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I've finally found out what the Big Brother controversy was all about. One of the house mates, Richard lay between two women, one who he claimed he was in love with and who he slept with (Taitana) and the other Ofunneka, the Nigerian housemate. He put his fingers between her legs and did you know what.... Disgusting and shameless I must say.

The issue is whether it was consensual or not. First of all she was drunk so it's difficult to say if she consented. I did a quick search on google and this is what I came up with:

A story from the Daily Mail on a British judge says it's not always rape if a woman is drunk. (UK)

About.com gives teen boys advice and concludes that if a woman is drunk, the man is liable for rape. (US)

A woman who was raped while drunk also gives her opinion. (US)

My conclusion is that if you are drunk, you are not in a position to control your actions. Even if she was aware, alcohol causes you to stop functioning like a normal human being. I read some stories which posited that because she was moving, didn't resist and in fact appeared to edge him on shows that it was consensual. This is absolute nonsense. I believe she was raped if we take rape to mean non-consensual sexual conduct.

She did wrong by consuming alcohol and getting drunk. But that does not give Richard the right to do what he did to her. I doubt that Ofunneka saw the video immediately. She must have seen it by now. My feeling is that Multichoice must have settled her to prevent her from suing. Whatever happens, she won't be able to live this down. All of this brouhaha further confirms my view that Big Brother is immoral and should be put up there with other such shows on DSTV. They should be shown after 11pm with proper parental controls. My 12 year old nephew comes to stay with us sometimes and sleeps in the sitting room. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and find the TV on. I shudder at what DSTv could have exposed him to.And forget using DSTV's parental controls. For a while Girls of the Playboy mansion (a show about a dirty 80 year old purveyor of smut and his three blonde stupid girlfriends) was rated as Family. After I sent a complaint to DSTV, they changed it to 18 the following day. So if you try to block shows rated 18 and above, incorrectly rated shows will slip through the cracks. I think I will send another email to Multichoice on that.

Multichoice has apologised to Nigerians but honestly, they need to realise that they have a moral obligation as a media company to understand our values and protect the sanctity of African culture. That globalisation is increasing doesn't mean we should embrace negative aspects of Western culture.

Anyway, the shocking video is on Youtube. I have seen the video and must say I was disgusted. It's what Yoruba people will call iwokuwo. I'm not going to post a link to it because I'm not a pornography distributor.

Kshorty1

What else costs N628million? (or $5million)

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Madam Speaker should just jejely resign. She has had ample opportunity to step down from her position as Speaker but she has just refused. It's only a matter of time before she is disgraced out of office. The amounts involved are mind boggling! FYI, it cost N800million to build the multi-storey UBA House. When IBB's Minna mansion was built, it cost N500million. N628 is about $5million. You want to know what else costs $5million?

Expansion of an auto plant

Programme for better HIV/AIDS testing

Renovation of a hospital

The list goes on and on. This money could have been put to much better use. Our leaders don't understand what it means to serve. Majority of Nigerians cannot afford the basics of life yet Madam Speaker and her deputy want to spend so much money on making themselves comfortable. Kai!

We have to stop seeing Government as an avenue for personal enrichment. Rather, we should see it as an opportunity to improve the lives of people. For a breakdown of the $5million please see this article. http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=90600

Kshorty1

PS: Warren Jeffs got what he deserved!

Soludo deserved what he got

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Uncle Chukwuma deserved the embarrassment he got from the President Yar'Adua. Like I mentioned in my previous post, the Naira re-denomination was an artificial way to get us back to where we were in 1985. We should ask ourselves how we got to where we are right now. It's like setting out on a journey to Ibadan and ending up in Ijebu Ode. Shouldn't you ask yourself how you got there so you can retrace your steps back to Ibadan? Should you begin to frolic at an owambe in Ijebu simply because that's where you are at that point in time.

Back to the matter at hand, Prof Soludo should have obtained permission and clarified the re-denomination matter with his boss before making the matter public. I think the man is trying to make a name for himself and build some sort of parallel government/empire. Admittedly, he has done a lot for the Nigerian banking sector. But that doesn't mean he knows it all. We just spend billions printing new N5, N10, N20 and N50 notes. The N1000 note is barely 2 years old yet he wants us to fritter away all that money and print even more notes?

Something is definitely wrong somewhere. My colleague (who is very adept at developing conspiracy theories) thinks Soludo was a scapegoat and a victim of politics. Whatever the reason, he needs to be less bullish and more humble in his approach to issues. Yes the man is smart, but humility gets you further than brilliance.

