Premier League - Paper Round: Wenger admits Rooney interest (but has more realistic target)

The Gunners under Wenger have built a reputation for buying younger players on lesser wages and then developing them before selling them on.

But speaking to Al Jazeera, Wenger has hinted that for Rooney he's prepared to make an exception.
"Rooney could be an interesting player for everybody in the world," Wenger said. "Who would turn him down?
"David Moyes' first challenge is to go in to Manchester United and if Rooney bears a grudge or not, we will see. It will be interesting to see how that will be handled."
It's still a big stretch to see Rooney at the Emirates, however - even if Arsenal shatter their wage policy as the Mail suggests and offer a deal over five years with £170,000-a-week wages, it would still be areduction on the reported £250k Rooney picks up weekly at Old Trafford.
Far more realistic, it would seem, is the interest in Swansea striker Michu.
More than the big names, such as Rooney, Gonzalo Higuain andStevan Jovetic, Michu fits the Arsenal mould, and the Mail says the deal has already been discussed with the scouting team at the Emirates.
Michu would cost significantly more than the £2m Swansea spent on him less than a year ago, but at 27 could still represent value and proven Premier League quality.
Also on the shopping list is Michu's captain at the Liberty Stadium,Ashley Williams.
Wenger may need a new centre-half, according to The Sun, becauseBayern Munich are prepared to offer £15m for the signature ofLaurent Koscielny, who impressed last season.
Want to know who Jose Mourinho's first signing as Chelsea boss will be? So does everyone else - but this effort in The Sun seems a bit fanciful. The paper suggests that Wesley Sneijder could move to Stamford Bridge, and they base their report on sources in Turkey.
While Mourinho and Sneijder are said to get on famously from their time at Internazionale, with the likes of Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard in those playmaker positions it is hard to see where Sneijder could fit in.
Elsewhere The Guardian carry an interesting report linking Liverpoolto a £22m-rated Armenian striker.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagged 25 goals for Shakhtar Donetsk last season, and the 24-year-old has been linked to a move to a major European club this summer.
According to the paper, the Reds are prepared to back Brendan Rodgers on the move irrespective of whether Luis Suarez leaves the club.
Rodgers' preferred choice of new centre-half is Kyriakos Papadopoulos of Schalke, but there is a disagreement over his valuation. The Bundesliga club are holding out for closer to £20m, while Liverpool are prepared to spend more like £12m for him.
David Villa has put off suitors for the time being by saying he will not make any decisions over his future until the end of the Confederations Cup.
The Barcelona and Spain striker is in South America for the tournament which runs from June 15-30, and will only let the likes ofTottenham and Arsenal know his plans once his season is over.
One man seemingly sure to move is Netherlands keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. Fulham are expected to wrap up a £3m move for theRoma stopper this week (Daily Express).
Fellow keeper Asmir Begovic of Stoke is to hold discussions with the club over his future, with Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelseaand Arsenal all having shown recent interest in him (Daily Star).
And in a final piece of Premier League news, despite the notes of caution from Goodison Park last night, almost all the papers expectRoberto Martinez to be confirmed as the new Everton manager later today.

Premier League - Paper Round: Wenger admits Rooney interest (but has more realistic target) - Yahoo! Eurosport U

