LETTER FROM A CHILD TO A PARENT

Dear father and mother, thank you for giving birth to me and not aborting me. Thank you for not sleeping comfortably when I arrived and never complaining. Thank you for the breast milk which until I grew up never knew was sour. Thank you for the warm clothes. Thank you for lifting me up as a child and speaking to me as though I understood you so I do not shed a tear again. Thank you for taking pictures of me so I know who exactly I look like because it seems I only had one person’s eye or nose by your analysis. Thank you for my name and adding your name to it. Thank you for sending me to school but really teaching me all I needed to know at home. Thank you for telling me what friend was good, before I knew who really wasn’t needed. Thank you for talking to me about puberty; I knew you were also shy about the topic. Thank you for telling me what to wear and buying what you thought was in vogue. Thank you for pocket money; please don’t hesitate to keep it coming even though you feel I am married- I will tell you when to stop. Please understand we live in a different generation; stop embarrassing me or telling me how to do things, ask me what I want first. Please note that the way you talk to me or refer to me is what I would become. I love your union but I hope mine is better; don’t think I am being rude but trust me there are things you do, I don’t want to do and things you didn’t do that I want to do. Thank you for telling me what God to worship, can I now find my God since I will be asked how I lived my life and not yours? Mother thank you for teaching me what kind of woman to want, father thank you for teaching me what man to choose. I may travel, get married, have kids but I will always remember you because you both are my source. #Wink

 

THE GOOD “EX”

Ever heard the say don’t become friends with your ex? Well, what if your ex, wasn’t your ex? Relationships as it seems, sometimes end up with captions most people hate to talk about ‘we broke up’, ‘I never want to see him/her again’, ‘he cheated’ but sometimes relationships also end up because of the situations which become inevitable and no one ever is to take the blame.

 

A clear study of relationships shows that, they begin with kind gestures, warm hearts and exchange of gifts but end up with people who seek better candidates to do the same thing they did with others- many a time forgetting what started the relationship, made it easier and was the driving force to keep it going.

 

The attraction of two opposite sexes which we refer to as relationship has widely been seen as a way of life where only two people share erotic, pleasurable gestures in and out of their private rooms. It has been generally conceived that women enjoy the better parts of the relationship because the men do more and sacrifice more than the women do; however true or untrue this is, the truth could only come from both parties who enjoy or  irritate each other’s company.

 

Many a time this attraction which may have grown from months and even years fades away because both parties realise the need for more of either what they already have or more of what they could never have and this contentment often lead to lies and broken hearts. However some attractions stay on and other circumstances such as religion, race, distance and even blood type keep them away from each other.

 

The separation of parties who are in a healthy relationship is sometimes taken to be cruel because just the name goes ‘EX’, relationships that come to an end are often taken to be pitiful. When circumstances take people apart, both parties usually find others who seem alike, like those they knew or people who treat them better, however the old parties never stay apart.

 

It is not often that people stay apart because someone played the wrong role, it is not always total that an ‘EX’ played a negative role in our lives but it is mandatory that we understand that a past relationship can only be past when we make it so. There might be no more mutual feelings but there will be no fruitful, warm, happy, trust worthy, honest present relationship if we never state the past and the present.

NIGERIAN GRADUATES WITH A MAXIMUM CGPA IN TEXAS

24-year-old Uwa Osamede Imafidon (Nigerian Born), just graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington(UTA) in the US with a Master degree in Microbiology and she made a 4.0 CGPA out of the maximum 4.0 CGPA.

 

Before her sojourn abroad, she had earlier bagged a First Class Degree in Crop Science from University of Benin, Benin city Nigeria as the Best Graduating student in her Department.

 

CUTTING OFF RELATIONSHIPS…

I was out with a friend who gave me a story about a couple who met in London; the guy had a setback while schooling in Nigeria he had to come into the UK to start his undergraduate again. The lady had done her undergraduate in Nigeria and was in London for her Masters- they were together for the years in London but she had to return to Nigeria but before she did, the guy in question broke up with her months before. His reason was that he didn’t know what he would do next and that he felt he would waste her time as he felt that she was not getting any younger and he was still going on in school and she was through. Well according to my friend the lady is married in Nigeria.

