Robbed.

I didn't see the robbers. There may never even have been any. But my laptop dissappeared from my laptop bag from inside my sitting room. Everything else is intact, the charger, the headphones. My baby has two minders. A 40something year old lady that leaves by 6pm and I have a young girl that returns from school by 2pm.
The young girl(after much questioning)says some lady came to the house at about 6.30pm after the nanny had gone. Said lady asked for water and blue and yellow capsule, she said we didnt have, lady asked her to go check in the room, and SHE WENT. Now, I don't know what is blue and yellow capsule so it's not possible for us to have had it so?
My laptop is always with me but was home that day cos I was out of town, Igwe went to take the kids to my sis at about 7pm. He didn't meet this strange woman.

The young girl has strict instructions never to open the door for anyone when we aren't home, so why did she open the door for a stranger who said she was looking for her Aunty? Can she be lying, she's an excellent liar but has never stolen from me. The Nanny is new, just about a month, can she be the culprit?The Story is very funny. Most people say send both of them packing but I've been through so many domestic help, I don tire.
.

I hate being stolen from but more than that, I hate the intrusion. And all I kept thinking was they could very easily have taken my son. Thank God for God.

Nigeria: Is there not a curse?

I am Nigerian with a green passport FACT1
I do not apologise for it. FACT2
It makes immigration officers hair stand. FACT3
For the love of me does not care. FACT4



THE NATIONAL PLEDGE

I pledge to Nigeria my country

To be faithful, loyal and honest

To serve Nigeria with all my strength

To defend her unity and uphold her honor and glory

So help me God.

For those of us who studied in Nigeria we must have recited the pledge at least a million times through primary and secondary school. Apparently, it meant nothing if anything to us.
First it was district 9. The SA/Hollywood film that portrays Nigerians as 419’s prostitutes etc. I have not seen the movie but the reviews have told me all I need to know.

Now it’s the Sony advert. I think this is extremely cheap and irresponsible of SONY. For a whole team to come up with that, pass it through several people and still decide that the advert was perfect, then it’s a big big shame. Nigeria, a country where the product is sold in mass. But my grouse is not necessarily with SONY, it is more with Nigerians who don’t see anything wrong with it, and those who think that Dora has no right to ask that the advert be retraced and Sony offer a public apology.

When I read some of the comments on the issue, I almost gave up on Nigerians. How dare we say that it is okay for people to insult us? Yes, Nigeria has corrupt leaders, Yes Nigeria has yahoo, yahoo boys, Yes, Some Nigerians are stupid and foolish and docile and cowardly and just empty barrels but that does not justify another national calling us these names to our faces. If the security guy falls asleep on his post, does that justify the thief? Is a drunk driver justified because a pub was left open?

I don’t care that almost all our leaders are thieves giving us a bad name. Whenever I travel, I travel with my head held high. Yes, they scan and scan and rescan my passport but I don’t care, I will not apologise for being a Nigerian, they can’t never intimidate me. When they are done with their scanning, they hand me back my passport and I walk away, sometimes I can’t resist adding if they are sure they don’t want to scan some more. Being Nigerian is not a crime and one day, I swear, my child will stand proud that he is one.

My brother was initially refused a British study visa, they claimed that my mother, who sponsored him ,had forged her statement of account. My brother was livid. Being a journalist, he replied them immediately threatening fire and brimstone and demanding an apology. How dare them call his mother-who had served his fatherland in the civil service for thirty five years- a fraudster? If the embassy staff were not diligent enough to decipher what statement was false and which wasn’t, should he be made to pay for their irresponsibility. He raved and ranted and they called him up, apologised and granted him the visa.

What is my point?That it don’t matter that Nigeria is more bad than good(and that is debatable)It don’t give no one no right to insult us. And we have to learn to stand up for this country. If not for us, for our children. I believe that the older generation is lost and there is no saving them. Only us, the younger people can save this country, but how can we save a country, we have no passion for, we hold no respect for?

I don’t think anyone would pat another on the back for insulting our parents, our tribe or our religion, so why do we let them insult Nigeria?
It doesn’t matter if we become the best country in the world, if we have no self respect as a nation, no other nation will respect us.

Finally, to all those thieving leaders who have contributed in bringing shame upon our nation. MAY THE FULL WRATH OF GOD DESCEND UPON THEM!

Uncensored

That should actually have read unedited. Just bits and pieces of stuff.

Sanusi and the highway thieves.

I got that from a book-samankwe and the highway thieves. Wonder how many of you read it?