If Nigeria becomes more productive and a net exporter, the Naira to dollar exchange rate will come crashing down. Don't forget that the rate became what it is today because of the mismanagement of our economy. Reversing the trend will require sound economic management policies. The issue with a country's currency is not really what it can buy but how much of it individuals have. If I earn N1000 per month and this meets all my basic needs; food housing and shelter, is that not better than earning N10,000 and struggling just to transport myself to work? Think about it for a moment.

I really respect Soludo and think he's a whizz but on this matter, the man goofed.

Naira Redonimation: Nothing will change

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Other than the psychological effect of spending fewer note, the recently announced redenomination of the Naira doesn't mean anything. The question we should be asking is how we got here in the first place. Pre 1985, the Naira to dollar exchange rate was 1:1. It wasn't a redenomination that depreciated the Naira to this level. Our inability to generate employment, our status as a net importer of goods and services, low level of technological advancement, underinvestment in infrastructure, low level of productivity and other economic failures got us here.

If we don't address the fundamentals, we will find ourselves going back to the N125:$1 regime pretty quickly. Redenomination can't help Zimbabwe on the path to economic recovery for example. Admittedly the exchange rate has been stable over the last two or three years, but this needs to be sustained by concerted macro-economic policies.

Honestly, I don't know if this tonic will get us where we are going. If we do all the right things, the exchange rate will appreciate by itself. Don't economic experts tell us that exchange rates are determined by market forces and not executive fiat?!

House slaves and field slaves

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In the days of slavery, dark complexioned slaves were put to work on cotton farms while light skinned slaves were handpicked to work in the "Massa's" house. Sometimes the females were made unofficial concubines to the Master of the house. House slaves enjoyed privileges field slaves did not enjoy such as better living quarters, food, clothing and sometimes education. Field slaves on the other hand had poorer living conditions and were hard worn for all the arduous labour on the field. So if you were an African slave in the Americas at that time, you would have longed for the day when the Master would call you into the house to serve as a house slave. As nice as it would have seemed to become a house slave at the end of the day, a house slave was still considered as much a slave as a field slave.

Why am I writing about slavery? I see an analogy between slavery and employment. Most employee are slaves as long as they remain in employment. You have little or no control over your time and resources. You are paid whatever the Master wants you to earn (the Master in this case being your employer). You are also subject to other masters like the Government, Tax authorities and other bodies that have a claim on your salary whether you like it or not. You temporarily surrender your vision and time to your employer and adopt your employer's vision and time.

Employees that work in good paying jobs such as Oil and Gas, Banking and Telecoms may be considered house slaves as they are better paid while most civil servants may be considered as house slaves. A lot of people dream of working in Oil and Gas companies with the hope of a brighter future. All you are doing is moving from the field to the house albeit still as a slave. You could also argue that senior and executive management staff are house slaves while junior personnel are field slaves. But at the end of the day, they are all slaves.

I know this line of thought seems extreme but it's closer to the truth than you think. An employer can summarily dismiss you without any explanation even after serving for 20 years. That isn't freedom. That's slavery. So what's the alternative to this form of modern day slavery?

Self-employment. The Forbes list of the world's richest men doesn't have any employees because you can never be richer than your employer. Take a look at your CEO today... go on take a look because that's as rich as you will ever be doing that same job. So am I saying, quit your job and start your own business right away? No, but we all need to think about it at some time or the other and have a plan for doing this.

As for me, the countdown has begun.

Much ado about BRT (Part 2)

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Despite advice and warnings to the contrary, the Lagos State Government is hell bent on putting a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane on Ikorodu Road in Lagos State. And unlike the attempt at a BRT lane on the 3rd Mainland Bridge, this one will have a physical barrier to prevent other motorists from using the lane. But just like burglary proofing, this barrier will also prevent LAGBUS buses from leaving the lane as well.

Obviously not well thought out, a single flat tyre on one bus will hold up all the other buses coming behind it. This seems simple enough to fathom and foresee but someone in Government House is not thinking this through. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, this is a good idea on paper but as with most things Nigerian it is not being properly executed.

Ikorodu Road has only three lanes on most sections so taking out one lane will leave the rest of us with only two lanes. Peradventure a trailer breaks down in the middle of the road, this will create the ever present Lagos traffic snarl. Just the other day, a rickety vehicle was trying to avoid the main lanes' traffic and decided to take the BRT lane. As expected, the car overheated and prevented other vehicles from going past (these vehicles were also illegally taking the BRT lane). I just hope we won't point at the BRT lane one day and laugh saying "remember BRT" the same way we now do with the City Bus scheme.

