Tenerife tomorrow arranged by staff so good

Hard graft planning

It has been drama, disappointment and delight trying to arrange a trip to Tenerife, only determination and the exquisite service of the staff at the Riu Palace Maspalomas saved the day.

On Thursday, I tried to arrange a trip through LastMinute excursions and there was no one at the other end of the phone to sort it out.

I then went to a tour arranger on Friday who struggled to make the arrangement only to find out that I could not travel on the days I wanted and had to wait a week.

When we finally got to the detail, they would not pick me up at my hotel and the pick-up time was set for 05:31 in the morning despite the fact that their brochure indicated 07:31 – I eventually gave up on that arrangement.

A basic trip round the island was also too difficult for them to setup; it made one wonder what business they were in.

Arranged but cancelled

So, I returned to my hotel reception where there concierge was able to setup the VIP Tour of the island for Saturday and the trip to Tenerife/Loro Parque for Tuesday – today.

I dropped my keys at reception on Monday well after 15:00, but when I returned, there was a note for me indicating the trip had been cancelled.

I was not impressed and this was supposed have been arranged by another outfit called Ultramar Express – we were go nowhere either slowly or by express by all accounts.

No one could tell why the trip had been cancelled, that is not to say that it was also going to be an early pick-up at 05:35 in front of my hotel.

In the face of all that, I would have been able to have an early breakfast and a late cold dinner when we returned, but it did not happen and so my story.

They offered a simple Loro Parque tour for Wednesday which would have been just as good as a day out to the zoo, I wanted more, so I cancelled.

Service I cannot only praise

The manager however agonised about how to help, at one time I had the idea of going for a night to Tenerife and I went to see a travel agent recommended by the hotel – the travel agent was busy fixing a new air-conditioner so could not do anything till the afternoon.

As I returned to the hotel, the manager had already spoken to a tour director to see if I could join one of their arrangements to Tenerife that includes the Loro Parque, in fact, all had been arranged and it only required my assent.

He had the cash and all the necessary stuff ready when he came to speak to me and offered to introduce me to the tour director in my own time. I immediately took up the offer and it was all done in less than 5 minutes.

New pickup time – 07:20 on Wednesday and the guarantee of a late dinner when we return at just before 22:00.

Staff this good

You cannot get staff this good in any place but where they are well paid, well catered for and recognised as assets to the company – there is no doubt that it is the staff that creates the opportunity for repeat visits to these luxurious establishments.

I am utterly delighted and pleased; I do not expect to hear the tour has been cancelled but then, let us not tempt fate.

Laura Bush on Burma is VP material

A rotten junta

The reason the Burmese junta has held unto power for 46 years has been predicated on their ability to govern the people and meet their needs.

However, it is clear that when a government lacks legitimacy amongst the people it governs, it clamps down on dissent, opposes freedom of expression, upholds tyranny over democracy and becomes a reclusive enclave reluctant to admit outsiders.

In what is a gross dereliction of duty; the government failed to warn the people of the approaching cyclone Nargis nor did they prepare the people for the impeding disaster that is set to claim well over 4,000 lives by official estimates.

Selfish military self-preservation

For a society that is so militarised, one would expect all resources and assets would be brought to bear in alleviating the suffering of the people in the face of such a disaster but is it evident that the military has only been concerned about entrenching itself rather than bringing good governance to the people.

The shameless situation that is reminiscent of the way the Russians handled the Kursk submarine disaster is now evident in Burma because they sure do not have resources, capability and know-how to handle the disaster and they have failed to realise that as members of a global community help abounds to bring succour to the people.

The junta would rather see their people die and suffer than to seek help; it is genocidal in context and basically unforgivable.

Call for action

It is time for all nations to really turn the screws on these generals; we at least owe the people of Burma as members of our humanity that much if not more that they be freed from these unconscionably evil people.

Seeing Laura Bush address a press conference on these matters this evening gave me the impression that she might well be an ideal candidate as John McCain’s running mate – in which case, neither Obama nor Clinton would have a chance over that Republic ticket – they need to clear up that Democratic nomination contest, PDQ!

Nigeria: Ambassadors, be honoured to serve or get lost

The smart tortoise

One can conclude that we would not see grand strides and breath-taking leaps of progress from the government of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, it is however nothing to worry about.

The President’s abilities and style of government appears understated, but as the fable informs us, being a fast hare does not win you the race; the smart but slow tortoise could sometimes be better prepared and poised not to teach the hare about running but about winning races.