 

While listening I couldn’t help but wonder do people get scared of their future in relationships? If we go in knowing how a relationship would end, would we treat those people the same way we would treat them? There are always reasons why relationships won’t end up in marriages but then again are there people in relationships who love each other but see no reason to be with each other?

 

I hate blogging or talking about relationships because the topic is endless- you never know how to end the discussion or who might think you are opinionated about it even if you aren’t. The couple from the story however gives me and am sure many different questions to ask- was the guy in question scared? Was he in love with the lady at all? Could the relationship have gone on if he had a job? Would he not still have an excuse or a reason to break things up? Did he do the right thing by sending her away? Does distance affect relationships even when they have a foundation, whereby they already know what they want? Was there nothing to keep them together?

 

I hate it when people say must you marry who you are in a relationship with? In the first place its not compulsory you are in a relationship but if you are, know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Like I said I hate blogging about relationships. It goes on and the discussion is never over…I do however wish that only mature people embark on relationships because while mankind calls his shots for how things should be, the universal maker finds a way to sort everyone out.

 

SCARY SUCCESS

Is your success with someone else or with you? Strange as that question sounds, it is a vital question that many of us need to answer.

I often hear people say that they have to remain friends with some people because they never know where life would bring them together again or what that other person might do for them and it makes me wonder if ever people know that favor is rendered not by good will but by peaceable spirits.

 

The Nigerian Yoruba adage says “Omi le yan, ma se yan” (People are like water, don’t offend them). Come to think of it, it didn’t say don’t let them go or keep them, it says, don’t offend them. But then again, what will someone do to you that will make you withhold a helping hand when it is your turn to render it?

 

People often advice that we do not remain friends with our ex(s) because they let us down and for some, there is a believe that keeping in touch with your ex helps them see what they have lost or helps you retain a friendship which might lead to your favor or help.

 

If people were to hurt us emotionally by refusing our advances or if they strayed away from us after a good love gone bad, would we turn them down in the future when we have the ability to help them because they hurt us or because we have no means to help them?

 

Forgiving or bypassing someone for an act that brought emotional pains is one of the hardest thing man has had to overcome. Having to love someone is not all roses and even when you are not loved in return, the heartache grows wider but having an unforgiving spirit is like shooting oneself.

 

No one should be have to suffer a broken heart and saying things can be worked on might be easy or that you can move beyond a break up but having a life time hatred for a human being like yourself is like having a killer disease that you never see.

 

No one but you has the link to your success. No ex, friend or partner holds the key to your success. There is no one you have to keep for success either, all you ever need is within you.

DARK LIVES, DARK LIES…

The hour of the night is usually linked to an hour where many unseen, unusual and even unexplained things are done. Man is often asleep at this time and many do not see or identify a man’s heart especially at times like this because he simply can do things no one can see.

 

When things are done in the dark, it is hard and most times rare to identify what exactly is being done or who exactly carries out what act, little wonder a link can be made to those things done in the secret. 

 

The human mind has a heart on its own, it has emotions and can always identify when indeed it hurts another or when it goes astray. It can play a major role in one’s life and it is the greatest battlefield anyone can conquer.

 

Many a time, things we do that hurt others and even ourselves begin behind closed doors, closed hearts and hidden corners. Relationships get broken when parties begin concealed relationships or lifestyle unknown to the other,  marriages get destroyed because people involved start looking aside and friends feel betrayed not by things we do staring or accompanying them with but by those things we do when they look aside or least expect it; the unseen usually brings the seen pain.

 

In hidden spaces, men have torn each other apart. Things have been done behind closed doors and unsaid things have destroyed friendships, relationships and marriages. Quarrels and intolerance have taken people apart, but communication and understanding can be a first step.

 

The dark hour reveals a man to his friends; it is difficult to forgive him for what he does in the dark time. Forgiving and letting people back into your life is hard but its better to be a teacher than a student with a lot more colleagues (no one is perfect). A shift in friends and partner might seem good at the beginning but personal growth on how we handle issues with others play a bigger role in how we get along with all others.

