Thought Picnic: Reading Steve Jobs on living, life, cancer, hope and death

As stories begin

It was well past midnight before I went to sleep last night first in elation of my nephew having won the MOBO Award for Best Gospel Act for which I penned a short update before I retired and retiring is not what it seems.

Over a year ago, I read of a house fire that broke out by reason of an overheated laptop on a bed, the occupier of the house lost his life. The next day after hearing that news, I went shopping for a laptop stand, something that lifts the warmish to hot parts off surfaces that might be prone to catching fire and so my almost 3-year old Toshiba NB 100 netbook with an unsupported 2GB memory module has retained its pride of place beside my strewn pillows.

I keep something inspirational playing through the night from bible readings to messages from my virtual church; in the midst of many of my life’s troubles, I need all the encouragement I can get that I can still make the best of the days I have ahead.

The death of an iconic man

Most of my activity appears to take place on Twitter and I caught a glimpse of breaking news from New York Post that the legendary and iconic Steve Jobs had passed on.

Only 8 weeks ago, he stepped down as CEO of Apple and I suspected he needed to slow down a bit, maybe undergo some treatment and avail himself of the need to recuperate.

It is amazing the power of ones intellect, brain and mind to want to keep going just as the body is failing to keep up by reason of the disease and most especially cancer, it is a fight for life and survival like you can never understand until you find yourself in the middle of that battle.

Then each small victory like a day, a week, a month, a year or even more leaves you with the drive first to return to what you once did, probably to do it better and with the time one has left, maybe to leave a legacy, a memory, a mark that your footsteps did also trod the sands of time.

Knowing what cancer is

I know that much because Steve Jobs died exactly two years after I took my first session of chemotherapy out of what stretched to 7 sessions and that was just 5 days after the specialists had conclusively diagnosed the cancer I had and basically planned a course of treatment to go after it and deal with it.

The cancer lesions with their amazing pain to which I cannot find adequate expression began to heal, necrotised skin being taken off for fresh new skin to grow in its place; these were tended to almost every day for 8 weeks and when they were fully healed my nurse marvelled at the speed of healing, he said he had tended lesions for upwards of 6 months – I had a miracle, not necessarily instant but laudable all the same.

The cancer and chemotherapy began to write their histories in my life, the stark realities of living began to loom large, the bills, the threats, the angst, the helplessness, the vulnerability and no one was giving medals for having come through such an ordeal.

A beginning so unsure

Life just seems to go on and you either hope on the bandwagon or you get left behind, the respite of finding work was a great change but it offered nothing near what one once did – it is possible the most important thing my colleagues learnt about me was I was a pleasure to work with and I could rise to the challenges set before me as I half-recuperated and worked just 7 weeks from my last chemotherapy session – they were sympathetically accommodating.

The journey back to the life one once had is still long and arduous, you almost thing you are living on borrowed time as you watch and I have seen 5 friends and relations taken away by cancer since I first had my diagnosis, but we cannot dwell on those apart from the fond memories of those people who touched our lives for the better.

What I owe Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs did many things and whilst I was not particularly an Apple buff my early years in Information Technology Computing started with programming BASIC, ForTRAN and Pascal on the Apple IIc and Apple IIe, I never really used Apple products professionally but a company in which I own 30% was named NeXTStep in tribute to what Steve Jobs was doing at NeXT, it was just fascinatingly mind-blowing to read of the NeXT Cube and what a different it might have been if these system got more widely adopted.

I never really jumped on the iProduct frenzy, when I did high-level legal desktop publishing in the late 80s, the Mac could not offer the kind of consistency we needed, with Xerox Ventura Publisher on the PC whilst we were no print shop the Mac was playing catch-up at the time but there was always some admiration for the products from afar.

Fate, fortune, faith and future

The passing of Steve Jobs for all the well-deserved tributes that will make his passing almost as moving as that of John Lennon reveals to me another reality of which one must learn never to be fearful of, it is our mortality and death, somewhere out there in the future, either for a long time hence or shorter, who knows – I lost a friend just after two weeks of defending his PhD, one of the winners of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2011 died on the Friday before the Monday when the prize was announced.

What fates and what calls for faith and mining of the depths of hope that one be more prepared and as well as being available to win whilst having planned one’s exit such that it is not all so sudden.

A beginner again

For those of us who have survived and hope to thrive and live life until the last breath is drawn, I take this message from Steve Jobs, it is meaningful to me enough to help me face a future that may at times be uncertain but is there to be lived in and seized with the fervour of a person full of life and zest.

“The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.” Indeed, after a life of the many things one has done, that is one prospect one faces after cancer and one does hope one has the opportunity to just begin again.

