Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts

Monday, 11 August 2014

Why you may need a private blog






In today's world, Identity plays a vital role in virtually every human endeavor.  Whether in Business, Politics, Public Service or even Religious association, every party feels at home with somebody they are familiar with. Nobody trusts easily an Individual without a story, a trace, a background they're familiar with or put simply somebody they hardly know.

A name, a face, a record, a profile, or even a referral etc can be a good starting point for   building new relationships that transcends our immediate environment.  If God gives you a Vision of a whale you don't go to the lake in your farmyard. Whales don't live in Lakes. Instead, you go all out there to the High Sea to "launch into the deep". But it takes time to gain acceptance in that highly promising but volatile environment. 

However, when people are acquainted with little details about you, it can spark up their interest and that may just be the opportunity you need to win acceptance. 

More so, with a private blog  you are presented with a platform that offers you the opportunity to express yourself,  what you want out of life, your values, views and opinions about life, living and other endeavors. As it were , you cease to become  a first timer to the global community. Running a web log can be a right way to register your Interconnectedness to the World.


Your Content
The problem of content is enough turn off for so many individuals.  It could even get more complicated when you see yourself as a never-achieved-enough person. But in most cases what really happens is that  we under-estimate our achievements. If you can find something to put down in your CV or resume then you can run a private blog. In fact, that's the least among the reasons you should run a blog.

For me, a choice of a private blog was more of a (social) necessity . The Platform gives me the privilege to express myself and communicate to the world through Writing.  As a Writer,  Public Speaker, Entrepreneur and trained Philosopher,  my desire to affect not just my immediate environment but the hundreds of people that I could connect through the 'IT miracle' influenced blogging for me. When people visit my blog  they should gain insights on Business,  Politics,  and Capacity building as a whole. Also, I want  people to see this experience as a mutual value-based exercise and thus flourish it with content . Through that process a synergy births a new Energy into this Universe of Knowledge. Who downplays the maxim "Knowledge is Light"?  

In addition, for the benefit of those who are always more interested in the messenger than the message, there's a short profile to intimate.


Exceptions:
If you are xenophobic or you have an agelong paranoia,  perhaps having a personal blog may not be good for you.

But if being shy or suffering from any of the Complexes is the reason you want a "low- key" life then now is the time to shake it off. You cannot live to be average so embrace Excellence and the price/prize of Prominence that comes with it.  As one scripture verse says, "a city set on a hill cannot be hidden" 

Signing out with the Wisdom deduced from Chinua Achebe's quote: "If you don't write someone's story, write your own". Let me add that this is the generation of Globalization if you don't tell your story somebody else will tell it. You may just have to pray the buddy isn't a blackmailer.


By Showunmi Rex is the Senior Editor at Delta Forte Magazine (www.deltaforteng.com) | Twitter Handle: @remirex



published by 
@yekeme

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Pep talk to Voters in 2015: Keep calm and vote right even with the rice.





Easy... It's your season. 2015 is almost here! It's the Christmas of Nigerian politics,  a time of harvest of and for the electorates. This electioneering period is special in so many ways. Your leaders would remember your house address now. They would impress their speeches on how inevitable your support is to their aspirations. And importantly, they would honor with gifts and titles, slot for injury time service.  That's just the way it is.

After these rituals are concluded it is now time to touch the pigs for slaughter directly. Password correct, access is granted now to lie as much as possible to the electorates just to get one more shot at power for the coming term. In the realm of politicking,  no price is too high to pay for the power in your thumb. It's the reason men would leave their beloved families, stop down from their prestigious thrones to the streets despite the vulnerabilities. 

For influential men to be convinced to endorse candidates there may be alot of technicalities but for the common man who holds the majority the answers are far too simple and less sophisticated.  Speak no much English, let the stomach infrastructure do all the ' Rock and Roll' . It speaks volumes.

 Let me be more specific-- Bring more rice! Rice is medicinal, it is the Nigerian opium approved by N***** to be used by the masses. And it is not harmful to the body.

