Thursday, October 26, 2006

Instant applause for President Vladimir Putin for sticking with, and reaffirming, the sanctity of the Russian constitution, and the term limit wisely imposed by it. So, Putin leaves in 2008.

This is significant because Moscow will play increasing regional and global roles this century, and must be seen to respect the rule of law.

Despite huge public support and unprecedented oil & gas incomes, Putin rises above the hints, the temptation and outright demands for possible tenure elongation. Clever soul. The G8 must be mightily proud of him. So are we. Let the president extend this statesmanship in immediate resolution of the Georgian and other neighbourhood spats. A tower is a tower, Mr President, do hold the torch aloft. Make lasting peace TODAY....and set the pace. You can, and should, do it.

May the Kremlin, henceforth, flourish in democracy - true democracy!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Talking of political payback and backlash, Nigeria is a timely, if intriguing case-study. So much is now happening, and a lot more is afoot, within the polity and astride the political terrain. Heads are beginning to roll in strange places, and the macabre dance has only just begun!

Prediction: November will numb us all. Watch.

Prediction: December will daze them all. Expect.

Prediction: January will jolt, jam and jettison the jaded last. Believe.

Prediction: The fearless and independent Nigerian Press will swing into its legendary element. Soon, and very soon. By stalling the Freedom of Information bill for all of eight years!, many senators will pay a stiff price.

Prediction: Students will "show dem pepper!" for turning our educational system into a cruel joke, and so heartlessly ruining their combined chances of a better tomorrow. Deep hurt.

As for the masses, electoral power returns with a vengeance...come April, 2007. Many a today gladiator will be on the run, not for office but into political oblivion. Thanks to emerging global cooperation, there will be no hiding place for the fraudsters and looters among them.

Great Part? This is being undertaken by an Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian president and leader of the ruling/dominant political party, PDP! Kudos.

Final Deal: Confessions. Whistle Blowing. Comrade-outting. Mutual Betrayals. Scores-Settling. Some Penitence. Suicides(?). Plea Bargains. Rigged-Amnesty. Sqashed-Amnesty. Media Wars.

And votes....The VOTE....will count again, matter at last! Oh...
Unfolding Bet: The questions of Palestine-Iraq-Palestine-Darfur-Iraq-Palestine-Darfur will consume many a politician, many a diplomat, many a president, in the months and years to come. No question at all. And we note.

Somehow, time and votes will shift the full burden of responsibility and accountability back to where it squarely belongs: on the head and shoulders of world leaders and their hordes of aides. They enjoy the position, perks and power. Why would they not do the job...well and proper? Are we paying them to ruin our world or to restore hope, peace and tranquility to our battered lives and psyche? The clock ticks.

Then we have all their political parties very very busy playing the proverbial ostrich. No matter. Their own days will come....sooner than later. Bet.

On all counts, nature and history, hurt and humming, money and memory plus posterity will take hold and gore the rambling fold. All will and must account....in time, soon-time.

Are we griping, moaning and mourning at once? Hell, we are! Any repercussion for inaction and ineptitude, wasting billions on military illusion instead of global vision on sustainable, equitable development? Squandering youthful lives instead of empowering them? Spilling the precious blood of women and children instead of securing and enriching same? You bet....just watch.

It will be painful but purgatory. And, sadly (because it is so avoidable!), it will be self-inflicted.

Monday, October 16, 2006

The way things are now, we should be promoting the mutual blessings and beauty of our Black and African Diaspora. Leading the charge must be from the Mother Continent. Happily, we've got loads of talents and immense known and latent resources. The African Union should wake up....today!

On my part, I will be doing some serious research - especially online - in order to get educated, and to enable me propose some really wacky ideas on the way forward. I want to know more about Blacks everywhere, especially in Latin America/Caribbean and USA/Canada. Then I will review how far the debt relief a la Gleneagles has fared.

Let's put my native Nigeria on notice: Be very ready to put some of your huge petrodollars and foreign reserves to work in ALL the Black Island States around the globe. Be eager to do new and creative socio-economic good/interventions on our continent. This is the duty and proper example of the African Giant that you are.

Note this: Don't lock all those monies in fixed deposits in developed countries while your own brethren are languishing from lack of investments/access to credit. Put part to work in those lands, Big Brother! You know,1 in 6 Blacks is a Nigerian.... so, what or who are you waiting for?

We know today that several small countries of the African/Caribbean/Pacific block are poor, with populations ranging anywhere from 50,000 to 2m. Those nations could, on head-count, be easily compared to sizes of local government areas, states or zones in Nigeria!

My initial thoughts: Dedicating US$5bn to strategic infrastructural, trade and human capital development will do real good to these nations. This will open up their economies, help to attract more foreign and Diaspora investments, and boost long overdue intra-diaspora trade and bonds. We can do it as very low-/interest-free loans, counterpart funding and export guarantee facility. We should then use this composite basket to incentivise the Nigerian private sector, including some of our now highly-capitalised universal banks, as well as some leading-edge NGOs and the academia to follow the trail. Wasn't this how the now-developed countries helped themselves?

America did it for Europe via the Marshall Plan. Nigeria should lead Africa to do so for all our vulnerable folks in the Black & African World. We should do so TODAY. 2007 Aspirants, please take note. Indian and Chinese politicians are doing so successfully. Nigerian leaders must too.

Hey, that's not nuclear or space science, is it?
North Korea! What a case, what a timing, what a crisis! All the arguments are now in the public domain. And the UN has spoken.

Pyongyang should return to the six-party talks. This is good for it, the region and the world.

As a prelude, I think both the US and North Korea should issue binding Declarations of Good Intent. It is obvious that, somehow, this queer conflict is being exacerbated by mutual hostility between both countries.

