'Konwa, the bible names you mentioned as being rich were all old testament characters. I'm sorry, my dear; but could you mention some from the New Testament?

What's success?
An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

"You're such an excellent fisherman," said the American. "Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll into the village each evening, where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA, and could help you. If you spent more time fishing, you could buy a bigger boat. Then you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then L.A., and eventually New York City, where you would run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then, senor?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time was right, you would announce a public offering, sell your company stock to the public, and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions, senor? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you could retire. You know, move to a small coastal fishing village -- where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

So true. AND YET not all that true.

But perhaps this prayer will go the way many others have gone in the face of reality; nowhere. Sighs.

O God, please let Obama win the party nomination. It would make me feel swell. Please, God.

By KELLEY SHANNON / Associated Press


Hillary Rodham Clinton won Texas' Democratic primary Tuesday and rejuvenated her bid for her party's presidential nomination, while John McCain sealed the Republican nomination with a victory in the state.

McCain had been expected to win, but Clinton's victory came after a neck-and-neck battle with Barack Obama. Each Democratic senator won different minority voting blocs in a huge turnout election that wasn't definitive until midnight.

On a four-state primary night, Clinton also took Ohio and Rhode Island, while Obama won Vermont.

But the Texas race wasn't over with the primary vote: Caucuses were still proceeding — some just beginning — after midnight. Obama was the preferred candidate of 54 percent of caucus-goers in the handful of caucuses reporting.

Democratic Party officials suspended their count of the caucus results around 1 a.m. Wednesday with plans to resume later in the morning.

The two candidates saw their best results in parts of Texas where they spent the most time campaigning — Clinton in predominantly Hispanic South Texas and Obama in major metropolitan areas. Obama also won in the college towns of Austin, the state's most liberal city where the University of Texas is based, and in Brazos County, home to Texas A&M University.

"I am thrilled at this vote of confidence from the people of the great state of Texas, a state that I know and love," she said.

Before several hundred supporters in San Antonio, Obama said, "No matter what happens tonight we have near the same delegate lead as we had this morning and we are on our way to win the nomination," Obama said.

While Obama enjoyed a strong showing in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, Clinton held the advantage in Bexar, Nueces, Hidalgo and other counties in South Texas.

The strength of Clinton's lead among Hispanic voters was surprising, even though she was expected to fare better than Obama, said political scientist Jerry Polinard at the University of Texas-Pan American. "I think he expected to cut into her Latino vote a little bit more than that," he said.

Clinton had counted on Latinos, who comprised 30 percent of the Texas Democratic primary vote, to help her in a state where she and former President Bill Clinton have political ties dating to the early 1970s. She was winning two-thirds of the Hispanic vote.

Her familiarity in the Latino community and her continued message of "experience, experience, experience" ensured that she did well with Hispanics and kept the race close, Polinard said.

Exit polls showed that Obama won heavy margins among black voters, with a nearly 6-to-1 edge. Blacks accounted for 20 percent of the Democratic primary voters.

Overall voter turnout set a state record at 28 percent and some polling places were still open at midnight.

"This is a historic election, and you are seeing historic turnout," said state Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto as party officials monitored delegate counts and caucusing from their Austin headquarters.

In the Republican race, Texas gave John McCain the delegates he needed to clinch the GOP nomination. Mike Huckabee immediately dropped out of the presidential race and pledged he would work for party unity. The former Arkansas governor had hoped Texas' social and religious conservatives would boost his struggling candidacy.

But with McCain so close to sealing the nomination, there was little interest in the Republican race in Texas compared with the close Democratic presidential contest, and large numbers of voters in conservative pockets of the state opted to vote in the Democratic primary.

In Collin County, one of the state's most Republican counties, Democratic turnout was five times its normal size, according to local media reports.

McCain had the backing of state GOP elected officials, including Gov. Rick Perry, who originally endorsed moderate Republican Rudy Giuliani and irritated some in his social conservative base with that decision. His later choice of McCain — who's not a favorite of some hard-line conservatives — didn't go over well either with social conservatives, but that irritation didn't help Huckabee.

Texas will send 140 delegates to the national GOP convention, almost all awarded based on the primary vote.

Texans didn't wait until Election Day to vote in large numbers. An estimated 2 million people showed up during two weeks of early voting.

In a complex system, nicknamed the "Texas Two-step," Democrats have 193 pledged delegates to dole out based on primary vote results and a series of caucuses that began after the polls closed, some grossly delayed by long lines of voters still in line at midnight. Thirty-five others are unpledged delegates. Only voters who cast a ballot in the Democratic primary could take part in a caucus.

Texans didn't expect to figure prominently in the presidential nomination race after the Legislature declined last year to move up the state's primary to Feb. 5, leading to widespread speculation that the presidential nomination would be decided well before the race ever got to Texas.

At times the presidential race overshadowed other races on the Texas ballot.

State Rep. Rick Noriega led a crowd of four Democrats competing for their party's nomination for U.S. Senate. The winner will face Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who had nominal primary opposition.

In congressional races, Shelley Sekula Gibbs and former Cornyn aide Pete Olson led a field of 10 Houston-area Republicans to become the one to face U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson in the fall, while Republican Lyle Larson won the primary and will face Democratic incumbent Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in the fall.

Several Democratic Texas House members closely tied to Republican Speaker Tom Craddick tried to fight off primary challenges from opponents who took issue with their alliance with Craddick. The speaker, criticized from some legislators in both parties as too iron-fisted, took control of the House in 2003.

Republican primary voters approved three ballot resolutions urging that federal immigration laws be upheld, that voters be required to have a photo ID and that local spending be limited unless there's voter approval.







Copied from the Dallas morning news.

Sadly, Clinton defeated Obama in both Texas and Ohio. This breaks my heart. So bad. So so bad.

Opokonwa, I greet you. In our culture it is said that when a man visits his brother and comes in peace, the host brings out a kolanut. Nwannem, I receive a piece from your hands, and again I greet you.