For now, the mad traffic continues!

HYIPs and the greedy Nigerian

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I've been listening, watching and reading a lot about HYIPs (High Yield Investment Programmes) in the last year or so. Two years ago, the only HYIP in existence was NOSPETCO with monthly interest payments of N40,000 on a N450,000 investment giving an annual yield of 107% . Then all of a sudden, all sorts of HYIPs from Ibadan and other obscure areas of Lagos sprung up claiming to be able to pay up to...10,000% in 10 weeks (Penny Wise Royal Heritage promised N250,000 within 10 weeks of "investing" N2,500. There are so many others which I'm sure you all know:

Hazonwao Ventures Limited
Brickfield Associates Limited
Treasureline Interlink Limited
Wealthzone Limited
Sefteg Nigeria Company
Wealth Solutions Limited
Nospetco Joint Venture Management Services
Flagship Specialties and Investment LTD
Nomex Micro Finance
Beraca Oil
Greenminds Investments
UpHenry
Wealth Spinners
Generis Financial Solutions

We also know about Uncle Charles Ponzi.

His ghost never seems to leave us.

I did a quick calculation using Penny Wise and Wealth Solutions as an illustration. The results show that Wealth Solutions will return 24,300% of whatever you put in while Penny Wise will return 1 trillion % if you continue to roll over for a year. Did I hear you say 419? Magic? Juju? Incredible?

Yet everyone keeps putting their money into these investments that claim to invest in Oil and Gas, global stocks, and anything else that seems so far removed and mysterious that most Nigerians will not ask questions. Some people are aware that this is a scam and that the last investors are the ones that will lose their money.

One of my colleagues said that history has shown that risk adverse investors are always the last ones to invest and will always lose money once the bubble has burst. He told me that he had "wisely" invested and quickly pulled out as soon as he made his money back. In other words, some suckers are going to lose and I'm going to gain.

There lies the moral dilemma. Should I invest in a programme that could be illegal or unethical knowing fully well that it's going to crash some day. Should I just say "some poor mugus have lost their money! At least I made mine back before cashing out. This is the same IBO (I before others) mentality that has left Nigeria in this state. You might be the sharo guy today but you can be sure that your turn as "mugu" will soon come. It's just a matter of time. If everyone was a smart guy there will no mugus. You might even be the mugu right now.

For more information see Should I Invest In HYIPs- by Tayo Odukoya, High return investments in Nigeria by Deolu Akinyemi and NOSPETCO! by Dipo Tepede. Deolu seems to think we should invest in HYIPs since he runs one, Tayo thinks we should do what I mentioned above which is to go in quickly so you can be a smart guy and not a mugu (if you go in late) and Dipo is completely against them.

As for me, I will become wealthy through clearly legitimate means. Do you think anyone on the Forbes list of the world's richest people got there by investing in HYIPs? Use your head!

Four months already

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The last time I posted to this blog was in March 2007. The last time before that was in April. The rate at which I'm going, it may be another 1 year before I post again. I was checking out a couple of blogs; http://verastic.blogspot.com/, http://deoluakinyemi.com/ and http://www.tayoodukoya.com/ and immediately observed that these guys have a lot of passion for what they do. Vera's site is always fun to visit, a bit crazy though. Tayo's site is simply awesome and Deolu seems to outdo himself all the time. I ask myself if I'm a true blogger or just another one of the pack. There must be tons of blogs out there but only a few are worthy of mention. So I have to decided whether I want to do this consistently and properly or if this is going to be another abandoned project. I will be updating my blog more regularly and improving the layout over the next couple of weeks.

So watch this space!

Much ado about BRT (Part 1)

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I just returned to Lagos from Abuja to discover that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system represented by those silly yellow lines I had been seeing on weekends was finally going to be implemented. Conceptually the BRT seems like a good idea. Huge buses rapidly convey most of the Lagos population from the Mainland to the Island using dedicated lanes. Stubborn people who refuse to take the bus can jostle for the remaining two or three lanes. I waited with baited breath to see how this wonderful idea would be implemented. As I waited, I pictured what was about to unfold. Big red buses would zoom down the BRT lanes while everyone else would stick to the other lanes and not even think about taking the BRT lane. Lagosians would obey the BRT rule religiously and never venture into the BRT lane. I imagined that there would be a force field of some sort to prevent this.

