I came across this article on my way to Uni and I was really moved by what these lovely young ladies currently do with their lives. Through their two groups, "Hookers for Jesus" and "JC’s Girls", they spread the good news of God's love to prostitutes. They have been said to be America’s most unusual Christian outreach operation, aimed at prostitutes.

These young ladies themselves were once prostitutes but have since found God. They now go around telling their former collegues about God's love for them. Can you imagine how one of these girls on the road who is so down at the bottom and probably feeling it too hears that someone (God) loves them even if they are hookers or strippers or porn stars (I agree totally).

I think these ladies are brave and are trully called for this type of ministry. They have not been without some criticisms though. There biggest critics is from the church. I think sometimes, people play God and don't give other people chance to show that they are also called by God to do something different. I wish the girls all the best and God's strength in what they do. I hope we can have similar ideas being executed in Africa where human trafficking, HIV/AIDs is prevelant.

I read the story of this man and I was touched. Stephen Smith won £19 million and he said that he would happily give up the £19million to get his health back and have the chance to live longer and spend more time with his wife. He has got a fatal swelling in his aorta artery which could rupture anytime. I was touched by his massage that "There are no shops in the cemetery". This makes me appreciate God for his love, the love of my family and just the peace of mind I enjoy. I just appreciate God for everything that I might have taken for granted like the good health he has blessed me with. What do you think?

The way we are

I often wonder why some Africans here in the UK behave the way they do. I say this because, what I see sometimes among the African community here baffles me. I know so many Nigerians who will have nothing to do with fellow Nigerian because of some the attitudes and character of some. I have noticed the way some Nigerians (I know) look at me in the bus (Not because I am pretty. LOL) but the look is that of pure hatred. It makes me begin to wonder where we got this mind set from (Before you get to know someone, you are already hating the person).
Some Africans don't even know they are Africans again. I saw this girl on the bus stop and she was with some white girls. The way she was looking at me was like, "look I got white friends" LOL. I have also noticed our love for copying western lifestyles and accents. It seems like, well, these people are not proud they are blacks or Africans.

The day I understood why some of the friends I know want nothing from fellow Nigerians or Africans was the day I was attacked on the bus by these Nigerian boys. that was the day I understood fully about black on black violence. This was unprovoked attack. These lads were perhaps high on drugs, they were shouting, speaking Yoruba, and fighting with some white chicks who really put them where they belong. I was busy reading my papers and the next thing..this boy leans towards me, asks for the paper I was busy reading. I stood up, changed seats just to avoid mad boys like them.. the next thing I knew was this young lad behind me pouring all sorts of insults....I kept quiet as two people cannot be mental abi? The two of them stood up, pushed me out of the bus..the police got involved... in my mind, I could not believe my fellow Nigerians will be the ones to attack me abroad (in case you are worried about me, I am OK now LoL). I was really down, I cried and cried but it is over and I am doing great now.

Anyway, how have I move forward? I did because there is no place for hatred in my life... I forgive and move on. My family were a great support and rock. My motto is always try to be the best I can, always aim high, always work hard and a fantastic future is there for me to have. I hope all African parents, brothers and sisters do preach goodness in their children, brothers and sisters lives. I hope all parents will know that they are the role model and not 50 cents. I hope parents love their children and teach them how to love others, remove every form of tribalism, ethnicity hatred or any type of discrimination from their loved ones mind. Its time we know we are blessed race.

A common goal

I hope by now, Kenyans are just meditating on what to do with their lives and future. The violence is still heated and the people are busy killing themselves over politics. I am just disappointed in Africa sometimes honestly. Instead of seating together and dialogue, we carry weapons and start killing. I just hope they do not touch the lovely animals God has put there.

I hope and pray Africans will be better enlightened and come together for the development of that whole continent. I really hope we will make a wonderful future for the future generation and that one day, this poverty, and all the ills that we see and hear of Africa will be history and in history books. I pray my name be written among those that made positive contribution to development in the region.

