Wednesday, November 29, 2006

EU leaders will be very short-sighted to block Turkey from accession to full membership in the fullness of time. They should help Turkey honestly and transparently achieve the goal.

On Turkey's side, it cannot be profitable to raise the citizens' hopes only to dash them in this project. Tough decisions and compromises are needed, and unavoidable, by both sides. Politics is good only when it enduringly benefits players and nation. Turkey's leaders must bite the bullet, and deny their detractors - wherever they may be - the chance or pleasure of blocking the deal.

I think it serves the whole world better if and when Turkey moves from NATO's membership to full EU membership. Let the wait be short and precise. No dilly-dally.
Iraq rankles. We must hope that the furious diplomatic efforts this week will yield the salutary and necessary positive results, and result in early security gains ...ON THE GROUND!

Whether we agree with George Bush and Tony Blair on the wrong invasion of Iraq, without a UN resolution, under false pretences, and in arrogant defiance of a resounding world opinion to the contrary, is now and should be an old issue. Both leaders have been quite rightly castigated abroad, and thoroughly punished by their electorates at home. Enough.

The current Iran-Iraq-Syria rapproachment is most welcome, much encouraged. May it lead to fruitful outcomes...SOON. The United Nations must key in immediately. Take no chances.

A princely advice to the hawks and hardliners in Washington and London: You've lost, back down...back off! A hard try, no doubt, but let the moderates now take charge...take over. The carnage and bloodshed are unacceptable, untenable. Not a day longer. So long, folks! Bye for aye.

And to the leaders: Not many people get a second chance to redress a mess this messy. You got it, guys, use it! Use it real smart, real wise.

Goodluck to ALL.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Nigeria's Freedom of Information, FOI, Bill will soon become law. Just recently passed by the Senate, it awaits the president's assent. At long last!

Nothing in this news is earth-shattering of course, for all civilised democracies know the value and blessings of FOI. Added to the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, however, our country can now look forward to a future of better accountability and less blatant corruption from Elections 2007 onwards. President Obasanjo should sign right away.

In taking as long as eight years to give us this law, the politicians patently and loudly diminish themselves. The Nigerian Press has always been fearless and resilient - from the colonial times through the hellish military era, it defended the people and stayed fiercely loyal to the masses. Delaying this legislation, especially in the Senate, was an own goal of disrepute! Nigerians were not well-served. It undermined the fight against corruption, and permitted political rascality.

Anyway, better late than never. Now we've got it, or almost got it. I say BRAVO to all who made it happen. Welcome FOI.

Parting Hint: Crooks beware! Leaders behave!!
Indo-African Relations must now be urgently elevated to the official pedestal of "India-Africa Partnership", IAP. Other key world players have one such platform or the other, pray, what are Indian and African leaders waiting for?

The case is self-made, but if anyone need be told, the interwoven bonds between India and Africa are old and legendary - across the board. Go to East Africa, come to Nigeria and see.

By the way, Mahatma Ghandi, father of modern India, practised and matured in South Africa before returning to free his homeland from colonial rule and pernicious imperialism!

IAP Permanent Secretariats in India and South Africa should be named after this dear legend.
Lebanon
Litany of wobbles
Literary and literal absurdity
Tempting and tasking self and all
Lebanon
Litany of struggles
Complex and conscious construct
Draining and damping self and all
Lebanon
Mirrors and marrows, hate and fate
Tears tearing a nation's fabric
Blood bleeding a people's bond
A glorious land...
Cascading in compounding crises
A precious place defying peace
Oh Lebanon, where be thy beauty of old!?
Pray Lebanon
When will thy soul sing again?!

(Lows of Lebanon 2006)

We join the world to mourn the bereavement in Lebanon, and salute the choice and call for calm in this moment of dark contemplation. Let moderation prevail, not angst. Let it be known that the nation can heal self, heal all....in the fullness of time. And it will.

Friends of Lebanon should toe the chosen line of peace proclaimed by its leaders. We must all join them to rebuild trust so they can rebuild the nation. Not exacerbate. Not complicate.

