Xenophobia in Mzansi

My friends in South Africa are a generation below me in age. They are incredible credit to their nation and to the continent of Africa. I attach a video about their views on the much maligned Nigerians in their midst. It is against this backdrop a new kind of crime emerges that builds on Xenophobia. One of the speakers, my brother and partner Siphiwe Mpiye wrote an article on Xenophobia in Y magazine recently in which he bigs this correspondent. He never told me about it but others did and I am privileged to count him as my brother. All must watch out he represents a future for his people and the continent that is huge.

Back to crime another similar brother who could be Siphiwe's twin Tade another future leader if there ever was robbed at gun point as he arrived at his Johannesburg hotel from the airport. This is not an isolated case as many Nigerians are targeted for being from that country not simply because of their nationality but what it represents. Nigerians visit Mzansi from a country with a cash economy, they have to declare the amounts they are carrying and their destination in Mzansi. I have no doubt that some unscrupulous official is disclosing this to armed co-conspirators who trail their victims or even wait for them at their hotel. This is a crime that draws little sympathy because of stereotypes of Nigerian. For Tade a telecoms executive, father , husband to be attacked on this level leaves scars not just of lost money but total vulnerability in a country where he has no friends. This must change and change soon even though CNN will not carry it neither will NTA or SABC broadcast it the real loser in the end will be Mzansi and as Siphiwe says we cannot afford such loss.

What did Aremu Do to you?

A government that delivers a home grown reform that increases GDP from average 2.5% till 1997 to an average 6% in 2007 including 10.2% growth in 2003. A three fold increase in Per Capita GDP at Purchasing Power Parity $1,800 . An average growth of Non oil sector of the economy at average 9% . Total eradication of Debt stock of about $38 billion dollars, both current account and trade surplus. The second fastest growing telecoms market in the world. A capital market that is reputed to yield returns up to 400%. Inflation reduced from over 20% to about 12 %. In any country someone who oversaw such a radical change in Macro- economic condition will be feted as an hero. Never mind that this same man was there to sign the peace agreement to end the Biafra war and oversaw the last time the country Nigeria had similar macro- economic direction. Many will say this is just good fortune nd a fluke for some of us people make their own fortune. Historians will look back at Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo and they will see a true Hero, a Nigerian Hero. Mrs Okonjo Iweala agrees with me in the video below.

The Blag Matrix 'Bye Blair'

For those of us who live here in the United Kingdom we are going through a changing of the guards like has just gone on in Nigeria only we do not get to have a say on who rules us. Never mind about flawed elections in Gidi how about no election at all. Talk of corruption after nearly eight years since applying to the British government for the Abacha millions, Nigeria has yet had its stolen money returned. The city of London remains the money laundering capital of the world. Add to it that the government that takes 40% of my income as basic taxes stopped prosecution of BAE Systems for bribery in the Al Yammemah defence contract with Saudi Arabia. In fact Bribes were tax refundable if they were paid abroad until 2002. The same Government has continued to keep the people of the Chaigos of their Island even though the House of Lords had ruled in their favour.

My point, what is it that makes the average Nigerian elite take all the stolen and earned money to send their children to be indoctrinated in this environment? As I got on my flight from Lagos to london on the 3rd of June I was amazed how full the flight was with teenagers apparently going back to school accompanied or unaccompanied, spread across the upper class premium economy and the rare economy occupant. Good old blighty seems able to blag its way into being considered world class even though it is a country which looks to its past for its best moments, where innovation is ridiculed, excellence despised and victimhood crowned. A country that continues to run a scam on the rest of the world by putting the word Great in front of its name because it manages to bluff others to think they are somehow inferior. If only the world did not buy into this bullshit but everyone does. Life is just a confidence trick.

Step in the greatest fraud of the lot, Tony Blair Esq. My son reminded me I was his greatest fan and surely some time ago I truly believed Mr toothy grin was really committed to helping this country get beyond its overdose of insecurity and reposition itself for the unique challenges of the 21st century. No he was only committed to retaining Power so he always changed structure of things so that it appeared new even if the inside was decaying. On any given day when it is either too hot or too cold our transport infrastructure here completely shuts down. Mr Man manages to claim things that are not even his success. Take Sierra Leone where Nigerian army died in abundance to protect the country guess who claims being saviour yes, Toothy Tony. Have you not noticed that he only speaks 'truth' to the weak or down trodden like the Palestinians never challenges the Israelis or his buddy George W.

Never mind Tony they will be singing your praises in Ajegunle and Gugulethu when you tell them you are going to be tough on poverty and the causes.poverty. I hope they have the good sense to look outside before you leave. God save us from those who seek to help us.

