Quoting Rev Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr, I will say to every Nigerian lets “keep Hope alive. Lets PRAY!, that as we mark another year of Independence that Nigeria will really change for the better, and that by both divine grace and human efforts, we will support to usher in at all levels of goverment, more focused people coupled with the requisite knowhow in resource management and nation building, having a burning passion for a better and sustainable future for Nigerians. Let eagerly and consciously await and fight for the replacement/refusal of any so called leader(s) who think leadership in Nigeria should be all about sharing the money, and looting the treasury, without fear. We have come this far under very hard and most times unfortunate governance. However, Leadership and followership, we all need to change, no matter how little let’s make a positive change. God Bless Nigeria.

Nigeria blessed with diversity , both human and natural resources in the North, West, East and of course the now world famous South where the oil wealth lies. Yet Nigeria still has the most unfair and unproductive structure for all ethnicities to have the possibility of ruling the nation. In the era where a man of black Heritage didn’t just drama , but today rules what most people still consider the strongest Nation on earth, Nigeria is still talk about geopolitical or should I say trio political ruling zones. It’s no news now that for the most part of its existence as a country, Nigerians of Northern extraction has had the opportunity to rule the country the most under Military and Civilian governments. The list below just serves to buttress this know facts. Sometimes it takes looking at a picture to really notice how skewed things are. Take a critical and open minded look at the list below , think and ask yourself, how can we ever get the best or right man for the job, if we continu...

( With Dr Bola Afolabi, Current CIPS President) On the 28 February 2006, I started a tread called Logistics/Supply Chain Management on one of the most popular webforum in Nigeria called Nairaland. Follow link to view postings on this tread http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-7497.0.html My aim basically was to use the opportunity an online forum can offer, to interact, share and gain ideas, information,network and generally increase awareness of the Procurement, Logistics and Supply chain management profession. This act of sharing my passion for the profession online has over the years sparked off series of positive and constructive events in my career quest, some of which I have reflected upon in the text below. Although my initial undergraduate study and immediate post study working experience were all related to engineering, I soon fall in love with the logistics and SCM profession when in March of 2005 I gained my 1st substantive Job with Integrated Logistics services Nig...

Now I can’t recount every word the US president said in his speech when he visited the Egyptian capital Cairo, but it will make a whole lot of sense if you can listen to it yourself, in case you have not heard or seen it yet. It’s easily accessible on Youtube.com I think all the issues addressed by the US president, in this thought provoking and to me most powerful speech yet, is as much as relevant to the people he was speaking to, as it is equally relevant to the Nigerian nation ,even if we are not the ones being addressed directly in Cairo. The key issues of US/Western world and the Moslem world relationship, the Israeli, Palestine’s conflict, Democracy and democratic governance, Religious freedom, Women rights, education and empowerment and finally Economic development and opportunity stretches into the Nigerian situation in many ways than one. Now some of these issues looks like it has nothing to do with the Nigerian situations, however if you are familiar with the Nigeria...

We live in troubled times, yet for some unexplainable reason I still find it an interesting time. With a financial crisis pounding the global like a high-arcing ballistic trajectory detonated in the western world. A flu viral infection transmitting among people, helping us all understand how connected we all are, after all. Has left me saying, globalization now has one more definition in my books. For the most part of the 1st hours, days, weeks, and even month in 2009, all we heard was Israel bombing targets in Palestine and Palestinian fighters in Gaza firing rockets into southern Israel. Even then the news of clashes and rumors of impending war never seems to stop. Pakistani military deploying fighter jets and helicopter gunship to flush out Taliban militants, the Sri Lanka's government declaring victory in its war with Tamil Tigers and North Korea defying world powers and carrying out nuclear bomb testing. One region where a military action is currently raging on, that would...

Let’s lift our hearts, our hands, and our voices to HIM, and give unrestrained expressions of gratitude for His LOVE sacrifice that restored LIFE! Through His horrifying death experience.

