All sorts...

Been watching Bill Gates speak about American education at TED, and now I have stopped to wonder how those guys got to the forefront in almost everything... I believe that if we can get education right in Nigeria, over the course of the next 35 years, we can raise a new breed of people... with redefined identities, and with a strong sense of loyalty to the nation...

Trying to see in what little way I can contribute to the education thing, probably join someone that is already doing something - or start something if I don't find somewhere I can fit in...

Let's do this, or...

What say you?

JOS: From peace home to killing fields...

Found this great piece by Sunday Dare... It really is worth your time, please... follow the link...

"I no longer have sweet memories about Jos. No feeling of nostalgia. My excitement about my birthplace has fizzled out over the years. Infact, these days I dread any visits to Jos to see my siblings and childhood friends. The places I loved so much to visit in Jos no longer hold any attraction for me. From thousands of miles away in my place in America, I smell death each time I hear about Jos. I feel pained because the knives of the killers have struck home twice now and I have seen many, too many loved ones and innocent lives lost on the platter of religious fanaticism. The present religious crisis which began on Sunday has finally put paid to my romance with Jos and to a large extent led me to write off the Nigerian government as failed and criminal in many respects. A government unable to guaranty the safety of lives and property does not deserve to rule over us. Simplicita, it is an illegitimate government..."

A tragic letter from ground zero (Jos)

Forwarded email from Norma of Zamani Farms.

Hello customers,

I don't know whether my internet connection will be working tomorrow, so I have decided to take this opportunity to let you know the situation at Zamani Farms.
First of all, thanks to all of you who tried to help me rescue some of our staff and others in Kuru Jenta. I want to state that I have not yet been able to go to the farm to see for myself what is the situation, but have been in touch with some individuals by phone. According to reports, all of the Muslim houses in Kuru were burnt, and most of the Muslims were killed. Only a few are still alive. Although the person I spoke with (one of our farm staff) was naturally upset and a bit confused, he told me that he believed that except for himself, the other Muslim members of staff of the farm were all killed, along with many other inhabitants of the village.He along with his wife and children were injured but managed to escape, and at that point (this evening) he was attempting to walk through the bush to get to the Police Staff College, which he felt was the nearest place of refuge where they could be safe.

Jos Crises: Leadership Failure and the Drift to Anarchy

Once again, the city of Jos in Plateau State has gone up in flames as crisis erupted leading to the death of over 20 people, with hundreds wounded and property worth millions destroyed. This is coming at the heels of another deadly conflict in Bauchi a couple of weeks ago where about 70 people died. Add the thousands of citizens who died during the Boko Haram crisis a few months ago and the magnitude of death and destruction become bewildering.

The Good Governance Group (3G) notes with concern that the number of ethnic and religious crises we have experienced of recent is clear indication of failure of governance at all levels. 3G hereby condemns all violence and the resulting loss of life and property in the strongest terms. We also extend our sympathies to all those who lost family and friends in this mindless mayhem.

It is sad that in less than three years of PDP government of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Nigeria has witnessed more than four deadly religious and communal conflicts with death toll running into thousands and property worth billions of naira destroyed. The unbroken chain of avoidable violent conflicts in Nigeria is clear evidence that the PDP government of President Yar’Adua has failed woefully in protecting security of life and property in Nigeria and promoting the fundamental objectives of constitutional democracy in Nigeria.

In a period when government officials are vociferous in condemning our listing as country of interest on terrorism, the government continues to fiddle while the nation is engulfed in sectarian violence. While we promise the world that we are peaceful nation fully paid up in its commitment to human rights and political stability, innocent Nigerians are killed coldblooded in spates of ethnic or religious madness. Government cannot prevent violence and cannot protect innocent citizens in outbreaks of violence. This is shameful.

The recurring incidences of ethnic and religious crises we have experienced of recent is clear indication of failure of governance at all levels.Coming barely a year after the last round of violence which left thousands of people dead, and many more displaced, these new acts of violence has occurred only because rather than resolve the crisis that triggered the first one, they have only been politicized.

This has led to further loss of hope and growing anarchy in the country. Combined with high levels of poverty and unemployment, our people are completely disillusioned and resort to violence at the slightest provocation. This is dangerous. The absence of President Yar’adua and the failure of the Federal Executive Council and National Assembly to enforce provisions of the Nigerian constitution and guarantee leadership through allowing Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to emerge as Acting President until President Yar’Adua returns to full health further complicate matters.

As a movement dedicated to the institutionalization of Constitutional authority in Nigeria, 3G hereby calls for an immediate halt to the violence. We call on the federal government to urgently ensure that the roots causes of these conflicts are addressed to ensure that more lives and properties are not lost. We draw attention to the unmitigated failure of PDP government of President Yar’Adua to offer leadership which is dragging Nigeria into anarchy. 

Salihu M. Lukman

Group Organizing Secretary

Join http://3gnigeria.org/signup.php

Crazy...

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 (reading for exams last semester - sometimes early last year)

Methinks that somewhere in my ‘A QUICK WORD’ section I said something about sharing part of me. Well, I am about to do that RIGHT now.

Please forgive the speed with which I write this. If you notice the difference in my writing style, please understand that I am in the middle of exams and with eleven papers and about 5 lab sessions over the next 3 weeks – I sure have got my work cut out for me.

Ok, so I have a paper on Thursday that I cannot seem to find the motivation to read for, Mechanics of Machines. Nice content, great lecturer, but I simply cannot bring myself to focus on it. Well, before you go on to crucify me, note that I also have two papers on Friday, Fluid Mechanics II and Statistics for Engineers. Every time I have set out to read Mechanics of Machines, I find that I end up reading Fluid Mechanics II.

