Evo Morales Challenges EU’s Returns Directive
June 17, 2008 by 
OCI · 3 Comments
As someone whose days are numbered in the Europe Union because of an increasing burning desire to return to the motherland; this current evil wind may not augur well with those that have chosen to remain and would be motherland escapees.
The ‘Returns Directive‘ was first brought to my attention by Black Looks in the Nigerian Bloggers feeds and I took a while to familiarise myself of the content and it beats me how far Europe is going to bar everyone from steppin on it.
Enters Evo Morales of Bolivia, the supposed raving lunatic from South America that is becoming a thorn in America’s flesh like Chavez who are both at the same time trying to step into Castro’s colossal boots. Once again Morales has risen to the challenges of the times to remind Europe of the times past. Evo Morales may not be the perfect defender/crusader; but he has a case and can speak up unlike others in Africa and elsewhere with vested interest.
We are indeed in troubled times and the gates and the way are becoming rough(er) and narrower; we may not have anywhere else to go, other than the motherland. It is time we start making our beds the way it will suit us to lie on, in the days to come. Europe is coming, they are uniting, the doors are closing; when it is looked in, the cleansing will start. It is time to clean out or get cleaned.
Although, I can hadly pass as a fan of the Morales, Chavez and Castro’s but, I do stand with Morales on this present ground to ask these pertinent questions and reminders as posed to those in Brussels and all over Europe.
I present President Evo Morales to You:
Open Letter from Evo Morales Regarding the European Union’s “Returns Directive”
Until the end of the Second World War, Europe was a continent of emigrants. Tens of millions of Europeans left for the Americas in order to colonize, escape famine, financial crises, wars and European totalitarianism and the persecution of ethnic minorities. Today, I’m following the process of the so-called “Returns Directive” with concern. The text, approved on June 5th by the Interior Ministers of the European Union’s 27 member countries, must be voted on in the European Parliament on June 18th. I feel that it drastically hardens the conditions for detention and expulsion of undocumented migrants, whatever their length of stay in the European countries, their work situation, their family ties, their will and their achievements at integration.
Europeans arrived en masse in the countries of Latin America and North America, without visas or conditions imposed by the authorities. They were always welcome, and they continue to be, in our countries on the American continent, which therefore absorb the economic misery of Europe and its political crises. They came to our continent to exploit its wealth and transfer it to Europe, with a very high cost for America’s original population. Such is the case in our Cerro Rico, in Potosi, where the fabulous silver mines provided the European continent its coinage from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The goods and personal rights of the European migrants were always respected.
Today the European Union is the main destination for the world’s migrants, as a consequence of its positive image as an area of prosperity and public freedom. The vast majority of the migrants come to the EU to contribute to this prosperity, not to take advantage of it. They occupy jobs in public works, construction, personal services and hospitals, which Europeans can’t or don’t wish to fill. They contribute to the European continent’s dynamic demographic, to maintaining the relationship between the active and inactive that in turn makes possible its generous systems of social security, internal market stimulation and social cohesion. Migrants offer a solution to the EU’s demographic and financial problems.
For us, our migrants represent the development aid that the Europeans don’t give us - considering that few countries actually manage to achieve the minimum objective of 0.7% of their GDP in development aid. In 2006, Latin America received $68 billion dollars in remittances; more than the total foreign investment in our countries. At a world level, they reach $300 billion dollars, which surpasses the $104 billion dollars granted through the concept of development aid. My own country, Bolivia, received more than 10% of its GDP through remittances ($1.1 billion dollars), or a third of our annual natural gas exports.
This is to say that the migration flows are just as beneficial for the Europeans and marginally for those of us in the Third World, considering that we’ve also lost the equivalent of millions of skilled workers, in which our states, poor as they are, have invested human and financial resources in one way or another.
Unfortunately, the “Returns Directive” complicates this reality terribly. If we conceive that each state or group of states may define its fully sovereign migratory policies, we cannot accept that fundamental personal rights should be denied to our Latin American brothers and compatriots. The “Returns Directive” provides for the possibility of incarceration of undocumented migrants for up to 18 months before their expulsion - or “removal,” according to the terms of the directive. 18 months! Without trial, or justice! As it is today, the Directive’s text clearly violates Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Specifically, Article 13 of the Declaration states:
Books that ruined my Life: A Tribute to Things Falls Apart and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o at 50.