JEALOUSY AMONGST WOMEN

Does speaking bad about a sister literally mean you are jealous? Usually girls get all over each other on the issue that one person’s make up is better, or one person’s breast is bigger or one person has an un- usual bum shape and this makes one wonder, “especially the male sexes”- are we ladies jealous of each other?

Jealousy is generally taken to be a relationship syndrome that occurs when a man gives his attention to anyone other than his woman. A woman is not a man’s possession but if at anytime, his time or his finance is spent on someone else which could lead to sensual issues, “his woman” is bound to be jealous. However when this jealousy has nothing to do with such scene, is it still jealousy?

Ladies these days take time out to put on make up, put on accessories and even clothes that make them stand out from others. Take note that this statement concerns a majority of 75%, thus leaving others to be those who take no interest in doing something else to enhance their looks. The belief then is that those who do not enhance themselves, are jealous of those who do.

Women among the opposite sexes are nags, they worry over nothing most times and they create dramas just to get attention either from male counterparts or sometimes themselves; Little wonder when they quarrel with each other it is as if the whole world has been let loose.

A woman as I believe may not possess the beauty of another woman but if ever she sees another and says, “wow, her lips are big, her boobs are too small, her bum is too flat, her nose is too long” it can’t always be because she feels jealousy over the other. Yes she would point out in the other woman what she has or doesn’t have but not all happens because of jealousy.

Women get jealous of things they have that another wants to posses. Pointing out what others have that they don’t have, does not necessarily mean jealousy. It could be a sign of envy which isn’t a lady like spirit, it could be because they lack it and like it or it could even be because they ain’t friends with the other individual and its has created hatred.

Ladies, let’s control ourselves. Stop bringing the sisters down. Complement each other before the men do and always feel free to ask a sister how she does it? But ladies remember, not everything that is good for a sister is good for you. #Wink

AFRICAN WOMAN

I smelt her skin like a wet grass,
My face up against her back clutched close,
with each step she took
She wrapped me close as though her breath
depended on it.
Every move she made, i made
Every force i felt
The thickness of her love was soaked in this act
The act, the African woman possessed
Was bound to keep me safe till i could fend for myself
 The pink lady saw her, and admired it as art and sarcasm
            I knew nothing would wrap me away to make
 her suffer more.

A STATEMENT RELEASED BY FEMI FANI KAYODE ON THE WOOLWICH KILLING

Some things just don’t add up when it comes to the Woolwich killings. There are certainly more questions than answers. Let us examine the facts. An off-duty British soldier by the name of Lee Rigby was walking down the street in the charming and peaceful London suburb of Woolwich. All of a sudden, and out of the blue, he was randomly selected and run over by a car which was being driven by two young black men. After they hit him to the ground with the car the two young men jumped out of it, armed with machetes, knives, a rusty old pistol and a meat cleaver, and in a deep and uncontrollable frenzy ad-mist shouts of ”Allahu Akbar”, proceeded to take his precious life by carving him up, mutilating him, butchering him and beheading him in full public glare. This all happened barely 100 meters away from Rigby’s Army Barracks home. The attack began at 2.30 pm whilst the soldier gave up the ghost at approximately 3.00pm on a four-point inter-section roundabout and crossroads.

Immediately after finishing their gruesome act the killers then conducted their own impromptu press conference, brandishing knives and meat cleavers in blood-soaked hands, with random members of the public asking to be filmed and quoted whilst their clothes were soaked, drenched and dripping in human blood. After their ”press conference” ended they moved to the other side of the road and calmly waited for the police to arrive. They had all the time in the world to do so but they plainly refused to run and attempt to avoid arrest or the imminent arrival of the police. According to eye-witnesses (and I watched the footage on CNN) the police took no less than 30 minutes to get to the scene and confront the two killers. They did NOT get there in the 9 minutes that they are claiming.