Some bloggers have labelled the President slow and sleepy; one would contend it is an unfair assessment of the man.

Looking at the many little decisions the President makes about issues, you end up for a directional, purposeful and determined leader not ready to brook unnecessary distractions from people who are not ready to follow the example of the servant-leader.

The Ambassadorial gift

One good example of this leadership style is in the appointment of ambassadors and high commissioners to other countries.

This list is awaiting approval by the Senate it would have been drawn up by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with party operatives and some other power brokers.

Ambassadorial appointments can be ways of placating political rivals or sending them out of the political fray; it could also be a tactical move of planning the retirement of untouchable senior civil servants; sometimes it rewards service to Nigeria or lumbers Nigeria’s image with buffoons.

Accepting, lobbying or declining

The ex-Chairman of the People’s Redemption Party – Dr. Ahmadu Ali was one of the political appointees being placated and moved out of the political fray with an appointment to South Africa.

That happens to be the most significant political and economic entity in Africa, but Dr. Ali would have none of it, he was lobbying to go to the UK or the USA – it makes you wonder if representing Nigeria is the choice of the selectors or the selected.

Some people are going to dreadful countries like Burma and Zimbabwe, who does Dr. Ahmadu Ali really think he is?

My view is if we do have an operating and functional government in Nigeria, that government should be the final arbiter as to who represents Nigeria where – it is left for that person to take the honour and serve or respectfully decline and move on.

Career or political?

All governments need elements of political representation but a balance should be struck with technocratic and career representation – the list shows ambassadors appointed from a political or career diplomatic perspective – politicians might have to be properly schooled in diplomatic speak, Nigeria is too significant a country to have bumbling gaffes from our ambassadors.

Well, the President would have none of Dr. Ali’s truculence and he has asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs to appoint a career diplomat to the South African position with the hope the person would relish the opportunity and serve with distinction.

Influence peddling is passé

Dr. Ali must now realise that political influence peddling for positions of importance would not cut the muster with the President – he would not have people gum up the works because of what they think they deserve instead of humbly accepting the honour of representing the country.

I would hope that Dr. Ali would be committed to political oblivion from now on as a lesson to others who think Nigeria owes them when in fact they owe Nigeria a duty of selfless service for the opportunities they have gained from Nigeria and in many cases they ways they have relentlessly abused those opportunities for personal gain.

The least they could do is considering representing Nigeria with distinction in restitution and if they would not, their wings should be clipped and Nigeria move on.

The Chancellery in Deutschland

I remember just over 3 years ago, I visited to the Nigerian Consulate in Germany and met the ambassador, I was not sure of what to think of the setup, it was full of obsequious and fawning workers.

No one spoke out of turn, all the bowing, genuflection and Sirs by the score – it was suffocating. I was even advised only to speak when spoken to.

I think not, one cannot have a decent education and then be a dummy when in the presence of dignitaries – there is the matter of protocol and there is the matter of polite and intelligent conversation.

The ambassador was extremely pleasant and warm in his demeanour, he was engaging and generous with his time offering access to his home and a chauffeur-driven service to take us round town – it was a relief to see the difference between demeaning sycophancy and elevating mutual respect.

I would think the ambassador sometimes craves the company of people who can honestly speak their minds – I could be irreverent but there was no reason to be in his company.

Back to the matter at hand – Good job, Yardy.

Josef Fritzl - An Austrian Model?

Insane acts but not an insane man

After I read an article by Peter Millar in the Daily Mail, I found many answers to the questions I raised about Austrian in my earlier blog about Josef Fritzl – This is really a rehash of that same article interspersed with my views.

The case of Josef Fritzl and his incestuous relationship with his daughter for at least 31 years and the consequent imprisonment of his daughter for 24 years read like unprecedented insanity that is almost unthinkable.

Any lawyer for Josef Fritzl would confidently argue that his client should be committed to a psychiatric ward rather than to prison for what is general terms are heinous crimes.

It would be extremely convenient for the people in charge of the image that Austria projects to the world to legally acquiesce to that thinking and pigeonhole the matter to the case of a deranged and unstable mentally ill man then move on swiftly.

Fritzl a keyhole into Austria

Unfortunately, I am not one of those who would buy that cop-out that easily, I think Mr. Fritzl offers an opportunity for Austria to review their history and address some serious issues about their nation, their identity and possible misrepresentations of who they really are.