Hidden Paradise

I was going through the pictures I took while I was in Nigeria last year and I decided to share it. If ever you are in Nigeria or you feel like travelling, please do visit Yankari. It is a lovely place and so tranquil. I did have lots of fun and I wanted to spend more time there. It may not be as classy as other safari resorts but you'll have a lovely time. There are animals to see and the Wikki warm spring is a most to experience. I went from Kaduna and it took me seven hours to get to Yankari. Some tips: take loads of money so you do not want for cash. The resort is about 2 hours outside the nearest town. Do not expect too much. The staff are so not professional and I was disappointed with management. The ride to see the animals was really fun.

So if you know anyone interested in traveling to Nigeria, don't forget to tell them about Yankari, Obudu ranch and other hot places we have in the country. I think tourism is another way of bringing wealth to our country. Have a lovely weekend.

Ambassadors in our time

I am sat here in front of my computer and I feel so drained. I have been working on my research and my head has had enough for today. I am also so hungry and in fact totally feeling down as I don't think I am performing as well as I would like to. I have got this presentation tomorrow and I would like to talk some sense. Some of my colleagues here have gone so far and I just blame myself... Just wondering to myself, do you sometimes question why we all do not have the same intellectual capabilities or why we are all not the same, developed, rich, happy etc? It doesn't really bother me but nowadays I feel I want to be a genius and so smart I can recommend some development policy that will bring Africa out of poverty and leap frog into one of the developed nations(Wishful thinking?).

On another note, David Beckham is in Africa raising the profile of the poor over there (Good of him to do that)! I guess its time we Africans start doing something about that continent.

Our Capabilities

There is something about football that just makes me sooooo patriotic (Honestly). It fills me with so much adrenalin.... It even gets amazing if the country playing is my country (Nigeria) or any country I take a liking to (by now you should know I am not too crazy about footie LOL!!!). I was so wishing Nigeria was going to trash Ivory Coast but we were beaten (aww!!!). No problem, we still have many more chances and miraculously, we can still win the nations cup...That is what we need to diffuse some of the tensions lingering around in the country. There is just something that brings Nigerians together during football, we forget about our different tribes, marginalisation (Niger delta), hunger, etc. I wish it continues...

On another note, Just got in to Uni, left home some hours ago, sat on the bus and it took forever to get to city center. One reason was an African guy got on the bus, showed the driver an expired bus pass and was caught. He tried to be smart but the bus driver was smarter than him, he kept arguing and he knows he was wrong. The bus driver told him to put his name and address down and the stupid man kept saying but sir.... People started getting angry, some were already late for work... I was soo angry. At that moment the African man lived up to the stereotype...fraudulent, untrustworthy, lying, and dishonest Black man. I felt so ashamed of him. I felt he has let all the black people on the bus down. I think when Africans go to another country, they should be ambassadors of where they come from. We should stop thinking of ourselves only and see how the behaviour we display affects others. You find lots of Nigerians/Africans given great opportunities abroad and they just mess it up. There was a guy where I worked, he was very good with his job, he spoilt everything by committing credit card fraud. I ask myself why do they do this? Why can they not work hard and just live a decent life? I pray that those who think they are smart and want to defraud a country whose most citizens are law abiding to think twice. If you got away with that kind of behaviour in Africa, you cannot get away with it in developed nations. you'll end up not only in jail but degrade the substance of hard working, law abiding Africans.
When the African man couldn't just stop arguing and the bus driver threatened to call the police, I had had enough, I got up and left the bus....such a shame!!!!!!

Neglect!!!!!!

As we join the rest of the world in this age of globalisation, things might begin to look bright for our continent. We have people watching different aspect of the African affairs, investors studying the nature of the continent and political analysts watching to see what we are capable of. In our own small ways, we are not actually doing that bad. We have countries doing good economically and politically in the region. The only problem is that many people in Africa do not feel the government is doing enough to give them good quality of life. They feel neglected and I feel and believe people in Africa especially Nigeria have been neglected in all ramification. We now have people doing their own thing and not acting as a team.

lets look at this scenario which will help explain what I mean by neglect.
We know human trafficking or any trafficking for that matter is not a new thing in Nigeria, we know people make a lot of money from such illegal activities and innocent children involved in this hideous act. Recently in Aba Nigeria, the police uncovered such crime. They found 42 pregnant girls from the age of 11 to 15. Not only that, they found "young able men" who put these girls in family way.

