The "29(4)(b)" Saga - The Child's Rights Act

What is the Child's Right Act of 2003?

It is a document which

"consolidates all laws relating to children into one single legislation, as well as specifying the duties and obligations of government, parents and other authorities, organizations and bodies"

It was passed into law in June 2000 and promulgated in September of the same year.

A Timeline of Child's Rights in Nigeria.  

1943 - The Children and Young People's Act (CYPA) was passed in to law by the British colonial government
1958 - The CYPA was revised and incorporated into the laws of Nigeria by Governor General James Wilson Robertson
1980 - The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPA) was ratified by the Government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari
1990 - The ACHPA was domesticated by the Military Government of General Ibrahim Babangida
1991 - The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) was ratified by the Military Government of General Ibrahim Babangida
2000 - African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRCW) was ratified by the Military Government of General Ibrahim Babangida
2003 - The Child's Rights Bill was passed into law in July
2003 - The Child's Rights Act (CRA)was promulgated into law in September by the government of Olusegun Obasanjo.

Part I Section 1 of the CRA says:

1. Best interest of a Child to be of paramount consideration in all actions

In every action concerning a child, whether undertaken by an individual, public or private body, institutions or service, court of law, or administrative or legislative authority,the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration.

Yay! CRA is Law, Why So Blue?

As at 2003, the CRA is law at the National level (yay!).  By virtue of the 1999 Constitution states have exclusive responsibility and jurisdiction to make laws relevant to their specific situations this includes issues of child rights protection.  What this means is just as the Federal Government promulgated the CRA into law at the National level, individual State Governments will need to promulgate the CRA into law in the various states in order for the CRA to apply to children in their states.  To date not all 36 states have promulgated the act into law (groan!).

Now this does not mean that children in those states are being treated inhumanly or have no rights.  They are after all human beings and citizens of Nigeria (by birth) and Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution does cover them.  However as evidenced by what has transpired in the last week they need to be legally protected from abuse disguised as religious or cultural teachings.

Part III I find very instructive in light of Senator Yerima's statements on and since July 17, 2013.
Sections 21 through 23 says:

21. Prohibition of child marriage.
No person under the age of 18 years is capable of contracting a valid marriage, and accordingly a marriage so contracted is null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
22. Prohibition of child betrothal 
1. No parent, guardian or any other person shall betroth a child to any person 
2. A betrothal in contravention of subsection (1) of this section is null and void 
23. Punishment for child marriage and betrothal A person:
1. Who marries a child; or 
2. to whom a child is betrothed; or 
3. who promotes the marriage of a child; or 
4. who betroths a child, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N500,000; or imprisonment for a term of five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Hmm.  Sections 31 and 32 says:

32. Unlawful sexual intercourse with a child, etc.
1. No person shall have sexual intercourse with a child.
2. A person who contravenes the provision of Subsection (1) of this section commits an offence of rape and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.
3. Where a person is charged with an offence under this section, it is immaterial that‐  
1. the offender believed the person to be of or above the age of eighteen years; or
2. the sexual intercourse was with the consent of the child.
33. Forms ofsexual abuse and exploitation
1. A person who sexually abuses or sexually exploits a child in any manner not already mentioned under this Part of this Act commits an offence.
2. A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) of this section is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of fourteen years.

The CRA is a very interesting document which I encourage everyone to read in its totality.  I was surprised to read Part III Section 24:

24. Tattoos and skin marks
1. No person shall tattoo or make a skin mark or cause any tattoo or skin mark to be made on a child.
2. A person who tattoos or makes a skin mark on a child commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand naira or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both such fine and imprisonment.

I am reading this to mean tribal markings on children is a no-no.  Is there something in here that would make it unlawful for parents to have children in the car without proper restraints to mitigate injury in case of an accident? Well lookey here:

4. Right to survival and development
Every child has a right to survival and development.

We all know that having a child in our employ is also child abuse right? Awesome.  If you are in doubt please read Section 28 of the CRA

In Which States is the CRA Law?

