When is it enough?

Lately, I have been thinking. Really thinking.

In another five years do I still want to be putting on the generator? Do I want my son growing up shouting 'UP NEPA'. (He already does) or do I want to do something about it? I have a few options: Migrate to a 'civilised' country, retire early to a remote village or force the government to do something about it. Needless to say, I took the last option.

It's no longer enough to sit down and nag about NEPA or PHCN, it's time to act.

It doesn't matter if you don't live here or if you have three passports, as long as Nigeria flows in your veins either by birth or blood, then NIgeria is your home and is yours to build. Recently in the Birmingham, a friend of mine took me round the city in his car, there's a Nigerian flag there, he has a British passport but he flies the Nigerian flag. In the train as well, a white boy asks a Bengali girl, where she is from, she says London, and he says, nope, I mean where are you originally from?

The Enough is Enough campaign hits Abuja streets on the 16th of March,2010. If you cannot attend, can you at least sponsor someone? so that when Nigeria improves, we can all nod our heads in pride, saying, I was a part of that change.

These psychos in power will never do good except we implore them to, I am ready to, Are you?

www.enoughisenoughnigeria.com

And the Lord saved us.

It's 5am and a neighbour is screaming Igwe,Igwe. My first reaction is to lock all the doors as I think there may be thieves around, then I see red. There is fire in the building.

My neighbor went to top up his fuel and next thing, it went up in flames, we suspect he didn't put of the generator before pouring the petrol but I refuse to believe it, can anybody be that stupid? So everyone is running out of their flats, on my way down, I remember my Jimmy choo bag that cost me both arms and both legs, God forgive that it should burn, I run back and grab my bag abeg and my car keys. Please a girl is allowed her vanities.

The compound is filled with good samaritans, some with Omo, water, sand, all sorts, but the fire keeps spreading, we start to bring out fire extinguishers from our cars, there's one in the house too and that's the one that saves us. Fortunately, the neighbor who started the fire, just went through a fire drill at work so he is able to open all the extinguishers.

My generator is burnt, my net, my water pipes. Amazingly, no one else loses anything(apart from the culprit whose generator is completely burnt down), perhaps I should visit mountain of fire, only last week, my phone crashed.

Please everyone, get fire extinguishers and more importantly learn how to use them. Had we none, I wouldn't be here typing this as I would be wailing about the loss of all my books.

A few days ago, I blogged about this heat causing deaths, little did I know, that it could easily have been mine. Thank God for God.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord deliverth him from them all.

Keeping Silent

In the time that I was gone,Yaradua was also gone. Three months and counting and we still can't find the president? There is nothing more to say as everyone has said it all.

I have not exactly stopped blogging but I find that these days, I have less and less to say. I have become simply the observer, removed from my immediate environment.

A few months back,my baby was ill and my neighbor(fantabulous woman)took us to her place of work, LUTH. I'll admit, they probably have the best professionals but the environment, HMMMM. and it's got nothing to do with money, what's the price difference between a pedal bin and one you have to use your hands? Was I really expected to use my hands to uncover the bin and with the same hands touch my baby? There is no running water in the children's ward except at nurses' station and parents are not allowed near. The toilet is a no go area so parents use potties for their kids no matter the age and push the mess under the bed till the next morning. The mother beside me has no mosquito net for her baby, the nurses claim they have run out of nets, how do you run out of nets in a mosquito infested ward in a country where malaria is still the highest killer disease in children. Some good parent lends her one. Some mothers sleep under their children's bed to escape the murderous mosquitos. sleep is the last thing on my mind, my baby's temparature is at an all time high, I am constantly sponging it. I seek out a nurse who only follows me the third time, she feels his body and advises I pour water on him. As early as 5.am, we are woken up by a shrill voice that rings louder than a rising bell. She tells mothers to return chairs(most mothers sleep on chaiirs)and clean up their kids. I see some women with buckets and I join them,we follow a path and find a tank that has water. If there's water here, why can't there be water everywhere at LUTH?

The experirence at Luth leaves my stomach tight and my tongue tied. I am sorry for Nigeria, sorry for my countrymen. Is this life that we live here? what would it cost to have running water in hospitals so that people can at least have clean toilets? I bet the Director has been given enough funds to provide that but in true Nigerian style, he feels the money would do better in his pockets. Is the heart of the Nigerian man more desperately wicked than the heart of other men? Why do Nigerians like to amass wealth and more wealth at the detriment of the poor, the sick.

It's been so so hot lately-35 degrees and above- and I keep thinking of OBJ and other past leaders that have syphoned Nigeria's wealth. Wealth that should have generated electricity, wealth that could have saved lives,for I know that people will die from this heat, from generator fumes, from congestion, from frustration and while people are dying, some people will be depositing stolen millions in swiss accounts.
On the last day, what will you say to God? That you stole money that people should have used to feed? That you sold your conscience for a car or two?

I am sorry for you, oh thieving leader, sorry for you oh Nigeria, for you are a country of many vagabondsssssss.

PS.

I didn't change my layout to this, it just happened.

Nigerians as terrorists ke?

Nigerians have been included on the list of Countries to watch out for and Prof. Dora says it is not fair. Can someone please tell me exactly what not being fair means? Dora goes on to add that she knows Nigeria will be de-listed by the GRACE OF GOD. Is this woman for real? By the grace of God? I have always believed that religion is a major reason Nigeria remains so backwards. If it is no ; pray for Yaradua's recovery, it is; pray for Nigeria to be delisted from America's watchlist. These leaders need their heads checked.

Let me first of all say that I condemn Umar Farouk's actions in particular and all acts of terrorism in general. But I think the way Nigeria has acted has been very shallow. The guy is a NIGERIAN. That should be the government's primary concern not what America would now think of us. Why are we so afraid of America anyway, the way I see it, America needs us more than we need them, they know that, unfortunately we don't. All sorts of groups and bodies spring up, disowning Umar. We may disown him all we want but the Nigerian blood runs in his veins like it runs in ours. Does a father particularly the African father throw away his son because of his sins? For those of us who are Christians does God feed us to the dogs because we have done wrong? Please do not get me wrong, Umar should be tried and punished but Nigeria should have at least attempted to make a case for him. We could have blamed it on insanity, on external influences, on peer pressure, anything at all but we were so quick to wash our hands off him, to distance our selves from him not because we hated his crime so much but because we rever America too much. God forbid that they should deny us all visas, where then will our poor run to find wealth and our rich run to spend their wealth?

I strongly believe that there is more to this than meets the eye. America MAy have stagemanaged this from the beginning. The boy had been reported by his father to America. America conveniently let this pass, it wasnt serious enough, they said and then he attempts to blow up a plane and does not SUCCEED and NIgeria's name is included in their watchlist. Come On!

Surely they must have a plan. I çan't imagine what it is but I doubt that it is far from wanting to establish a military base in Naija or unconnected to their oil interests in the Niger Delta Region. It may be my mind over working but I doubt.