My anger is, where are all the people who have an inkling that such crimes exist? What are government agencies doing to curb these acts. I say we have neglected ourselves because with all the preaching about HIV/AIDS, people are still willing not only to put their lives at risk but the lives of others. I say many Nigerians are getting involved with unbelievable crimes because of money. It is supposedly that the children born by these young girls are sold. What manner of future are we building? I think it is time everyone of us weather in diaspora or at home to help either by publicizing, advocating etc on issues that really affect the ordinary man in the continent.

To be or not to be...... You tell me!!!!!

Everyday is a new day and each day brings hope...At least that is the way I see it from my point of view. I started this topic this way because I believe that one day, Africa will be great. One day when all the corrupt, evil people are done away with, the young and innocent generation will have a beautiful country/continent devoid of all the wickedness we see today. I don't know who the bad people are or from what product they are but there are a lot of unnecessary killings, robbery, ethnic hatred, anger going on in our nations. When you look at the map of Africa especially that of the Sub Saharan Africa, no one country is doing great (My opinion).

I remember some years ago, when robbery was a thing of pastime for some Nigerians (which it still is today), not only will these wicked (agents of the devil)steal, they also kill and commit abominable crime. I remember an incident in the eastern part of Nigeria, These robbers, go into innocent people's home, rape and then demand that a father should rape his daughter or a brother his sister and if they refuse, they get killed. In Onitcha then, no day goes without gun shots (unbelievable?). The police could not do anything, the people believed some police were actually involved in some of the crimes. Hearts were broken, innocent lives were killed, and people were mourning. Easterners refused to go home because of what might happen. People dared not enter transportation especially bike (Okada) with any form of bags because of the fear of getting killed....Then one day, some boys called the BAKASSI BOYS said enough is enough and started killing all the BAD BOYS and GIRLS...They took the law into their hands and killed and burnt most of these killers....(barbaric you may say) the people welcomed them, and funny enough, there was calm and peace, there were no more gun shots, no more robbery as it was and people could go about their business. Some years past and no body heard of these boys till I opened the papers today to hear THEY ARE BACK!!!! and have burnt their first robbers this year in ABA Nigeria. These robbers stole from an innocent man and was caught by Bakassi boys who made sure that the victim collected his money, the passport and the bag snatched from him by the robbers, Bakassi boys then decorated the robbers bodies with machete cuts before setting them ablaze. The Bakassi boys watched to ensure that the suspects got properly burnt.

OK, the people are happy now, robbers will think twice before attempting any robbery but as a nation, what is the police doing? Why can they not be the ones to bring people to justice? In fact the people prefer Bakassi boy's type of justice because they say the police will release these horrible robbers to commit crime again. Every where in the country, there are people being killed by robbers, we fear our fellow brothers. Many Nigerian fear of going back home because of the crimes there. Should the bakassi boys be legalised and who agrees with this type of justice?

Our Priorities as a developing nation

As a student of international development, When I talk about my country, Nigeria, I speak as if it is a developing country. After all developing means it has potential. But if I want to be truthful to myself, I would say from actual events in the country that it is truly underdeveloped. On arriving in the country, from the air, you can see the difference. Everywhere is so dark (just as it has been dubbed..the dark continent). The roads are so bad, there is no constant electricity, no water and the people are just going along with whatever is being offered to them. There is poverty in the country, serious suffering by the masses and sometimes I do wonder what the future holds for the millions there.