The correct answer to this question should be all right? Wrong!  I have been unable to get my hands on a definitive list of states that have promulgated the CRA into law it looks like we have a total of 24 states from what I was able to glean from this 2007 UNICEF document and this Vanguard article dated June 29 2010. The states that have promulgated the CRA into law are as follows:

1. Abia
2. Akwa Ibom
3. Anambra
4. Bayelsa
5. Benue
6. Cross River
7. Delta
8. Eboniyi
9. Edo
10. Ekiti
11. Imo
12. Jigawa
13. Kogi
14. Kwara
15. Lagos
16. Nassarawa
17. Niger
18. Ogun
19. Ondo
20. Osun
21. Oyo 
22. Plateau
23. Rivers
24. Taraba

I have been unable to find any record of the following states having promulgated the CRA into law (FCT is also on this list):

1. Abuja
2. Adamawa
3. Bauchi
4. Borno
5. Enugu
6. Gombe
7. Kaduna
8. Kano
9. Katsina
10. Kebbi
11. Sokoto
12. Yobe
13. Zamfara

The 29(4)(b) Vote - Postmortem.

I found a list of senators who (I assume) voted nay on the 2nd vote to strike 29(4)(b) from the constitution.  I did a quick summary of the states they represent as follows:

1. Adamawa
2. Bauchi
3. Borno
4. Edo
5. Gombe
6. Jigawa
7. Kaduna
8. Kano
9. Katsina
10. Kebbi
11. Kwara
12. Nasarawa
13. Niger
14. Ondo
15. Sokoto
16. Taraba
17. Yobe
18. Zamfara

I am surprised that Senators from Edo, Jigawa, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo and Taraba voted the way they did on the second vote especially as they represents states who have promulgated the CRA into law.  I am unclear though can a senator from a state where a certain law has been promulgated cast votes in the senate for constitutional amendments that will be at cross purposes with the law from his/her home state? I also wonder do these people with the word "Senator" appended to there names know what they are really doing in Abuja? The mandate isn't to chop money, its to represent the interest of your constituents who include children who have the right to live out their childhood without fear of their hustle being truncated by violence or disease or be violated and damaged by body parts belonging to depraved men and women under what ever guise.

I worry that the fact that Customary and Islamic laws defining things like marriage are validated without question in the Constitution, there are several loopholes for certain folks to fall through.  I don't know what the process is to amend the Constitution.  Is all it takes the Senate and House of Representatives agreeing with the required 2/3 majority?  Somehow I feel it wouldn't be that simple.  I also am curious to the timing of this whole thing, our people are especially skilled at creating complex money making schemes.

I feel the first thing to do is make sure CRA is the law at the State level.  If you are reading this and your state hasn't promulgated CRA get on the horn now and make some noise.  Let your State Assembly know that the CRA is of utmost importance and must be promulgated immediately.

The struggle continues

References

• INFORMATION SHEET:The Child’s Rights Act
• Child’s Right Act 2003
• Nigerian child and the Child Rights Act
• http://www.law.yale.edu/rcw/rcw/jurisdictions/afw/nigeria/frontpage.htm

The "29(4)(b)" Saga

I have been reading the back and forth on the vote in the Senate regarding Chapter III, Section 29, subsection 4, part (b) of the Nigerian Constitution. A quick search for "Nigerian Constitution" on Google yielded a couple of links: 

Constitution Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria (html)*
Constitution Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria (pdf)

Unless both links host incorrect versions of the 1999 constitution, part (b) ALREADY EXISTS:

29. 
    
1. Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.
2. The President shall cause the declaration made under subsection (1) of this section to be registered and upon such registration, the person who made the declaration shall cease to be a citizen of Nigeria.
3. The President may withhold the registration of any declaration made under subsection (1) of this section if - 
1. the declaration is made during any war in which Nigeria is physically involved; or
2. in his opinion, it is otherwise contrary to public policy.
4. For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section. 
1. "full age" means the age of eighteen years and above; 
2. any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age. 

