By the time you read this, I hope to be in Saudi Arabia. What?! you scream. Whatever for? you ask. Silly questions. As if you don't know that my president is there (or is he?). Well that is one reason i need to go there to find out if indeed he is there. Moreover, I used to think that the seat of power in Nigeria is in Aso Rock in Abuja and that is where the president is supposed to be. But these days, for every one time that Abuja is mentioned in the news, Saudi Arabia is mentioned 10 times. What am i supposed to think? That Nigeria is now operating on offshore capital? Anyway, back to what i was saying about going to Saudi Arabia. If you have not noticed, the vogue is now to constitute a four man or six man or one million man committee to go there and see how the president is faring. Members of the Plateau state house of assembly went some time ago and came back without any news for us. Members of the National Assembly are on their way i hear. All six of them if i am not mistaken. Your guess is as good as mine - they will come back as Turaised as all the others that went before them.
I think i am the only one that can get pass her. So i have decided that i shall constitute my own committee comprising myself, my aged mother, my two brothers, my two sons and some of my brother's children. About ten of us in all are on a fact finding mission to that country. And guess what? We shall be entitled to estacode, presidential flight to and fro, accomodation at the expense of the country. Indeed an all expense paid trip. Then if we are unable to see the president, nothing spoil...as they say. We shall spend some days extra just to make sure that we are unable to see him. In the meantime we shall eat, sleep and think at the expense of tax paying Nigerians. We will spend our estacodes shopping for the other members of our immediate and extended family and some hangers on. Oh, I forgot i am not a politician so i do not have any hangers on. But we shall spend the estacode in the best way possible.
When we come back, we shall let you know that we were unable to see the president and if you like, you can constitute your own committee and visit him on a fact finding mission. This is what i think: by the time one hundrend and fifty million nigerians fly to Saudi Arabia and back, someone will know for sure where and how the president is. For now, lets keep the tax payers paying and the rest of 'us' flying....that is my world.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Power of N100
Never underestimate the power of your gift, no matter how small because you don’t know where a person is at anytime. That was the case with me when a friend of mine in Lagos, a student, sent me N3,000 during the crises in Jos. Another student in Canada sent me N14, 000 towards getting an accessory I needed for my computer. These friends will never understand how valuable and unforgettable their gestures and gifts meant to me and perhaps that was the case with Glory, an attendant I met in Abuja last week.
If you know Abuja, you know it could be a challenge to find a good place to stay on a budget. Well, I found one on this trip that was just the way I like it, plus, I could afford it (or more truthfully, my host could afford it on my behalf). From the moment I walked into the lobby, the staff was courteous and alert to their clients’ needs. In my world where customer service is more often perceived as customer favor by service providers, I was impressed. It was really one of those very rare occasions when I honestly felt like I was getting value for my money. The room rate included complementary breakfast and when I went for breakfast in the morning, the waitress on duty did not seem too enthusiastic about her job. Not rude or anything but she did not seem to be into the job like the rest of her colleagues. Purely on impulse, as I was leaving the restaurant that morning, I decided to give her a N100 to thank her for her service.
The next morning my phone rang at 830am. It was Glory calling to let me know that breakfast was ready. Strange, I thought, no one had given me a wake up call the day before. When I got to the restaurant, Glory opened the chaffing dishes for me, introduced the menu, reminded me to put sugar in my tea and generally doted on me throughout breakfast. Did I tip her for a second time? Your guess is a good as mine and as I was leaving, she asked “when are you coming again?”
Who says a little gift can’t go a long way in my world – and yours? Someone out there needs a N100 or multiples thereof. S/he can’t be that far.
If you know Abuja, you know it could be a challenge to find a good place to stay on a budget. Well, I found one on this trip that was just the way I like it, plus, I could afford it (or more truthfully, my host could afford it on my behalf). From the moment I walked into the lobby, the staff was courteous and alert to their clients’ needs. In my world where customer service is more often perceived as customer favor by service providers, I was impressed. It was really one of those very rare occasions when I honestly felt like I was getting value for my money. The room rate included complementary breakfast and when I went for breakfast in the morning, the waitress on duty did not seem too enthusiastic about her job. Not rude or anything but she did not seem to be into the job like the rest of her colleagues. Purely on impulse, as I was leaving the restaurant that morning, I decided to give her a N100 to thank her for her service.