Your posts are very prompting. After reading from you, I knew I must post. To start with, I sympathize with what the white man said. Most times, I confess, I am tempted to say this: it appears to me that the black man is inferior. I beg you, Opoks dear, not to crucify me for saying this, but that has been my experience. Or could it just be that I have the misfortune of always encountering the wrong people? The usual Nigerian I meet daily seems always to have this inferiority thing about him. Yes, I have said it before: the average Nigerian seems to be nursing some hidden wound, and going about wanting to convince all the world that he has no wound at all. Have you not noticed the I-am-better-than-you attitudinal stunt they always seem to sport? I may be wrong, but many times I have turned the matter over and over again in my heart, and I land on the same hypothesis: it appears to me that black people are (perhaps) inherently inferior to white ones. Or, it appears to me that black people need a psychoanalytic renaissance to become great people. Either of the two; or both. But I beg you to pardon me for saying it. I do not say it to ridicule the black race; I say it to reveal what has been in my thoughts.

My friends who live in the States: Ejiofor, Jude, Thaddeus; another Jude; Adilah, Onyechi, Nneze, Sade, Kevin; Sharifa, James, Eileen, Raymond, Amadi, and so forth all tell me what obtains there, and I myself have encountered Americans and whites myself. They tell me that over there, white people love great things and people. If you say or do something wonderful, they wrap you up in their arms and say: 'Waow! Way to go, bro!' The day Sade, a black American, took a glimpse at Ninety Negro Numbers (the entire 258 pages), she wanted to run mad (that was how it seemed). She said: 'You wrote this? My! I love you; I love you; I love you!' I mean, she kept on declaring that she loved me that I began to wonder if she was real, or simply a clown. And there are many examples besides. These people seek out the best in you and try to turn it into something good.

But what do we have here? Most times, I actually feel afraid to do anything good. Let me give you an example of what happened today at the office: A customer came and said he wanted a cash-backed facility. I was the RO around, and so I prepared the paper work and took it through the necessary authorization process. Then I brought it to the Funds Transfer person to book it. He said he did not know what a Cash backed facility was, and so I took time to explain to him. As soon as I finished, I stood up to go back to my desk, and then another officer who had been sitting next to the FT guy just blurted out: 'Chei; I envy you-o!' I was embarrassed. Instead of concentrating on his work, he was busy listening in, and in his own words, envying me. I sighed, and at once felt like running away into oblivion. I said to myself: Where can I go to and be ordinary, and belong, and fit in and roll with the crowds, not a place where even those that are older than I am put Mr before my name! It's so frustrating!

There's this guy in the office; I actually thought we could be friends; I actually felt I liked him; he seemed to have the usual things that make me like a fellow: a charming personality, with a touch of handsomeness; a free-spirited manner; you know, this happy-go-lucky, back-slapping, huckster-like, hippie style, and all that; but sometimes when I am near him, he puts on a pair of reading glasses, as if I were some kind of university professor. Bottom line: These people are driving me crazy. And these days I think this was exactly what drove my father to kill himself. Maybe it wasn't even Ambrose's juju only. Maybe it was all the inferiority around him that sickened his soul so much that he had to take his life. He found no way round it. I myself may kill myself if I cannot leave this country soon enough.

I want to go to a place where I am accepted; a place where when I ask a question I am not seen to be too inquisitive; where if I give a suggestion I don't seem to know too much; a place where no one has to call me Mr. Sam, instead of simply Sam, or Oga in derision. I want to go to a place where when I enter a room, someone shouts from one end: 'Hey there! What's popping?' And he runs towards me, and we lock in embrace; then he slaps my back and makes a snide comment; I give him a piquant rejoinder, and he laughs, then he says, 'You're a-okay, bro!' And then we go buy sharwamas and lounge, rap up the chicks, and hang out at the gym. I want to go to a place where my intelligence is adored and not disdained; a place where people hug me seven times at least, each day.

Oh, how I recall the day we went to represent our school at Abuja! There was an American delegation there. Sade came (that's the woman that saw my book and kept declaring shameless love). We had finished the session on Public relations and were coming out for recess, when I ran into her. As soon as she saw me, she threw herself at me with such passion and squeezed me to her breast and said: 'My son!' A woman I did not know from Adam was calling me her son. I felt so loved, so wanted, so full of a sense of belonging. No rancour; no competition, no jealousy, just love. She said, 'My son!' This has never happened to me before.

Hmmm. I am praying feverishly that I will go home this year, home to where I belong, home where I do not have to be apologetic for being who and what I am; home where my heart is. Today the primaries in Texas and Ohio take place, and all my heart is going out to Senator Obama. O God, let him win. (God bless America!) And may the day come when the psychoanalytic renaissance I spoke about for the black man be a reality. I have no friends here. Not even on this thread do I truly feel at home; not anywhere in Nigeria do I feel loved and appreciated; maybe because the average Nigerian is so busy envying each and everyone else, that he can have no time to love; or maybe because love simply does not exist. Maybe. But these days I am learning not to care for love. I am thinking outside the box, trying to claim for myself a certain level of individual success that the black man probably does not permit himself to attain to, in view of all the pervading pettiness. In spite of his religion. Which brings me to another issue.

Opokonwa, I am not surprised that most of the people that acquired phenomenal wealth were not religious. The NLNG wait, you must know, has taught me quite a lot. Religion in itself is not reality. Permit me to say this. By the very way it is structured, it seems to me to train the mind to be unreal. Karl Marx, you would recall, called religion the opium of the people. It seems to me to be like a reaction to a state of life that the religious person refuses to accept. Let's go back a little bit, taking for our case study your own religion, Christianity. Jesus, you recall, was poor; and his reaction to that poverty was to make it irrelevant to those around him that were similarly poor. He preached a state of life wherein one could see their state of poverty not as a curse (which ordinarily it was because it meant lack), but as a blessing, as it exposed the person to supernatural reality; to a state of existence where wealth and status were not supreme, but a state of holiness (faith in an extramundane reality, or God; hope in a level of existence above the norm, or heaven; and love for all manner of men regardless of status).

Yet what do we see today? People are using religion to pray for the same wealth that ordinarily was the logical opposite of true religion. Even Jesus (Isa eis Salaam) said: 'You cannot serve both God and money.' You know, I was surprised when I turned on the radio the other day and heard a preacher woman saying that true Christians were supposed to be rich because their God could 'satisfy all [their] needs according to his riches in glory.' Strange. These people are turning faith upside down, and perhaps that is why religion as we know it today has lost a good portion of its credibility.

