A VIEW FROM MY WINDOW: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS -- A MUST IN AN INCREASINGLY DIVERSE GLOBAL VILLAGE :

A VIEW FROM MY WINDOW: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS -- A MUST IN AN INCREASINGLY DIVERSE GLOBAL VILLAGE :

During this 2016 US political debates, Republicans have consistently knocked 'political correctness', implying it's an aberration. They have done everything to undermine President Obama's commitment to 'measured considerations' , due process and his obvious desire to pursue the path of legality.

For us in the third world and Africa specifically who view and hold America's democratic process in high esteem, the consistent bashing of political correctness is not just shocking but scary.

If a powerful political congregation whose votes and actions have far reaching global consequences, regards political correctness as an aberration, how and where would they situate 'political recklessness' within the context of the recent RN and DN Conventions?

More importantly, If the Presidential Candidate of a leading political party in the U.S could call on the Intelligence Services of a rival nation just because he wants to win, this should send cold shivers right up the spines of all Americans, as well as citizens the world over. For God's sake this is just an election , not a war and to invite espionage on one's own country in order to score political points, hmmm, that's a very very dangerous call to make.
 

Interpreted: That candidate is threatening all of America, and by extension the rest of the world, that once he gets into office he will not tolerate objection or dissent (civil, political or legal) in any way shape or form, and if he feels even remotely that he does not enjoy the minutest support of the American Armed forces, or the members of any international alliance that the U.S is part of, he would not hesitate invite the Russians or any other willing whore to decimate the perceived enemies within.
While we watch all this drama play out right in front of our very eyes, many would ask:"How does this affect us , the rest of the world?"

The answer is simple: Suppose this particular candidate does indeed win the 2016 elections, and becomes the President of the most powerful country on earth right now, and then that man in his warped up mind for one reason or the other does not like the face or political make up of Country X in far flung Africa, or Country Y just a drive away from America, or country Z on the European continent, or even somewhere down under-- such a man would not hesitate to make a pact with 'the devil' to dispatch the government of that country, or easier still, since he controls the nuclear codes, nothing stops him from using them. This is infact the more frightening prospect. May be we should shout from all the mountain tops in our various countries: Wake up America: Obama was not the'anti-christ' , infact he still isn't -- (the impersonation of evil) many believed he would be. Certainly he did not introduce demand we all carry that feared number 666 on our persons as many had impressed on us that he would. But we are at that cross roads now people: If that next man is voted in would he be?

Let's think about this for a moment. That man has clearly told us he has no value for political correctness. He has told us he can stand in the streets right there and shoot somebody and his supporters will hail him, applaud him. He loves saying 'You're fired'. The concept of someone being fired is crystallized in his psyche. His idea of fun is 'shunting' any organized system. He has consistently said he cares not for the helpless or the homeless or the poor and needy. He cares only for himself and his team of heartless supporters. He has told the world he is not afraid to put troops on the ground anywhere. This man must not be allowed to have control of those nuclear codes. This is not a TV game show.

If we reflect deeply, the world finally disovered they had to stand up to Hitler not simply because they felt for and felt with the Jews but because they suddenly realized that what was happening to the Jews would happen to them shortly if they did not stand up to him. Well many supporters of Trump might not fathom that his abrasive, corrosive thoughts, speeches and call to action could impact them also badly, that they'd regret it sooner or later, but a fly caught in a vortex still imagines its flying free until it gets slammed against a rock.

Did I hear someone say the US congress and the US Armed forces have more sense than that? Sorry. Did you say the U.S Army? The...URussian Army? Goodbye US Armed forces-- read his lips, the man is already telling Americans he has no confidence in either the US Intelligence services or the US Armed forces for that matter.
Sadder still is, Americans believing he will create a thriving environment for employment and an environment that will help businesses grow. Well, 'you're fired' will no longer be a euphemism for being sacked. It would mean just what it means : You're fired.
And if anyone, including his most ardent supporters believe Trump will create a level playing field for all Americans, please take this fish for picking: " Politics has no place for name calling" Yes Trump didn't say that, his VP select did. The interpretation: Mr. Pence is only reaffirming what Trump has been preaching throughout his campaign-- do as I tell you, don't do as I do. You and I do not belong to the same class whoever you may be.

Does this apply to us the rest of the world directly? Well, sadly it does. It is true that everyday less powerful countries get kicked on the shin in the football field of commerce and trade, and we get outsmarted in deals at the casinos of economics and international finance but we all know that every now and then one of our own ' breaks through the glass ceiling' ( courtesy CNN and Hillary Clinton). Yes, 'every now and then' may not be enough for us but its way much better than being enslaved, and with no hope whatsoever of any of ours breaking through that glass ceiling again.