Greatness Comes With Obsession ~ by Famuyide Olawale

As usual, I came on twitter to see what is happening around me, sincetwitter has become my news and learning app. Then, I saw these tweets from @omojuwa and they got me thinking.
“Hard not to get what you daily obsess about if your obsession is backed with effort” – Omojuwa
“Sir Alex Ferguson keeps winning because he is obsessed with winning. Greatness comes with its obsessions” -Omojuwa
“Arsene Wenger only needs to be obsessed with winning a trophy as he is with getting a top 4 finish” – Omojuwa
What readily come to your mind when you hear the wordOBSESSION? Is it the image a guy who can get enough a lady? A higher percentage of people believe that obsession is evil, dirty vice. Obsession is a powerful force that gives focus and clarity.
Life also has activation costs. There are many pursuits that require a minimum threshold of effort to make any improvement at all. Getting over that activation hurdle is often the hardest part.  In order to attain the desirable success, I need to be temporarily obsessed with that idea of success. Healthy obsession that often leads instead to success.
My obsession for success is my ability to devotes the major portion of my conscious thoughts and efforts to the attainment of reaching my goal.
My Definite Purpose became more than a mere wish; it became my Burning Desire! Am so willed so succeed, so obsessed with the idea of success, it’s what drives me to be more than I initially want to be.
“The world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going.” Napoleon Hill
Becoming obsessed in your goal will make you more and more invested in your goal, and direct all of your energies towards its achievement as quickly as possible. I need to be totally engrossed with my object of obsession so as to create a spark of success. The movement upward gains speed and acceleration to achieve the result, fuel by my commitment, thereby becoming more efficient and persistent in reaching my desirable destination. My obsession is where my priority lies, it where I derive to energy to accelerate toward my goal.
“When you develop an obsession for your lifes assignment, your success will become automatic and unstoppable” – unknown.
Whatever you focus on long enough, literally becomes the reality that you create.
Wriiten by: Famuyide Olawale. @famuyideolawale on twitte

OPINION: Poverty in Nigeria – Two factors we should never blame ~ by Richard Chilee

OPINION: Poverty in Nigeria – Two factors we should never blame ~ by Richard Chilee

On my flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt, this intelligent lady engaged me in a conversation about the reasons Nigeria is still poor. She centred her argument on two major factors – foreign aid and colonialism. According to her, the British government have not given enough aid to appease the ills done to Nigeria during the colonial era and that the colonial masters are the cause of our problems.

As sound as her argument was, I vehemently disagreed.

I believe that any discussion that centres on Nigeria’s poverty, with respect to foreign aid, has to consider its relationship with the rest of the world. In Africa, there has been little correlation between foreign aid and rapid growth. Most countries that receive lots of foreign aid do not always perform better than those that received practically nothing. Why is this so?

One reason is that foreign aid keeps governments lazy and dependent; it also kills their drive for work which is the greatest means of survival and building sustainable developments.

Another reason is that rapid growth is not always the donors’ first priority while giving these aids, even where they are,  it ends up in the pockets of some thieving politicians who divert these monetary aid to their own use rather than energetically pursuing sustainable developments.

What Nigeria need is qualitative trade and investments, not monetary aids. Trade and investment are better than foreign aids. Rich countries should tear down their trade barriers to boost trade with our markets. Trade allows specialization on a larger scale and countries increasingly prosper through these specialization.

When these trades and investments come into Nigeria, they will surely come with qualitative ideas too. With no foreign competition, local firms have no one to learn from and little incentive to make their own products better. Better trades bring new products which could be taken apart and be copied by local companies.  Foreign direct investments spread and encourage skills and technology.

In South Africa, Chrysler and BMW have a building plant which trains South African engineers and transfer expertise to local suppliers. This is what we need in Nigeria. But before then, we have to create the enabling atmosphere for trade and investment. There is a huge correlation between openness to trade and economic growth. Trade openness boosts a country’s growth and productivity.

However, it would be too simplistic to cut out foreign aid entirely. If we must receive aids, donors must make sure their suggestions are carefully evaluated; projects must be approved if only the receivers could demonstrate that they are sustainable, as Botswana did with their diamond bonus. Aid programmes must be transparent as shown by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Donors must come and inspect the project and observe how their money is being spent.

On colonialism

Like my lady friend in the plane, many Nigerians think that the colonial masters are the major cause of our poverty because of the 1914 amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorate. This pattern of erroneous thinking is what I consider one of the greatest impediments to our development; it has also kept us from taking responsibility for our own actions.  I hear this argument from various facets of the Nigerian environment, from academicians to political activists to lawyers and journalists. In secondary school, my government teacher supports this line of argument, he once insisted I wrote an essay titled “The British exploited us; they came for our goods, not for our good.”