So it happens that religious people who seek wealth are falling into the cognitive dissonance of wanting repugnant concepts at once. A repugnant concept in this regard (for those that did not do philosophy in school) refers to a statement that negates it precursor; for example, the statement, 'I serve an unholy God.' This statement in the ordinary sense is repugnant, because it is generally presumed that God is holy. So if religion points to God, and seeks the soul, yet a religious person wants to acquire wealth that essentially is fleshy, that person is chasing two parallel realities that ideally should not meet.

Recall too, that it was when the Holy Roman Catholic Church started selling Indulgences (spiritual gifts) for money (materiality) that the first schism (Luther) took place. And even today, our popes and cardinals are more or less proud princes instead of faithful holy men. But of course, I do not criticize them. I myself reason with Jesus: If I cannot serve both God and money, then I am content to serve money and leave God. I want to be stupendously rich, and like I told you earlier, I have chosen to have no religion.

But you know the catch? Though I have no religion, that does not mean I have no God. I do not say there is God; but mark this clearly: I do not say that there is no God. I am neutral of the subject.

Uche, I read your comments on my person, and I thank you for being so warm, considerate and kind. Indeed, your Christianity shines forth like the sun. The angels are clapping for you. Brother, I am glad.

Alfa Prime, I am impressed. You know, in 2000, I visted some expatriates in Ibadan, and one of them was making an international call. He said: 'There is no great man in Africa, except Mandela'; but after reading from you, I wonder if he isn't wrong.

Kenosky, I thank you. Some people are called to work from within, and others are called to work from without. It may be that I am among the latter.

The question of identity is a grave one. In a nursery book someone here may have read, a story was told of a young boy who lost his way and was picked up by a stranger; the stranger took care of him, and made him feel at home for many months. Then came the day when the boy began to feel out of place; he said he wanted to go back to his place of origin. The stranger did not want him to go, but after the boy bothered him on and on, he let him go. A few weeks passed and the boy returned. This time, he had a different story to tell: He had found a home; not his place of origin, but in the stranger's arms. It reminds me of the agelong saying: Home is where the heart is.

Opokonwa, be strong, and hope in Yahweh. 'He will not allow your foot to be moved.' And for those who say I abandoned my God, I must say that even if I did, He did not abandon me in turn.

I love you all. Yes, each and every one.

Tommy dear, have you a splendid birth anniversary!

Different companies have different spirits. Maybe the type of organization I was trying to form was not the everyday company you see. Besides, how do big organizations and cults that have over 100 people manage to keep together? Most things are possible, Opoks, to them that believe. Have a nice day!

You sight-seeing Yorkers!

Have fun, Kenosky!

All my love!

Kenosky, what's this about people not sending you? For Pete's sake, this is your thread, Your Excellency! You are Godfather; and I for one send you big time. You're the man anyday.

Alfa Prime, you write well! And most of what you say is both logical and true. Believe me, I also wish Nigeria well. By God, I do. Believe me!

Opoks, you do not need experience to form a company; what you need are basically four:

1. A viable idea
2. Determination
3. Other people's time
4. Other people's money.

Once you get these four things, you'd be on your way.

You know, when I was in the training school at Ofada, I tried very hard to convince my classmates to join me in floating a company. This was the plan: I wanted us to get 100 people, hundred VERY committed individuals who would be willing to sacrifice N100,000 of their monthly salary for one year. If we had done this for one year, we would have realized 100*100,000*12 = 120,000,000; that is, a hundred and twenty million naira. This money would have been put into a fixed deposit pool, and rolled over every month, and would have attracted at least another five million or so in interest, that is at 11.5% per annum and floating, net withholding tax.

After the one year, the 100 people would register themselves as a public limited company, and with the interest on the capital, rent an office somewhere in Lagos, Abuja or say, PortHarcourt. They would be a brotherhood, as well as a board of nominal directors to oversee the new company. Also, from among themselves, they would choose about twenty people to work for the company. I proposed that the company have four divisions:

1. Business Development
2. Outreach
3. Investment
4. Corporate Affairs

The aim of the business was to be to turn as many business ideas into credible and thriving institutions. What this means is: The outreach people would go out into the field, to schools, workshops and all what not and fetch creative geniuses, people who have ideas but no money or means to establish. There would be some boys who could make electric bulbs, but could not build a light factory; there would be some people who could make a rotor, but had no big factory; there could be that crazy fellow who could make a car, but could not build a factory.

The Outreach people would, going by the current budget of the company for that year, select at most four creative ideas and bring it to the company. The Business Development people would then sit down and try their best to convert the ideas to workable business proposals. They would ask: How can the idea of this yam pounder be developed to such an extent as to launch a company that will make at least a hundred yam pounders a month, ready for export? They would work out the logistics and make viable proposals, and stand in between the idea owner and the bank that would sponsor them. You know most banks would be afraid to sponsor unsure projects, but if we were to be the ones meeting the bank on behalf of the organization, it would be easier.

While the Outreach and Business Development people would be finding creative ideas and turning them into credible business proposals respectively, the Corporate Affairs people would be in charge of the daily running of the company: Human Resources, Secretarial work; Security; Operations, Public Relations and Management. The Investment people on the other hand would be involved in turning over our initial capital, the 120,000,000, and making sure that it keeps yielding returns, through capital and money market maneuvers. We would also go public, and source more capital from within (Rights Issues) our 100 cult members and from without (Initial Public Offers), while keeping our Goodwill undeclared. That way, our company would remain strong, and then expand. We would have offices in the major cities of the country, and we would use the mass media to launder our image.

The people in the Outreach department who have the responsibility of reaching out to geniuses and getting them in to see the business development people would be those that read: sociology, psychology, history, mass communication, social work and community service; the people in the Business Development department who have the responsibility of meeting with the geniuses and standing in between them and banks (the company could also sponsor some of these projects and thus own the new companies) would be those that read: business admin, banking and finance, economics, cooperative economics, public administration, political science; and technical subjects like engineering, computer science and medicine (just in case some of these geniuses have ideas in those fields and we can't pay for consultancy services) and so on. The people in the Corporate Affairs department who have the charge of the daily operations of the company would be those that read: law, secretarial administration, business management, purchasing and supply, marketing, library science and so on. Then those in the Investment section, who have the responsibility of making sure that the 120 million becomes 120 billion in record time will be those who read accounting, banking and finance, insurance and so on.

