Nigeria and the world cup 2010!

Yesterday Nigeria played her second game in the world cup in South Africa and we recorded our second defeat. We scored our first world cup goal in this tournament but yet lost the game. I sat watching the game, clutching my hands across my chest, yell when I had to, lean on my chin as my fellow Nigerian's were nagging, swearing and cursing. (Well that's the normal thing when you watch any Nigerian game)



Soon there was a joyful cry of 'Goaaaaaaal! from Nigerians. Well we scored (not so brilliant a goal)I was surprised when the people around me jumped up and celebrated. Were they babies? I asked my self. Don't get me wrong, I am a patriotic Nigeria, a very strong one at that and I rep' Naija anytime any day but the name Nigeria should not be synonymous with failure or mediocrity.


But we did not enjoy victory for too long. We (I had mean other Nigerians) had not finished savoring the one goal lead when the worse happened; The indisciplined Sani Kaita unsportsmanly fouled a Greek player and also wanted to beat him up (But he didn't have to tell the world he's an agbero na!). A straight red card followed and he was sent off. He was short-one anyway.


Not long before the end of the first half, the Greeks leveled up. Not long into the second half, they made it 2-1....and that's how the game ended which meant Nigeria lost their second game in the 2010 world cup. We have scored only two world cup goals since 2002 (what a shame).

Amodu Shuabu is responsible for this: He handled the super eagles in the beginning of this decade before he was sacked before the 2002 world cup. He continued again with his mediocrity and gave Nigeria a failing mentality when he was appointed manager of the super eagles team in April 2008. Lars Largerback is doing his best. A man cannot give what he does not have. Lars hasn't got the players to do any magic.
It's a sour adventure for the eagles in South Africa.

Nigeria's President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is dead

BREAKING NEWS: President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is dead. I stumbled on this on a friend's facebook page and was bewildered, at first battling to believe because so much had trailed the man's health and government, but this is so true. This is fresh news coming out from Aso Rock (Presidential Villa) and Nigeria right now. Reports from THISDAY can confirm. He passed on earlier this night between 9.30 and 10pm (5th May 2010)

The president, as you can recall has been battling acute pericaditis, an inflammation of the membrane around the heart, since November last year for which he received treatment at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

He was brought back to the country under the cover of darkness in February and since then had been held incommunicado.

He will be buried tomorrow. (6th May 2010)
A meeting is going on at present at the Presidential Villa.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to be sworn in shortly.

Details later. Visit Global Naija Blog for more of this

The Da Vinci Mode- Album out now

Just in case you've been wondering what's been happening to Mode9 or where he has been, now the dude is out with his new album. The ruler and top nine of Nigerian hip hop is out with Da Vinci Mode, a 22 tracker album. The tracks will blow you out. A blogger thinks this is Mode9's best since Pentium IX. At first you may want to relate The Da Vinci Mode to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The rapper was quick to put the cleavage out: Modey said He is like Leonardo Da Vinci [the italian painter who's painting influenced the book Da Vinci Code]. He is paints images with his rap and no doubt, be beats Leonardo with more images.

This project is dope. Check out the full tracks and details below

Things fall apart in Aso Rock

The birds once whistled
So incessantly
And hustling of trees
Once studded the equable atmosphere

Once a quiet villa,
But always looming with uncertainty
Until things fall apart finally

Boomu-Boomu!
Sudden sounds fall
As things fall apart
In that mighty rock

Their faces grown grim
With unuttered moaning
As fear grips the morning

Suddenly things fall apart
With one man down and out
But his ghost lurk around
And a nation is thronged into chaos

Things fall apart
Too soon or too late?
For mad men had been specialists

Poem by Godspower Oboido

I see not beauty at thy face [poem]

I see not beauty at thy face

You loved the flute of the wind
So it blew thy face away
To no where honorable but the market
Without shame, you even dance there

Have you drunk of the wine
From the cup that makes men mad too?
Woman, where is thy womanhood?
Mother, where is thy motherhood?