So Sanusi or CBN has sacked 5 bank chiefs. I find it very embarassing and disturbing. Particularly on the part of Ibru and Akingbola who are regular speakers at their churches. Someone must have redefined christianity while I slept or how else do you explain the fraud, and yes, I insist it is fraudulent to give loans to non-credible people, I understand Ibru recently acquired a bank in Sao-Tome and her sons all had ghost companies which they used to borrow money from Oceanic. Depositors money! They should be tried and if found guilty, treated as common criminals.

However, there is something uncanny about Sanusi's approach, about his urgency and about the concentration on these five banks. Having been Nigerian long enough, I know that he has got something up his sleeve. There have been many rumours: they want to sell the banks to Northerners, they want to use the banks to secure a loan from IMF, he is settling a personal vendetta and so on and so forth.

Nigeria really has me baffled, while I believe that crimes must be punished, I do think that when it concerns public interest, one must thread softly. So Sanusi says these banks are on the virge of collapse, and with the same voice, he plans an international roadshow where he intends to market said banks to would be investors. I need someone to explain it to me like I am a four year old.
A very bad marriage
I have watched a friend battle with a very bad marriage. The evil that some men do has absolutely no bounds. The beatings, the threats to her life etc. Her story would give any one goose bumps. Finally, though there's been progress. There's been a restraining order on him and the divorce case is in court. This is a cry out to women, please, please, please do not marry an extremely jealous, violent, poor, heavy drinking etc man.

Centage talent hunt
I watched Centage talent hunt run by Kennis music. I don't know what it is that makes us Nigerians not do things well, Just how hard can it be? Don't they watch other shows, don't they understand that the judges are much a part of the show as the contestants? The judges are Jimmy Jatt, kenny Saint 1 and sme other guy I have never seen. They all wear some funny looking glasses, this is something I can't understand, how are they supposed to have eye contact with the contestants when they are wearing dark glasses? or they don't think eye contact is important? Those judges are so boring, all talk the same. I hope I never come across the show again.

Light up Nigeria
I went into the group last night and was reading the comments. Some Andrew guy is insisting Nigeria can never have constant power supply. I thought the group was for us hopefuls who want to come together and see how we can find a solution. If you don't believe in a cause, why do you join the cause? Naijans sha. someone mentioned that that's how it was said that a black can never be president yet....
Nigeria will have constant power supply. All of us who believe in this country will see to it.

P/S
I apologise for the layout of this post-something to do with my browser.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Nigeria must be the toughest country to live in. Okay, scratch that as I remember being stuck in Khartoum, Sudan sometime ago.

This morning after driving many miles to drop my car off at the service centre somewhere very far away, I come back home and settle down to write. But of course there is no electricity, and the generators won't start. I apply my little knowledge of machines and get one to work. Thirty minutes after it dies. Pray tell, how do two gens pack up at once, particularly at a time when I have a deadline? So I come to my office, and believe this, the gen isn't working either, Is this what it means to be jinxed? I use the small gen with my heart in my mouth as it has blown up two of my power packs previously.

I put the lapy to charge and off to lunch I go at my buka only to discover they have been closed down by the council or something for having an unclean environment. While this is a good thing, why today that for the love of me is starving and broke and pressed for time?

I am back with my lapy only I can't find the strength to write and my client is calling me incessantly as I have already been paid for the job. I am just staring at the screen, it'll soon be time to hit the gym, I hope no surprises await me there or I will just book into mountain of fire for deliverance.

Sat-3 is down, whatever that is. Starcomms is one of the few functional internet provider in this country at the moment and the speed is....... Only in Nigeria, walai.

Reuben Abati

Don't Panic. It's not another rejoinder to his (goof) article. Instead, I think he may have redeemned his image with this piece.

'President Yar'çdua insults us when the same week that Babalola ruined our December, he told us through egbon Ojo Maduekwe, that we should wait and judge him after his tenure. The Foreign Affairs Minister said: "We will not join hands with those critics, the government will not be distracted by the daily torrent of abuses thrown at its doorsteps by those who do not even know the names of their local government areas. They are intellectual hit men, seen to pull down every administration and are too lazy to fight for power. In the course of time, the outcome of our seven-point agenda will vindicate us." President Obasanjo said precisely the same thing about Nigerians, pipeline vandals and intellectual hit men and see where he has left us. Can Yar'çdua and his hit men please convert all of these many words that continue to tumble out of their mouths into megawatts of electricity and give us light in this country? Then, they can judge us. '

I thought that was fantastic. Yaradua, please kindly do as he has asked, if you are the president, turn these words into electricity.

