Just a composite poser for....
Our Banks, and bankers
Our President, and politicians
Our Parliament, and legislators
Our Ministers, and diplomats
Our Media, and pressmen
Our Universities, and academia
Our Private Sector, and businessmen:
How many of you can and do shop on the Internet with Credit Cards issued in Nigeria? How many of you shop on Amazon.com? How many of you have a PayPal Account?
If you don't have a resounding "POSITIVE" to the above so do 160m Nigerians. How come nobody is doing something about this denigration and offensive stigmatization?
And you "patriots" hobnob with your counterparts around the world?
Well, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala I'm looking at you. Olusegun Aganga I'm eyeing you. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi you dey for my radar!
Showing posts with label ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Is ECOWAS for West Africans?
The whole idea of regional integration is so exciting that no one can fault, or should fault, the ECOWAS Dream. And there is good support for it.
Let's be fair. ECOWAS is working. Especially in the area of advancing stability, peace and security thus promoting and sustaining democracy within this dynamic sub-region of Africa. Kudos to our political leaders.
Let's be truthful. ECOWAS is not flying. Especially in economic advancement and community spirit thus defeating the lofty goals of regional integration. Knock for our political leaders.
Considering the origins and continued yearnings of our combined populations, we should be far ahead in the development game by now. Why aren't we? Aha, gotcha!
Politics. Politicians. Neo-colonialism. Bureaucracy. Corruption. NEPAD. Unhealthy Competition instead of Undiluted Complementarity. Lack of Strategic Connective Infrastructure. Security without Prosperity equals POVERTY. No Full-Time Parliament. Not Learning creatively from... the EU.
The most important? Absence of Citizen-Participation.
Got that? Ask your Government.
Let's be fair. ECOWAS is working. Especially in the area of advancing stability, peace and security thus promoting and sustaining democracy within this dynamic sub-region of Africa. Kudos to our political leaders.
Let's be truthful. ECOWAS is not flying. Especially in economic advancement and community spirit thus defeating the lofty goals of regional integration. Knock for our political leaders.
Considering the origins and continued yearnings of our combined populations, we should be far ahead in the development game by now. Why aren't we? Aha, gotcha!
Politics. Politicians. Neo-colonialism. Bureaucracy. Corruption. NEPAD. Unhealthy Competition instead of Undiluted Complementarity. Lack of Strategic Connective Infrastructure. Security without Prosperity equals POVERTY. No Full-Time Parliament. Not Learning creatively from... the EU.
The most important? Absence of Citizen-Participation.
Got that? Ask your Government.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Book Business Here
Over time, Africa seems de-booked. Long before bookstores elsewhere started succumbing to online stores, African bookshops have been struggling to survive. Partly because local authorship isn't thriving, partly because foreign publishers got packing, partly because governments have yet to wake up to the twin dangers of illiteracy and ignorance. It pays dictators and despots to use both to suppress, repress and depress the populace!
Well, the Arab Spring is reaffirming history's truism: not for long.
In my native Nigeria, for example, we even took development assistance and world bank funds for book development. Nothing to show for it all, folks, nothing! Publishers are closing shop, writers are languishing, piracy is racing wild, libraries are derelict, reading is declining...and our governments at all levels, parents and guardians, natural and religious leaders, the media and our diaspora will not come together to ACT! Shame.
With the under-funding of our education sector and the debasement of the teaching profession over the last three decades, lecturers and researchers aren't writing or publishing. We have thus been fueling and feeding the brain drain monster.
Final result? The BOOK business is Dying! And PEOPLE are hardly READING! Pity.
Press Nigeria, tap Africa. Common story.
NEPAD is still a paper-tiger, alas. Will it wake up for BOOK Business, now? Hope. You never lose with hope...
Well, the Arab Spring is reaffirming history's truism: not for long.
In my native Nigeria, for example, we even took development assistance and world bank funds for book development. Nothing to show for it all, folks, nothing! Publishers are closing shop, writers are languishing, piracy is racing wild, libraries are derelict, reading is declining...and our governments at all levels, parents and guardians, natural and religious leaders, the media and our diaspora will not come together to ACT! Shame.
With the under-funding of our education sector and the debasement of the teaching profession over the last three decades, lecturers and researchers aren't writing or publishing. We have thus been fueling and feeding the brain drain monster.