Triple O is 2011 MOBO Award Best Gospel Act

He won

I guess it is only right to provide an update; I wrote about my nephew TripleO who was nominated for a MOBO Best Gospel Act award some weeks ago in Triple O - MOBO Awards Best Gospel Act Nominee

This evening in Glasgow, the awards took place and he walked away with the prize, he is the 2011 MOBO Award Best Gospel Act [News story with list of winners] and I am utterly chuffed as I offer my congratulations on his winning which by God’s grace should be the first of many in what we pray will be a long, fruitful and productive career of genius, talent and amazing ability.

In all, I want to thank all those that were inspired to vote for him having read about him on my blog and without crowding out this blog with too much than the announcement, you can view the YouTube Channel for his material, buy his music on iTunes or Amazon and visit his website at http://www.tripleouk.com/

Thank you!

Thought Picnic: My #ABSURape Tweets for the Record

For the record

Having read a number of blogs and discussions related to the #ABSURape issue on Twitter and on some blogs, I have decided to document [1] for the sake of posterity the Tweets I have sent out regarding this issue from the 18^th of September 2011 until the 24^th of September 2011.

When I first heard of the rape, I was utterly disgusted especially after I read about it on two blogs, I never had the inclination to view the said video or attempt to glean any information from it. I honestly felt the other persons who for altruistic reasons had viewed the videos will pay all diligence to ensuring that all information was handled with the utmost maturity and discretion.

A developing issue of official denials

The rape had happened a whole month before the video went viral and from all the information being shared on Twitter, it appeared people knew people who were quite aware of who the victim was, possibly where the event took place and were in no doubt that it took place at Abia State University.

Meanwhile, all the authorities had refused to tackle the case all denying that the event ever took place in the university or even in the state when it appeared the video first surfaced in the university and some of the students involved had volubly indicated they were students of the university.

There was every need to bring pressure to bear on the system and authorities to act especially when the state governor suggested this video was produced by his political detractors.

The controls are basic trust

In the process, people were bound to get more agitated just as things were bound to go wrong – where the authorities could have helped the circumstances by setting up a situation room to collate information leading to the apprehension of the alleged rapists, the social media sphere became that situation room where daring mixed with some irresponsibility and some caution depending on how you look at the matter.

As it transpired, late on the 21^st of September 2011, Tweets arrived on my timeline suggesting that certain names had be put to some of the alleged culprits and those names were published.

The first Tweet I published on arrival of that information was - 21 September Wow! 3 full names of the alleged #ABSURape culprits. Determine who they are and apprehend them for questioning. 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

It had caught fire

Then I responded (my response emboldened) to another Tweet 21 September RT @PearlEze: I checked the XXXXXXX XXX guy on facebook and we have 5 mutual friends! ~ Goldfish have no hiding place. 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

By which time, Twitter had caught fire, the whole timeline was agog with news of the said culprits and I next Tweeted 21 September Watch and marvel at the power of social media - #ABSURape! 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

Then, I made the first direct mention of the name after checking the source website to confirm if what was being said could be corroborated with 21 September Engage the network of Friends. Security Check Required | Facebook - If you are a friend of XXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX one of the alleged #ABSURape suspects 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

The second time I made mention of a name was when I was being harangued about the information to which I responded 21 September @royaltyuso If XXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX is coincidentally at ABSU & has a similar name to the original list of first names, that is unfortunate. 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

The pitfalls of implicitly delegated trust

Now, my belief at that time was that the persons who revealed these names had done all the necessary groundwork and essential thorough checking before publishing such information, however, down the chain, the level of trust reposed in those involved diminished as each of those who were at the forefront of this investigation began to extricate themselves.

Much as I would normally cross-check and verify information before I relay, this was one area where considering the evidence I was not going to vacillate between voyeurism and curiosity with a modicum of investigative analysis by watching the video – it was a responsibility I was ready to abdicate with the hope that those who did assume responsibility will use it fairly, judiciously and responsibly.

It does not excuse the fact that I was involved in mentioning one name, a situation I do deeply regret but to ignore the prevailing circumstances in the situation where there were no takers of the N200,000 reward for information and the authorities were closing ranks, the tabloid element that some have castigated and excoriated would have been the only effective way to embarrass the authorities into action.

The scornful had no sense of reality

The sanctimony with which some can postulate to appear sensible is almost rank indifference, for all the sense of appropriateness they seem to suggest, the fact is this ABSU rape case appeared to suggest that the incidences of these heinous crimes were widespread, underreported and no doubt done with impunity, else the said culprits will not have recorded the videos and then distributed them.

There is the fallacy of a supposedly cultured setting that these people subscribe to that is far off the reality and the fact that there has to come a time when our society will not sit idly by feigning cultured reserve, dignity and discretion but get involved positively, proactively and constructively.

As I went to say, there were going to be more suspects in any rape case than those indicted and more of those than they that get convicted – to think any investigation will hit the jackpot of the culprits at first attempt is literally impossible.

