Time For a Change

Following on from my campaign for female ascendancy I had a discussion with my cousin's husband who pointed out that women have been equally questionable when thrust into public life in Nigeria. The Finance Minister during Obasanjo's first term was dogged by rumours of corruption. Not to talk of very questionable long term fiscal planning. Recently the female House of Reps leader was forced to stand down following some blatant contracting misdemeanours. And the Director of the Stock Exchange has recently been arrested on allegations of fraud. It's not quite known what the merits of the allegations are.

That said, I think none of that presents a credible case against some female leadership. But it does raise the issue of whether anyone can steer straight in such a sordid system as ours. So the key issue is not about whether an one group can do better but that any kind of change will do us some good.

Maybe that is what this should be; a campaign for change.

Time For The Women to Take Charge

Nigeria is by tradition a paternalistic society. And is also mostly chauvinistic, which might be a feature of the long tradition of male dominance. Or it might just be because there are a lot of decrepit males who want to live in the stone age. I'll leave you to work that one out.

However, it has become clear that after almost 50 years of independence the men really haven't got the will, the values or the ideas to really take the country to the next level. Politically there has been neither the morals nor the intellect to build a stable political system. Economically, we are still operating a cash economy that is overly dependent on a single natural resource. Socially the men are driving forward a culture of poverty and moral decadence. And as the Olympics have shown, in sports things are just getting worse for us.

So far the Olympics have seen us win 2 bronze medals and one silver medal. Both bronze medals were won by women. I think thats a striking achievement given how poor the rest of out sporting establishment seems to be. I am happy the efforts and dedication of the women really paid off. I can only imagine what they might have had to go through to commit themselves to their sports.

So its about time women stepped forward and took charge of the highest office in the land. At least a new perspective might not be better but at least it will be different. There has to hope for at least one sector of the Nigerian population. I say this more in hope than any certainty though.

Some Week

Its been some week that just passed. Bernie Mac died and then over the weekend Isaac Hayes drops dead next to his treadmill. Thats just cold. Its not as if other people haven't died but these two were trailblazers. I should have bought those Isaac Hayes CDs I was looking at earlier this year. Damn!

I know of a lot of people remember Bernie Mac from his film and TV work. But you should listen to his stand up. He was a genuinely humorous guy. I love the Original Kings of Comedy CD. They wrecked the stage on that tour.

And the Black Moses had soul locked down in the 70s. I can never get enough of the album Hot Buttered Soul. And I listened to the tracks 'The Look of Love' and 'Don't Let Go' some days ago and I really understood what the word evergreen means.

Here's to a couple of OGs! RIP. Evergreen memories.