Christmas And The Year Gone By

Christmas (Christ’s–mass), the celebration of the birth of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (the central figure of Christianity) has come again. Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December every year according to the Gregorian calendar. It holds a great significance everywhere in the world; from Istanbul to Saint Petersburg and down to Iyana-Ipaja, here in Nigeria.  It is marked by wild celebrations. It ushers in the season of happiness, relaxation and glee.

The origins of Christmas celebrations are shrouded in controversy. In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church. According to Judeo-Christian tradition, creation as described in Genesis occurred on the date of the spring equinox, i.e. March 25 on the Roman calendar. This date is now celebrated as Annunciation and as the anniversary of Incarnation. In 1889, Louis Duchesne suggested that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after Annunciation, the traditional date of the conception of Jesus.
Nowadays however, the birth date of Jesus is on December 25 is mainly symbolic. A day to celebrate the coming of God into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity is considered to be the primary meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a wonderful season. It ushers in the spirit of peace and merriment. Christmas is no longer as it were a Christian celebration. Some faithful followers of other religions sometimes join in the celebrations to experience the virtues of Christianity which are embedded in Christ.

TRAFFIC JAM AT ONITSHA

All over the Nigeria, and indeed the world, Christmas stimulates a kick in the economy of Nations. In fact a quarter of personal shopping in the US is done around Christmas.  Prices tend to skyrocket and yet goods and commodities still have high turn over rates, defying the law of demand. The rich and the poor often seem to find joy as a common ground. Every body can afford to buy something.  Christmas is also a time of reunion. Many Nigerians in the United Kingdom and America come back home to see their family members. Even those within the country sojourn to their villages for the celebrations.  Our brothers from the eastern parts of Nigeria (Ndigbo) in particular troop back to their villages. Petty traders, spare part sellers, from far and wide move to the east.  Some even go on to spend virtually all the monies they have made form the beginning of the year. Roads leading to Nnewi, Okposi and Okija (hopefully not the shrine), are jammed.  Transport companies make a fortune as they have waiting customers eager to get on the next available bus. The major interstates are blocked; Gwagwalada, Okene, Auchi, down to Ore, traffic jams are the sight. But we love it, Its Christmas.

On Television, Christmas parties for kids are aired on local a station (who wants to hear about the death of 200 Afghanistan soldiers reported by CNN on Christmas day). Their happy –go- jolly faces dancing to the tunes of Ice princes’ Oleku.  It’s Christmas, no sad talk. On Radio, the sounds of Charles Wesley’s, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sings”, “Silent Night” and “Joy to the world” makes for beautiful nostalgia.  We may have heard them a gazillion times but each time is a new experience.

The heat and cold pendulum swing reminiscent of harmatan season have also not prevented parents from taking their children out to see Santa Claus (Or Father Christmas depending on whether you were brought up in Abulegba or on Bordilon Avenue). Santa Claus is a mythical gift bringer dressed in red, whose origins have diverse sources. The name Santa Claus can be traced back to the Dutch Sinterklaas, which means simply Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was Bishop of Myra, in modern day Turkey, during the 4th century. Among other saintly attributes, he was noted for the care of Children, generosity, and the giving of gifts. Santa's gifts are every kids dream. The sports car, the Barbie dolls, the Lego toys- kids want it all.

As Christmas draws the curtains on the year, we should be grateful for the year gone by. The blessings of the gift of life can not be over emphasised. So eat, drink and make merry. It’s Christmas!

The year 2010 was a historic one for this country. We achieved a lot as a Nation. From the intrigues generated from an MIA President to the impressive display of athletes at the Common Wealth games. It was indeed eventful. The nation moves into an election year and once again our resolve for conducting credible elections will be tested.  Can we break the fetters binding our democracy? Or is it all in the hands of the mighty politician? Time as they say will tell.

Here are some of the events that made this year a memorable one :

JANUARY

·        January 4-   Nigeria is placed on US Terror List in the wake of the failed Suicide Bombing attempted by Farouk Abdul Mutallab.