Just the way it is

21 September #ABSURape There will always be more suspects than arraigned & an allegation is NOT a conviction - please align your perspectives. 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

In the end, there was much to say which included 21 September If the #ABSURape case becomes a cause célèbre and towards the end a casualty of social media, that would be unfortunate. 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

With the following Tweets - 21 September #ABSURape in the light of all these events, if the authorities do not take hold of this case immediately, the injustices will be compounded. 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

21 September #ABSURape Did I not say watch and marvel at the power of social media? I forgot to end that with "to destroy people." 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

21 September #ABSURape What is done is, now we need to make the best of it and refocus on the need for justice for all concerned. 67 forakin Akin Akintayo

For the record

The most important issue at stake here is to ensure that one is referenced and quoted in context; it is all too easy to forklift a Tweet and base a whole premise on it without offering a good background as to how conversations evolved, worse still is when unrelated issues get conflated to give an completely unwholesome picture, the writers taking no responsibility for their sleight of hand and intended deceit.

This is for the record and hopefully to put things in proper context too.

References

[1] The ABSURape Tweets I posted

The ABSU Gang Rape Story on Storify

A Storify Record of related Tweets on the 21^st & 22^nd of September 2011

Editorial: Legislating for the Unforeseeable of Same-Sex Marriage

Some background

And so the Nigerian Senators having spent 46 of the first 100 days of this legislative term in recess resumed the active duty of promulgating serious legislation which last week included the Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2011.

The bill after much lively debate passed its second reading, but it behoves one to examine the purpose and intent of such a bill in Nigeria today.

It is quite evident that in much of Africa a swathe of fundamentalist religious fervour has swept through many countries endangering the lives of homosexuals. In Uganda, for the past few years, not only has the clamour to criminalise homosexuality rang out, the punishments to be meted out included the possibility of the death penalty.

Tolerated impunity in Africa

In January, a gay activist was bludgeoned to death by someone ready to plead gay-panic defence and his death cannot have been unrelated to the harshly virulent, bigoted and intolerant rhetoric of politicians and religious leaders alike who have with Machiavellian determination mined the mob element of the people to support the atrocious.

In South Africa with both homosexuality and same sex marriage legal, lesbians have been subjected to “corrective” rape, some have died in such attacks and I was completely repulsed beyond measure when a video was circulated of the public humiliation of a lesbian in West Africa with onlookers literally cheering on.

In other words, the concept of the acceptance of homosexuality in Africa will only be under duress from free societies in negotiations for other things than it becoming an accepted thing in society.

No danger of progressive thinking

Now, that is not to say that homosexuality does not exist in Africa, it has existed amongst humanity from time immemorial and for many in Africa it has not required the so-called influence of Western societies for it to be present and possibly thrive, no matter how little the numbers are.

That said, it will take a leap of faith bordering on the impossible to countenance a time when same sex marriage will gain any form acceptance where the law already prescribes punishments not far off from what would have made the Mosaic stoning acts almost merciful.

In the reports about the debate, as we have observed in other countries where homosexuality laws have been repealed, the legislators employed interestingly colourful language, all possibly based on conjuring the most revolting images to blackmail the unpersuaded to take sides for this attack on civil liberties.

Blackmail by revulsion

Taking root from religious law, they have conflated homosexuality with paedophilia, incest and bestiality which probably happens more amongst professed heterosexuals but it never finds mention. It would be nigh on impossible for such legislators to promulgate laws against adultery or fornication, though one is not suggesting that they have the propensity for such.

In the case of rape, when mention was made of the gang-rape and criminal assault of a lady, a member of the House of Representatives had the temerity to question the need for such discussion in the midst of other pressing Nigerian problems – it would have been wonderful for such minds to prevail on the fact that same sex marriage is not on the horizon for Nigeria in the foreseeable future and hence the debate was just an abject waste of time.

The bill was sponsored by 26 senators of which 3 were women, one of whom was once a Federal Minister of Finance; it invalidates unions and does not recognise any same sex marriages contracted in foreign countries where such is legal.

Witnesses criminalised more

What is quite amusing about the penalties is where the subjects of the “solemnisation” of the marriage are liable to 3 years of imprisonment whilst witnesses to such an event face either a term of 5 years imprisonment or a fine of NGN 2,000 or both.

In terms of groups, the fine is limited to NGN 50,000. What is confusing about what is patently a bad law is that it appears the same-sex marriage participants are not as severely punished as the witnesses to such an event – there are no two ways of stating that a bad law punishes observers more than the actors – it is radically and patently flawed whilst at the same time unfortunate that supposedly learned legislators are blinded by moral fury so as to be oblivious of the miscarriage of justice that looms in the wake of this outrageously condemnable stance.

You have to ask if the stenographers or publishers of such laws for debate take time to review their copy, proofread the documents and ensure that ambiguity and incorrect spelling, context or content is accounted for.

In the section about the interpretation of the law, it suggests that “Same Gender Marriage” means the coming together of persons of the same sex with the purpose of leaving (sic) [I suppose living was intended here.] together as husband and wife or for other purposes of [a] same sexual (sic) [sex] relationship.

