Naija Bank Brouhaha

When Nigerians discuss what is wrong with their country (a beloved National pastime) bad leaders are usually fingered as the main cancer.

If any naive person asks why we choose to accept these bad leaders the answer is simple; we didn’t vote them in so they aren’t accountable to us. They won’t listen. Nothing can change. Only God can save this country.
So we offer support either passively through silence or actively working the “man know man” network to redistribute some survival cash in the green white green jungle. There is even a wily breed that vociferously attacks any leader(even girls scouts) preferably on TV, in widely cc’d emails to potential NGO donors and in the pages of papers for recognition and eventual settlement as consultants to any side with the deepest pockets. We all agree on what we would like but not on how to get there.

What has this got to do with banks? Well everyone is in shock over Sanusi Lamido of the CBN’s (Central Bank of Nigeria) cleansing of the commercial banking Aegean stables where not less than 5 bank CEO’s where sacked over reckless management style that has eroded shareholders funds while actively concealing their weak state over time. Apparently risky investments in the downstream oil and gas sector in a market where oil prices tumbled and Naira value sommersaulted have contributed to the sack of the CEO's. Does CBN have the power to do this? Yes.

My question is why did it take Sanusi Lamido of the CBN to do what shareholders and boards should have done for themselves?

I think we have a peculiar concept of what leadership is. For many Nigerians leadership is simply a position. A position which when attained has little to do with responsibilities or functions. Once divorced from systems or institutions the “Big oga” personality cult is the next logical focus. From our leaders we demand favours, praise sing, eulogize, or envy instead of demanding service and according respect based on exemplary performance and honour.

So if you accept bad leadership because leaders are rigged in through fraudulent elections how do you accept bad leadership in an institution THAT YOU WILLINGLY INVESTED YOUR MONEY IN? I can hear the chorus of “but we didn’t know”. Did you want to know?

It is obvious that the board members either lacked the courage to blow the whistle and or profited from insider deals at the expense of shareholders. The shareholder association leaders must all be scrutinized thoroughly as well.
Let us not delve into why this escaped CBN’s hammer for this long. The point is there is a structure and there are processes within the system that should prevent this sort of corporate fraud from occurring, which will never work if we Nigerians continue to apply our feudal passive notions of leader and follower to business investments.

This hasn’t only happened in Nigeria. People world over have been fooled by slickly presented and economical with the truth financial organizations that are little more than private business funds for an incestuous elite whose greed ignored the principles of prudent investment instead choosing high risk high yield ones.
I agree this is so, but I could not help noticing that our refusal to play active roles in governance structures corporate or otherwise, the culture of blame, refusal to take responsibility for better outcomes and an inability to sustain collective action affect our progress as a Nation in every sector.

In summary let’s turn to some good ole African proverbs. A lizard in Calabar cannot become an alligator in China. What is bad is bad. No amount of awards, CNN ads, Chieftaincy titles, honorary degrees, newspaper inches, conflicting financial ratings, or shameless ethnic conspiracy theories should substitute for un-doctored balance sheets or an answer to the question; what is happening to my money?

Advice to Ms/Mr/Mrs shareholder/depositor

• You have rights. Use them.
• Sue all those 419 foreign financial “thingamajigs” that gave fake ratings to these banks.
• Harass the boards. They owe shareholders with 1 share an explanation as to how this happened.
• Do the same to your shareholder association leaders
• Remember leaders have jobs and it’s part of your job to ensure they do it.

Extra rant....

Banks, wouldnt you rather fund manufacturing and businesses that provide jobs, instead of supporting the self destructive mad irony of the 5th largest producer of crude in the world importing fuel for domestic use?

Extra reading

The Big Rot

The fall of Erastus Akingbola

Saving Depositors

sound bites

I collect conversations. Thats my number one hobby. I listen, encourage, vigorously participate, ingest and fold them away in my "great conversations" storage space. I pull them out and revisit them, reffer to them, forward them and link them to navigate life where applicable.

The richest conversations I have always thought come from fellow long distance road travellers, commercial motorbike riders, taxi drivers, hairdressers and generally from people in the business of service.

Ill share a few... lets call them sound bites

Yesterday I overheard some shop keepers link the Ndidi Okereke Onyuike fundraiser fiasco to Obamas Ghana and not Nigeria visit

"Na wa oh"

Obama no tell anyone say him need money from here na im dis big woman do 419 dey collect money from us for am.