Not only will the rest of the world struggle to thrive without the conscience of political correctness to give hope for better deals to us in the third world, but there is an even greater implicit threat: Armageddon.

A VIEW FROM MY WINDOW: SIERRA LEONE IN FOCUS -- THE EUPHORIA OF CHANGE

A VIEW FROM MY WINDOW: SIERRA LEONE IN FOCUS -- THE EUPHORIA OF CHANGE

   Business is the most important engine for social change in this country.
                                                                 Lawrence Perlman         (1938 - )
                                                                                 U.S. business executive.
                                         
      Dialogue is the oxygen of change.
                                                                              Jim Maclachlan 
                                                               U.S. business consultant.
                                                                                             Fortune

A certain wind is blowing through Africa. A certain euphoria has gotten us, and here and there, we are engrossed in the search for a singular ephemeral entity that can galvanize our collective dreams into a plausible reality. Perhaps this would come to pass in a little while. Perhaps in a not too distant future sub-Saharan Africa would usher in the next 'industrial revolution.' Perhaps.

However, a nation caught up in too much of an 'emotional quarry' for change -- a nation bereft of the dispassionate calmness of seasoned reasoning is likely to find itself in a deeper emotional quandary and sometimes a life of unpredicted suffering or more. And this is not just confined to the African situation.

But humour me: Nigeria's change is now on a scale. Toothless smiles from harried faces tell a story a year ago unimagined. BREXIT , or REGREXIT ? Britain's experiment is just begun, yet regrets are setting in early. And if Trump trumps Americans come November, the world had better prepare for the worst.

In Sierra Leone, 2018 is waiting just around the turning. Will the dispassionate calmness of seasoned reasoning lure a restless citizenry to the ocean of diligent search, un-hurried debates and calm considerations? Only time will tell.

But while we brood over this and others, think about this: a nation that over a year ago was devastated by the lethal Ebola Virus seems to be turning the corner. The scars still linger and truly, the infighting and squabbles over Ebola funds and assets have simmered down somewhat, but what's striking is that the government has tied up its shoe laces and started the long walk back to progress.

The government of Sierra Leone, on Monday 20th June launched "The President's Recovery Priorities" . The priorities defined by President Ernest Bai Koroma are: Education, Health, Social Protection, Private Sector Development, Energy, Water and Governance. "

The Honourable Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr Abubakarr Fofanah in his paper says the government is "focusing on access and services at the community level, rolling out an enhanced Community Health Worker (CHW) programme that will support pregnant women to access service and deliver essential drugs such as malaria treatment to children and children. This new programme will ensure that no Sierra Leonean will find themselves more than 5km from a health worker . By mid 2017 no health facilities should have stock outs of essential drugs. Twenty-nine facilities to care for pregnant women and newborn babies will be brought up to proper standards including sanitation and hygiene facilities. "

The honourable Minister of Education Dr. Minkailu Bah in his paper says : "...We will focus on three core areas: first, we will enhnce school approval and teacher recruitment policy ; second, we will improve learning environments by adding new classrooms in at least 150 severely overcrowded schools and ensuring all schools affected have adequate water and sanitation facilities and third, we will train at least 40,000 teachers on how to effectively deliver new core content in Maths and English."
Perhaps two areas that will be of interest to the international community are the Anti-corruption Commission and the Ports Authority -- areas which normally impact on foreign businesses in Freetown.

Mr. Ady Macauley, Anti-Corruption Commission says : "We will roll out the 'Pay No Bribe' Campaign, which puts the weapons to beat the evil of corruption in Sierra Leone into the hands of the public . It allows individuals to tell us in confidence when they have been asked to pay a bribe for health, education, water, power and police services. Ministries and Agencies will act on this information to tackle bribery hotspots and will report back to the public on the action they have taken"


The General Manager, Sierra Leone Ports Authority, Mr. Abu Bangura says: "We will drive down the time and costs of doing business through the port at Freetown , simplifying and demystifying clearance and export tariffs/ processes and ensuring crucial medical and agricultural supplies get to where they need to be quickly. "

Each arm of government has its own contribution to this impressive desire of government. Indeed these priorities, goals and aspirations of Sierra Leone's government does sound like music to the ears of Sierra Leoneans, but with effectively just a year remaining on this government's tenure will it be able to deliver on its promises? It's a big question and on this rests the hopes of 7 Million Sierra Leoneans.

