Sunday, July 08, 2007

Of Politics and Criminals

Kidnappings continue. They appear to be both politically and criminally motivated. You will get a mixture of news that you can only sift through with a bit of skeptical reserve. Like the kidnapping of the three year old girl. It’s really not a case of militants crossing a line. When I first heard that the father was British, I immediately said to Jim, “I bet the mom is Nigerian.” And that is the case. So, it’s a typical domestic/family/way-to-gain- wealth-without-working sort of thing. Or so it seems at this point. And in the middle of it all is a frightened little girl. In a country that values females as about equal to a goat but certainly less than a cow. Disgusting.

The expats are streaming out of the Niger Delta and along with them … all of the jobs. It is estimated that every expat working in Nigeria creates 30 jobs for Nigerians. So, the Niger Delta region is littered with unemployed, hungry, and desperate produce vendors, maids, …

A man just recently told me that the best way to analyze and predict the future of a country is to look at the driving conditions. Think about it: sleek freeways with incredible lighting, multiple lanes, excellent shoulders, and clear signage … progressive governments with clear boundaries and clear punishments; free-for-all driving where “every man does what is right in his own eyes” … a government in which there are no lanes, no laws, no leaders.

Where is the future of Nigeria? Even the locals who have typically said that “tings r gettun bettuh” are now shaking their hanging heads.

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