Minority Pride

In response to:The task ahead

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:34:46 +0100

Hi,

Its being awhile. I will ring you to catchup with you one of these days, likely to be Wednesday. Hope you had a wonderful holidays and that Xmas was fantastic. I wish you a very happy new year.

Regards and keep well.

Keep the blog going. I am loving it.

Wale

In response to:The task ahead

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:02:11 +0100

Hello,

I have only been away 18 years and really I have not reached a point where I could muster enough spirit to visit.

In fact with my kind of blog activism I would probably be greeted at the port of entry by the lovely and hospitable folk of the SSS to be kept at his excellency's pleasure.

We have hopes for Nigeria, confidence that our hopes would be realised however fades.

Safe journey and I wish you the nest, hopefully your stories might encourage me to visit again.

Regards,

Akin

In response to:The name game

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:55:31 +0200

May be the point is, if you can't beat them, you have to join them. For some of us, the price is too high. I will not be able to look in the mirror, neither will I be able to look at the kids and tell them that I sold out because things became too difficult and I lost my balls.
Regards.

In response to:Obamamania

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:51:15 +0200

You are probably right, but how else can he advance in a world that does not recognise meritocracy. Some of our people end up doing the dirty work that their masters are unable or unwilling to do. We can not afford to sell our souls for personal advancement, but how else can the man make progress. If he doesn't dance to the tune of his masters, he will be replaced, if he does, he will be criticised by his people. Only very few people are principled enough to stand up to protect the interest on the underprivileged.

In response to:Obamamania

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:00:33 +0200

Lammy is a complete sell-out. I once watched him at work and all I saw was a man brown-nosing the hard right wingers in his party for his personal advancement. The decisions he took on that disgraceful day led to the increased used of detention for children in immigration cases. He deserves no sympathy from anyone.

In response to:The name game

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:43:21 +0200

Hello,

I have three long Yoruba names and those names are also my Christian names, I was baptised with them.

In the case of my CV, whilst my full firstname is Akinola, I am addressed as Akin, so the top line has Akin Akintayo in bold typeface and less prominently my 3 tongue-twisting names below that.

There are many who have seen those names and thought I am Japanese until they see the Nigerian connection.

But as you say, the name is part of your DNA, it was interesting to read in the Economist the suggestion that Obama change his name to O'Bama to appear more Irish and appeal to votes in Illinois when he was running for the Senate.

If my name counts me out, I am probably better off not working amongst such people.

Regards,

Akin

In response to:What is in a name?

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:44:54 +0200

Lets not forget that we also call our actresses and singers 'Divas' as if it was a title to be proud off.

In response to:What is in a name?

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:10:25 +0200

Hello,

It might just be that plain old Mister would become a badge of honour rather than superfluous titles.

For instance, in England, a graduate in medicine is called a doctor, but when you become a post-graduate specialist, as a consultant, you revert to Mr.

So, Mr. Jones M.D. is really a Doctor of Medicine and never really gets addressed as Dr. Jones except by those who do not know.

It is not so much the academic titles that get to me, but the chieftaincy and religious ones that have become part of formal address.

People go round as Deacon, Evangelist, Alhaji, Otunba, Yeye and so on, but when I heard that the wife of the VP had become a Dame - it made me wonder whether our presidential system defers to a monarchy somewhere.

Regards,

Akin

In response to:Development

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:32:52 +0200

Akin, Now that I have gone to your blog site, I definitely remember you. Hope you are alright?. Its a small world.

In response to:Development

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:58:55 +0200

WHAO!!!.You are right. I was at RSS during those wonderful years. How you can pull together those little shreds of info is incredible?. I hope to hear from you again. I love writing and exchanging ideas about how we can develop our country. Tell me more about yourself.

In response to:Development

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:14:17 +0200

Hello again,

I forgot to put in a postscript to my last comment.

I attended Remo Secondary School between 1976 and 1981, your name looks familiar enough for me to suspect you did your HSC there between 1978 and 1980.

Just a shot in the dark.

(Generate new code automatically posts the comment - I was not expecting that and hence did not properly sign off my first comment - my apologies.)

Regards,

Akin

In response to:Development

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:08:27 +0200

Hello,

I was in conversation with a couple of Nigerians a few days ago and was on the verge of writing a blog about development and the need for government, governance, institutions, leadership and grassroots support.

One of us contended that meeting with market women and traditional leaders can secure development plans and goals, I felt the role of governments, especially state and local governments cannot be ignored for reasons of stability, continuity and the necessary resources to safeguard development plans and implementations.

Having read the Undercover Economist and a topic on Why Poor Countries are Poor, I can only agree with your assertion that governments have a role to play, they also have to trim down the bureaucracies that complicate the development process.

