"Bird Flu.","Cow Flu.","Mad Cow"e.t.c. What's Nigerians To Do ? (Is Mad Fish Next ?)

Dear Friends,
I'm writing this piece just as I am slowly recovering from a terrible case of "The Flu",perhaps Bird Flu. Thank God for Africa that it struck me before my upcoming trip. If it had happened upon my arrival, I probably would have volunteered myself for major testing at any major hospital in each of the state in the U.S.A. What in the world is going on with this "Bird Flu" business ? The way I see it,some issues are meant for the developed world to deal with. Until we have equal playing fields,it is absolutely insane to try and apply the same rules equally on some issues just because it serves the interests of some. What am I talking about now ? Well, I have a serious problem with killing all the cows ("Mad Cow Disease") and Chicken ("Bird Flu"-The new one). What will be next ? Perhaps "Mad Fish Disease" ? So,what are we going to "chop" after that ? Christmas and "Ileya"(the wonderful
Muslim celebrations) will never be the same. Perhaps,a medicinal agent will come in handy?

I kept reading about the discovery of cases of The Bird Flu in various parts of the Rich World without much concern since I know the likes of China, South-Korea,Europe,U.S.A e.t.c can take good care of themselves even after wiping out entire stock of Chicken and Cow. Then, I read about a case of "Mad Chicken" ( or "Bird Flu") in Kaduna. Then, something prompted me to try and call Abuja to beg them not to start killing the much valued Chicken stock. Two of the easiest ways you can start a riot in a place like Nigeria where the masses are already shouldering a heavy burden from lack of many things is either to turn off electricity when The Super Eagles are playing or to destroy the people's livestock. Never mind whether the Chicken or The Cow is Mad. With the death and destruction all around us, We all seem to be Mad people living in a Mad World anyway. Stay Tuned On This Mad 'business" since it will not go away anytime soon. Africa has been found guilty of harboring enough diseases already.Am I right ?

Finally, regarding RELIGION, I want to get serious for a minute and beg people of all religious faith to respect other people's religious practices. You do not have to agree or like another person's religion. But,you must show absolute respect for other people's religious practices. This means not poking fun at Jesus- Christ Or The Prophet Muhammad e.t.c I am deeply saddened to say that many of the leaders in the developed world have done a terrible job in handling the on-going crisis regarding the mockery of The Prophet Muhammad. Freedom of expression must come as a package with responsibility especially at a time when our Muslim Brothers & Sisters feel they are under siege. I am a proud,tolerant Christian . Every person who truly loves his faith will wish the whole world convert to their religious faith. But, I honestly do not see the whole world turning to Islam or Christianity,Judaism,Hinduism or Bhuddism e.t.c anytime soon. So, let's all find a way to continue to live and learn from each other before we take steps that will turn our worlds upside down . AMEN !!!

Much Love,
Tola- Sobande

"British-American Tobacco Must Look For Another (Healthier) Line Of Business"

Dear Readers,
I'd like to start by offering my most sincere condolence to the "Ransome-Kuti" Family.
I was told yesterday of the death of Dr. Beko - Ransome-kuti from Lung Cancer possibly
due to his long history of smoking. This brave and tireless fighter for the people will be
sorely missed. In light of his death, I'd like to seize the opportunity to highlight a thriving
business in Nigeria. Anyone who travels the Lagos to Ibadan expressway (towards Ibadan)
will not miss one of the most beautiful-looking factories in Nigeria just before the old Toll
area in Ibadan. The problem is that the beautiful company does not produce food,medicines
or anything healthy that one can think of. They produce cigarettes for Nigerians to smoke
their lives away. The company strategically shows up at various functions and make some
"que-que" (little,little) donations. They also prefer to use Nigerians as their spokesperson
which would have been fine if they were marketing anything good for human consumption
(even Viagra will get my nod).

Each time I think about this Tobacco company, I remember all the lawsuits they've had
to settle out of court. I remember seeing abandoned buildings between Virginia and North-
Carolina where these Tobacco companies used to thrive but now left vacant because the
Western World have been cracking down heavily on Cigarette makers and banning
smoking in many places. At the recently concluded "Nigeria-Summit" in New-York,they
were the only sour part for me. They put up one Nigerian Man to speak on the company's
behalf. The guy was lucky they stopped taking questions before i got around to asking
him some rather "interesting" questions. God-willing, I will get another shot at asking my
question(s) at the right place and time. On behalf of all Nigerians, we truly appreciate all
donations,but,they need to go into production of anything that will help maintain good
health for Nigerians or something that will keep people happy (yes,maybe a Viagra-like
drug-just kidding. I'm too "Shy" for all that ). In fact, I don't know who has paid out more
money (in the hundred millions or Billions U.S $) between "Tobacco Companies" and
"The Catholic Church" who are still very much caught up in child abuse and molestation.
Lord help save us from these Evil types. I Pray that Dr. Beko- Ransome-kuti's Soul Will
Forever Rest In Perfect Peace. Most importantly, I pray that some of us who have followed
the family's struggles on behalf of Nigerians will find the courage to pick-up where this
courageous Man and the rest of his Great family left us. AMEN! The Struggle For A Better
Nigeria Must Continue !!!

