Saturday, September 23, 2006

Nigeria- cui bono,where's Prezza, image politics and recent reading

I seem to be going through another period where finding time to blog is difficult. It's been a busy time work wise, but I hope it eases off soon. The problem with being away for such a long time is that by the time you come back, so much has happened it's difficult to know where to start.... Anyway here I am....

Neither of the two gladiators- Obasanjo and Atiku- has been impeached yet and it appears that they may not be anytime soon. It was interesting to see them both, dressed in identical blue robes at the funeral of the generals who died in the plan crash last week. How they can continue to exchange social pleasantries while each plots the other's downfall continues to intrigue me. But then Blair and Brown have long elevated that to a fine art. The evil genius himself, IBB lurks in the background and I wonder what role he has to play in all of this...as the lawyers say cui bono? Who profits from the Atiku-Obasanjo face off

Meanwhile in the UK, John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister seems to have completely disappeared from public view after his double fiasco earlier in the year- his affair with one of his secretaries and then being pictured playing a game of croquet during working hours while he was supposed to be deputising for Blair- not evn during the recent heightening of the Blair Brown face off did we get a glimpse of good old Prezza....

An opinion poll in yesterdays papers show Cameron beating Brown on most questions put to the people. The only question where Brown scored higher was on who would be more able to make difficult decisions. Brown was thought to be more arrogant, less of a team player and had a less likeable personality. I'm seriously beginning to think that if the Labour party wants to hold on to power, they'll need to get someone young and fresh to compete with Cameron- in this media age of politics, poor dour Gordon doesn't just cut it...Will the Labour party dare do the unthinkable?

On the subject of image politics, I read TIME magazine's cover story on Segolene Royal, the frontrunner for the Socialist Presidential nomination in France. She's another example of someone using image and media-friendly perceptions to get ahead in the opinion polls. Reading some of the criticisms about the lack of policy content to her campaigning, I was reminded of Cameron whose content free policies haven't stopped him from tearing ahead in the polls.... Besides perhaps it's time France with its much vaunted egalite got a woman in the top job as the UK and Germany have...

On the reading front I've just finished Peter Carey's Theft which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. I enjoyed it on several levels especially the insights into the art world. I've just started Kalooki Nights which was also longlisted for the Booker. I'll see how I get on but it looks promising. Meanwhile Doreen Baingana's Tropical Fish which I thoroughly enjoyed a while back is now out in paperback in the US. I'm surprised it never got published in the UK, especially as it contains not one but two Caine Prize shortlisted stories.....don't be put off by the short story tag though- they all kind of hang together tracing different aspects of the lives of three Ugandan sisters. Here's an article she had published in the Guardian a while back http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1540698,00.html

Meanwhile the sun's out and I'm off to a barbecue- friends making the best of the last bit of sun before the chill descends...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Who profits from the OBJ/Atiku faceoff? Both of them...think about it.

Yep, its been pretty hard droppig posts...Still