When the police eventually arrived instead of surrendering peacefully to them or attempting to run away, the two young men charged at them brandishing their knives and meat cleaver in a menacing way and attempting to shoot their old and rusty pistol. Unfortunately for them the pistol exploded in the hand of the individual that tried to use it. They were both promptly shot, wounded and disarmed. Yet before the police arrived another rather curious incident took place. A strange yet very courageous Scandinavian woman, who just happened to be sitting on a bus that was driving past, told the bus driver to stop when she saw the carnage that was being inflicted on the dying soldier, got off the bus and calmly walked over to the killers even as they were still killing him. She then proceeded to have a detailed conversation with them asking them why they were doing what they were doing and assuring them that in the end they would lose the fight because it was ”just them against many”.

Is this not a rather curious encounter? Who really was that Scandinavian lady and who does she really work for? Is she a genuine hero or is she what, in security and intelligence circles, is known as a controller? Is she part of the system because to do what she did took immense courage? So many questions still need to be asked and answered. For example why did the police take so long before responding? Why were the killers given all the time in the world to conduct a graphic, loud and unofficial press conference in the streets with members of the public after beheading and carving up the young soldier?

Even more curiously the police and intelligence agencies have now admitted that these two young men were “known to them”. If that were the case how come they were never put under close surveillance, monitored, questioned or arrested? Why did all this have to take place at approximately 3.00pm in the afternoon, at that location (a crossroads of four junctions) and on that date? Why did the assailants have to cut off their victims head, hang around there for thirty minutes whilst ranting and whilst soaked and covered in their victims blood? Why did the killers insist that only women could come near the dying body of their victim? Why was this whole thing allowed to happen and to drag on like it did for 30 uninterrupted minutes by the authorities? Why did the police refuse to move in even though numerous members of the public were having detailed conversations with the assailants?

Was this whole thing some kind of state-sponsored Illuminati-style human sacrifice? Was it designed and orchestrated by the authorities to create more terror in the land and to give them the opportunity to introduce more draconian laws, curb immigration and do away with even more civil liberties on the grounds that they wish to fight the very terror that they themselves created. Are we not being fooled again by the ”powers that be” and the state just as we were over ”9-11” and over the murder of Princess Diana, both of which were clearly inside jobs with strong Illuminati connections. If anyone doubts this assertion they ought to do themselves a favor and find the time to watch David Icke’s revealing documentary titled ”9/11-It Was An Inside Job”. It is on YouTube. They can also find his numerous books and watch his numerous documentaries on the murder of Princess Diana. Their world view will change dramatically after that. Back to Woolwich.

Are there not clear parallels between the Woolwich incident and the Boston bombings which took place just a few weeks ago. Are there not similarities in the profiles of the two sets of killers in both incidents. Both operations were conducted in full public glare and in the afternoon. Both operations were carried out by two Americans and two British citizens respectively each of them with a foreign heritage and family ties with nations that are rife with and that are being torn apart by Islamist terror. In the case of the Boston bombers the two perpetrators had strong links and family ties with Dagestan and Chechnya and in the case of the Woolwich incident both perpetrators had equally strong links and family ties with Nigeria. Both sets of killers were muslim fundamentalists and both sets were ”known to the intelligence agencies” of their respective countries. Both countries in which the murders took place, i.e. Great Britain and the United States of America, are the greatest allies and leaders in the war against terror and they are both committed to standing ”shoulder to shoulder” with one another in that fight. Is it not strange that similar acts of terror will take place in the two just a few weeks apart and that those acts of terror were all carried out by people with similar profiles and virtually the same age. The coincidences are just too many and things just don’t add up. The performance of the British police particularly has opened up the door for a lot of speculation. They made so many mistakes. Yet I can assure you that the British police and intelligence agencies are NOT that sloppy. They are among st the best, if not the best, in the world and they just don’t make mistakes. There is far more to this whole thing than meets the eye and there is also a sinister purpose and agenda to it. The full picture has not yet been shown to us and perhaps it never will but little by little those that are well-versed in these matters will work it out and the truth will be exposed.