I somehow just feel compelled to make this post and put the list below, obtained courtesy of the BBC website. 2009, Marks the celebration of 30 years of Hip-hop, now I know this type of music is really not what many will consider sophisticated or even matured, and it has in the recent time become a representation for Gangster’s , Violence and Profane and Explicit lyrics that require censorship. Well with all that said, I still believe that the in tracing the history and birth of this art form, YES! ,Art form, once can see that it was really creativity, that birthed Hip-hop, bringing something to be from seemingly nothing ,and despite the fact that it came out of the ghetto and worst black neighbourhoods in the United states, it has extended all over the world and across race boundaries. I don’t support Violent , Profane or Gangsters Lyricisms through Hip-hop music, but I still realise that its a tall order to completely rid Hip-hop of such lyrics, basically because the image...

Situational awareness, hug the monster, eating an elephant one bite at a time and know yourself. At the threshold of the New Year, 2009, I made a post on this blog, see link , http://oglenigeria.blogspot.com/2008/12/out-with-old-2008-in-with-new-2009.html Where I mentioned and talked about faith, specifically faith in God almighty as being the way to sail through any storm and made special references to the current global economic down turn. Well it seems everyone and not just me,is now realizing that FAITH, plays a greater role in our life after all. A quiz titled, the recession survival quiz available at MSNBC, Joe morning show home page www.joe.msnbc.com and from numerous discussions around the world by Ben Sherwood,author of the book, THE SURVIVORS CLUB,has been able to establish again that the number one and most universal survival tool is, FAITH!

One more community is beating the gong calling its “ Warriors” to war over perceived neglects , mistreatment and injustice , by the federal Government of Nigeria, The Delta state government and a Multinational Oil and gas company, and what do you know!, its my very own homeland. I thought it might get to this, It was only a matter of time. To the people that will listen, violence is not the way to go, it wont and can not solve the Niger delta problem. Crude oil can not define a people, our existance transcends crude oil and the wealth it can generate. I pray the day comes when we as a people, will attain freedom, of our souls, our minds and not just freedom for our belly. A Charter To Free The Ndokwas By Armsfree Ajanaku (culled from the Guardian newspaper 22 February 2009) IN December,1998 some five thousand youths gathered in the Ijaw town of Kaiama to articulate the way forward in the Niger. They gave one hundred reasons why all oil mineral resources domiciled in Ijaw land shoul...

Love is eternal ~ the aspect may change but not the essence, there is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love, as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning! The lamp was there and was a good lamp, but now it is shedding light too, and that is its real function. And love makes one calmer about many things, and that way, one is more fit for one's work. ~ Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) Happy Val’s Day! Every One

Mr Obama proposes to invest $150bn in alternative fuel over the next 10 years, he said the US would not be held "hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes , and a warming planet”. He called for greater fuel efficiency and an "energy economy" aimed at creating millions of jobs for Americans. "We (the US Government )will commit ourselves to steady, focused, pragmatic pursuit of an America that is freed from our energy dependence, and empowered by a new energy economy that puts millions of our citizens to work". Read and read it well Nigerian government, policy makers and anyone who cares, the hand writing is on the wall, since successive government in Nigeria have only payed lip service to creating an economy for Nigeria that is diversified and not heavily reliant on oil, I guess this is a wakeup call. If the major buyer of your product say he see a future of less dependence on not just you as a supplier, but also on the product you sell in the ...

On the 20th of Jan 2009, i watched on as million and millions of Americans all celebrated one thing HOPE!, and change that lies in horizon, and from my room I wondered will our home land Nigeria ever have something to celebrate about, even if its just change, a change in the right direction. Below is an article written in response to CNN's NIGER DELTA, Planet in Peril,  by a friend of mine,  Comfort Olubo Umaru  a lawyer based in Abuja Nigeria. IT’S A MATTER OF CASH. by  Comfort Olubo Umaru As an avid reader, a former resident of the area and concerned citizen, it would be remiss of me not to start any discussion on the Nigerian Niger Delta with one name. Kenule Saro Wiwa. As a child my favorite TV show was Bassey and Co. This was a screen adaptation of plays written by Ken Saro Wiwa. It was about a wise cracking young man called Bassey and his friend Alale and their varied antics. The show was all about their varied attempts to ev...

Doing the right thing at the wrong time can be as damaging as the wrong thing at any time, 2009 understand Your timing  (Eccl 3:1-8 NIV). Happy new Year!