Let’s be clear that Nigeria’s modern problem and drastic poverty is not entirely the fault of the colonial masters. I beg to ask a question; are the colonial masters responsible for the outright carelessness and wanton greed and brazen corruption demonstrated by our political class? Are they responsible for our lack of basic infrastructures? By all means no! I stand by the fact that the greatest force holding us back is our own crooked and incompetent leaders whose idea of investment is to spend heavily on some frivolous projects.

History has shown that no country is going to create sustained wealth if the leaders continue to exploit the economy to enrich themselves and their cronies, or if the heads of major authorities are corrupt. Great developments depend on great leaders and a sane political environment. Good and responsible leadership, with a touch on global and best policies, are the ingredients that can unlock our potentials to great discoveries.

Nonetheless, I believe, though it’s gradually fading, that Nigeria can be prosperous. Any country can make that transition from poverty to immense riches; I know this because various countries have done it in times past and most of the technologies needed to make this transformation is already in existence and are almost free. Most of our policies are not yet on the right path but a few are at least pushing through the undergrowth, looking for that path of prosperity. When are where exactly that path will lead is entirely up to us, only us can choose what kind of economy we want to have and what kind of society we want to live in. But whatever the details of the society are, most Nigerians foresee it’s an industrialized and enhancing one.

I have not met any Nigerian who does not want Nigeria to be like the European or American countries. Everyone wants that because we often compare Nigeria with the more advanced America. This is good but we must understand that industrialization takes time, it’s not magic, it begins with little and strategic changes which compounds into big and beautiful changes. And, nations do not become industrialized by talking alone neither do they become so by praying or being plainly irresponsible.

If Nigeria really wants to enjoy like the modern and industrialized world, we have to do two things. First, we have to responsibly endure the pains of discipline that the modern countries endured before they became modern. Secondly, we have to start now, we have to fold our sleeves and think, work, save and invest.

But then, how willing are we?

——

Written by Richard Chilee. Follow @richardchilee or mail richardchilee@gmail.com

IKEMEFUNA ~ by Collins Uma

IKEMEFUNA  ~ by Collins Uma

I am sitting in my friend’s house at Ogidi, Anambra state and I am looking around wondering how this community was in 1930 when Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born. Of course, so much has changed. I do not think that the Afor-Igwe market across the road, for example, was here then. I had earlier gone round the town, in company of my host, to try to understand the influences behind Achebe’s opera magna comprising of Things Fall apart, No Longer At Ease, Arrow of God, A Man of The People, and Anthills of the Savannah. One question that lingers in my mind is ‘Where is Umuofia?’ A few kilometres away are Umunya and Nawfia, but no Umuofia. The name could have been changed. Recently, the people of Ifite-Ukpo, close to Ogidi, decided that they would prefer their town to be known as Ifite-Dunu. The reasons are still unknown to me.
One thing that has remained unchanged is Ikemefuna, a character Achebe created in Things Fall Apart, and what Ikemefuna represents even today. Ikemefuna, according to Achebe, was a ‘doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbours to avoid war and bloodshed’. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves had pronounced Ikemefuna’s death but Okonkwo, the main character under whose shelter Ikemefuna lived, was to have no hand in his death. Okonkwo however, turned out to be the one who struck the blow that ended the young lad’s life.

I see similarities between Ikemefuna and the Nigerian youth.

Like Ikemefuna, we have people we look up to as ‘elders’ and we even call some ‘father’ but they will not hesitate to truncate our existence just to score cheap political goals or prove a point to their fellows.

Like Ikemefuna, we work hard to contribute our quota to the development of the society we have found ourselves in but there is always an ‘Nwoye’ being groomed to take over leadership regardless of his qualification for that role, or the lack of it.

Like Ikemefuna, we are in limbo, a midway state, and we belong to neither here nor there.

We have not helped ourselves though, the Nigerian youth. We have not articulated what it is we actually want. We do not yet have a banner behind which we can all rally. Like Ikemefuna, we just sit and await the decisions of the elders.