 

Yet the questions just keep coming. Is it possible that those two British boys of Nigerian descent were under some kind of ”Peter Powers”-type hypnosis and mind-control system which was triggered off by something or someone. In many of his books and videos David Icke has alluded to the usage and existence of such capabilities by the more advanced intelligence agencies in the world for the last ten years and he has cited many examples of such usage. Initially I was skeptical about his assertions until I listened and read carefully and I cross-checked the examples and the events that he cited. After that I was convinced that he was right and ever since then I have acknowledged the fact that we live in an exceptionally dangerous world where only the dullard would rule anything out. Back to the two young men that killed in Woolwich. Were they cultivated, ”programmed” and used by agents of the Illuminati in the British establishment to carry out this gruesome operation and this monstrous sacrifice? It is relevant and interesting to note that the two suspects were not just British citizens of Nigerian descent but that they were both Muslim converts. That is to say they were both brought up as Christians and then somewhere along the line they converted not just to Islam but to it’s most extreme and radical brand. They became dangerous Islamist that were prepared to kill for their faith. Who cultivated them and took them to this point and how did it get so bad? More importantly will this whole episode not give the western powers and the British people another reason to demonize Islam and target mosques and Muslim clerics? Is that part of the plan and the wider picture? Is the whole idea to create the atmosphere for vicious reprisal attacks against Muslims and Nigerians in the U.K.?

Is all that I have written here far-fetched? You may believe so but I don’t. And neither have I gone mad. The devil is real and the Illuminati is it’s tool for world control and domination. It has been around for years and those that are part of it operate in the deepest secrecy. Yet even if you do not agree with me on anything that I have said here, the questions that I have raised are legitimate and they are indeed food for thought. In this game there are no coincidences and everything happens for a reason and has its own symbolism and purpose. As far as I am concerned only David Icke can crack this Woolwich nut and unravel it’s secrets and I look forward to the day that he does.

Meanwhile I pray that the soul of Officer Rigby rests in perfect peace and I urge every Nigerian that is resident in or that is visiting the UK, especially if they are Muslims, to be exceptionally careful in their movements and in their dealings with the British people and authorities. There is FAR more to this whole thing than meets the eye and whether anyone likes to admit it or not, sadly, there will be some kind of backlash against our people at some point.

As for the two British men of Nigerian descent (whose names I refuse to mention) that cut short the life of this brave young and heroic British soldier in the prime of his life for doing absolutely nothing wrong, may they both die a slow and terrible death and may they rot in hell.

 

By Femi Fani-Kayode VIA http://www.naijaurban.com

 

WHERE IS GOODLUCK JONATHAN?

THE REAL REASON OLDER MEN LOVE TO DATE YOUNGER WOMEN

I saw this on everywherenigeria.com and had to share

Admit it, when you see an older man who’s dating a much younger woman, you assume it’s because he must be going through some sort of mid-life crisis. His more youthful female companion may be more sexually attractive to him (making him feel younger in the process) and she probably doesn’t call him out on his issues like an older woman might. After all, young women are fun, free-spirited, energetic and have a zest for life.

 

This youthful energy is attractive to an older man who may be feeling his mortality.
These are all the stereotypical reasons people tend to think older men love to date younger women. And while these things may be true for some men, the attraction is a little more complicated than that. When it comes down to it, a younger woman satisfies one of the most basic human needs: connection.

 

This is a need that is different for men and women at different stages in their lives. Young adult women typically have more of a need for connection. While they will create careers, they also want to eventually create a family. On the other hand, young adult men are more focused on the need for significance. They have relationships and start families, but their primary focus is figuring out a way to make it in the world. In young adult relationships, these needs are often in conflict, as the woman wants more intimacy and the man is focused on building his career. Older men and younger women share that same need for connection.

 

This is one of the cruel jokes of the dating world: younger men are focused on significance and younger women are focused on connection. Somewhere around mid-life, there is a switch. At some point, an older man will realize he’s squandered his youth on the pursuit of power and may have neglected his family in the process. He is tired of the rat race and is seeking more connection. Simultaneously, an older woman is tired of putting herself second after her children and husband. She is ready to go back to school and pursue the career she put on hold for her family. This is another reason older men love to date younger women. A young woman is compatible with him in that she is also seeking more connection. He may even be thinking of starting a second family with her so he can “get it right” this time around.
What’s your view?

CHIDUBEM WINNER OF MR IDEAL NIGERIA 2013

Ndi Igbo kwezenu! (Igbo people I hail) I got a message from Ayotunde Fabamwo aka Twitch three days ago saying Mr Imo is the newly crowned Mr Ideal Nigeria.