He also responds nicely to Is-haq Akintola who thinks Arabic should be restored on the Naira notes.
He asks: "The question is what is wrong if Arabic is on the Naira? Is English not there? The Arabic on the Naira symbolizes the existence of Muslims in the country while the English on the Naira represents the Christian population. To remove the Arabic unceremoniously is to tell the Muslims that they do not belong." He wants the Arabic inscriptions restored. Wrong. Absolutely wrong and mischievous.

Yes Mr. Reuben,please tell him. Nigeria is a SECULAR state and will remain so. If you want to be an Islamic fundamentalist so bad, you may want to migrate. I just simply don't understand these guys, How on earth is the presence of Arabic on the naira note going to better the lives of Muslims, Is it going to end the Niger Delta crises which clearly the govt. has no idea what to do or will it provide us electricity? The North has been in power for years and yet the North remains the least developed in Nigeria. Shouldn't Akintola be impressing on his leaders to do something to alleviate the sufferings of the Notherners who are predominantly muslims? He is talking about arabic on Naira notes. If you are looking to start a war, you have failed. People are to hungry to fight unworthy causes.

May something great happen to y'all this week.

He is just not into you.......

I saw this movie last night at the Ozone cinema ,Yaba, Lagos. That was my first time there despite it being a walking distance from my office. Everyone complains about the island/mainland divide and everyday it seems more obvious. Ozone cinema is so different from silverbird cinemas, V. I despite it being owned by the same or sister companies. It's as if the management couldn't be bothered to try too hard, it is after all, Yaba. Anyway I digress.

He is just not into you is a movie about relationships; the signs that tell if he is interested or not and the stupid reasons women make up for themselves when a man isn't calling or picking his calls. It takes us around different continents, and naturally when they show African women, it is of women in huts. Nonsense, but again I digress.

My beef today is with women who lay everything at the feet of the man simply because they want him to marry them, if he aint going to marry you, he aint going to marry you no matter what you do and if by some chance he marries you, you'd be so miserable in the marriage. Why does everyone make such a big deal about marriage anyway? Before you guys jump on my throat, I am happy I am married and would recommend it but if someone insists that he/she is happily single, why must we force, coerce, urge them to marry? For christians, will there be a reward in heaven for having beeen married?

Why do we(read women) tie our happiness to a man? I have always been happy, (how can I not be happy when there's food and fanta and icecream?) before I married and much as I love being married, I would still have been happy had I not married! Get a life, women!

I am angry because a friend of mine married a guy she met a total of 6 times and now the guy's turning out to be an absolute jerk and she's shocked? How can you be shocked? And she's such a good kid she don't deserve this,now she wants a divorce and fast so what was the point?The marriage is just about six months.

Her mother pushed, her friends pushed etc. Everywhere you turn they are asking when you are getting married, and when you marry, they are asking when you'll have kids and when you have kids, they are asking when you'll die.

Another acquaintance has been married 4 years and has never worked and it isn't like the husband is rich. All she does is sit at home and wait for him to come home and nag when he doesn't. Now the guy has moved out, I would too if I had a husband whose only job was to wait for me to come home.

Women please, get a life, get friends, get a job, volunteer at a home, anything. Stop waiting hand and foot on a man. If he loves you, he'll show it, if he treats you like a jerk, then he don't send you. Move on. Fish plenty for water.

In the time that I was gone:

My cousin was kidnapped. Yeah, not someone I know from afar. It happened right in my family. We paid 2 million naira. And got her back. So based on that I should be one of those campaigning for the millitants to all be killed as I have experienced the evil that they are or have led to.(I don't think it was millitants who kidnapped my cousin, just some criminals). But I am not because I can't see the millitants, all can see are women and children being killed. Innocent citizens suffering for nothing that is a fault of theirs. The oil has been more of a blessing than a curse. The people were better off without it. They could fish and there wwas no crime, now all that's gone. All they had left was life, and in true Nigerian style, they believed that where there was life, there was hope, but even that has been taken from there. Many of them are dead. I don't even know who to blame, the government or the millitants. I am just so sad,sad for the many innocent people whose only crime was being born into the Niger Delta.

My boy took his first steps. Time sure flies, one momment he is very tiny and the next he is a man as one of my friends would say, na to marry remain.

I met someone while playing scrabble online. Ann. She is absolutely fantabulous. An Israeli but originally a New Yorker. She is a writer. I think writers are one of the most intelligent of people. Duh if you don't agree.

The reason for which I stopped blogging became invalid. Was passing through a phase and happy that it is over.

How have you guys been?