The tragedy of the Nigerian youth is that we have been so mentally pummelled over the years by the oligarchs that we have come to believe that we are what we are not and we dare not attempt to reach higher than the level on which we are at the moment. This is why it now seems like an unheard of achievement among young people to be appointed as a personal assistant to a government official or even an aide to an aide. This is in the same Nigeria where Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart, the most widely read book in modern African literature, at the age of 28. This is in the same Nigeria where Joseph Sarwuan Tarka got elected into the House of Representatives in 1954 at the age of 22, became the President of the United Middle Belt Congress at the age of 25 and got appointed as Minister of Transport at 34. This is in the same Nigeria that Yakubu Gowon became Chief of Army Staff at the age of 31 and Head of State before he was 32. This is in the same Nigeria where we had a Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who obtained his Masters’ Degree in History from Oxford University at the age of 23 before joining the Nigerian Army from where he later got appointed as Governor of the Eastern Region at the age of 32. Yes, in this same Nigeria, we have Patrick Okedinachi Utomi. At the age of 26, Pat Utomi was already a senior Special Adviser to President Shehu Shagari. The list goes on. Chude Jideonwo started Red Media in 2004 at the age of 19. YNaija and The Future Project are fruits of that enterprise. In February 2013 he was named by Forbes as one of the top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs. Onyeka Nwelue wrote his multiple award-winning book, The Abyssinian Boy, at 21.

If young people in Nigeria could stand out this way against all odds, what is it that restricts us from taking the reins of leadership in this country and directing this ship in the way it should go? Arguments have been heard both for and against direct participation in partisan politics by young people. Those for it say this is the need of the moment as this is the only way we can influence decision making. Those against say we do not all need to become politicians for change to happen. Valid points, all. It is true that we can create the needed change without becoming members of political parties; however it is high time we started putting our money where our mouth is. Registering as a member of a political party gives one a greater sense of responsibility before, during, and after elections. Rather than just wait to become ‘special’ assistants, it is high time we had young people aspiring for the highest offices our age brackets allow us to aspire for. To do this, we must first locate the nearest office of the political party of our choice, walk in there and announce our intention to become members. What do we have to lose by doing this? Nothing! What do we gain? The chance to influence decisions within these parties and, by extension, the country. As has been said, if you have no interest in politics then you should have no complain when you end up getting ruled by fools.

2015 will soon be upon us. The future awaits us. Posterity is getting ready to judge us. Are you waiting to step into the future created by others for themselves or are you going to take action now and decide how you want that future to look? Are you going to fold your hands and wait when you can join a party and do something? Now is the time. Today is the day.

I leave you with this Igbo proverb from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart ‘’When a man says yes his chi says yes also’’.

I am on twitter @CollinsUma

How to Outwit NEPA and Other Tips ~ by Ayo Sogunro

How to Outwit NEPA and Other Tips | By Ayo Sogunro

It’s that time of the year when we revisit electricity supply— the lack of it, that is. And just in case you’ve forgotten how to adjust to the blatant surrealism of a life without electricity, here are our not-so-well researched pro-tips.

1. 1.       Give a dog a good name and then go ahead and hang it. You see, it doesn’t matter whether you call it PHCN or ECN. “NEPA” is “NEPA”. I have observed people who force themselves to mouth the cumbersome PHCN—in the typical African superstition that the name will make a difference to the personality of a person. This reversion to the traditional idea that the name of a person foretells his destiny is very unnecessary. Go, on, test it out. “‘O PHCN! Great shall you be!” That sounds very pretentious, and it’s not just you. The truth is: a dog is a dog. At least in Africa. Also, NEPA is easier to pronounce, sounds like the name of an old but cherished friend.  And so, here’s the first rule in dealing with your electricity problem: Recognise NEPA for what it is, Never Expect Power Always. So for the purpose of these tips, let’s just give the dog the bad name and stick to NEPA. Got that?

1. 2.       Electricity is a relative thing: Ask Einstein. If you don’t know Einstein, ask your local nerd. You really do not need electricity at all times. It is simply the artificial scarcity that makes it a precious commodity. Like gold. We’ve all heard the tale—or a variation—of the grasping pirate shipwrecked on a treasure island with all the gold and other treasure he could ever want, and no food. And that’s the fact: gold is useless when plentiful, electricity is also useless when it comes in huge amounts. That is why you can survive without electricity—because too much of it becomes boring. NEPA understands this. You should understand that too. In fact, once you understand this, you need not bother reading this piece further. You’re fully qualified to write your own “how to survive NEPA” tips.