The guiding philosophy of the company would be to increase entrepreneurship in the country, and thus provide jobs for individuals across the nation. It would also be to boost the economy by massive production and exportation. It would be to swell our technological base. Its vision would be to make Africa the next technological giant of the world, by investing in her creative potential; its mission would be: making at least four new companies each year. At that rate, there would be 400 new companies in 100 years. And each of these companies would employ at least 1000 people. Would that not be splendid? Think about it.

So why did I not pull it off? I could not find 99 other people with such commitment. So I let sleeping dogs lie.

I hope.

Maybe fifty years from now, or at worst a hundred years; maybe when we are ready to begin, we will eventually have a Nigeria that all the world can be proud of. God knows that if there is anything; anything whatsoever that I can do to help that dream Nigeria come about, I will be more than willing (more than willing) to do it. God help us all.

Alfra Prime, I agree with you when you say there are things to be proud about in Nigeria. You know, I think there is something to be proud about in any thing at all. I also want to believe that one day Nigeria will be better. And there are probably some people that are doing all in their power to see that this comes about. You are probably one of such people.

But what exactly are we doing, or not doing that makes the progress we desire so much continue to seem elusive? There is so much poverty in the land; can we not see that? You have a job, and maybe life for you is relatively easy. But can you imagine the number of jobless people out there who have little hope of a future they can count on? What we need in this regard is easy to see: more and more jobs. But jobs are the result of more and more industries built. And we are yet to see these industries.

We do have some companies, to be sure; but you will agree with me that they are not enough. Apart from banks, such as: Intercontinental, Zenith, UBA, First, Oceanic, Skye, Sterling and so forth; and Communication firms like: Glo, MTN, Starcomms and so forth; and breweries, and a few others, there are little or no other employers of labour. And sadly, many of these companies have an unhealthy rate of expatriate influence. I do not have concrete statistics in this regard, but I can guess that banks employ up to 30% of all our graduates. The irony is that banks do not produce anything as such; they only clean up cash, and serve as bridge between surpluses and deficits.

What we need are more manufacturing companies:

1. Steel (and by extension boats, and guns and cars and so forth)
2. electronics, radars, gadgets etc.
3. motors (aeroplanes, rotors etc)
4. much more food
5. diverse other industries.

We need improved education, better healthcare and so many other provisions: professionals and stuff. We need at least one hundred thousand new entrepreneurs, each owning a company that can employ about one thousand youths; that would boil down to 100 million new jobs. We have too many trade companies; what we need are more manufacturing firms. We need people to make NEW things, not continuing to recycle what so many others have turned over and over and over again.

Imagine if in Aba there were fifty companies: ten making fresh African textile; ten making tinned fish and prawns from Cross River; ten making camwood powder and exporting same to Newfoundland, Canada; ten making pottery in large quantities and selling to African Americans and Carribeans, and ten making rotors for local boats on the Niger Delta. Imagine if in Ondo we had fifty companies: ten making furniture in large quantities and exporting to Australia; ten making local beads in such quantity that Canada becomes surfeit with them; ten making dyes the type that Arabians love; ten making sweets for export to India, and ten making chocolate candy. Those who work in foreign operations in banks know that 98% of all documents processed are IMPORTATION documents. Kenosky, you should know this, with your experience at the Zen. This is deplorable.

In Kansas alone, I read that there are more than 800 companies employing people. Can you imagine that! 800 companies. In Kansas alone. Are there up to 800 companies in all of Nigeria? In USA, there are more than 4500 (yes, you read right, four thousand, five hundred) institutions of higher learning, most of them of international standard; I doubt if we have up to hundred in Nigeria, few of which (if any at all) are global standard. Why are we like this? And we keep doing it, acting small, acting petty. Ehn? Why are we like this? Ehn? Why? Hmmm.

I don't know what Nigeria wants; people have said the problem is with leadership. Indeed, these days it is so convenient for us to think of our problems, and then trump up a nice synonym for them all, as if that could case them and shift the blame so neatly to an elusive government. But isn't it ironic that the same 'government' that is at fault is receiving approval polls up to 80% positive? The courts have declared the president the true winner of the polls. Many have called him honest, humble, good natured, and all that; and from what I see, he is all of that: humble, good natured, willing to do right and all that; even I agree. But why are things the way they are? And is the issue still leadership? Methinks it is much bigger. Me-really-thinks! Sam-sam; our problem is not leadership per se.

Phew! All man knows the problem; but we need some man to work it out. Akon asks: How can we work it out? How? Most people are interested in playing safe, playing to the gallery; seeing the truth but choosing to ignore it, for the sake of preserving the status-quo; forgetting that there are two statuses-quo: ante et cit. I think we have the former to swerve to the latter, if we can look truth in the face and own it. If we can escape the foolery displayed in the story, The Emperor's New Clothes. I'm sure you recall the tale?

In summary, the tale had it that there was an emperor who was so surfeit with smugness that he declared he would wear only clothes sewed by the wisest expatriate tailors found. Two swindlers extracted all the gold and silver they could from the emperor and said they would get him such a dress that only wise ones could see. Of course the sewed him nothing, and on the day the emperor was to show off his new clothes, he was entirely naked and walking the streets. It was an honest little boy that finally squealed: 'Look! The emperor has got nothing on!'

May we all be honest. With life and with ourselves. Amen.

One love, y'all.

@Kuwena,

You said, "when You were a Christian", may I ask what You are now?

Am also happy for u that u've calmed down and allowed commonsense to prevail after your initial near-hysteric excitement over the admission. It never ceases to make me wonder silently whenever I see people so excited about leaving our country Nigeria for greener pastures abroad. Guys, my prayer for us all is that we come to the point where travelling to the US or anywhere else will be normal and usual, like a pasttime, not a thing to break our heads over. When I got my letter informing me that I had passed the NLNG test, I injured myself with excitement and nearly lost my life, but it taught me sober lessons. When God in his infinite mercy later blessed me with a much more expensive multi-million naira job, I was much calmer, because I had realised by then that His plans for me are much greater than even my greatest hopes and dreams. He's indeed a loving God and a great Father!

