₦airaland Forum

Do you watch Naija movies?

At least that is my opinion. Nigerians may not agree

Adams Oshiamhole is the Governor of Edo State. Early in the week, Oshiamhole addressed a public lecture. In his speech, he said that Nigeria is a failing state. And he called for electoral reforms.

I will not comment on the electoral reforms. In my experience this is a call made by every politician who aspires to be president. Once in power, the same will trash any reforms made.

What I wish to state here is that Ashiamhole is now part of the system. He is a Governor, a very powerful position. He can bring about change. He can do better by example. Edo State is not the richest State in Nigeria. It has many problems. He could start by sortng out the problems of Edi State before talking about the rest of the country.

What I know of Oshiamhole is that he was an outspoken trade unionist. Problem, is, he is no longer a trade unionist so populist talk will not solve Nigeria's problems. All countries have problems. Nigeria also has many challenges. And if Ashamhole has ideas which can help overcome the challenges, fantastic. But I do not believe Nigeria is a failing state, and it will not fail.

On many occasions people tend to talk about the sexiest or the hottest or the most beautiful actress in Nollywood or showbiz. Very few ever think of the ones who canm really entertain and make us laugh and be happy.

Having watched most of the No;;ywood stars in actions. I am now comvinced that Nmek is the funniest, and probably the best comic in Africa. Watch him as Usuofia in London, whether he has been to Cambridge, or is a Prince or whatever position he gets, he will staill make you laugh And his face is the part.

Nkem is a natural. He can make you laugh even when he is not talking. All the others are pretenders. Osito thrives in being a kid, nothing more.

Nkem is the best, period

Can anyone trust a lawyer? Or present day pastors?

Mourinho is repoerted to have sdaid that the European Champiopns League is better than the World Cup. On the face of it, this may look like the ranting of a frustrated coach who had hoped to coach one of the teams and failed to secure an appointment, but is it?

Looking at the reason he has given, you may be convinced he has a point. Let us look at the players who play for the to[ clubs in Europe, and you will find only the big names drown from all over the world. It is in fact the same players who will dominate the World Cup. We can rightly say that the big clubs are the main providers to the World Cup. At the World Cup. we have obscure countries, and players who depend on the same to propel them to the bigtime at the big clubs.

In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that New Zealand could beat Man U or Inter. I doubt whether Japan is a match for Barca or Bayern. The countries who qualified for the World Cup will always depend on the big clubs, and the Mourinhos and Fergies to provide them with a winning team. Without them, the World Cup would not be worth that much

Two people were in love, and wanted to get married, but before they could get married, they died in an accident and went to heaven. They still wanted to marry so they went to St. Peter. St Peter told them to return after 5 years. They did return after 5 years, but St. Peter had not found a pastor to conduct the wedding. So he told them to return after another 5 years.

Ten years later, they went back to St. Peter. This time St. Peter assured them he had indeed found a pastor and they got married. After sometime, they realised the marriage was a mistake, so they wanted a divorce. It is now some 2,000 years and the poor couple are still married. St. Peter is still searching for, and waiting for a lawyer to finally make it to heaven

The best strategy is, IF YOU MISS THE BALL DON'T MISS THE PLAYER

Following the death of Yar'ardua, Jonathan has been sworn in as the president of Nigeria. He will serve until the next elections are held next year. In Kenya, elections would have been called within 90 days upon the death of the incumbent. Jonathan is now expected to appoint his Deputy.

There is an unwritten arrangement, that when the president is from the mainly Christian south, then the Vice president should be from the mainly Muslim north and vice versa. So Jonathan is expected to choose a Muslim from the North. But then there is a problem. It is also expected that the next 4 years will continue to be under a Muslim from the North, meaning that Jonathan should not vie for the Presidency. Will he consent to this, having tasted the power of the presidenc
The situation is still unclear. Does this mean that if the South was to provide a Muslim president, then the north should provide a Christian Vice president? What would happen if both the north and south president and vice president were christian or muslim at the same time? would Nigeria accept two Christian or Muslim leaders, although they come from the two sides? Indeed, would the north accept the idea of having a Christian president who comes from the north?