My confusion is this: what exactly was the vote yesterday, to remove 29(4)(b) or to retain it? Also 29(4)(b) relates to Citizenship. Does the definition of "full age" in section 29 have bearing over the definition of "full age" in other sections of the entire document?  If the answer to this question is yes then Houston we have a problem.  From Senator Yerima's argument it seems to me that the vote was to remove 29(4)(b). This means to me that prior to yesterdays proceedings "any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age." holds true as far as the Nigerian constitution is concerned. This implies that up until, and after the vote which did not meet the 2/3 majority requirement, PEDOPHILIA IS LEGAL IN NIGERIA.

I have received several requests to sign a petition on change.org petitioning the UN to "Stop The Nigerian Senate From Making Under-Age Marriage The Law!" This makes no sense to me though as it would appear UNDER-AGE MARRIAGE IS ALREADY THE LAW IN NIGERIA! How else would Senator Yerima openly marry a 13 year old girl in 2009 and not be sitting in jail somewhere?

Senator Babafemi Ojudu of Ekiti Central Senatorial District has provided on his website details of what the vote was and how members of the Senate voted this has helped clarify some of my confusion as well as raised a rather important question: What other shocking things are enshrined in the current Nigerian Constitution?. I would like to applaud Senator Ojudu's sense of accountability to his constituency (this is how I chose to define this act), its like a breath of fresh air. Here is a link to Senator Ojudu's "expose":

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENTS, CHILD RIGHTS AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA DEBATE: The facts

We should encourage the Senators to continue on the right track, that is strike 29(4)(b) from the constitution like they were trying to do before Senator Yerima stirred up religious sentiment again provided that this section has relevance outside of 29(4)(b). Its the least they can do. From recent numbers published by The Economist we know they are well paid to do their jobs. VVF is a terrible thing and these poor girls are being violated in the name of religion and cast aside as soon as their bladders give in, pariahs due to no fault of theirs.

How do we encourage our Senators? By petitioning them directly and letting them know that we the people they represent will not stand for this continued victimization of the girl child in Nigeria no matter the guise under which such victimization is occurring.

*version available on the web as at 10/09/2011

Sunday June 3rd 2012

We lost someone.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

What do you see looking at this picture?

A lot of folks ... alright, alright a lot of folks on huffingtonpost.com expressed outrage at Michelle's general appearance as she left her daughter's school after a parent-teacher meeting last friday. Seeing the First Lady-Elect (is that the right way to address her? Will January 20th come by already?!) in sweats was just wrong I mean she is supposed to be the Jackie O of our times! You could just hear the collective sigh of betrayal. For me I felt Michelle was dressed appropriately considering where she was going. If she showed up at state dinner in sweats ehen even I would be up in arms. We all know though that Michelle cleans up very very nicely. I am guessing these people were reacting to a combination of recent Michelle sightings; her appearance on election day at the polls with her family (nothing wrong with her appearance in my opinion), the dress she chose for the Grant Park rally on election night (wasn't really feeling that outfit) this whole sweats and baseball cap get-up proved to be the final straw that broke the camels back so to say. Rather than looking frumpy, Michelle looks to me like a woman who has a family and a life, kinda like an every woman. She looks like she got up early to ready her young family for the day ahead. She probably made them a hot breakfast, packed lunches, found missing socks and scarves, loaded the washer, looked through homework before running the kids to school. She then probably ran a couple of errands (she has been away from home for some time) before her scheduled parent-teacher conference. I don't see food stains on her clothes, and the SS people around her are not holding their noses (indicative of an unwashed state). My point she looks like a normal woman going about her life as a mother and wife.


I see something totally different though when I look at this picture. I see the President-Elect and his wife sending a very important message here, responsibility. This man is the President-Elect, surely he has more important things to do other than "wasting time" attending a parent teacher conference I mean isn't that "a woman's job"? Apparently not, seeing that Michelle did not climb on top of herself and get herself pregnant. He appears to be sending a strong message to the African American community, the male and female components of that community alike, a continuation of his Fathers Day speech (the one that moved Jesse Jackson to mull the possibility of a change in profession - Nutcracker!) - "You don't have an excuse to shirk your responsibilities", "Look at me" he seems to be saying, "I am the president-elect, and I am attending a parent teacher conference. Are you more important than me? Busier perhaps? If I can do it so can you!"

