It is music time again folks….and yeah, it is summer time again and time to lolox. How else to rock it none stop? yeah, by getting on some tungba music steez. *Drumroll* as DJ Monk Presents: DJ Monk Summer Loloxation Jams 
. Ok, I kid, it is just feel good music.
Download
Summer Loloxation Jams Lite (58 Mb)
Summer Loloxation Jams CD Quality (108 Mb)
You all know I am a shameless unrepentatnt Jude “MI” Abaga fan right? Yeah, I waited feverishly for the release of the sequel to his 2008 monster mixtape. Now the wait is over, last night after plenty failed tries, the mixtape dropped.
Dude went ahead to put up the tracks singly, and the 17 tracks in total come to 200MB. Come on!! that is plenty of meat right there. So what did I do? I compressed them tracks for you good people….yeah things I do to make you sweat less. So I took off over 100MB from the pile, and what you will be downloading will be a very light 87Mb. Aint technology just too smooth? And not just that, the 17 tracks in a single location.
I will help MI track the download rate from here too.
So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here you go. Enjoy
Download – (87Mb zip file on mediafire)
Download – (87Mb zip file on 4shared)
Update
By popular demand, I have added the single tracks, very mobile download friendly, the tracks average about 5Mb max.
Where there is unity there is always victory. - Publilius Syrus
The now so fashionable call for the division of Nigeria by a section of the country, attributed by them to the upsurge of bombing and gun attacks by the Boko Haram terrorist group on the North, is in my opinion a validation that jumping on the bandwagon is way more dangerous than rumor mongering.
All over the place, mostly on Social media, the misconception and “maldirection” of opinions has become most evident. Many have caught on with the “Nigeria must break up” mantra without actually understanding why or making an attempt to actually figure out if there is really any meat behind the clamor.
Let us now make a sincere attempt to analyze the activities of Boko Haram in the North, in relation to the cry for secession. Let us also look into recent history to see the things that led to break ups in countries like Sudan/ South Sudan and India/ Pakistan. These are some of the countries that many of the proponents of the division have being pointing at to back their claims.
The Boko Haram terrorist group has, from their very first national appearance in 2009, kept their operations solely in the Northern part of Nigeria. Even in their reincarnation as a blood thirsty band of arsonists and marauders, they have hit only locations in the core North and Abuja. They have consistently hit government and religious institutions (both Muslim and Christian). Over 80% of their victims have been Northerners, members of the armed forces and security agencies. Many say they have targeted Southerners living in the North particularly. That is not true as there is no evidence to back that.
So why then are certain people asking that Nigeria be divide and broken up along North/South lines because of Boko Haram’s activities. Are these people making these demands because they don’t want what is befalling the North right now to swing to them when Boko Haram somehow runs out of Northern targets? Or these people are making these division demands because Boko Haram has offered them an opportunity to push their agenda in the face of the confusion, panic, and fear that the new wave of terrorism has brought upon our land?
I am yet to see the connection between Boko Haram’s insurgency in the North and the threat to Nigeria’s unity. A country can’t just break up because a group of people have gone up in arms against the nation as a unit.
Let us look at examples of countries that have split in recent history and see if their circumstances have any semblance with ours.
Sudan/ Southern Sudan
In January 2011, Sudan held a referendum in which people of the Southern voted overwhelmingly for separation. The reasons for this popular breakup were solely due to the difference in religious beliefs and bullying. The people of the South are predominantly Christians or Traditionalists, but successive governments controlled by the North of Sudan, due to their control of the military and population, decided to enforce Sharia Law on the whole nation. This led to a Southern rebellion which culminated in the negotiated split. Let me emphasis, an attempt by the North of Sudan to force religion down the throat of the South led to a need to split, so that the Muslims in the North can have their way with Sharia and other Sudanese in the South can have their secularity. There was a clear case of oppression here. That is not the case in Nigeria.