The winner Mr. Chidubem; a Unilag undergraduate who represented IMO state at this years’s Mr Ideal Nigeria competition. He has won the most coveted crown of Mr. Ideal Nigeria 2013.

The event was held at Bespoke Centre , Lekki and according to Ayotunde Fabamwo,“2013 is the best line up we have had in years. Mr Ideal Nigeria is committed to empowering young men, we are not selling a dream, we are building a future for the young men who are contesting in our pageant. We are confident that the new Mr Ideal Nigeria will benefit the country and will move us all a step closer toward building a greater Nigeria”.

Other winners include; Mr Anambra, Swanki, came in 6th place, Mr. Ekiti, Ola Rotibi in 5th place as Mr Ideal Nigeria – West Africa,  Mr. Kaduna, Nuhu Haruna, in 4th place as Mr. Ideal NIgeria – Globe to represent Nigeria at Mr Ecowas , Mr Zamfara, Fortune Obiora,came  in 3rd place as Mr Ideal Nigeria – Tourism and 2nd place went to Kogi Dayo Iferiola with title Mr Ideal Nigeria – Earth. Other contestants that won various awards like Mr Picture Perfect –  Abuja, Mr. Body Perfect – Mr. Kano, Mr Culture NIgeria – Rivers. Mr. Imo  won the most coveted crown would be representing Nigeria at Mr Africa International and is also the face of the watchlocker wristwatch brand in Nigeria.

Congrats Chidubem. I know you have a great shoe to fill because Abayomi Towase MIN 2012 did great. Here’s wishing you the best year ahead.

LOSING SOMEONE

The pain of losing someone to death is like losing that of a heart break; the unexpected is usually experienced. Everything happens without a warning and even if ever they go out through a sickness, it becomes more daunting, that every effort in prayer and medication was a waste.

A phone call from a friend said she had lost her mum(my heart goes out to her); the words sorry was the first thing on my lips but the words sorry was the least thing in my spirit to say because while growing up, I was taught that the words sorry came as a result of an injury or an offence, not as a result of loosing.

Saying sorry can never be polite when one loses someone to death. You don’t regret or feel ashamed losing someone, its the one who has lost an individual that can tell you how they feel and yet no one can explain a feeling. We can try to tell where it hurts sometimes but we can’t always explain the pain.

My heart goes out to anyone who has ever lost someone; nothing I or anyone say can make you feel better. It is always a sad event but what can we do. it is inevitable. Do remember the good days and be sober for only a little while for they whom you have lost could never be satisfied knowing you lived all the rest of your life remembering that they left this world for you to be unhappy.

NIGERIANS DOMINATE FOR 2013 POSSIBLE CAINE PRIZE AWARD

Four Nigerians among 5 short-listed for African writing prize

Four of the five writers short-listed for this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing are from Nigeria, a first for the prominent award, organisers revealed Wednesday.

The fifth contestant is from Sierra Leone, according to a list released on the Caine Prize website.

The five were selected from 96 entries from 16 African countries.

“The five contrasting titles interrogate aspects of things that we might feel we know of Africa – violence, religion, corruption, family, and community – but these are subjects that are deconstructed and beautifully remade,” said the chief judge and historian Gus Casely-Hayford.

“These are challenging, arresting, provocative stories of a continent and its descendants captured at a time of burgeoning change.”

The winner of the 10,000 pound ($15,200) prize will be announced in July in Oxford, England.

The four Nigerians whose 2012 titles made it to the final list are Elnathan John for his “Bayan Layi”; Tope Folarin for “Miracle”; Abubakar Adam Ibrahim for “The Whispering Trees” and Chinelo Okparanta for “America”.

The Sierra Leonean entry is “Foreign Aid” by Pede Hollist.
The Caine Prize counts the African Nobel winners Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee among its patrons.

WE WERE HERE

On a stroll with life, we took our turns
On a stroll with death, we raced back home
Seeking only to find reasons to live
We feed ourselves with others making them fill our lives
We draw nearer and yet never know how near
We seek that which must live after we are gone 
We follow in steps we do not understand
We imitate only to be imitated
We hold on as the sun rises
We visit our past with our minds
We play the future with sounds
We dance and dance till time is gone 
We have come and we must go
For though we were here, another must occupy the space we didn’t.

