pick up the phone and send their congratulations - In Nigeria, that is too technologically advanced for many to comprehend, just last week, the President had to entertain a 300-strong delegation of people from Kaduna State including the governor who had left their posts to seeking presidential patronage in the name of goodwill.

I doubt if more purposeful state visits carry entourages this large.

Attending to the wrong crowd

So, in this rather hopefully crowded schedule of running Nigeria, he had to make time to acknowledge and entertain these time-wasting mendicants whose main goal was nothing to do with the matters of state, but a jolly at the expense of Nigeria to achieve nothing for Nigerians. It would appear these delegations would expect the Federal Government to pick up the tab for this unwarranted junket.

The man is beginning to impress me, breaking with tradition and taking a laudable stance, he acknowledged them and then upbraided them saying "While I appreciate this great outpouring of affection and the pledges of support for which I feel humbled, I must say that there is so much work to do in our country today and I will like to concentrate on the crucial task of repositioning our country for peace, sustainable development and prosperity."

That is as good a put down as anyone would give in a very sympathetic and diplomatic way. It transpires, he had warned off delegations from his state. You can expect people to accuse him of being parsimonious rather than smart and frugal with a sense of responsiblity - it does not feed into the Nigerian hedonistic complex and inordinate quest for all things free at other people's expense, especially the treasury looting and largesse sharing part.

The President himself has offered to visit all Nigerians, meaning he would chose his time and make it purposeful, that is not to say the states would not go overboard in outdoing each other when entertaining the President. Can't we just do this through email, SMS, video conferencing, radio, television or smoke signals?

As Nigerian as WaZoBia

However, this endemic time-wasting activity is as Nigerian as WaZoBia (WaZoBia is a concatenation of the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo translations of come), most of the time we receive guests unannounced and it is a matter of courtesy to accommodate and entertain these guests, the logistics of handling 300 guests are hard enough for a country that cannot conduct free and fair elections.

In official parlance, this abuse of other people's private space is called a courtesy call - Yes, how can I massage the ego of a self-important person? By aimlessly visiting for a useless photo-opportunity whilst pretending to discuss immaterial issues and thereby killing time, wasting time and squandering money.

References

Enough congratulations, says President

Please, I've got a job to do

Frankly, I don't give a puff

I do not fuss

Some might not agree, but I am hardly one to kick up a fuss about much. In some ways, I have the luxury of being able to start work somewhere between 7:00AM and 11:00AM.

I must confess, my arrival is nearer the top end, but the issue of getting to work late is a relative term depending on your function and responsibilities.

I like later starts and late finishes, I find that I am quite productive as office occupancy diminishes; one concentrates better to achieve lots for the day.

What I have found a bit irksome is the number of lung tarring puffers that stand in the way of the back entrance to our office block, chatting away, blowing exhaled (regurgitated) smoke into your face and literally stubbing their cigarettes out on the door frame as I arrive in the morning.

For a while, one has been of the mind of remonstrating to the Facilities Manager, I am glad to say someone else must have been just as displeased and unimpressed with the situation. I felt elated, I am not all that a fuss-pot after all. Phew! I almost despaired for what was becoming of me - intemperate, impatient and intolerant whilst being ever so empathetic - Me know I well.

An email winged its way into our mailboxes from the man-in-charge, a tersely worded (Dutch tone) - stay well away from the doors of the personnel entrance/exit - notice with the advice to use the newly cobbled-together chicken coop as the smoker's corner.

Smokers must be having a really raw deal - I care as much as to say, I quit 23 years ago. I don't give a puff - Now, how do you say that nicely?

Indecent Exposure Law is good

Flash of flesh

Many a time I have walked down the street and been almost compelled to make a citizen's arrest either with a possible charge of outraging public decency or indecent exposure.

I know I have covered this topic to the point of door-knob boredom, but it matters and it should matter.

Only two days ago, a judge and knight of the realm was cleared of "flashing" on the train in what presumably was a case of mistaken identity, though the accuser is only too convinced that she had her man.

Beyond that, "streaking" would almost certainly get a caution if not a custodial sentence, psychological evaluation might warrant sectioning.

With Summer warming up on us, there would be cases of unacceptable public appearances masquerading as trendy and fashionable when in fact the supposed freedom of expression is no less an obscenity.

See no pants

So, in what is amazingly a rare piece of commonsense values, Delcambre in Louisiana will adopt a law banning the wearing of saggy trousers. I can very well see why the unnecessary exposure of one's underwear or unseemly body parts in places not accorded the right to nudity like a beach or pool should agitate the puritan and the square; it should affect everyone and it should not be condoned.

Some have said the law is racially motivated because this is the kind of fashion of hip hop fans - I would brook none of that - there is no reason for any member of the human race not to appear decently covered in public, regardless of the Emperor's New Clothes we wear as fashion.

In the end, I do not want to see your underwear; the whole reason why it is called underwear is because it should be under your clothes. Then love handles, exposed bellies from ill-fitting cropped tops, if you have no shame, are you game for a police caution and a hefty fine?

This is a law that has come into its time, if we can ban smoking, this would not be a long way off - hopefully.