Final result? The BOOK business is Dying! And PEOPLE are hardly READING! Pity.
Press Nigeria, tap Africa. Common story.
NEPAD is still a paper-tiger, alas. Will it wake up for BOOK Business, now? Hope. You never lose with hope...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Is Cote d'Ivoire Now FREE?
Hardly. But the prospects are good. And we wish the people all the best in the difficult task of rebuilding, reconciliation and rebirth - true renaissance.
President Alassane Ouattara has his job cut out for him, and his team. He is a well-equipped man. Let him do the job as a professional, not a typical African politician. He has so much goodwill, empathy and sympathy going for him and the beleaguered country. Squander them not, sir!
Let's plead with Ivoriens: give your nation a chance to heal, and to bond. You have no other land.
Goodluck brethren!
President Alassane Ouattara has his job cut out for him, and his team. He is a well-equipped man. Let him do the job as a professional, not a typical African politician. He has so much goodwill, empathy and sympathy going for him and the beleaguered country. Squander them not, sir!
Let's plead with Ivoriens: give your nation a chance to heal, and to bond. You have no other land.
Goodluck brethren!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Cote d'Ivoire, why this?
Over the years, I have been a fan of Ivory Coast (as it used to be called) for a variety of factors. The West African country had been quite stable and dependable in the past. Yes, it had a dictator in Houphet Boigney and poverty was palpable everywhere, the place was nothing near the utter chaos and brink-hugging catastrophe we now endure.
One of my most intriguing memories was the refusal of Pope John Paul II to go dedicate a huge Basilica built by the late dictator in Yamoussoukro. It mocks Christianity!, the pontiff declared. How could a nation sprawling with poverty in the midst of plenty live with such monstrous hypocrisy, demanded John Paul. It was a lesson African leaders - with the generous help of the Western (especially European) handlers/backers - have never really learnt. If anything, they are now carting the people’s patrimony to the East!
The political crises in Cote d’Ivoire are elite-generated, driven and sating. All sides have their faults. But democracy, built on a UN Peace Deal, supported by ECOWAS, AU and the international community, has spoken the people’s voice. It must be heard and obeyed.
President Laurent Gbagbo must hand over to President -elect Alassane Ouattara or be made to do so. The world and the long-suffering people of Cote d’Ivoire deserve to savour this victory! Let’s have a full UN-organized Presidential Inauguration, with the loser embracing the winner in true African brotherhood and the spirit and letter of the peace accord!
Long live Cote d’Ivoire! Thank you, the United Nations - well done!
One of my most intriguing memories was the refusal of Pope John Paul II to go dedicate a huge Basilica built by the late dictator in Yamoussoukro. It mocks Christianity!, the pontiff declared. How could a nation sprawling with poverty in the midst of plenty live with such monstrous hypocrisy, demanded John Paul. It was a lesson African leaders - with the generous help of the Western (especially European) handlers/backers - have never really learnt. If anything, they are now carting the people’s patrimony to the East!
The political crises in Cote d’Ivoire are elite-generated, driven and sating. All sides have their faults. But democracy, built on a UN Peace Deal, supported by ECOWAS, AU and the international community, has spoken the people’s voice. It must be heard and obeyed.
President Laurent Gbagbo must hand over to President -elect Alassane Ouattara or be made to do so. The world and the long-suffering people of Cote d’Ivoire deserve to savour this victory! Let’s have a full UN-organized Presidential Inauguration, with the loser embracing the winner in true African brotherhood and the spirit and letter of the peace accord!
Long live Cote d’Ivoire! Thank you, the United Nations - well done!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Emulate China...where it fits
Rather than wholesomely criticising China in its African endeavours, the West should reexamine itself and kindly pursue a more pragmatic relationship with our continent. For example, what has the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement (or its predecessor Lome Conventions, for that matter) so far done for Africa and Africans? This brilliant pact has remained a paper tiger for ages, bogged down by bureaucratic bottlenecks, political gerrymandering, and even outright deceit - in some cases! How can this partnership truly work when the private sector, civil society, experts and professionals are cleverly excluded from benefits, support and participation? Everything seems tied to governments - which is not the practice in Europe - against the logic of market forces, knowledge economy, specialisation and globalisation!! Personal, private and individual initiatives are either forbidden or stifled!!!