Join us

Yaw the writer and producer of this play is a Renaissance man, co-traveller who brings Africa alive in her majesty anywhere he goes. Lets support him as he opens a new path for others to follow with this project. If you can get to Milton Keynes, England join us at this celebration of life. More postings soon.

Election is not democracy.

"At this juncture one is tempted to ask, who is the Nigerian? My answer will not be for your comfort because I see the Nigerian as a materialist with yearnings for spiritual uplifment; a capitalist with socialist pretentions; a democrat with dictatorial traits of insufferable guile and intolerance, a welfarist with traits of sado-masochistic junketing who has raised philandering to an art form; he is a guru who dines with the devil, he is an intellectual with fear of flying beyond the horizon of mediocre intellectual aspirations; he is proud but has a sickening awareness of his inadequacies. He is, in short, a very normal person and a personality all of his own, which makes him stand out anywhere in the world as a Nigerian, regardless of his ethnic background".

by Phillip Effiong in Re-integration True or False.

A successful election is primarily a truimph of organisation and management not strictly speaking a moral process. The recent Nigerian elections were an honest reflection of the true organisational capacity of the country as a whole (not just government). Too much credit gets given to the the ruling party and the outgoing government for rigging the election while quite honestly they could not have organised it so well that the effort was that blantant. The questions critics never answer is that were they responsible for the many lives of Police officers lost? Did they organise the attempt to bomb their so called 'allies' in the INEC? A good friend once said to me when things fail in human affairs your character is reflected in your choice of the two options or explanation whether you choose, the Conspiracy or the Cock up. I see unfailingly that this was a traditional Nigerian cock up, fashioned by incompetence, grown by hyper competition and crowned by corruption. When you read the foriegn press especially the economist you read a lazy analysis and editorial that seems to equate successful elections with demoocracy. By that very token Iraq had a successful election which by all iintents and purpose was free and fair but so what? The only exception was the recent New York Times article that acknowledges that the institutional progress from the Supreme Court to the Military they all suggest that there are independent organizations that do not fold towards the creation or coronation of individuals. Successful countries are not just democracies but places where institutions represent the spirit of the people, protect their aspirations and embody their energies at its most productive. For many of us China has shown that success is not only western but it is actually about authenticity. In Nigeria as much as I dislike them the almost forever hysterical and incoherent Nigerian press which seems to have decided against the Obasanjo regime at any cost and gave so much free space to any innuendo or gossip, is an example of the health of the emerging country.

Nigerians made a choice even if they did not vote it. We all signed up for stability at any cost if not things would have been different. The many middle class people who did not register to vote, the many elites who jumped ship going abroad for premature summer holidays. Those who just could not be bothered to cast their vote at all. Many were tired of the hyper competition of the win at any cost political classes. Nothing in the election is different in fundamental nature from how election happens in many countries across the world even in Scotland where over 100,000 ballots were spoiled. The matrix for disorganisation was already in place from the hyper competitive politicos;the neopythe electorate; delayed list of candidates; the extreme lack of logistics, project and management capacity ; culture of owambe optmism or unrealistic last minute hopefulness; the fear of CIA break up prediction. It is in this cocktail of melodrama and incomptenece that many expected a open and free election? I often wonder where such expectations spring from. So is it as the Economist says it is or as the Chicage Tribune describes that Obasanjo is a disappointment and Nigeria an embarrasment?

In the 1960s India was all the hallmark of a failing state and would fall apart according to western press. The same people now cannot stop praising but then they used similar descriptions as they use for Nigeria. My view of Nigeria is as a work in progress. In some things we are worse than even our worst critics think, for one the failure to have a serious Vocational eduction regime and the fact that about 56 million young people have disappeared out of any education development after secondary and primary schools. On the other hand we wiped out nearly all of National debts, Per capita GDP growth of three folds passing the $1000 mark for the first time in over two decades, growth of GDP over 6% in the last two years, the fastest growing telecoms market in Africa, more than tripling of foriegn reserves and doubling of the record levels of Foriegn Direct Investment. In fact the remittances of Nigerian Diaspora far exceeded the levels of FDI and probably for the first time is rivalling the levels of Capital flight from the country. If that is not a vote of confidence then I wonder what is?

Something has changed forever and it might not show in the ballot but it shows in people getting motgages for the first time ever, safe enough to take money from cash points in the middle of the night, Nigerian businesses in aquisitions across West Africa , the middle class re emerging and the fastest growth of the non oil sector in nearly three decades.