For the first to,e, Nigeria is faced with the reality that this arrangement may not be the ideal. It may have worked, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Only time will tell

Frankly I have a feeling it may be an inside job. I think some neighbours may have been involved. They had a pickup tyo carry my things. They knew just when to launch their robbery. This is a secure place in most cases, and on this particular night, something was being done, which made the security less strict.

It takes a long time to accumulate personal effects, and when somebody takes them by force just like that, you get mad. O woll have no mercy on robbers any more

A musical, by the name  Fela, has just won a Tony award at Broadway in the United States of America. The musical is about the life of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, and this comes many years after his death.

There are not many Nigerians today who know much about Fela Kuti, but he was a giant during his day. There are very few musicians in Nigeria, and indeed in Africa, who will ever reach his level. And I can bet, that there will be very few of the present generation of musicians who will be remembered for as long as Fela will be, or whose music will be as enduring.

Fela Kuti did not play music to follow a trend, as many do today. He set a trend, that no one is able to follow. He stood upto, and spoke against injustice. The present day musician on the other hand will see and hear no evil, concentrating on love instead.

Fela Kuti will continue to be a giant among musicians. It is embarrassing that while Fela can win an award, even posthumously abroad, not much is done in his memory in Africa, not even his motherland. Can someone in  Nigeria name a street after him, or put up a statue somewhere, or even a monument or library?

A musical, by the name

It never occurred to me that I would one day become a victim of a robbery. You always believe it will happen to the other person, but never you. Well. I finally became a victim at 3.00am Wednesday. Some thieves, about 9 invaded my house, two were armed with pistols, three with machine guns and the others with machettes.

In the process, I lost 2 Bravia tvs, and 8 speaker Sony music system, a 3 speaker Samsung, a video camera, a digital camera, an LG home theatre, a Philips DVD player, an LG video player, a Blackberry, two Motorolas and an LG mobile. They also carried away my electric gas cooker, fridge, and my seven piece leather sofa set. They also took the money which I had just withdrawn yesterday.

This is not amusing, and it can be scary when yoiu are facing a gang armed with guns. And I am mad. But then it can be difficult trying to defend your property in the circumstances. But somehow, I fel rather sorry for the thugs. After all it is their job, and thugs dir4ctly employ many people/ The lawyers, judges, prison officers and clerks, including the professors who teach them!

At least I came out alive. Many lose their lives. As for the thieves, I wish them well. I will buy some new things and get on with my life. But if ever I se some thieves being beaten by a mob, I will join, quite happily because I want my revenge, and I am looking forward to lynching someone

Abd that is why we need our own indigenous languiage to communicate with each other. Else we will never be truly free

Higerian musician are pkay too, and yes, they seem to like the girls here. So one thing leads to another, and before long Kenyan babies start sporting Nigerian names.

There is something very exciting happening on the music scene in Africa. For some time now, West African musicians, mainly from Nigeria, have been coming to East Africa to perform. And they are minting millions, not to mention adding to the population!

In Kenya today, there is a monthly Nigerian Nite, and this is where Nigerian musicians perform, side by side with their Kenyan counterparts. What is more exciting is that they have started joint recording, what we all call collabos. And the Nigerians are singing in Kiswahili.

Not only are these musicians promoting true African brotherhood, they are promoting Kiswahili too. It is just a matter of time before we hear Nigerian boys and girls singing in Kisweahili too as they play. There has been a joint effort in the movie area, and I have seen movies here in Kenya, with well-known Nigerian actresses speaking Kiswahili.

We will also learn pidgin English, I am sure. I just hope this is not a mere publicity stunt. And I do hope that there will be a Kenyan Nite in Lagos once a month too

Jesus, did perform miracles. No doubt about that. So did his disciples including Paul. So did Moses, So did Elijah, So did Elisha, They were not paid for that. They did it to spread the word about the power of God, not self glorification

I can't shut up because people are being cinned out of their money. Getting money by false pretense is an offense punishable by jail. Jesus talked about these Pharecees and Saducees. Are you one? And doctors do make goof money, honestly

We do have conmen even here

Nairaland will be among the first to get the info in this, and I may even upload it