India/ Pakistan
Once again, religion plays up ugly here. India and Pakistan became 2 separate countries because the Muslims of Pakistan and the Hindus of India just couldn’t stand each other in the long run. The Hindus went their way and the Muslims kept their own peace. The division was done cleanly, Muslims separate, Hindus separate. Is that possible in Nigeria? Are the Muslims of Southern extraction (we even have Igbos who are Muslim) a threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria? Is the vast majority of the Muslims from the North (minus Boko Haram) a threat to Nigeria? My humble answer is a resounding No!
The foregone raises a few questions as to the motives and expected outcomes of the ongoing murmur for a Nigerian breakup:
Questions upon questions that we, as an educated, enlightened, and unbigoted people, should ask ourselves and provide answers to. Nigeria is stronger as a unit, where all the constituent ethnic groups come together and chart a course that will lead us all to a common good. We have all intermarried, we have forged solid friendships that have stood the test of time, we do business with each other, neither religion nor tribe has come in our way even now. We shouldn’t allow subtle calls from elements of discord cloud our God given abilities to make sound, informed judgments, we shouldn’t allow these elements to hoodwink us into believing our neighbors have plans to destroy us, we shouldn’t allow politicians, who have continued to collectively sodomize us push us any further into turning Xenophobes. We shouldn’t let the antics of a few who have been trying to play on our emotions and sentiments defeat our humanity. It isn’t a case of friction between Northerners and Southerners, but a war between us the people and the few who have continued to do everything within their Political and Financial powers to keep us subjected to them. We shouldn’t be conduits for their whims; we shouldn’t be a voice to their evil plots. We owe this to ourselves and our unborn children.
May God help us all.
January 1st, 2012. That date in history that reworked the definition of the Nigerian. The date when a lack of smart, people-oriented governance pricked a long slumbering attribute of the people of my fatherland. On that day the government of Nigeria gambled with a policy that would immediately deepen the already inhumane standard of living around here. We are globally acclaimed to survive on a dollar a day and we endure it with a smile and the usual “e go better”. This day gave notice to the people bleeding us of our commomwealth.
This article is not my own version of attempting intellectual cow-boyism, nor is it a ploy to distract gallant Nigerians, who stood their ground until the President fell to his weakness and rolled out the tanks and boots against his own compatriots, from the real issues of government frivolity, corruption, and sheer disrespect of the polity.
Rather, this article celebrates the Nigerian men and women, boys and girls who in anger took to the streets to protest the antics of the same man they queued in the sun, lost lives for, to become President. I attempt to capture pictorially the events and people that defied the sun, whips, and police brutality, but defined the new face of the Nigerian spirit, to march upon Abuja. These are some of the heroes of Nigeria, a representation of how Nigerians cried out in unison, from all works of life, for the soul of a nation still under siege.
Those were days of the mass protest, when the fact that you are Nigerian swelled your head, left you emotional with pride. Those days renewed hope that we will not allow our motherland to go to the dogs.
This is #OccupyNigeria as captured by the lenses of Blaze Otokpa.
It started as a tiny crowd of young Nigerians gingered by Social Media, then the rest of Nigeria caught up!
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The demise of the Ikemba of Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegu Ojukwu, once again gives us the opportunity to reflect on the Biafran fight for independence which led to the Nigerian Civil War. A war that led to deaths the number of which no one can really say precisely, though we have figures between running 100,000 and 2,000,000.
That war was fought and lost, but I will like to try and figure out what things could have looked like if the rag tag army of Biafra had prevailed and Gen. Philip Effiong read a victory speech and not that of surrender.
War broke out because of the lingering sense of insecurity and a feeling of not being wanted that the Igbos felt after the many riots in the North that led to truck and train-loads of bodies being shipped back to the East. The Igbos felt it was time to hit it out on their own in a country of their own where they will be full entitled citizens.