ANother thing I must say here, Kuwena, (and to all landers) is that we must have a positive attitude to Nigeria. mark my words, and go confirm them on the net, there is NO CRIME, MISFORTUNE, CORRUPTION OR DISCOMFORT that You see in this country, that does not much more abound in the USA. from violent robbery/crime, rape, car-snatching, , name it! I have seen riots and mob action happening on the streets on US (in this 21st century!) over a hit and run driver, it's just that, the truth remains, the system there works far better than our system here, because nearly everyone behaves themselves and respects the rule of law. So please, we still have a future and a hope here. I work with Americans in my company, and many of them have a deep respect for this country, despite the fact that it's obvious our leaders have shortchanged us. One of them once told me quite frankly, that he thinks the NYSC scheme is one thing that makes Nigeria so great and unique. Imagine!

Finally, remain blessed all. Prepare very well for your Visa interview, Kuwena. You may wish to visit the USIS at Broad Street, Lagos, to acquaint yourself on what is required for a successful interview. I want to believe that it's a credible school that's offering the admission, because, funny enof, there are some American schools whose admission and even scholarship CANNOT get u a scholarship.

Up Landers!!!

Well noted. I promise that the lesson will not be lost.

Hi guys.
hope you engineers et'all are having fun, and learning too.

Here's some of my thoughts. Hope you find it interesting; and you can access a lot more interesting content at www.adetayo..com

Prince Harry in Afghanistan! Classic Leadership / MBWA example

Tom Peters, alumnus of the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Company and one of today's best known and highest paid management gurus, first came to prominence in 1982 with his ‘knock-out’ book; In Search of Excellence. This thought-provoking classic provided us with many valuable lessons from America's Best-Run Companies.

In his first book, Peters introduced us to the key concept of MBWA (Management By Wandering Around). MBWA does not mean leaving your responsibilities behind as you stroll through the nearest shopping mall. According to him, to "wander" with customers and vendors and our own people, is to be in touch with the first vibrations of the new. Pretty self explanatory!

To illustrate: in our highly digitised natural gas processing plant, we have sensors that are connected to and closely monitor all plant conditions (pressure, temperature…e.t.c) and give instant feedback to enable instant response in emergencies. (Our plants are multi-billion dollar metals that deserve world-class monitoring and protection)
A key characteristic of effective leadership is its ability to detect changes in the eco-system and execute a seamless transition program that responds appropriately.

The nexus between MBWA and Prince Harry should be quite clear now. What on earth would a Royal and possible heir to the throne (King of England) be doing in war front you might ask (and I asked too!), particularly in a country notorious for insurgency, a drug-based economy and base for international terrorism Harry has spent about 10 weeks there now, and seems to be enjoying the experience of rendering service to his nation.

No pun intended, but you and I would quite agree that this isn’t a frequent occurrence in Nigeria, and by extension Africa (Where so-called leaders live in fortresses, and claim to defend the plight of the poor by ruling from those same palaces).
Harry has often been portrayed as the black sheep of the family, but his recent accomplishments speak volumes. The decision of the Royal family to allow their son to pursue his dreams also deserves applaud.

I believe Leadership largely involves experiencing and possessing the ability to relate to what every other person feels. If I can’t empathize with you, and relate with you on your level, why should I qualify to lead you?

Rick Warren in his classic “purpose driven life” talks about the strategy adopted by Saddleback, His Church. He says people who have had terrible experiences in the past, but overcame them (by God’s help of course!) are commissioned to lead and coordinate ministry arms that reach out to youths and others experiencing the same pain. In essence, the fact that you experienced and overcame a particular challenge puts you in a much better position to rescue those having similar experiences.

It’s not cast in stone that you must be an ex-evil (or have had a terrible experience) to help others, but the truth is adversity fortifies and places one in better stead to help others overcome. (I guess if Christ himself had to shed eternal glory momentarily and endure unimaginable pain to save us, then any serious minded leader must be willing to identify with his constituency)

And one more example: Barack Obama – I’m not exactly a fan, but I believe his life experiences, humble beginnings and past voluntary work have significantly aided his campaign. People are naturally drawn to those they view as having the ability to understand their needs and view points. God help Hillary as the Obama Machine seems to have stockpiles of ammo and WMDs that could keep up with the annihilation.

From a business perspective, David Packard had this to say about MBWA:


Straightforward as it sounds, there are some subtleties and requirements that go with MBWA, if it's done reluctantly or infrequently, it just won't work. It needs to be frequent, friendly, unfocused, and unscheduled—but far from pointless.

Here are some tips on how to practice MBWA:

Include affected employees / team members in goal setting.
Give frequent and meaningful recognition for a job well done.
Interact with employees on an informal basis.
Go to staff's work area. Meet them on their own turf.
Ask for staff's opinions and listen with an open mind.
Share non-confidential information with staff.
Offset demoralizing actions and events by emphasizing what went well
Listen 80% of the time and talk 20%.
MBWA works best when you are genuinely interested in people / employees and in their work and when they see you as being there to listen.

Time to add some credentials to our names folks! Check this out:
Adetayo Bamiduro, MBWA (Pretty cool! or what do you think)

Your post is well supported.

I also think that certain people experience certain things in life so that they can help others toovercome such horrible experiences.

I know as well that certain scholars have called pain the foundation of religion, that when you feel certain emotional pinches, you are better able to empathize and use your own story of triumph to lead so many other people out of their own sorry situations. This to me is only natural.

Thank you for your enlightening post.

Today is a very emotional day for me. Every 28th of February is. On this very day four years ago, I took the most radical decision of my whole life. How did it begin? And so it happens that since after February 28, 2004 I have had to mark that day as a recurring anniversary. I usually go to a fast food joint, or cook myself a meal to mark it. Today I went with a friend to Mr. Bigg's.

On February 28, 2004 I sat on my mattress on the floor of my room in my uncle's house at Owerri. I relived my past, my present and my future, and all I saw was darkness. So I got up, in the insanity of anger and picked my small travel bag; then I walked up to my so-called uncle in the sitting room. I told him: 'I am leaving; I am leaving your house for good.' He looked at me awhile, and then threw his head back and laughed loud and good. Then he said, 'Your father thought he was a disciplined man, that he was discipline itself. Where is he today? Is he not six feet in the grave? And you are going the same way!' I retorted: 'Back to sender.' And with that, I was on my way, out into the world.

Life seemed to be giving me a choice between two alternatives: have a family and be unsuccessful all through life, or forsake your family and thrive. I chose the latter. That fateful day, when I walked out on family, I chose to be successful, even if it meant sacrificing them. And I have not looked back.