At this point Barack seems to have it all, dream job, cute-as-a-button kids, an intelligent, accomplished wife (who also understands the importance of dressing for your body type), good will of the entire free world, a fashionable body type (didn't he look fabulous in his custom Hart Schaffner Marx suit as he accepted the democratic presidential nomination?) While understanding the importance of investing in your family (I am the product of a similar investment by my mother), and appreciating Michelle's desire to not be involved in policy decisions in the Obama administration I would like to see her define a new meaning for the female version of having it all. I don't know exactly what it is I would like to see her do, I do know I would like to see her be ... something (!) as well as Mom-in-Chief!

Moin-Moin Recipe

'Equipment' list















Blender
Plastic Bowl
Plastic Colander
Measuring Cup
Wooden Spoon
Cooking Spoon
Cooking Foil
Baking Dish

Ingredient List















1 Cup Black Eyed Beans (not the group!)
1/2 Medium Red Bell Pepper
1/3 Medium Onion
1 Habanero Pepper
3 Hard Boiled Eggs*
1 Medium Mackerel*
1 1/2 Spoons of Oil
Knorr Cubes (or your preferred seasoning cube)
Salt to taste

*You can substitute corned beef, liver, stock fish, etc

Preparation Time - 1 Hr

Cooking Time - 45mins to 1Hr


1. Boil the eggs (it takes 15 mins to hard boil eggs) and cook the fish. The fish should take like 10 - 15 mins to boil. I usually boil with chopped onions and salt. Set aside to cool.

2. Soak the beans in cold water for about 5 mins, put the kettle on to boil.







3. Put half of the soaked beans in the blender cup, cover with water. If your blender has a pulse button blend the beans on pulse 5-10 times for like 10 secs each pulse. If not you are a sharp person, figure it out.

4. Empty contents of blender cup into plastic bowl, use more water if needed to get everything in the cup into the plastic bowl.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the other half of the soaked beans.
6. Place your colander in clean sink, fill bowl with beans mixture with water. Pour water through colander. Notice that the skin of the beans ends up in the colander while your 'naked' beans are in the bottom of the bowl in your hand. Repeat till all the skin is in the colander. Notice that you have some 'naked' beans in the colander. Many a house girl has chopped slaps etc for throwing away the skin in the colander without picking out the good beans. Do whatever you like though, this is your show.

7. Notice also that there are some 'clothed' beans in the bowl. Pick them out, you can manually remove the skin by rubbing the seed between you fingers. Again many a house girl ...

8. Once you have picked the beans clean, divide it into two parts, add the habanero, bell pepper and onion. Grind the beans with just enough water to avoid blowing the motor on your grinder. The thicker you grind the beans, the more likely you are to get a nice smooth paste. Set aside the beans paste in the fridge.













9. Chop eggs up into quarters, debone the fish. Turn on the oven, gas mark 350 degrees.

10. Melt your seasoning cubes in a bowl by adding a bit of the boiling water. Mix throughly with a spoon. Add the mixture to the beans paste (which you have of course retrieved from the fridge). Add the oil and mix throughly. Add salt to taste. Your mixture should not be too thick nor to watery. I usually don't need to add water to my mixture apart from what I added during the grinding process. If you think your mixture is too thick you can water or fish stock (from the mackerel you boiled earlier)

You know how when your mum would make moinmoin and none of all the egg/fish/corned beef she added would end up in that particular wrap you where served? Found a solution to that annoying issue.

11. Pour mixture into baking dish. With your fingers crumble the fish onto the mixture, covering the total surface evenly. Use your spoon to fold in the fish. Place the egg quarters in the beans mixture as well.

12. Cover the baking pan with cooking foil and place in the preheated oven.
Moin-Moin is ready when mixture is set and firm to the touch.

13. Remove moin-moin from the oven and leave to 'breath' for like 30 mins. Serve with ice cold garri, enjoy.

The price of rice ...