·         January 12- Earth Quake occurs in Haiti killing over 200,000 people.

·         January 17- Violence erupts in Jos and lasted at least four days. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze during the fighting. At least 200 people were killed

·         January 31- Roger Federa is the first man to win 16 Grand Slam titles.

FEBRUARY

·         February 9- Vice President Ebele Jonathan is made Acting President following the Doctrine of Necessity invoked by the National Assembly

·         February 24- President Umaru Yar’Adua is sneaked back into the country at night.

• February 12-28 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler  Canada
• February 18 – The President of Niger, Tandja Mamadou, is overthrown after a group of soldiers storms the presidential palace and form a ruling junta, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy headed by chef d'escadron Salou Djibo.

MARCH

·         March 16 – The Kasubi Tombs, Uganda's only cultural World Heritage Site, are destroyed by fire.

APRIL

• April 20 – The Deepwater Horizon oil platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers. The resulting oil spill, one of the largest in history, spreads for several months, damaging the waters and the United States coastline, and prompting international debate and doubt about the practice and procedures of offshore drilling.
• April 29- Prof Maurice Iwu is removed as INEC chairman

MAY

·         May 5- President Yar’Adua dies after protracted illness

·         May 6- President Goodluck Jonathan takes oath of office becoming Nigeria’s 14^th Head of State.

JUNE

·         June 11  – The 2010 FIFA World Cup is held in South Africa, and is won by Spain.

JULY

·         July 25 – Wikileaks, an online publisher of anonymous, covert, and classified material, leaks to the public over 90,000 internal reports about the United States-led involvement in the Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010.

AUGUST

·         July 29 – Heavy monsoon rains begin to cause widespread flooding in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Over 1,600 are killed, and more than one million are displaced by the floods.

SEPTEMBER

·         September 28 – Seven people are reported to have been killed and around 100 are missing after a landslide in Oaxaca, Mexico.

OCTOBER

·         October 1- Twin bomb explosion mar Independence Day celebration in Nigeria. The attacks left 12 dead and 17 injured.

·         October 10- itualive! makes first public post.

·         October 13 – Thirty-three miners near Copiapó, Chile, trapped 700 metres underground in a mining accident in San José Mine, are brought back to the surface after surviving for a record 69 days.

NOVEMBER

·         November 9- Irate man attacks former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

·         November 22- Atiku is picked as Northern Consensus candidate by Northern Political Leaders forum

·         November 28 – WikiLeaks releases a collection of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables, including 100,000 marked "secret" or "confidential".

DECEMBER

·         December 15- Pa Anthony Enahoro, the man who moved the first motion for Nigeria’s Independence in 1953 dies at age 87.

And as this would be my last post for the year, I thank you for the support you have given itualive! I wish you all a blessed 2011. May God Bless You All.

©2010 Ewoigbokhan Otaigbe Itua

MUCH ADO ABOUT WIKILEAKS

WikiLeaks, an international non-profit organisation has been making the news recently for good and bad reasons depending on the way one decides to look at it. They publish submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous sources. Wikileaks launched its web site in 2006 and began as a regular wiki site (user-editable site) but has progressively moved towards a more traditional publication site, and no longer accepts either user comments or edits. Julian Assange, an Australian, is generally described as its director. Assange, an alumnus of 6 universities is known to have studied various courses including Mathematics, Physics, Neuroscience and Philosophy. He is presently facing charges of rape in London.

WikiLeaks has received praise as well as criticism. The organization won a number of awards, including The Economist's 2008 New Media Award.  In June 2009, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange won Amnesty International's UK Media Award, in the category "New Media", for the 2008 publication of "Kenya: The Cry of Blood – Extra Judicial Killings and Disappearances", a report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights about police killings in Kenya. In May 2010, New York City's Daily News listed WikiLeaks as first in a ranking of "websites that could totally change the news". Julian Assange was named the Readers' Choice for TIME's Person of the Year for 2010. (Source: Wikipaedia)

WikiLeaks Mission Statement reads: Help WikiLeaks Keep Governments Open. This gives us a general idea about what they do. They essentially seek to make Governments transparent and more accountable (in other words their job is to primarily snitch on governments).  They claim to have thousands of diplomatic cables (correspondences) between countries.