In all of these, the main aggrieved party (at least as largely captured by historians) were the members of the Igbo speaking tribes of Eastern Nigeria. I can’t remember any accounts of the other tribes that existed in the old Eastern Region getting the treatment the Igbos got. Some of these minority tribes (let me call them that) are those that now form what is known in present day Nigeria as the Niger Delta. This was where the wealth of Nigeria then (and even now) was situated. This I also suspect was why Nigeria fought so hard to make sure Biafra didn’t come to fruition. This was where we hard the oilfields.
If the agitation for self actualisation and independence by Biafra had happened in the present day, I have a strong feeling it would have succeeded, look at South Sudan, and to a small extent Benghazi in Libya (before Ghaddafi’s elimination). If Biafra had succeeded, what in the long run would have become the fate of this new country? Let me guess.
On the flip side, Could Biafra have become a glowing example of prosperity? A country so successful at commerce and industry, a rich country in black Africa, that former masters like Nigeria might have come to it to borrow shamelessly? The exploits of Aba, Onitsha, Ariria and ASPAMDA in Lagos come to mind. The genetic (I think) make up of the average Igbo person to go into commerce and Industry might probably have made Biafra an African Tiger ( in the same light as the Asian Tigers). Biafra might probably have developed to the point where they make friends with successful countries like the United Arab Emirates, and most likely have turned Tinapa into a Dubai, or at least a Sun City like in South Africa.
But we will never know….or let me just say we might never know.
Odimegu Ojukwu and the Igbo nation took a bold step of courage, an attribute that has become alien to us as a people in the face of unrelenting tyranny from the ruling class (at least since June 12, 1993). I, at this point, join the millions, who believe in justice, equity, and fair play, in mourning the death of this iconic Nigerian. May his soul rest in peace….finally.
The Government of Nigeria is it at again. The Central Bank is talking about an impending devaluation of our already valueless currency.Tthe dollar is already revving up to fly from it’s hitherto steady exchange rate of under 160 naira. The energy sector has once again been thrown into a head spin by the plans and utterances of The President and elements in his government. Another season of confusion, despondence, and pain is about to descend up us. Be ready for fuel queues to reappear.
Devaluation of the Naira
What is the purpose of devaluing a currency? A currency is devalued so that it becomes more enticing for countries importing goods and services from the country with the devalued currency to buy more because the cost of those goods are cheaper. It also means the country with the devalued currency buys from abroad at a higher price. Let us apply the above to Nigeria. We don’t have a production culture that is anywhere close to what will make us gain plenty foreign exchange from exportation. We are not a production economy, we stand to gain almost nothing from devaluation and there is nothing apart from oil to buy from us. Considering the fact that we import almost everything, from cars to refined petroleum products, to even the things people in our Government utter, devaluation simply means we will have to pay more to live. This brings a question to mind. Why is the Government in such a hurry to “remove” petroleum subsidy and devalue the Naira? Why not wait for electricity to become uninterrupted and the rail system become a reality, so that industries can kick into life and create more jobs and at the same time create an avenue for us to begin to export, albeit cheaply? Wouldn’t that be what a wise nation led by a wise President will do? Infrastructure that will make us benefit from structural adjustment is not yet in place, but economic decisions that are supposed to happen after it are already been fabricated. A case of putting the cart before the horse.
Removal of Oil Subsidy
When the government grudgingly announced the increased minimum wage, far-seeing people and skeptics of the sincerity of the government of the day quickly sensed that they will sooner come back with a counter announcement that will empty the pockets of the masses of the extra coins salary increase has given to them. In Nigeria, as I have come to realize, “removal of oil subsidy”, a term that has been in play since the days of the evil genius himself, IBB, simply means “increase in pump price of refined petroleum products”. This circus has been played out severally since 1988. Now the GEJ government is gearing to take its place in this ignoble act of milking its masses.