It's time to truly talk. Ban Ki-Moon, new UN sec-gen, has his job cut out on this.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Again, we seem to have lost it in the Middle East! No one is doing anything concrete on the Iraqi brewing civil war, even if it is not fully there yet. No one, not least the Quartet, is doing anything concrete on the Israeli-Palestinian front, where daily carnage is now raging - after Lebanon.

We do not know what the world leaders know, but...hello o!...it cannot be right for blood to be so ceaselessly flowing in that region. It cannot be fair to the women, children and the aged that our leaders cannot stem/stop the tide. Just plain wrong, period.

Internal political and other crises are rocking both Israel and Palestine. No help is discernible from known credible and critical external players! In Iraq, it is all so surely tending towards an internal political and sectarian implosion. The occupying forces, especially the US and UK, are at their wits' end. Both Washington and London are now in their own internal political turmoil over the invasion, and glaring operational failures, with all sorts of cracks in the coalition-armour! So many questions are being asked, even by friends/loyalists of both governments! The military are also speaking up!! Real bad news all round!!!

So, who will step up and lead us forward on these concerns now? When shall it be?

These are really dim times, indeed.
Sorry to the friendly people of Hawaii, USA, on the very disruptive earthquake some hours ago. Thank God no loss of lives, as we understand it, and goodluck with the clean-up and longer term solutions to the problem.

Now, we do not want a replay of Hurricane Katrina - in terms of federal support - do we? The governor has declared a statewide emergency/disaster status. Let all hands get on deck, right away. And let no one be left behind or short-changed. Insurance companies, BEWARE! - no dodging, please.

While on this subject, what is the world doing about victims of other natural disasters, including the poor souls in Pakistan? The world media should please return to them, and bring us up to date on our dismal records as a Global Village. Winter is here: what happens to the displaced??

You know what? We have more than enough evidence now that in ALL emergency/disaster situations, it is the POOR and VULNERABLE that get hit the most. Which is no news, right? But the kick in the teeth is that this happens irrespective of whether they be in developing or developed nations! That is depressing.

Which is why we welcome the historic preparatory leeway he gains as the UN General Assembly finally confirmed Ban Ki-Moon as its scribe, virtually 3 months to official take-up on 1 January 2007. Which is also why Mr Ban should take World Poverty so serious that it must be tackled frontally anywhere and everywhere.

From 2007, the UN must have functional presence in ALL countries....EVERY country.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Our deep commiserations to the Lidles, the Yanks, New York City and to the United States on Wednesday's plane crash, and the loss of Cory Lidle and his co-traveller. We sympathise with all those who were traumatised and/or incurred losses in this unfortunate accident.

Lidle, New York Yankee pitcher, apparently lost control as his small plane spun and slammed into a 50-storey skyscrapper in the city. We understand he left a wife and a 6-year old son. It will be tough for everyone, not least the family of his co-tourist, who yet to be named.

Well done! to the emergency and security agencies, especially the brave first-responders, for their spectacular and calm handling of the situation.

As we await the outcome of its thorough investigation, we must all draw appropriate lessons from this incident. Every nation, every city, every soul must reflect on this - prayerfully and passionately.

May God, The Almighty, protect, secure and shelter us....and ours....in our daily commute, our daily grind and our daily relations. We need HIM!

May Cory and his co-passenger rest in eternal peace.

Amen.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

By the way, there are amazing business opportunities in Nigeria now. Never mind the nay-sayers, our economy is being drained of corrupt practices, and our political class will wear a completely different and enabling complexion come 2007. Cleansing is on course! Believe me.

So, anyone who wishes to make money, real good money, should now be putting their feasibility studies and business plans in shape. This includes both the Nigerian and African Diaspora as well as the global business community. And, yes, crusaders in the sustainable development and civil society world should join the fray. The prospects are exciting, will be immensely rewarding.

From June 2007, a new dawn will descend upon our land, and it will be a great pleasure to do good business again....for sustainable and enduring gain. Believe me.

If you be no doubter, and do genuinely seek, then get in touch and stay in touch. I am personally aiming and willing to consult for 10-20 thirst responders and real travellers. I like dreamers. Oh my country needs lots of them, now! Real dreamers, and change agents are warmly called.

Can you dream? Will you dare? Try victoronoviran@gmail.com when you do.
We Africans must now worry. The continent's crises are unabating. Too many unresolved and some escalating problems. Yet our leaders seem helpless. Are they the real problem? Can 52 countries not muster the courage and commitment to do good, to sustain justice? Why are they always looking to outsiders for help, and spoon-feeding? Where is the African Spirit?

Doubt me? See NEPAD. Check the AU. See Darfur. See Cote d'Ivoire. See Zimbabwe......

Why, why, why???
Hearty congratulations to H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, UN secretary general-elect. This is a man of huge personal qualifications and a worthy son of Asia, whom his native land - South Korea - should be justly proud of. So should the UN Security Council and his fellow contestants who ensured high civility, diplomatic decorum and a rancour-free process. Bravo to you all.

Time is of essence, this day, about both the official General Assembly ratification-vote and his transition engagements. Once confirmed, Mr Ban needs a unique orientation programme. For things not to be business-as-usual, he has to focus on TWO anchors: World Peace and World Poverty. "Terrorism" is the absence of one, and the presence of the other.

The new Sec-Gen should proceed on a 30-day open tour of those endemic zones of the world, where he can find first-hand "jolting" lessons, to shape his horizon. Only then may he subject himself to any "Desk Work", and the usual "Glass House" briefings. This way, he would generate the fervour and freedom to be a new player, and can readily summon the soul and stealth to build the values-based and justice-driven United Nations of our collective dream.

We wish him God's speed.

Welcome.