So, why? Guess I simply prefer the Fluid’s course… The content is no less abstract than Mechanic’s content, but I seem to identify more with it…

Ok, so I am about to send my friend, Lamide Tawose, a text… I’m asking for her help… It is a given that I cannot cheat, and I absolutely have to net a good grade on this exam, so…

Been up for a while now, playing around with Navier-Stokes equations and the likes – Fluid Mechanics II, and I’m starting to freak out…

Listening to ‘If I didn’t know better’ by Luther Vandross, and I am flying back in time to 2005… Funny how that song is forever associated with that time in my life… If you know the song, you can get a glimpse into what I went through during that phase of my life…

Yeah, Funmi Ojediran, I’m missing you like ‘dash’. You probably won’t get to read this, but in the event that someone who is reading this knows you – then I ask that they please pass on the message. Yeah, and Olaniyan Kayode too… You guys were an integral part of my stay in Secondary School, and it’s funny how we haven’t spoken in over 3 years now… Sad!

@ Dolapo Balogun, thanks for the earphones and the optical mouse… Really appreciate ‘em...

@  Segun Wemimo, thanks for your time today...

@ OAU na’s… Read your books o!!!

@ Myself… You better fall in love with MEE 306…

@ Pastor… I’m sorry, but I’m stabbing prayer meeting this morning…

@ Everybody out there… Peace…

L8r.

ARISE! O COMPATRIOTS

(People queuing for fuel in Nigeria, regardless of the fact that we are number 8 on the OPEC list o!!!)


Came across this article that I posted sometimes in July, precisely the 10th of July, last year... I think that it could not be more relevant at this time, when we seem to be in urgent need of focused leaders... Join me as I go down through memory lane...

"I believe in a Nigeria with a government of the people, by the people, and for the people; whose 
just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; and a nation established upon the principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity.

We will never bring disgrace on this our Nation by an act of dishonesty or cowardice.
We will fight for the ideals and Sacred Things of the Nation both alone and with many.
We will revere and obey the Nation’s laws, and will do our best to incite a like reverence and respect in those above us who are prone to annul them or set them at naught.
We will strive increasingly to quicken the public’s sense of civic duty.
Thus in all these ways, we will transmit this Nation, not only not less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."


Read the rest of this article...

Have you seen this man?

Found this great picture while browsing through the net...

yeah, and this one too -

Drop your answers to the question it poses as comments...

If Nigeria Fails...

Great article by 'Deolu Akinyemi with the title - IF NIGERIA FAILS...

"Yesterday was quite a full day for me, it was a day in which many things simply came to a head. I had deliberately refused to comment on a number of issues for a while, hoping that in the period of my silence things will bounce back to normalsy. The more the days pass however, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that we are approaching a failed state. Optimism is good, if it is bound at the bottom by reality, at the top by faith and at the sides by work. Baseless optimism is a cancer, it’s false hope and mere lies.

Rather than confront our issues and do what we need to do to save our nation from a head on collision course with failure, we tell ourselves it’s all going to be well, God will do it, we make God out to be our slave. In the face of unconstitutional behaviour, in the face of  televised dishonesty, of forgeries at the highest levels, of being labelled as terrorists, of no power at home and a vacuum in the seat of power, the elite in Nigeria have not heard the drums of war... Read the rest of this article."

Where is Yar' Adua?

Found this great site where Nigerians are making themselves heard on this issue of Yar'Adua's e-governance (or is he using blackberry's)?

Find below excerpts from the site:

"I am of the opinion that yaradua must be dead. Its been almost a month, and the FEC is still claiming he is recovering. Please! There is a different between politics and outright stupidity. Do the right thing: relieve him of the job, and let Nigeria move on."

"he's probably chilling and partying wit Abacha in hell!"

"Can some1 tell the difference between when he was around and now that he is not around?... there is absolutely no difference, because he was doing nothing before he left us about 44 days ago. GOD HELP US....."

Follow the link, and make your voice heard...

Peace.

Chevron Nigeria Scholarships

Nigerian students in the following departments and in their second year of study should follow the link for more information about Chevron Nigeria Scholarship 2010 Awards...

1. Accountancy
2. Agricultural Engineering/Agricultural Science
3. Architecture
4. Business Administration/Economics
5. Chemical Engineering
6. Civil Engineering
7. Computer science
8. Electrical/Electronics Engineering
9. Environmental Studies/ Surveying
10. Geology/Geophysics
11. Law
12. Mass Communication/Journalism
13. Mechanical/Metallurgical & Materials Engineering
14. Human Medicine/Dentistry/Pharmacy
15. Petroleum Engineering

Letter to the President

Came across this great letter to the President by Tolu Ogunlesi while checking out 234next.com... It's a great read, please follow the link if you can...

Have fun.

THE POWER OF WHAT YOU LISTEN TO...

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“What this demonstrates, I think, is how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a story…” –Chimamanda Adichie.

In Indonesia, they have a phrase that has become an integral part of my life over the past few months - djam karet. Loosely translated into English, it means the ‘hour that stretches’.

Once in a while, I have one of those ‘hours that stretch’, where I try to take an objective look at life. I approach those thinking sessions trying to become more aware, trying to understand why I think the way I do and trying to identify which parts of my life I could take more responsibility for.

Recently, I set out to identify what was responsible for my thought patterns, and what kind of effect it had on my quality of life. The results of that session gave rise to this post. I would like to share what I learnt, because I believe that they apply to everyone, regardless of age, culture and other differences.

Let’s do this, shall we?

Have you noticed that we never really see the world the way it is? Has it occurred to you yet that we all see the world the way we are; that we see a reflection of ourselves in others? Let me give you a way to picture this, other than the clichéd belief window concept. Think of yourself as looking at life through sunglasses, tinted sunglasses. Now, while your pair of glasses might have clear lenses, it still has some element of shade built into it.