Author Archives: Calabarboy

issues

NIGERIA: A TERRORIST NATION?

I have personally been challenged by the question of Nigeria’s terrorist status over the last few weeks flowing from the unfortunate event of a misguided youth trying out his hands with under-pant pyrotechnics. But beyond the feverishness of the moment is the seeming pull factor which this circumstance has evinced. We have somehow been pulled to look closely in the direction of the antecedents of Nigeria and make a fair assessment if or not we deserve such appendage from the United States. While the patriotic me screams “HELL NO WE AREN’T”, and I feel like joining every Facebook group that stands against the listing of Nigeria on the terror watch list, I still find myself asking the seeming innocuous question: “Is Nigeria a terrorist country?”

I arrived safely at the JFK airport in New York, after the much hassle in Lagos and Istanbul only to be subjected to a 30 minutes thorough search, just when I thought I had escaped the adversities of the time. As I stood there subjected to such humiliation including almost having my laptop decoupled because of some three missing screws behind, issues raced to and fro my mind on the series of unfortunate events that has so beset Nigeria towards the close of 2009. A sick and wanted President, a fickle-minded government lacking the boldness to act in the face of national dishonor, broken promises, religious crises, and the likes, I felt as though being a Nigerian was increasingly being a risk.
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issues

10 THINGS I WILL DO ABOUT ME IN 2010

We set goals about every thing around us, but most times fail critically when it comes to personal traits. Your character, deportment and antecedent (if I am allowed to combine all three) are an integral part of your human package, and they create a solid platform to launch you into any level of success which you desire. So after assessing myself by myself this past days, I have decided on my top ten ‘musts’ for the year 2010, perhaps for the decade as well. These are traits I want to improve on, and stating them here will keep me accountable; and I know someone will at least try to test me on one of them. 🙂

1. I will be nicer from now on. Being nice shouldn’t be predicated on how you feel, but a natural response to all those around you regardless of their demands. I have found that it is easier to be not nice and grumpy all the time. So deliberately I will challenge myself to be nice and not being pretensive in any way.

2. I will give more. I have always prayed for the resources to give more, but I find that when I increase in substance, it doesn’t necessarily equate with an increase capacity to give. So my prayer will change this year to asking for an increased capacity to give; perchance I may be entrusted with more resources to give.
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issues

MY GREATEST FEAR

A few days ago I had a brief conversation over lunch with a friend from East Africa. It was one of those talks resulting from perceived tardy reasoning when we hoped that our leaders in Africa would have been what we keep dreaming about. But what struck me more was the sudden time travel I was thrown into when thinking about the daunting task of changing the outlook of a continent besieged by many troubles and laden with much burden. I wondered how I would feel on the day that I am to die. Would I be bubbling with excitement that my exit is deserved and my legacy is undoubted? Or would I be crowded by the feeling of wasted opportunities? My feelings were mixed because I have trained myself to believe I will not die an ordinary man, especially being influenced heavily by motivational messages that fill your gut and warrants self confidence from a newly defined self-concept. It was mixed because I saw great chances to make things better and without much cost to me or to my surroundings. But the pot pourri of feelings was not without the the thoughts of ‘what if nothing you do makes any sense and changes anything?’ The rest of that day was filled with random emotions spurned out of the ‘what is’ and the ‘what ought to be’.

Back in school, after sitting under inspiring lectures, particularly those that spin African history into an emotional overtone and overdose, making you feel a spark or a tinge of activism, I entered into endless debates on what role we young men will play in shaping the future we so desire. I met so many like minded folks who confessed exhausted faith in the drama we called nation building. We pressured ourselves into believing we were the gifts of God to our continent, and that we held the ace that will call home the game in our favour. Yet with the fervour, we met peeps who could extinguish your fire with a kind of infectious apathy and unconscionable inanition towards the issue of a progressive society. I will never forget the day, after a hot conversation on disabling executive corruption, that a few guys around simply sneered at all we said and stated clearly why they will grab every opportunity to monetize their virtues. What was more worrisome was their display of cognitive dissonance (the kind I usually ascribe to the Obama era Republican party) in acknowledging the need for honest men and good governance, and yet advising me  “Reggie, stop deceiving yourself. You can’t change anything. Eat your own and go your way.” Well, some things were clear at the least, I certainly knew who not to vote for if that time comes…lol
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