It has taken quite a while, but it is finally about to materialize. And we may have to thank Nollywood for motivation. A movie is in the pipeline. The movie is to be shot in Kenya, by Kenyan youth, mainly drawn from the slums in Nairobi. The theme is very simple; crime, corruption in high places, drug baroms, criminal gangs, prostitution and extortion.
a
These are very common occurences in slums, and the youth will highlight the problems they encounter. The movie has the title, CENTER OF TRUTH, and the main brains behind it are Michael Omondi, Gabriel Owino, Dorothy Mirenya, Justus Odweny Makokha, Elcy Njeru, Willie Odhiambo, Maurice Oduor, Charles Kamau and yours truly.

Many of the above-mentioned are also my own students in my taekwondo class, so you are assured of a lot of spectacularkicks. But it will not be all action.There will be some hot romance too.

The whole idea will be, however, to expose and tap the abundant talent available in slums and give the youth a better chance in life.

Jesus ,ay not have healed all the sick, but he healed those who were brought to him and those he met on the way. What I am trying to say is that these people should not seek to con people

Very true, Lyfe, but they then push the blame on us

We keep on having these preachers who claim to perform miracles on Television all the time. But we have many sick people in hospitals, we have many disabled people in special schools and homes. Many more are found on streets begging every day. So if they are genuine, why don't these preachers go to these hospitals or institutions, or just walk along the streets of any city and cure all the sick and disabled? That is what Jesus did, why not them? It would cost them nothing, and they would convert more people and make them even more famous

Corruption is a subject that has dominated a lot of time, particularly by the Western Nations. These nations have tended to point out that there is a lot of corruption especially in Africa. That they themselves have elementsd of corruption, or that they induce us into corrupt deals does not seem to bother them. But this is beside the point. The point I would like to make here is that it is very difficult to eradicate corruption.

Corruption has been with us for centuries. Anyone who has read the Bible will have seem many instances of corruption bu sons of the high and mighty, including those who had been appointed to serve God But back to modern time. We have to accept that there are times when we encourage people to be corrupt. A good example is where we expect anybody who works for the Government to be rich. A hardworking Civil servant who works for 30 years then retires to live in therural area with his small pension becomes a laughing stock. A civil servant is expected to have a big house, a car or two, a 1,000 acre farm and other properties, with children going to expensive schools. How do they manage this on a civil servant's salary? Society expects them to steal. Period.

Let us look at another scenario. A customs officer, who earns less than 200 dollars a month, is approached by a businessman. The businessman has imported 200 reconditioned cars, and wants some documents to be falsified so that he does not pay duty. In exchange, the Customs Officer can choose any two cars and take them as his own, with a lot more to come in future transactions. Can he resist this?. Or a police man who makes about 300 dollars a day on bribes, from motorists or illegal immigrants, and yet he is paid peanuts. Even if the salary is tripled, he will not stop demanding bribes, And this applies to politicians who are induced with overseas trips, countless number of girls, and other goodies.

As I have indicated, corruption is not the preserve of Africans. Even in the US of A corruption exists, but it is scientific and is not regarded as corruption. We ib Africa are still in the gestation period so our methods are crude. I am not saying that corruption is good. What I believe is that what is at times called corruption is in fact theft of public funds. If someone syphons millions of dollars from the Treasury, that is theft. Why should it be called corruption or misappropriation of funds and yet for a junior officer, it will be referred to as theft by servant? Are these people who steal big money different from a chicken thief, so they have to be tried under different rules, which they then challenge?

Yermipretty, Geography was a subject I did and passed very well in school. And I know that the world is now a smaller place than it was before. Travelling is jusst a few hours and we communicate with each other all the time. So we need a common language in Africa, just as we use English inretnationally

of Nigeria. If the President is not well enough to govern. all Nigerians have a right to know. This is no longer a family matter, and Mrs Yar'Ardua should know this. So far she seems to be the only one who knows whether he is still alive or dead. This should not happen. It is good that the Electoral Commission is now working on the next elections

Mrs Yar'Ardua has done it again. She is preventing even the Acting President of Nigerioa to see President Yar'Artdua. What is she upto? Unless she still wants to cling to the trappings of being the wife of the