Money has found its way into Nigerian campaigns because of the Third degree poverty level that has bedevilled the vast majority.  It has seized the voice from the call of reason and that may just be disastrous.  So what do I have to say? If I advise people not to collect money from politicians or rice coming masked as charity would I not be speaking German to rustic Africans?

Just like telling someone with HIV that they should live without anti-retroviral drugs when you haven't found the cure for the virus. A poor man lost his belongings to flood, no bank, no means of livelihood and then after a hungry midnight rice came with the morning.  Knowing his story, would you advice him to say no to the rice?  Of course you should not if you are not offering anything better.  Situationism, remember, is also an ethical theory.

I'll tell you what to do dear Electorates. The same wisdom that was employed during the  Mimiko re-election campaign.  Collect what they bring but don't vote for them. By that logic the burden of conscience versus pleasure disappeared like a fleeting shadow. The dichotomy between Money and Morality erased and people calmed down to vote overwhelmingly for their choiced candidate.

You may not have the power to stop a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from building a nest over it. So when they come luring you with their rice be sure to do the needful which is giving thoughts to the credibility of each candidates.  Scratch deeper to see what lies beyond their dramatic roles and vote for who you think is best.


Never let anyone bamboozle you. Keep calm and vote right even now that rice is involved.


Rex Showunmi is the Senior Editor @ DeltaForte Magazine(www.deltaforteng.com).  Twitter handle : @remirex

publisher..... www.yekipedia.blogspot.com
follow us @yekeme
mail: yekeme4u@gmail.com

Wednesday, 2 April 2014

Choosing Vision Over Gains; Model For Leadership





The political arena in Nigeria is now dominated by stakeholders and
helmsmen who put personal benefits ahead and above serving the people- their primary responsibility. Their system of new politics is to loot voraciously funds from state treasury with the cliché "dividend of
democracy".

Their actions have brought us to the point where we ask ourselves
a very fundamental question whether political interests should be
based on gains or visions? Perhaps we are missing the purpose of governance

Unlike many developed countries in the world where politics is played based on vision and ideologies, ours seem to have deviated from this very essence. We now see elections without clear and meaningful manifestoes as normal provided their message tickle our ears or sound interesting. Mind you, once candidates share gifts and money in the name of mobilisation the election is a done deal. Highest bidder electioneering.

We can hardly change much about this situation, the electorates already have this mindset that the electioneering season is the best and only time they can benefit from the largesse of state.

Niger Delta politicians exhibits more of this "gain devoured” politics
With Chief Ibori and Chief Alamieyeseigha as veterans based on the "badge of honor" they proudly carry. We can't ignore the traits and efforts of Diezani
Alison-Madueke and Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. What a man can do a woman can do better. NOI and DAM's latest saga help validate the
above assertions.
Though it is a fact that many of our politicians
today are accidental politicians (El-rufai wrote a book to emphasize
that) and their sudden entry into the "lucrative business" was due to
the fact that those with genuine intention to build and develop our
country did not believe in the dish the military was serving in 1999.
So those who were bold enough to handle it were solely interested in
what they could get out at least before any military usurpation as it happened in 1993.

Looking at the political arena of Delta State at the moment, the major
players and stakeholders are keen on protecting their interests in other to
remain relevant. This term, in Nigerian politics, means how much money or contract you can get from the government? As if not enough, those pests use their influence and relevance to
seek for fresh ways to loot and embezzle state funds for personal
gains and frivolous activities.

With lack of vision and the constant embezzlement of funds, states are left with failed projects and neglected contracts.
Administrators award contracts to their cronies and associate who often times falter in executing such projects, Empowerment. Little wonder all that the youths can
boast of is the state of "no jobs, no income and no assets". This
intense pressure of lack of sustainable means of livelihood has led
several unemployed youths to get involved in crimes and illegal
activities.