When I left, I had nowhere to go to, but somehow, I had to keep running, and that race has now lasted four years. Still I am not tired. In Igbo culture we say, oso ndu anaghi agwu ike (the race of life is not tiring). And I will continue to run, as far as my legs will take me. Away from mediocrity, away from poverty; away from death.

How did I realize I had to run? From the day I set foot to live in that house in 1996, till the day I ran in 2004, life never seemed to go straight; but from the day I ran until now, life has advanced; in these four years, I have graduated, served and begun working. As if everything is starting afresh again, after all the pervasive darkness, of dropping out of both FUTO and the seminary, and all the other frustrations besides. And life is all an adventure now; an intriguing movie. Exciting, terrifying, almost unreal; yet I go on living.

The climax of the suffering under the oppression of my extended family was an event that took place on 15th November, 2003; the Rat episode; it is written in Ninety Negro Numbers, and an excerpt copied directly from the manuscript is afforded below:



It was ten at night when the fiend came home that day. As usual, I was still studying on the verandah. He called me to lock the gates. We all went to bed. Suddenly, I awoke.  There was a rat on my chest! I was horrified. At once, it jumped off and tried to get out through the window; it was locked. Then the mouse tried the side door; it was stuffed underneath with paper. Then it stayed still, unable to escape. I stared at it, and then opened the main door and spoke, ‘Leave.’

As if the rat perfectly understood English, it walked straight out the door, neither swerving left nor right. I felt enough was enough. This juju manipulation had to stop. I began to pray. I prayed long and hard, from twelve midnight to broad daylight morning.  At the final amen, I opened the curtains and the sun greeted me. I stepped out of my room and grabbed a bucket to go wash my so-called uncle’s car. Usually, every morning, I would wash his car, sweep the verandah and finally rake the compound. This morning, however, after washing the car, I was going to drop the bucket when the fiend, Ambrose Chukwuma Nze, confronted me. He asked what I had been doing all through the night. I told him about the rat, and that I had been praying, and he at once declared I wanted to kill him! I asked him if he was the rat. He said for me to keep shut, that I was wicked, and that he was going to tell everybody that I wanted to kill him, an ungrateful fellow I was.
‘So you want to kill me,’ he sniffed.
                I said nothing.
‘You told me that I would die, my children would cry; you would be laughing and burying me.’
‘Really? When?’
‘Shut up! Ungrateful boy, you also said that the Nze family would fall, and only you would stand.’
    ‘Me?’
‘Keep quiet, O keep quiet you wicked boy! So you want to kill me, because I killed your father?’ And he turned his face away.

Was this a revelation or something? Had this beast actually killed Patrick Azunna Nze, his immediate elder brother?  He continued to mutter, and I to stare at him.  Jesus, what was happening?

Reader, pray never to experience what I did after that day.  He began carrying his double-barreled gun about whenever I was in the house. He refused me to wash his car, to sweep the verandah or to rake the grounds. Once when I tried to take the rake from him, he shuddered and shifted. ‘Leave me-o! Leave me!’

And the nightmares? The poisonings – O my God! I probably died seven times over, but then a cat has nine lives, and my yahoo avatar is the bespectacled feline. I bear a charmed life. Odieshi!  If you buy my soon-to-be-published autobiographical novel, you will get the details.  It is a long, long, very long and intriguing story, my whole life.


This, you must know, is my favorite number. I am not a musician myself, but I have long converted it to a song, to be played on the drums, with the samba dance. The rhythm is so obvious that any fool can make a song of the piece, and a lively one at that.

After making the poem a spirited song, the next is to get drummers and shekere players, who should play with gusto. Then, the making of the mimers: Get a middle aged, black man to play Ambrose, and also a set of dancers, maybe twelve or so, all dressed in traditional African dance attire. The drummers and the shekere players (and if you can mange wind instruments too, get flutists) are all positioned at a corner of the stage, playing and producing veritable beat. Then enter the lad who hops onto the stage and begins to dance. O dear, how do I describe the particular dance I have in mind? He pushes out his chest at the words ‘with rat on my chest’ and sucks it in again; then he kicks his feet, and mimes a prayer session in dance (do you get the picture?), and then he moves three or four paces back, grabs a bucket, tosses it up and flings it aside; then his dance steps become more regular, mostly shoulder and hip movements consonating with the music of the instruments. At the point after the first two stanzas, when he begins to question the fiend who, all this while has stood still, head bowed and arms folded across his chest,

                                        Am I to kill you to make meat for soup
                                        Am I to kill you to use as kpomo?

he turns to face the middle aged man, who jerks in turn to face the lad. At once, the other dancers fall in behind the boy, dancing synchronously, hands pushed out at the fiend in accusatory stance, bodies moving expertly to the beat. They advance one or two paces, and the fiend shifts back in fear. After the word, kpomo, the dancers step off the stage expertly and neatly, and the fiend points at the lad who is now facing him still dancing defiantly, even if now alone:

                                                       He pointed at me and grit his brown teeth
                       He began to say all what I had not.

The man’s mouth does move, but of course it is the lad who is singing. After the next set of lines,

                                                   That he would soon die, his children would cry
                   The Nze’s would fall and I alone stand,

has been mimed and sung, the dancers come again and fall in behind the lad, stretching their hands towards the fiend, singing and dancing to the beat:

                                                   Am I a dreamer, saying this and that
                                                   Am I a dreamer that you hear me foul?

And after the word, ‘foul,’ they hop off stage again. This becomes the repeated procedure: the lad and the man mime the activity in each set of two stanzas, the lad singing and dancing, the man on the defensive; and at every refrain, the dancing group hops onto the stage to join the lad in challenging his enemy with rhetorical questions.  The drums and other musical instruments play on; dancing endures with singing till the end. Curtains.


You Want to Kill Me

With rat on my chest
I had to pray hard
I pleaded with God
From midnight till dawn

I grabbed a bucket
To rub down his car
But this man intoned
You want to kill me

Am I to kill you
To make meat for soup
Am I to kill you
To use as kpomo?

He pointed at me
And grit his brown teeth
He began to say
All what I had not

That he would soon die
His children would cry
The Nzes would fall
And I alone stand

Am I a dreamer
Saying this and that
Am I a dreamer
That you hear me foul?

He said to keep shut
That I was wicked
He'd tell the whole world
I needed him dead

He fetched his dane gun
To keep at his side
That when I was near
He'd ward off the threat

Am I an uze
To keep me a gun
Am I an uze
The type you shoot at?