I just got off the phone with Princess, a 'kongo' of 'aroso' rice is now N500 up 150%.

I like it!

So as usual iTunes prompted me to install its latest version this evening and as usual I made to ignore the prompt (nothing against iTunes, everything against doing anything that will require a reboot of my computer; I HATE rebooting my computer). Then I noticed something, this prompt listed Safari 3.1. A Windows version of the Apple browser? (I am so last year, I know) this I have got to see. The required reboot afterwards aside, I am loving the browser so far.

It turns out ...

... Moses was high on drugs! (according to an Israeli researcher) news.yahoo.com

Subliminal Learning?

I woke up yesterday to the news of this New York Times article. Apparently McCain may or may not have had a romantic relationship with a lobbyist. He may or may not have written letters to the govt on behalf of the lobbyists client as a result of the alleged romantic involvement. The alleged relationship may or may not have occurred some 10 years ago while McCain was 61 and she 30. Apparently the NYT had been investigating this report for awhile and had agonized internally as to whether or not to publish the 'facts'. Eventually the fear of being out-scooped forced their hand. I found it interesting, the whole article I mean especially since the very same NYT endorsed McCain just before the New York Primaries. However, delving into the whole endorsement/expose angle is out of the scope of this post. Watching the McCain press conference from Toledo yesterday was like de ja vu; a red faced McCain denied allegations at a press conference as his stoic wife 'stood' by her man. Of course there was no escaping this 'breaking news' and at some time during they day there was a discussion about it on NPR. I listened with half an ear and heard the phrase 'The Keating Five' more than once. Hmm ... I wonder what that is I should Google that. I had hardly formed the thought when it was quickly filed under 'investigate when I have grown a 3rd arm'. My mind quickly wandered on to other things.

I am currently reading "The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else" by Hernando de Soto, and decided to update the "Currently Reading" section of my blog (No it didn't take me a year to finish "Half of a Yellow Sun", I have just been lazy, hiss!). Since I am updating why not add a "What I will be reading next" section? (Who cares?) I currently have "God is not Great" in the queue so I went to amazon to check I had the right title, right author, spelling etc. Amazon has a "others who bought this also bought this" section which I glanced at and noted that Chris had also written a book about Mother Theresa titled "The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice" which I clicked on with a straight face. I learned from the review that she had received $1.25 M in charitable donations from a certain Charles Keating in the 80's and when Keating faced embezzlement charges in the 90's had written a letter to Judge Lance Ito asking him to temper justice with mercy. (I loved the response of the LA DA, but that is also out of the scope of this post). Hmm ... I wonder if these letters are in the public domain ... let me rephrase that, I wonder if these letters are on the Internet. I quickly googled Mother Theresa and learned a little about Charles Keating. Keating (why is this name familiar?) was the CEO of some real estate firm which then bought some savings and loans company and then went bankrupt with investors losing about $285 million. Hang on, shouldn't these funds have been federally insured? Yes they should have but the depositors held securities backed by the parent company of the savings and loans not the savings and loans itself ergo 21,000 elderly depositors are royally screwed out of their life savings. Keating blamed the federal regulators for the collapse of the bank. The govt in turn looked inward and accused five senators of improperly aiding Keating. How could Mother Theresa (with a steady hand and a clear eye) write a letter asking for leniency on behalf of this man? Sigh. I guess this is why I am me and she is on the fast track to canonization. Who are these five senators anyway? Well what do you know, John McCain is one of them. Wait a minute haven't I heard the name Keating today ... OMG! Keating Five!!! Thankfully I have not grown a third arm and since I am not preparing for a Sports Illustrated photo shoot a la Mrs Clemens and the ongoing Clemens-HGH soap opera, I am not in any immediate danger of growing one.

On campaign theme songs ...