Unintended consequence already evident

However, let us not be given to unnecessary pedantry and look at the issues here; in the prevailing circumstances our Senators have just legislated for a mirage with the hope that they have handled an issue that hardly even if remotely touches any sense of reality – this bill shows an idleness of purpose with people so highly paid but lacking in principle, priority and focus to tackle more thorny issues that affect Nigeria and Nigerians at large.

Human-beings will always be human-beings and they will satisfy whatever feeling and persuasion they have regardless of the laws that encroach into the morality of society to attack an almost invisible minority.

The greater danger will be in the many who because of societal pressures will attempt to present public heterosexual lives whilst they pursue secret homosexual liaisons in what is commonly known as being on the Down-Low.

Societies that promulgate moral laws will always suffer from the almost schizophrenic tendency for people to live double lives, men or women with their families eventually getting caught up in literally unspeakable circumstances.

The wheels of social justice in reverse

The Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill is not one Nigeria needs at any time, it is legislating for the unforeseeable in anticipation of the improbable where there are no extenuating circumstances of evidence available to show that the country is vulnerable or prone to any such development.

Even in countries where Same Sex Marriage is legal, the homosexuals are not flocking to the altar in droves, it takes a lot to develop relationships between people regardless of gender-pairing and somehow our learned legislators in attempting to appear knowledgeable have just exposed they utter ignorance of a side of human nature they are completely clueless of – if we have such lack of expertise addressing even more pertinent legislative issues in Nigeria, we are the much poorer for it and we are sadder for the brigandage that allows for so much to be paid for such inconsequential and irrelevant service to Nigerians.

In the end, where we have allowed moral laws to trample on the rights of other who have committed in the eyes of this unjust law victimless crimes, the wheel of negative social justice reforms is never stationary, it continues to roll until to encroaches on other rights abrogated by reason of some moral law or code – we already see that our leadership have to compelled to speak up for victims of sexually violence, they probably will not readily condemn violence against others as a result of this bill as we inure ourselves from the plight of others.

Acknowledgements

The basic document of the Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2011 the news reports of the debating the bill appeared on ThisDayLive and The Nation newspapers.

C3 Men Conference - Deeper - Friday Night

Deeper – C3 Men Conference

My church, C3 Church organised a Men’s conference this weekend with the theme Deeper and it had as guest speakers Pastor Greg French, Pastor Nick Klinkenberg and the host Pastor Steven Warren.

Pastor Greg French heads up a ministry of interacting and ministering to men as fathers, husbands, sons, workers and ultimately Christians under the umbrella term Real Men.

Courtesy of a brother, my attendance was paid for and another brother offered to give me a ride to the venue which was at Naarderbos Golf Course bordering the amazingly beautiful Gooise Meer lake.

The deep things

On Friday night, after a time of intense worship where men bonded in unity of purpose and spirit were gathered, there were prayers, exhortations and introductions.

Pastor Greg French began his message on the subject of running the Christian race and finishing well.

His first scriptural reference came from (Psa 42:7 KJV) Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

(Psa 42:7 NKJV) Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

This he interpreted as the deep things of God calling on the deep things in the heart of man.

Referring the introductory exhortation, he then said David came to terms with his humanity but he needed Nathan the prophet to bring him to that realisation.

The race

The core references for the evening however came from.

(1Co 9:24 KJV) Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

Contrasting the concept of knowing with that of just being aware, we needed to know we in a race with the purpose of winning the prize and the ability to excel will only come from allowing God to do what we allow Him to do in our lives.

(1Co 9:25 GNB) Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for one that will last forever.

Still on the subject of entering a race to win, there is a regimen involved in the decision to participate in a race with the crown being the people we have by reason of our Christian living are able to impact all around us.

(1Co 9:26-27 KJV) I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Our race has to be purposeful, it has to have a goal and the example our life presents is dependent on the discipline and discipleship we subject ourselves to so that those to whom we stand as role models will see us as such - It is why we need people speaking into our lives to ensure we retain our focus.

(1Co 9:27 NKJV) But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

With this version of the last verse, the message developed towards not being disqualified from one’s purpose and how to ensure one’s purpose is fulfillied.

Disqualified from one's purpose

Pastor French when delved into how we appear to be purposeful in creating resolutions and then fail to realise our good intentions with the striking statement, “We waste our lives by making statements that we do not follow through.”

How to be resolved

With that, he used the following scriptural references to help us understand how to be resolved, resolute, run the race and win the prize.

(Heb 12:1-2 NKJV) Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He inferred that whilst there was a great sense of security by reason of the cloud of witnesses mostly assumed to be angelic, men needed other men as witnesses, supporters, admonishers, confidants and people who enthuse in helping to run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Our persuasion

In context, he noted that Jesus decided to be bigger than the problem before him to achieve the success ahead of him and it behoves us to appreciate that we are resourced to be bigger than the problems that surround us to be to successful.