It only took the first couple of days to see that whoever thought of the BRT idea didn't take the lawlessness of Lagosians, the mad Lagos traffic capable to turning even the most timid gentleman into a savage and the inadequacy of enforcement. In practice the BRT has turned out to be a failure. I watch as hapless LASTMA officials try to convince Lagosians to stick to the non-BRT lanes. People just don't care and the truth is that there is no practical way of arresting thousands of motorists flouting the law.

One of the reasons people don't obey such laws is that they feel the system has cheated them. The mentality is "if I don't have water, light, water etc, why should I pay tax and obey traffic laws?", "things are so bad that my obeying will not make a difference?" and "what have I done that is as bad as stealing money like those crooks in Aso Rock?".

(to be continued)

Kshorty1

One month already

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Wow! I have been so busy with work, I haven't posted to my blog in over a month. I enjoy writing but I just never have enough time. Isn't that every one's excuse for not doing the things we love the most; go to Church, exercise, spend time with the children, have fun, travel e.t.c. We are always so busy with work that we don't spend enough time doing the things we really like. Some people are blessed in that their work is their hobby. Some smart financial planning guy said that work isn't what you do to make money. It's something you do because you enjoy it. I do enjoy my work but there are competing demands on my time and I really wish I could be diligent in all of them. I teach Sunday School and also recently became a House Fellowship leader so I have some spiritual responsibilities. But sometimes because no one is watching, I am not as diligent as I should be. On the other hand because my secular boss can write my performance evaluation and determine my future with the company (so we think, it's really God that determines your future) I don't let my work slip. So invariably, jobs get all the attention and everything else suffers because it seems there is no accountability.

Not spending time with the children doesn't seem harmful because they can't fire you. Not taking your wife out seems unimportant because she still cooks for you and does her wifely duties. We are nonchalant about serving God diligently because He doesn't instantly throw thunderbolts when we err. Yet these are just a few of the most important things we should pay attention to rather than work, work, work.

Your job can't give you the joy a giggling child can, nor the warmth and affection of a loving spouse, nor the abundant love and grace of God. If only...if only everyone would wake up and realise the most important things in life...

I promised I would start writing a book some years ago but I have never gotten round to it. Someday maybe, someday. Tonight when I get home, I'm going to give my wife a firm hug, kiss my two darling angels and attend my the men's vigil of my church. I'm also going to drop my laptop in one corner and not do any work this weekend. After all, my job has already eaten up five days out of the week. I'm not about to give up the other two!

Kshorty

The infamous Ojuelegba overhead bridge

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Sometime in 2005 someone thought it wise to put up a pedestrian bridge at Ojuelegba. Ordinarily this shouldn't be an issue but if you have ever driven under this pedestrian bridge, you will know what I am talking about. This bridge was constructed over a very narrow road that can easily be crossed by foot without any problems. So I ask, what prompted whoever put up the bridge to do so? The real news however is that the bridge was demolished yesterday. Throughout the lifetime of this bridge, not a single soul used it. Just imagine a pedestrian bridge in front of your house and you will know what I mean.

Just goes to show you how deep seated our problems are. Was there a study on the pedestrian traffic in the area, or a study on accidents if any in the area? Something, anything to justify building a pedestrian bridge there. Taxpayers' money down the drain. Yet the Gbagada expressway which has claimed many lives crossing the road doesn't have a single pedestrian bridge. I just wonder wetin dey do us sef. People take decisions everyday that affect other people's lives yet they don't give enough thought to their actions. There must be a special place in hell for such people!

Anyway, we will continue to pray for leaders who will do the right thing at the right time.

Goodbye Ojuelegba bridge!

Water, light, food, house

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I have been listening to all the Presidential candidates contesting under various parties and one thing that strikes me is the common approach to campaigning. It seems that all the candidates do is state Nigeria's problems e.g no water, no light, bad roads, bad this bad that, corruption etc and then tell us we will get the exact opposite of our problems. None of them has told us exactly how they are going to provide these things. Even a five year old will tell you Nigeria's problems. It just shows you how bereft of ideas and imagination some of our leaders are. A look at the crop of our leaders is a sharp contrast to the brains available throughout the country.

When will we begin to debate issues and unfold concrete plans for the nation instead of mere rhetoric and promises with no substance. I will end poverty is not a campaign promise, it is merely rhetoric. The Nigerian public is getting more sophisticated so I would like to believe that our votes cannot be curried using the same campaign style of the past. We need something new and fresh.