If one more person sends me the link to the Will.I.Am "Yes We Can" song, I am going to go to amazon.com and buy this! The first (and only time) I listened to the song, I felt the idea to set Obama's New Hampshire(?) speech to music was a nice one. Although I found the 'We are the World' thing a bit chaotic, I felt the effort deserved an 'A' for achieving its (perceived) goal; tug at your heart strings ,(for those people equipped with working ones) make you get out and vote for Obama. I wondered if this song would be played at Obama events going forward. I am thinking so, judging from this picture ...

I have never been to an Obama event so I don't know what type of music is played. I do recall reading somewhere that he said he liked rap music. I guess this explains why he walked out to Jay-Z's "99 Problems" after winning the Iowa caucuses. I would like to suggest another song (in case anyone is reading this) That one time I saw/listened to the Will.i.am song, the "Yes We Can" punctuation used by Obama seemed so familiar, where have I heard this phrase before o ... Aha! The Pointer Sisters had a hit with "Yes We Can" on the their self titled debut album in 1973 and the lyrics are much better than those of "99 Problems" ...

Now's the time for all good men
to get together with one another.
We got to iron out our problems
and iron out our quarrels
and try to live as brothers.
And try to find a piece of land
without stepping on one another.
And do respect the women of the world.
Remember you all have mothers.
We got to make this land a better land
than the world in which we live.
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give.
I know we can make it.
I know darn well we can work it out.
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we?
If we wanna get together we can work it out.

And we gotta take care of all the children,
the little children of the world.
'cause they're our strongest hope for the future,
the little bitty boys and girls.

We got to make this land a better land
than the world in which we live.
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give.
I know we can make it.
I know darn well we can work it out.
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
yes we can can, why can't we?
If we wanna, yes we can can.

P.S. Harry Connick Jr also covered this song on his 2007 album 'Oh , My Nola' his tribute to New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. I wondered why the song was on the album, after all The Pointer Sisters were not from New Orleans (Oakland California is where they hail from). I assumed it was because of the lyrics, then while researching the post (yes, yes) I found out the song was written by Allen Toussaint. A very influential figure in the New Orleans R&B scene. There you go!

2008 Endorsement

I do not know when it happened, well thats a lie, I recall the exact moment. It was a Time magazine cover (I believe) it had the picture of Dukakis and Bush Snr in '88 both running for the office of the president of the United States. I took one look at Bush Snr and elected to side with the less creased, dark-haired, bushy-browed Dukakis. I will admit that I have employed this method ever since without fail except for 2004 when I rooted for Kerry. Bush Jnr in my opinion was the better looking of the pair but I couldn't stand his accent, and I felt he had made a mess of the whole Iraq situation. Plus I was still smarting from the 2000 elections. I began to worry (when launching presidential exploratory committees became all the rage last year) that my endorsement strategy might not hold up. After the dust settled, I was glad to see that a couple of good looking candidates emerged notable among them are John Edwards and Mitt Romney (who strangly evokes for me memories of Roger Ramjet). Truth be told if Edwards had emerged the Democratic nominee and Romney the Republican nominee I don't know what I would have done (there is a God!) Now that the candidates remaining in the race on the Democratic side are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (listed in order of last names) and on the Republican side Mike Hukabee, Ron Paul and John McCain (listed in descending order of 'fineness') I think it is safe to say that I will be endorsing the democratic candidate in 2008. A tall thin man can either be nerdy or sexy. Obama swings the pendulum in the sexy direction, with his loose limbed gait and his smokers lips which add just the right touch now if only I could determine if he was bow-legged ... For Hillary, the Republicans would have to come up to her level and even in that bumble bee-esque outfit she wore in New Hampshire(?) none of them can hold a candle to her (even if they hired Giuliani's stylist!)

Spanish, Kennedy style

Ted Kennedy 'speaking' Spanish at a rally for Obama in East LA



It is interesting to note that Ted Kennedy was kicked out of Harvard in 1951 for cheating on his Spanish exam. Listening to this ... speech, I can understand why!

Grammy Nominations

Interesting, I just realised that Barack Obama is up for his second grammy in the "Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling)" category for his book "The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream". In the same category Bill Clinton is up for his third (I think) grammy for his book "Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change The World". I can't wait to read the blogs on Monday!