But really and truly, I feel that if Sierra Leone's government can anchor these Presidential priorities to the world of commerce and business and keep open its channels of discourse and dialogue it would have engineered a process that even regime transitions cannot change. It would have left a lasting and enduring legacy for the people of Sierra Leone. This would be real CHANGE.

MUSIC AFRICA BEACH SPLASH 2015 HUGE SUCCESS OR GRAND SLAM 4 ?

MUSIC AFRICA BEACH SPLASH 2015 HUGE SUCCESS OR GRAND SLAM 4 ?

MABS 2015 was not only a show case of Nigeria's biggest and brightest stars -- the Malaikas, Victoria Kimanis, Stephanie Ashleys , Shikanes, Kiss Daniels and OritsheFemis of this world, but threw up as well, a cocktail of dynamic rising stars in the mix. No words could capture the atmosphere quite as well as being there yourself.

Sunkanmi :

Voluptuous , lithe, 'Lasgidi born' , and friend of YBNL, Olamide's Music label , Sunkanmi -- Olasunkanmi Rehanat Alonge , rose to the occasion with an electrifying energy. 

The Olabisi Onabanjo Universiity graduate of Geophysics who is also an up-coming act already has 2 singles out "Singale"which is hers in every sense of the word and "For body" which was a team effort between her, Olamide and the YBNL crew.

Her music is enjoying some very good reception by the music loving population. At MABS 2015 Sunkanmi owned the stage.

SEXY, CRAZY KOGI BORN DEBBIE RISE LIGHTS UP MABS 2015 WITH "Match up and GAGABOO "

Nigerian Idols season 3, 2nd place winner, Oluwarise Deborah Ebun, also known as Debbie Rise dusted up the beach with a thrilling performance of her ''Match Up" track on the day that was her birthday anniversary

                                      "You dey go party,
                                        you nor get lipstick
                                        You get marker for bag--
                                         na to match up "

Immediately after "match up", the irresistible performer hooked the crowd with "GAGABOO"
                          " You dey like to talk anyhow,
                            You be gagaboo.
                             Small matter rise, you dey frown
                             You be gagaboo!!"

Talk about beauty, brains and talent, the 20th December born Debbie, is not only a superb performer, guitarist and instrumentalist but she is also a Computer Science graduate. Although Debbie has been having issues with her record label '800 Records' lately, that conflict however has not in any way diminished her zest for the performance.

MABS 2015 ROCKED WITH SUNKANMI AND DEBBI RISE

Watch Sunkanmi and Debbie Rise perform at MABS2015 here :  WATCH VIDEO HERE
 

A VIEW FROM MY WINDOW: THE SIMPLICITY OF OUR LIVES

A VIEW FROM MY WINDOW: THE SIMPLICITY OF OUR LIVES

"It is said that when Cosimo was about to die he recommended Donatello to the care of his son Piero, who, anxious to carry out dutifully what his father wanted, gave him a farm at Cafaggiuolo which provided an income on which he could live comfortably. This made Donatello very content, since it meant that he was at least saved from the prospect of dying of hunger. All the same he had not held it a year before he returned to Piero and publicly made the farm over to him again, insisting that he did not want to lose peace of mind by having to worry about running a household and being molested by the tenant, a peasant who was always getting in his way and complaining now because the wind had blown away the roof of his dovecot, now because his cattle had been confiscated by the Commune for taxes, or because a storm had destroyed his wine and his fruit. Donatello grew so sick and tired of all this that he said he would rather die of hunger than have to think about so many things."

                            from Lives of the artiste: Donatello by Giorgio Vasari


Like Donatello in this legend, the mould of our lives presently is a contradiction of plausibiles. Fela Anikulapo Kuti captured this satirically : '... suffering and smiling...'

That is the story of our lives . The death of a loved one calls for the celebration of ' a life well spent' -- no matter how well or otherwise that life may have been really spent.

 Our carnivals are not threatened because we cannot find (even remotely) one and a half square meals a week to sweeten the soul, rather they (our carnivals) are revved up because dance and music lighten the weight of the burden of merely existing on our weary shoulders. In fact for those of us collectively singled out by the epithet 'masses', we had long removed the 'square' from our meals. Any meal would do; any meal is --- fine.

Once in a while however, we are shocked to the bones by the somewhat certain paradoxical complexity arising from the very simpleness of way of life. Over 200 young girls are abducted and unreachable for over 2 years. Suddenly one, by happenstance is found. Found on the day the Nation's labour union commenced strike action against government for increasing the price of petrol.