In response to:Development

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:51:56 +0200

You are right. I got my spellng wrong, but seasideMan, you did the same, cirrect instead of correct. Anyway, I like your sense of humour.

In response to:Development

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:49:53 +0200

This government makes me drink...

In response to:Development

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:34:28 +0200

I knew that really, I was just pointing out the mistake in a non-obvious manner. The post is cirrect though: a government can lead their people to water, but they can't make them drink.

At least fertilizer washed off and is good for the garden...

Tom.

In response to:Development

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:03:33 +0200

I expect it was supposed to say baton, as in some sort of figurative relay race. I have driven forward for years now, and has the country ever thanked me for it? No, they just keep throwing fertiliser at me.

In response to:Development

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:01:17 +0200

A barton is a threshing-floor. Why would a government want to give those to aid development?

Tom.

In response to:Real Nigerians

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:13:23 +0200

The trouble is, when you stand up, you will become visible to the scum that are running things their way to benefit themselves, and they won't like you.

In response to:Just do it

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:02:39 +0200

I missed the FT piece on these men. I strongly believe there are opportunities in Nigeria, but most Nigerians are consumers, we also lack enterprenuership, we were brought up to study hard to get the good things in life, so we want others to do things for us to enjoy. We also throw good parties. Now, we need to work hard to develop our country now that oil is not giving us as much as we need to look after our crumbling infrastructure. I am positive we have the resources and people to do, we just need to change our attitude. At least we are talking about it. Many thanks for your comments, its eye opening.

In response to:Just do it

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:59:13 +0200

Wow! I love Nigeria. Although I have lived in Britain for a considerable period now, I still manage to maintain a big heart for Nija. It appears there are so many opportunities in Nigeria than in the many other countries in which Nigerians are spread. The Nigerian stock market for instance seems to have returned a 100% gain in last 18 months. Realities seems to be setting in at the moment though. But compare that with a fall of 33% and 18% in Britain and US over the same period. The next phase of Nigeria development seems to be private sector development and industrialization. See what the London FT had to say yesterday about some Nigerian business icons with an average age of 55.

The Financial Times of London, yesterday gave a list of six Nigerians it rated as "Six of the best: Lords of the emerging private sector" stating that they constitute an elite club of business executives who have exploited Nigeria's emerging private sector opportunities to become super rich in recent years.
The list led with the president of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and has five others namely, the chairman of Globacom, Mike Adenuga, Chief executive of UBA, Tony Elumelu, the chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, Zenon's Femi Otedola and Dahiru Mangal of Mangal Air.
For Dangote, the newspaper said it is a measure of the achievement that he has made his fortune from more humble commodities such as cement, flour and sugar.
“After starting as a trader, Mr Dangote is now one of the largest private sector employers. He has invested heavily in fixed asset production facilities in Nigeria and is the broker of ground-breaking deals with South Africa and China,” FT said.
On Adenuga, FT said he has traversed the world of oil, banking and now telecoms. "Quite literally, larger than life - at least to newly arrived visitors to Ghana, who face huge billboards carrying the likeness of the founder of Globacom, Mr Adenuga's expanding mobile network as they make their way into Accra,” it said.
The newspaper said Adenuga has shrugged off speculation that his wealth is built on relations he enjoyed with Nigeria's military rulers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“His relationship with the government has not been without its moments of difficulty. He found himself under investigation in 2006 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. After being arrested for two days Mr Adenuga then spent several months out of the country,” FT stated.
Elumelu was described as a serial optimist who has driven the bank to a new international profile with a network that includes a presence in the US and the UK.
"He is also a figure of some controversy, both with regard to his 2005 takeover of the bank and for his bank's relations with several former government officials and state governors now linked to corruption,” the report said.
FT said that Ovia returned to Nigeria from studying in the US in the 1980s with an MBA from Louisiana University and a plan to set up something new in Nigerian banking.
"He founded Zenith in 1990 and continues to shape the bank in his own image. Under his stewardship Zenith survived the crash of the mid-1990s when Sani Abacha, Nigeria's then military ruler, closed down foreign exchange dealing loopholes and forced many unsound banks out of business,” FT said noting that his success stems from his devise of uncluttered bureaucracy of established rivals,
Otedola was described as the diesel prince. According to the report, the reasons behind Otedola's astonishingly swift rise from relative anonymity to a position where his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas enjoyed a near monopoly on Nigeria's lucrative market in diesel have attracted interest and speculation in equal measure.
Mangal, according to FT, “He is, however a well-connected and increasingly prosperous businessman from President Yar'Adua's native Katsina state with interests in haulage and trading, as well as air charters. Mr Mangal is said to have helped finance Mr Yar'Adua's gubernatorial campaigns in Katsina in 1999 and 2003 and is one of the few businessmen to have the president's ear.”