The next morning my phone rang at 830am. It was Glory calling to let me know that breakfast was ready. Strange, I thought, no one had given me a wake up call the day before. When I got to the restaurant, Glory opened the chaffing dishes for me, introduced the menu, reminded me to put sugar in my tea and generally doted on me throughout breakfast. Did I tip her for a second time? Your guess is a good as mine and as I was leaving, she asked “when are you coming again?”
Who says a little gift can’t go a long way in my world – and yours? Someone out there needs a N100 or multiples thereof. S/he can’t be that far.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Of bloody civilians and men in uniform
Uzoma Okere and Abdullahi Abdulazeez must have been caught up in the euphoria of the democracy that Nigeria has been 'enjoying' since the 29th of May, 1999. How else could they have thought that as citizens of Nigeria, they had the right to drive peacefully along any Nigerian road. On that day in December of 2008, how could they not have seen the four naval ratings in the car behind them and even if they saw, how could they have dared not to give way to those men in uniform. How dare they?!
If you ask those naval ratings, they asked for it. They (Uzoma and Abdulazeez), bloody civilians as it were, had no common sense whatsoever that when you are driving on the road, any road, anywhere in Nigerian, and there happen to be some military persons behind you, you MUST make way and allow them to pass. It does not matter if in doing so, you endanger your life and the lives of other road users. For this lack of common sense, Uzoma was manhandled by four naval ratings: her blouse was torn, barebody from the waist up, she was dragged on the ground. Her body was bruised and battered but her fighting spirit had just been awakened.
She did not shrug off the incidence nor did she believe that there was nothing she could do. She took the matter to court and guess what? She won!! So last week, Uzoma Okere joined the league of millionaires as she was awarded 10million naira as damages for assault, ordered by Justine Opeyemi Oke. Now I am sure that Rear Admiral Harry Arogunade, the navy and the four naval ratings who were all jointly sued in the case, will not be treating any one as a 'bloody civilian' any time soon. Now that is what I love to see in my world.
Onovo Ogbonna is another man in uniform who has something against bloody civilians. Especially those married to women in uniform. The man believes that in the African culture, wives shouldn't take responsibility for housing their husbands. To drive home his point, on the 15th of December last year, he ordered all female cops married to civilians to vacate the barracks. Onovo seems to be confirming what I have known since I was knee high: that the police force on our side of the globe, has got its priorities all wrong.
If you ask those naval ratings, they asked for it. They (Uzoma and Abdulazeez), bloody civilians as it were, had no common sense whatsoever that when you are driving on the road, any road, anywhere in Nigerian, and there happen to be some military persons behind you, you MUST make way and allow them to pass. It does not matter if in doing so, you endanger your life and the lives of other road users. For this lack of common sense, Uzoma was manhandled by four naval ratings: her blouse was torn, barebody from the waist up, she was dragged on the ground. Her body was bruised and battered but her fighting spirit had just been awakened.
She did not shrug off the incidence nor did she believe that there was nothing she could do. She took the matter to court and guess what? She won!! So last week, Uzoma Okere joined the league of millionaires as she was awarded 10million naira as damages for assault, ordered by Justine Opeyemi Oke. Now I am sure that Rear Admiral Harry Arogunade, the navy and the four naval ratings who were all jointly sued in the case, will not be treating any one as a 'bloody civilian' any time soon. Now that is what I love to see in my world.
Onovo Ogbonna is another man in uniform who has something against bloody civilians. Especially those married to women in uniform. The man believes that in the African culture, wives shouldn't take responsibility for housing their husbands. To drive home his point, on the 15th of December last year, he ordered all female cops married to civilians to vacate the barracks. Onovo seems to be confirming what I have known since I was knee high: that the police force on our side of the globe, has got its priorities all wrong.
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