Remain Blessed In The Struggle !

TOLA - SOBANDE
P.S : Remember to check out www.nb4s.blogspot.com .

How Africa Can Succeed, By Jack Straw

United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, Right Honourable Jack Straw has listed ten conditions, which he urged African countries to confront if they must succeed.

Delivering the 10th Annual Murtala Muhammed Memorial Lecture yesterday in Abuja entitled, ‘Africa A New Agenda’, Straw named the conditions to include poverty reduction and development, governance, peace and security, conflicts, terrorism, migration, crime and drug. Others are energy security, environment, Islam and China Straw, who is also a member of British Parliament traced the present predicament of most African countries to miss governance and expressed optimism that,”If Africa pursues the right policies, tackles the right issues and gets the full support of the international community, this continent could be the success story of the 21st Century”. He regretted that poverty in Africa is getting worse, not better and that, “Unless growth accelerates and the fruits of growth are distributed more widely, by 2015 around 100 million more Africans than now will be living below the dollar-a-day poverty line”. Straw also regretted that Africa has unfortunately failed to take advantage of the globalization trend as the world economy becomes ever more competitive, resulting in the continent risking increasing marginalisation.

The result according to him is that, ”Straw said the good news from the African continent however, is that in recent years, Africa and its leaders have been taking responsibility for their own fate, noting that, Africa governments are now espousing the right policies , good governance, the market, peace-building, regional cooperation, and they are having some success.”

Straw also observed that Africa is emerging on the world stage as
international players, noting that,”Africa rightly aspires to play that
role, and seeks greater African membership on the UN Security Council, an aim UK strongly supports, not least since some 70 per cent of the Security Council’s business now concerns Africa.” He said ending poverty through successful, sustainable development should be at the heart of Africa’s agenda over the coming decade as it is with the UK, noting that this informed Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision to make 2005 the year of Africa during his presidency of the G8 group of industrialized powers and the European Union. He commended Nigeria and some other African countries for making progress on governance in the last few years, stating that the international community has a role to play here. Straw announced that the UK last week, February 9, ratified the UN Convention on Corruption, which will help the country seize illicit and stolen assets and return such assets more quickly to their countries of origin. He assures that Britain was committed to returning to Nigeria assets stolen from the country in accordance with the UK law.

On Islam, the Foreign Secretary observed that one of the greatest challenges for Africa and indeed the whole world was ensuring that the Christians and the Islamic worlds become partners in the 21st Century rather than enemies, noting that, ‘Nowhere is this more important than in Africa.’ On China, the Prime Minister acknowledged Chinese’s increasing presence and influence in the African continent, particularly in the area of energy, construction, commerce etc. He said what matters to the West is not the fact of China’s engagements in Africa, but that such engagement should ‘support the agenda, which President Obasanjo and the African Union have set for this continent: support for democratic and accountable governance, for transparent business processes, for economic growth and effective poverty reduction for human rights and the rule of law’. In his remarks at the occasion, President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation observed that if there is no good governance it will be difficult to achieve real development, noting that ‘governance that does not lead to development will be sterile.’. He stated that while good governance constitutes internal state issue in Africa, development involves African development partners. The President commended the role of the UK in Nigeria’s debt relief from the Paris Club, stating that, ‘If we had not had the strong support of the UK government we would not have had the debt relief.’ He said without debt relief the pace of the nation’s development would have been hampered. The President also applauded the UK for signing the UN Convention on Corruption and stated that with this development Nigeria would expect some return of stolen funds from the UK. Recalling the era of the late Murtala Muhammed, Obasanjo revealed that what made the regime unique was that they worked with total trust, loyalty and commitment to the country. What have been driving us is our love and commitment to our father land, Obasanjo said. The President noted that in 1976 when Murtala was in office Nigeria ranked 28 among the countries with the highest GDP, but regretted that subsequent regimes before the present administration dragged the country to the 158th position. In the past, we have gone up and gone down, now we are determined to go up and continue to go up, Obasanjo assured.