Nigerians in the news

Half of a Booker Prize

What elation we would all have felt when Nigerians featured in the news for doing commendable and laudable things. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Half of a Yellow Sun, quite a few blogs celebrated her win including interviews with respectable press - it all gave us a very warm feeling as well as the £30,000 self-raising additive to her bank balance.

A full Man Booker prize

Then when he wrote Things Fall Apart in 1958, he cannot have thought things would be coming together so nicely for him in 2007, although he is paralysed from waist down, he is eulogised by many and definitely a ripe candidate for the Literature Nobel Prize; Chinua Achebe was honoured once again and so deservingly with the Man Booker International Prize for the whole body of work that has educated, inspired and enlivened so many around the world. £60,000 falls together in his kitty.

These people as usual are almost like prophets unsung at home but lauded abroad where they live creating overwhelmingly positive images of Nigerians considering they were born indigenous Nigerian.

The Brood of the Spanish Inquisition

Spain, a country that is speedily developing a reputation for being outrageously racist if we are to go by that abuse that black English footballers have endured playing in that country or the kind of language that their national football coach reportedly used as pep talk just before the World Cup last year.

Now, this is just an unpalatable few, one should not tar all Spaniards with the same ignominious brush, but, I am worried as I read on Ugo Daniels' blog a rather serious event that should be recorded as a murder.

Osamuyia Aikpitanhi was subjected to the most dehumanising treatment by the Spanish immigration authorities as they tried to deport him from Spain to Nigeria, having been an illegal alien. The story is too distressing to recount, however, there is a petition being signed here by many to the Spanish Ambassadors to Nigeria and the United Nations.

Basically, there is no reason for any human-being to be treated the way he was, then, if it has to take a petition for the authorities in Spain to get onto this matter and begin the prosecution of those involved, I am disappointed.

In fact, on the Nigerian side, I would have expected that the Ambassador be summoned to the offices of the Minister of External Affairs to explain in detail why this should not develop into an almighty diplomatic fallout.

Osamuyia Aikpitanhi might have been an illegal alien in Spain, but he was no animal and above all he was Nigerian - if this case is treated with levity, it devalues and compromises the ability for our representation in foreign countries to deal with higher profile incidents, if only for that fact they would not be well practised to demanding and ensuring the human rights of their fellow citizens abroad.

The brood of the Spanish Inquisition must not get away with this, not today and not ever again.

Leave to mug and the kill cop

So, a window cleaner at his job in Luton, England is descending his ladder as some opportunist attacks him with the view to mugging the window cleaner, in the process two window cleaners get stabbed. A policeman intervenes to save the men and we end up with a big news story, his daughter was just going to be one year old and she has lost her father.

Tennyson Obih had only recently been granted leave to stay in the UK, however, how a roving mugging murderer could have qualified for a status that many more deserving Nigerians would have cherished escapes me.

One could almost see this man enter a plea based in diminished responsibility, but I beg to differ, it is madness to try and attack two people, then kill a policeman, having earlier forced his way threateningly into a neighbour's flat and made away with a car and a box of DVDs.

There is more to this than meets the eye, but mercy is utterly far from a cop-killer, they would send him down forever.

Tongue-tied private equity

Wol Kolade, a paragon of success met with a rather unpleased Commons committee to defend the activities of private equity in the UK - it would appear the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association of which Mr. Kolade is chairman were ill-prepared, poorly briefed and found dithering as the Members of Parliament posed even the simplest questions to the trio of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive - the Chief Executive has since resigned from the Executive of the BVCA as at this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kolade who is instituting measures to make the BVCA well able to deal with a newly unfriendly public profile facing private equity has smartly realised that they can be better schooled by the Confederation of British Industry.

Clothes line or clothes nurse

Not trendy but enduring fashion

Working in the Netherlands as a technical consultant sometimes has me as probably the best formally dressed man in any office in the land.

I would not be absent in a 1950s London street, bowler hat, pocket square matching tie, brogues or better, umbrella and the Daily Telegraph under my arm.

However, the Western Europeans summers does make one suffer, the high humidity, something strangely absent from the area of the Tropics I grew up in means one has to dress a lot lighter with cropped sleeves, new wool suits and sometimes the anathema of a missing under-vest.

There is no point secreting manly pheromones in the office; that is no place to exact the full penalty for being attractive or being attracted to others - Perish the thought!

The clothes nurse

Clothes can tell a few tales and now they are being made to monitor your health through sweat for acidity, salinity and perspiration.

This technology should find application in recuperating patients, the chronically ill or injured athletes, but there is a marketing opportunity to a demographic of health freaks who would be pleased to know just that little bit more to develop a hypochondriac complex.

When these monitors begin to gather data and this data gets transmitted in such a way that it can be intercepted, it becomes a problem - it would be easy to see who is vulnerable and probably take advantage of that person - someone about to have a fit or a heart attack might just have that aggravated by the fact that an onlooker snoop knows just when to pounce.

The extension of this technology would be when it becomes reactive - a wearer begins to choke on something and the clothes administer the Heimlich Manoeuvre - the clothes malfunction and one is dangling from a clothes line - Now, what is the haute couture for clothes that nurse you?