1. 3.       Every country has its cross: Are you still reading? Then you are a die-hard, electricity addict. Let’s proceed then. When dealing with NEPA issues, a good way to come to terms with it the problem is to understand that there is a tragic flaw that runs through the history of every country. This tragic flaw is eventually what makes it into a great nation. It is the struggle it undergoes to remove that flaw and rise above it’s limitations that makes it unique as a country. Read your history textbooks, and you will see that Nigeria is in good company. America had its slave trade, Britain had its colonialism, Russia had communism, South Africa had apartheid, Nigeria had, has—electricity. That came out wrong! But you get the point.

1. 4.       Being pessimistic does not solve anything: I have also come across a strange attitude. People believe that the more they are abusive and pessimistic about the failings of NEPA, the better it will become. Like the irate parents to a wayward child. Take the typical scenario: you are on your way home after a long and tiring day, as you approach the house, you begin to curse NEPA mentally, secretly hoping that by some metaphysical or spiritual juxtapositions, your internal disapproval would propel the forces of electricity to connect your house to the grid instantly. You get home, no light. Why do you feel disappointed? NEPA is immune to correction. On the other hand, optimism doesn’t solve anything either.

1. 5.       There will always be a brief period where electricity will be unbearably consistent: Maybe once in your lifetime, maybe twice, maybe more. But you will experience it. A time when NEPA will be so consistent in service, it will make you angry. You will ponder and wonder. At first, you will expect the light to go off at any minute. It will not. You rush around doing all the things you need to do with the available electricity, and ten hours later you realize in astonishment that the light has hardly blinked. You will discover that you fridge has the capacity to freeze, that your iron can actually burn clothes, that your mobile phone’s battery is not so bad after all, that you have no more movies to watch, that your laptop is quite boring, and that all TV stations should be shut down for poor entertainment value. This is the time when you will forsake the pleasure of your music player for ordinary gossip. But when you begin to hope that things are finally changing in Nigeria, the light will go off. But that’s normal. You’ve had your moment in the sun. The moral here is: you will experience it. Wait.

1. 6.       There will always be an unbearably long period of total blackout: A converse of the last principle I stated. Everyone is used to three hours of electricity, one hour, even some thirty minutes. Maybe everyday or every couple of days. You will be surprised at how much activity you can cram into those few moments. But always prepare yourself for that period in the year, when for maybe two weeks or even six months, you will not have a glimpse of electricity, as dished out by NEPA, in your house. Once you conclude you are in that scenario, don’t commit suicide. It’s just a passing phase. Like a rite of passage, we will all go through it.

1. 7.       You will be targeted: At some given time, your house will be on the target list, NEPA’s literal Blackout Book. This happens when you discover that everyone on the street has light, and you are in darkness—for no apparent reason. Your bills are paid; you are on the same line as other folks, your wiring has no problems. Yet, no light. Nothing. Why? You ask, Why me? Again, don’t be frustrated. Today, your number has turned up. Tomorrow, it will be someone else’s turn.

1. 8.       There’s always an electrician who can fix the tension wire: So why are you worried about the fact that your line has been cut?

1. 9.       Don’t bury your head in the sand: There is no light. That’s the plain ugly truth. Maybe you have been at your desktop computer in your workplace for the past nine hours. Not once have you been interrupted by a power cut. The generators and inverters are doing their work nicely. The AC units are wonderful, and life is good. But don’t kid yourself. There is no light. That, again, is the plain truth. Don’t let the fantasy of generator plants deceive you. Look everywhere: office skyscrapers, affluent residential estates, five star hotels, private mansions, it doesn’t matter. There is no light, no light at all. You may not know the costs, but ask the person who pays the diesel bills; he is cursing madly, somewhere.