When we look far and near there's only one advice to give--- Let's get ready, we too must participate in building our future; we
should focus on ideological leadership and visionaries whose main
interest lies with the people. Men with dreams and vision to build and develop
our state and not kleptocrats and corrupt leaders who are merely
concerned about the gains.

*Kome Agbauduta is the Co-founder of Delta Forte Network and Founding Partner of KREED 

Publisher....yekipedia
follow us on twitter @yekeme

Monday, 5 November 2012

HOW BEST NIGERIA SHOULD RELATE WITH BOKO HARAM




In every age and time man has always been confronted by challenges. Sometimes it may seem insurmountable but the moment man finds a way out, he becomes ever better compared to where he was coming from.
Today Nigeria is faced with its own fair share of challenges from corruption to poverty and underdevelopment but none of these issues are more pronounced than the menace of Boko Haram which stands to threaten the basis of our collective existence as a nation except we find a creative approach out it.
 How best Nigeria should relate with Boko Haram becomes a fundamental question that stares not only the political authorities in the face but every concerned citizenry.
The history of this country is replete with examples of how we have overcome challenges that sought to tear this us apart. Two typical examples of such was the civil war and how the ‘‘no victor no vanquish’’ stance of Gen. yakubu Gowon brought us out of the war, another is the recent Niger delta militancy agitations and how the then president creatively engaged the youth of that region with an amnesty initiative. Thus curbing the restiveness in the Delta.
To this end therefore, a solution is possible with Boko Haram if we look in the right direction. Obviously finding a way out of this challenge that Boko Haram pose is impossible without understanding the factors that have led this group to evolve from just individual assassinations to large scale bombing, turning many state capitals in the north to theatres of war.
These factors hold the key as to how best Nigeria can relate with Boko Haram thus finding feasible solution to the reoccurring hostilities of this group.
The most fundamental factor to the threat of Boko Haram is the political side to the entire equation. Truth be told, politics and politicians in the country today help create this monster that threatens us all in Nigeria. The recent call by the group that it wants Gen Buhari to lead its peace talk with the federal government speaks volume as regards the level of political colouration of the violence so far. At least every discerning mind would clearly agree on this. On the other hand, the political option seems to be one of the most potent factors we can use to relate with them only if men of proven pedigree and character lead such an effort. Then the nation is can be said to be on the path to peace.
Another factor is the economic dimension to this entire situation. A large percentage of the young men recruited to carry out these attacks are largely jobless making them vulnerable to these kinds of enticement that is leading many of them to their early graves. Again we can relate with Boko Haram through economic empowerment. No society anywhere in the world makes meaningful progress where its active young population is idle. This is the case not only true in Northern Nigeria but throughout the country. When government fails in this task one begins to ask what then is the basis for it, even where the preamble of the 1999 constitution clearly direct that the purpose of a constitution was for the promotion of  ‘‘.........good government and welfare of all persons.........’’
Also, another significant factor we can use as a means to relate with Boko Haram is religion. The need to lay emphasis that Islam is a religion of peace and not war is of utmost significance too. In line with this view, we must let them know that this is a secular state and that everyman is free to find God the best way he deems fit. True worshippers of Allah know that the fundamental tenets of his teachings are ‘peace, harmony, love for your neighbour’, Boko Haram by virtue its conduct, is in clear violation of this principle

