"Home made" restaurant food and a dash of Naija politics

Oh, last week I also read the rather charmingly titled Is it Just me or Is Everything Shit? The Encyclopaedia of Modern Life. It had me rolling with laughter on the plane with its opinionated rants on various issues from Tony Blair to pre-washed vegetables to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera....and while reading I fell into the authors style of thinking. So when I walked into a restaurant in Venice and saw an item on the menu that said home made spaghetti, I thought to myself that's another abused word in modern life. You go into a restaurant and they have home made this or home made that on the menu- like the chefs prepared it at home and brought it in?? As the Americans would say gimme a break.....

I haven't talked about Nigerian politics in a while, partly because I'm still shellshocked at the way the Third Term brouhaha collapsed like a pack of cards. And as much as I was opposed to the third term, there's a bit of me that can't help thinking....now what? I know, I know...there are glimmers of hope what with talk of an Utomi candidacy and an Okonjo-Iweala candidacy, but I can't help but feel that at the end of the day, the small elitist cabal that has long held sway in Nigerian politics, unless the Nigerian people unite as the people of Anambra state did and resist all attempts to rig the 2007 elections. If Obasanjo can sort out a smooth transition to a credible successor, I promise to overlook all his failings henceforth....

On the subject of criticism, I get tired of people who suggest that all criticism, especially of "baba" Obasanjo is bad criticism. I am NOT anti-Obasanjo, I have no vested interests beyond my Nigerian citizenship and I acknowledge wholeheartedly what he has achieved- from securing a period of relatively peaceful civilian rule to paying off the debt, the GSM licences and so on. But to whom much is given, much is expected and Obasanjo had a whole lot of goodwill and could have done so much more....why for instance isn't there a similar health, education and science team to match his economic team?

Image is everything and a good library haul

Woke up this morning to the news that the Tories are leading Labour in opinion polls at the moment- no surprises there, but apparently for the first time, voters are rating the Tories higher than Labour on issues like health and education and not just their usual areas of immigration and crime. This brought to mind a conversation I had with a friend a few weeks ago. She's English, working class girl made good and has always been an ardent Labour voter, even though she's fairly high powered in the City....but two weeks ago, she told me she was going to vote Tory in the next elections. The question I asked her is the same one I would like to ask the thousand or so people polled last week:

I am as fed up with Tony Blair as any of you, but pray tell me what alternative policies the Tories have put forward beyond trying to be all things to all people? On health? On education? Even on the environment, beyond the cycling and arctic touring stunts, what? The numerous policy review commissions that Cameron set up are yet to report back, so on what is this sudden swing to the Tories based on?

The answer of course is image......in a media obsessed world, image is everything and it may well sweep the Tories into power at the next elections...

Have had a fantastic raid of the local library and have come away with Manju Kapur's new book Home which I just finished. Her depiction of an Indian trading family reminded me very much of the machinations that went on in a prominent Nigerian family who were friends of my parents....no decisions were personal- from who you married to how many children you had, to what car or clothes you bought your wife- all had to be sanctioned by the grand family council and the patriarch, otherwise you were cut off penniless, and isolated from the lucrative family business......

Other prized hauls this week include Romesh Gunesekera's new book, The Match, Freakonomics, Naomi Alderman's Disobedience set in an Orthodox Jewish community in North London and Vikram Seth's Two Lives.....

An interesting week lies ahead, reading wise

Apologies to Nigeriaworld

Have just realized the reason I wasn't able to get on to Nigeriaworld over the last few days was because of my office putting in a new firewall...so from PCs outside work I can access Nigeriaworld ok....pop-ups and all...

By land, rail, air and sea, a challenge for CNN and another oil-fuelled tragedy in Nigeria

Okay, I've got a few minutes in between workshop sessions, so I better drop a few lines. By the time I arrived in Venice last night, under a full moon, I had travelled by all the major means of transportation available to man, bar space travel. From a meeting outside London at noon, I'd taken a taxi to the train station, caught a train to London, got the tube to the airport, flown to Venice and taken the Alilaguna (waterbus) to a stop 5 minutes from the hotel where we're staying- we walked the last 5 minutes....