If the pact had been proactive and honestly implemented over the years, the level of poverty in the region would have been different. It suited the parties (mostly politicians and civil servants!) to keep and sustain the status quo, even when the truth is known. After all, the EU has several diplomatic missions, and its members also do, across the ACP. How then can they pretend not to know what is on ground in these countries viz a viz the Agreement? They do. The ACP powers also do. Between them both, plenty is amiss!
Reviews and so-called revamps of the pact have failed because the raison d'etre is undermined each time. The Agreement is too complicated and burdensome in structure, its wordings are not user-friendly and its mechanisms are bureaucracy-skewed. If the EU really wants to work with ACP, it must do so ACROSS the board of the polity, economy, geography and demography. Just as it does in Europe! Why should anyone require government licence or stamp (incorporation, for instance) to benefit from development assistance, when you have missions? Do you do that in Europe? That is a sure way to put crusaders, critics, researchers, professionals, writers and journalists in the pockets of repressive regimes or under censorship. Risk takers, as researchers, entrepreneurs and crusaders, are critical forces for change worldwide, they are same for ACP - thus, EU support should be unencumbered.
China's approach is "trade & development" oriented. Yes, there are grey areas, but the West has many issues with the PRC itself yet does trillions of dollars business there! Sensible. It is better to be constructively engaged than to isolate. China is doing same in Africa.
And, hey, Africans are no fools, you know. They will not permit recolonization, you bet! Friends
are better helpers and persuaders than antagonists, I would say. Constructive engagement!
Chancellor Angela Merkel should use the German presidency of the EU to refocus and rejig the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement. It will not work profitably as it stands. Real stakeholders should be brought on board from both sides, and the resources should be disaggregated. There are too many EU institutions and too few ACP players to make it profitable! There are also too many meetings, too much paperwork, and lopsided access in the whole endeavour!! It certainly needs some fresh air and new spirit in line with present realities: Free up the funds and monitor same like hell! Cast the net wider and firmer!! Do for ACP what and how you will do for Europe!!!
The ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement needs to be dynamic, realistic, creative, programmatic and BOLDLY projectised.
If the pact had been proactive and honestly implemented over the years, the level of poverty in the region would have been different. It suited the parties (mostly politicians and civil servants!) to keep and sustain the status quo, even when the truth is known. After all, the EU has several diplomatic missions, and its members also do, across the ACP. How then can they pretend not to know what is on ground in these countries viz a viz the Agreement? They do. The ACP powers also do. Between them both, plenty is amiss!
Reviews and so-called revamps of the pact have failed because the raison d'etre is undermined each time. The Agreement is too complicated and burdensome in structure, its wordings are not user-friendly and its mechanisms are bureaucracy-skewed. If the EU really wants to work with ACP, it must do so ACROSS the board of the polity, economy, geography and demography. Just as it does in Europe! Why should anyone require government licence or stamp (incorporation, for instance) to benefit from development assistance, when you have missions? Do you do that in Europe? That is a sure way to put crusaders, critics, researchers, professionals, writers and journalists in the pockets of repressive regimes or under censorship. Risk takers, as researchers, entrepreneurs and crusaders, are critical forces for change worldwide, they are same for ACP - thus, EU support should be unencumbered.
China's approach is "trade & development" oriented. Yes, there are grey areas, but the West has many issues with the PRC itself yet does trillions of dollars business there! Sensible. It is better to be constructively engaged than to isolate. China is doing same in Africa.
And, hey, Africans are no fools, you know. They will not permit recolonization, you bet! Friends
are better helpers and persuaders than antagonists, I would say. Constructive engagement!
Chancellor Angela Merkel should use the German presidency of the EU to refocus and rejig the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement. It will not work profitably as it stands. Real stakeholders should be brought on board from both sides, and the resources should be disaggregated. There are too many EU institutions and too few ACP players to make it profitable! There are also too many meetings, too much paperwork, and lopsided access in the whole endeavour!! It certainly needs some fresh air and new spirit in line with present realities: Free up the funds and monitor same like hell! Cast the net wider and firmer!! Do for ACP what and how you will do for Europe!!!
The ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement needs to be dynamic, realistic, creative, programmatic and BOLDLY projectised.
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