Grammy Nominees - Category 79 grammy.com

Happy New Year!

Borrowing from the lyrics of the very popular old school song 'Odun nlo sopin' by the C.A.C Good Women Choir, "Odun a ya abo fun wa" ( the year will be fruitful for us)

What a way to start the new year, a 2 - 0 win over Westham at the Emirates.

Match Report soccernet.com

Introduction to Kenya Airways

Finally, the day arrived. It was the 8th of December and at 11:20 am we were scheduled to be on a Kenya Airways flight en route Tanzania. Ore and I were really excited to be making this trip. We got up bright and early and were at the airport in good time to check in and all that good stuff. Imagine our disappointment when we learned that our flight would be delayed by 3 hrs! What the ... We shared a pot of tea as we patiently passed the time. I had a muffin which was had been microwaved and as a result fossilized as it cooled. Ore had marble cake. Finally like some 4 plus hrs later it was time to board. It was an uneventful flight thankfully, and save for a little mix-up with information regarding our connecting flight from Nairobi to Tanzania we arrived Tanzania a little past midnight local time. As we drove to the hotel I couldn't help but notice how familiar everything seemed even at 1 am in the morning and if not that we were driving on the 'wrong' side of the road, I could have been driving through Ikeja. We were barely asleep before we had to get up to catch the ferry to Zanzibar. Its a beautiful island, we had loads of fun, I will blog about that later. All of a sudden it was Friday morning and it was time to leave! :-( This time we assumed since we would be catching the first flight out of Tanzania all would be well, boy weren't we wrong. The flight was short (about an hour) and we got to see Mount Kilimanjaro which was nice. We arrived Nairobi on time and quickly got in line for our departing gate only to overhear some folks lamenting in Yoruba, the flight had been delayed! WTF?! Damn those Dubai passengers! I couldn't understand though why our trip had to be affected by the Dubai passengers, the last time I checked I had a ticket for a seat on an airplane, not on a Molue bus ... maybe herein lies the real problem. As an old school mate (whom I bumped into while passing the time) said this is Africa, nothing works as you would expect it. I had never traveled by air in Africa and my friend was quick to assure me this was the norm. Flights arriving and departing according to schedule now that was the exception. Sad. We arrived without incident, thankfully. I did get to witness a fellow passenger finagle whisky from the flight attendant with the help of a fellow Indian traveler, Nigerians!

Everton 1 - 4 Arsenal (and other gist)

Its been awhile, a lot has happened since we lost that game to Sevilla. We drew our game in hand against Newcastle, and hot on the heels of that lost to Middlesbrough. We did beat Chelsea against all odds which was nice. We drew against Portsmouth last week and relinquished leadership of the Premiership to ManU. Needless to say December has not really been our month but somehow the gods of soccer have been on our side, we head into the new year back at the top of the tables, 2 points ahead of ManU.

Da Silva Eduardo (47)
Da Silva Eduardo (58)
Emmanuel Adebayor (78)
Tomas Rosicky (90)

It was quite the strange win. Everton went ahead in 19 min from a corner which seems like Bendtner cleared right onto Yakubu's head or Cahill's boots. Our play was quite frustrating in the first half, our passes fell short and it seemed like the players were unaware of each other. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief when it was half time.

I don't now what happened in the dressing room at half time but the boys came out and in the 47th minute a Eduardo controlled a long ball (!) from Clichy, turned and slotted the ball in past Tim Howard. We were level. He scored the exact same goal again in the 58th minute and we went ahead. Just as I was wondering why Arsene hadn't made any changes (we were well past the 70th minute mark), Bendtner got a second yellow card and got sent off. Oh no! It was all the more sad because apparently Adebayor was waiting on th sidelines to come on for him! Bummer. He came on for Eduardo instead and 4 mins later a 'comedy of errors' occured. A goal kick from Almunia landed in the Everton half, Yobo for some strange reason decides to let Howard deal with it, Adebayor kicks the ball at Howard who fails to catch it, the rebound drops for Adebayor who has left the keeper behind and he scoes our 3rd goal. So much for my fears that being one man down might cost us the match. In the 84th minute Arteta was awarded a red card for his well placed elbow in Fabregas' face. Unfortunately the Oscar went to someone else but Fabregas deserved the nomination, for a second there I thought his eye had popped out or something. He did get booked for an unrelated infarction and was quickly replaced by Rosicky who scored our 4th in injury time. With ManU's suprising loss to West Ham (Imagine, they were a goal up, a missed penalty, and an eventual 1 - 2 loss) we once again moved to the top of the tables. We will be meeting a decidedly chuffed West Ham on New Years day.