Obama con talk say him no send anybody oh! now de man fly pass Nigeria go visit Ghana

See wetin she cause!
Interesting... i think the organizers scammed Ndidi as well but of course she could have seriously checked them out first.

An abuja cab driver informed me that drivers in Abuja should be given regular phsychiatric evaluation because in his opinion only poor mental health could account for the devil may care attitudes of some drivers.

On the Amnesty for Niger Delta Militants one taxi driver in Port Harcourt simply said these people need to come out of the creeks, put aside guns so we can finally really vote and face our leaders (and thier ogas) down home.


Another cabby last night said if married men did not date young girls "wetin dey for do?" na help we dey help dem!

Then the most classic conversation was one I had with a shirt and bra seller in Wuse market...

"I sabi your size now! If I look woman breast one time i go give am brassiere whey go hold am well well" Na my specialty be dis. Women wey big like you dey like pick cloth wey big pass dem... take dis one. na your size be dis."
And you know what? The man was right. Everything I bought from him fit just right.

MJ and matters arising

RIP

This is the first MJ album I loved. My mom had the cassette and used to play it alongside Stevie Wonders Inner Visions. I remember my weekly hair plaiting session, the smell of pomade, the tugging at my scalp and Micheal singing in the background... This was in Nsukka and in the 70's.

I put a comment out on facebook expressing my wish to have a social networking shindig. A small gathering of people interested in learning what twitter and facebook can do for them and how to use these platforms to push brands, promote business, expand networks in a strategic manner. I got responses in minutes so its clear theres a gap. Ill be announcing something soon. Abuja first, Lagos and Calabar next. If youre interested holla at me.

Fly women - Nigerian album covers of the 80s

Ive been consumed with thoughts of album covers, doing one that is and I turned to Nigerian album covers from the past. These women where fly sha! Fashion goes round in circles...

Onyeka Onwenu - This isnt an album cover but I had to include it.
Its so wow... the mad mix of plaid, the makeup... the pose...




Mandy Brown - Her first and only album. Now Mandy Ojugbana she has a blog



I present to you Oby Onyioha... two album covers.... love the second one

The Lijadu Sisters &70s 80s- still stylish mamas, still singing afrobeat in the US

The legendary Christiana Essien - now Essien Igbokwe. Do you know she started PMAN? Women never get credit do they

Yvonne Maha! Iam going to school..... where is she now? Do kids have music anymore or are they all sing and dancing to Blame it on the Alchohol

Stella Monye... samba girl

cheer up

This is my ten things that make me smile post. I need cheering up.

1. My brother Opubo (BraideO's!) "fake breakdances"

2. Toks boys latest blog post

3. My mf's standard phone greeting, "You don chop?"

4. Pink and the chain saw dance in her "So what?" video.

5. Najoebaba yelling FRISSSSSS!! at the start of his song. (cos FREEZE! is just so 2008)

6. My singing in pigin English. So bad its funny ha ha. Hey Tuface can you do a couple of tracks wiv me and handle the pigin bits? Timaya? is dat chu?

7. Bryanboy www.bryanboy.com

8. run out....

write your ten things. dont be awful like me and stop at 8. tag someone. meme. whatever.

women, influence and the internet - african style

Chief Magaret Ekpo 1914-2006 Nigerian politcal icon and legendary women organizer



Today Im presenting links to blogs of women who promote other women. African women and Nigerian women who have used the internet as a tool for self expression and to promote businesses, creative works, accomplishments and fight causes of other women. I didnt fully appreciate this movement until I was so caught up in complaining about the increasingly uncharitable comments in the comment section of a vetran female bloggers site, I said IT.

IT. That THING that incenses me when I hear it bandied about like a musty skeleton brought out of the closet to shame and silence me and my sisters. That thing being the standard "oh women hate other women" phrase flashed around to explain everything from high maternal mortality rates to the depletion of the ozone layer. If you hear something long enough then you begin to say it. If you say it long enough then you give it life. Making real what was not true to begin with.

Im proud of these support systems and what I call power networks that debunk the myth that the only information women share is gossip or that which helps thier roles as supporters. Just 2 weeks ago Bassey Ikpi one of my key addictions, bagged a contract with a reputable literary agent through a repost of her facebook note on My Brown Baby blog by Denene Miller. Yes! A study quantifying the increase in earnings and influence as a result of all this championing would be very revealing.

