EFFC probe Obasanjo?...Obasanjo dey die?

I hear say EFCC wan probe Obasanjo, oti o , it is not possible, how, wetin happen?, is this naija?, abi obasanjo don catch some serious illness we go kill na before the probe finish?

Yesterday, I was just looking through the world of blogville, and lo and behold, I found some blogs of people that I actually know. Actually, let me rephrase, I got to know them better after I finished reading some of their postings. Very inspirational.. Here is one from women connect

It Friday today and I have spent the last 2 days working from home, being in doors for 2 days is doing my head in, so I am looking forward to tomorrow.

The efn forum will be quite interesting. I received a surprise call from the communications manager today to confirm my attendance for tomorrow and he wanted me to find him at the event, 'cos he has something for me. I will wait and see. One of the things to be discussed tomorrow is ideas for next year, as I will spend tonight looking through the vision of the forum, to put together some of my ideas for tomorrow's discussions. A few things I already have in mind, how we can contribute to development and revival of the manufacturing sector in naija. 'cos to be honest, that is definitely one of the unexploited economic areas in Nigeria. Look at how china has now become the manufacturing hob of the world. We have the cheap labour, the highly skilled people, maybe not the infrastructure (light, good road, water etc.), but naija is one of those countries that you can still make money. Another to put forward is how to create and enable partnering opportunities with corporate organisations in naija, to enable university students in naija use us as a platform to gain paid and unpaid work experience in Nigeria, just before they graduate. So this is not nysc, this is the compulsory industry placement for students.

Education, literacy in Naija

Life no easy oh. Even though I am working from home today, I am on conference calls back to back. Things are really hectic at work right now, decisions to be made, reports to be written and presentations to complete.

Even though it is Friday tomorrow and the weekend is approaching, I still have alot of things to do. I am off to the engineering forum of Nigeria annual general meeting, I am meeting a friend straight after to talk about a business proposal in naija and then I am going around London to pick up donations for my orphanage project in naija.

In the middle of all these, I am trying to be a good wife and home keeping. Yoruba say “I no go die"... the Lord is my strength.

I am thinking about writing some children books, pre-primary school age, to promote literacy in naija and Africa. I started thinking about this when I met a lovely and very intelligent 2ys 6mth old girl in London recently. She is Nigeria, but in the UK on holiday and her mum bought her one of these "A is for Apple, B is for Boat" books and 'cos she does not live in the UK or in a developed society, she could not relate to some of the things in the book. e.g. “e is for elf",” f is for fairy"... I can imagine naija parents in naija thinking, elf ke!, that is demonic, that is ogbanje or that na witch! The problem with this is her level of awareness of very simple words and a wider vocabulary is limited. I remember when I came back to the UK, I realised that I lacked some basic vocabularies, to help me socially interact with people easily.

I know this is a wide thought, but I guess if I can give the book away free to nursery and primary schools in Nigeria, then I will have to pay for the publishing and distribution of the books itself. The other way to go about it is producing the book, together with another one, which people will receive free when they buy one of them. Another option is to get some form of grant or funding to publish and distribute the book for free. I guess I need to find a funding geared towards media literacy, education, and awareness etc. Any ideas of how to go about doing this in naija and Africa?

I have just seen a charity organisation that produced a cyberbullying DVD and got some corporate organisations and the government pay for the production and distribution to all schools in the UK. You can view the DVD here :http://www.digizen.org/cyberbullying/.

Or if anyone knows a government department, or corporate organisation that would like to support literacy in young children in Nigeria, put them by way.

Nigeria

A few things today, ex-governors have agreed a pact with EFCC to return stolen loot. I remain shocked at the poor level of accountability in Nigeria. Imagine, "steal and return" and you are free to roam the streets of Nigeria. Mind you, some of these ex-governors, will in future still hold other government posts e.g presidency, senators, ministers etc. Until Nigerians can stand up for themselves and say "enough is enough", the country will continue to be governed by a bunch of greedy and stupid individuals.

I read somewhere that some girls may have been raped at Tu fac survival party and the writer said " it is no surprising, the girls were inapropriately dresses..." In this day and age, a writer or journalist can see nothing wrong in girls being raped because they wear provocative clothes.