It is a well known fact that any slight increase in the cost of petroleum products will have a ripple effect across the economy, the cost of every good and service will move in the direction of an increase, and the so called palliative (in the form of an increased minimum wage) to a high cost of living will immediately come to nought. There is also the comment by the respected Economist, Professor Sam Aluko who maintained that there was no oil subsidy to be removed in reality, just a government trying to deceive its people.
Proponents of the subsidy removal claim it will encourage private investors to come in and build refineries. How much will it cost this government to build a refinery, and in so doing etch it’s name in gold in the history of Nigeria? According to an article by Dr. Mobolaji E. Aluko in 2003, it will cost $500 million USD to build a 100,000 bpd refinery (this was when it was still $1= 125 naira), and according to Saudi Aramco, it will cost $4 billion USD to build a 400,000 bpd refinery. In the short term, the government of Nigeria can build small capacity refineries while the higher capacity ones are built over a longer period of time. It is an investment that the government need not see as a favour to us.
The House of Assembly can easily make allowance for building such in the budget over time. My question is thus, what stops the Federal Government of Nigeria from building new refineries? Considering the fact the oil is the mainstay of our economy, isn’t it an issue of National security that the Government is willing to hand custody of the mechanics of this mainstay to private hands? What if an enemy force infiltrates them and grounds the economy, and ground us? This might seem far-fetched, but very possible. Some others have pointed out that fuel goes for much higher overseas. This is the same propaganda BS we have been listening to since someone discovered the miracle of “oil subsidy removal”. What if petrol goes for the equivalent of 350 naira in the UK? Is the UK in the top 5 of OPEC oil exporting nations? Why should a country that is blessed with a mineral resource that other countries shed blood to get have to suffer in the midst of plenty? Why should Nigerians buy petroleum products at global rates? Is this what is obtainable in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, or Libya? (Since we are doing a global comparison). Below is a table showing how much in Naira Petrol costs in the top 4 OPEC member nations (Nigeria sits at number 5):
| S/N | Country | Price per Litre of Petrol (Naira) |
|
Saudi Arabia | 25.00 |
|
Iran | 15.00 |
|
United Arab Emirate | 72.00 |
|
Kuwait | 34.00 |
Source: Daily News Global
The table above shows that other top OPEC exporting nations have deemed it fit for their citizens to benefit from the resources of their land. With the impending increase that will come out of the “removal of subsidy”, Nigeria will shoot close to what it costs in countries that depend on the likes of OPEC for their supply, we might begin to buy Petrol at close to 250 naira per litre. Don’t even talk of diesel, that might become only purchasable with a vial of human blood. If eventually this private investors/ players are brought in, who would they be? Fronts and allies of the Government, who are after nothing but raping us and raping our commonwealth in a bid to enrich themselves even further. It isn’t shrouded in secrecy why successive governments have refused to make the refineries work, or build new ones. We hear of Nigerians owning refineries in other lands. These are the same people who buy, or bunker our crude illegally, take them overseas to their own refineries, and then sell the refined products back to us at global prices. Looks like they are not content with what they are currently getting – they are back to blackmail us in other to get more.
In Conclusion
The Government of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan continues to exhibit a lack of vision, control, focus, and insincerity to the people that queued up in the blazing sun to vote him in, to the innocent bloods that were shed during and after the elections. It is putting the interests of global financial forces (the IMF and World Bank) and local charlatans above the interests of its immediate constituency, the masses of Nigeria. Many voted GEJ because they thought he was one of them, that he understands the hardship of being the downtrodden, that he will never do anything to plunge them into unnecessary hardship while also overseeing the task of developing infrastructure, making electricity constant, and providing jobs. This isn’t what is happening, in my opinion, we instead are faced with an innocent looking marauding messiah who keeps leaving us signs of how bad he will get, armed with an army of sycophants and propagandists.