The first workshop sessions this morning have been interesting and there have been lots of opportunities for "networking", so it's all good. Apparently I got in too late last night to join in the semi-drunken revelry around the poolside that passed for the culmination of the welcome party...no great loss it seems, especially as I look at some of my bleary eyed colleagues struggling to stay awake this morning....

On CNN this morning, news of a pipeline explosion in which over 150 people were supposed to have died. The reporter had on a Mr Fagbemi (I think) from Amensty International, who spoke about the corruption that pervaded all levels of government. She tried to restrict it to the state and local government levels,quoting some unsourced statistic that 30 out of 36 state governors were corrupt but he insisted, rightly that all levels of government were involved-including the federal. Why the international press and community are taken in by Obasanjo's spurious anti-corruption war is still a mystery....Some questions I would like answered are- "Which companies are responsible for importing refined petroleum into Nigeria? Who are their shareholders? How do they get the authority to import? Is it through a transparent process?" I challenge CNN to provide us with this information...

In spite of attempts to lay the blame on criminals and conniving villagers for the explosion, the guy from Amnesty went on to lay part of the blame on the oil companies who have over the years refused to adopt what is standard practice for them in other parts of the world-burying their pipelines underground........ a practice clearly outlined and condemned in The Next Gulf:London Washington and the Oil Conflict in Nigeria....... I suppose Nigerian lives are cheap, and the Nigerian environment not worth protecting. So in collusion with their partners in the Nigerian government, they continue their rape of Nigeria's resources, while ordinary Nigerians pay the ultimate price....

The universality of football, villain of the day and a new discovery

From the office window I can hear the sounds of boys playing football in the alley next door. It reminds me of Naija- ever so often the ball slams into the wall with a thud, or the boys yell, and then I think football has no language- this could be anywhere in the world....

Nigeriaworld's still down and still no word on why....

The debates (or-stand-up-and-be-counted process) continues in the Legislature in Abuja. My villain of the day is Abdul Oroh, who was a "human rights activist" and a lawyer who was active in the coalition of civil society organizations that fought against the military who was reported as being among the legislators who to quote the Nigerian paper "dodged the issue". How someone can execute such a stunning volteface, only heaven knows. From human rights campaigner a few short years ago to apologist for tenure extension. Perhpas my old man's right-there must be something in the water in Abuja......

Stumbled across the frankest Nigerian blog ever- A Disillusioned Naija Girl- the posts are long but riveting. The author may come across as wacky, quirky, bitter or whatever, but she certainly qualifies for inclusion in my search for Nigerians off the beaten track....http://nijaoffspring.blogspot.com/
Over here, Tony Blair's attacking the ruling of a judge in a bid to appear populist merely underlines his desperation.....anything to connect with middle England...

Here's a message to Blair and his pal Obasanjo- it's time you both took a break permanently, you've earned it, and it'll do wonders for your increasingly haggard appearances.......(perhaps that's stretching it a bit especially in OBJ's case, but one can hope)....

Off to Italy tomorrow for work, will try and blog from there, but may be too busy...ciao

Deja vu everywhere, the misuse of anti-corruption laws and standing up publicly

I've written often in the past few months of the feeling of deja vu that I experience each time I read about what's going on in Abuja with regard to pushing through a third term for Obasanjo. I have drawn direct parallels to my experience in Abuja in 1997 when many of the same pundits pointed to the increase in Nigeria's foreign reserves under Abacha and the "stability" that the country had enjoyed to advocate why no one else but Abacha could or should continue as President. Today, many of these same pundits are rolling out similar arguments in support of Obasanjo. The truth is that no-one holds a monopoly on wisdom or good governance and if Obasanjo and his supporters put in half the effort they are putting into this ill-advised manouevre, to finding and preparing a credible successor, they would be a lot better off.....

But there is deja vu elsewhere, with Blair's current situation in the Labour Party being compared to the last days of Margaret Thatcher in the Conservative Party....

Meanwhile across the pond, the neo-con hawks are marshalling many of the same arguments they used a few years ago to justify going to Iraq against Iran...

It's amazing how we human beings fail to learn from history-even fairly recent history......