I see not beauty at thy face any longer
You must have kissed a mad man, I guess
Well you trade with them at the market square now
Soon you may weave the leaves for your dress

You locked your ears
From naggings and gnashing of teeth
You plucked off your eyes
Yes, that their tears may not reach you

But what is your scheme?
How long shall you keep a cabinet of monkeys?
And let your dear be like the donkeys
Pray, tell,

For this is sacrilege, acute sacrilege
And a theatrical play of folly.
But the stage is not yours
Only a mere player you are

And you dance your skirt up to our face
Three long steps and you retire with one
But woman, ‘tis not your show
Not a one man’s show, not even a woman’s

Take thy veil and cover up
You must exit the stage now
Lest the wind blows, and when it does
It shall blow open your underskirt

Poem by Godspower Oboido

Green-White-Green(The Good, the bad and the ugly)

BLOOD BATH IN EDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY AS SPEAKER IS IMPEACHED
The Edo State House of Assembly was yesterday thrown into a rowdy session as some lawmakers purportedly impeached the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Zakawanu Garuba.
Trouble started when Garuba adjourned plenary till today in spite of the impending point of observation raised by Bright Omokhodion (Esan West constituency).

The failure of the Speaker to recognize Omokhodion resulted in hot argument and the seizure of the House mace by the Action Congress (AC) members. It later led to a free-for-all and tear gas and axes were used freely by the lawmakers.
Three AC members - Minority Whip Phillip Shaibu, Johnson Oghuma (Etsako Central constituency) and Kabiru Ajoto (Akoko-Edo 1) - were injured in the brawl.

At this stage, the Speaker was whisked away by his security aides.
After the exit of the speaker, 12 members of the AC and Omokhodion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who eventually defected to AC bringing the total number of the lawmakers to 13, reconvened and impeached Garuba and his deputy, Levis Aigbogun.

The 13 lawmakers appointed Peter Usman Aliu of the AC (Etsako East) as speaker protempore.
Moving the motion for Garuba and Aigbogun’s impeachment, the former minority leader of the House, Paul Ohonbamu (Egor), said the action was sequel to allegations of fraud and financial impropriety among others levelled against the two.

Ohonbamu also moved a motion for an indefinite suspension of the former Majority Leader of the House, Frank Okiye (Esan North East 1), and Blessing Agbebakun (Owan West) for bringing arms into the assembly.
According to him, “In line with the constitution of this House, we have obtained the 16 members’ signatures calling for the suspension of the speaker and his deputy due to some allegations of fraud, financial impropriety among others. And you know in line with the constitution, the speaker and his deputy cannot be judges in their own cases and accordingly they have left. And I therefore moved that we nominate a speaker protempore in the person of Peter Usman Aliu to take over the proceedings for the time being.”

The speaker protempore, Aliu, after taking the oath of office, constituted a three-man panel to investigate the allegations levelled against the impeached speaker and his deputy.
The panel has Ohonbamu as chairman, Johnson Oghuma (Etsako Central and Esan West), and Omokhodion as members. The panel has seven days to submit its reports.

They also resolved that the impeached speaker, Garuba; his deputy, Aigbogun; Okiye; and Agbebaku should not to be seen within the premises of the House throughout the period the investigation lasts.
Reacting to his impeachment, Garuba in a press briefing in his office said he remained the speaker of the House as the petition was not signed by two-thirds of the lawmakers as required by the 1999 constitution.

He said: “I believe we all live in a civilized society and not in an uncivilized state of nature, where it is survival of the fittest. The constitution and the rules of our House provided for the removal of the speaker, deputy speaker and other offices of the House.
“This can only be done by two-thirds of members of the House which will therefore be 16 out of the 24 members of the House. We have present with me in my office 11 members. It therefore means they can never have 16 since those 11 present with me here said they were never part of what they claimed to have done. The miracle about their activities is that not a single person saw their petition.”