Yekeme
an observer

Sunday, 12 August 2012

LONDON OLYMPIC: THE SHOW OF MEDIOCRITY BY NIGERIA



LONDON OLYMPIC: THE SHOW OF MEDIOCRITY BY NIGERIA

One tweet i saw on twitter yesterday night that inspired this piece reads thus ‘‘No gold medal, No silver medal, No bronze medal......... at this rate we might not even get a certificate of participation’’. As funny as this statement may sound, it clearly reflect the character of Nigeria and why we got nothing at the Olympic.
As the Olympics come to an end, serious minded countries have started making plans and preparation for the next holding in Brazil. This is how you know nations who truly prepare for success. As for Nigeria we are never in such proactive state in our National evolution, which is why we get this kind of humiliation.  The show of mediocrity by Team Nigeria at the London Olympic truly indicate that until we remove politics from our sports activities, Nigeria will continue to encounter this type of embarrassment inspite of her abundant sporting talent in the country.
Rather than we concentrating on getting the best hands to run sports administration in this country, Nigeria prefer to make mockery of the entire process by recruiting charlatans to handle this sector. To this end, i don’t think we should be surprise or complain of our poor outing so far. We deserve what we got u may want to say.
As much as a lot of us don’t like our outing so far, many will still go about their business without probing into why we ended up in this path.  If indeed we cannot separate politics from our national life then we should ensure putting the right persons in public offices so that they will make decision that will truly bring national pride and not this show of mediocrity.
The minister of sports must be made to answer some questions as regards this unfortunate happening. What are the minimum criteria for the appointment to sporting administration in the country? Do we still make appointments base on ethnic sentiments? If this is the case then am sure those who made it to representing Nigeria are not the best quality of material the country has got to offer. One would begin to wonder the kind of feeling going through the mind of the top dignitaries and politicians that went along with team Nigeria to give them that courage letting them know their father land is solidly behind them. My guess, we all loss in the end......



YEK KEME
DEPT OF PHILOSOHPY
UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS
www.yekipedia.blogspot.com
 yekeme4u@gmail.com

Tuesday, 31 July 2012

BUHARI AND HIS BLOODY 2015 PREDICTIONS: The fallacies and realities


Can we say that the outburst of Gen. Buhari is a true reflection of the state of the nation or another political gimmick aimed at heating up the polity? One may tend to comprehend the General’s concern but his usage of words creates room for suspicion about his intention. How can a former Nigerian leader declare the govt of the day is “the biggest Boko Haram” when we all truly know the aim s and objective of the group, Boko Haram.
Truly Buhari’s unguarded alterances calls for a rethink on the kind of men and women Nigerians intend to elect as their leaders. Does Buhari truly love the Nigerian people he earnestly craves to lead again? If he does, then one need to ask him why does he wish them a bloodbath if all do not go well in 2015? Statements such as these are not the qualities of a true democrat that Buhari wants us to believe he is.
Who does Buhari aims to threaten by these statements? Why has Buhari continue to portray himself more as a Northerner than a Nigerian and yet he wish to lead a nation as diverse as Nigeria?
The CPC should urge its former candidate not to continue on this path because such behavior will dampen the image of the party rather score political points like it wants to achieve with this acts. It is high time our politician stop this war of word and get down to business by discussing critical issues as they borders on our collective existence as a nation.
Democracy as it is practiced in advanced societies portrays a transparent look for all to see. Even the opposition in such places contributes meaningfully to the advancement of the govt in power. Here the case seems to be the opposite. With the Acn joining the cue of rash statement made at the presidency, it is even more alarming to here Northerner governors supporting the call Buhari is making.
If the North cannot accept the fact that a minority is leading this country, then what is the basis for this democracy where individuals are allowed to rule base on where they are from? Indeed such a process will not last long and I want to think the PDP is truly learning from its mistakes caused because of the way it handles its “family affair”.
It is quite clear that there is a lot of loopholes with the kind of system we operate here but that cannot resolve our problem if we keep heating up the process with threat of bloodbath as the General has promised Nigerians. Buhari as a leader and elder statesman should not allow his ambition for power becloud his sense of reasoning. As the only legacy he can leave behind is to ensure that the tenets of democracy takes it root in this country and not with this outburst of his.
The PDP on its part must gather the moral fiber if it has any left to question and sanction the spate of corruption going on in this country. If it can tackle this, then a better day is ahead of Nigerians.