My Chistmas Present

Aren't they cute, my toe warmers? I opened my door late yesterday afternoon to find two packages; one from adorama.com (yipee my memory cards have arrived) the other gaily wrapped and soft. Who could it be from, no stamps so its from someone within my building ... You guessed it, its from my neighbor of the Valentines Day chocolates fame. Did I mention that he also gave me chocolates at Easter? Yup he did, they are still on my refrigerator, I keep forgetting to throw them out. Anyways I tried them on (wearing socks with individual toes takes some getting used to) and I fell in love. For a person like me whose extremities are always freezing I couldn't have received a more thoughtful gift, thanks Bruce.

No Country for Old Men

Upon careful examination of my apartment, I have been able to convince myself that Anton Chigurh is not lying in wait for me with a cattle gun. Now why I would think anybody would be waiting on my behind to dispatch me to the great beyond I don't know. I blame the Coen Brothers, my over-active imagination and Javier Bardem. Gosh wasn't he just the model psychopathic killer, all action no talk. And that haircut, and his face ... Tommy Lee Jones was great in the role of the last in a long line of small time sheriffs, confronted with the fact that times are a-changing. Josh Brolin was also quite convincing in his role, giving 'finders keepers' a whole new meaning. I found the Sheriff's deputy to be great eye candy, if a little too slim. The scene between him and Tommy Lee in the diner with Tommy Lee reading the paper was just too funny. I must say the golden globe nod for screenplay is very much deserved, the dialogue in the movie was truly amazing. Overall a really good film, I was immersed in it from the minute it started till the cameras cut to black 2hrs and 2 mins after despite all attempts by the guy sitting like 5 seats away from me with his non-stop commentary to spoil the movie, gosh how I wished I had a cattle gun ...

Deamgirls

I woke up starving and craving pancakes. 3 eggs, 1 hash brown, 4 rasher of bacon, 2 cups of very sweet green tea and 2 orange crepes later, I am sitting on my couch as helpless as a beached whale, captive audience for 'Dreamgirls' on HBO. It was an okay movie. I did see 'Hello Dolly' just last night so that might be clouding my judgment. A word of advice to Jennifer Hudson, move to New York and find a vehicle on or off Broadway, the Oscar and the Golden Globe would only keep doors open for so long.

Sevilla 3 - 1 Arsenal

Da Silva Eduardo (11)

Whats in the water? First Fergie, now Wenger gets sent off! One can only pray that whatever it is stays across the pond! Quite the lack-luster performance from Arsenal who seem set to finish second behind Sevilla in group H. The interesting thing is when the group draws were initially held, I was of the opinion that the only team to worry about would be Sevilla in this case I can hate to be right. On the bright side though, we are theoretically through to the next stages and I am thinking seeding doesn't matter going into the draws for the next round.

So it has happened, we have finally suffered a defeat. Better here than in the Premiership though, I tell you. I expect every newspaper, radio program, tv program and sports website to make a song and dance about the loss, I hope the lads find a way to blot out the impending brouhaha and just concentrate on the task at hand, with 7 premiership games in December, notable among which is the away game to Chelsea on the 16th a CL and Carling cup engagement each, we need to be focused and ensure this performance does not mark the beginning of the end (I shudder as I type that, picture me snapping my finger over my head 3 times).

Next up we face Aston Villa away on Saturday, and our game in hand comes up on Wednesday the 5th against Newcastle.

Match Report soccernet.com

Correction: We are home to Chelsea on the 16th. Thanks anon.