April 17, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
I first read Things Fall Apart in class 2, my formative years, after my tail has been cut and I became a full student. Not possessing the qualities of Okonkwo as at that time, I dreamed of a day I will be a hero and have women abandon their water pot and marry me for my exploits. But the romantic attitude of Unoka (generic name for most “happy”Nigerians) and not thinking of tomorrow as tomorrow will bring its jolly gourd of palm wine, made me restrict the lessons of Things Fall Apart to the pages of the book and a rote repetition to pass exam.
Another author, whose books arrested my fancy and escapism from the harsh realities of Nigeria in the 80s and early 90s, is Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. Trial of Dedan Kimathi co-authored with Micere Mugo, Weep Not Child. These books highlight the Mau Mau struggle for the liberation of Kenya. Typically, I longed to lead a movement that will liberate Nigerians from poverty and like General Dedan Kimathi of no fixed address, deliver a moving speech that will remain forever in the annals of liberation movement. But Nigeria is a country where things are no longer at ease, where oppressors without a democratic antecedent, commitment to the people, turn over night saints and lure the trench tested comrades into governance only to corrupt them absolutely.
By no means are the books that ruined my life restricted to these three. The Holy Bible (no matter the version plus the Apocrypha), Tai Solarin’s A Message for Young Nigerians, Marie Corelli’s The Sorrows of Satan, are ever green in the ruin of my life. But being the golden jubilee of Things Fall Apart and Nguig, I shall painfully refuse to elaborate on these other books that ruined my life.
This year 2008, the author and the book are fifty years. It is 50 years since Things Fall Apart was written. It is also Ngugi’s 50th year birthday.
A lot has been written about this best book (Things Fall Apart) and the author to have come out of Africa and the only impediment is that the author and the book have not been deemed fit to wear the crown of a Nobel Laureate. Of all the explanations I have heard, the one that aliens with my psychic is the one that holds that because Achebe and Nguig are afro centric writers, exposing the structural corruption and fraud planted by the colonialist that made it impossible for the young independent African Nations to survive, even if their nationalist pre-colonial warriors wanted to. The education (interpreter) was merely to aid the white man to under develop Africa and further the spiritual bondage. (Catechists)
Ngugi took his afro centrism to a cultural dimension and refused to use English as his primary language of creative writing, rather Gikuyu his native language became his instrument. Achebe is found wanting in this regard.
Despite the acclaimed reception of Things Fall Apart in other cultures and her translation to their languages, there is no Igbo translation of Things Fall Apart. Achebe is an Igbo man. We are still awaiting the promised version by Achebe as stated in an interview anchored by Okey Ndibe, published in The Sundaysun of April 13, 2008 page 47.
I congratulate The Association of Nigerian Authors for the elaborate celebration of Things Fall Apart at 50, but they should go a step further to encourage budding authors to write in indigenous languages. Furthermore, elders should be at home to explain the taboos and acceptable practises to the younger generation.
I first made this call published in the Punch Newspaper as Achebe and the dearth of Opposition, when Achebe rejected the national award in the “hit” of the macabre dance of shame in Anambra.(when a sitting governor Dr. Chris Ngigi was kidnapped by Andy Uba’s brother with the active participation of Aso Rock.) I will repeat it here. Achebe should come home, tour Nigerian universities and lecture. I wonder what became of The Chinua Achebe Foundation Interview Series published in Vanguard Newspaper. He is too old to be outside the fatherland. Young Nguig is back from exile after the exit of Arap Moi, feeding the literary class of Kenya with a rich cuisine. What is keeping our mother in the market? I hope she won’t be back when the falcon will rather hear a hunter’s shot than a falconer’s call.
The children are forced to eat from the pot of their step mother. No matter how good a young writer is, he only get acknowledged if he writes what onyibos think should be African style and content. And such published and promoted by a foreign company.
| 2.5 |
PATRIOTIC NIGERIANS IN DIASPORA - Thank You!
