SALT ON AN OPEN WOUND? (by Abiodun Fijabi)

We buried the young men and women - 19 or so of them, 3 of them pregnant with children.

Their mistake was that they trusted the system. They had no reason to. They should have realized that an average politician thinks first of himself and last of himself. They should have suspected that the jobs had been shared, long before they became vacant. They should have known that the dogs and the cats of the elite would receive better protection and better attention than jobless graduates. But can you blame them?

Hope is one anchor that keeps us going. Once hope is gone, we are gone. The hundreds of thousands that thronged the stadia and sports centers had held unto hope. May be, Comrade Moro is different. May be, due process will be followed this time. May be, they will protect us and treat of us with some civility this time around. After all, as the Bible says, 'hope does not make ashamed'.

The death of the 19 is the death of hope. We did not only bury the young and agile men and women, we buried the hopes they cherished and the dreams they carried. We murdered them in their prime, cut off their flowers in their blossom, and ended their life's journey in the night before the dawn.

And now, we tell their families, "Give us three job applicants per family. Your slain children have purchased three places in the juicy Nigeria Immigration Service."
What if one family had lost its only child - the only hope of a better future?
What if, no one in the family is qualified for the job? Will we lower the standards? Or, persuade the families concerned to sell their slots to the highest bidders, as some form of compensation?

Meanwhile, no head has rolled. No one has been sanctioned. No one is talking about refunding the applicants' fees.
Even if we all agree that the government's offer is better than nothing, would the families be right to hope again? Should they trust the system, with all of its insensitivity and corruption, to deliver on its promises? Or, would it be another salt on the already open and sore wound?

O God, why can't I easily get these deaths off my mind?

Written by:
Abiodun Fijabi
(culled from FB post: "Salt On Open Wound")

NIGERIA 2015 - We Are Still Waiting (by George Ashiru)

Look around you, very few politicians care about God or righteousness, yet some citizens are screaming religion in campaign mode. Very few political gladiators have done anything consistently in and for their communities, yet, their bigotted ethnic clones are clamouring into high heavens for votes biased with ethnic tones.

Where are the issues, the values, the programmes, the character, as the substance of our debates?

Alas! Even the reformers have gone with ethnic or religious winds...neither of which have taken us out of this developmental cul de sac for 53 years.

We are still waiting for a transformational generation which rises above primordial instincts that even good education finds hard to rub off. God bless the true Nigerians.

Written by:
George H. Ashiru
Blog: Man of Contrasts
Twitter: @ManOfContrasts and @masgee1

THE MEETING POINT with Niyi Adesanya

You are invited to attend the avant-garde interactive forum "THE MEETING POINT" with Niyi Adesanya. This platform is aimed at bridging the information gap between Luminaries (leading personalities who are reference points in their respective industries) and Visionaries (upwardly mobile folks aspiring to make their mark in their chosen fields)

This trailblazing event was envisioned to run through different cities in Nigeria, and in pursuit of that vision, the epoch making interactive meet has been hosted in three major cities in Nigeria just within one month of its start-up.

Following the significant success and noted feedbacks of participants of the previous event held in Lagos on the 17th of August, in Benin on the 14th of September and Ibadan on the 21st September, 2013, we have refined our strategies to ensure that the 2013 round-off edition slated to be held in Abuja on the 7th of December 2013 feature discussions which would be centred around but not limited to:

• Career Advancement: Office Politics, Promotion and Career Change – The Way Forward

• Business Advancement: The Nigerian Environment, Loan and Business Growth

• Political Advancement: Policy or Polity - How Do I Get Involved?

LUMINARIES AT THE MEETING POINT ABUJA

Keynote Speaker - Dr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, Chairman Leadership Group.

Politics
• Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene,
Group Managing Director, Leadership Group
• Col. Kefas Agbu (Rtd)
Chairman, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)
• Engr. Umar B. Bindir,
Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP)

Career
• Mr. Femi Mokikan, Executive Director, Human Resources, Seven-up Bottling Company • Ms. Pai Gamde, Head, Human Resources, Nigerian Stock Exchange
• Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene,
Group Managing Director, Leadership Group

Business
• Mr. Gabriel Ogbechie,
Managing Director, Rainoil Limited • Mr. Ibrahim Maigari Ahmadu,
Managing Partner Cyberia
• Dr. Ahmed Datti (PhD),
Pro-Chancellor, Baze University, Abuja

DATE: Saturday 7th December 2013
VENUE: Merit House, 22 J. T. Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, FCT Abuja
TIME: 9am (prompt)

ADMISSION IS FREE but by registration

To register, send your "Full Name, Email, and Phone Number" to +2348094709985 or  event@themeetingpoint.com.ng

More details available via www.themeetingpoint.com.ng

CHINUA ACHEBE: A President We Never Had

The immortal soul of Iroko has only stepped outside of its mortal body, but I see mortal men taking to the streets and wailing that the Iroko has fallen apart, how myopic they are. How can Iroko, the tree of the gods, fall apart?

Achebe!, I may not be able to tell how far the journey from here to the home of our ancestors is, but I shall assume that you have finally arrrived at the place where they reside. I am happy that you are gone far away from this endangered world, yet feel very sad that your countrymen never listened to the voice of reason. You had seen so much. You knew so much. You said so much. You did so much. And, in fact, you could have done much more if only... But your people did not understand, neither were they ready to know. Even the same men with whom you fought in those youthful years for the independence of this country choose to dwell on ignoble thoughts, I mean those yesterday's and today's men who today are giving accolades and calling for the immortalization of your name.

Please Achebe, do not give your eyes to tears, for I can tell that your heart is still broken by the betrayal of these men who till today are still betraying the land they once swore to protect. How I wish you had the chance to become our president, maybe things would not have fallen apart. What then shall we do now, if not to ask that you plead with the ancestors on our behalf to join their voices with ours as we pray for the Arrow of GOD to hit hard on those who would not allow this country reach her full potential so that it would not be said of us in near future that There Was A Country once called Nigeria.Amen!
Send my greetings to Esther, my dear mother, that although Nigeria has not changed much but my hope for a better future has not dwindled. Goodbye Chinua Achebe.

Written by:
Ebenezer Akinrinade (CYFI Fellow)
08027701092
ebenezer.akinrinade@gmail.com