Most countries (Nigeria including), have perceived this exposé by WikiLeaks as embarrassing.  For instance, WikiLeaks released cables showing US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton instructing US diplomats to collect DNA samples, fingerprints and credit card details of key UN officials. The leaks reveal that Libya’s “Brother Leader” Qadhafi, dislikes flying over water, only stays on the first floor, tends to receive visitors and conducts meetings inside a traditional Bedouin tent, and is accompanied everywhere by Ukrainian nurse described as a “voluptuous blonde.” In Germany, WikiLeaks reveals that Angela Merkel “avoids risks” and is rarely creative. We now know (or rather already know) that in far away Russia, President Dimitry Medvedev, plays second fiddle to his predecessor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, described as an “alpha dog”. And that Russia has virtually become a “mafia state”.

 Our own President was not spared by the “tell it all” site. WikiLeaks put the spot light on President Goodluck’s impasse during the twilight of the Yar’Adua administration.  It provided Nigerians a different view to our dear President’s character.  In one cable, President Jonathan (then the Acting President), admitted his lack of experience but affirmed his willingness and capacity to lead the Country. In my own opinion this shows him as a true leader. His political rivals have criticized him and have tried to portray him as diffident and pusillanimous. But on the contrary, admitting ones lack of inexperience is a sign of good leadership especially in a country like Nigeria where every politician portrays themselves as all knowing demagogues. It would indeed be interesting to see what leaked cables (or phone conversations for that matter) will reveal about the characters of such people.

Nigeria always seems to take centre stage in situations like this. Hear this: Of the 251, 287 cables yet to be made public involving the United States, 4598 are sourced from Nigeria.  And this cables date back from 1966 to February 2010. Tongues have begun to wag. Tales have started spinning. If 3 released cables have exposed us as a frail, unsure and porous country; what will the rest tell the world about the most populous black nation on planet earth? 1966 seems like a long time given that Nigerian leaders time and again tend to have skeletons in the drawers.   Will Wikileaks tell us stuff the Police have since not told us? Questions Like who killed Bola Ige, Marshal Harry, and Chief Moshood Abiola may finally be answered.  Would we be told whether coup plotters had outside help?

The point remains that if more information had been made available by respective governments, companies like Wikileaks and Nigeria’s whistle blowing site- Sahara Reporters- may have never been necessary. Now the world is paying the price for such perceived negligence.

Questions bordering on the justifications and implications of Wikileaks’ actions have formed controversial debates. I for one do not believe that everything must be known. A balance has to be found.  Shouldn’t a government reserve the responsibility to shield or protect its citizens from perceived damaging or dangerous information? And to what extent does National Security override personal scores? And what lines divide these if one may ask? Wouldn’t this leaked information make worse already frail diplomatic relationships between countries?

For instance, the released diplomatic cables on Nigeria revealed that Pfizer (Pharmaceutical Giants) tried to coerce the Attorney’s General office into dropping the case Nigeria had against them. Although the US Department of justice may probe Pfizer on allegations of corruption practices following revelations of its “dirty secrets” in Nigeria, couldn’t this be read as a breach in Nigeria’s national security? Again, Shell’s vice-president for Sub-Saharan Africa claimed or rather boasted that Shell has seconded employees (spies) in every major Nigerian institution. By this disclosure, the whole world now sees how porous our security agencies are and how our so called friends in the west perceive us.

The Petroleum Industry Bill, which if passed may tend to give Nigerians more control over their oil has been lying comatose in the National Assembly. Obviously this Bill does not favor  Multinational oil companies. If these cables are anything to go by, then it would be justified to say, this Bill has not been passed for obvious reasons. This implies that  some companies influence may have indeed gotten to our highest law making institution.

