Saturday, March 7, 2009

Re: Straw, hackers and the rebranding Nigerian project.

Some of we youths would have stopped writing about what our leaders have failed to do and resign to fate but for the reserved energy and the enormity of the need for the government to provide things that would shape our future .

I couldn't agree less with the submission of the writer of this piece.

It's really a shame that our leaders have failed to face the reality on ground. My confidence in the believe that this country will get it right someday is dwindling with recent developments.

Madam Dora should know that what we need now is re-orientation and not rebranding .What image are we trying to rebrand? Is it the image of endless kidnapping and agitation from the Niger delta or an image of chronic power failure being experienced by the masses?

Our economy is in recession and the custodians are saying it is not true irrespective of the glaring evidence.

Government is being handled by old hands who spend three days in office and four days in hospital beds abroad. The few young brains like Dora are made redundant by being given a post they know nothing about. The righteous are being persecuted while the corrupt are having a field day amassing wealth for their unborn generation.

The perpetrators of the scourge called corruption that contributed to the dented image of this country are getting lighter sentences for stealing billions of naira while a petty thief who stole a meager sum of 4,800 naira and a chicken was recently sentenced to 5 years imprisonment without an option of fine…..yuk!

While I’m not trying to justify the actions of the few uncultured “Young Guns”(using the Arsenal sobriquet for their players) among us, it is evident that our youths have lost appetite for that which is dignifying scrambling for the piece of the action in a get rich quick scheme. Our education sector is in comatose; there are no jobs for the rising number of graduates. The few who have decided to embark on entrepreneurships are not being supported and yet these impressionists we called leaders are thinking of rebranding an obviously sick country like Nigeria.

Mummy Dora, please you can't model a product that is evidently bad, we need to repackage and re-orientate ourselves, provide jobs, reposition our educational sector, aid our ailing economy, improve electricity, create programmes that can encourage innovation among youths, scrap or restructure the N.Y.S.C and genuinely support entrepreneurship. Until these are done, the rebranding effort will be another charade, another effort in futility and a waste of our dwindling income.

Oyepeju Oyewale.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Hanging on What Corruption can Offer !

Are we all not?
Yet we condemn our Politicians at any given opportunity
Each time we heard that they embezzled public funds
We crucify them not knowing that
We are also part of the decadence

Corruption is a cankerworm,
A virus that has eaten so deep into our sub-conscious mind
It is everywhere,
It is our way of life and means of livelihood

Ask a child what his ambition is
And you won't be surprised that he want a piece of the national cake
He will cry for no reason
Hoping to be bribed with a piece of meat or Ice cream

Our Youths have lost appetite for that which is dignifying
Scrambling for a piece of the action in a get-rich quick scheme
The middle-aged are caught in the mesh of being the major giver and the receiver

Our elders are not tired of being involved,
They have tasted the piece of the cake too
And won’t let go.
Not even when their health is
Telling them to leave the system for good

The haves amassed wealth through her
For their unborn generation
The have-nots feed on her crumbs waiting for the next manna from heaven
It has taken the shine of Patriotism and replaces it with disloyalty
A gateman or a security man could be nice to you
Don't be shocked he wants some Tip or Egunje in return


How can we get rid of this Cancer or is it virus?
The nation have spent trillions of naira to cure her citizens of this disease
Scapegoats have been made out of the perpetrators
Yet Corruption still thrive among us
Sweeping across the six geo-political zones
Devouring and destroying what is left of our pathetic Integrity

Only God knows how we came in contact with this scourge
And only he knows how and when we will all be cured
This country will end up being a sad one
Full of potentials and yet cannot thrive
Just because everyone is hanging on what Corruption can offer!

Oyepeju Oyewale
02' 09.

About me !

If there is a better word to describe me
Then I will choose Pragmatic
People often say I’m an Optimist
But I know I’m more of a realist

I'm not only a programmer
I'm also an actor rehearsing for
A play that you and I will act
Not in this world but in the heavenliness

I may have a melancholy expression
But I still have a reserved strength
To declare each day
As the day the Lord has made
Just like the Psalmists

Time is precious to me But
Doing it right is more important
I love Gold
But I will rather invest it
For a future return

I am one of those who will re-write
The history of this Country
Call me a dreamer
And I won’t sue you
Remember, the dream of one Man
With an unknown pedigree
Is shaping our world today

My story is not just about me
Rather it is about the values
I can add unto others
Just like everybody
I also have my shortcoming

Life is precious to me
But being a realist, I know that one day
I will be recalled to give an account
Let this spur whoever is reading
About me!

© 2009 Oyepeju Oyewale.