YEKEME
Dept of philosophy,
University of Lagos.
www.yekipedia.blogspot.com
yekeme4u@gmail.com

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

EDO ELECTION AND THE PROMISE FOR NIGERIA




The story made headlines both locally and internationally about the doggedness and resilience of the Edo people, but the most profound of it all is the man in the centre of this historical election, Adams Oshiomhole.
Despite the odds comrade Oshiomhole show us that he is indeed a man with a lion’s heart ready to challenge the status quo and the PDP Federal might. These happenings truly reflect that when good men go to sleep then the people will bear the consequences of having mentally and morally bankrupt men lead them. This victory is a clarion call to the sleeping giants in Nigeria to rise up to the occasion and save their people from the shame brought upon them by men who lack substance and character.
There is no doubt in my mind that with the triumph of Oshiomhole, men of pedigree will emerge in our political space to take over from these charlatans that parade themselves as political leaders in the country. The political dynamics is fast changing in the land and i hope that many of these so called untouchable politician will discern the mood of the people and give up their cling to power else the new breed of politically conscious Nigerians who now see and understand the inherent values of democracy will push them out of power.
Democracy is the most feasible system of governance that reflects the mood of a people; this is why the struggle for democracy in the continent of Africa is every day gaining momentum. To this end, elections such as the Edo experience will send a strong signal across the length and breadth that the people can no longer be taken for granted.
As Gov. Oshiomhole settles down to led his people for another second tenure, he must avoid distraction, put the people first in his fiscal policy formulation for Edo state and above all, work assiduously to ensure the further entrenchment to democratic culture in Edo so that when he leaves office the people can better decide for themselves who can carry on the mantle of leadership.
I strongly hold that the Edo experience is indeed crucial to future elections in Nigeria, this is why we must salute the bravery of Adams Oshiomhole and the attitude put up by the Edo people to ensure their votes do count.

Yek keme
Dept of philosophy
University of Lagos
yekipedia.blogspot.com

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

IBORI’S SENTENCING AND IT EFFECTS IN OUR POLITY


Former Governor James Onanefe Ibori who was perceived to be a god in the Nigerian political space has finally been brought to his kneels. A man who transverse the entire political terrains like a whirl wind and often described as a godfather and a hero has finally been shown to the world by the U.k court as a “common criminal”.
Clearly this sentencing has revealed to us (Nigerians) once again that the greatest obstacle impeding the collective growth of our nation is corruption. Many may celebrate the fact that Ibori finally got what he deserved but the question is how can the Nigerian state purge itself of these kinds of “common criminals” occupying political offices across the country? This is fundamental because we have seen from the Ibori episode that one man political positioning in society is capable of destroying the destinies of millions of people if he is not checked. The Nigerian state has often been taken for a ride by these elements for too long and now I wonder what lessons we can truly learn from this U.K court sentencing. The U.k is simply telling us that it has the moral fiber to sanction corruption if it rears its head away in their domain, a virtue the Nigerian system completely lacks.
For me, corrupt leaders will continue to rear their ugly head in our polity unless we ourselves take concrete and drastic measures against corruption and not wait until foreign countries prosecute our own leaders for such. What a shame on us.
This assertion therefore buttress the fact that our enforcement and judicial institutions are not only weak but they also aid and abet the corruption circle we all see today amongst the political class.
From Kaduna to Asaba, Nigerian court made a charade of this same case and discharged and acquitted Ibori but right there in the U.K, the almighty James Onanefe Ibori confessed to criminal charges and abuse of office. This therefore leaves me to wonder on what kind of  judicial institution we are building in this country?
Judgment such as this indeed proofs that the west will no longer tolerate leaders who will impoverish their own people and then steal from them just to go gallivant abroad. The U.K has clearly taken a bold stance, let us hope and pray that America, Canada and other European countries will follow suite in prosecuting these kinds of persons who will destroy their home countries and take to such places as safe heaven.
This should leave serious concern to us as a people, what kind of persons do we all give our mandate to lead us? Is this system of governance truly the best for the Nigerian state? How can our judicial institutions reflect itself as an impartial umpire in its judgments’ so we can truly get justice?

YEK KEME
DEPT OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS
www.yekipedia.blogspot.com