1. 10.   If all else fails try the coal iron: Ignoring electricity is the best revenge against NEPA, and when you go back to the basics, you will discover a whole new world of substitutes for your electricity problems. Like ironing. Not everyone has a powerful generator that can power those small monsters. If you allow NEPA to get to you, and you wear wrinkled attire to work, on the same day an European delegation is coming to finalise a contract…

Anyway, just try the coal iron—it really works.

Follow Ayo Sogunro on twitter for more unsolicited tips on Nigerian life via@ayosogunro.

Musings: Behold the New Messiah! – By Efe Wanogho

Behold the New Messiah! – By Efe Wanogho

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The seemingly fruitless and interminable wait for the end of the present scheme of things in the Nigerian geopolitical space, wherein mediocrity and corruption, as well as extreme disregard for the rights of the commoner, is at an end. The long awaited arrival of the Moses-like deliverer, in biblical terms; or the champions of freedom and responsibility in public office like the departed Gani Fawenhinmi, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Beko Ransome-Kuti, Martin Luther King Jr, Thomas Sankara, Kwame Nkrumah, to name a few of the finest breed of their kind; is finally upon us.
Going forward, Nigerians are to be freed from the menace of thieving and incompetent politicians and sundry office holders, as the much-sought-after torch bearer, is finally here. Alas, sanity is soon to returnto our public space. We can go to bed with two eyes closed, rest assured that the rampaging ravages of all manner of criminals; the self-centered greed-driven rule of opportunist and godfather-dependent cum rule-circumventing leaders, nay rulers; the debilitating adventures of ethnoreligious champions and their co-travelers who are involved in sectional intolerance and sheer bigotry; the self-inflicted reign of accidental – and I dare add, unprepared – public servants, apologies to Mallam Nasir El Rufai, is at the point of being permanently banished from our shores. The new Messiah would stand up to the many ills occasioned by having square pegs in round holes all across our public space. The common good, as opposed to the myopic and limited narrow and parochial interests of self-serving public servants, shall begin to be the guiding principle for the country.
The gains of the arrival of the Messiah must be trite knowledge and as such, self evident. The question that must be begging for an answer, now, in the mind of the reader; is: who is this new messiah? Who is this individual that has come to liberate us from the shackles of irresponsible governance? Look no further. The Messiah is you. The entirety of the good people of Nigeria, who are ready to make the necessary sacrifices for the growth and development of the country; collectively constitute the messiah. When treated individually, we only have a minute spark of the powers of this messiah. When we come together, united by an unprecedented zeal and patriotic fervour; we unleash the dormant powers – which absence, have propelled sheer criminality in the land – necessary to birth and berth the long elusive new order of citizen-centered governance.
In this new era, the post-Arab Spring dispensation, we cannot continue to wait for a Moses to lead us out of Egypt, as we are individually, the constituting parts of the Moses. We do not have to look very far for extraneous forces to rise in our defense. That age is no longer fashionable. In this new age, we must reach across to fellow compatriots across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, to stand up for change. We must dispel all politics of divide and rule. What should begin to count for us, is credibility and competence of anyone who must hold any public office. Issues of ethnic, regional, and religious affiliation, must begin to be relegated to the background.
Having located the long lost messiah, what is left for each of us is to stimulate and propel our collective readiness for change; for then, and only then, can we get to the Eldorado, where the citizen is king.
Are you ready?
If not you, who?
If not now, when?
The fact is: no one would, and should, do for you, what you ought to do for yourself.
The writer is on Twitter as @efewanogho.
Laus Deo!

