Tidbits

I just got inspired to post cos I saw a few things that made me really proud to be Nigerian. As I said in a previous post, if you didn't already know, WE are doing it big!

In the Vanity Fair Africa edition, Nigeria is prominently featured in at least a couple of articles. Chimamanda Adichie and Uzodinma Iweala, two of our award winning young authors show up, as does Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, former finance minister and mother of Uzodinma. Family of achievers it seems. See more about the Vanity Fair Africa edition and the features (pgs 118 and 176) here but to read them and all the other great features, you have to buy a copy. It is so worth it!

Akim Aliu, an 18 year old Nigerian is the 56th pick in the NHL draft. He's the second Nigerian ever to play in the NHL. Pretty cool. See more here.

Also in sports, it's been a minute but I thought I'd also throw in something about Amobi Okoye, the 10th round pick in the NFL draft earlier this year. At 19, he has amazing potential and I'm excited to keep track of what happens with him. See more here.

That's it folks! Have a great rest of the weekend.

"Going Back to Africa"

Ok....I'm back to politicking. I can't help it! I very rarely watch the news. I prefer to read it so that I can form my own opinion. This is not to say that a writer's point of view doesn't jump out at you but at least it's a lot easier to remind yourself that you have a brain too especially since you can just turn the page or throw the paper out when you're done with it. Something I happened to see on TV last night when I got home was a stark reminder as to why I avoid watching the damn news!

My roomie is a TV news fan, especially CNN and Headline Prime so when I got home from work last night and turned on the TV, it just so happened that Glenn Beck, host of Headline News was talking...or should I say ranting and raving about how WWIII is about to start. His gregariousness and earnestness kinda drew me in so I kept watching. He proceeded to talk about the relationship between everything that's going on the MIddle East, the US and Iran, the US and Venezuela, as well as the US and the UK capturing those wanna be terrorists yesterday. He corroborated everything he was talking about by bringing in experts. He also kept prefacing everything he said with "i know this sounds crazy, but is it really?" which of course got me thinking...."well, maybe he isn't so crazy". Needless to say, by the time the show was over, Ms. May was ready to start packing her bags and heading back to Africa yo!
THAT is why I don't WATCH the news because this is how they get folks scared and paranoid.

Anyway, I came back to my senses soon after but not before I thought about how ironic it is that Africa is probably the safest continent to be on right now. The fact that many countries around the world still consider us inconsequential could actually BE a good thing! Traveling to the UK and US right now is damn scary. So, in the event that any of our folks are reading this....abeg, siddown your yansh for Naija, or Ghana or wherever you dey. Do not attempt to come to the UK or US to seek your fortune right now. Use that plane ticket money to start a small business, or do something useful. You never know, some of us over here may be coming to join you soon ;)

Here's the quote for today.

"Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse."

Thanks Mark Twain!