I was just going through the papers and saw an article that made me laugh. Honestly I was quite emotional. I didn't know weather to laugh or cry for our nation. The headline in Nigerian Vanguard read: Aso Rock budgets N2.3million daily for refreshment....N1.5m for eye glasses. OH! I weep for the black race. I weep for the ordinary Nigerian, I weep for the so called "leaders" who are shameless to come out with such an idea. This is a country of about 160 million, low quality of life, no effective working machinery in place, people are dying of malnutrition, heart ache etc and the so called "leaders" have the audacity to spend 2.3 million naira daily on refreshment. How can they eat and then sleep properly when millions are dying? I bet the international world are watching and laughing at us. What of investing in education, health, good roads, science and technology, innovation, SMEs, research and development? How did these people come to power in the first place? Look at Niger Delta...

The most annoying thing is we only have one country, if we destroy it, where do we go to? Why can we not all come together and build a beautiful nation? I am so disappointed that all these money that should be invested properly is going into the bellies of fat corrupt, insatiable politicians who should know better. No body says that they cannot eat, after all, we need healthy leaders, but to take the p... out of 160 million people who are struggling is totally unacceptable. Good luck Nigeria.

Sights of Nigeria

I was just thinking that Africa will not be such a bad place if we all come together and make the place a great place. I was just thinking of all the fun I had when I visited home (Nigeria) last year. I had a wonderful time with friends and family. Even though the cost of everything from food to fuel is getting out of the reach of the common man, people still laughed and smiled. everybody is so welcoming and ready to help. My mum made me my favourite meals and I was just all loved and cared for. We do have good people in fact, the best people in Africa especially Nigeria but again, we do have the most wicked people around,people who will not think twice and take life from someone, people who will rob in any given circumstances, people who will make sure they have their way even though it is wrong. But hey! it is same in most countries. I think, Africans can do better if they stop thinking of how to enrich themselves, do away with greed, corruption, work together and put their people first in any policies that affects them. Do you think our leaders are capable of this?

I have uploaded some of the pictures I took when I was in Nigeria last November. Some of the places you will recognise if you are familiar with Nigeria. I put one of me and Bright (Basket mouth) too. He is really nice and very friendly. I asked for a picture with him and he agreed and posed for a pic with me. Nigerians are just lovely people. Do you agree? LOL

What future

I love children and My dream is for children to be happy and enjoy their childhood. I came across this picture. I think these lovely kids are too young to be hawking. Anything can happen to them. They should be busy enjoying kisses and cuddles from mum and dad. Is this the creation of poverty in a land of plenty? What happened to all the resources God has blessed Africa with? May God help us all.

Humanity

As the current killings in Kenya hots up and people are busy killing their fellow people, I wonder what goes on in the mind of these killers. Well, it is not only Kenya that is experiencing killings, in the Niger delta area of Nigeria, innocent people are also getting killed in the name of freedom fighting and marginalisation. Common criminals just get up, get armed and go to the streets and start killing. The event that just made me ask, where Africa is going, is the killings that happened in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria last week (I blogged about it). Touts in the name or guise of freedom fighting suddenly went to the streets of Portharcourt, opened fire on innocent citizens who were going about their own businesses. Blood was shed, police men died, innocent souls died, hearts were broken, people psycologically scared (maybe for life) and the leader of this group still boosts that many will die. Tell me how shedding the blood of the people you fight for got to do with fighting for injustice? I wonder what the future holds for the young and what legacy we are leaving for the next generation.

I can imagine what the innocent people are going through. I have experienced trauma during conflicts too. I experienced the conflict in the North of Nigeria during the Miss World crisis 2002(go to this site to read more.http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/nigeria0703/3.htm#_Toc45700666). Oh! what an event. Gun shots everywhere, my heart racing, sleepless nights as all you hear was gun shots and shouting. Smokes going up everywhere as houses were burnt down. What people did to their fellow humans, unspeakable. I was traumatised by that even and pray nobody goes through it. With Africa or let me say Nigeria, every little thing brings about unprovoked attacks. weather it be war in Afghanistan or other newspaper publication that has to do with religion and nothing to do with innocent citizens. At this stage, I pray that God protects the innocent in all waring countries and bring peace to warring lands and stop the blood shed. Enough is enough.