So elections were not up to International standards so sue me. Lets get our country truly working through building capacity to truly organize and manage then eventually elections will be deliverered to the same international standards where rigging will be more sophisticated. Then we will debate hanging chards and computer glitches and not killing police officer and stealing ballot boxes. Then we would have achieved the international standards to the satisfaction of the Economist and its Nigerian acolytes.

Intellectual Laziness of tradition

Another quick note as I watch the Don Imus Lynching here in USA. The posse is out and their prey is quite deserving of the punishment that is coming his way. However the embarassing thing is that the same script of protest and boycott are being played out through the usual suspects whose civil rights successes make them prisoners of this one trick pony show. There is one thing that is true Imus must face the consequences of his choices part of that might well being losing his show on both MSNBC and CBS. Is Imus a racist and sexist? Mute point he disrespected people who in no way deserved it and stereotyped them in ways that open them to indignities. He is from a racialised society and could not imagine him being immune from that orientation. There is often this mistake that 'Good people' cannot be racist. Take our own Prime Minister Tony Blair an all round good egg who continues to base policy on stereotypes from different communities that are not indegenuously English. He uses the excuse of challenging Political correctness to tar Muslims with terrorist disposition and now we are back to black boys and a culture of gangster mentality. Never mind that when he was on his war against yobs their ethnicity was never mentioned. This is not as a result of being good or bad but intellectual laziness. People label because of traditions of viewing things or solving things a particular way. This leads to constant rendering of positions that are outdated, inappropraite and even downright unjust. When so called African American leaders question Senator Obamas identity as a 'true black' , when British government meets with certain nominees as community leaders, when the New York Times labels the Nigerian elections in a derogatory way and positions the president as another 'African Big man' do these truly address the complexity of the situation? The desire for simplicity and demand for the tried as well as tested are all poor excuse for unsustainable or ineffective positions and choices.

In this vein the real issue is what does it say when the only time African Americans are given so much coverage is when they shout victimhood? Why should anyone persons respect for us be more important that the respect we give ourselves? Is the civil rights approach of protest and boycott not now so predictable that it has no transformative value? If so called leaders are trapped in this cycle of response are there no other alternative approaches? What is the systemic change that can be achieved as a result of sacking Imus? What is the likely effect of this sacking on his main audience of white males especially if they view him as victimized?

In Nigeria people like Wole Soyinka, Gani Fawehimi et al play the same role over and over again with little transformative effect. They are addicted to one response and servants of a particular tradition and indifferent to the many possible solutions that life can provide. It is time to seek fit for purpose solutions rather that perpetuate setiment and be paralysed by addiction to a prefered approach.

Vacancy for Heroes, Saints need not apply.

Stuck in Reno, Nevada in pursuit of subsistence. The past few weeks have been very challenging what with huge tax bills, slowing business and regular diet of cynics. I fantasize about writing one of my long epistles about the many black boys dying in England from acts of gratitous violence. On the other hand issues raised by the vibrant candidacy of Barack Obama, Senator and an Omoluwabi if I ever saw one. There is also exciting stuff from my Sensei, Zeth Moberg about a concept called Fudoshin which emerges from Budo training. Here in the Plains and cold of Nevada the only topic is Don Imus and his now over exposed 'Nappy Head Hoes ' comment about the Rutgers University womens basketball team which is mostly African American. It raises issues of whether being a bad person is a prerequisite for being racist. Never mind there will be hopefully a lot of chances to come back to this.

This week many people I grew up with and know are running for political office in Nigeria. This week someone I dearly love and respect is aiming to become the next Govenor of Ekiti State in the heart of the green rain forest in South West Nigeria. Dr Kayode Fayemi is a man of many parts and in fact a global citizen. A little shy but a Policy wonk, an ideas man. A genuine hero who stands up for the things that matter. A man of immense moral courage and great affection for the Nigerian populace. He is thankfully not a saint, he is flawed in ways that make him quite a special human one who evolves himself in his effort to serve other people. A genuine Nigerian hero. As all Nigerians go to the post they need to ignore the cynical amongst them whose fear paralyse us, who make good the enemy of excellent, who are fixated by how others might not have met the standard. Nigerians need to seek those who flawed as they might be would fight for them and their children with every ounce of their imperfection as well as passion. The time has come to stand for heroes again.

There are isome heroes n this outgoing government who have helped raised GDP per head from $400 dollars in the 1990s to $1000 today , not enough but in the right direction. They have also wiped out all foriegn debt and built a platform for the next group of heros. I applaud them and anticipate the next group.

In the meantime vote your dreams not your fears.