We should all put aside our political leanings and face the reality that is before us. The fact that someone is a sycophant of the Government of the day does not mean he will buy fuel, food, or electricity at a cheaper price than the man who isn’t a supporter, we all buy from the same markets. I don’t know of any special subvention, or aid that the Government is giving to supporters of any political party to make them cope better than the rest of the nation, we are all in this mess together. We haven’t found our messiah yet, and the journey in search of the promised land, like that of the Israelites in the desert, continues. Either we get weak and drop dead or not, we must get there.
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Monk’s Note: the opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of Henry Okelue, but are those of my guest Blogger, Atinuke Arigbabu. Follow her on twitter as @MsNemah
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N.B:these are my thoughts if you wish to act on them.. well its your business…….with that said let’s move on.
What’s love? love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment(general definition)
My definition: love’s nothing but hormones(this is where you refer to my n.b) where two people are living in their moment then when they have enough money they get married…….and start with their 50/50 chance if it works or not….(well not in all cases tho).
A few days back someone blogged about why “some people aren’t married”(her opinion). I read it and was disgusted (for my own personal reasons) well I asked myself the 3 ultimate questions……I feel you should ask yourself before taking a ride with cupid :-
1. Is she/he the one?
2. Can I spend the rest of my life with this one
3. Is she or he worth sacrificing for?
After my personal research I figured these questions aren’t as hard as people make it seem so here are my answers:-
Is she or he the one?….with my years of knowledge/ knowing cupid this particular question used to scare me until recently….to me its really hard to pick just one person because I expect so much of my partner (not material wise). Once I notice my partner has started loosing his spark and my relationship gets to the “brb” stage I’d always want to get something new…..once a relationship looses its spark it gives room for a rethink by either partner. It is very hard for you to find a dude or babe who can carry on with the behavior/spark you fell for when you just met……now my answer to this question imagine your relationship without its lighter if you feel you can cope go ahead, if You can’t this is where you say no! Love isn’t by force.
The second question is the most problematic of them all “can I spend the rest of my life with this person?” Africans take marriage as a big deal when infact its NOT!
My definition of marriage is the license to have sex without limits,excuses and showoff….marriage has lost its value these days. People get married either because of the pressure from their family,peer pressure or pressure from the partner. Marriage has no “expiry date”! Get this stupid thought out of your head.
I was at a wedding last month and I saw an old couple loving up. I was so shocked that i had to I asked how old their marriage was… and they said 5years!…….wait. For this the wife was 55 and the husband 60! I asked them why it took them so long and she replied “i just met my one” with a huge smile. I asked if they were ever married and they replied no! That they can’t let anyone force decisions on them!
Back to why we are here – stop living peoples lives with them. If you feel you can’t imagine spending your “forever” with someone…please please don’t say yes! Be patient enough, your “one” is waiting for you and trust me your patience won’t be in vain. Save the money for the wedding ceremony, then the legal fees and your children, the drama of the divorce phase……..
The last question.:- “Is she or he worth sacrificing for?” this is where the major problem begins. Everyone knows that compromise is needed to build a lasting relationship……if your partner says no sex before marriage respect that. If you can’t cope move on! (Don’t use the “when we get to that bridge we shall cross it proverb”) hoping to get into the relationship and start going funny on them makes no sense you will definitely find someone who shares your wants don’t push her/him into what she/he doesn’t want to do………Don’t sideline the sacrifices to a particular gender alone if you can’t agree on the terms and conditions don’t buy the product (p.s this line is a sub).
In Conclusion, If you answer these questions by yourself sensibly trust me your relationship/life will be drama free…….till next time then……..meanwhile s/o to all the sidechicks this our job no easy at all *wink* :*
The title of this article is as common as 419 warnings on Lagos buildings among single Nigerians.
Over the weekend a blogger released an article about why some ladies are not married yet. That particular article generated a lot of furor in Ladyland. I am writing this as a rejoinder of some sorts….or if you want to think the way I do, see this article as a prequel. That is what it is really.