Investigations? Yes. Leave that to the United Nations for now. But I have a strange and bitter pill for us: Kofi Annan should head for Lebanon and accompany the president, prime minister and parliamentary leader (Hariri!) to Damascus for a face-to-face dialogue with President Assad and his topmost brass. Ice-breaking, tough, brotherly and bitterly. Next week, whatever it takes! After that, Tehran! The following week, whatever it takes!! The third week, with the Hezbollah leadership! Whatever it takes!!!

If the US is dealing with Russia, China and Pakistan, and worst cases of former foes be now resolved and those nations bonded in the EU, nothing must stand in the way of this proposition.

Monday, November 20, 2006

At the dizzying rate of about 17 Billion USDollars per month, China has just accummulated one TRILLION Dollars in foreign reserves! Congratulations. What a feat!

Now the challenge. China needs to learn from previous/earlier economic powers. World Peace and World Poverty need the special attention and intervention of economic giants like China and India. They must not be selfish or greedy with their emerging wealth. They must not be stingy.

As the West and Asian Tigers now see, a better world is one in which economic prosperity is of shared benefits, and macroeconomic advances be not jobless growth. Insular riches, in a global village, will not endure! Lessons.

It is entirely appropriate that the US economy is benefiting from these reserves (about 400 Bn US Dollars in Treasury Bills, etc) because it is the bullwark/backbone of the world's economy, and key to Chinese properity. Forget the politics and theatrics, Sino-American bond must be preserved. So must China-EU relations, and Sino-Russian partnership.

The current state visit to India by Chinese President Hu Jintao is a timely and appropriate platform to kick-start their joint interventions in the above regard. I so propose.
Iraq on my mind as we mind how the Middle East boils. Well, US President George Bush says he is open to new ideas even as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has commenced some shuttle diplomacy in this regard. Belated? Maybe, but welcomed. Let's not be pessimistic.

There is news that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has invited both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to Tehran for urgent talks on the messy Iraqi security situation, and its incessant bloodbath. The Iraqi leader has promptly accepted. Syria is expected to do same. He should.

I will love UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his successor Ban Ki-Moon to be part of this push. And be at the next round of consultations.

Am I overly optimistic? No. There is bound to be action for solution sooner than later. And I hope that the Baker Commission gives the US authorities concrete substance to work with.

We shall return to this matter in due course, as things unfold.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

We congratulate the Democratic National Committee, DNC, for resounding victories across the board in the US mid-term elections 2006. Now that America has spoken, the time to govern is here. No acrimonies, please. There is so much to do, so much to repair - at home and abroad. All hands must be on deck, period.

Happily, and sensibly too, President Bush has taken the lesson to heart (we hope!) in his actions and statements so far. Equally sensibly, the Democrats have committed to bipartisan approach in moving forward. Good talks about talks are proceeding apace. Bravo.

Neither side should take hostages. None can afford to fail. And, hey, the world still needs the US as a strong and fair leader of the free world. So, get cracking, folks, time is short!

Let democracy and the rule of law work. Let accountability and responsibility endure. Let the US lead by example not pretext. Let multilateralism be the driving force of the new America.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Sino-African relations rose to new heights last week with the huge success of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, FOCAC. Beijing hosted 50 African leaders in its largest and warmest summit ever! And the communique was a heart-warming Beijing Declaration which signalled a win-win partnership for the future. It was a new wave, creating new ways for all.

Welcome to contention, controversy and conspiracy theory! Oh, expected. The West was clearly jittery, and "concerned"! Many commentators saw nothing more than another "scramble" for Africa!! They warned against exploitation and neocolonialism!!! They see the Chinese game plan as no more than some trade-conquest, breeding support for dictatorships, corrupt regimes and human rights violators....asking no questions, just milking the continent. Any point? Well, well...

Let the taste of the pudding be in the eating! In China. In Africa. We wait.

Not surprisingly, the foreign ministers of Ethiopia, China and Egypt did their very best to tackle and address these and other matters in the final press conference. It was heated. It was robust. It was telling. I enjoyed the show. Was the West convinced? Need they be? We wait.

Talking of show, the Cultural Finale was a spectacular. A combined and alternating blend of Sino-African soul in Command Performance: What a fest! The future was manifest in their zest.

Long live FOCAC!