Ive decided to share the links to a few of these amazing promoters and "growth agents" (couldnt resist creating my own ngospeak there) who keep me updated on the freshest, most "awsomest" talent, events and achievements on the nation or continent. Though they do not all exclusively feature women theres a healthy representation. I cant speak french so I cant feature any francophone sisters that dont write in Eglish :(

Please share any links that fit this profile. Enjoy and stay tuned for parts 2&3 of linking

CosWeAfricanWomenAreDoin&DoinItWell Pretty much everything with a slant on Fashion and Diaspora bellas

Bellanaija Ultimate lifestyle destination

LadyBrille "African Fashion Music and Film"

Mimi Magazine "lifestyle magazine that addresses topics ranging from style to politics from the perspective of the African woman"

The Activist "My Passion, my focus, the change that I will like to see in the world - is my propellent factor"

food in naija blogosphere - nigerians talk review

This is a review Ive just done for http://nigerianstalk.org/ a site that does a themed weekly reviews on what the naija blogging scene has to offer.


People generally feel the Nigerian “blogosphere” should mirror reality. After all people blogging about their experiences should simply create a Naija freed from geographical confines. Well, yes and no. For most it seems this virtual space offers freedom from social constructs, tedium and routine. In this virtual space you had better nourish yourself with insights, relationships and possibilities because as I found in course of researching for my review that unlike in the real Naija, there is precious little food. If you have mental snapshots of women endlessly and lovingly assembling huge repasts for the hungry, in this space where I believe women to be the majority, forget it.

I breezily chose a food theme because I felt it would be easy and I am currently obsessed with food due to temporary but severe restrictions placed on my range of edibles for medical reasons. So, what better way to torture myself than to trawl for food in blogs I can’t eat?

Back to business
Food enjoys many mentions in Nigerian blogs but I have discovered that very few people take time to write regularly about how and where to get or prepare it so I’m venturing beyond blogs. Nigerians far from home (especially students) are extremely fond of food reminiscing and whip out their cameras occasionally to capture and post their culinary attempts. At Verastically Livin’ a picture of “alive and not burnt” egusi soup pops up in the midst of her hilarious posts on everyday happenings. Ms O’s, Our Journey Long Distance, serves up rice, plantains and gizzards recently between her accounts of school, love and life in general while Backtonaija gives us a review of her dining experiences in Lagos after precisely 4.5 years of living in the US.
If you want to cook and are seeking recipes the mother lode has to be Online Nigeria. Recipes for Isiewu, efere otong, Ikokore, and other “insider” foods are available for all. Unexpected recipe finds include supercomputing genius Emeagwalis site. This site is a really vast resource on Nigerian culture. It was here I learned Joan Baez and Jimi Hendrix performed in a fund raiser for Biafra. Boomie O’s Motherland is another general site on Nigeria I love. Though visually outdated it is still very useful with a small recipe section.

For those aiming to lose weight, blogs like Chilli Peppa’s Disappearing Act provide insights to personal journeys and African Weight Loss Diva’s, information and a Q&A space. Hopefully low calorie ewedu and gbegiri will not taste as grim as they sound.

Now it’s time for the heavyweights of the Naija Food Blogosphere.
The only consistent blogging on food I found is done by Alhaji’s Groove aka “El Toro Negro”, Naija Blogging Chef and Yemisi Ogbe on Next. If writing at Farafina also qualifies as blogging then Yemisi’s Tea with Mrs Bojubari should be included in this non list.
Alhaji Babasheri is dead serious about food and obviously a professional. After viewing the luscious textures of the meals on his space, I waxed eloquently about him on my blog and immediately proposed to him as a sign of deep appreciation. I dare you to gaze upon this Efo-riro and eba and remain unmoved.

Yemisi Obge has the most refreshing; I’m talking about food but not only talking about food, style that is humorous, unpretentious and sneakily competent. Though yet to forgive her cruel attack on baked beans I am nonetheless enthused that the attack was brilliantly written. Her essays on snails, garri and the dubious properties attributed to fish are conversational in tone and very entertaining.

So I ventured into this task hoping to present great foodie finds and return humbled and much intrigued by the paucity of food bloggers in the Naija blogosphere. Unsated by virtual food I clearly haven’t the energy to analyze why. Have a nice week and happy eating. I won’t hate.
Pdbraide