This article will not pick on any particular gender, because in truth, both sexes are guilty of this very porous way of thinking. Well, some might not see it as porous, but as a case of preference. I absolutely agree, I am only going to pointing at the consequence.
It is no more news that a particular gender has come to a conclusion that more of them are not getting hooked up because the gender that is supposed to come hook them up is too scared of them, many have used the word “intimidate”, that their success is what is scarring people away. That must be some ojuju calabar success I dare say…..but let us take a closer no bullshit look at this matter.
In conversations I have heard people say things like “He is not my class”, “She is not in my category” etc. I have also had the fortune of listening to people cry about how they have not been in a relationship for ages, or how they can’t seem to find the fitting partner. I have always given them the same talk (of some kind). I have gone straight to tell them majority of the people who claim they can’t find good men, or good ladies are those kind of people who introduce stratification into issues of the heart. These are the same kind of people who ask a guy that walks up to them that “you no get eyes? Me and you na the same category” or in the the case of guys “sorry, I can’t date a girl who can’t dance”.
There is something we fail to realize. The guy who walks up to you, even, in all of your grandeur is most likely going to be the guy who will treat you like treasure he will die rather than lose. You consider this, if you are so hot (as you think) and so well put together but still a simple guy summons courage and walks up to you (in his mind knowing this babe is gengen), will you view it as a case of your levels having falling? so if by a stroke of common sense you fall for him, don’t you think he will be so smitten and will stay with you because he knows lightening does not strike at the same location twice. He probably knows (or thinks) he might not be this lucky again. Or take the example of a guy who has an army of ladies on his tail, with many of them taking bets on who will bed him first. He has cycled through quite a number but can’t seem to find any wife-able one withing his type-circle. Then he meets a beautiful, simple girl. This girl is devoid of all the peperempe of his type of women, she even comes complete in a Mary-Amaka dress. In his mind “nah, can’t be seen with this one”…but this is probably the kind of girl that will not give him all the BS that his type of girls have swing his way all these while.
The Type issue…..
Many ladies keep complaining about guys not having the balls to walk up to them, they feel it is because they are very successful in their careers. But it is these same ladies that will swear that they won’t marry a guy they earn more than. Well, maybe because they know they will never respect him. They have not been able to differentiate between the man, their relationship and their career success. Only a few women are capable of handling such realities. So if you already have this mindset, why wont you eventually decide that dying single isnt such a bad idea. Trust me, it isnt, but kindly leave your whining and bitterness at home. Thank you.
I can’t claim to be aware of this, but too many ladies of marriage age have one excuse – there are no good, responsible men out there. I wonder how come their own brothers get married right in their presence. Ok, maybe their brothers aint captured under their “no good men banner”. Many guys have seen their sisters married away to guys who kept beaming from ear to ear on the wedding day. It is either the guys are crying while we think they are smiling or they have been smart enough to see beyond what the crowd is doing and have picked a woman with a good mind, no pride, with or without high mileage.
In closing, get a reorientation of mindset, view a human as one, and not as furniture or as a piece of summer fashion. Identify your priorities, lose those airs and come down from that pedestal. You either jettison your “levels” or sit down quietly and enjoy your solitude. At least, look at the bright side, you get to have your pick of bed mates and not have to deal with waking up beside the same man or woman every time :D
“You people should just kill me”
Those were the words of despair that escaped the lungs of the victim, as 5 guys, purported to be students of Abia State University, Uturu, took turns at sexually abusing her. Many have seen the video, it has gone viral on the internet, and the shame of this poor lady will be preserved on the world wide web for posterity.
A section of society has shown disgust at the incidence, true, but the shocking part of this whole saga has been the role played by women.
One would have expected an outburst of immense proportions from the female folks, both private citizens and those in government. Many actually did, I applaud this…but I expected more.