El-Rufai on Friday | These Cowards – Olusegun Dada

The rising popularity of social media among young people has become such a nightmare for Nigeria’s rulers that are afraid of openness and information symmetry, that the Jonathan administration is spending a whopping $40 million to read their emails, romantic exchanges and other ‘subversive’ exchanges. Interacting regularly with young people on Twitter and Facebook gives the older generation both hope and concern.
‘Dada Olusegun is one of those young people that have been making positive contributions in cyberspace. He is just 25 years old! He attended Awori Ajeromi Grammar School in Lagos and graduated from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomosho with an honours degree in Pure and Applied Chemistry! Yet like many of the multi-talented youths we have introduced on this column, Dada writes as if he studied humanities, the social sciences or even literature.
Dada was very active along with Yemi Adamolekun, Japheth Omojuwa, Chinedu Ekeke, Seun Fakuade, Zainab Usman, Momoh Adejoh and Amina Saude Mohammed and numerous others during the #OccupyNigeria movement that successfully resisted the imposition of the surreptitious Jonathanian tax called ‘fuel subsidy removal’. He is a talented writer cum social change advocate. He is a regular political columnist on #EkekeeeDotCom and contributor on numerous online blogs and newspapers. He is a gifted public speaker who is also involved in youth empowerment and enlightenment.
Today, Dada issues a call to action and appeals for Nigerian citizens to end their lethargic acceptance of bad governance, looting and impunity by claiming to be neutral. Indeed, Dada thinks such people are simply cowards. Do you agree? It is my honour and privilege to introduce another vigorous young voice, Mr. ‘Dada Olusegun for your weekend enjoyment.
                                    – Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai
Let me put it this way: I have seen many things in my life. I have seen certain people who treat passivity as some kind of heroic action. There are people who say, “I just want my job, my family, and my religion and I will leave politics out of my life.” Passivity isn’t heroic, it’s cowardly! It’s the lazy man’s easy way out. But I see it beyond laziness.
Let me say this to those people: you’re idiots! While you’re asleep in front of your own life, they are screwing you. While you shut your mind to national issues, they are mentally gang-raping you. While you’re living out your life, they are ripping you off; they’re pulling the carpet from under you, tripling national debts that your children and grandchildren will not be able to pay till they die.
You’re idiots for closing your eyes exactly when your eyes should be open. You’re morons for thinking that the present day government will take care of the people if not put on their toes and forced to do so. You’re blind for thinking that the corruptly rich will not do everything in their power to keep their stranglehold on you; you cannot be passive while the missiles of corruption fall on your head and the heads of your children. You cannot be passive while they destroy your life and the lives of your children. You cannot sit there and pretend to be neutral. You cannot be passive when people thousands daily die due to negligence of government. You cannot be passive when the military sworn to protect your lives and properties kill and maim you and your children on the altar of the war against terror. You cannot afford to be passive. No you cannot.
Your destiny is in your hands, the destiny of your generation and the generation after yours. Let me tell you this: it’s either you become politically active or you risk a complete destruction by those in power. You either become politically active or your unborn children and grandchildren will curse you even in your grave because politics is too important to be left in the hands of “the politicians”. It is even worse to leave it in the hands of criminals who know no difference between state purse and personal pocket. Who will loot the entire treasury, in the drop of a hat.
Our direct participation in politics both now and during and after every election is compulsory for the growth of the society and the welfare of the humans living in it. Our contract must never stop with voting anyone into power, but prevailing upon them to perform. Only with our direct participation in politics will power truly belong to the people.
Enemies of Nigeria are on the prowl, only our combined voices can throw them out. The Edo and Ondo state gubernatorial elections have shown that it is possible for us as a people to resist all forms of electoral malpractices.
I also understand that your ilk, the Mister-mind-my-business, didn’t participate in the Edo election. Your church and family and job and business and holiness and righteousness were all more important to you than the good of the society you live in.
When the vigilance of those you call fools now cause those in power to get responsible and build roads, you will want to drive past them. When they build good schools, you will want to pull your kids out of the low-quality but unreasonably expensive buildings called private schools, to put them in the government owned ones.
We saw how your ilk in performing states pulled their kids out of those private schools when they saw that a responsible government can actually build good schools.
You sit under your religious leaders who enjoin you to honour thieves in government with their silence and you swallow such messages without thinking them through. What they fail to tell you however is that without the Reverend Martin Luther Kings’ of yesterday, there could never have been a Barack Obama today.
You are an enemy of this country.
But the country must move on with or without you or your cowardice masked in passivity. We will defeat all the enemies and put our nation back on the path of growth and change.
Did I hear you say I insulted you? Well, whatever I say here will be better than what your great grandchildren will say on your grave, if this nation fails.
Wake up, my friend, wake up!