To allow Mr. Fritzl to get away with pleading insanity rather than taking complete responsibility for his carefully detailed meticulous and Machiavellian scheming that has sorrowfully damaged many lives would be outrageous to say the least.

For every detail we have learnt of Mr. Fritzl, he appears to have been of seriously sound mind and very aware of what he required for his pleasure and did what it took to achieve those ends – he cannot have been mentally ill by any stretch of the imagination.

Joining their German folk

Though Austria has a history dating back to the 9^th Century, the present Austria came about at the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War, the people of that country comprised most of the German-speaking parts of that empire that the French refused to allow to merge with German in the fear that a Greater Germany might lead to another great war.

One badly kept secret is the fact that Adolf Hitler was born in Austria but beyond that, one of Hitler’s goals was to bring together all the German speaking people into one greater Germany it lead to the annexation of Austria and the forceful acquisition of Sudetenland in the old Czechoslovakia.

The government of Austria somehow realised the annexation would be inevitable and planned a plebiscite to determine if the people would want to retain independence or be subsumed into the greater Germany dream.

Before the people were presented with that choice the Austrian National Socialist Party had routed the government and presented an opportunity for Hilter to take over Austria – the Anschluss – without as much as shooting a gun.

No von Trapp resistance

The Nazis then presented the people with the plebiscite and it was favourably passed with 99.73% accepting Nazi rulership.

There was no resistance in Austria like the kind we know of in France; in fact the story of the von Trapp family as popularised in the Sound Of Music was a radical exception rather than the rule.

An unfortunate accident of history lead to the allied powers considering Austria a victim of Hitler’s actions rather than a willing acquiescent people, this designation was supposed to help a simply non-existent resistance but it played well into the post-war exculpation of Austrians from involvement in the Nazi machinery.

A false history

Austria finally became independent in 1955 and have kept their victim status since – the election of Kurt Waldheim as President in the 1980s after finding out that he had omitted parts of his Nazi career past and we all bought his story especially after he had been the Secretary General of the United Nations for two terms.

Austrian cosiness with a Nazi past that is deeper than presented and accepted is legendary unlike the Germans who have had a complete catharsis; they have been respectably Catholic with very conservative values that keeps the woman in the kitchen, in the church and caring for the children like the beautiful Nazi wives of old.

My experience of this was quite notable in that on a trip round Europe in 1999, I visited Vienna in June and to discover the city I tried to hire a bicycle. The man refused to give me a bicycle for the simple reason that he thought I might end up in the wrong part of town.

Presumably, there was a part of Vienna that would have put me in real danger for my welfare, safety and life – much as other residents of Vienna denied there could ever be the possibility of coming across such a mishap – the evil was either lurking as racism from the bicycle hire shop or a more sinister right-wing element ready to pounce in some Vienna back street.

Suppressed Women of Austria

Natascha Kampusch touched a raw nerve when she suggested that what happened to her and Elizabeth Fritzl were a result of authoritarian education and the suppression of womenfolk in the name of strict Christian family values and more importantly the Austrian Nazi past.

It makes one wonder if there are not many more abuses in Austria but not to the extremes that we have learnt of those two ladies.

When I go back to answer the questions I asked about Austrian soul-searching, questions I had no idea of being able to answer when I first wrote them, I find that I can without much persuasion answer Yes to all of them.

Would the Austrians be able to face up to their past and make all the amends necessary to bring their society round to both the truth and civility expected of countries that too conveniently cavorted with Nazism?

We would have to wait and see if they would seize that opportunity.

Reference

Peter Millar – In the shadow of the Swastika

See More Gran Canaria

I am no croc

There is that risk of getting out for a holiday in the sun and ending up on a reptilian holiday. Crawl out in the morning and bask in the sun till it is too hot that you slither into the water to cool down and repeat the action again till the day is over.

Some might have a variation of that, which is to go from hotel to beach and then to favourite bar where all the dreadful home soap operas are on show the whole to to give you that home feeling.

I have always tried to escape the louche environment of Playa del Inglés to see more of Gran Canaria, get on a boat, get on a bus or call a taxi and see something different.

Out at sea

On Friday, I decided to get on a catamaran for a sail round the South of the island to a place where some of the passengers could get on jet skis or the banana boat.

My feet never touched the water; it is one of those situations where my sense of adventure is almost overplayed with the pleasure of being a spectator.

When I was asked, I said I preferred National Geographic, whilst a good number understood, it went over the heads of other listeners who I found out were in the hairdressing business – smart people with so much hair-do, even they would not get in the water.

