Cultural Commentary

"I don talk my own finish" is a Nigerian saying which means "I'm done speaking my part". Some commenter said it in their post and I had no idea what it meant, but it is cool. This leads to another topic. Nigerian writing. Reading all these articles written by Nigerians has given me an interesting insight into the ways of the Nigerian people, or at least those that write on the Interwebs. If you just read the comments on all these news articles you can see that Nigerians communicate very differently than Americans. It seems as if the comments are written "loudly".

for example:

"WITH THE COUNTRY BEING RUN LIKE A BANANA REPUBLIC, THERE CAN NEVER BE ANY PROGRESS ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH. SOUTHERNERS HAVE TO REALIZE THAT THEY HAVE TO PULL THEMSELVES OUT OF THE MESS NOW OR RISK BEING RECOLONIZED AND ENSLAVED AGAIN. THE YOUTH FROM THE SOUTH SHOULD ACT NOW FOR THEY HAVE LOST A LOT SINCE INDEPENDENCE AND STAND TO LOSE THEIR FREEDOM TOTALLY!"

and

"hmmm...na wa. The amendment took to long to happen. What were they really waiting for? Nigeria is too small to be having these kinds of conspiracies. I'm quite bored now. If he's terminally ill then he should say it. How can there be no public image of the president for 3 months?! In this day & age where camera phones dey yanfu-yanfu; nobody could snap our guy & share on the internet? E don tire me!"




more on this later...

The Madness Surrounding the Mysterious Yar'Adua

Yar'Adua's return is stirring up a hornet's nest of political intrigue. The constitution isn't really providing any direction because for Yar'Adua to be constitutionally determined unfit for office, a team of doctors has to assess his health and submit their report to the National Assembly for debate. However, Yar'Adua's compound is being closely guarded and no one has been able to see him. Party leaders, much of his staff, and even Goodluck Jonathan have been kept out. This could be considered unconstitutional behavior and grounds for impeachment but the pundits are saying that Jonathan would not pursue this path because it would look bad in the eyes of the Nigerian people, who would see an impeachment as a power hungry president going after Yar'Adua while he is down. But even if the medical team is let in, they could declare that he is only temporarily incapacitated and then we would just have to wait until he gets better, leaving the Nigerian government "incomplete" because there is no one behind Jonathan in the succession hierarchy. But my favorite scenario is what politicians call the "Ariel Sharon". It sounds like a football play, like the "Hail Mary" or something. An "Ariel Sharon" play would mean just dropping the whole case and letting Jonathan rule for now while leaving Yar'Adua to do what he likes, and just waiting until the elections come around. Then Yar'Adua would be taken care of. I don talk my own finish.



original article

Pregnancy Kills: “144 Pregnant Women Die in Nigeria Every Day”

Communication for Social Change, a nongovernmental organization recently released statistics stating that 144 pregnant women die during childbirth in Nigeria every day, 6 women per hour. Nigeria’s maternity rate is just behind India’s which currently has the worst rate in the world. These deaths are even more unfortunate because the majority of them could be avoided. Says Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago, the Executive Director of Communication for Change, “These women die due to avoidable problems such as inadequate healthcare services in communities, unskilled birth attendants, lack of education, cultural stereotypes and barriers and because we have these stoic culture of silence in the face of pain”. The CFC has developed three short videos depicting the vulnerability of women and young girls to pregnancy complications. These films discuss the influence of “peer pressure on our youths, family power dynamics, inadequate access to information, and the disastrous effects of not educating and empowering women”. PREGGERS. For more information, please click here.

The Crew

Goodluck Jonathan has recently created a 26 man advisory counsil to help his new rule, as well as reconstituted the Niger Delta Development Commission monitering team. The Advisory Counsil is designed to help increase Jonathan's credibility as the president, as well as increase the speed with which he can access expertise. It is already known that Jonathan is a very consultative leader, relying on others to provide him with the information he needs to properly run office.

The counsil will assist with the running of utilities and with social programs throughout the nation, and will hopefully increase the faith citizens have in Goodluck Jonathan's administration. Without word from Yar'Adua, Jonathan could be running the show for awhile.

For more information, click here

Yar'Adua still Veiled

It has been less than a week since Yar'Adua's been back and the country has not in any way returned to normal. For one, no one has actually seen Yar'Adua, causing concern that the president is incapacitated. It is this lack of information that prevents the National Assembly from actually doing anything in present days, settling the Nigerian government into somewhat of an impasse. There is general unrest in the country as not only government officials but also the Nigerian people become anxious in their wait to see the president and find out his true condition. Speaking on the matter, the Action Congress leader in the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, argued that the National Assembly should start to investigate Yar’Adua’s state of health by invoking Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution. Section 88 allows the National Assembly to conduct investigations into national affairs.

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