Today's news from Abuja suggests that because the Senate President has insisted that the legislators must vote openly in favour or against the constitutional amendment, all contracts awarded since he became Senate President are being investigated by the "Independent" Corrupt Practices Commission. It is this use of the anti-corruption agencies as a weapon of blackmail that breeds doubts in the minds of people like me about the sincerity of Obasanjo when he insists that he is committed to tackling corruption...

Personally, I think the idea of having all the legislators publicly stating their position on the 3rd term issue is fantastic. Each morning, since the debate started, I read through the list of Nigerian legislators who have spoken and see what line they have toed. I have had a few shocks- Tokunbo Ogunbanjo, an erudite and urbane lawyer who is now a Senator has spoken in favour of the constitutional changes....It's good that the debate is public so that the Nigerian people and future generations know exactly who has betrayed them.......

By the way, Nigeriaworld is still down for the 3rd day running....and there's no word on why...if anyone has got a clue, drop me a line and let me know

Missing Nigeriaworld, and musing on terrorist piss-taking

For the second day running, Nigeriaworld, arguably the most popular and comprehensive Nigerian news and current affairs website is down. It's strange how easily you become attached to a website. I'm used to going there first thing to read all the Nigerian newspapers. As it's down, I've had to go the individual papers' websites which is a whole lot less efficient. I wonder what the problem is. Initially when I tried getting into Nigeriaworld and failed and then tried the Thisday and Guardian websites without any luck, I wondered if it was some conspiracy related to the third term manoeuvrings in Abuja....but then I was able to get into the Guardian and Thisday websites and realized that nothing earthshaking had happened as yet. The inability to get any sort of information about why the site is down, is frustrating, as I'm sure it is for thousands of others. Plus, the owners of the site must be losing money judging from the inordinate number of pop-ups that littered the site when it was still up.....in any case I hope they're back online soon....(sans pop-ups)

On the radio this morning, lawyers for a man found guilty of terrorist acts in Jordan, but currently living in the United Kingdom, are reported to be fighting to prevent his being deported to Jordan as they say he is likely to be tortured or killed there. Even though the Jordanian government has assured the UK government that this will not be the case, his lawyers insist that the agreement between the two countries is not worth the paper it's been written on.

I kind of understand the sentiments behind the lawyers' arguments and the importance of upholding the rule of law and civil liberties, but even my best liberal instincts can't help but feel that someone, as the English so eloquently put it "is taking the piss"....

Weekend FT, current reading,dreaming of an ipod phone, and Blair's arrogance

I read the Financial Times this weekend- lots of my friends and colleagues recommend it as the UK paper to read for unbiased news- the other major papers take decidedly ideological viewpoints. I'm not sure I agree that the FT is unbiased if such a thing as an unbiased newspaper exists, but I do enjoy their Saturday edition especially the magazine and weekend sections. Good then to see in this week's Saturday FT two Nigeria- related stories, one describing a fashion show organized in Lagos in aid of the World Food Programme which featured Deola Sagoe of Odua Creations. In the article it said Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey are fans of her clothes.....I remember when she started designing not so many years ago and how she always made clear that her vision was global, not local- looks like her doggedness and commitment are paying off- more power to her....

The other was a not entirely-unsympathetic review of the latest volume of Wole Soyinka's memoirs- You Must Set Forth at Dawn http://snipurl.com/q6es . Having enjoyed his Ibadan the Penkelemesi Years, I'm looking forward to this....

At the moment I'm reading City of Falling Angels, the new book about Venice written by John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. As I'm due in Venice for work later in the week, I thought it'd be a good time to read it..so far so good. His earlier book partly inspired me to visit Savannah in Georgia a few years ago where I was stunned to discover that the book and the film together had led to a multi-million dollar boost in tourist business for the city..... Maybe I should write a book about Abuja....

At the conference I attended in the US not too long ago, I spotted lots of people with Apple laptops designed along the same lines as the iPod- that sleek white curviness....that has set me wondering- how come no-one's designed an iphone yet? A mobile phone designed along the lines of an ipod would be a market hit and would I suspect leave the Motorola V3 lying in the dust...but perhaps it exists already and I just haven't stumbled across it yet......