If you haven't registered to vote, please do so as quickly as possible. Voter apathy will not help our country in anyway.

Cheers

Coming to Nigeria

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I haven't posted for a while because I was away on compulsory training. This last trip was my second longest time away from Nigeria. Whenever I travel out of the country (to developed countries) it usually for a week or so but this time I was out for two weeks. Ordinarily this shouldn't be an issue but the truth is that the longer you stay away from Nigeria, the more difficult it is to adjust when you get back. You get used to constant power supply, an efficient transportation system, running water all the time and everything at your finger tips. You then have to come back to Nigeria and the first thing you face is several touts offering to help carry your luggage, change forex for you and generally make you "feel at home". The last thing you want after a long trip is badgering and harrassment. You then drive out of one of the worst airports in the world and observe that the sides of the roads are littered with debris. That is if the traffic leading to Ajao Estate doesn't stop you in your tracks. You know, if you are visiting Nigeria for the first time, this is exactly what you will encocunter. Day in day out new visitors to Nigeria have their worst fears confirmed when they experience such a rowdy and mad airport.

I am happy to be back home and I have no intentions of relocating but I honestly wish our leaders will take steps to improve the lot of Nigerians. These people visit other countries and see the way things are. I don't think it is impossible for Lagos to have a mass transit system just like London, Paris or New York. It is very doable. All we need is a man with a vision and of course the tenacity to see it through. We have enough money to meet all our requirements but mismanagement, corruption and a lack of vision has kept us at this level. I'm not asking for Nigerian scientists to take us to Mars, just basic things that don't require extra brains to do.

I am confident that it will happen in my lifetime!

This fuel scarcity sef

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I thought we had seen the last of fuel queues just like bubonic plague, cowries and British rule. But alas, that ugly monster keeps coming back like a cockroach that refuses to die. Sometimes I wonder what fuel touts do while waiting for fuel scarcity. Double as area boys? Pickpockets? It's not their fault really. These unemployed youths have nothing else to do. And a simple law of economics is that there must be demand for their to be supply. People don't seem to have a choice in the matter. N7,000 for 25 litres is absolutely atrocious. It is still a crimical offence to sell fuel on the black market so that means it is also a criminal offence to buy. The government is quite simply put driving all of us to crminality. I do hope the situation gets better by the time I get home. Got to run back to class now.

Forgot to mention that I am at Milton Keynes in the UK for training.

Red means Stop!

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If there is one thing that drives me up the wall and makes me sick to the pit of my stomach it is disobeying traffic lights. I happened to pass through Ogunlana Drive in Surulere in Lagos four times during the last week and stopped at every traffic light along the way. Alas, I was the only one stopping! Everybody simply drove past the traffic light when it showed red. I used to think only commercial buses, (danfos and molues) commercial motor bikes (okadas) and taxis. But ordinary citizens like you and I that abuse the President at every opportunity do it too. The most annoying part of the experience is the fact that everyone abused me for stopping at the red light! I felt really bad at the fact that I was insulted for doing the right thing while doing the wrong thing gets celebrated. We balk at the level of corruption and abuse every public office holder yet we can't stop at a simple traffic light for 2 minutes. It appears we expect a higher moral standard from our leaders than we practise ourselves. This lawlessness has got to stop!

Back to the grind

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A very happy new year to everyone. I just got back to work yesterday and immediately got swamped. It's back to the grind for me. Some lucky devils took the whole week off and will be resuming next week. This has lightened the mad traffic on Lagos roads. You can actually drive to most places within 30 minutes. Why can't it always be like this. I wonder what everyone is doing in Lagos. What am I doing here you ask? Earning a living! However, if you really want to live and not just exist, Abuja is the place to be. Also, I had to move house over the holiday so it was sort of a stressful period for me.

I'm really looking forward to the elections this year as this will mark a turning point in our nations history. I got a text message from KORO 2007 campaign organisation. I haven't seen a single poster for Musiliu Obanikoro. Meanwhile I can't get enough of Babatunde Fashola's campaign song, "Baba ni Governor". If anything else he deserves to win for his catchy campaign tune! Anyways, more on the Lagos State gubernatorial race later. Got to run for a meeting.

Happy New Year!

PS: Stumbled on this interesting article
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/chris-ngwodo/why-nigeria-is-not-yet-a-democracy.html