With this, he indicated we need to be focused, then used the story of a fit woman piling on weights to reflect the problems of being overweight to an almost morbidly obese person showing who unnecessary weights burdens impact a person’s ability and agility.

When you carry what you should not be carrying, it ages you.

Lay aside

The admonition to “Lay aside every weight” is made in the context that it is my choice to do the laying aside as well as understanding that when temptation comes, we do have the power to overcome temptation.

Those two verses were weighty in their import as he told a personal story about how he mistakenly donated his wife’s best clothes in a mix-up during a house move that ended in the moral - Think before you act – a good few of us could relate.

In reading the other verses, a number of points were developed.

(Heb 12:3-6 NKJV) For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD, NOR BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU ARE REBUKED BY HIM; FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

Lay aside – According to the Macquarie dictionary employed a definition that ran similar to – Laying aside every aside that impedes our focus and progress.

The extended lesson to thinking before acting was that “Impulsive actions can be costly.”

Consider what is to keep and what to discard.

We men have a tendency to hoard and hence keep things we do not need, giving the example of a friend who had over 20 claw hammers, this friend seemed to have a story pertaining to each hammer but for practical purposes there was no reason to have more than one claw hammer.

By hoarding the unnecessary we tend to keep the things that clutter up our lives.

The stories, anecdotes and analogies he gave wove into each other offering useful snippets of advice and admonition.

Be decisive.

We need to stop hanging on to things that are unnecessary, however, that requires we be decisive and in being decisive discipline brings results.

The thought of discipline appears to indicate hardship but he said, “Discipline brings freedom to the undisciplined.” Discipline should not be seen as a restriction but the introduction of order and structure.

We must make the right the decisions; get one principle and act upon it.

Lay aside every sin.

The longing prayer of man should be - God give me the power to act and be strengthened against the things that easily befall me.

Perseverance is linked to endurance, God strengthens us to run with endurance.

Closing

At the end of an hour long message, we closed with prayer and a moving testimony as to how a brother agonised, prayed, cried and dared in the quest for a wife and how his prayer got answered.

It was an evening that allowed for the brotherhood of Christian men to offer meaningful and strengthening messages to each other for the purpose of being real men to ourselves, our families and communities at large.

419 Reasons to Like Nigeria

419 Reasons to Like Nigeria

For too long, Nigeria and Nigerians have been readily associated with the online scams, financial crime and impersonation - termed ‘419’.

However, beyond the unfortunate stereotyping, there are several positive characteristics and cogent intriguing traits of the country, Nigeria and its people, some of which are highlighted below as part of the ‘419 Reasons to Like Nigeria’ campaign which enlisted 100 volunteers and bloggers to share reasons why they like Nigeria.

These reasons echo the voices of Nigerians, with resonating similar themes.

The campaign is being facilitated in partnership with ‘The 419Positive Project’.

The full list of ‘419 Reasons to Like Nigeria’ is available here (http://www.419Positive.org)

The list of contributors to ‘419 Reasons to Like Nigeria’ is available here

If you would like to say something positive about Nigerians and Nigeria, please do so here.

NIGERIA - THE LAND OF POTENTIAL AND OPPORTUNITY

• I like Nigeria because it is a land of endless opportunities and possibilities. Nigeria is one country whose true potentials I believe the world is yet to experience. I believe Nigerians are sharp, brilliant and accommodating people. Giving the right enabling environment the world will marvel at what Nigeria will become.
• Nigeria is the most populous black nation - and a buying one at that. From a capitalist point of view, this makes for great investment opportunities.
• The fact that Nigeria currently lags behind so much - in infrastructure and developmental terms - hints at the size of the potential for innovation and transformation, and at the huge number of vacancies that exist for 'transformers'. What I think this means is that the world will be hearing a lot about Nigeria and high-achieving Nigerians (in the public and private sectors) in the near future.

NIGERIA - THE COUNTRY

• The Nigerian Green and White flag is a notable national symbol. The green color symbolises agriculture, seeing that the country is endowed with masses of arable land, while the white colour signifies unity and peace. Other national symbols include the Nigerian Coat of Arms, which depicts an eagle on a black shield, tri-sected by two wavy silver bands, and supported on either side by two chargers. The national motto underlies the coat-of -arms: "Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress." Her national symbols convey great meaning to its people.
• The Nigerian accent is currently ranked by CNN Global Experiences as the 5th sexiest accent in the world.
• Nigeria is home to Nollywood, one of the world's biggest film industries.

NIGERIA - THE CULTURE, THE FOOD, THE WAY OF LIFE

• Something great to like about Nigeria is our cultural diversity. A strong affinity exists, despite our differences. Learning about other ethnic cultures in my country really helped me personally relate to other cultures when abroad.
• I think the food is tastier in Nigeria than that I have found in other countries.
• Nigerians live a communal life style. The extended family is part of the immediate family in a Nigerian home.