At the height of the release of the video, many people sent emails to Hon. Abike Dabiri, the famous TV journalist, and now member of the Nigerian House of Assembly. Emails to both her personal yahoo address and national assembly address where sent, passionately asking her to take up the matter as a female member of parliament. Up until the time of writing this article, not one comment, either from her, or her official spokesperson has been seen. The closest to such from her was Chief Dele Momodu reporting he spoke to her, and she has said the girl should make herself available so she can speak to her. I didn’t know Hon. Abike Dabiri had guidance counselling as part of her skills. The naivety of that request is appalling, as she showed she could not see into what a victim of rape possibly goes through, the shame, the stigma, the psychological defeat and damage. How did our dear Honourable expect this girl to crawl out of wherever she is nursing the violation of her pride and come to her willingly? I am burnt, and disappointed. Worse still, no other female member of the Nigerian National Assembly or Federal Executive Council has come out to say diddly squat, even when the matter had become an issue almost everyone that has access to the Internet and newspapers now knows about? Is it that these women don’t have daughters at home, or they have also concluded that the victim “wakaed anyhow” so deserves what has come upon her? Is this also because she isn’t the daughter of a Perm Sec, A minister, or the President? Because she is the unknown daughter of Mr. Nobody? Some unaccounted for girl living probably in the rural village surrounding ABSU?
It is disheartening that the female lawmakers, and the female Ministers , who now make up 35% of the government have not even moved a limb. One would expect that by now a joint press conference would have been held, where they all would ask the IG to leave no stone unturned until those 5 criminals are brought to justice. This is a sad commentary on our nation, and on womanhood.
Take as another example, the social media network, Twitter. Various comments have been made about this matter, vehemently condemning the despicable acts of these shameless men, and some also hailing the men as heroes…..I felt disgust at those.
One would have expected the female members of the social network to be the ones making the loudest noise, and asking for justice, with all of them in unison kicking against this ignoble act and asking that the authorities protect their rights more to forestall against a reoccurence. That wasn’t the case here. Some girls actually went as far as asking why people are making a fool of themselves and making uneccessary noise. Others were of the opinion that rape is nothing new, and that any girl that got raped should suck it in and watch where she goes next time. Dear Lord have mercy!
How on God’s green earth will women ever get the respect they deserve when other women don’t see anything wrong in the continual dragging of their pride in the mud. How will women get empowered if they continually get sabotaged by their kind?
One thing I want these class of women to remember is this, it might have been that girl in ABSU’s turn on August 16th, but it could be any other person’s turn tomorrow, and once it is done, it is done, you will never be the same again!
To all the people who have taken this as a crusade, I say well done, to the Minister of Youth Development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, I say thank you very much Sir for your efforts so far.
I will not forget the Governor of Abia State. God sees your heart, and will in his time give you a just reward for the way you have concluded your investigation into this dastardly act. I am very sure you were methodical, swift, and just…..it took you less than 48 hours of nothing to give us a feedback many of us knew you were capable of.
And to the victims of rape all over Nigeria, I feel your pain, though I dare not imagine the extent of humiliation, shame, and the feeling of aloneness you have had to endure, but stay strong, and keep your head up. Not every man is a knave,many of use are noble and honest men who believe in the sanctity of respect to womanhood. Many of us have your back.
I only wish NGOs set up to protect the rights of women will rise up to the occasion, earn those grants, go and seek out these abused women, and get them justice.
To you the Abia 5, your time will come. You will answer for your acts here on earth. I so wish this particular act, which you televised, will be the revolution that will end the menace of rape in our motherland.
God help us.
The title of this article is not a joke. It is the new cool in the process of music distribution in Nigeria, we now have an army of “iTunes” and “Notjustok” artistes….and I am of the opinion that it is faulty, condescending, and can not bring any good to the artiste, or marketer.
Let me drill down into this.
