Word Monger

It is a pity and indeed shameful that Bayelsans are busy fighting themselves while other States are pursing development with all vigour. The same thing happened during the Awolowo - cocoa era. While Awo was busy developing the West, other regions were busy engaging in political wrangling. Let us be wise and stop fighting. We should concentrate and seek ways of developing Bayelsa State. Presently, States like Lagos, Aqua Ibom, Cross Rivers, Enugu and some others are focused and are busy developing their towns and cities, and here we are busy fighting. The time will come again in future as it is now, when we have to give account of what we did with the resources available to us now. As usual with Nigerians, then, shall we again start putting the blame on the federal government? We have every opportunity now to move our people forward in the political, economical and fiscal arenas. I really pity us, because, I hear all kinds of degradating comments about how "we like en...

Malaria is transmitted by mosquito, a tiny blood sucking, desperate and noisy insect. Malaria is the number one killer of children in Nigeria and a major cause of weakness and fewer in adults. Malaria is traced to poor performance in the work force and low productivity in the economy. Efforts by researchers in Nigerian universities and drug manufacturers have not yielded appreciable result in the prevention and treatment of malaria. The national rate of malaria infection is still very high. Malaria control still remains a challenge in Africa where 45 countries, including Nigeria, are endemic for malaria, and about 588 million people are at risk   -- WHO, World Malaria Report 2008. Nigeria is visibly at the forefront of global efforts aimed at eradicating this deadly disease. The recent disbandment by the federal government of chloroquine for the treatment of malaria and introducing in it’s place, artesunate, artemisinin, artemether and lumefantrin as sub...

Sadly, only a couple of weeks ago, I lost a close family friend in a ghastly car crash along the Lekki - Epe expressway, involving a commercial vehicle,  whose driver, probable drunk and driving without head lamps, ran across the road to the other side of the road, causing a head-on collision with her official vehicle. Every day, we see many commercial vehicles and tipper trucks, driving along the Lekki Expressway without head lamps at night.  I have seen a big truck drive on this road with two of its rear tires completely absent, and was rolling on bear reams. Believe it or not, the road safety officials are all over the place. Whether they themselves see these things or not is not left for me to say. Another very dangerous practice by commercial bus drivers along the Lekki - Ajah axis, is that they disconnect the fuel tank of their vehicle and use a plastic container which they keep at the booth of the vehicle with a hose connected directly to the engine.  This sam...

The success of the amnesty programme of President Musa Yar Adua is not in question any more. What is in question however, is the fear of skeptics of the sincerity of the federal government in delivering its post amnesty pledges. It is also true that government largesses are not keeping quiet about government good intentions for the people of the Niger Delta. The recent federal government pronouncement that ten percent of oil derivation will be given to oil producing communities was received with a lot of excitement by people from the South South region and by followers of the Niger Delta crisis. Causing even more excitement is the federal government intent to include this ten percent derivation policy to oil producing communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill currently in the National Assembly. All hail President Yar Adua. “PDP – progress for the people.’ For once in more than twelve years since the party came into existence, have they been seen to be doing the right thing. Go...

Happy Independence Day! I celebrate with you as Nigeria clocks 49 years. We have a few things to be happy about and celebrate. Surely, we can celebrate one Nigeria. At least we can still say we are one 'indivisible' entity. I am not celebrating accomplishment, but us, because you and I are still one family. We have passed through thick and thin, and have had our differences and engaged in several battles. But today, 49 years after, we stand strong as one 'happy' family. Kudos! You deserve more and I believe in the coming years you will earn your deserved rewards. There is a bright future ahead of us and there is great hope that together we can make it. Let us remain one family and relinquish religious bigotry, sectarianism and tribal divisions. It is only by so doing that we can take head-on the very many opulent challenges before us. The need to redress our developmental concerns should be the focus as we strive to strengthen this luscious family of ours and tackl...

Beddes and Grosset Webster define brand as trademark; a particular make or kind of goods. Therefore, branding is essentially about products; and a communications function of design, packaging and publicity. The Nigeria rebranding project therefore is out of focus and faulty and requires urgent redefinition of the entire process. Rebranding in the context of the Nigeria experience should focus on our national identity, which in this instance are our products. Our national identity includes and not limited to our national anthem, flag, name of country, currency, crest and emblems, uniforms of our police and armed forces, our national colours etc. It is after the completion of the rebranding process that publicity and public relations commences. It is during this process that image laundering, and to put more aptly, 'social re-engineering' can be introduced. As it is practiced now, we are simply putting the cart before the horse. We need to re-align the process with internatio...

I first saw this Sony Ad on Twitter days ago and have since followed the comments .  Well let's see, apology? Yes! Maybe for irresponsible communications on the part of Sony. But does Nigeria deserve it? Hmm! Again, may be for our re-branding efforts. However, some think otherwise because of the 419 scam escapades. On the contrary though, I think that if Black Africa can live without apology from our slave masters decades after the end of slave trade and giving the efforts the government of Nigeria is making to fight the 419 scourge, EFCC in particular. I think our white brothers should be more understanding and not spite all Nigerians with such scorn as expressed in some of the comments.