February 3, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
Written By: Ashimole Felix
My attention has been drawn to a publication by ONDI ( Organisation of Nigerians in Diaspora) with headquarters at 1205 willow Marsh Lane Bowie Maryland 20720 USA,email address: onid@yahoo.com , on page 24 of Daily Sun Newspaper of January 16, 2008. The Nigerian community in Diaspora are honourable people and I must confess, they have contributed greatly to the welfare of the home boys.
These our brothers, I hope the sisters will allow their liberated mind to see the nomenclature as mere generic and not the writer’s insensitivity to gender balancing, are the life wire of many families. The speed, with which these brothers answer any +234 number flashing on their phone, is not only as a result of loneliness but a genuine hunger to find out how the people left at home are doing. Should the “bros eke ale, how far” degenerates to “Chukwuemeka, Papa is sick and we need money” the speed at which bros will dash to the nearest fund transfer office, will shame Ben Johnson and remind all the doping athletes that the greatest motivation is love and fear of poverty. These bros, who went into economic exile, do not spare a nickel when it comes to coming to the rescue. Some of them at the shrink of a telephone, will empty their winter beaten savings to make sure that hunger does not kill his less fortunate brothers in Nigeria , who could not escape this economic Babylon into the land of milk and honey called the western world.
The bros in USA are known with quick cash flash while those in EU are at their best in sending cars, electrical appliances and other household items. The guys in Asia are into repatriating electronics which in most cases their blue prints were developed in Africa or by a bright Nigerian undergraduate. No matter where they are found, these Nigerians represent. Like everything Nigerian, every tribe unconsciously gyrates together. The Igbos are found dominantly in the US, the Yorubas in London, the Hausas in Middle-East while the minority groups represented by the South-South and Benue are found in the Central and Eastern Europe. Read more
Amadioha Speaks!!!!
December 29, 2007 by Che Oyimnatumba · 1 Comment
Written By: Che Oyinatumba
The last time Amadioha tunneled his message to ndi igbo through me (Daily Sun of Friday September,9th 2005), Ndigbo were at the peak of disarmament. One of the shrines of Ndigbo, Ogwugwu shrine at Okija was desecrated by the infidel Nigerian police. Secondly, there was a great divide as a result of the 2003 general elections. The best of ndi igbo came to contest but because of not putting penis together to form a foam, ndi igbo as a race lost out. Doubt it was our best? Check out their credentials; Chief Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, does he need any further introduction than Dim, Eze Igbo Gburugburu? Ike Nwachukwu; other tribes brought out their ex-generals, to show that they are detribalized and therefore the best qualified, we brought out ours, who speaks all the dominant three languages. How about Alex Ekwueme, a working encyclopedia on statecraft and manship. Our intellectual was also thrown in, as personified by Arthur Nwankwo.
Spiritually, we were not found on the wrong side of heaven. Our river drifted cousin Chris Okotie also came to the market. But at the end of the day, ndi igbo did not come home with common akara.Since this dismal performance by ndi igbo, I have hidden my head in shame. The need to burrow my head further into the earth was intensified by the dance of shame by all the igbo states at re-impeaching each other in the senate. When the gods gave ndi igbo a chance to salvage themselves, Ndi Igbo: gaining from the holocaust (Daily Sun March 7th 2006) and get ready for 2007, the myopic ambitions of the serving governors and other “national” leaders aborted it.
Skeptically, I have kept to myself, scratching for garri and okpa in a land that is not mine. A land the igbos have irrigated with their blood, yet each year, ndi igbo lose blood on their way home, as a result of bad roads, insecurity and absence of basic first aid kit in federal government clinics.
101 Things You Need To Relocate To Nigeria - Part III
December 12, 2007 by OCI · Leave a Comment
( THOSE WHO MAY NEVER RELOCATE!)
Written By: Godson Offoaro
Captain Okuwa Ayodeji of the United States Army, I salute you this morning from Lagos, Nigeria. You observed in your reaction to this series about your worries concerning some Nigerians living in the Diaspora who may not be able to relocate for no fault of theirs. And some other who would not relocate for fault of theirs. To you, this group falls into six broad segments. You tried to diagnose their respective impediments to relocating. You rationalized that it is from a particular segment in this group of Nigerians living abroad that we find the most rabid critics of the Nigerian nation.
