BUSH IN A THICKET

I've tried very hard to keep Mr. George Bush out of my mind but it has been very difficult. Not because I am very fond of him. Far from it. I leave that entirely to the American people who elected him, though I have a strong feeling they are fed up with him. I finally found out why he is stuck in my mind. He reminds me of this elementary school bully whose dad had drilled it into his head that he comes from a family of very brave men and women who never run away from a fight. And as a fact should be either the cause of the fight or at the centre of the actual fight. The dad never told him how to win the fight or how not to get in unnecessary fights.

Regrettably, in the case of Mr. Bush, he gets others to do his fighting for him and worse still to die for him. And he is not even at the scene to egg or cheer them on. He hides under presidential cover. One thing I cannot understand though is his inability to to grasp the reality on the ground- that the Iraqis do not see him as a liberator that he thinks he is. Even though the thought of liberating Iraq was not the main reason for his invasion of the Iraqi people's home. This popped up when his theory of the Iraqi government harbouring weapons of mass destruction fell flat. It is a good thing that he now has to contend with the new congress and the American people's sudden realisation that he invaded Iraq for no good reason. He also has to contend with the morale of the men on the gound in Iraq. Knowing Mr. Bush as much as we all do it is vain to imagine that he understands any of these issues. The men and women on the ground, the Iraqis who want to rebuild their country, the Americans, the British and all other nationales who are collectively trying to rearrange things with the hope that the country will get back on its feet are all infected with low morale. The dead do not have such luxury.

I have never believed in resoloving misunderstandings, disagreements, arguments, conflicts and any other form of difference in opinion through violence. violence is just a timid way of settling scores that leave more scores to be settled. There is no just war. War is primitive and portrays humans in their worst state. Someone please educate Mr. Bush on this. Let that be.

Mr. Bush has failed at the war front. Let us get him back to the admission of this fact so that he can see that now is the time to fold in his tail and flee or retreat, any which way he likes to call it. My dog, Raymond, does that all the time and we still think he is a good dog, we all love him and laugh it off when he does it. The truth is that Mr. Bush is in a thicket, he can't go forward but he can retreat. Tell him to get people's children out of harm's way and in thesame move save the lives of the Iraqi children. And let the Iraqis rebuild their lives. But if he insists let him pick up a rifle and head towards Bahgdad, I am certain he will have a lot to defend himself from. On the records he is not exactly a brave man. If my memory serves me well there was a time he wiggled his way out of a war, lay low in the National Guards until it all blew over and then snuck back to his "regular brave guy" life with his little secret tucked away some place in his memory. Typical bully approach. Running from Iraq won't be strange to him, what do you think?

It would not be such a pain if he was a success at the home front. you get what I mean? And it would not be so bad if he did not drag a few nice guys down with him. Tony Blair became Tony Blur overnight just for hanging around him. Talk of bad company, mom did warn you against them didn't she, Tony?

Sorry to go a bit personal but no war was ever caused or started by an A+ person. They, A+ persons, have always had inteligent ways of resolving issues. We should be cautious about who we elect into offices. Serious offices that is.

You have a great day and don't let yourself get caught in a thicket.

abbah r. agor-agalanga

DEMOCRACY TAKING ROOT IN NIGERIA

If you have been watching developments in Nigeria recently you will notice that we have somehow managed to elect a new president. The method used may not be very conventional but we do have a new president. for a while we did consider a street protest but by the time we had listened and heard his inaugural speech we had a change of heart and are ready to give him a chance to prove his worth. He sounded a lot humbler than we expected. We Nigerians are not very fond of arogant people (that is why we could not get along with mr. Obasanjo) but have a lot of regard for humble people and if the new president keeps to that humble attitude he wil win our hearts for keeps. so long as does not stay beyond his term as president

Back to the main business of what we expect of our president. we do not ask much just that he makes the lives of the Nigerians on the street better off. he creates jobs or creates the opportunities for the citizenry. we are a very resourceful and creative people and will snap up whatever chances there are. we are also very accommodating, may be to a fault.

To the rest of the world we are stereotyped as a lazy, crooked, swindling lot of people. This is far from the truth. We are as hard working as any group of people. we have had it a little bad because of a small percentage of the population that has gone overboard with their crooked tendencies. we are taking care of them now and in a couple of years all that will be history. if you think i am being over ambitious just ask anyone you know that has been to Nigeria or has come into contact with a Nigerian in his workplace any where in the world and he or she will tell you we have the brains to beat any other. when we mean to do anything we get it done any which way.

The president has taken a few positive steps that tend to give him some credibility. For instance he has opened up dialogue with the Niger delta youths, he has invited the opposition parties to a parley with the hope of including them in his cabinet, he has promised to serve and lead by example. In his native Katsina State where he was governor for two terms he has left the treasury bouyant and put the state economy on a sound footing. That is an encouraging sign.

I am not doing an image laundering job, i have never met him, i did not work in his campaign organisation and neither am i his image maker. I am only interested in what you think about my country, one of the best places in the world to live in, and thought if i told you the truth of what is happening in my country you might have a clearer picture.

Do please let me have your comments. I have an open mind so do not worry how i will feel if your comment is negative. Ask any question about my country that you want and I will do my best to give the real facts on the ground.

have a great time.

abbah r. agor-agalanga.

on my mind today

i've been trying to figure out what it is that makes the human such a heartless animal that he thinks the best way to be comfortable with himself is to hurt other humans. i have had the chance to observe other animals fight each other to a blody mess but even as a human being i could understand it was from such rivalry of sorts. i saw two cocks (roosters) get in a bad fight. but i looked around and saw it was over one hen just standing bye. the couls not talk it over, or one would not give in to the other. or better still one has formed the habit of not chatting up a lady (hen) until he saw the particular rooster out trying out his luck.

but with humans we pride ourselves as the animal with probably the highest i.q. why then can't we just see that if we sat down to talk we actually could get rid of what ever the greivances are or at least resolve them. well, if this turns out to be a little too difficult considering that we have wars on already, and the wars will still create room for splinter wars, then let us look to science to shelf the creation of destructive weaponry and concentrate on the regrowth of human tissues for replacement of lost limbs, improvement of the general standard of living of humans, easy access to medicare, all such things as may make life so much more worthwhile that the life of the individual becomes more and more precious. i think the temptation to just go all out and destroy life will be cortailed and with time wiped out.

abbah r. agor-agalanga