As if I knew it would happen, with life-jackets and all, when they were forcibly dismouented from the banana boat with a deft manoeuvre, and everyone was in the water, not me, definitely not for me – but it was a very pleasant day.

Last minute last time

Getting the LastMinute excursion company to arrange two excursions was like drawing teeth, I could not get the days I wanted and when it appeared things were looking fine, their agenda had changed from what was in their brochures.

I wanted to do the Grand Tour which would have taken me round the island especially the North-West where I had never been and then the whole day trip to Tenerife and Loro Parque.

The first just was not getting far because I had to wait days and they would not pick me up from my hotel – I was having none of that. The Tenerife trip was to pick me up at my hotel at 7:31AM and then I was told it would be 5:31AM – I don’t even stir at that time for either work or travel.

Off on tour

In the end, I went to the reception of my hotel where their service to me and their longsuffering and patience with the operators yielded more dividend.

A VIP Tour for Saturday with pick-up at 8:15AM and a Tuesday trip to Tenerife for a 5:35AM pick-up – I suppose it would be a long day to say the least.

The VIP Tour pickup was 20 minutes late and it was an air-conditioned minibus, I had hardly been in it 5 minutes, and I was hyper-ventilating, I was cooped up in the back seat and feeling seriously claustrophobic, I had to ask if we were changing buses later.

I cannot help having a Lebensraum Complex, I like space, space to recline, space to stretch, space to breathe, eventually, as the trip commenced we realised why it had to be minibuses and not big buses because none of those would have been able to negotiate those roads in the hinterland.

Zigzag up and down

The trip organised by Zig-Zags Safari was a very professional setup (There is the X-treme Jeep Safari and the genteel minibus rides – I took the latter), there were 5 minibuses in the convoy and it could stretch up to 11 in some cases.

Using a minicab intercom system, the tour-guide Gary was in the 2^nd bus and it was all in English.

By the time we got into the mountains in the West moving East, I was on a slow moving roller-coaster crossed with a helter-skelter – we were zigzagging the roads as we when up and down, round mountains and at one time climbing 700 metres in 3 minutes.

It was a bare-knuckle ride, heart racing and pounding, ears popping and at least one person was ready to see his breakfast all over again.

At one point, we wished were was having a reptilian holiday, then you saw people mountain climbing and felt you should be channel-hopping with your duvet right up to your neck.

See more Gran Canaria

But, we had to pat ourselves on the back for seeing more of Gran Canaria and some of the disappearing ways of the people which include agriculture, architecture, culture, arts and crafts along with other indigenously significant historical facts.

In many cases, tourism is to blame for the decline of these communities, but then tourism keeps the island going, what needs to happen is more managed tourism in balance with keeping the essential historical issues of the island.

Gran Canaria is not only sun, sea and sand, there is a civilisation that stretches back centuries to be visited, discovered and appreciated.

The tour guide lamented the fact that people have been visiting Gran Canaria for upwards of 20 years and never been beyond the highly-populated beach resorts.

I intend to publish the pictures, I took of the interior and we would end up with a DVD of our trip too – what a day it was.

Spotting the English from afar

Roddy Rowdy English

The English have gotten themselves a reputation for raucous rowdiness and public nuisance. I was at the Diana Ross tribute entertainment put up by my hotel which was good enough entertainment with good dresses and acceptable voices.

After a few songs the performers decided to go through a list of countries to find out who was from where – after 10 or so countries with the mildest of responses, I had already responded to the call for those from the Netherlands, then England came up.

There were quite a few and they did make noise louder than every other grouping, but the performers were not convinced because they had that bad stereotype of the England that they first made that perspective clear indicating we are a noisy boisterous bunch and then they called out for England again.

The affected responded to type and that was England revealed and sealed in its doomed reputation – I could not cry for England anymore.

As English as Fish and Chips

However, dinner offers the choice of a buffet of entrées and either a la carte or a buffet plat principal – the variety of cuisines is extensive covering all the Mediterranean countries, North and South, the Asian continent, Southern American fare and the local boiled salted potatoes with mojo sauce – you just have to try something different each day.

Amidst this feast and a banquet of choices almost unlimited, the idea of being on holiday with a sense of adventure should have your plate radiant with colour and exquisite tastes – amazingly, I could see and identify the English from a long way off – can you believe they only had fish and chips on their plates?

This hotel restaurant does gourmet, it is not some all-you-can-eat Chinese joint in the middle of some tourist street, the salmon gets carved in front of you, the ham comes straight off the shank into your plate, the designs on the large vegetables would make Mexican paintings look like kindergarten finger-painting and they end up with fish and chips – Give me peace.

