Beware the first of June

I'm not in Lagos at the moment, and won't be until Sunday.

Thankfully so.

First Fridays in Lagos are usually a nightmare. You see, there's this "little" event that happens on the first Friday of every month in a theatre about 10km outside the city.

The Redemption Camp has been happening each month without fail for 14 years now, and has gotten bigger and bigger which is perfectly understandable as more people turn to God given that our economy is shit.

Let it be clear that I will not begrudge people's right to pray, afterall, I have my own special intentions...

What I will complain about however is their apparent selfishness in going about their spiritual duties, the apparent disinterest of their church in the feelings of people who belong to other faiths, and most importantly, the lack of concern of the government(s) of Lagos and Ogun states in an activity that brings economic activities in both states to a halt once a month, causing an as yet to be calculated loss of revenue...

It is, on the part of both governments, an act of gross irresponsibility that this has been allowed to go on for the better part of two decades.

But what do you expect when Presidential convoys routinely join in bringing our economy to a halt?

Consider being in Lagos tomorrow, June 1, 2012. There will be Redemption Camp, the weather forecast for Lagos is thunderstorms, and President Goodluck Jonathan with his road closing 30 vehicle convoy will be in town...

My advice to you? Pull a sickie.

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What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

The words of Juliet in Shakespeare's lyrical tale of "star-cross'd" lovers are as eternal as they are true.

That my daddy named me Cheta and that I have chosen the moniker, Chxta, make no difference in my personality. We are the same person.

Thus it was that yesterday, the President of Nigeria chose to rename a federal university after a "national hero" long dead. The reaction from students of the institution was as immediate as it was brutal. Up until this moment that I type, economic activities in that part of Lagos are at an enforced standstill.

However, my view on this naming matter are simple really. If the President had wanted to rename UNILAG after Shina Rambo, it is within his rights to do so.

The question is, does he have the powers?

You see, UNILAG was established by an Act of Parliament back in 1962. This means that the President does not have the powers to change anything in that institution without the consent of the National Assembly.

What he has done, is essentially an illegality, and this is not his first time.

Back in January in the heat of the #OccupyNigeria movement, the President unilateraly reduced the salaries of all government appointees by 25%. A seemingly populist move in the face of thje overwhelming anger that greeted his government's earlier increase of fuel costs. However populist it was (and for the records, it failed to achieve the desired effect) it was steeped in illegality.

The President has no powers to make such a reduction to his own salary. That job is for the Revenue and Mobile Fiscal Allocation Committee.

...and these are not the only examples.

As for the students, I'll tackle their reaction another time. I promise.

By the way, what kind of twit changes the name of one of Nigeria's premier institutions just before their 50th year anniversary?

Exhausted

Been a tiring past few weeks, but I'm generally a happy beaver nowadays.

All that is personal. What I can say, and without equivocation is that The Most High has looked at me with favour in recent times, and as a result I'm very (and gratefully) blessed.

My prayer nowadays is that He uses me to bless other people in turn.

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Scottish managers

Has anyone noticed what a terrible year it's been for Scottish managers plying their trade in the EPL?

Alex Ferguson - lost the title to closest, most hated rivals, got knocked out of CL in the group stages and got bested by a small, young team from northern Spain.

Kenny Dalglish - too many things to fit into a paragraph.

Alex Mcleish - Coaxed the dourest football of all time from his team and almost got them relegated.

Owen Coyle - got his team relegated.

Steve Kean - got his team extremely relegated.

Trend breakers: David Moyes + Paul Lambert who both did very well on limited resources.

My point: not sure. Feel free to make one for me...

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...on the doctors' strike

Some facts...

#Lagos is the most expensive city in Nigeria...rent in Lagos is more than ten-fold rent in other cities...

#CONMESS is being paid by other states...

#Lagos can afford CONMESS - the state gets almost N500 billion in revenue...

#Lagos government doctors are probably the busiest due to the sheer population in the city - the average doctor sees more than 50 patients a day...

#Bola Tinubu's birthday was celebrated with more than N2 billion from the state coffers...

A labourer deserves his wages. I think the Lagos State Government should seriously reconsider their decision to sack striking doctors (note that the striking doctors have not completely left their jobs - they still attend to emergencies and manage critical ward patients).

We won

Forza Juve per sempre, la fidanzata d'Italia, sale della terra.