Nigeria lost to Glasgow to host the next common wealth games. I am so pleased. Imagine if we won, another opportunity for the fat cats to steal money. We are not ready for this type of competition. I remember what happened when we had the opportunity to host Miss World; all the killings and loss of propertities, because of naked girls during the ramadan!If we host the games, some lunatics will start stirring trouble, asking participates not to wear sports clothes, shorts, swim wears etc. Please Nigeria is not ready to dislay its dirty washing yet again to the rest of the world again Some say, no african country has ever hosted the games, well I understand that and I think a African country should get the opportunity to do so, but Nigeria is not ready. We need to sort out the basic necessities of life ( electricity, food and water) for our 150M citizens.

It is Friday tomorrow

I am so pleased that it is friday tomorrow.

I spend my day at the media literacy conference today. for those that don't know, media literacy is the process of accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating messages in a wide variety of media modes, genres and forms. It uses an inquiry-based instructional model that encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see and read.- wiki

The conference was pulled togther a number of speakers across many industries - education, polict, government, media etc and looking at the emergence of web 2.0 - a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration and sharing between users. - wiki. The debate on the risks to children was discussed and how what and where the collective responsibility of ensuring that children and vunerable people can access, enjoy, learn and protect themselves when online.- wiki

More interestingly, the presentation from yemisi blake and jelly ellie was the most inspirational.

What I am thinking

This week is turning out to be very busy for me. I am in Leeds today, attending meetings, till tomorrow. I might go shopping this evening, to the white rose shopping mall, I hear is very cheap. On my way today, on the virgin train, which by the way did not have a power outlet for my laptop, I started working on my biograghy for the speaking engagement in January. I am not sure what to write and what people will be interested in. I am quite a rookie in the area.Spoke to my husband, for some confidence boost on the phone, about my first attempt at my biograpghy and he said I should start by writing bullet points of what I wanted people in the conference to know. I looked at biogragragh of the other panelist, and these people are "head of something something" and here, I am just a manager. Anyway, I will keep working on it.

I want a new car!, I am on my second car in 4years and I feel like I should get a nice sleek four wheel drive. Too expensive, I know this is not the time to start thinking about this.

I have been thinking about going back to the gym. I have added alot of weight in 8 months. Last year, I lost 2 dress sizes from controlled eating and 3x a week visit to the gym.

My husand & I are off to lausanne, switzerland at the end of the month, for his best friend's graduation. he just completed his MBA, from IMD. My husabnd is studying for his GMAT now, his second attempt and I saw on his laptop last night, a list of the top 6 schools in the world that he will be applying to. I was so nervous, I know he can do it and I am willing him to do it. He is a fantastic person, very disciplined and very focus... I am not sayign this because he is my husband, but any company will be lucky to have him. He is the most incorruptible Nigerian I know. And did I mention that he is a perfectionist!

weekend fun

I no dey blog for weeekends at all. My wekend is always packed. I went to the o2 - millenium dome with my best friend this weekend- she came into town for 2 days. We had so much fun, it was hilarious!we did the video thing appearing in spice girls 2 become 2 video. It was mad. Enjoy: http://o2create.migapps.com/o2create/video/mdiyaolu@yahoo.com/hi


Also, I have been speaking to people all weekend to help with my charity work - supporting Nigeria's motherless babies orphanage. My target is to get as many clothes, DVDs, videos and books to these homes in time for christmas. If anyone is reading this blog and would like to help, please let me know.

I went to a friend's party this weekend and I saw some girl that I don't like?, believe me, I don't hate her but I just can't get along with her, so I try to avoid her. She is too superficial. She has the naija girl mentality " suck up to my boyfriend's friends". The girl is just unreal.


I just finished reading the Icarus girl by Helen Oyeyemi and I actually had nightmares about it. Well written book though. I am proud of her. I am starting on The opposite house, by the same author. Wish me luck.

Another exciting thought, I am speaking at a public engagment in January, it is a first for me, so I am very excited. I have been told to send a biograpghy for the conference brochure and I am not sure what to write. Any thoughts anyone?... if there is anyone reading this blog of course.

Pictures from Ibadan

My friend sent me a text two days ago, to say she has been receiving calls, from people in Lagos, that the wedding pictures are in "city people"- one of the lagos magazines/tabloids, filled with pictures of "who is who" at any point in time.



Enjoy all the pictures are attached.