He quarreled with me
And sent me demons
Concoctions and spells
Witches and devils

He called a dibah
To poison my food
He fashioned a charm
To secure my death

Do you want my corpse
For sniffing the ooze
Do you want my corpse
For drinking the blood?

I had to escape
I couldn't stay on
He was determined
To ensure my doom

I packed up my bag
And made for the road
I would change my name
To Munachukwu

Is kinship by force
When you want me dead
Is kinship by force
With God on my side?

I was a free man
Now so for three years
I left them for good
Never to return

I did suffer much
I wept and I pained
I did everything
To eke out a life

Am I not to live
In my own country
Am I not to live
In my fatherland?

But I didn't lose
See how much I've grown
My chest fends the wind
O stay back, I say!

Assurance increased
I face the wild west
Ready for all things
Because I'm a man

Am I not Negroid
The eye of the sun
Am I not Negroid
The hope of the world?

(Cf Ninety Negro Numbers, pages 67-72)

I wish myself a happy fourth year anniversary of liberation. Amen.

But permit me to ask: Where do you get your facts from? Who told you that it was missionaries that gave Emeagwali his scholarship? PLEASE, Opokonwa, where did you get your facts? Please, I repeat, where did you get your facts-o! Please. Who told you it was missionaries that gave the guy a scholarship? Give evidence that a young lad who got his a-levels by self study courier education from london and not regular school (which he dropped out from as his parents could not afford the fees and there was no one to help him after the civil war) was eventually awarded scholarship by missionaries. What missionaries were those? Ehn, Opoks; what missionaries?

Pak, I thank you for your concern. My email address is kuwena@yahoo.com. I would love to read something from you.

Your Excellency, Kenosky, I hope you are fine. You are covered by the Blood, so you need not fear, 'though the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea and its waters roar and seethe, the mountains tumbling as it heaves (because)Yahweh Sabaoth is with [you]; [your] citadel is Jacob's God' (cf Psalm 146 NJB).

Opoks, my hands are up; I won't argue with you. All you say is true. Tombri was once Godfather; Emeagwali should help your town; we black people can be self-centred. Each thing you say is the solemn truth. I accept. I will take correction. Thanks, sah.

Phew! May God help us all. Amen.

And now, Godfather, can you change this topic? It seems to be haranguing me! Be creative, Kenosky; swerve the thread away from discussing America, admissions and Kuwena. Can you do this? I'm counting on you. Take care. I'm logging out right about now.

Congrats Kuwena!
May your dreams come true!
That's what I'm talking about

Opoks, thanks; and may your dreams come true as well. Amen.

@ kuwena

congrats on getting the position, you deserve it after all the stress.

They aren't really begging - its just their way of saying they want you to join their program, the GTA is basic once you meet some minimum requirements. Every school needs GTA's and they can't really say if you'll be good at it or not, but they are taking a small gamble on you.

All the same, I'm sure you put together a pretty impressive application and it would be the school's pride to have you as a student.

To the others like Kenosky. . .where in the Uk is your training going on?

Debosky, thanks. It appears you have experience in these matters.

CONGRATZ BRO! DREAMZ COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WISH You D BEST BUT DONT FORGET UR SIBLINGS, PLEASEEEEEE

I do not forget them; I have handed them over to God for safekeeping. Thanks for the concern, dearest Kenosky.

Kuwena, I'm soo happy for you, I'm glad that you've finally gotten what you've always wanted. I wish you well, and the best of life, love and success. The funny thing is, when i think about you, i see a mystery that is yet to be unravelled. In due time, i know you'll come around.

@ Kenosky

A lot of people seek leadership positions, some fight for it, some kill, others beg, but a few, a remarkable few, have it thrust on them.  You are one of the remarkable few, Go ahead, take it, its yours!

@ skeelo, opoks, runsaway, everyone else

Have a very wonderful day and remember to smile often, because your world is a mirror of what you give. Smile often and your world will smile back.

I hope to hear from you guys at www.folayemianifowoshe.

Cheers, now back to work, 

Aniffy, you are blessed like you well know. You are among a class of the most favoured graduates in the land. Some Nigerian youths would give much to be where you are, and still not get it. Many, I am sure envy you to insanity; many others dread you, and a few (like me) admire, love and wish you well.

Two Sundays ago, some of my friends came to visit me; I had known them since my kopa days, and they had known all about my NLNG runs. And we got talking. They wanted to know how I felt about not getting NLNG. I felt like demonstrating, so I picked up the phone and called Wandel. I placed it on loudspeaker. I asked him about his working conditions, and he hinted stuff that beat the working conditions I experience daily; I asked him about salary, and he hinted stuff that beat my salary hands down; I asked him about the job itself, and he hinted stuff that beat mine hands down, and then we said goodbyes and hung up on a very pleasant note. My friends were impressed; they had seen firsthand that I was neither jealous nor bitter against Wandel. Then I told them: It was God that gave Wandel the job; why should I be jealous on his account?' They went home enlightened.

But when you say in due time I'll come round, I wonder what precisely you mean.

I wanted to add that but waited for someone else to say it.
I don't always want to take the lead these dayz, at least not on the thread.

But in my own words, if and when your VISA pulls through and you finally land in the USA, do not forget Naija!.
Yeah we gave you the Good (your education and present well being), the Bad and the Ugly.
It seems you only remember the Bad and the Ugly.
You know, we remember what we choose to remember and attach emotions to what we choose to attach emotions.
Simply a subjective exercise of the mind.

You know, I happen to come from the same town as your idol, Philip Emeagwali.
Apart from having his roots from there (my town), Philip has never done anything good or given anything back to his roots.
Nobody is looking for his dollars 'cause we are very educated and rich in my town (one of the reasons that it is a town now and not a village).
In fact, you can't get a single richest or most educated individual in my town.

All I expected from him was to leave a good legacy; maybe an Emeagwali Scholarship for the best Science student , an Emeagwali endowment for eduation, an Emeagwali prize for Physics, Chemistry or even Computers.
It wouldn't have cost him much. In fact, with his Goodwill with the American Government over the years, it wouldn't have cost him a dime.
It might even produce more future Emeagwalis that might shake the world and do better than he did, in various disciplines.
But he didn't. He left no legacy. Just a lost soul Popular abroad but having no legacy at home.
No plan or efforts at giving back to one's society.
Not even his father's home in my town is a significant structure.