Blair continues to battle for his political life...... a friend asked me yesterday why I was so anti- Blair and I said it was summed up in one word- arrogance. I am under no illusions that David- I'll stand for whatever you want me to- Cameron will be any better, but Blair and his New Labourite chums cannot just continue taking the electorate for granted..... I hope they come to their senses soon...

Meanwhile Mark Oaten blames going bald at thirty and a mid life crisis for cheating on his wife with a rent-boy- honestly, what does he take the good people of Winchester, his constituency for?

Lost phones, coincidences and local elections

Two days ago I lost my phone. I had just got out of a taxi and as it drove off, I realized my phone had slipped out of my trouser pocket. Unfortunately I was too late to get the taxi details. I had been having an interesting conversation with the cab driver who was "of Asian heritage" and so I was pretty sure he would bring it back- if only he knew how. It's amazing how lost and disconcerted losing your mobile can make you. I'm far from addicted to my phone and yet I who as a child could reel off all the numbers of my nearest and dearest (plus a few more) now only have a few numbers in my memory- they are all in my phone memory- so I could call my parent's landline in Nigeria, but not their mobiles, I could call the office and one or two other people and that was it. To make matters worse I was involved in work that meant moving around a lot and so had to keep ringing the office to make sure I wasn't missing anythings while I obsessed about all the messages that were disappearing into the ether. I tried ringing my phone, but since it's permanently on "Vibrate", I was sure the taxi driver wouldn't notice....so reluctantly I rang up the police and my phone company to report the loss. I wasn't going to let the insurers weasel out this time.... a couple of years ago, I lost my phone and the insurance refused to pay saying I had reported it more than 24 hours after the event. It drove me mad, especially as I had tried cancelling the insurance and was told I was locked in for a year. Trust me,as a Naijaman, I made noise up to ringing the office of the Chief Exec of the phone company (found the number on the internet) and generally made life very unpleasant as aresult of which I was given a new phone gratis (as a gesture of goodwill) but it still rankled that the phone had not come from the insurers....call me obsessive but I hate rip-offs.....

Anyway all's well that ends well- had a call tyesterday morning from the phone company, the cab driver had handed the phone in at one of their shops and so I'll go and pick it up. Meanwhile the replacement handset from the insurers is on it's way- I've agreed to send it back once I receive it.... Funnily enough yesterday afternoon at the tube station I saw a mobile phone drop out of someone's pocket- I dashed after her and drew her attention, and returned the phone to the young lady who nearly kissed me in her relief...I said to her I know how it feels- It seemed like an odd coincidence...

Exciting times yesterday with the UK local elections. One of the "privileges" I've always appreciated is the fact that virtually as soon as I arrived in the UK, I was eligible to vote, courtesy of being a citizen of the "Commonwealth"... I voted nice and early for the Lib Dems, largely because I could not bring myself to vote Tory,no matter how charming and cuddly David Cameron appears and because I was disgusted with Labour's arrogance, insensitivity, and stubbornness. From Patricia Hewitt patronizing the NHS and members of the public to Tony Blair stubbornly clinging to policies that everyone is against and sweeping away all complaints,or requests to reconsider under the carpet of thoughtless opposition to reforms....Glad to see the massacre, perhaps it'll make the Labour party sit up and think. I think the Lib Dems did badly because Ming Campbell isn't on the radar at all- at least Charles Kennedy had a distinctive and constant media presence.....perhaps they'd have been better off with someone younger and more dynamic.....Talking of which, the photographs of the Camerons and the Blairs going to vote were a knockout blow- There's charming Dave and Samantha, laid back wearing shirtsleeves and a summery shift dress, looking like the ordinary Londoner (even if the average Londoner hasn't been to Eton and isn't the step daughter of a Lord) and there were Tony and Cherie all dolled up to the nines in corporate gear- and Tony wearing a BLUE tie- I'd noticed that the convention here is that on election day, politicians tend to wear their party colours- blue for the Tories, yellow for the Lib Dems and red for Labour. Cameron wore a blue shirt with folded sleeves, Blair, a blue tie with red spots- perhaps that's the real colour of new Labour- Blue with flecks of red.....