NIGERIA - THE MUSIC, THE MOVIES, THE DANCE, THE ART

• Nigeria has produced many world class musicians. A notable mention in this regard is Fela Anikulapo Kuti. A Broadway show titled ‘FELA!’ was produced in 2009 depicting the life and times of the Afrobeat musician.
• Nigeria’s movie industry, Nollywood, is reputedly the 3rd largest film industry after Hollywood and Bollywood, and has grown gradually into a $250 million industry in more than 10 years.
• Nigerian indigenous musical instruments are unique, soulful and rhythmic. They comprise the popular Talking Drum, producing proverbial and storytelling sounds, the Shaker (shekere), the Udu drum, the Lute, the leg and arm Rattle, the Omele, the Ogene (Gong originating in Eastern Nigeria), the Ekwe drum and the Kakaki (A 4m metal trumpet popular in Northern Nigeria). Many of these instruments have been incorporated in South American music over the years

NIGERIA - GEOGRAPHY and NATURAL RESOURCES

• Nigeria is a nation blessed with rich human and natural resources. As the 8th largest exporter of Oil in the world, with the 10th largest proven reserves, our blessings cannot be overemphasised. No earthquakes, no tsunamis, no droughts, an evergreen land. The rest of the world should live here.
• The beauty of the Nigerian state cannot but leave one in awe. Blessed with captivating physical features and abundant wild life. From the rolling hills to the vast plains in the North Central Nigeria and the forests in the South, the beautiful scenery of the country is more than breathtaking and with the wildlife spread all over the country; Nigeria is surely a beauty to behold and a tourist's delight all year round.
• Nigeria is blessed with tremendous agricultural resources. Cotton in the North, Cocoa & Oil palm in the south amongst many others. The flag is green for a reason

NIGERIA - WEST AFRICA, AFRICA and THE WORLD

• Nigeria has the largest population of any country in Africa. Approximately 1 out of every 2 West Africans, 1 out of every 4 Africans, and 1 out of every 5 persons of African origin is a Nigerian.
• Nigeria is the largest contributor of troops to the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) and by extension, is the largest force for peace and stability in West Africa.
• A Nigerian will stand out anywhere you find him/her, from Libya to London, Tokyo to Timbuktu. Well known examples include Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets, USA), Olumide Oyedeji (Seattle Sonics), Tunde Baiyewu (Lighthouse Family), Sunday Adelaja (Ukraine), Chris Aire (US), etc.

NIGERIA - INDUSTRIOUS, INNOVATIVE and ENTERPRISING, with ACHIEVEMENTS

• Nigerians are intelligent, brilliant minds who have proven their mettle in various fields - Wole Soyinka was the first African to win the much coveted Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. Chinua Achebe’s classic novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ was ranked as number 14 in a list of top 100 books in the world by Newsdesk in 2009. Others include Cyprian Ekwensi, Mabel Segun, Chimamanda Adichie and Helon Habila whose literary works have won both international and local awards at various times.
• We have budding fashion designers. Yes! It's a line every Bunmi, Amaka and Amina has decided to tow but to disregard the effort and originality of our Fashion Designers would be disrespectful. Tiffany Amber, Lanre Da Silva and Deola Sagoe are building world renowned brands, not to mention the legacy developed by the likes of Abba Folawiyo, Maureen Onigbanjo, Remi Lagos and Zizzi Cardow.
• Nigerians have excelled in the fields of economics and finance, managing well established global bodies. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the current Minister of Finance, was until recently a Managing Director at The World Bank. Obiageli Ezekwisili is currently the Vice President for Africa at The World Bank. Mr Adebayo Ogunlesi is a first class graduate of Oxford, and Managing Partner of Global infrastructure Partner (GIP), a concessionaire of London’s Gatwick International Airport.
• We take technology and expand it in ways those who created it could not have imagined. For instance, take the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) which allows you to send broadcast messages to all addresses on your contacts list; Nigerians recently found a unique way of advertising the different businesses they do. Someone started a message highlighting the fact that many people in Nigeria are entrepreneurs or provide a service and included his BB PIN in the message and sent to all his contacts with the charge that they state the service they provide, include their PIN and send on to all their contacts too. This seemingly small campaign has gone “viral” with whole lists of entrepreneurs and their BB PINs being passed from phone to phone. This is a clear sign of the ingenuity of Nigerians!

NIGERIA – GREAT PEOPLE

• Nigeria is the 7th most populous nation in the world (over 160 million) and most populous in Africa - a gold mine of energetic, determined and talented people in each and every field. From Lagos to Aba to Kano, the Nigerian business spirit and desire to succeed is visible. It requires just proper harnessing of these human resources before Nigeria becomes the super power she was meant to be.
• Nigerians are passionate, friendly, welcoming, hospitable, and well cultured people. The average Nigerian reflects a combination of vivacity, intelligence, energy, talent, and resolution.
• We are a nation of people that can hardly hide their excitement at seeing family and friends. Some misconstrue this thinking we are loud but let's just say we are EXPRESSIVE! If you see us on the streets of New York making a big ruckus and hugging? No sweat. We are just happy to see each other.