A PIECE ON PRESIDENT JONATHAN IN THE UK GUARDIAN by REMI ADEKOYA

Nigerians had no rational reason to believe their lives would improve after Goodluck Jonathan became president three years ago this week. The list of promises their rulers have broken is so long it would make a virgin cynical. But then Nigerians can be stubbornly optimistic.

 

When Jonathan first appeared on the political scene in 2007, when Nigeria’s then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, announced him as the running-mate of his party’s next presidential candidate, Musa Yar’Adua, many mythologised the good fortune that seemed linked to Jonathan’s first name. And so, when Yar’Adua died in 2010 from heart disease and Jonathan was handed the most coveted job in Nigeria, many voters believed good luck had come to Nigeria. Were they right?

 

Nigeria’s economy has averaged an impressive 7% annual growth since 2010. Fiscal policy is responsible. The country has a debt-to-GDP ratio of roughly 18% and a budget deficit of under 3%, levels Europe would be delighted with today. This is largely thanks to finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank managing director. But Jonathan deserves praise for not intefering.

 

Still, his end-of-year report is not spotless. While the economy is booming, precious little wealth trickles down to the poor. Jonathan must be more energetic about changing that. The electricity supply is erratic, so businesses and individuals spend fortunes on generators and diesel. This in one of the world’s biggest oil exporters. Things have improved since 2010, but far too tepidly: Jonathan only gets a C minus.

 

Infrastructure also remains a problem. Without a modern road network, doing business in Nigeria will remain prohibitively expensive and logistically challenging. Nigeria is a federation: individual states play a big role here. In the richer, well-governed states such as Lagos, where the commercial capital city is located, progress is visible. But Jonathan needs to do more to facilitate modernism in poorer states: he gets a C.

 

On healthcare, Jonathan gets an F. If a Nigerian gets cancer today and can’t afford private treatment, he will die. Even obtaining aspirin in a public hospital can prove impossible.

 

Education is particularly problematic: tens of millions of Nigerians are illiterate. Most cannot afford an education: without government assistance, thus far feeble, they will remain intellectual invalids. Nigeria’s rulers need to understand that a country is not respected because of the number of oil barrels it sells, but because of the quality of citizen it produces: F.

 

Jonathan’s record on corruption is a disgrace. A recent report from the US State Department was spot on when it cited “massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption affecting all levels of government”.

 

Asked to disclose his assets, the man whose parents couldn’t afford shoes refused. For emphasis, he said he “doesn’t give a damn” what anybody thinks about it. The Council of States, led by Jonathan, meanwhile pardoned his former boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who had been convicted of money-laundering.

 

On security, Jonathan has dithered. Boko Haram, the Islamist terrorist group, has killed thousands on his watch, while he seems unsure whether to use crushing force or grant “amnesty” (read: bribes), as he has offered. Boko Haram laughed in his face. It is Jonathan’s government that should plead for amnesty, it has suggested.

 

In a country where the rule of law remains a dream, Jonathan’s message is terrible: he is, in effect, saying: “Prove to us you are strong enough to make our lives difficult and we’ll give you a share of the pie.” How can a president expect loyalty from his citizens if he appears to lack the power to protect them?

 

It’s no easy job running a country that is half-Christian, half-Muslim, underdeveloped and home to some 250 ethnic groups. Some say Jonathan is too weak for the job. But you don’t have to be a great man to be a great president, as long as you are clever enough to you surround yourself with wise advisers, possess the intelligence to process information and have a steadfast desire to improve things for your people.

 

I personally don’t deny that Jonathan some good intentions. But he is hostage to the powerful interests that catapulted him to the top. Ultimately though, he is Mr President, which gives him some pretty sharp fangs. If he wants to be remembered fondly, he should start baring those fangs in the interest of his people. Otherwise, he might as well call it quits in 2015, and spare us a second term. Nigeria has a lot of catching up to do. There is no time to waste.