Barrack Obama did better.
Born abroad of a Kenyan father and a white mother, he has unabashadely identified with his Kenyan roots even though he knew he was gunning for a position as high and sensitive as the US Presidency, with all its rascist appeal.
Two men, different approach to their roots and the idea of giving back to their society.

I appreciate individuals who have come back, even if only for a short stint to contribute their quota to their roots; the Okonjo Iwealas, Charles Soludo, Oby Ezekwesili, Afam Edozien, Pat Utomi, Malam Nasir El-Rufai are well known, to mention but a few.
The present Head of my town is a 1st class graduate of Chemistry. Spent almost all his working years in SHELL, retired, then recalled from retirement to head SHELL foreign office in the UK.
Yet, after a while, he voluntarily resigned, an accomplished man, he desired to lead his own people.
He came back home, contested the title with equally well-educated and accomplished peeps (1st class peeps included), won and now leads his people.
These guys may not be as famous as Emeagwali (because they didn't discover any super computer) but can hold their heads anywhere in the world.

The point I am trying to make is, never become a lost soul like your idol Emeagwali. Even if you decide to trade in your citizenship for American citizenship, rather toe the Obama part and contribute your little quota to your roots

Even Joseph in the Bible did better.
He could have allowed his roots to starve, who treated him very badly.
But he chose to bring them to Goshen (the most fertile part of then Egypt), forgave their ill-treatment of him and it was counted for him as righteousness.
Remember that Egypt was the 'USA' of those dayz! Where the rest of the world came to buy food. The then cradle of power and civilization! How often history repeats itself!

Your brothers were the core of my first and last fight with you.
I second Kenosky by saying, 'please do not forget your brothers'.
Neither forget your roots.
But you can forget Opoks!
This is all I have for you.
Peace.

Opokonwa, permit me to comment on your post. To start with, the issue of my brothers: I must have said it countless times that I do not hate them, and I do not wish them ill. If you read the attachment to a post of mine on page 99, you will find an email I wrote to the youngest of them very recently. You will find that they are doing as well as they can on their own, without my having to act as some form of unwanted messiah. Indeed, methinks my staying away is even good, for the sake of peace.

Having said that much, Brother Opoks, permit me to comment on your criticism of Professor Emeagwali. To start with, I do know from documented sources that when Emeagwali was in the country, he had to pay his own way to go to school. There was no record of any town assisting him with a scholarship or with anything at all for that matter. He went abroad, and thrived. Why should he then (ordinarily speaking) spend money to endow his town's youth?

In any case, I am not Emeagwali, and I do not even say I will achieve the affluence he has; nor do I say that if I am lucky to, I will scorn Nigeria. I have posted elsewhere on the thread that if and when I make it over there, I will do something from there to affect here.

But why all the fuss, anyway? I haven't even got a visa yet.

Thank Godness all is still well, Kenosky. Opoks, nice town; aren't you lucky to be from there? Skeelo, thanks. Everyone, thanks.

Kenosky the Godfather, greetings once again. I've kind of run out of things to say lately, and I'm kinda missing our rhyming stuff. Is winter fading away?

So many of our oldies, companioins are nowhere to be seen on the thread these days, and it used to be so much fun. Phew! Anyway, let's keep believing God.

It will be well. I hope.

For those that are still Catholics, you may say a rosary for me. Thanks in advance. Bye.

I thank you all. When I was a Christian, one of the psalms I loved was Psalm 131. In the first part of that psalm, the songist said: 'Yahweh, I am not proud!' I second him. Indeed, I am not proud.

I have got admission to do a master's in the course I love best, in a standard American school (name of school deliberately withheld), and am being offered a GTA; but what if I package the admission letter, and the I-20, and my transcript, and all what not, and go to the Embassy and they see all these documents, and still deny me a visa? What then? I would still be back to square one. So I know it is not yet uhuru. NLNG has taught me certain things: Do not count your chicks before they are hatched. And I will not do so. I will patiently begin to plan my embassy interview, with my fingers crossed.

The reason I went all emotional and started saying I would give my life for the USA and all what not is simple. I had just received the letter, and I was ecstatic; but now that I have allowed sufficient time to pass, I can reflect. What touched me about Professor Pat's letter was the language she used. For someone that has just been rejected by NLNG, words like: your credentials are very impressive; you will add greatly to our graduate community here; I look forward to seeing you; you are admitted on full graduate standing; welcome to the Graduate school, and all what not, simply made me feel wanted. I had felt rejected in my own country, and the USA seemed to be welcoming me with open arms; an orphan boy like me. How could I not feel love for them?

Anyway, I know it is not yet Uhuru. I know this too well. Let's see how the big one goes, the embassy battle. That is the big one. The real maccoy!  

I've got to run along now. For me, it's back to work. See you all later!

Also, I would like you all to rejoice with me.

I got an official message today from the Head of Graduate School, Communciation, formally admitting me to their Graduate program, over there in the USA. They also want to offer me a Graduate Teaching Assistanship, as in the Head's own words, my credentials are 'impressive'. What can I say?   Could she be referring to my transcript? Imagine these people actually 'begging' me for a teaching job?

God bless America! America, I love you; I worship you; I adore you!   I'd lay down my life for you.

Kenosky, did I hear you use the word, resign? Please I beg you, do not resign. Can you not see the signs? You are now Godfather!

Below is the list of Godfathers:

1. Kuwena
2. Opokonwa
3. Thought
4. Opokonwa
5. Kenosky

You are ruling now. Kuwena was Godfather from the first day till around May, when Opoks came in with a bang. His was a most impressive regime, I confess, adding new pages with such speed unprecedented before then. Then there was a fight, and Thought sought to replace him, but did not quite succeed. Then Opokonwa came again as interim ruler, till he 'runsawayed' and you dearest Kenosky became ruler. So, Opoks is like Obj, having ruled twice.

But now, you're the man, dearest Kenosky. Please, do not resign. Thank you.

One love.  

Yeesssss! You did it. 100 page mark at last. Congrats, Kenosky!

And the pain is temporarily gone. Perhaps it's well afterall. Bye guys!

Be good. Be happy. Be free. Be you.

Kenosky! (et al.)  

One love