You identified a segment in this group, who for over twenty something years or more could not for one reason or the other regularize their stay in their new western country of abode. Now grand parents’ most have not been home since they left our shores. Most of their children and or grand children have not visited the place called Nigeria - not once in their lifetime. They (the first generation parentage) either have made one costly mistake or the other trying to seek legal permanent residency in the US/UK without success. Some simply had adopted a laid back attitude that consigned them to this sorry(?) side of history, where they have found themselves today.
Captain Ayodeji, could another reason be that they may have had the ill-luck of being bogged down by issues arising from their contrived green card marriages? Could they could also, have been caught in the crossfire of other social problems including the abundance of good life and the klieg light of sophistication which could, everywhere, be found in the western world? To tell the truth, (and in fairness to this group) life in the western world is good and could mislead the unfocussed - non-Nigerians inclusive!
101 Things You Need To Relocate To Nigeria - Part II
December 4, 2007 by OCI · Leave a Comment
Written By: Godson Offoaro
“Fallen Cherubs, to be weak
Is miserable, doing and suffering;
Though the field be lost, all is not lost;
To reign is worth ambition;
Better reign in hell than serve in heaven” -
Satan reassuring his colleagues - the fallen Angels in “Paradise Lost” by John Milton
This second part is addressed to a reader simply known as Lola. Lola a Nigerian lady in her early 30’s had in her reaction to the previous article asked me to come up with the up side, side of returning to Nigeria. Lola, the up sides are many. I have enumerated some of them in the previous essay, though somehow with a tongue in cheek. Read the essay again, you will see embedded in it some facts that should gladden your heart. And that had been what they -your former mates - have been scared of.
That if they allowed you into Nigeria to re-enter from the top where they are right now, rather than serve out their sanctioned mandatory pupilage upon you, you would sooner than later surpass them in everything. They are in a kind of undeclared social-psychological warfare with you. In war as in love, all is fair. They would not want to give you access to enjoy an economic/social soft landing. After all, when you were the toast of the whole downtrodden community of the dark days of Nigeria’s past, they sat at the receiving end, derided, dejected, rejected, sulking and hopeless.
101 Things You Need To Relocate To Nigeria
December 2, 2007 by OCI · Leave a Comment
Written By: Godson Offoaro
“Don’t worry. A sprouting palm frond pointing skywards never makes it to the sky. It soon would relapse to join its mates.” - Igbo Proverb
First, the down side of Nigeria. Its economy has predominant characteristics of a third world’s. It is No. 35th on Transparency International’s rating on the list of the world’s most corrupt nations. It used to be No. 1. Thanks to the EFCC and ICPC. NITEL has now completely collapsed. Where NITEL failed, mediocre local independent telephone operators dominated by Indians are carting billions to the banks and their banks in India. NEPA is tottering.
The road networks are in a very, very dilapidated condition. The transportation system in Nigeria is in a big mess. Travel by road in Nigeria has seized to be a thing of joy. By air is expensive and froth with danger of air crash due to the preponderance of molue aircraft in the air. Still, it is expensive. A forty-five-minute flight to Abuja from Lagos costs between twelve and fifteen thousand Naira, ($90-$130) depending on the airline.
Crime is climbing because of joblessness, particularly among young school leavers. Politically motivated pen robbery is still with us. Economically induced robberies are on the rise too. Banks are now robbed in broad day light. You cannot open your favorite daily any morning without reading about a robbery incident here and there. Because it is not an election season, assassinations are on the wane - it looks like.
In spite of all, this is the best time to start thinking of relocating to Nigeria. Nigeria is changing. This is very fast. You begin to notice this at the airports - your first points of entry. The air cooling systems now work most of the time. The conveyor belts work too, most of the times that I have seen. Power systems at the airports fail intermittently but not as they used to do.
The people you meet either at departure lounges or on arrival halls are beginning to imbibe the culture of courtesy. Trolleys, though for hire are now available for the jaded traveler to cart away his luggage. Even the toilets are manned by professionals who say hi to you before use and after. (Some times they hide the tissue papers and make you pay for service.) Inside the airports, touting has been kept at bay. There are banks with ATM machines competing for the business of the Nigerian traveler, at most Nigerian airports now. Modern communications gadgets are on display at every nook and cranny displaying wares, arrival and departure times.
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