He said nobody saw the petition which they claimed was signed by two-thirds, adding that by virtue of provision of rule 38, he had adjourned plenary indefinitely as only he could reconvene the house.
Garuba, however, declared the seat of Omokhodion, the only PDP member who participated in the purported impeachment, vacant on the ground that he had defected to the AC in accordance with section 109 subsection 2 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Accordingly, I have done a letter to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a by-election into the seat of the honourable member representing Esan-West constituency,” he said.
He noted that in line with the provisions of section 109 subsection 2 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a letter had been dispatched to Omokhodion informing him of his decision and what the constitution says on such matter.
However, in another press briefing, the Speaker protempore, Aliu, accused Garuba of arrogating to himself the power he does not possess.

Referring to the defection of Omokhodion from PDP to AC, Aliu said a member is free to change his party and that the speaker has no power to suspend or declare the seat of any member vacant.
He said 16 members who constitute two-thirds signed the petition of impeachment of the speaker and his deputy.

“We have suspended and impeached Zakawanu” he said, adding that Okiye, Aigbogun and Agbebaku were also suspended from the House indefinitely.
He therefore requested Garuba to return all House property in his possession to the Assembly, saying that all the suspended members would forfeit their salaries for the period of their suspension in accordance with the House rules.

NA NAIJA (Random photos and thoughts)

Look at this: Turai Yar'adua and daughters back in the 80's. These photos are no longer anywhere in Aso Rock.

NIGERIA'S PRESIDENT, UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA TO HAND OVER POWER SOON- AIDE

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will write to the Senate soon in response to calls for him to hand over to his deputy after an absence of more than two months, a presidential aide said on Thursday.



The 58-year-old leader has not been seen in public since he left on November 23 for Saudi Arabia to be treated for a heart condition. His failure to transfer power has brought Africa's most populous nation to the brink of a constitutional crisis.



The Senate said last week Yar'Adua should formally notify parliament of his absence, a step which would mean Vice President Goodluck Jonathan could take over as acting president.



Former heads of state and lawmakers, the Nigerian Bar Association and the opposition have all made similar calls, some of them through the courts.



Should Yar'Adua inform the Senate that he is temporarily unable to hold office, Jonathan would take over as acting president until such time as he writes again to the contrary.



Aji declined to say when the letter would be sent but promised there would be "no time lag". He said only Yar'Adua's doctors would decide when the president could return to Nigeria.

THE NIGERIAN PROFILE

MODE9

Just as the MC’s name suggests, he is arguably Nigeria’s top 9 hip hop artiste, scoring with punch lines and out of naija lyrics. No wonder he is popularly called the super lyricist. Mode9 has truly been representing. He takes hip hop to another level. When hip hop was dying slowly he single headedly revived it, many thanks to his SWAT root brothers too. It was hard for hip hop to be accepted and match the other musical genres in Nigeria, so to sell or be popular, one needed to rap in pidgin English. Eedris [with the many words you never hear] and Rugged man were the beloved rappers then. Ruggedman was my favourite rapper then, I especially liked his big thing, peace or war. The real war however came when Mode9 arrived on the scene. He had been cooking hip hop underground. He dropped earth shaking tracks like Elbow Room, Formidable, etc from the Pentium IX mix tape.

Mode9 was fearless and introduced real hip hop to Nigeria. He raps in not just good, but intelligent English. Many thanks to his strong academic background. A good mathematician, thus nicknamed the ‘mathematical shege’ and ‘Mode9’- his stage name which he did not look up in a dictionary because he was into music, but which a girl called him after resolving a mathematical puzzle at Bida Poly, back in the days when artistes currently on the scene dropped out from high school just to make kpangolo beats.

Give it up for Mode9, because if he had not opened the door of real hip hop, artistes like M.I, Naeto C, Ikechukwu, etc would probably be rapping in Igbo or pidgin…or never even attempted music. If Martin Luther King never fought, a certain Barack Obama would have never become president of The United States of America. Mode9 fought and opened the door for other youngsters. He does not do rap the American way, he does it more than the American way. No wonder the American rap legend, Jay-Z could not help but email Mode9 after hearing his rap.

