Underwear exposed

The decision to put Nigeria on the list of 14 nations to receive secondary screening from the US is bad policy. It discriminates very badly because if it will lead to greater detection maybe it could be justified but it will alienate millions without making the US safer. Unlike many who focus on the underwearbomber as the the reason for this decision the official excuse is the alleged laxity in Nigeria airport never mind that the journey began in Ghana and he had more opportunity to load up there than in Lagos. It is also now article of faith by US liberal powerbrokers like Senator Feingold, Senator Schumer who are briefed by the so called Nigerian progressives who have helped by carrying their cynical perspective all around for all to hear. The tragedy here is that they have turned their development at the ridiculous government we have into an indictment of everything Nigerian. Now they have to reap the wind that they have sown. In the same way that they were apologists for the kidnapers and bunkerers in the Delta. They are then shocked that the kidnaping is spreading like a cancer in all areas where former robbers can now realise greater returns and lower risks by holding the lives of successful or popular people to ransom. No matter what age this people are like little children, they no longer just inhabit the daily news, they are spread over the internet and have homes in facebook, saharareporters et al. Their initial response to the underwearbomber is to get into tribal and geopolitical finger pointing . Addicted to the adrenalin from arguing and besotted by the heat and lack of light in their opinions.

It is quite a fearful time for those of us who truly love Nigeria and are decidedly committed to realising its greatness. We have ended up with most irrelevant and incompetent National government and any assumption that we had the national, or civic pride will prompt everyone to take responsibility has faded to nothingness. granted it is easier if you had a good government to transform a society but all the energy criticising and running commentary can be used to change individual lives, family possibilities, communal aspiration and cities as well as towns. we are in national crisis and everyone who cares needs to take position wherever they find themselves to help build and develop us out of this hole government or not. Governor Fashola is a good example he could have spent time getting into the AC versus PDP thing on a daily basis but he has used his bully pulpit to inspire and deliver. nations do not change from criticism but they sometimes do from inspiration and that does not only come from Government.

I will be changing the direction of this blog and active working to create new stories and focus towards the kind of society I want my grandchildren to be part and citizens off. I have failed my children but I am blessed to be alive to make things happen for my grandchildren. This decade cannot be wasted talking it will be about what we do fail or succeed.

Ire O

What is the media role in this election?

Quick post! It has been sometime since I commented on the US elections, the primaries was delightfully exhausting and I am still processing the dynamics.

I watched my usual battery of News Channels yesterday and came away with an impression that the new narrative is that Senator Obama is an innocent abroad and naive on foreign policy. This even though quite openly Senator McCain was at the same bulletin stealing his opponents policy clothing by prioritising Afghanistan as security focus and increasing troops there. None in the media pointed out that if the candidates were political pundits, Obama had called Iraq right, his point on attacking Al Qeida in Pakistan and challenging President Musharraf efforts as an ally that Mccain called naive also turned quite right, his call on making Afghanistan the real war of National Security also turning out to be quite accurate. On the other hand McCain appears right on the surge in Iraq working because it has reduced but not eliminated violence. Looking at this record how can anyone be the more savvy of the two. Even though i do not agree with Senator Obama on Zimbabwe it is his voice that is on record, the same applies on his view of America budget deficit and its security implications. Is it that the media cannot actually analyse fine points of policy or it chooses no too? For me racism as an explanation is to easy , a low hanging fruit .

In fact CNN and BBC perhaps the more worldly news networks actually locate Obama as struggling to define his Foreign policy pitch even though his major speech was given a subsidiary tag to Senator Mccain's speech in response. I thought this was itself just an issue of my timing in watching the bulletin until this morning. My usual quick check of the polls in http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/ showed the ABCnews/ Washington Post polls as Obama up 3% points on Mccain. If you do read the Washington Post today you will see it as a 8% lead. Which is true?

The reality is that they are both true but Real Clear Politics a blog in Time magazine always chooses the most negative spin on any Obama situation since the primaries. 8% is the gap when looking at all registered voters but 3% is the difference on likely voters ( a more subjective test). In the same vein CNN reported that Mccain does better with voters 47% to Obama's 45% on Iraq in another poll without saying that this is actually within the 3% point margin of error. Add this to the so called satire in the New Yorker you start seeing that the corporate media has an angle it is playing and it is not 'fair and balanced' although they are all yet to go as far as Fox News in being totally without credibility where Obama is concerned.

My warning to you all before Senator Obama morphs into Robert Mugabe choose your media poison with the garden variety scepticism fully at touching distance. It is not the broader reporting but the sting is the spin.