I consider Wikileaks the “Amebo” of our time. And Since Nigerians are always in the fashion of recreating things, we can call our own AmeboLeaks. It could help unearth some of the Nation’s unanswered questions while the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) lies dead in the Hallow chambers of the National Assembly.  AmeboLeaks can begin to tell us how much exactly a Nigerian Senator earns. It could even take the “struggle” a bit further by revealing which government official eats certain apples from the hands of imported Indian damsels.  Am sure AmeboLeaks will surely cause more “katakata” than WikiLeaks has done.

©2010 Ewoigbokhan Otaigbe Itua   

BOYS AND GIRLS (A SHORT STORY)

I was reading A Moveable Feast, while my girlfriend’s red eyes were hidden behind a magazine. We just had a quarrel- the type that has no definable cause and lasts for weeks. In time something acidic would spew from her lips and I waited. In the meantime I pretended to be interested in the adventures of Hemingway in Paris.

I was wrong. The tantrum never came. Rather a loud blunt sound erupted from my neighbours room, it sounded like a muffled punch. Then there were screams. I recognized the voice of my neighbour’s live-in-girlfriend.

“Stop! Stop! You want to kill me!”

I approached the room and knocked. Nothing changed. I banged arrhythmically and soon I was contributing to the din.

“No! don’t open the door!” the girlfriend said. I have wondered why she said that. My conclusion was she’d preferred the pain to the shame of the neighbourhood witnessing her shame.

I wasn’t surprised when the door opened. Calistus opened and asked, “what is it?”

“Let me enter” I pushed the door and beheld the fair skinned beauty crumpled on the corner trying futilely to enter the wall. She fled shouting, “Because I tore the picture of his ex girlfriend…”

The rest of the neighbourhood had gathered and listened as the girl told her story in high decibels. My girlfriend joined the crowd and while I spoke to Calistus, I noticed her sobbing ostensibly to the girl’s tale.

I can’t remember Calistus’ explanation as I was beginning to be embarrassed by my girlfriend’s display. Somehow a torn picture of my neighbour and his girlfriend got to my palm.

The girl ran back into the room saying she had to collect her things. I held him while she entered but he assured me all was okay. I released him and he locked the door carefully smiling at his rug. I heard a slap. I thought, here we go again.

I was wrong. As I made to resume my banging, I heard sobs and soon moans. The crowd seemed to evaporate under the sun with residues of hissing. My girlfriend muttered something I didn’t catch amidst sobs and entered the room.

My neighbours’ moans continued, my girlfriend’s sobs dragged- both embarrassing for different reasons- while I stood outside half-heartedly trying to patch the image of Calistus and his girlfriend together.

©2010 Oris.K Aigbos

TWO POEMS FOR THE ROAD

TRAVELERS; LOVERS; FLOWERS….

The sun has set on us, but the moon has risen in its stead;

We do not mind which light is brighter;

But that we are guided to our destination;

In so doing, we provoke the sun to jealousy.

Wealth has eluded us, but we have love in abundance;

We do not mind our lack of silver and gold;

But that our hearts are filled with joy;

In so doing, we provoke wealth to jealousy.

Yes, the gardener just pruned us down, but there goes our pollen on the wings of that butterfly;

We do not mind if we die or live;

But that we sprout through our seeds;

In so doing we provoke life to jealousy.

© 2010 Ewoigbokhan Otaigbe Itua

THE VOICE IN THE SANDS….

Oh wretched child that I am!
What is my wrong to be put in this land?
What have i done to deserve this pain?
Does it have to do with my name?
This is the voice in the sands.
Oh wretched child that I am!
What are the rights that I hear from afar?
Are they just but a tale of the night?
What has caused this ill to my kind?
This is the voice in the sands.
Oh wretched child that I am!
After the darkness, they say comes light.
But the sun has set on my skin.
The voice in the sands has spoken.
I am the African child.

© 2009 Ewoigbokhan Otaigbe Itua