Non governmental organisations

I have been looking at the various literatures on Non governmental organisations in Africa especially in Nigeria. I have read both the positive and the negative impacts they have in the continent. I am really interested in Information on their activities especially those involved in community development projects like building of houses, schools, hospitals etc. I would appreciate any information that will help me with my research.
My view is, there are various NGOs that are doing great in the continent while some should just be done away with as they are not fit to be called NGOs. What the continent needs are organisation that will work with both government and the people towards one goal..... Development...Better quality of life for the people. What do you say?

The Mind of Individuals

The current events in Africa has weighed heavily on me. This is because for one, I am African and two, I so desire for there to be a change in that continent. Sometimes, I seriously despair for that continent. It seems all the prayers, aid, policies does not seem to work out in the continent. It is the only continent still lagging behind in development. Others like China and India have since moved ahead. I sometimes wonder what it is with the black race. I shared my concerns with a friend and a pastor who said something that interested me. They said, that we blacks were cursed in the old testament. The story is that in the old testament, when Job was naked and his one of his sons saw him naked, job cursed him and said to him, he will be the servant of his other brother. I will look up the verse and share later. But in my amazment, I have to say I went and looked it up.The pastors wife then said, but that curse has been lifted up and that Jesus took away that curse on the curse of Calvary.

Well, back to my normal anticipation that development must surely happen in Africa and I am shocked by another act of wickedness by heartless people within the continent. I will not even go into how people are killing themselves in Kenya. It is in such events that I am so ashamed of acts of wickedness by African. How can a fellow person willingly kill his fellow human being at any excuse be it political or otherwise?

In Nigeria, chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Saka Saula was shot dead by gunmen. The way the event was described was most horrific. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones. I do not know this man, but what happened to him is just totally unacceptable. Will the police ever find these people that did this? They should never be allowed into society. Why will any human do this? What goes on in the mind of individuals that do this?

Amazing World

After a lovely weekend, I started thinking of all the research work I need to do. As usual, I go through the papers just to see the latest news and what is going on in the World. I came across one shocking news. A boy of 12 has been charged with first degree murder. According to CBS4.com, the 12 year old boy was accused of beating the toddler to death with a baseball bat. It makes one wonder what kind of earth we are leaving for our children. God help both mothers. The mother who lost her child and the mother whose child became a killer. God knows what both mothers are going through! Why would a 12 year old think of killing at that young age? Where did that idea to hurt another human come from?

Brilliant New Year

What a wonderful year 2008 is going to be. I have decided to make it one that I will make use of my potentials. As a postgraduate student in development studies a lot of news do grab my attention....especially that of developing countries. I wish that somehow, people are empowered especially in Africa to make that big move towards development. I was just shocked when I read Vanguard online about people killed on New years day in Port Harcourt (Nigeria). Niger Delta Vigilante claimed responsibility. I believe this behaviour is totally unacceptable and uncalled for. Innocent people have been killed and according to Ateke Tom the leader, More will die. If I read Vanguard correctly, Ateke claims he is fighting for the Niger Delta people and all the suppression they have gone through. My question is, How can you kill people you fight for or cause them grieve? I was travelled to Nigeria last year and nothing seems to be really moving. the roads are still bad, no electricity, the price of fuel still increasing. Why is it that we cannot innovate and change from oil dependency to that of industrialisation? A lot of research has gone into highlighting the issues that hold the African continent from progressing, Why can't leaders work towards eradicating these issues for the continent. Why is it that Blacks are so quick to kill their fellow blacks without thinking. Why are people killing themselves in Kenya? Why can we Blacks in Africa not learn how to dialogue and respect one another. Why do we hate each other so much and not live together in peace. Other developed countries live in harmony and respect one another. What is wrong with Africa? Where do we start to make the wrongs done by our fore fathers right? This year, I hope to contribute to the development process through highlighting some issues and seeking for ways they can be dealt with. From me, have a wonderful New year.