NIGERIA – THE RESILIENT SPIRIT

• The Giant of Africa: Not ignoring the current challenges, eventually, when we get our act right, we will reign supreme on the global scene. We have the potential and as is much touted by the Warri people - "Naija no dey carry last"
• The 'survivor-mentality' hard-wired into the DNA of Nigeria's people. The fact that against all the odds (and there are many of them), Nigerians continue to live, hustle and seek to triumph. It is not by mistake that Nigeria is regarded as one of the "happiest" countries in the world, despite its challenging economic and social conditions.
• We are hardy. The average Nigerian does business under circumstances that are unimaginable to people from other parts. In a place where there is no power, no credit, and scant regulation, people do business and do very well for themselves too. If you can make it in Nigeria, you can make it anywhere in the world.

NIGERIA – TOURISM and SPORTS

• Nigeria is an amazing tourist haven and is home to the Obudu Cattle Ranch, located in Calabar. It is only 45 miles from the Cameroon border. The Obudu Plateau is spread over 40 sq. miles and is 5,200 feet above sea level. The Obudu resort features a Gorilla Camp where tourists may observe gorillas in their natural habitat.
• Nigeria has two UNESCO world heritage sites, the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove and the Sukur Cultural Landscape in Adamawa. UNESCO world heritage sites are places designated as being of cultural significance.
• Nigeria has produced great footballers like Teslim “Thunder” Balogun (the first Nigerian to play for an English Club – QPR), Segun Odegbami, Muda Lawal, Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini (who scored Nigeria’s first ever goal at the World Cup), Nwankwo Kanu, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha, John Mikel Obi, Osaze Odemwingie, to mention but a few.
• Nigeria has excelled in athletics over the years, still holding continental records in the 100m men and women, 4x100m men and women, 400m men and women, among others. Over 100 skilled Nigerian professional footballers played in First Division leagues in different countries all over Europe in the 2010/2011 season, 9 in England; 8 each in Finland, Norway; 10 in Ukraine and 7 in Sweden.

NIGERIA – UNITY in DIVERSITY

• Nigerians, despite our diversity are a united people who always strive to help one another. With 774 local government areas, multi religious and ethnic affiliations, 36 States, and population of over 160 million, we still stand undeterred to move forward together.
• Even outside the country, Nigerians remain united. This gives a quiet assurance somewhat that you can get on a plane and go to any country of the world and find a Nigerian there who will not only make you feel welcome but will go out of their way to be of really good help. I have experienced this several times on my travels and each time it amazes me how all I need to be is a Nigerian, not Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa and once I run into another Nigerian, I will immediately feel at home.
• Our greatest strength lies in our diversity.

The ‘419 Reasons to Like Nigeria’ Campaign is in partnership with ‘The 419Positive Project’.

Editorial: Sir, Those were dreadful analogies in an awful speech.

Professing religious raconteurs

Nigeria as we know is a country replete with religious symbolism as leaders all tend to wear their faith on their sleeves with every opportunity to speak filled with divine incursion that almost presents them as the clergy.

With the 51^st Independence anniversary of Nigeria on Saturday the first of October 2011, one would expect that there would be religious services with leaders taking the pulpit, lectern, podium or rostrum depending on where such a service is held.

The President, Goodluck Jonathan is a Christian and he attended the Interdenominational service held in the weekend where he appeared to offer many biblical analogies using popular bible characters to set his place in what we should expect of the task that he has ahead of him.

The Nigerian social media had been agog with excerpts of his message to the congregation of the great and the good that attended the service but after seeing the newspaper reports of the quotes, one is left quite concerned, seriously perturbed and bemused by the irony of it all.

Foreheads of Goliath

One needs to assess each character introduced in his message to see if the analogies are apt or wanting in a fuller context and interpretation.

Chief amongst his statements was, “God will soon expose the foreheads of Nigeria’s Goliaths.” Now, Goliath of Gath was a terrifyingly huge man and warrior in the Philistine army who made all the Israelite armies cower in fear, none able to take on his challenge for a man-to-man combat.

As the story goes, David, a ruddy haired shepherd had been sent to the warfront with food supplies for his elder brothers when he heard the challenge that in his youth exuberance he offered to go up against the giant not with the customary armour or weapons of war but with a sling and five stones he picked up from the brook.

David and Goliath never met in hand-to-hand combat, rather he slung a stone and it hit Goliath in the forehead knocking him stone cold dead – much has been made of this story, the triumph of an underdog, the bravery of the inexperienced, the victory over an almost impossibly powerful enemy and so on.

Nigeria as the President suggested does have a number of Goliaths to deal with and she probably has not been blessed with people sufficiently David enough to be daring to take on the Goliath challenge, the probability of another David-Goliath moment occurring is better left to others to analyse.