Immediately the find is announced, the nation goes agog with joy. We rejoice that she was 'rescued' along with her captor 'husband' by our gallant security forces -- men who just happened to be chasing the wind at that exact time the duo were probably just taking a breath of fresh air in that undefined territory.

 It was a memorable battle, one worth celebrating for days in the media. And we celebrated. In our dreams and imaginations the security forces engaged the brutality and the harshness of the breeze in the wild, in a mortal combat. In our dreams they fought long, gallantly and finally snatched the young Amina and her 'now legitimate husband' from the gaping jaws of death -- jaws which had been yawning in the eerie quiet that had gripped that area since the security forces arrived that territory. In our dreams the gallant forces, the security men return with their protégé -- proudly and promptly announce their victory.

Immediately we legitimize the 'ex-terrorist' and accept him as the bona-fide husband. We celebrate Amina's return and celebrate the man's 'change'. We arrange a Presidential welcome for him and our saintly President immediately pronounces that the ex-terrorist will be given amnesty. Sadly this is no longer in our dreams.

Our media ran circuses, violating the privacy of the young girl and extolling the virtues of being found-- 'rescued' and indeed, subliminally congratulating the 'husband' that he did a good job raping the innocence and person of young Amina. We pat each other's back and pat government's back for doing ........ What? No one knows for sure why they deserve credit for this 'find', but -- well they are government and they deserve the credit anyway, Right? Wrong. They will take it anyway, period.

Nothing cataclysmically wrong with that though. What is cataclysmically wrong is government not seeing the wider implications and advantage of having an ex-Boko Haram member in its custody -- not realizing the importance of having such a 'gold mine' in its hands.

But more importantly government should realize that no matter what politics it plays with the resurfacing of Amina, 'that man' is not a husband and should not be treated or hailed as such. To have gotten Amina pregnant implies he must have raped her. He is a rapist. Amina is not yet an adult. So apart from being charged with rape, 'this man' should also be charged with defilement of a minor.

The man should have been taken off the media blitz and confined to a bare four-walled room and asked some hard questions in the presence of a psychologist, psychiatrist, forensic expert and with the help of the usual drugs used everywhere else for critical interrogations. The military owes this to Nigerians-- not arranging a party for that criminal. The military owes it to Nigerians to find out;

• 1. What was this man's role in BH. Was he simply a foot soldier or someone high up in the hierarchy? Was he just a brainless messenger or someone who was privy to plans, tactics, intel and info ?  

• 2. When was the last time he was B.H? How many months ago? What was their last location ? How did they chose their locations? Who are the visible faces in the BH hierarchy as at the last time he was a BH member? 

Many more questions to quiz this criminal with.

With over one week gone, neither the military nor government has come forth to tell Nigerians how much gold they have mined from this potential goldmine. Maybe the resurfacing of Amina has served its purpose -- provide government the image booster it really needs at this crucial time in this new government's life.

But while the politicking continues, this one question should remain on everyone's conscience: " Suppose Amina was your daughter, would you be thinking of granting amnesty to that criminal?" The world is watching us.    

 

MUSIC AFRICA BEACH SPLASH 2015 HUGE SUCCESS OR GRAND SLAM 3 ?

MUSIC AFRICA BEACH SPLASH 2015 HUGE SUCCESS OR GRAND SLAM 3 ?

When it's party time, guys and girls 'just wanna have fun'. The breathtaking scene at Chaka Beach resorts and the electrifying atmosphere of MABS 2015 on the 20th of December 2015, provided one last thrill for music lovers in Lasgidi.

BLACK REVRENDZ:

Throwback 1999/2000 when the likes of daddy Showkey , Father U-turn, Marvellous Benjy, and daddy Fresh were kings of the jungle, -- a few years before Port Harcourt class act, Nigeria's Patra (Gift Gibson) became Muma Gee, the Black Reverendz turned up the heat with this piercing, scathing take on 'girls from the hood'.

                     "Ayangba girls are dangerous, so dangerous, so dangerous..."

Released in 2000, the song quickly became a dancehall anthem.
At MABS 2015 the Ayangba boys Wasiu Lawal and Shuaibu Adams electrified the audience with this early 21st century hit "Ayangba".

CLICK TO WATCH THE PERFORMANCE OF BLACK REVERENDZ HERE

DANCE COMPETITIONS:

MABS 2015 was not just about the 'big boys and girls who came to perform' it was also about the love shown by spectators who came to enjoy the day.

The MABS 2015 stage was every now and then turned over to the nimble feet and lithe bodies of gracious spectators who competed for a variety of gift items provided by co-sponsors Ace Roots.
 

Catch up with more fun and even more stars from MABS 2015 in our next post.