Ordering vodka by the pint

With the UEFA Champions League final being an all-English affair in Moscow, someone would be trying to convince me that you can separate sports from politics.

Relations between the UK and Russia are not at their most cosy and definitely there are issues between Europe and Russia even though the same Russia is represented in European football as it is in the EuroVision Song Contests.

It would be interesting to see how the Russians process 42,000 visas for the fans of Chelsea and Manchester United – the projection is there would not be enough flights to cart the troops and Moscow does not come cheap – but football does have a fanaticism that is more compelling that cult membership.

The Sun newspaper that I had the misfortune of leafing through yesterday decided to get in on the game of helping the English get along in Moscow with an English-Russian guide that included the statement – Can I have two pints of vodka and a packet of crisps?

That, I would tell you, is the height of irresponsibility on a grand scale for a national newspaper, we have enough problems with the issue of English fans; keeping them sober is the beginning of peace and order – to advocate the serving of vodka by the pint does not serve this cause well at all, it is complete beneath contempt.

Anywhere you go, you will always spot the English, I suppose.

Nigeria: Beyond Due Process

The dues of process

With a number of cases of supposed impropriety leading to the ousting of political officers, the resignation of ministers, the indictment of politicians or the accusation of public office holders, the revelation of each developing speculation might make us lose focus of the pertinent issues.

One phrase that has been bandied around the most on most of these matters is that of “due process”. It makes one ask, how much process is due process and when does due process become a bureaucratic ordeal that requires the vultures of the law to nitpick the minutiae?

Beyond due process

However, beyond the façade of due process maybe we should review the issues of perception, appearance and transparency.

Some holders of public office would like to be considered honest, trustworthy and able; in return they expect to be respected and treated with some dignity whilst their authority and office is not impugned.

In those seemingly exceptional cases, it should not just be the letter of the law or guiding principles of rules of procedure that they should adhere to, they should endeavour to go the extra mile to ensure that nothing they do by commission or omission is construed to be suspect.

Separation from the detail

In the case of the threatened impeachment of the Speaker of the House Representative which lead to her resignation; there might have been reason to renovate the premises of those officers and the acquisition of vehicles for official duties, however, the Speaker should never have gotten directly involved in any of the contractual negotiations to the extent that she got implicated.

If there were rules about tendering, allocation of funds and execution of contracts, she should have ensured that her subordinates were aware of all that would make the activities transparent and above board whilst keeping her distance from matters that could create clamour about conflicts of interest, talk less of the whiff of corruption.

Obeying simple orders

The matter of the resignation of the ministers in the Ministry of Health is simple; the President gave an executive order to return unspent moneys to the treasury; it was disobeyed and then an elaborate scheme was hatched to distribute the said funds to senior staff whilst cheating the junior staff of their share of the loot.

I have no sympathy for the senior officials of that ministry; what they did was unforgivably corrupt and it should be punished after the necessary legal issues have ascertained guilt or innocence of the parties concerned.

Part of that distribution ended up in the Senate Committee for Health which has legislative oversight of the Ministry of Health and this was used to sponsor a retreat in Ghana.

Avoiding the conflict of interest

There are commentators who suggest that the Chairman of that committee, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello is a victim of a witch-hunt by reason of the fact that she is the daughter of the erstwhile President who is having his whole tenure discredited for all sorts of matters of due process.

I do not however subscribe to this idea of a witch-hunt; whilst a Senate committee is allowed to solicit funds for activities to help them fulfil their functions; it surely cannot be right for an oversight committee to solicit and accept funds from organisations over which it exercises the obligation of oversight.

Here, the chairman should have done the prudent thing, return the money to the ministry citing the possibility of conflict of interest and the perception that their clear and objective assessment of issues concerning the Ministry of Health could be compromised.

Asking for good character

Obviously, this is asking for a higher level of probity from participants in the governance of Nigeria, this kind of thinking has to start from the top for it to permeate through the fabric of our political system.

In the end, there is the matter of the spirit and letter of the law and procedures with the additional but unwritten aspects of perception that stems from the character and virtues of the people who hold high public office.

We should have in mind that this does not pertain to any religious affiliation of the people concerned, if they are not in and of themselves honest and trustworthy, no religious adherence would make them any better than they are – do not be badgered with the false witness of swearing to some potentate when you are seeking the truth about any matter.