No Davids to spare

Quoting liberally from the 234Next.com news report, “If you listen to some of the things people say or write in papers, some people would want the president to be a lion; some people would want the president to be a troop commander who would crush everybody on sight. Unfortunately, I am not a troop commander. I am not an army General. Some would want the president to be like David or other warriors in the Bible, unfortunately, I am not one of those.”

This deluge of supposed comparisons is a bit worrisome but not beyond comprehension, we can appreciate here that the President is not a lion – one would suppose there are characteristics of bravery, courage and presence a lion has that the President is suggesting he does not have – that is no sin.

The President is a civilian so the expectation that he be a marauding troop commander is a bit far-fetched, most leaders of nations of the world do not belong in the military and they are in considerable control of their briefs.

However, “Some would want the president to be like David or other warriors in the Bible, unfortunately, I am not one of those.” This does become worrisome not so much for the other warriors that cowered but for the fact that there was no point having the forehead of Goliath exposed if there is no David available to sling a stone – the President had put himself out of the running for David leaving Goliath a seriously looming threat.

Boasting like Nebuchadnezzar

Obviously, with the President giving this speech, he had rubbished the idea that he was sequestered in a bunker suffering from siege mentality as he lamented why “some Nigerians chose to vilify us.” Despite the achievements of his government in 100 or 500 days depending on your numeracy skills drawing on the evidence that his government had recently been praised by President Barack Obama and President Jacob Zuma.

The Daily Times of Nigeria published this excerpt, “You have been praying for us; some others do not want the government to move an inch, I mean those of us who are politicians. The only prayer I need from you is for God to use me to change this country. I don’t need to be like Nebuchadnezzar, David or other great men to change this country, but with your prayer, I can change this nation; we can make the difference.”

Again, we appreciate the many obstacles to progress, we also acknowledge the need for prayer but it does not preclude the need for action, it is difficult to read what is intended if the President having been in office over 500 days appears to be unsure if he is engaged in the usage necessary to change the country – for all our prayers, which are exhortations of Godspeed, it requires a man of ability and purpose to step into the fray and demonstrate the power of divine providence.

Nebuchadnezzar II was the great king of Babylon who conquered the Jews and sent them into exile, his fame got to him boasting of his achievements that he lost his sanity for a season until he acknowledged the lordship of God. The President having boasted of the achievements of administration will hate to then end up in that king’s narrative.

Fearful examples of bad luck

Other characters that appeared in his speech included the Kings of Syria (maybe Assyria), Babylon and Egypt and particular reference was made to the Pharaoh of Egypt; however, biblical records of history show that none of these rulers who had unparalleled heights of power in their time had a successful end to their careers of leadership and no Nigeria will wish this on the President.

We do have to return to the Goliath story because it set in motion a chain of events that makes President Jonathan’s analogies a bit suspect. When David killed and beheaded Goliath, he took the head to the Saul the King of Israel. The king honoured him, gave David his daughter in marriage who sadly bore him no offspring and also gave him control of a battalion of soldiers.

Jonathan’s own story

Saul’s first son was Jonathan, Jonathan struck a deep friendship with David and even though by rights Jonathan should have been heir to the throne of Israel, the acts of Saul his father and the growing popularity of David amongst the people along with other extenuating circumstances meant that Jonathan will not accede the throne.

Saul and all his heirs eventually fell in battle and thereby the lament that went up from David, “How have the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished!”

It goes without saying that Goliath of Gath was the making of David and the undoing of Jonathan, the analogies and metaphors used by President Goodluck Jonathan may have hoped to give prominence to his talismanic name of Goodluck but on closer scrutiny, it exposes the unfortunate side of Jonathan which did not end with his death because on learning that Jonathan had died the maid nursing Mephibosheth his 5-year old son dropped him to the ground in her bid to escape crippling the child.

If the President does not cast himself in the role of David to tackle the Goliaths he has identified on the Nigerian battlefront, we might well abandon hope for a victory in the task set before him to change Nigeria.

Zoology is a better vocation

It goes without saying that the President is best advised to desist from making use of biblical analogies because none appear to bode well for him as they expose more of his weaknesses than the essential strength expected of a leader in his position. As an erudite of zoology, he might have fared better.

If a speechwriter was employed to write the speech he delivered at the service, it would not be too harsh to wish an Absalom moment on such a person – he was the 3^rd son of David and in leading a revolt against his father; his long hair got caught on the branch of a tree, left hanging but alive, he was in vulnerable enough a state to be killed.

From what I have read of my Twitter timeline, the President’s speech was at best dreadful and appalling awful, it lacked opportunity or resolve and it leaves one with that sinking feeling that he is paralysed by the weight of his achievement of great office to extend, exert and effect himself in any appreciable way for Nigeria or Nigerians.

In another biblical story, Lazarus of Bethany was raised from the dead, you have wonder if there is a Lazarus in Jonathan for Goodluck to become a David and defeat the Goliaths that mock Nigeria with impunity.