A few guys though, never get down with Mode9, but the simple truth really is that they never get to understand the philosophy of the man’s rap. It is just too advance for them. He plays with words, like he invented them, drops punch lines that are more deadly than Mike Tyson’s punches.

Mode9 will forever be appreciated because he’s one man that trampled on where others were afraid to. He is one man that gave Nigerian Hip hop a face and makes the world look at it. He changed the game. Thanks Modo, you’re a true Nigerian that deserves to be recognized for your work. I personally respect your intellect.

9 thumbs up for Mode9……peace out!

SADE

At once you are caught in her sonorous voice, her graceful figure [nearly a svelte] and unique music. I first knew Sade when I watched one of her stage performances on local TV. I was told that the madam performing on stage is Nigerian, and I was like ‘WOW’, We dey represent. I can recall she was on her usual outfit that makes her look like a water goddess [mind you, not mami-water].

I do not know if I am more enthralled in her music or her beauty. Which one? This is to show that she is a complete package. Shade has excelled musically, give it up for her. She is a testimony of Nigeria’s abundant talent [forget oil, we are richer in human resources]

Shade recorded world class hits like Smooth operator, The sweetest taboo, No ordinary love, By your side etc. she is the female version of Michael Jackson [No kidding about this]. At once her music pierces deep into your spirit, dropping something in there. Of this am sure. After listening to her music for the first time, I got so interested in her.

Sade was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Her middle name, Folasade, means honor confers your crown. Her parents, Bisi Adu, a Nigerian lecturer in economics of Yoruba background, and Anne Hayes, an English district nurse, who had met in London, married in 1955 and moved to Nigeria.Later, when the marriage ran into difficulties, Anne Hayes returned to England, taking four-month-old Sade and her older brother Banji to live with her parents. When Sade was 11, she moved to near Clacton-on-Sea with her mother, and after completing school, she moved to London and studied at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
While at college, she joined a soul band, Pride, in which she sang backing vocals.Her solo performances of the song Smooth Operator attracted the attention of record companies and in 1983, she signed a solo deal with Epic Records taking three members of the band, Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale and Paul Denman, with her. Sade and her band produced the first of a string of hit albums, the debut album Diamond Life, in 1984, and have subsequently sold over 50 million albums. She is the most successful solo female artist in British history. JESUS!
Sade truly represents. Thumbs up for you ma’am

WELCOME TO GLOBAL NAIJA BLOG.

Hello all, welcome to my blog. This is indeed my very first post, and there is indeed plenty to write about, or need I say talk about? [Whatever]. But yeah, there is indeed plenty to talk and write about. I am [just like you and every other Nigerian] faced with a series of events and happenings- a sick president absent from the country and office since November 23rd 2009, the vice president that wouldn’t be allowed to be the acting president [at least, in the mean time], the ‘Christmas day’ bomber who attempted to blow up a Detroit air plane which has now labelled the country a terrorist country and yes of course, the best the super eagles can ever get is bronze. No thanks to Amodu who had said that is the best he can guarantee Nigerians before going into the tournament. Well let’s at least say welcome back to the super [still super?] eagles that had a dismal performance, safe for Osaze Odemwingie in Angola where they neither were hurt nor lost a player like the unfortunate Togolese stars.

You may want to suggest that I am a sports fan, even sorta an addict. you are not wrong if you do so, but I will never bore you here. Global Naija Blog is not your usual blogspot. I am committed to practice investigative journalism; this is where Nigerian journalism does not fully thrive. I promise I’ll try to get around you know and get news [mind you not gists] and trust that I’ll at least beat NTA.

Apart from the blog being a news media, it would not fail in celebrating high achieving Nigerians and their exploits. Regularly, you would be introduced to one of these high achieving Nigerians daily. I will be posting on regular columns [just how the print media does it] Global Naija Blog is all about celebrating Naija. I rep’ this country.

Well just in case you stumbled on this blog, I can dare to say you’d come back again
WOW! This is my first post! Am looking forward to the next. Thanks