Recently, Nigerian artistes have caught the bug of opening online sales channels. Oh, very fine, that is progress, we are getting in synch with how things are done in other countries. It is also a means of getting the products across to people in diaspora, a wider Market. I applaud that…..but there exists a “but”.
Some Nigerian artistes have taken their eyes off the ball. They have suddenly decided to shortchange themselves, fine….but they have in so doing also introduced an inconvenience that the average Nigerian consumer will resist vigorously. Let me break this down with two recent examples.
Timi Dakolo and Bez (I can’t remember his last name ) released their debut albums. I, like many other consumers of musical products, asked where we can buy them. The prevalent response was “get it on iTunes or Notjustok, it isn’t available in shops and on the street yet”. I found that a bit annoying first,worry for the artistes’ sales was next. Annoying because the artists seem to have taken the buyer for granted, they seem to have assumed that they are doing us a favour by recording their work and making it available for sale and we will go out of our way to get them,no matter how and no matter where. These folks seem to forget we are not their family members, not all of us give a hoot or two if they succeed (though we will be happy to celebrate them if they do), and we have the choice of spending our money on roasted corn and not musical CDs.
I am aware some people will come and say “who go buy go buy”….oh yeah, that is true, but I doubt if the artiste that invested a lot of money into producing the work, and hopes to make some returns will be ok if out of a potential Market of 70 million, just 500 buy. I have not seen that kind of philosophy in a commercial consumer Market yet.
Let us have a quick look at how buying online in Nigeria works.
iTunes or Notjustok sell in foreign currency and you are expected to, via a device that has access to the Internet and a bank card capable of doing interrnational transactions, make a purchase. My question is this – how many Nigerians, living in Nigeria, have such cards? How many have such access to iTunes or notjustok and how many don’t? I will say like a ratio 1:10(could be worse).
What are the dangers in Nigerian artistes continuing with this trend? They are plenty.
Firstly, if you are an up and coming artiste, you need to put your music out there to gain wider appeal, become known, become popular. The easiest and most reliable way to achieve this is to take your products to the people, not make the people hunt for them. You are not Tuface Idibia, you are not P Square….and you are definitely not Michael Jackson! You are not famous yet my man! If you ,as a new face, or a struggling act, don’t bring your product to the Market square, well, your tomato will rot in your basket!
Somebody might say that because an act is not popular yet, he won’t be able to get marketers to buy his master tape/CD and distribute the work. Yeah, I agree that can happen….but I also know the artiste’s record label can directly do the marketing. Kennis Music showed this is possible. They have a direct marketing channel.
Secondly, if you insist on releasing a work online, without a simultaneous release in stores and on the streets, you are setting yourself up badly, because if your record is good, and one person who bought online gives friends who don’t have the access or the wherewithal to buy from anywhere outside traffic or in a store, they will copy it, and distribute it to many of their other friends. The artiste loses revenue that would have come if these guys could buy in the stores. It might go even further. Your record is so good, people are coming to the stores to hunt for it, and the store owner or the guys in Alaba smell economic blood, they will begin to bootleg. Either way, the artiste is the loser. By the time he finally gets to the point of releasing offline, he has already lost the opportunity of making extensive sales from the initial rush. Like a tap of water, the want for the record would have slowed to a trickle.
Doing a little assumptional arithmetic here, would you rather make a sale of 1000 CDs online at $7 each (1000 x 7 x 160 = 1,120,000 naira) ?or a sale of 100,000 CDs on the streets, in shop, and in traffic for 150 naira ( 100,000 x 150 = 15,000,000 naira). I shall leave the artiste to be the judge of this.
Opening a retail channel online is a great and smart idea, but it is supposed to be secondary to the traditional channels in the case of Nigeria. Ignoring this, or refusing to surmount the challenges of getting an Alaba channel, will not only show the artiste and his record label as being unserious and assuming, but will also keep the artiste from reaping the benefits of his hardwork (or a lack of it).
I will like to read your comments on this subject.
